* Posts by Hurn

126 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Nov 2013

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Oxford researchers pull off quantum first with distributed gate teleportation

Hurn

Re: across two meters of optical fiber

Why beam it into space? More likely destination is the "organic matter" storage tank for the food replicators.

Sign seen in the head: "Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Deck."

Lightsail space tech gets tailwind from Caltech breakthrough

Hurn

F=ma

"We wanted to know if we could determine the force being exerted on a membrane just by measuring its movements. It turns out we can."

Let's see:

We know the mass of the membrane (or can calculate using density x volume). Check.

We can measure the movement (linear distance) and determine acceleration (by measuring at discrete time intervals, thanks to a clock). Check.

It appears there should have been little doubt, unless the question was posed for funding / grant approval purposes.

You're going to do what to the feature? Microsoft defines what it means by 'deprecation'

Hurn

Re: I don't mind what they mean by it...

Well, stage 1 is referred to as being deprecated

Stage 2 ( or "Number 2") is being eliminated.

Feature lifecycle:

"Feature Request" > "In Development" > "Preview" > "Fully Supported" > "Discouraged" > "Deprecated" > "Eliminated" > "Feature Request"

Cycle implies cyclic.

Windows 11 stages a comeback – still miles behind older sibling

Hurn

Re: Don't panic

But... one can't apply "Star Trek(TM) a Motion Picture" rules to Operating Systems. (The even vs odd count of"Star Wars" movie rules are even more complicated, since #1 became #4.)

Windows 98 sucked. Windows 98 SE (second Edition, which, being even+1, technically qualifies as odd), was decent.

Windows XP (which came after 2000, so, must have been odd) and Windows 7 were both odd, and well liked (well, for "Windows" that is).

Fista (Sorry, I won't call it Vista), 8, and 10, upon initial impression, and further usage, all sucked.

From my point of view, 11 is the "first" odd release to suck, (or, "to suck more than previous versions") in quite some time.

Unfortunately, I expect Windows 12 to suck even more than 11, with more advertisements, more selling of your "private" (hah!) data to the highest bidders, and <cough> "synergy".

Windows 13 will probably be skipped, due to Triskaidekaphobia.

Next Windows after that will probably move on to a different naming convention ("Windows 2525*"?)

Sorry, the single [/s] in the OP's post didn't quite plumb the depths of the sarcasm involved, hence, my elaboration on the top. Call me a straight man.

* Apologies to Zager & Evans

'Abandoned' astro takes recordbreaking ninth spacewalk

Hurn

Re: Astros?

Surely " 'naut" (or possibly "*naut") would be better?

Hurn

"A newt?"

"[She] got better."

White House attempts to 'explain' mystery drone sightings: The FAA authorized 'em

Hurn

"Authorized" ?

"the rumor mill suggesting some of the craft were as large as sport utility vehicles (SUVs)"

I seem to recall something about drones weighting more than 55 lbs not requiring licenses (as was assumed, at the time, that only the gov't & "industry" had the capability [read: $$] to field such).

Presumably, "SUV sized" drones would qualify for this weight class, and thus, be (almost magically) "pre-authorized".

"We don't need no stinking badges flightplans" ?

Wasn't Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems based in New Jersey (near Grover's Mill)?

South Carolina's abandoned nuclear reactors positioned to fuel the AI datacenter boom

Hurn

Also depends on where the rust is

There's rust on Chain Link fence, surrounding the site

There's rust on rebar, sticking out of concrete

There's rust on the inside of primary coolant piping (or worse, Main Coolant Pumps), assuming any was laid.

Where 'da rust at?

Microsoft admits January's Windows Update broke USB Digital to Audio Convertor

Hurn

How about...

Another reason not to use USB 1.0?

Hopefully, in this day and age, USB sound devices use USB 2.0? (While many devices still use PCIe v1 or v2, when newer specs exist: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ? - My answer: USB 1.0 was born "broke".)

Of course, MS might be spinning things: if the issue actually does affect USB 2.0 devices, and someone decided to "shorten" (for "clarity's sake", yeah, that's the ticket) the phrase "USB 1.0 and USB 2.0" to just "USB 1.0" (PR 101: minimize impact), then, there's more to this story than meets the eye.

