Posts by bombastic bob

Self-imposed climate change may have killed Martian life

good analysis

Re: Kickstart terraforming

yeah "liquid" but the same way as melting ice or even glass, as I understand it. behaves more like solid or cold molasses.

But yeah you'd need to nuke the CRAP out of Mars' core to get it making magnetic fields again

I agree on the "life is probably everywhere". Even with the idea of intelligent design, why would a god NOT create life on multiple planets?

I do have some trouble with their assumptions, an H2 + CO2 atmosphere. Earth had a high CO2 atmosphere early on, which most likely favored plant life until the CO2 was consumed (this was CO2 from volcanic activity).

Atmospheric gasses usually accumulate because of volcanos. Gasses and compounds formed in the mantle end up in the atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere is ALSO being sustained this way, as I understand it.

Elements exist in a predictble percentage based on isotopes and so you can expect x% nitrogen, y% oxygen, etc. whether as compounds or as elemental gasses. Example, Jupiter has a lot of ammonia (all that nitrogen) and H2+He in "solar proportions" due to its near sun-like gravity, as well as some water and maybe ice at the core, whereas earth has N2 gas and lots of water and probably lost most of the H2 and He from the relatively low gravity and solar winds. Oxygen will quickly form water from hydrogen, depleting the remaining atmospheric hydrogen and raining onto the surface, and so CO2 + H2 without even N2 (let alone O2) on a smaller planet like Mars seems very strange to me...

Additionally lighter gasses tend to get blown off by solar winds, especially when a planet's magnetic field gets weak. Mars has little or no volcanic activity and a nearly solid core that generates little or no magnetic field. It is smaller than earth and farther away from the sun, and that is probably why. So solar wind would eventually strip away everything lighter than CO2, leaving CO2 behind. That is what we see now. CO2 is one of the heavier gasses in the atmosphere and that is why you still find it n Mars.

If Mars had an atmosphere more like Earth's (O2 N2 H2O etc) with the same CO2 partial pressure as it has now, it would be VERY earth-like. I ran the numbers once on this just to be sure.

So although this model is interesting (somewhat), it has (as far as I can tell) NO evidence that it actually happened. So no biological climate change for Mars, either.

Loads of PostgreSQL systems are sitting on the internet without SSL encryption

The preferred method of remote access by developers is using SSH

agreed. I have somewhat generic scripts for both forward and reverse tunnels, easily adapted

PC shipments fall at fastest rate ever as businesses slam wallets shut

from the article: "Windows 11 would underpin a massive refresh cycle"

then you mention:

"As we head in to a seemingly global recession" etc.

"Is it really only me?"

Not just you. These kinds of economic factors are intuitively obvious to those who understand these things.

Prior to layoffs and cutbacks, businesses stop buying new computers and related hardware, and try to make do with what they have. And if Windows 11 (like Vista did) has extra hardware requirements, no "up"grade to windows 11 either.

reference THIS reg article too: https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/10/windows_11_adoption/?td=rt-3a

I suppose Micros~1 was VERY short-sighted when they released 11 with the extra hardware requirements when they SHOULD have been able to predict BOTH the inflation AND the recession back in November of 2020.(it was released october last year). So in effect the Micros~1 marketeers did a LOUSY business forecast (So much for ESG-style thinking). And because of the lackluster nature of the "new shiny", the need to buy new hardware is greatly diminished.

So right now companies want to stay alive without laying off. As things get worse, this may change. I do not know how bad things can get in EU and UK right now after Putin's pipeline was destroyed, but here in the USA the high fuel prices and even higher living expenses mean employees want BIG raises. and companies have to cut costs wherever, they can, and those pay raises are likely to be lukewarm to none at all.

So yeah, no extra $ for equipment upgrades at the moment.

For me this means wait for a bargain before I replace my server with something I build from scratch (like the others) because it is ~15 years old. Sometimes low demand brings low prices so those who have a budget can take advantage of it, NOT get the bleeding edge machine, and have something that would have cost me 5 times as much if I bought it 2 years ago.

