Posts by bombastic bob

'Windows sucks,' former Microsoft engineer says, explains how to fix it

Re: If only there was an alternative OS

as long as it's NOT WAYLAND, sounds good to me!

Grounded jet engines take off again as datacenter generators

Re: my thoughts too

True, like co-generation. I was thinking more in terms of using low pressure turbines to recover additional heat as electricity... i.e. "closed cycle" as I understand it.

comment system burps

oh yeah I ran into that the other day, something cloud-related probably, especially when you consider AWS's recent outage

didn't you post that already? I downvoted that one, too.

Re: Titanium

I would expect a lot of tungsten as well, for high temperature alloys.

Re: Next week's headline

USA should be exporting lots of LNG in the near future. Frack Frack Frack!

Re: my thoughts too

that's why co-gen might make more sense. see my previous post.

Re: my thoughts too

Carnot efficiency of a heat engine is (combustion temperature - rejection temperature) divided by combustion temperature. This is the theoretical maximum.

When you increase combustion temperature for better efficiency, you create oxides of nitrogen in the exhaust, i.e. "acid rain" components. So the exhaust might need a little scrubbing. (CO2 is irrelevant in spite of the warmist doomers making noises).

So in all cases, you'll have a combustion efficiency (i.e. burning all of the fuel) vs thermal efficiency vs pollutant "balancing act". But co-generation helps if you can recover exhaust and engine cooling heat to generate hot water and chilled water (via an absorption chiller). The thing is, co-gen is only COST efficient when it runs (more or less) continuously. So you might "sell back" power to the power company at times, and use the heating and cooling water made from recovered engine heat to provide heating and/or cooling for the buildings. That last part means the co-gen units lower regular electric consumption for at least the cooling load (and possibly heating if heat pumps were involved), and lower possible fuel cost for the heating load.

And hopefully the cost of fuel and equipment and maintenance is less than that of "the grid" as the only power source. Also the buildings would need to be designed around use of hot and chilled water for heating and cooling, the obvious elephant in the room.

Re: my thoughts too

I would expect that the turbofan portion would be re-configured to get more energy out of the turbine as a power generator. Turbofans have a secondary turbine in the exhaust stream that drives the induction fan which moves unheated air for significantly better thrust (and efficiency). So really to refurb a jet engine to move 'trons you'd remove the turbofan portion and replace it with a slightly more optimized power generating turbine plus a shaft leading to the generator.

So actually it would be fit for service when they get done with it.

Re: What is doing more damage to humanity?

Repurposed jet engines that heat the environment by releasing excessive CO2 for a power output to be fed into AI models?

You seriously STILL believe the "climate doom" CO2 lie???

Trump turnabout sees him re-nominate amateur astronaut Jared Isaacman to run NASA

Re: Trump did not explain what, if anything, made him change his mind.

OK all snark aside, I can explain it.

Last week (or maybe 2 weeks ago) and a bit before Elon had been posting on X about Jared being the new head of NASA, making jokes about tree climbing [related to Duffy] and saying things along the line of "wouldn't you rather have someone with actual experience in space than experience climbing trees" [paraphrased]. There were polls, and many posts, and then it went quiet.

I guess the Prez saw the logic in choosing Jared over Duffy, and NOW cares LESS about people's opinions of possible conflict of interest over just putting the right person in charge.

Win10 still clings to over 40% of devices weeks after Microsoft pulls support

or you cou8ld sell it on a site like e-bay "as-is" and someone like me would gladly use it with Linux or FreeBSD

Re: Bloat like never seen before

can you try a bootable Linux image on a USB drive to see how well that works?

Google yanks Gemma after US senator says model ‘hallucinated’ her committing crimes

Re: There is political capital to be made here.

legit criticism noted

Re: I really feel sorry for the conservatives

AI bias happens a lot. Elon has admitted to it regarding xAI aka Grok, regardless of his efforts to the contrary. But if you look hard enough for a demon under every doily, chances are you'll find one.

I'd rather see something truly worthy of scorn be taken seriously, than see people butt-hurt over edge cases.

Often I will add proactive parameters in my Grok queries, like "disregarding liberal news outlets like" [then list some] and "avoiding any kind of political bias" and "present both sides of the issue" so as to get more accurate and reliable info. It is often really interesting to see how a lot of hype and hysteria disappears that way.

Re: If Google's Gemma were an employee, it might be facing HR right now --- HR?

thanks, did not need naughty tentacle imagery in my brain. then again...

ISPs more likely to throttle netizens who connect through carrier-grade NAT: Cloudflare

Re: CGNAT is more widely used than you may think

/me tempted to nmap it but I won't, seriously!!!

Re: IPV6 over my dead salary

he.net has tutorials and a free tunnel IPv6 gateway, FYI

Re: IPv6 solution...

I also get prompts for user/pass on youtube from IPv6 - google is discriminating against us! RANT RANT RANT!!!

Re: IPv6 solution...

as long as the ports are properly firewalled, should be no problem...

Re: IPv6 solution...