Astronomers red-faced after mistaking Musk's Tesla Roadster for asteroid

Hurn

Re: Tesla roadster launched on SpaceX's first Falcon Heavy mission.

If only the launch had been on Thanksgiving day...

Why is Big Tech hellbent on making AI opt-out?

Hurn

Isn't Damn near everything "Opt Out" now?

See title. Way too many examples to cite.

Seems like this tide turned, well over 10 years ago.

"Opt In" is so late 1990s - early 00s

Time to visit the Way Back machine again, to see the Internet as it was, and should be.

Microsoft to force Windows 11 24H2 on Home and Pro users

Hurn

The Pain of Windows Update cannot exceed the Woe of Aftermath*

So, let's face it: the "update" to 24H2 is similar to shoving in a DVD (or mounting an ISO) and running "setup.exe"

M$ hides / wallpapers over the fact that the "update" is actually an Install of a new version of Windows.

During this install, "approved**" applications and drivers are noted, and carried over. "Unapproved" items are not.

Many "custom" settings, even as simple as "Power Options" (like, "Do Not Hibernate while on AC Power") are "lost" / "ignored" / "forgotten" / "disappeared" / "nuked".

How many hours does one have to spend "recovering" from this update?

My newest laptop (purchased in July 2024, did not meet the "Copilot 2.0 minimum specs" which, according to published articles of the time, was a requirement for 24H2) was "offered" (the "you can't refuse" type) the update in early December -- this article is actually late to press -- and, over a month later, I'm still finding settings which had been set back to "default". Gee, thanks, MicroShaft!

* Apologies to Led Zeppelin

** No doubt, there's a $$ fee / M$ Tax to get on the whitelist.

Microsoft fixes under-attack privilege-escalation holes in Hyper-V

Hurn

Some instances of Windows Server 2016 are still unable to install latest patch

First seen in December's Cumulative patch for Server 2016: some systems would try to install it, get somewhere between 68 and 74% installed, then gag, bail, and roll back to pre-patched status.

"Fix" was to wait until January, and install the new Patch.

Unfortunately, seeing the same thing, with the Jan patch:

Servicing stack patch installs, no reboot needed

Jan Cumulative patch starts install, reboots, gets between 68 and 74% installed, then gags, bails, and rolls back to pre-patched status.

Anyone else seeing this / have a "real" fix?

Maybe Feb patch will fix things?

NASA's lunar Roomba set to suck up Moon dirt for study

Hurn

Does not work like a vacuum cleaner

"works by using pressurized gas to stir up the lunar regolith"

"There's no digging, no mechanical arm to wear out requiring servicing or replacement – it functions like a vacuum cleaner."

Meaning, there's a source of pressurized gas, either a tank/bottle, or some sort of chemical process which generates a gas.

While the mechanical parts might not need replacement, the source of gas / propellant would surely run out.

They've simply moved the limiting factor to a different part, unless, it can somehow use energy supplied by photovoltaics to heat up the regolith and generate an unlimited supply of gas / propellant.

If it can do this, then, that's worth bragging about, and they missed the lede!

Finally, assuming only a small amount of material is gathered (a "one shot"), meaning they don't care about the limited supply of gas / propellant, what are the chances of the mechanical arm wearing out that quickly?

SpaceX closing in on approval for 25 Starship launches in 2025

Hurn

Need a definition for either "vehicle" or "program"

"SpaceX anticipates no more than 20 explosive events at the surface of the water for each vehicle for the life of the program."

Erm.. how can each vehicle explode 20 times?

Perhaps the quote is really referring to "vehicle class"? But, that begs the question "What program?" as, would assume a separate program for each class?

The Astronaut wore Prada – and a blast from Michael Bloomberg

Hurn

Inflation, anyone?

Is the $1 billion for a single suit, or a set of suits?

Using an inflation calculator, $1 billion dollars in 2024 = $123 million in 1970 dollars

Doing a bit of searching on the internet, it appears a single Moon suit cost between $12 and $20 million, based on the year (inflation was a thing in the late 1960s - early 1970s).

Assuming $1 billion is for a set of suits, say, somewhere between 2 and 6 (depending on number of missions), then, the price seems to be ballpark (well, at least "order of magnitude") with Apollo.