[assuming I survive the recession]

[unrelated I do not like this new interface for comments. the edit font is STILL way too small and now the buttons look 2D FLATSO like Win-10-nic. AT LEAST ADD A SHADOW EFFECT - if you want a CSS example I can give you one]

California to phase out gas furnaces, water heaters by 2030

do Californians live in the real world?

SOME still do, but the rest are in CLOWN WORLD

Re: All-Electric Homes

"Medalion Homes" - I remember those, advertising on TV even. I lived in one in the 1960's, but it had gas central heat and gas water heat at my mother's insistence. They actually HAD IT BUILT at the time. It's worth over $1M now, but neither my mother nor myself nor my siblings saw ANYTHING out of it... the side effect of (mostly bio-dad) parents making VERY bad decisions.

Re: Ridiculous

It's those laws of physics, getting in the way again...

And now another shoutout for Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority"

NOTE: there is potential with things like peltier devices; however I do not know how large a peltiere-based heat pump would have to be to provide adequate energy transfer. A much better way would be to sink pipes 50 or so feet into the earth, where the temperature tends to be above freezing in most places, and use that as a heat sink/source for a heat pump. The question is whether or not the extra expense and maint costs are worth the benefit...

Re: Scrubbers for fireplaces?

the very bill this article is writing about is banning gas grills too!

You KNOW that there will be people driving their SUVs and pickup trucks to Nevada and Arizona to get a propane grill and plenty of fuel for it, right? Or, sending someone ELSE to do it.

Those with money do NOT have to obey these "laws".. "THEY" will ALWAYS have "nice things" - UNLIKE the rest of us!!!

2 words - the name of a restaurant: "French Laundry" - a perfect example of this 2-tiered snobbery. During somewhat recent lockdowns, Gavin Newsome took his family to a restaurant when NOBODY ELSE COULD GO TO ONE, and they DID NOT WEAR MASKS (the ones they demanded US to wear). SImilarly Nancy Pelosi got a hair cut in San Francisco and was photographed doing so without a mask, when ALL of the hair salons were in lockdown [except for servicing HER]. THIS is who these people ARE. Without arguing the moraiity of shutdowns and lockdowns and masks, it is OBVIOUS that for THEM, it is "ONE LAW FOR ME and ANOTHER for THEE..." [they must view us as plebes, mooks, and serfs]

Re: Scrubbers for fireplaces?

If I must have a scrubber on my fireplace

THEN CIGARETTE SMOKERS NEED SCRUBBERS TOO!!!

(there. I said it)

Re: Not "Half the Power"

that's kinda true.

Often the 220/240 outlet is split phase, depending. I am not sure if my 220 outlets are or not.

am pretty sure the electric stove is on a 220 circuit, and there's a 220 outlet for an electric clothes dryer. But I use gas for that. Also the water heater and central heating (gas). I'd rather keep it like that.

Re: Wishful thinking

If my bedroom gets to cold at night *I* *AM* *SICK* *ALL* *OF* *THE* *TIME*

My thermostat stays where it is, with supplementary portable heaters as needed. Since I am limited to 15A on that circuit, they can't be very powerful, either. It gets amazingly cold sometimes, even in Southern Cali-Forn-You, along the coast.

Re: Are they mandating the replacement tech?

Have you run the numbers and a cost analysis to prove your claims? "Because I *FEEL*" is not good enough to make long term plans, you know...

Re: Nukin' it J-Style

oh it shut down just fine. the emergency cooling did not run, though, because the tsunami flooded the diesel generators. If it had NOT been for the flooded diesel generators, no leakage would have ocurred, and no meltdowns either.

decay heat is as high as 8% of operating power immediately after shutdown (which exponentially drops over several days to something more manageable), and nuclear waste (stored in the buildings) constantly emits heat. The inability to cool them resulted in melted containment and radiation leakage.

Re: Are they mandating the replacement tech?

electric heat in Cali-Forn-You is MORE EXPENSIVE, regardless.

I own a GAS CLOTHES DRYER, which I purchased DECADES AGO because they are WAY cheaper to operate. Same basic idea as gas heat. I also prefer a gas stove (but have not had one of these in a long time) because they are faster responding and easier to control the level of heat, among other things.

