Posts by bombastic bob

Firefox 54 delivers sandboxes Mozilla's wanted since 2009

Re: All I want

"Is a browser that doesn't hang when I've got umpteen tabs open."

or crash, for that matter, because of scripting problems.

then again, I use 'noscript' most of the time.

Also, 'classic UI' plugins to a) get RID of the hamburger, b) give me 3D-looking buttons, c) no "flatso" on ANYTHING (including tabs). Hopefully those don't break with the new FF.

Now, about the multi-process and sandboxing... can't we make that TUNEABLE instead? You know, set our OWN limits and whatnot in about:config .

IBM will soon become sole gatekeepers to the realm of tape – report

Re: I miss tape for my PC

I still have an old QIC/Travan drive banging about in the boneyard, and a couple of tapes to go with it. They store >1Gb per tape. Wow!

https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-colorado-t3000-tape-drive-travan-1mbps-floppy-series/specs/

and I have a box of IOMega 'zip' drive cartridges, too. 10Mb each!

Amazing the money we all spent on that kind of tech, back in the day...

[it was SO quickly obsoleted]

Voyager 1 passes another milestone: It's now 138AU from home

Re: Not sure what they used...

I went back and looked it up:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/74181

I'd guess they used something _like_ this, to build the CPUs, hardened for space of course.

Re: Not sure what they used...

"I don't know that any off the shelf commercial CPUs of the time would be sufficiently hardened against radiation damage."

Unlikely. However, there were 4-bit 'ALU' devices (which could be daisy chained to form 16 or maybe 18 bit words, as needed) available in TTL at the time. DEC used them in some of their computers, actually. They weren't really fast but a 250khz clock would run them just fine, most likely. A little bit of microcode and they'd form a CPU on a single circuit card. Using flat packs, maybe even CPU plus RAM.

but yeah they'd have to ruggedize it for space.

Re: Not sure what they used...

I would guess discrete flat-pack TTL (possibly of the LS variety) using exotic semiconductor materials that are less susceptible to radiation than normal silicon. Then ruggedized (conformal coating, plenty of 'bend' for interconnecting wires/cables, etc.), and LEADED solder [which does not form tin whiskers], thick circuit board material, lots of gold wiring where it matters, etc. etc. etc..

as an example (not sure if v*ger is using this) :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_on_sapphire

I bet it lasts a REALLY long time. How long before NASA sends a repeater satellite to follow it and relay its signals back/forth, for historical/legacy purposes?

Re: Middle Age

"Not bad for forty year old hardware."

a) ruggedized for space

b) uses LEADED solder [no tin whiskers]

c) NUCLEAR powered

all that helps. just sayin'.

and as you get further from Mr. Sun, all of that cosmic radiation isn't affecting your gear as much any more.

Britain's on the brink of a small-scale nuclear reactor revolution

Re: Underground

Fukushima's only design flaw involved the (non-nuclear) emergency generators, which were flooded out by the Tsunami. If electrical power could've been restored within 48 hours, none of the bad things would've happened. The Tsunami wiped out the entire town as well. The containment vessels that were there helped keep the problem down to a minimum.

And all of the FUD about radiation from Fukushima showing up in california is just nonsense. background radiation levels from Mr. Sun would keep it below detectable levels. Seriously, it's a BIG planet!

/me got LESS radiation living within 100 feet of an operating nuclear reactor on board a U.S. submarine than on the surface of the earth, and I know this because we recorded our radiation dosage. I got 80mrem per year [whatever new-fangled measurement THAT is] from Mr. Sun, and about 60 from Mr. Reactor.

Most of the radiation you get is from the Sun. You're in greater danger if you fly a lot or get a root canal, than from any failed nuclear reactor on the planet, including Fukushima and Chernobyl, so long as you're not "right there" at ground zero.

Re: Sounds sendible but...

"And I think they use a far higher level of enrichment un subs - around 20% instead of 3-5% 235Uranium."

that little? come now, use your imagination. The higher the enrichment, the smaller the reactor size (due to smaller critical mass/geometry being possible). there's a LOT more going on than that, of course, engineering-wise [you want to make that a "lifetime of the boat" core, by pre-loading every bit of fuel you expect to need in 30+ years, right?] but 20% enrichment is a WAY small number. Just sayin'.