Although, one wonders, with those arm sockets which seem to thrust the arms forward and up (which look similar to deep sea "hard suits" as well as artists' conception drawings of Mars suits), maybe Playtex had an influence in these, as well?

Europa Clipper heads to Jupiter: Can its icy moon support life?

Hurn

Begging the question...

OK, you got me.

The probe is getting gravity assists from first Mars, and then, Earth.

You state (paraphrasing) that the delta v gained from Mars is 2 clicks* per second.

How much delta v is gained from the Earth fly by, and, why are you making me ask this question?

Also, it's been 4 days, does no one else want to know? (Or is everyone (else) just waiting for some idiot, like me, to ask?)

* clicks = kilometres, sometimes known as kilometers

Google to kill off URL shortener once and for all

Hurn

Did the picture change?

Is currently a graphic of the Grim Reaper (makes sense, Google is killing a "feature")

The figure on the Argus Cover looks more like a Greek Hoplite (am going more by the spear and cloak, although the helmet looks more Roman (gladiatorial, not the horsehair style), maybe?).

Just curious.

The Clacktop: A Thinkpad Yoga with a mechanical keyboard

Hurn

Erm... Numeric keypad?

While the desire for a mechanical keyboard is appreciated (my own keyboard can be heard, even while wearing noise cancelling head phones, which is the way I like it), it would seem, if one is going to the effort of replacing a keyboard, why not go whole hog and include a full keyboard, with numeric keypad?

Of course, that would require a wider custom case, and probably the need to add extra bezel "padding" around the display (or, an opportunity to upgrade the display into something larger?) But, maybe there's a market for such cases / displays / keyboards?

Since the footprint would be somewhat larger (almost in the "luggable" [aka "portable"] class), why not increase the battery size, too? (Especially, if the mechanical keyboard has backlighting effects.)

Go nuts, and include a PCIe bay for a "real" Video Card (assuming built in video can be disabled and PCIe lanes are accessible). Plus fan(s). Plus custom Power Supply. Plus 10GE. Plus... err.. that's probably getting a bit too far.

Keyboard with numeric keypad. Yeah. Maybe stop there. For now. And the bezel "padding". If necessary.

Unless... maybe design the system around an external keyboard? (which defeats the purpose of a laptop)

Wait, what if one started out with a NUC or Mini-ITX mobo? (the possibilities are endless...)

Angry admins share the CrowdStrike outage experience

Hurn

Does no one remember the Dos Prompt?

Official instructions say to "reboot (again) into Advanced mode, and then choose Safe Mode"

Why bother, when there's a choice for Dos Prompt, RIGHT THERE. (And, if it's an old server your working on with a KVM crash cart, save yourself anywhere from 4 to 7 min rebooting / checking memory, probing for boot drive / starting at the UEFI/BIOS screen, before getting to the menu where you can choose "Safe Mode")

Instead of all that, Click on DOS Prompt, select Administrator, enter password, and poof! At an X prompt. (Well, as long as you're not using BitLocker.)

C: or D: or get to whichever partition has windows on it (can do a dir to make sure you're on the right one)

cd Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike

del C-00000291*.sys

and, if there's no error message, you're done.

Type Exit, then click to start windows.

Can save up to 10 minutes per older server. And, I've not seen this, anywhere.

Guess Dos Prompts are too scary these days.

Perseverance pays off as Mars rover's SHERLOC brought back from the brink

Hurn

Re: Sadly ...

It's shit, Jim, but not as we know it.

Hyperfluorescent OLEDs promise more efficient displays that won't make you so blue

Hurn

" reducing power consumption, which is highest on blue sub-pixels "

Err.. won't blue always consume more power than red or green?

"With greater frequency, comes greater power requirements."

- Apologies to Stan Lee and Marvel Comics

NASA gives IXPE observatory the Ctrl-Alt-Del treatment to make it talk sense

Hurn

5 year mission

"XPoSat ... launched on a five-year mission"

To boldly, ah, look, where, err, few have looked before...

Boeing and subsidiary file trade secrets lawsuit against Virgin Galactic

Hurn

Scaled Composites not mentioned?

