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Ofcom waves DAB radio licences under local broadcasters' noses as FM switchoff debate smoulders again

DAB coverage is a real problem. Across large parts of the country, the DAB signal is patchy, even along major roads. None of the receivers that use a whip antenna work indoors here (Devon), and even with an external antenna, signal quality is variable; this s compounded by the limited range of receivers that have an external antenna connector.. In the cars, which have modern, factory-fit DAB radios, DAB stations drop out regularly.

If Ofcom and the broadcasters want to promote a wholesale switch to DAB, the ball’s in their court to improve signal coverage.

Ethiopia sits on 737 Max report but says pilots followed Boeing drills

What about certification

There is some very worrying information in this article from the New Yorker magazine:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-did-the-faa-allow-the-boeing-737-max-to-fly

which suggests that the FAA contracted the whole certification process for MCAS to Boeing itself. There are surely some tough questions to be answered, and both Boeing and the FAA have some explaining to do - probably in court.

Convenient switch hides an inconvenient truth

No, 1900 was not a leap year. The criterion for years divisibly by 100 (ie century starts) is that the year _is_ divisible by 400. That’s why Y2k was a leap year.

BOFH: Putting the commitment into committee

A definition

Committee (n): A cul-de-sac into which good ideas are lured to be quietly strangled

Drunk user blow-dried laptop after dog lifted its leg over the keyboard

Had a double take there - "my late wife was a teletype"!!

Apple: Crisis? What innovation crisis? BTW, you like our toothbrush?

No, free rein actually, as in riding a horse

Hoaxer posing as GCHQ boss prank-calls PM Cameron

So was the call to the PM:

- to make him aware of a Government-backed scheme....

- in connection with the car accident he had recently; or

- from Microsoft technical department about the peroblem with his computer?

We should be told!

Watch this Aussie infosec bod open car doors from afar

Riveting video. Man locks car. Car unlocks. Man opens car. Oscar material!

Dutch doctors replace woman's skull with 3D-printed plastic copy

Re: I want...

Not sure about that. Ti is generally regrded as very biocompatible; it's so reactive that it is covered instantly with a stable, unreactive oxide layer. In general, the problem is achieving any chemical bond between Ti and anything in the body, though there are some applications (eg dental implants) where a titanium component 'osseo integrates', forming a mechanically strong connection to bone.

Ten classic electronic calculators from the 1970s and 1980s

Re: RPN FTW!

As memory serves, it was called Zebra Strip.

'Occupy' affiliate claims Intel bakes SECRET 3G radio into vPro CPUs

Re: GCHQ Turing Test to Pass for UniVirtual Machine Command to Control Global Operating Devices*

Whatever he's on, please could I have some?

Software sucks these days - and just maybe it's all YOUR fault

Software's catching up

Seems to me that this just means that software's finally catching up with the construction industry, where the norm is build it (ignoring any bits of the design that might be inconvenient, difficult, required), wait for the client to notice (and complain), then knock it down and do it nearly right. In the words of Flanders & Deanna, "It all nakes work for the working man to do". Or is that unduly cynical?