Re: no, still NIMBYish

"Water-moderated ones do, because of the low temperatures they run at and their very low thermodynamic efficiency"

not entirely accurate the way you put it. total plant efficiency is generally a function of the steam temperature going into the turbines, and the rejection temperature of the condenser.

You can run PWRs at very high temperatures, but the steam plant itself limits the total capability. I would imagine that a 1200 psi steam plant (with gas-fired superheaters) is "typical". The reactor would run in the 550 degree F range for that kind of pressure. Not a problem, really. Steam itself, in many ways, determines what the max efficiency will be for a power plant. If you could drive the turbines directly with molten salt, that would be different. but you can't. You still need steam (for a practical solution, at any rate).

Water, as convenient as it is, just has physics properties that limit your overall efficiency. You can't have steam above a certain temperature (its phase is indefinite, actually, neither liquid nor gas) and you can't have heat rejection below a certain temperature (i.e. ICE formation).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HS-Wasserdampf_engl.png

Re: Heat engines

"along with tons of CO2."

hold your breath to reduce CO2 output. that'll help.

Re: Sounds sendible but...

what size are the reactors on subs

it depends on the sub. most reactor specs are classified. Some are published in 'Jane's Fighting Ships' etc. but they're not official. Suffice it to say, they are much larger than you think, megawatt-wise.

Back in the 1980's I was on a 688 (Los Angeles) class sub that used a core that was originally designed for a destroyer, and was adapted for a sub. They actually had to do a post-manufacturing modification to the main engines (steam turbines) for it to use 100% reactor power. And it went fast enough for 'back then', enough that they had seat belts on key watchstations for "rig for high speed".

Now, add 30 years of technological development to that timeline, and speculate. You're probably close.

Needless to say, 30MW is probably close to what the Nautilus had when it first launched in the mid 50's.

but yeah I can't truly confirm any of that. it's classified.

On carriers, the Enterprise originally had 8 reactors. I think the newest carries have only 2, and they're pretty big (more total steam than the Enterprise's 8 reactors). That gives you a perspective on how the nuclear tech has advanced over the years.

I still haven't found what I'm malloc()ing for: U2 tops poll of music today's devs code to

Re: happy medium

"Pap is just irritating .. you can ignore it for a while then it just overwhelms you with horror."

whenever "that band who shall not be named that sounds like you hold your nose while singing something repetitive and stupid about sharing a lonely view with birds" comes on the radio, I am _COMPELLED_ to shut that @#$% off NOW, dammit! like that?

yeah, better to have an icecast server of your own, with your own playlists, and an internet-capable radio-like device plugged into the big system, that you can switch to if "other people's playlists" start sucking or something.

Re: No vocals

"I find that words distract (maybe uses the same part of my brain that I use for coding)"

How about instrumental jazz and JPOP (since it's in a foreign lingo that I'm not entirely familiar with, the words just run by like it's part of the music when I listen to it). Then again, you can't understand Robert Plant at all... so maybe some old Zeppelin too?

when I do coding I listen to...

when I do coding, I listen to...

a) conservative talk radio

b) jazz (bebop and big band if it's playing)

c) Hotmix JPOP (streaming radio)

d) random sampling of 'whatever I have on hand', mostly 80's, JPOP, 'greatest hits' CDs, etc.

e) 'classic rock' station that mostly plays what I used to listen to back in the 80's.

RIAA excretions are generally crap these days anyway. 'new music' is usually overrated. Not always, though. Rare exceptions exist.

Five Eyes nations stare menacingly at tech biz and its encryption

the genii has been out of the bottle for DECADES

the genii of encryption has been out of the bottle for DECADES.

PGP and its various incarnations is there for anyone who wants to use it.

OR, you can roll your own method, NOT tell anyone else, and just hand the program to whoever you want to decrypt it via snail-mail or some other "untraceable" means [including sneakernet].

It's like "gun control" laws, which are intended to PUNISH THE LAW ABIDING, while doing NOTHING to stop gun violence and gun crimes. After all, if you're a CRIMINAL, you don't OBEY laws. So they don't do SQUAT.