The ONLY effect this is going to have is to drive anyone who is NOT a "rich snob" out of the state!

(I will be quite old by then - Texas is looking a LOT better!)

Soaring costs, inflation nurturing generation of 'quiet quitters' among under-30s

Re: Managers beware

That's possibly true. Those with a sense of "entitlement" are probably more likely to "quiet quit" than those who are "achievers" with a strong work ethic.

It's a turning point in your career when you suddenly realize that you are a VENDOR and the company you do work for is YOUR CUSTOMER, rather than "a job" being somewhat entitled to you, justifying a LOT of blame and complaints and the willingness to stir up trouble because "wrong pronoun" or "boss yelled at you".

And pay scales are based on how profitable YOUR job is compared to how much it costs to have you in that position, If you make what YOU do more valuable, by hard work, experience, or efficiency, then promotions and raises SHOULD follow... and if not, keep your resume/CV up to date and spread it around.

"Quit Quit" is likely to follow you around. It can NOT be good for your career,. Co-workers are often good sources for new positions (especially if you are a contractor),. But if they know that you get lazy to protest things, they may not recommend you so readily...

Girls Who Code books 'banned' in some US classrooms

Trans-formers - more than meets the eye!!!

Re: critical race theory, sex education, and inclusive gender language

pronoun... pain. Seriously ???

I'm just gonna stop now before I rant for 14 paragraphs.

Re: Ban Harry Potter!

I agree, the attempts to ban Harry Potter were pretty lame. And I would consider myself to be a christian, though I do not go to churches [sometimes God's fan club can be irritating and even toxic].

That being said, I do hope that in the case of these "Girls Who Code" books that the arguments from that Mom's group are not equally as petty. They could be. Or maybe not. More information is needed.

icon, because, it's possibly ironic

Re: One day they will look at their daughters killed by the Moral Police...

I have not seen prohibitively expensive feminine hygiene products, nor sports bras that are more expensive than boys' T shirts. So I do not "get" what you are saying. I actually go to a store on occasion and have purchased such things for a female relative so I have a pretty good idea of the costs involved. Maybe the only place you can find them is at an expensive department store, but places like WalMart and Target (here in the USA) have these things pretty cheap.

I do not think any of what you said makes ANY sense at all. And how is the price of women's clothing and hygiene products in any way MYSOGYNISTIC? (REAL mysogyny may exist in places like Iran and Afghanistan, but not in westernized countries, not any more)

Re: The last sentence of the article has it.

That;s MISTER SCUM to you.

Re: The last sentence of the article has it.

No. just no.

Re: Mission creep

In My Bombastic Opinion there is not enough information in the article to make any comment, especially without any specifics.being mentioned. I can speculate on possible topics not suitable for kids of all ages but I do not even want to REMOTELY go there without some specific examples.

There are just too many political hot-topic bezerk-button things these days that occasionally find their way into kids' books and set off atomic rage in one or more groups of people whose bezerk buttons get pressed by "fill in the blank."

On the surface this Mom's group sounds like concerned parents whom I might agree with on a lot of issues. But they could also be religious fanatics or something, and so more information is needed to understand what is really happening here. They should explain to El Reg and give some examples.

Anyway, need more information. How else can I put it?

GNOME hits 43: Welcome To Guadalajara

Re: No mention of the nightmare that is GTK4? Why not?

It's almost impossible to move from GTK3 to GTK4 without a total rewrite......

Which is YET ANOTHER reason that major packages (firefox, thunderbird, vlc, wireshark, and so on) should NOT DO ANY DEVELOPMENT for GTK4 !!!

* Colossal waste of time

* Isolate/abandon Mate and Cinnamon users

* Very little benefit, apparently HIGH cost in time and debugging

* No future in GTK4 (or Wayland for that matter) In My Bombastic Opinion

"Just Say NO"

(and maybe it will ride off into the sunset, never to be seen again...)

Re: The strive to be a desktop on mobile has killed both KDE and Gnome

I forget which KDE was used by Linspire but it looked and worked ok for me. Then again I quickly replaced Linspire with Debian (this was long before systemd) so I could have an inexpensive Linux box with an OS that I believed gave me more choice and a better way of maintaining it.