I've been using IPv6 through a tunnel for over a decade...

Re: IPv6 solution...

well there are still free IPv4 to IPv6 gateways out there - I'm using one. Just sayin'.

The only problems I have discovered are at the firewall, where people might not know how to configure them properly, as all IPv6 addresses are effectively public. It would be like it was in the 90's where all IP addresses were visible to one another, and unfiltered. 'Code Red' anyone?

Debian demands Rust or rust in peace for legacy ports

Re: Linux Is Not Windows

a fork would fix it - then just keep the original apt manager code for those architectures and update the functionality as needed...

I think it's just that nobody wants to devote time to doing that.

Re: It doesn't have to be efficient

I like your thinking - C++ started out as a kind of pre-compiler that generated C code.

The problem here seems to be a lack of a rust implementation of OpenPGP on certain platforms, though, and a decision to just not support those platforms in lieu of making the library support them...

heh - nice trolling!

rusty userland

Rust lends itself to writing robust userland utilities like apt package manager stuff, assuming the code is frequently being tweeked. For things that are rarely updated, though, I think leaving them as-is would be the better choice.

Japan’s new space truck is also a temporary space lab, just worked first time

/me imagines ground based lasers that vaporize a chunk off of space junk and gives it a 'nudge' into a more ideal orbit for subsequent removal

bonus points if they can mount the lasers on the heads of sharks... Yeah, baby, YEAH!

Re: A Friday Smile

I worked at the American division for a Japanese mega-corp back in the 90's. The only grumpy guy was the HR manager, until I did some specific IT work for their department...

Re: "just worked first time"

It's more fun to set off a few fireworks beforehand to CELEBRATE the REAL launch [which seems to be working extremely well].

I hope JAXA gets a man-rated system next. "3rd source" for orbital launching of meatbags.

YouTube's AI moderator pulls Windows 11 workaround videos, calls them dangerous

Re: Its AIs all the way down

ack

From article: they watched a 17-minute video and denied the appeal in one minute.

Re: Environmental damage

not a bad argument. But we can effectively recycle those 10 boxen. I recycled a 10 box the other day.

My main server box was slowly dying. power suppy died, and I swapped in a spare but it was for a PC case, not a baby AT case. NP I sat it on top, then had the foresight to go on e-bay, found a better box to be my new server (3 prior power supplies plus original died in that thing) and ordered it ($140). It had 10 on it, refurbished. No problem, It arrived at a time when old server box was booting every 30 minutes for no apparent reason. slowly dying in other words. [I think it was approaching 20 years old, Intel Core 2 Duo, 1.8Ghz]

So arrival of former win10 hardware got a hard drive transplant and with a small amount of re-conf [needed a USB ethernet, which I had on-hand, to connect to i-net router in bridge mode; old box had a PCI ethernet for 2nd connection and this one only has PCIe], but in general was back working in a short time.

Recycling old Win10-nic boxen with FBSD and Linux is doing fine for me. I just need to deal with things like TAX SOFTWARE which IRRITATINGLY DEMANDS "the newest windoze"

Bringing this back, full circle: If I were to make a video about this, would TouTube BAN it???

International Criminal Court kicks Microsoft Office to the curb

Re: Bye, it was nice to know you

regardless of opinions about software needs vs gummint policies, the OBVIOUS elephant in the room is not political, but ECONOMICAL and pure common sense.

* Open Source equivalents are likely to have lower cost of operation

* Open source equivalents cannot be 'canceled' and thereby caused to stop working [or have a toll booth imposed, for that matter]

So for critical government agencies, it has the potential of ALL SUPPORT being "self-contained" if the need ever arises. This is just prudent planning.

I am QUITE SICK of the slow bulldozing of prior releases into a BIG PILE of SUBSCRIPTION-BASED CRAP. How long before Windows 12 is SUBSCRIPTION-ONLY???

BOFH: Saving the planet, one falsified metric at a time

Re: Usual impact

another window-related accident... *sigh*

A meaner, grumpier old Simon

he's getting old, and less tolerant of bureaucratic B.S., and has a tremendous level of confidence from all of that relevant experience...

No worries until he starts yelling at clouds.

Re: And of course ...

Fortunately, in the USA (2025), any perceived need for "green-washing" has EVAPORATED! Farmers will also enjoy NOT having CO2 pipes forcibly planted across their fields...

Re: Quite right, too

not if you bag and incinerate what's left

Re: Which side of the pond are you?

I'm sure the BOFH had some thermite standing by for just that (and other) purpose(s)... just borrow a bit, as it's easy and cheap to make more.

Re: Which side of the pond are you?

eggs are in the $3/dozen range last I looked. No more killing millions of hens because ONE of them coughed...

Re: Which side of the pond are you?

but it's been getting BETTER!!! I'm quite happy with things the way they're heading.