Captain Obvious on pretty much everything implied here. Gummint idiots are just knee-jerk reacting to the FUD, without ANY understanding of the tech, the implications, or the likely results.

Two leading ladies of Europe warn that internet regulation is coming

rules to "clamp down" on [certain] content

yeah, censorship, we know what it is, it sounds all touchy-feely-good when you first start out, then it steamrolls into a steaming pile of fecal matter at some point, becoming *like* "the great firewall" of China.

gummint just DOES that. it's part of its nature to grow to the point of oppression.

no thanks. ANARCHY is a better idea. The only requirements *might* be for log-keeping, but even that is pointless in a world where Tor and "the darknet" exists.

Intel to Qualcomm and Microsoft: Nice x86 emulation you've got there, shame if it got sued into oblivion

Re: Tough Times at Santa Clara

"And who says that 8 Cores in 200sqm marks the best price-performance compromise ??"

is it even POSSIBLE for Win-10-nic to run 8 cores like that? What, with Micro-shaft's ridiculous licensing policies, etc..

Intel should market desktop Linux and multi-core-ready applications to get CPU sales up. Just sayin'.

As for competition, let Micro-shaft emulate all they want. A good native Intel architecture will outperform emulation any day. you can also think of it as "validating the standard".

Teen texted boyfriend to kill himself. It worked. Will the law change to deal with digital reality?

Re: The degree of coercion isn't important

'Suicide is Painless' was performed by Painless the dentist in the original movie, when he wanted to commit suicide because he thought he'd lost his libido. The other doctors fixed him up with a simple sedative, and had him wake up with a couple of hookers (or maybe it was nurses), thus "fixing" the problem. There was a big wake beforehand, where Painless played the title song on the guitar and was the 'live' star of the wake. Having that song become the theme song of the TV show was in many ways 'priceless'.

Re: re: it's a crime to let somebody die if you could have prevented their demise.

actually "Good Samaritan" laws are intended to protect the 'hero' against later backlash from the 'victim' who might have been injured (permanently or otherwise) as a result of the 'heroism'.

Yeah, it happens. Reminds me of the beginning segment of "The Incredibles", yeah. Suing for having your life saved (when you didn't want that).

Maybe walking past is the better choice...

Re: He who has no sin can cast the first stone...

I'm reminded of the "be an hero" de-motivational.

unless there was some kind of coercion or manipulation involved, saying what you want shouldn't be a crime [even if it's to repeatedly tell someone to commit suicide].

otherwise it's "he hurt my feelings, and I wanted to kill myself" *SLAM* go the iron bars!

"That girl is the devil incarnate."

no, THAT would be my X wife [and if I could text HER and get her to off herself...]

/me points out joke alert icon to avoid being investigated unnecessarily. "just kidding". heh. heh. heh.

You know this net neutrality thing? Well, people really love it

it's NOT the FCC's job - that's why

it's NOT the FCC's job to regulate what goes on the wires, or what the ISPs do with the data.

That would be the FTC, or for Congress to legislate.

Overstepping the boundaries of a regulatory body isn't a "solution" to ANYTHING.

Now, getting Con-Grab off of their collective asses, that's something to do about it!

I fought Ohm's Law and the law won: Drone crash takes out power to Silicon Valley homes

"a white adult male with white hair who fled the scene in a white hatchback car"

/me sings that one show-tune-like theme song from a recent 'Family Guy' episode...

Windows 10 Creators Update preview: Lovin' for Edge and pen users, nowt much else

Re: a translucent background with blur, tinted overlay

"If it makes that unusable flat 2D design more like the UI in Windows 7"

that would be nice, of course, but the millennial CHILDREN running the show in the Halls of Redmond aren't about to let THAT happen... they *MUST* *CRAM* the 2D FLATSO FLUGLY up our collective orifices! For our own good!

"The rest of us" indeed. Like in the article's title. Totally abandoned, as usual.

Donald Trumped: Comey says Prez is a liar – and admits he's a leaker

Meh

today's soap opera, tomorrow's forgotten "fake news" drama.

nothing will come of it. might as well ignore it all, get on with life.