(and my desktop of choice at that time was Gnome 2, back when gnome was pretty good)

I disagree. The point of open source is NOT to create your own "fifedom" unless you like a small audience or are just doing it for fun.

The point of open source is to collaborate, either by just giving what you do out to the public sphere (with a license if you want), or to assist others by fixing/improving their stuff. Or testing. Or feedback.

my sentiments exactly! (unfortunately there is a small subset of very vocal, unfortunately influential users who influence these projects and possibly inject money into them... maybe Micros~1?)

Gnome devs became like arrogant Micros~1 "developers" when Gnome 3 was released. Linus had a nice rant about it. It was mostly capitalization and use of the F word if I remember correctly. Deservedly so.

"We will, we will, FORCE YOU"

(to be all 2D FLATTY FLATSO FLATASS McFLATFACE with! Adwaita!)

this "force you" mentality DOES! NOT! BELONG! IN! OPEN! SOURCE!!!

I thought Mate, Cinnamon, and Devuan spoke LOUD AND CLEAR on this.... (but some apparently need stronger affirmation, like maybe a clue-by-four)

Loath, because limited to Adwaita (which i SPECIFICALLY loathe) and 2D FLATTY FLATSO McFLATFAC, unless I misswed something along the line.

Any major software package that uses gnome at ALL needs to consider GTK2 and GTK3 support rather than GTK4 so that Mate and Cinnamon users aren't left out...

How to turn off the 'Adwaita' look in firefox:

a) use mate and install "mate-themes" or similar, basically to get "TraditionalOk" (other desktops YMMV)

b) from command line select TraditionalOk for GTK3

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme 'TraditionalOk'

c) in about:config

widget.content.gtk-theme.override = TraditionalOk

widget.non-native.theme.enabled = false

reload browser (or maybe just the page) and that *HIDEOUS* *ADWAITA* *SCROLLBAR* will *GO* *THE* *@#$%* *AWAY* and be replaced with a REAL one. of your choice.

Amazon accused of singling out, harassing union organizers

Re: Toilet Politics

"targets" - then the "fridge moment" happened..

yeah about that - I'm guessing that efficiency experts focused on whip-cracking the warehouse employees by increasing their 'targets' rather than finding ways to make it POSSIBLE for a non-stressed non-whipped employee to just naturally get things done more quickly...

(then the urinal analogy becomes even more appropriate)

Re: "what staff can and can't do in break rooms and other non-work areas"

that's the perception, yeah.

That goes with the perception that their employees are being treated like disposable NPCs in a video game (which is why they are unionizing).

Re: In todays headlines..

On average, unionised workers earn up to 15% more than non union workers do. They have better benefits and working conditions.

This is why unions exist (says Captain Obvious)

Corollary: If Amazon had fixed this (wage scale, benefits) without the unions being involved, there would be no discussion regarding unionization.

Amazon should be doing whatever they can NOW to get a favorable union contract and THEN just let them unionize.

Alert: 15-year-old Python tarfile flaw lurks in 'over 350,000' code projects

I usually use the '-t' option to test tarballs before extracting, usually to see if it has a top level directory or is more of a "tar bomb" i.e. no top level directory (meaning I have to change directories before extracting).

maybe a quicky utility could be writttten to use 'tar -t' to scan for files with ".." in the path, then flag it or something like a malware scanner would.

Tesla Megapack battery ignites at substation after less than 6 months

Re: Wait until we get te cheap Chinese knocks-off

then your battery would be the size of your fist and you would swap it every 1000 miles.

Unlikely. Chemical reactions that make batteries possible do not have that kind of energy density.

The limits of physics and chemistry apply to all levels of auto engineering, from material strength, melting point, and energy stored in a gallon of fuel, to the energy capacity of batteries and even the efficiency of tires gripping the road.

