Posts by bombastic bob

You've duked it out with OS/2 – but how to deal with these troublesome users? Nukem

Re: Timing is off..

it's my understanding that the Phoenix BIOS was NEVER licensed in any way from IBM. Instead, the IBM BIOS was reverse engineered, then a new one was re-written from scratch by a different team (see article link). I'm pretty sure that THIS was the trigger that REALLY started the clones ("true clones" and not things IBM approved of, nor illegal copies). There were many OTHER BIOS makers besides them, and it was mostly done without IBM's blessing nor consent... because the hardware specs were essentially "open" and generic enough.

This was a reason for microchannel for PS/2 by the way...

Re: Why reinstall Win3.1?

Warp was what OS/2 should have been in the first place. It's what happens when you get the market completely wrong (like IBM did, see my earlier post as to why) and they have to play "catch up" only everyone has ALREADY standardized on one thing, so why change?

reasons to migrate (back then):

DOS to Windows - makes sense

DOS to OS/2 - makes sense if you don't run windows stuff

Windows to OS/2 - why bother? NO compelling reason!

Re: Timing is off..

OS/2 1.2 was in 1991-ish. I took a programming (night) class on it, shortly before Windows 3.0 released.

From the article: "OS/2 was a joint development project taken on by IBM and Microsoft back in the 1980s and was regarded as the future by evangelists of the time. Things turned sour as sales of Windows 3.0 took off ".

I'd like to add some history to that, VERY relevant to today.

At that time Windows 2.x was all "2D and FLATTY" (like some so-called "modern" windows versions are today). And, so was OS/2 until version 1.2. But then, OS/2 1.2 'Presentation Manager' added full color support [requiring VGA as I recall] and 3D Skeuomorphic appearance to all of the various 'control' windows (like buttons and checkboxes and list boxes and so on) and of course that intuitively understandable GUI we all know and love from the Windowx 3.x days. It was a design based on ease of use and a transition from text-based interfaces normally found on the PC.

IBM wanted OS/2 to be synomymous with PS/2, however, like a high-end OS for their high-end PC. They were VERY angry about "the clones", essentially driving them out of the low-end PC market. unfortunately this meant that NOBODY could buy OS/2 for a clone - you could ONLY buy it for a PS/2, unless the PC maker had "an OEM version" of OS/2 for their line of PCs. Good luck with that.

Enter Windows 3.0 which was a marketing success because it TARGETED THE MASSES, ran well (enough) on non-standard PC configurations, and had that (much covetred) 3D SKEUOMORPHIC APPEARANCE. It was TRULY SUPERIOR to EVERYTHING at that time, except maybe for OS/2, which Microsoft ALSO wrote.

IBM blew it because of their STUPID marketing of OS/2 + PS/2. Microsoft WON because they did what people WANTED, i.e. a 3D Skeuomorphic multi-tasking GUI add-on that ran on existing MS-DOS machines [and was still compatible with old MS-DOS programs].

(but of course NOWADAYS you have MS turning into something WORSE than what IBM was back then... and NOT listening to customer wants, and instead "millenial PHONE-Y FEELS")

Don't be fooled, experts warn, America's anti-child-abuse EARN IT Act could burn encryption to the ground

Re: Fucking idiots.

making coronavirus illegal. Hell, THAT will stop its spread!

(same logic applies to everything else that "pass a law making it illegal" would do to 'the thing' the politicians happen to be BLEATING about at the moment... from GUNS to ENCRYPTION TECHNOLOGY to "content they don't *FEEL* you should look at")

NOTE: by me, *FEEL* is always used as a PEJORATIVE.. stupid "feelies" need to STOP trying to run OUR lives!

Oh, and it's always "for the children": (see icon)

Sadly, the web has brought a whole new meaning to the phrase 'nothing is true; everything is permitted'

Re: "...could I borrow $60 (US) via PayPal..."

you could always respond "I'll send you a check in the mail", get a mailing address, and then send a check, by registered mail, requiring ID and signature on the receiving end. Even sending it overnight express would work. Maybe worth it if you don't mind catching some "dumb crook" in the act of being, well, a "dumb crook".

Or, maybe you want proof it's someone you actually know. add "Please send me a photograph. So that I know it's legit, and not something you found online, hold up a sign that says 'I Am Sofa Kingdom!'"