Kaspersky files antitrust suit against Microsoft

Re: Boo Hoo

"how can anyone assume their AV and security software is any better?"

it isn't.

(from about a month ago)

Pop-up Android adware uses social engineering to resist deletion

a special place in hell

for those who write [cr]apps like this

Live blog: Fired FBI boss spills the beans to US Senate committee

Re: Trump had told him repeatedly he was doing a great job.

yeah I think Trump was just being Trump. He wanted a bit of loyalty (i.e. Comey not acting like an 'Obaka holdover', waiting for the opportunity to pounce, leak, etc. like a bunch of others OBVIOUSLY have been) and to Trump, that most likely means NOT obstructing his presidency (instead of 'obstructing justice to please the boss' which is what CNN and the left WANT it to mean). That's how I interpret it anyway. Washington insiders might imply a "nudge-nudge wink-wink know-what-I-mean" even when it's not there, but Trump doesn't speak Washingtonese, he talks like a New Yorker from Queens.

Comey is acting JUST like the classic "disgruntled employee". he got fired for being like overcooked spaghetti, wishy-washier than a laundramat, etc.. He's bitter, and he took notes on his way out the door.

No surprises here, including it being a "non-event".

'Meh' indeed.

Microsoft totters from time machine clutching Windows 10 Workstation

Re: 4 Processors Chips which could be 88 cores, 6TB of RAM...

"Whether you like Windows (10) or not is largely irrelevant."

hah hah hah hah that's a good one.

How is micro-shaft going to FORCE ME to use Win-10-nic? "Micro-shaft Uber Alles" or something?

/me sticking with Linux/FreeBSD with Mate desktop, Android or iOS phones/slabs, and the occasional Mac. When the rest of the world 'gets it', they'll join US.

Re: Desperation

"I find the Windows 10 UI to be a huge improvement over the fake 3D UI of earlier Windows"

of COURSE you do! You refer to those of us who *HATE* "the Metro" 2D FLATSO FLUGLY as "dinosaurs".

Here are some synonyms for you (I know you meant them, right?):

a) refuse to change

b) sticks in the mud

c) won't get on the bandwagon

d) old fuddy-duddy

e) NOT a millenial

that last part is the most important.

If you like 2D FLATSO, you should be able to choose it. Those of us who *HATE* it should be able to choose the OLD interface. Most of us who still have to use windows already DO that, by using 7 (or earlier).

Keep in mind, it was the 3D Skeuomorphic interface that SOLD WINDOWS 3.0 TO THE WORLD. That's where it started. It improved with '95, and went upwards from there. Back then Micro-shaft "got it" and delivered what CUSTOMERS wanted, and not SHOVING UP/INTO OUR ORIFICES what *THEY* want us to have.

In the survey results I've seen, people prefer 3D skeuomorphic to 2D FLATSO by 2:1.

The only reason Win-10-nic has THIS many users at the moment is that MICROSHAFT HAS MADE SURE WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE. Except, Linux. Or Mac.

Re: Desperation

"Bin all of that and give me a clean and consistent desktop UI that's designed for a desktop PC please."

and without the 2D FLATSO FLUGLY.

"The Golden Age of Window$ has begun..."

I was thinking "Iron Pyrite" but ok.

Cuffed: Govt contractor 'used work PC to leak' evidence of Russia's US election hacking

Re: so was she a cunning linguist?

we'll probably find out once she's in the iron bar hotel. she'll have plenty of time to pump iron, too (see photo in article).

too many possible jokes to continue. /me self-censors

Re: Dear "The Intercept"

"or was some other identification method used?"

It was probably just good old fashioned police work. With Comey out of the way...

Re: Double Standard

"Why is Hillary still free???"

A scapegoat has already been found? (you know, this 'Reality' chick)

I can only think of a handful of very very bad jokes now.

"Reality" TV/journalism

"Reality" is a bitch

etc.

yeah, "the scapegoat". Will the FBI stop looking, or is it time to see if anything ELSE "smells like a swamp"?

Re: Gotta watch those names, folks

/me quotes from Robin Hood Men in Tights

"It's an Everlast!"