Internal combustion engines became lighter and more efficient but you cannot escape the realities of burn temperature, exhaust pressure, and atmospheric composition. Similarly electric cars have road friction, motor size and weight, battery and power conversion inefficiencies, and maximum energy densities associated with the chemical reactions of the batteries themselves.

electric drive is more efficient when you look at "not idling" as proved by hybrid engine cars. And for fuel replenishment and distance, the hybrid cars are superior to all electric. It's all just physics and chemistry.

Re: Wait until we get te cheap Chinese knocks-off

I expect that if you were to pound a railroad spike into the battery pack of an electric vehicle, a fire would result.

Similarly, several 30 caliber rounds from a single shot bolt action rifle (using 1906 cartridge design) might also do the trick.

Rapid discharge, over-discharge, both do damage to the Li Ion batteries and can cause swelling, fires, and so on. A cell reversal could be disastrous (so hopefully this is being monitored continuously). The tech works fine if you do not short out or otherwise physically damage the cells, so long as you stop discharging them completely (not even a trickle) when ANY cell voltage drops below about 2.5V.

It's sort of like carrying a butane lighter, which if mistreated has enough fuel inside to do some serious damage, but works safely when used as designed.

Re: Look to Dinorwig

ask yourself this: how many cars would it take to respond to a 10% increase in electrical demand, something that might happen when everyone arrives home and starts turning lights/heat/AC/stoves on...

capacity of one electric car - about 50KWH (being as generous as possible)

Total electric demand on average in USA - 450 million KW (if I calculated right, 3.9 trillion KWH per year / 8760 hours per year)

number of fully charged plugged-in cars it would take to sustain that for one hour - 9 million (being generous). That is average, not peak (when "help" would be needed, so at least DOUBLE that demand value for a more realistic estimate).

And do not forget that for every KWH coming out of a car, most likely 1.1KWH (or more) would have to go back IN.

A 10% jump would need 9 million cars to take up the slack for one hour - and with an unrealistic generous estimate of around 1 million cars plugged in at any one time, they'd be completely drained in about 7 minutes... unless my math is off. No driving for YOU until it re-charges in several HOURS.

Realistically this kind of battery drainage would damage the cars, so you can probably assume the demand peak would have to be more like 1% which is NOT very practical, assuming that people are willing to have their car batteries COMPLETELY drained like that. I doubt it.

using plug-in electric car batteries for peaker storage is an impractical pipe dream.

Solution: BUILD MORE POWER PLANTS TO HANDLE DEMAND THE OLD SCHOOL WAY (nuke plants preferred for oh SO many reasons!)

Re: Look to Dinorwig

U.S. Navy subs always used Pb-acid batteries, like a car battery. Typical lifetime, like a car battery, around 5 years. Maintain them the traditional way, and you'd have a building full of batteries that could store many MW hours of elecltricity. Sure it uses lead. Sure, it uses acid. But if you keep it well ventilated, and do not allow H2 gas to build up nor ICV to deviate too much from one another, the battery is relatively safe as proved by decades of use on U.S. Navy subs and in cars.

Sometimes OLD SCHOOL is the BEST

Again citing Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority"

(of course the energy needed to mine and refine the components of Li Ion batteries probably uses MORE DIESEL FUEL and COAL than a power plant would, at least In My Bombastic Opinion - and of course ENRICHES COMMUNIST CHINA since THEY typically make the LiIon batteries and solar panels and so on)

Re: Look to Dinorwig

well rotational momentum is what it is. It works both ways, too, extra energy needed to get it up to speed again.

Re: Look to Dinorwig

getting a damn built in Cali-Fornicate-You would take DECADES due to environmental activists, corrupt politicians, and the worst red tape factory on the planet...

But pumped water storage would have turbine losses based on pressure differentials. It's a physics thing. Not against it, just saying there are losses associated with pumping water (friction) and using it to make electricity (turbine efficiency). One resource suggests 70-80% overall. So 1000MWH in gets you 700-800MWH out.

not a panacea by any stretch of the imagination

My preference would be gas turbine and natural gas diesel plants located in critical zones that could be started and stopped at a moment's notice.

Re: Explanation ... and commentary from the trenches.

PG&E has an oil burning plant in Moss Landing - a BIG one. Maybe it is time to EXPAND AND IMPROVE THAT ONE...