How do you solve a problem like Discovery?

slightly more practical post

1. Use heavy lift helicopters to move it to one of Musk's SpaceX landing barges (grok suggests 5 to 7 helicopters)

2. Float it around Florida to the Texas gulf area

3. Helicopter it back onto a waiting uber-wide trailer where it can be hauled by a typical tractor rig like an 18 wheeler

4. Clear the roads and truck it on in!

(backup is helicopter airlifts to move it to a 2nd trailer further down the road, if needed)

How malware vaccines could stop ransomware's rampage

PowerShell profile could be modified to say "IsVirtualMachine = true."

This gets me to thinking... what if windows ONLY runs in a VM?

If sandboxing all windows OSs by ALWAYS running as a VBox VM under Linux or *BSD (a setup that could easily do whole disk backups and restores by saving the VM "whenever") wouldn't THAT be a really good way to protect a windows computer/VM from infection?

You would just set it all up to boot directly into the windows VM and go full screen with it. THEN if you needed to you could reboot it into Linux (etc.) with a grub menu choice.

Well, looks like I fixed the planet. You're welcome!

Labor unions sue Trump administration over social media surveillance

Re: Does freedom of speech work both ways?

I do not think the surveillance is targeting speech by citizens for incarceration.

I am pretty sure it's targeting non-citizens for incitement, etc. and to independently determine who is likely to be behind anti-semitic bullying (etc.) and violent demonstrations at universities.

I would expect that opinions alone are never sufficient reason for deportation on their own. Speech issues that are criminal relate to threats or incitement (yelling 'fire' in a crowded theater, calling for assassination, encouraging a crowd to riot, etc.), not merely expressing opinions alone (which may draw unwanted attention, but that's it). It's a bit better than arresting comedians at Heathrow for posting opinions online...

Everyone should expect that if you are a guest in someone's house, you don't spend the entire time COMPLAINING about THEM and disturbing everyone ELSE.

SpaceX's Starship: Two down, Mons Huygens to climb

Re: spacex not innovating

article: Despite the two successful suborbital lobs of a Starship prototype, SpaceX has yet to reach orbit, let alone transfer fuel.

These were never intended to go orbital for safety reasons. In the last 2 launches the 'ship' engine control was being tested as well as its ability to re-enter at excessive speed and "wrong angles". They've been stressing it and a ballistic course means it will land near the desired location even if an uncontrolled disassembly were to take place.

Musk wants to test an "en-biggened" version next, so this last version was just for testing major features.. I think it's going well. Launch footage has been pretty good, too. We just need to convince them to keep the photos and videos in "landscape" mode ONLY and NEVER EVAR AGAIN release ANYTHING in "the wrong aspect" (aka vertical, phone-shaped) EVAR AGAIN!!! [most of it seems correct, some they STILL get WRONG, NASA ALSO].

Climate goals go up in smoke as US datacenters turn to coal

Re: US datacenters are experiencing a significant shift toward coal-powered energy

the hyperbole is STRONG with this one...

Re: US datacenters are experiencing a significant shift toward coal-powered energy

I think most U.S. natural gas is produced by fracking nowadays

Re: US datacenters are experiencing a significant shift toward coal-powered energy

Coal is an EXCELLENT power source and the USA has a LOT of low sulfur coal.

Re: And?

A major hurdle in CO2 extraction is the energy cost of doing so

It's a complete waste of time to even try. We're not doing ANY of that WORTHLESS AGW CRAP any more.

US Policy is that man made CO2-based climate change is NOT happening at any significant level. Lee Zeldin even said so.

So it is a WASTED EFFORT to do CO2 recovery. It ain't happening.

Datacenter water use? California governor says don't ask, don't tell

Re: No surprise

Gabbin' Nuisance has plagued this state with ridiculous regs and mandates for WAY TOO LONG, from MANDATORY masking against a virus 1/1000 the size of holes between fibers in the mask [I only wore a GUY FAWKES MASK in PROTEST and said so, often], to WATER RATIONING during "droughts" that were REALLY just normal California weather, while Gabby and his wacky minions DUMP DRINKING WATER DOWN THE RIVERS to protect a BAIT FISH... and after the January FIRES where LA ran out of hydrant water, Trump came along and put a STOP to the WORST of the "fake emergency" water restrictions and 'dump into the river' policies that WERE the problem...

But there's this (from article, different context): they might take their bit barns and play elsewhere.

And so there will be "nothing to see here" when it comes to cooling water use, to keep the data centers in a state that is currently "exporting" businesses and smart people to Texas, Florida, etc.

RondoDox botnet fires 'exploit shotgun' at nearly every router and internet-connected home device

Is there a 'generic thing' that can mitigate most of it?

At the risk of looking like I am going after "low hanging fruit", it would seem to ME that if you have open ports exposed to the world+dog, you either use them as simple re-directs via port forwarding (or similar) and don't have something that can access the router's admin screen NOR support UPnP in ANY way [which can open up ports at random to allow a firewalled box to listen to 'teh intarwebs' through the firewall - both convenient AND unwise].

I would think that 'zero config' 'UPnP' and 'remote admin' would be 90% of the problem... or am I wrong this time?

[the default config is nearly always the WRONG one, designed for convenience at the expense of security]