"Aurora had to do more reverse engineering"

As I recall, Scaled Composites was the company which built Eve.

Did the Bearded One not pay them enough for the plans, that reverse engineering is now needed, to make replacements?

Seems like Eve's creators should have received a nod, in the article.

As AI booms, land near nuclear power plants becomes hot real estate

Hurn

Interchangable Companies?

What is the relationship between NE Edge and NE Energy?

Edge is designated as a startup, presumably, they want to build the data center, and need our (or at least, VC) money to do so.

Does NE Energy own the power plant, or are they some transmission line and substation owning middle-man, hoping for a slice?

Inquiring minds want to know, but tight fisted bastards notice, clicking on the link which might provide an answer to these questions, invokes a paywall.

Don't want to know, that much.

BTW - does NE stand for North East? New England? Nada Enchiladas? Maybe a reference to the Knights who say NE?

- Would they be interested in a shrubbery? Perhaps with another shrubbery next to it, and a little path...?

DARPA tasks Northrop Grumman with drafting lunar train blueprints

Hurn

Re: "figure out what would be necessary for a railroad network on the Moon"

Broom of Theseus?

NASA's FY2025 budget request means tough times ahead for Chandra and Hubble

Hurn

If they really want to make money with it, after the refit, they could point it towards Earth and rent out time to those countries which can't afford their own spy satellites.

Microsoft drags Windows Subsystem for Android into the trash

Hurn

Time for an Emulator?

Haven't really kept up with things, but given how many legacy platforms cam be emulated, maybe it's time for a usable smartphone emulator?

(If there are already "good" versions of such, please downvote me, but leave links, so I can catch up. Thanks.)

There are a bunch of apps I wouldn't mind being able to run on (or, more accurately, from) a Windows platform, but emulating things like Bluetooth might be a pain.

In other words, I don't want to make cell phone calls from an emulator, I just want to run some apps.

Staff say Dell's return to office mandate is a stealth layoff, especially for women

Hurn

Did I blink and miss it?

"resuming a hybrid work schedule – working from a corporate office part of the time – or continue working remotely"

As an IBM dinobaby, myself, up until Covid, I worked "on site," 5 days a week (and substantially more than 40 hrs per week, so much so, that my unpaid overtime [USian, no union] far exceeded my vacation time - still does, which is just wrong); I'm jealous:

Does this mean:

1. Prior to Covid, no one at Dell worked 5 days a week "on site" ?

2. Post Covid, no one at Dell works 5 days a week "on site" ?

If YES to both, as the article implies, isn't that a "good thing" ?

It seems the article entirely leaves out the likelihood that a large number of people worked 5 days a week, "on site," before Covid, probably worked a couple to 5 days a week, "on site" during Covid, and are now back to working 5 days a week, "on site," post Covid.

Also, how many worked remotely, before Covid, and are still working remotely, post Covid? The article doesn't seem to mention them, either.

The fairness of a sliding scale of compensation for those who are forced to work "on site" vs those who work "hybrid" vs those who work "remote" is a whole other topic. Unfortunately,it seems to be the one left out of many of these discussions. Probably, because it would take away from the immediate goal of whoever is writing a particular article.

Firefly software snafu sends Lockheed satellite on short-lived space safari

Hurn

4x Alpha launches? When's the Beta launch?

Apparently, "Alpha" is the name of the 2 stage launch vehicle, made by Firefly. This was the 4th launch.

(Had to look that up, as was not clear, from the context.)

Space nukes: The unbelievably bad idea that's exactly that ... unbelievable

Hurn

Re: There's no way there aren't already nukes in space

" lead shielding to insure* radiation... "

Lead does not stop neutrons. Need poly or some hydrogenated material for that. Volume, not mass, would be the limiting factor.

Then again, what's the range of neutron detectors, and, do any of them look up?

(Last question is somewhat rhetorical, and the answer is probably classified.)

* Is "insure" vs "ensure" a UK vs US ( two countries divided by a common language) thing?

My grade school grammar nun (much worse than grammar Nazi, trust me) would have her ruler (metal edge out) at the ready for anyone who confused the two infinitives.

AI girlfriend encouraged man to attempt crossbow assassination of Queen

Hurn

Thank you. Upvoted.