The open source community is nasty and that's just the docs

Re: It's the Internet

"WD-40 is a mixture which contains both volatile solvents and lubricants. "

'WD' means "water displacer" or something similar. If your frozen up mechanical thing is all wet, the WD-40 should loosen it up and/or get all of the water off of it. Then you clean off the WD-40 and use real lubricants.

In the Navy they use WD-40 to assist with "de-watering" electrical/electronic gear that has been flooded. Or, at least they USED to.

Re: Here we go again..

"women who submit code under male pseudonyms get it accepted more often, because apparently to project maintainers gender is relevant"

I call B.S. on that. just because you say it does not make it true.

Re: Well for Linus that's self defence

"Free Software has the problem of a huge influx of bad coders"

you get what you pay for, sometimes.

But the attitudes of many of the developers often reflect "academic arrogance" and "new, shiny uber alles".

Recently I griped about evince changing the UI so that, on a FreeBSD box, it displayed everything with an interface that LOOKS LIKE WIN-10-NIC, never mind that I wouldn't touch Win-10-nic with a 10 foot pole. I despise the 2D FLUGLY FLATSO and THAT is apparently now HARD CODED into Evince. So thanks, gnome project, for diving even deeper into the CESSPOOL of 2D FLATSO FLUGLY and arrogantly ASSUMING that the rest of us actually WANT that. [it could also be Micro-shaft's influence on the gnome project, embrace, extend, extinguish].

I mentioned it in an IRC channel for gnome devs. Even being nice, they're more like "use something else" "go elsewhere" etc. [probably because I mentioned MATE]. No concept at all of customer service. It's more like "take it OUR way or we shove it down your throat". Like Micro-shaft does.

Gay Dutch vultures become dads

Re: @Michael - Great story

"Mother Nature insists on perpetuating species using the old fashioned way."

This suggests 2 things:

a) there's probably no "gay gene"

b) it's probably developmental, though a recessive genetic trait (or combination of them) could also be responsible for "gayness"

there was an experiment done with male homosexual sheep some time ago. The scientists discovered that the area of their brains that was responsible for processing testosterone and aromatase [as I recall] was smaller, like that of a female sheep, in the male homosexual sheep. This could have been caused by a number of factors, from a breakdown of the blood barrier in the placenta [exposure to female hormones], to any number of other environmental or even genetic factors.

The point is, these male homosexual sheep literally had "female brains".

something to consider. Of course I don't know if anyone has been cutting up human brains but MRI and PET scans and other means might be interesting studies.

then again when politics and political correctness get involved, nobody can talk about the science and statistics any more. I prefer to "mind my own business" instead, and let people do what they want as long as it's not in my face and/or offensive.

Re: Great story

One to use when people say homosexuality is "unnatural".

not 'unnatural' just an aberration. And before you start emotion-bombing with ridiculous/irresponsible "*phobia" labels, look up what the definition of 'aberration' is with respect to statics. It is an anomaly that lies outside of the normal bell curve that has a predictable statistical occurrence, i.e. like the "1.8%" of human populations that are reported to be homosexual vs heterosexual.

seriously, some people just can't avoid the political agenda side of this stuff. I prefer to "mind my own business" when it comes to someone's sexuality. I think everyone ELSE should, too.

Performance anxiety: A different take on 'hybrid infrastructure'

Linux/BSD servers, "whatever" workstations

It seems to me that the best hybrid setup would be to use Linux/BSD servers with windows (and other) workstations, well firewalled behind the Linux/BSD servers for intarweb access, with windows running ONLY on those workstations where the business softwar MUST run windows.

properly administered, this kind of configuration has potential for high reliability. A private cloud for 'shared things' can help with that as well.

The biggest problem has been how Micro-shaft (particularly with Win-10-nic) is changing the authentication methods (again) on the network in ways that are ahead of Samba's supported features. When Samba is _BARELY_ able to act as an Active Directory domain controller, Micro-shaft moves the target again with their "Micro-shaft Login", one login to rule them all etc.

Some would say "one word: Kerberos" and they're probably right, but Kerberos has its own issues with timeouts etc. and from what I read about it, can be very irritating.