You. Drop and give me 20... per cent IPv6 by 2023, 80% by 2025, Uncle Sam tells its IT admins after years of slacking

Re: Crap

you should use a Linux or BSD server on your network, and set up DHCP (including DHCPv6) and DNS. Then you can use names and won't have to remember the numbers [and IPv6 will become naturally available, depending]. I've been doing this for my own LAN since the early 2000's.

Re: @batfastad - Erm...

"millions of companies" = "straw man" [you assume they are making conscious 'we will NOT do IPv6' decisions when, in fact, it may simply be a lack of knowledge or even the unavailability of IPv6 blocks from their intarweb providers].

Besides, the "bandwagon technique" hardly proves ANYTHING. "Millions of people around the world eat bugs". Does not make me want to do it.

The biggest hurdle I have seen to general IPv6 adoption is a lack of direct support from ISPs. When the ISP gives you a router that has all of the IPv6 stuff working, and they officially support it (even via PPPoE), then you'll see a LOT more people using IPv6. Until then there are the free tunnels, for however long THAT will last. Setting them up requires at least some network knowledge beyond "average", in my opinion.

In any caae, anti-IPv6 FUD and "fake news" is (probably?) NOT helping.

Download this update from mybrowser.microsoft.com. Oh, sorry, that was malware on a hijacked sub-domain. Oops

Re: Hands Up

How to get junior system admins interested in cleaning up DNS: put some "easter eggs" in there deliberately so they can be "found" and eliminated.. These can include amateur pr0n as well as "potential blackmail material" and other fun things. And don't announce the grand prize, let them FIND the thing within the matrix of unmaintained sub-domains. First to find it gets the prize. And have more than one available, evn simple things like a free beer, half-day off, etc.

Boeing didn't run end-to-end test on Calamity Capsule, DSCOVR up and running, and NASA buys a Falcon Heavy

Re: Sounds like my workplace

well, I'm not convinced that NASA shouldn't subcontract more things out. If contractors can do it cheaper than "governmentium", WITHOUT sacrificing safety and/or reliability, then GO FOR IT!

From the article: study a metal asteroid between Mars and Jupiter to help humanity etc.

Seriously, to help humanity START THE NEXT GOLD RUSH! Droids first, then ultimately, individual space prospectors (or even corporate teams). SPACE PIONEERS! TRUE FREEDOM!

(if I could do it right now I would)

Amazon staffer based just a stone's throw away from Seattle HQ tests positive for COVID-19 coronavirus

Re: "So there is a high number of undiagnosed cases in that region"

"The phillipines have also reported a 33% mortality rate, with one dead out of 3 total infectees."

If we had reliable numbers about the true number of infected people, I suspect this percentage would be closer to the W.H.O.'s ~3%.

But there's a lot to be said about being in a place that has a better medical system. I was in the P.I. a couple of times when I was in the Navy. When you have a river of sewage separating the Navy base from Olongopo, it says something about lack of public sanitation. And I suppose it gets worse from there.

"3rd world" vs "1st world". Worth pointing out.

Re: "So there is a high number of undiagnosed cases in that region"

at least it's not 27,000

To the afflicted: keep warm, take vitamins, have some chicken soup, cold medicine of your favorite most effective type, and some adult beverages!

And viruses HATE capcaicin. Spicy foods like "chips and salsa", in a hot steamy bath, with some "corona" (beer). Get over that cold!

icon, because, part of the solution, heh

Drones must be constantly connected to the internet to give Feds real-time location data – new US govt proposal

Re: You missed a bit

internet connectivity should not have to be "just cellular". A remote control within range of a wifi hotspot should be sufficient, with connectivity via the remote control's channels. that way the remote control does all of the extra work, doesn't add weight to the drone, etc..

Similarly, remote control wifi connect to a cell phone hotspot. No extra cost.

SANE solutions are available, I'm sure. I think FAA just wants you to stay out of 'no drone' zones, and to be able to see who it was that was invading their space.

Autonomous drones would be a different situation entirely [but we're headed there, too]

But you know, if drone operators in general had been "good boys and girls" and NOT invaded controlled airspace, apparently "a thing", this most likely wouldn't be discussed.

And I expect that drone-mounted transponders would weigh more...

Starship bloopers: Watch Elon Musk's Mars ferry prototype explode on the pad during liquid nitrogen test

Re: They forgot the ping pong balls.

dry ice chunks work, too - slip 'em in quickly, cap the bottle, place inside dumpster, run...