Given the similarities, I would think Eliza should be mentioned more often, as in, job #1 of any new, so called, AI Chatbot, would be to prove (?) itself as being "more advanced" than Eliza.

Does no one remember the 1980s?

Between Eliza and the early forms of social media (CompuServe, QLink, GEnie, MCI, BBSes with Fido/Opus/Netmail), there's nothing new under the Sun (Oracle?).

Lightning struck: Apple switches to USB-C for iPhone 15 lineup

Hurn

Re: "can reach out for help when there's no cell signal coverage over satellite connections"

Err.. "one more thing" time, again, on Apple's way to the bank.

It sounds like a tie-in subscription for/to AAA (aka "Triple A" or American Automobile Association) service may be required to use the emergency satellite communication feature.

No doubt, a "provide your credit card number (or Apple Pay account) and get a free month of AAA" 'deal,' which possibly bills you the full, annual subscription charge on day number 29 of your "month."

Want to cancel your AAA account, because you never use it? No problem, just call this toll free number, wait on hold for an hour, and speak with our customer service specialists in (whichever country has cheapest rates and worst English).

Oh wait, there's more. AAA will spam you with hard and soft copy, forever, to "Come back, we miss you (& your money)."

Astronaut-menacing sunstorm spotted rippling across inner solar system

Hurn

Stick to a singe unit of measure

Roentgens to REM (Roentgens Equivalent, Man) to Sieverts to Grays to <What's_next?>

Could someone pick a unit of measure, and stick with it, fer Christ's sake?

Legal limits for workers: 5 REM per calendar year, not to exceed 3 REM per calendar quarter - 10 CFR 20

Why do cloud titans keep building datacenters in America's hottest city?

Hurn

Re: 4 cents?

The effective residential (standard house A/C major load during summer) price, including generation, transportation, and regulating in Tucson AZ (2 hrs from PHX) is about $0.18 per KWH (assuming 1 Phase, center tap to ground, 120VAC per (2x) taps at useful max current (compressor, not evaporative, based A/C)).

While commercial customers may get a break, if they're paying extra for a percentage of "green/renewable" power (because, who isn't these days?), then, they're probably not paying far from $0.18 per KWH, at least on paper.

Would guess $0.04 is a partial price, and probably not the major component.

UK's dream of fusion power by 2040s will need GPUs

Hurn

Re: No wind tunnels any more?

Could be intentional, as they're vying for the same resources.

"We need the money, because who builds wind tunnels, anymore?"

vs

"We need the money, because who believes in fusion power anytime soon?"

NIST boffins shrink atomic beam clock to the size of a postage stamp

Hurn

Zeema shift?

Clear, carbonated, citrus flavored, malt liquor based beverage?

Zeeman shift?

Spectral lines shifted (e.g. widened) when light source is in a strong magnetic field?

Intel details coral-shaped immersion cooler that bubbles like Mentos in Coke

Hurn

Why 2KW?

"cope with two kilowatt chips"

Does this mean Intel is planning on introducing 2KW chips, but realized they'll first need a cooler / cooling environment, and manged to get the US DoE to fork out $ for the research?

Maybe someone else already has a 1 KW thermal solution, so now, they're going for 2?

Guess it's not a matter of "if," but "when"

Hmm.. change out the working fluid for something that boils at a much lower temp, and maybe this thing can work for quantum computers, too?

Amazon isn’t sold on AMD’s tiny Zen 4c cores in manycore Bergamo processors

Hurn

Truth, Disinformation, or Ambiguous?

"We don't chase the core count as much with AWS," David Brown, VP of AWS Elastic Compute Cloud, told The Register.

This statement requires analysis:

"as much" = as compared (with/to) whom?

AWS production vs AWS development?

"Elastic Compute Cloud" - is there a non-elastic (Static?) Compute Cloud which does chase the core count?

Either more context is needed, or follow up questions are required.

The additional statements provided, concerning memory bandwidth (per core), and cost of DDR5, while factually true, may be intentionally obscurantist, as Amazon does not want to help the competition.

Is it a drone? Is it a balloon? Whatever it is the US warns locals not to let them fly in Iran

Hurn

Airborne Diesels? New breed of Zeppelin?