(instead of sending money to CHINA for batteries that halt and catch fire)

Meta, Twitter, Apple, Google urged to up encryption game in post-Roe America

using Dobbs decisoin to demand something that really SHOULD be demanded...

From the article:

campaigners want to ensure that people's chats discussing procedures outlawed at the state level can't be obtained by the cops and used to build a criminal case against them.

I personally believe that the Dobbs decision (which allows states to restrict or outlaw abortions, but would not prevent you from getting such services in another state) is being over-hyped with a LOT of the usual FUD, during an election cycle.

The concern seems to be centered in the idea that state law enforcement would "come and get you" by scanning your private communications looking for "violators" in some kind of electronic fishing expedition. Granted, we should ALL fear that "in general" especially with recent cases and warrants against high profile people including the "My Pillow" guy.

So, I am *ALL* for better end to end encryption! And, I believe that this needs to be SERIOUSLY considered by all service providers, with phone applications and password prompts (and/or biometrics or even FOB keys) and so forth when needed.

Still it's a bit disturbing that the people driving this may have at one time been FOR all of that snooping, until it scares THEM for whatever reason...

In Rust We Trust: Microsoft Azure CTO shuns C and C++

do not forget Silverlight, Metro, UWP, ...

Re: Would I like someone with at best 12 years of RUST experience

I wonder if some HR mook will post a job that requires 20+ years of Rust experience...

Re: Came here for a bunch of fossils who can't admit their fave language is shit

I'm tempted to say something like "OK, Junior"

heh heh heh

The world is fllled with examples on what happens when "the next generation" decides "it is OUR turn now" and they immediately re-invent everything to be THEIR way, and then work through the same kinds of previously solved problems that the old way solved just fine, ones caused by doing it "Their Way".

Yet another gratuitous mention of Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority"

(if you have never had to create the equivalent of a C structure in either assembly language or FORTRAN, then you may not be capable of appreciating the beauty of programming lingos like C and C++)

heh - Y2K as it should have been

Re: Replacement versus successor

Oh no - I just had a nauseating though... Rust-pound (Rust#)

It make me think they should make an extended version of a programming lingo called "Sand" so we can call the new one "Sand-pound"

Re: Hold your horses!

null pointers, double frees, buffer overruns, data races etc.

I rarely see that kind of bug. Usually I see infinite loops and bad logic. Easily found and fixed. Rust would be "about the same" I'd think.

Those pointer-related issues can also be resolved in C++ by use of abstract objects with reference counts.

/me once solved 'asynchronous allocated memory lifetime' bugs by using ref counts on each allocated buffer instead of trying to manage things with state variables. The end result is that the code became faster as well, which most definitely sold the idea to everyone. It seemed to me to be the obvious solution.

Re: Hold your horses!

That belief is what is driving the enthusiasm for Rust despite being completely untrue.

I think the one selling feature to NOT adopt Rust is interoperability. That, and a learning curve for your existing experts in C and/or C++ (that last one bothers ME a LOT, wasting weeks or months getting back what I already have with the existing tools and programming lingos).

So, do we really need to re-write a large number of existing libraries code bases in Rust so we can use them again? This may or may not be justified (I really do not know) but it IS a concern, at least for me.

Re: Hold your horses!

a troll will ultimately make pejorative comments, not attempt to make a point.

maybe some people just come for a good argument? (instead they accidentally walk in on Graham Chapman instead of John Cleese)

Re: Thanks but no thanks.

I'll stick to C when unavoidable, C++ where needed and scripting languages everywhere else.

from a practical standpoint, that makes the most sense, especially if you are in IT and need to solve problems as they appear and keep things running the rest of the time.

re-learning "New Shiny" everytime Micros~1 announces something is a colossal waste of time anyway. I'm thinking Silverlight, and that "Metro" thing. BOTH ARE BIG FLOPS.

And I stuck with C++ for any windows progs I wrote, which was not many, and they run fine on 7 too.

Still they ARROGANTLY chose to "Deprecate" C and C++. Who died and made THEM *GOD* ???