Re: Wasn't planned

yeah this stress test MIGHT have been "unscheduled" though.

But a TRUE engineer would use its data anyway. "The stress test on the prototype caused it to fail at a level that was below expectations" aka "good test, found design flaw".

Re: Unsurprise.

I use it to view mine, see how many DOWN votes I'm gettnig. Heh.

Re: Unsurprise.

"after checking your post history, I think you just need a hug clue-bat"

heh

Re: Unsurprise.

"bunch of dudes just milling about randomly while 'stuff' was supposedly happening"

uh, you don't do much engineering, do yah?

if you ever HAVE,. you would know that it very often consists of a bunch of egghead types standing around discussing beer or baseball [in lieu of work, while thinking about the problem to solve], and occasionally coming up with a stoke of brilliance.

Last such meeting I got inspired, sketched something, handed it to the manager, who then [along with a couple of others] implemented it. And I was just sitting nearby at the time (working on something else).

So yeah cardboard+tape prototypes, hacked together cables, re-purposed "things", all typical. And the "milling about randomly" is a regular part of that, too.

HP hostile takeover warms up: Xerox queues print job cash_and_shares.pdf, mails it to the board to mull over

Re: Bugger off raiders

being as they probably use Win-10-nic and run Adobe's PDF viewer, I'd say that's a fair bet!

(by comparison, IBM would use Atril and Linux, most likely)

I have to wonder what Xerox uses, but that might be Apple [in which case a plethora of PDF viewers are available]

UK.gov lays out COVID-19 guidance as the tech supply chain considers its own

Re: No thanks, I'll go live on my boat...

I'm pretty sure there's a vaccine for ebola now... and soon one in trials for Corona.

All good. DON'T PANIC

(what is NOT so good is this "all eggs in one basket" mentality that has strangled the manufacturing industry, due to the supply bottleneck caused by non-strategically placing every egg into China's basket)

What, NOBODY out there ever heard of SECOND SOURCE? Oh, that one's in China, too. GOOD. JOB.

Microsoft's latest cloud innovation: Printing

Re: Support call

you forgot to ask if there was a child in the house (the '12:00' flasher - so-named because EVERYTHING! IN! THE! HOUSE! IS! ALWAYS! FLASHING! '12:00' !!!)

then again, I'd expect several more hours of typing on both ends before something this simple gets resolved.

How long until...

"allows printers to be registered with Azure Active Directory so users can print to them via the cloud."

How long until your "registered printer" either requires a SUBSCRIPTION FEE, or lets you RECEIVE JUNK FAXES...?

Yeah, register your COMPUTER on "Teh Intarweb" by logging in with Google or Microsoft Logon or some OTHER such "cloudy let you guys know what I'm diong right now" "service", which NOW includes YOUR PRINTER, which (I expect) CONVENIENTLY can be HIJACKED by a 3rd party that pays for (or steals) the knowledge about YOU and YOUR PRINTER, yotta yotta yotta.

Micro-shaft: Your past history with respect to OUR PRIVACY is already DISMAL. You want to ADD MORE TO THAT ???

[how about BUILD THE INTELLIGENCE INTO THE OS instead - NOT involving "cloudy ANYTHING"]

Microsoft's Cortana turns its back on consumers as skills are stripped from Windows 10

Re: Productivity

AC - I appreciate the snark. Well played!

Re: Productivity

"until an update" - the MAIN source of the "Start Thing" frustration.

That, and the overall 2D FLAT-ASS appearance. And everything FORCIBLY sorted alphabetically. And don't EVEN get me started on the rest.

Re: Re:Tiles

"The taskbar has mini-tiles in a sense, and everyone has no frustration with those."

WRONG

Re: Productivity

"My productivity would be greatly enhanced if I didn't have to keep accommodating to changes & breakages with every Windows update."

Yes, but getting Micro-shaft to FOCUS ON SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY FIXES PROBLEMS AND MAKES SENSE is like getting a GOVERNMENT to do that...

Oh, and a thumbs up for having said what you did.

("Up"grading - HIGHLY overrated!)

Re: Advertisers are the new Carny Folk

the updated Cortana experience

depending on the context, it could imply something rather *nasty*

[oh please, Cortana, don't, stop, don't, stop, DON'T STOP DON'T STOP...]