"Additionally, aircraft spark-ignition and compression-ignition internal combustion piston engines"

We all know "spark-ignition" means an ICE which uses spark plugs, but "compression-ignition" used to mean Diesel.

As far as I know, the last "successful" class of aircraft to use Diesel engines were Zeppelins, where the long range and safety considerations outweighed the power to weight ratio.

Does this mean Iran is making (gasp! [emotional baggage from multiple wars]) Zeppelin Drones?

If not, should someone (else?) _start_ making them?

[Next up: "Drone Fighters for taking down Drone Zeppelins"]

Caltech claims to have beamed energy to Earth from satellite

Hurn
Coat

Which is "better"?

A big, orbital, photovoltaic array powered microwave transmitter with advanced beam forming ability?

Or, a big, orbital mirror?

Panel members: Concerns & Questions:

Military: What kinda body count? / What's our defense?

Engineer: Possibility/efficiency/manufacture/deployment/maintenance cycle?

Bean Counter: Monetary cost per kill, or kilowatt, delivered ( Who's paying for this? Timeshare?)

Farmer: What's it do for my crop yield?

Astronomer: [as "Mr. Bill" - apologies for the dated reference] Nooooo!!!

Hurn

Misdirection

"No energy transmission infrastructure will be needed on the ground to receive this power."

Of course not, the transmission infrastructure is in space.

The energy reception infrastructure, on the the other hand...

Encoded 'alien message' will reach Earth today, but relax: It's just a drill

Hurn

Just Checking

"fostering an open-ended search for meaning across all cultures and disciplines"

Do people actually talk like this, now, or is it press-release-speak?

The Hubble Space Telescope is sinking! Two startups want to save it for free

Hurn

Huh?

" to remove local debris at risk of colliding with the Hubble Space Telescope, and reboost it into a safe orbit."

What's the point of clearing where it currently is, if you're about to move it?

1. Clear the path to the "safe orbit" (which, by definition, should already be clear, or else it wouldn't be safe).

2. Boost Hubble to the safe orbit.

No more feature updates for Windows 10 – current version is final

Hurn

Re: Err

It may well be American, but unlike most business speak, I don't (generally) have a problem with this one:

... through <date> = ... [up to and] through [which means including, unto the very end of (23.59.59.999+)] <date>

saves time, well defines the inclusive/exclusive boundary condition,

what's not to like?

Unless, of course, "through" means "until close of business day," in which case, I agree - American shite.

Hurn

Re: It's the hardware, innit ....

Is TPM 2.0 _really_ not in the platform?

Microsoft's true marketing problem:

How to raise the uptake metrics for Windows 11, by encouraging the technically challenged (withOUT pissing off the OEMs, who [have always and will continue to] see Win 11 as an opportunity to sell more shiny) to either:

1. Update their BIOS <cough> UEFI </cough> to the new version (provided [under MS duress?] by MoBo/system providers) which defaults to TPM 2.0 mode active?

2. Hit the magick key on their keyboard, during power up from cold start (rather than plain "turn on"); you know: Del, F1, F12, or the Blue Thinkpad key - that key their tech guru told them never to hit while turning on their computer?, enter the forbidden BIOS/UEFI screens, turn TPM 2.0 mode on (after navigating to the setting location - good luck!), F10 to save and reboot?

There are a number of platforms, in existence, whose CPUs are capable of TPM 2.0 (emulation or otherwise), where the feature is disabled by default in the original BIOS, possibly for security reasons, but generally due to (at the time) standard, conservative engineering practices (i.e. Might it Break? _We're not sure._ Do customers need the feature? _Not yet._ Fine, we'll ship with it disabled, and worry about MS, later.)

America longs to expand low-Earth orbit economy 'for the benefits of humanity'

Hurn

Bad acronym

NSTC is too close to NTSC - I saw the typo in the 3rd to last paragraph.

Ring system discovered around dwarf planet Quaoar leaves astronomers puzzled

Hurn

Re: Ice volcanos beyond Pluto ?

Perhaps the "ice" in question is not frozen water, but something (else) which "melts" at a much lower temp?

Cyber-snoops broke into US military contractor, stole data, hid for months

Hurn

It makes more sense, with more commas:

Spies, for months, hid inside...

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