I'd think that RHEL or CentOS would've come up with a one-size solution for this kind of thing by now...

(go with that, get support)

'My PC needs to lose weight' says user with FAT filesystem

Re: It's been awhile (thankfully!) ...

typing DIR in a DOS box would render the message "Volume in Drive C is FAT"

change the volume name to 'TREADMILL' or "DIET" or 'SKINNY'

problem solved.

Re: SQL => Sequel

'Sequel Server' is IBM's trade name for their database (and I think Micro-shaft kept the stupid pronunciation).

However, "Es Queue El" is the name of the LANGUAGE, the correct pronunciation of the 'SQL' acronym in names like MySQL and PostgreSQL etc.

Every time I hear 'sequel' I want to *cringe*

The first time I heard it, I was taking an OS/2 class (pre windows 3.0) and talking to the prof about doing data analysis. He was (naturally) recommending LAN Manager and "Sequel Server". I couldn't find ANY reference to "Sequel Server" *ANYWHERE*. Had I known to look up 'SQL Server' I would have found it.

Big mistake for IBM to have pronounced it "that way". It doesn't even describe what it does properly.

Retirement age must move as life expectancy grows, says WEF

I plan on working until I'm dead

I plan on working until I'm dead. Retirement seems overrated.

65 is WAY too young for the gummint retirement. It should be phased up to at LEAST 75 in 1 year increments every 2 years. it would take 20 years to get to 75, but by then it would be equivalent (life-expectancy wise) to what it was like in the 1940's when 65 became "the retirement age". This argument has been going on since the 80's in the USA, but _NOBODY_ had the chutzpah to actually DO it.

then you can save things LIKE 'social security' (or its British counterpart, whatever that might be) while also making it available to people who paid into it all those years, etc..

But yeah, NOBODY wants to touch it, because the HOWLER MONKEYS will come out (and downvote) accusing everyone of being "something-phobic" or worse, because, Political Correctness.

Re: So... we should do the opposite...

"Basic income is an interesting idea"

you mean like COMMUNISM, right?

Every time the 'minimum wage' goes up, this is what happens: a) fewer people working in "those jobs" since employers can't afford it, b) every OTHER wage+expense goes up (inflation) to compensate, c) never-ending cycle.

If the "bare minimum" subsistence income is magically declared at "some value", then everyone earning 'that level' will ENDLESSLY WHINE for MORE.

A job is an exchange of "something of value" for work, presumed to be of the same (or higher) value as the "something of value" exchanged for it. Otherwise, it's a giveaway program.

If you want to see ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, then go ahead, DIVORCE the value of work from the amount that is paid, with "subsistence income". You'll see a whole boatload of lazy people laying on their couches collecting said income, NOT working because they really don't have to, and occasionally showing up as a paid protester or wikipedia re-re-editor or blog site "contributor".

Yeah we REALLY need THAT, don't we?

And don't forget - expenses will RISE to match the money pool available to pay them. And so "subsistence" won't be enough any more, and the hands will go OUT, with empty palms UP, expecting MORE. and MORE. and MORE.

Whoops! Microsoft accidentally lets out a mobile-'bricking' OS update

Re: “Today was a great exercise in our whole team coming together to solve a singular problem.”

it's also why 'mandatory updates' are bad.

"See we told you so", Micro-shaft.

(corrected spelling - tiny fonts hard to read - but previous version was funnier without the 'f')

Elon to dump Trump over climate bump

Re: In a Nut Shell

"If Musk withdraws from Trump, Trump will go on Twitter and call Musk names."

heh. I hope so!

Re: @bombastic bob

strange how people imply things that I don't say. whatever...

here, I offer you some light reading on some actual science regarding the CO2 thing:

http://www.greatians.com/globalwarming/greenhouse%20gas.htm

enjoy

Re: Coal stocks fell today

"There are no US jobs in coal. It's a dead industry."

Q: what is the recipe for steel?

A: iron + coal (and a few other things thrown in)

by definition steel is an iron+carbon alloy. how ELSE do you make it? Carbon gotta come from SOMEPLACE, and coal is a convenient source.

also don't forget 'clean coal' tech and power plants. just gotta build 'em.