In the background, playing Jimmy Hendrix "Have you been experienced"

Re: Local account

Local account: That is the FIRST thing I set up when I set up a Win-10-nic VM [never on actual hardware] for testing software on that platform. I make DAMN sure I'm not using their privacy-nuking cloud-based "Micro-shaft Account" for ANYTHING, especially not the 'admin' account in a Win-10-nic instance [which I rarely, if ever, use].

yeah who gets anything from "the store" anyway, right? It was STUPID to require ANY of that.

And NOW, Cortana goes away too. Like Clippy. [Clippy *IS* gone now, right? I haven't used a Microsoft 'office' type product in a VERY long time]

And, seriously, WHO was that "bright bulb" "MENSA candidate" that decided that the SEARCH bar would "hit the cloud" *FIRST* anyway??? [that 'feature' needs to be *OFF*] I stopped using MS's search long ago, preferring instead to use find+grep under Cygwin... like I would in LINUX. Or FreeBSD.

Of course MS totally missed the boat when it comes to user customization. Win-10-nic TOTALLY tried to REMOVE that (any kind of CHOICE or PREFERENCE we users might have), INSTEAD cramming their "bright blue on blinding white" 2D FLATTY *HIDEOUS* UI concepts into our various body orifices, without even the benefit of lube.

So, INSTEAD, they could have opened up a method by which you could have your OWN search assistant, NOT tied through Bing, that didn't look/sound like Cortana. Maybe "Trixie" the porn-star assistant? Dressed like a Victorian maid, of course! And wanting to be PUNISHED whenever she gets something wrong...

(I'd buy THAT for a dollar!)

If you're writing code in Python, JavaScript, Java and PHP, relax. The hot trendy languages are still miles behind, this survey says

Re: Java tied for #2

The Java language has been #1 on the TIOBE index for a LONG time, occasionally trading places with 'C'. And somewhere WAY down the list, is C-pound... pathetically trying to stay RELEVANT.

And... because of the HUGE discrepency between TIOBE (which I trust) and THIS list (which I'm skeptical of), I have to wonder who's money is behind THIS one... (stack overflow is an indicator of people having problems, not whether a language is being used by competent developers).

I mean C-pound being MORE POPULAR than C or C++??? Wishful thinking, for sure!

A simple summary of TIOBE: #1 is Java, at 17.4%, followed by C at 16.8%, then Python at 9.3%, C++ at 6.2%, and *THEN* C-pound at an unusually large number of 5.9% (I recall it's usually below 5%, down in the low 4's). But C-pound has its occasional spikes. Average over time since 2014, close to 4%.

So the REAL popular languages have been that way for a LONG time. Java, C, C++, and even Python. Other scripted languages (like PHP and javascript) remain relevant, and ".Not" crap bounces around but remains relatively LOW compared to "the others".

So for a n00b programmer looking for a language to master, consider Java, C, C++, and Python. And if you are a project manager, and want to develop projects using one of those 4 languages, it's a safe bet you'll find competent coders to do the work.

post-note - went to redmonk site, saw light grey on blinding white with tiny font web page layout, and it became obvious: the people doing this are ALL UNDER 30!! Because anyone over 40 would have a VERY hard time reading that...

ASSEMBLY? How about BINARY MACHINE CODE!!! And no keyboard - you have to toggle in the 1's and 0's.

Time to svn commit like it's the year 2000: Apache celebrates 20 years of Subversion

"but a good 3rd party three-way diff tool as Beyond compare can even resolve many of those"

or 'meld'. It's free open source, works well on POSIX OSs, and is pretty flexible once you get used to it.

Re: Interesting

I'd say git is better if you intend to put it on github or gitlab or something similarly "cloud-based". If you want a local repo, I think svn is easier to set up and maintain. And learning to use the command-line tools is important, for BOTH.

Re: Yep, merge much improved

for me, merges work best if I use a tool such as 'meld' on the individual files, and try to apply it intelligently. but yeah merge tools are always where the best enhancements for usability can be made.

RapidSVN has/had the ability to invoke a merge tool (like meld). But that application seems to have lost support somewhere, and won't compile with the latest svn libs last I tried it.

Re: Fond memories

"managed to do so without being a radical change."

A lesson that *MANY* project managers need to learn...

(and no actual 'feature creep' from what I can tell, THANKFULLY)

Re: Hey, remember Windows 2000?

worse - remember SOURCE SAFE and storing its repo on Win2k?

"I'm sorry developer. Your source history and files are all in the bit bucket now"

Source UNsafe was my reason to use either "nothing" or CVS, and then SVN. Git came along after I'd already put everything in SVN. A customer had Perforce set up in 2007-ish though. They liked the fact that P4 also had windows servers [which I strongly discouraged]. And then the embedded Linux code for something with a 2.6 kernel had a few files that were different names but only in 'case', and the windows-based repos borked it up, requiring "managers" to re-think what I'd said. We moved it to linux-based of course, but IN A VM at THEIR INSISTANCE, still running on a WINDOWS SERVER [because manager *FELT* it was "more reliable" that way, go fig...].

My preference of course would've been to have done it on Linux with svn (or even CVS) in the FIRST place. [this was about the time I'd set up my repo in svn and also when FreeBSD migrated to it for the project, as I recall]

But I'm glad I stuck with svn. It's easier, in my opinion, to have an svn client/server thing running than to host your own gitlab or similar. Then I do nightly backups of the "svnadmin dump" and I'm good.

another good thing - it doesn't have a BOATLOAD OF FEATURE CREEP in it. Repos made 10 years ago probably work as-is without re-loading them. At least, that's how it seems to ME...

RIP Freeman Dyson: The super-boffin who applied his mathematical brain to nuclear magic, quantum physics, space travel, and more

Re: Nothing ignomious

I saw an aging character (one of the musketeers) say, in a movie, "I'd rather die in battle than in bed, in a pool of my own piss". Or something like that.

The fact that he was going to/from his old office at the time, apparently thinking about stuff and/or doing sciency things with his time, sorta the same as a warrior dying in battle...

agreed, sad to see him go. Even sadder (to see him go that is), he was apparently an anthropogenic climate change skeptic...

DEFINITELY even MORE sad to see him go. The world's average IQ probably went down a point.

Google updates Android Studio: IDE like multi-display support and a split-view designer

As long as they continue to use IntelliJ

As long as they continue to use IntelliJ, performance of the IDE itself will ALWAYS be pathetic.

And gradle doesn't help much, either.

By the way - that 2D FLUGLY screenshot - why are you doing 'droid development on (what looks like) WIN-10-NIC? If you're TRULY an Android developer, you'll use Linux!!!

And shadowing makes things look a whole lot better on 'droid !!!

'Developers have lost hope Microsoft will do the right thing'... Redmond urged to make WinUI cross-platform

Re: King's Cross Platform 9¾

wxWidgets looks a lot like MFC. You can write a C++ program using MFC, and after spending a bit of time on it [not a whole lot, actually] make it compile using wxWidgets, for POSIX systems.

My preference: just write for POSIX first, then make it work in windows.

Re: "Then why not just use something

" a cross-platform GUI is quite impossible, unless all the relevant players sit at a table and define a standard all of them abide to. Than UI development will evolve at a glacial pace."

I'm actually working on THAT VERY PROBLEM. A low-level X11 + Win32 toolkit with high-level APIs (and a "visual studio '97 like" IDE) that would make it possible to do exactly what you said. X11 'Event' style interface, with Win32 API similarities. high level and low level. Intelligent paint/expose processing. But I've been working on it for YEARS, and still need money to live on. So yeah.

I started coding for OS/2 in the early 90's [took a class]. I switched to Windows 3.x coding because I couldn't purchase OS/2 for myself without buying a PS/2. Windows coding was great until ".Not" and C-pound came along. That's when I switched my focus to Linux and FreeBSD, using FreeBSD as my daily-driver desktop, being truly disappointed and seeing 'embedded' and POSIX as having a better opportunity that windows UI.

GTK also works for cross-platform, worthy of mention. And wxWidgets.

(I only downvoted because you said 'impossible' - nothing is impossible - but some things, of course, are highly unlikely...)

Re: Just use Qt

how about this: JAVA

/me runs

Re: 'Developers have lost hope Microsoft will do the right thing' - 20 years ago...

what's "new" is the widespread admission of same

Re: Oh, no!

Exactly. They need to make an OFFICIAL WIN32 API LAYER like Wine (one was done for XP on Mac a while back, remember?) and THEN it would be UBER popular! I'd pay MONEY for that!

From the article: The modern app platform introduced for Windows 8

STOP! CALLING! THAT! CRAPPY! INTERFACE! "MODERN"!!!

Game over, man: Microsoft test engineer who laundered stolen Xbox credits into $10m guilty of fraud

it's a fair bet that whatever cash he managed to hide will be found, BY HIS LAWYERS, so THEY can get paid. And then they'll have to DISCLOSE IT, being officers of the court.

It's not looking good for Mr. Perpetrator.

Re: 7 months + 20 years = $0 million

since it's all going to be confiscated, and he'll have to pay LEGAL FEES and FINES on top of that...

and the "up to 20 years" in jail to go along with it.

Re: "he didn't intend to defraud Microsoft"

"Criminal intelligence" vs "Real intelligence".

Those who are criminally minded can have genius-level IQ, and even reason things out logically and "intelligently", minus that ONE detail: they think like CRIMINALS.

As a hacker, I think like a hacker. Being white-hat, I dedicate that thinking to security and good design principles. I assume that many people can "think like a criminal" (especially in law enforcement) and catch these people. But I've known a couple of people who have this kind of "criminal mindset". You can't get them to apply their intelligence to anything REASONABLE. They'll ALWAYS be looking for a way to do some kind of scam or rip-off or outright EMBEZZLEMENT in lieu of working hard and getting money the honest way...

Total Inability To Service User Pulls: GitHub wobbles with a good old Thursday TITSUP

Re: FREE SERVICE! Get your FREE SERVICE!

I've worked with private github repos for 2 different companies. It's not free. But it's not expensive, either.

Re: Now Windows based?

regardless of detail, switching to Windows broke things in the past (not surprisingly).

I wonder how much of that breakage was due to case sensitive file names...

Of course NOW we have github, which is (no doubt) FILLED with case-sensitive file names.

My guess is Linux is run by the cloud instances. That would be consistent with the original development of git itself. And Azure should be able to handle that, right?

Campaigners cry foul play as Oracle funds conservative lobby group supporting its court case against Google

"Government interference in business doesn't seem to me to be a particularly conservative position."

It's NOT. Well stated.

Microsoft's Windows OEM, Surface sales looking a bit peaky as coronavirus takes toll on China supply chain

"Its not as if its a high fatality rate bug like Ebola"

it's about 3 percent, worldwide, from the information I've seen, and influenza is about 1%. By comparison, SARS was around 10% [if the information I was reading is correct]. So, like the Hitchhiker's Guide says, "DON'T PANIC".

Symptoms (viral pneumonia) are apparently more severe than others, but seriously, stay warm, drink some alcohol, take the right medicines [including things like tamiflu which have been reported to be somewhat successful] and avoid infecting others, and everything should just go away in a week or so. "Re-infections" are like colds, apparently, why SOME colds last for days, others drag on for weeks - cyclic mutations being ONE of those reasons.

Bacterial pneumonia is the REAL killer. But a viral pneumonia like this one makes it easier for the bacterial versions to take hold and kill you. That's usually why people die of it. So if you get bad pneumonia, you see a doc and let him prescribe antibiotics as needed.

Basically, do the same thing you ALWAYS do for flu season, when the strain-of-the-year causes severe chest congestion.

Now what they're doing in China, essentially going door to door and rounding people up and apparently sticking them in "corona virus" quarantine camps [I'm being nice by describing it this way], and shutting down ENTIRE TOWNS and thereby ENTIRE INDUSTRIES from this, I'd say they're in PANIC mode. They need to STOP THAT immediately, allow the WHO to get involved, work with the USA [we've got a potential vaccine in the pipeline already], and get this thing DEALT with, rather than playing "totalitarian regime" and rounding people up like cattle [and treating them as such].

Unless... they WANT to screw the world's economy for some reason... like playing a sick/twisted kind of hardball on trade deals!

Flat Earther and wannabe astronaut killed in homemade rocket

Re: flight in a MiG 29, and actually seen the curvature from the passenger seat.

a) purchase weather balloon and associated launch gear

b) put stereoscopic HD camera on it [with enough separation to make long distances measurable]

c) use photos to measure the earth's curvature (or lack thereof)

It _WOULD_ make a good public 'crowd funded' experiment project, though. Have some university science department do it, maybe. Invite one or two flat-earthers as neutral observers.