Posts by Parax

Bad genes? US watchdog halts 23andMe's handy home DNA test kits

Does the FDA consider a hair cut a medical procedure?

In my opinion a medical procedure is something done to living tissue of the body NOT something done to an extract/secretion. If the dna kit is acting on a swab sample there is nothing 'medical' about it. likewise testing a stool sample is not 'medical' but instead a biochemistry procedure. However an allergy test that you apply to your skin is medical, as is any cream ointment or tincture that is likewise applied to tissue (that includes water sold as treatment homoeopathy).

Of course this is only my opinion, and not that of the FDA.

SCRUBBED: Technical oopsies halt SpaceX's bid for the Money Ring

Kerbal Space Program

As always it seems Jebediah Kerman was happy to launch even if SpaceX mission control weren't...

If you are curious about space and want to learn about orbital mechanics give KSP a go it's great fun and very educational.

'MacGyver' geezer makes 'SHOTGUN, GRENADE' from airport shop tat

Lithium Metal...

Which batteries contain lithium in its native metal form? I've only ever seen it as a grey paste compound.. I think there is some exaggeration going on here... the kind that says if you have H2O, you can make a Hydrogen bomb...

Also I would not like to be the one holding that "shotgun" I think that might be one of the deadliest places to be, based on the number of parts it disintegrated into... hardly reusable...

I have no doubt that there are some items that are dangerous in airports, I'd start by looking at the cleaning cart in the toilets rather than the duty free shop. but I don't want to live in a world where you can't take your laptop/phone on a plane at all..

Flying 360° panoramic camera poised for lift-off

36 cameras

Just seems like too many cameras to me.. Why not use fewer cameras with wider angle lenses?

Surely a dodecahedral arrangement of 12 would be good? afterall Google manage fine with about 8 for Street View. I cant fathom why you'd want 36 unless they have a bulk load of cheap ones in which case why is it still $500...

Oooh! My NAUGHTY SKIRT keeps riding up! Hello, INTERNET EXPLORER

I liked the video...

I think microsoft should stick to making videos.

DE-MON-STRATE! How a DALEK SAVED AUSTRALIA from a Dr Who drought in 1977

Is the video still available? it seems to be showing as private :(

Ultimate electric driving machine? Yes, it’s the BMW i3 e-car

Re: Why couldn't they make...

Have you seen the i8?

The TRUTH behind Microsoft Azure's global cloud mega-cock-up

infrastructure that scales

Infrastructure that scales.

GIMP flees SourceForge over dodgy ads and installer

hear hear..

I whole-heartedly support this action.

and about time too.

Google burns promise of 'no big banner ads'. Don't Be Evil next?

So...

Google defines Forever as 8 years.

I wonder how that compares...

Baldness fix from foreskin follicles

On waking after the op...

No Doctor, I wanted it on my forehead!

FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS: Microsoft faces prising XP from Big Biz

Re: UK Post Office

Doesn't the UK post office fall under banking regulation compliance?

US Veep's wireless heart implant disabled to stop TERRORIST HACKERS

Re: So Cheyney had a heart after all.

Yeah, but it was broken.

Oz bookshop to deliver by drone

Free drone with every book..

I like this idea..

PLEASE let us build Fruit Loop Central, Apple begs Cupertino City

Apple Donut

Mmmm Doughnuts...

Now that's real science: CYBORG MONKEYS with PROSTHETIC ARMS

I for one welcome our monkey cyborg overlords....

Now where did the welcome icon go :(

Leaping SpaceX GRASSHOPPER ROCKET jumps 2,500ft, lands safely

Hexacopter choreographer

Am I the only one who finds the hexacopter footage slightly disappointing?

Don't get me wrong I love it, but It seems like they are just turning up and shooting what they can.. which is still good, but could be much better. I feel they are not making the most of GPS waypoints. They (someone at spacex) should know exactly where the Grasshopper will be, so the hexacopter could be preprogrammed with a GPS sequence (using manual waypoint advance for timings if preferred) It would be superb to fly around the hovering grass hopper, and even drop down to the pad with it. (I'm not sure the hexacopter could match grasshoppers climb rate though...)

I do agree with Elon when he says: always look for what you can do better.

Control panel backdoor found in D-Link home routers

Who Else?

So who has control a of a zombie army of BT home hubs?

I've been asking the router question for years, seems I'm now getting answers..

Raspberry Picam magic: More snaps from LOHAN's fruity eye in the sky

Bah..

It's all just Pi in the sky...

Assange: 'I'm fond of your work, Cumberbatch, but let's leave it at that'

the Fifth Estate

Perhaps "An Inconvenient Truth" would have been a better title...

(yes, I know)

Oh, shoppin’ HELL: I’m in the supermarket of the DAMNED

self checkout

Is something every man of a certain age should be doing, but usually in the privacy of your own home...

None of us really want those 10 stone testicles...

Brew me up, bro: 11-year-old plans to make BEER IN SPACE

he's far too young to drink.

On earth maybe. but who makes the law in space?

London plod plonks, er, pull request on EasyDNS

Re: Point taken but...

A threat is a threat.

"are suspected to"

I find this very disturbing. I'm glad easydns have made it public, I shall be speaking to my MP about this.

The police are behaving as if they are the judge, jury, and executioner. This is unacceptable.

Once proved in a court of law, then a court order should be issued.

even then.. there are a thousand proxy browsers they won't care.

Printing the Future: See a few of UK’s 6.2 million 3D-printed ‘things’

Re: in the cabinet behind

That looks like Bloodhounds Steering wheel..

Some serious one-off bits of kit are being 3d printed, I think its a bit more than just a toy, when you spend 100k on a metal laser sinter printer. Yes the plastic rip-raps et al. are mainly for the hell of it.

but they are not all toys, not anymore.

Tech specs wreck: Details of Google's Nexus 5 smartphone leaked over internet

Nexus

Still surprised Motorola are not making the Nexus for Google.

tbh I preferred the previous Samsung Nexus. the LG version does not seem as responsive, I don't like the glass back seems bulkier and you can't put it down without it sliding off, and the battery is poor, my Samsung nexus would last 36 hours the LG sometimes only manages 18 hours.. (My usage has not changed.) and without a removable battery, that is very poor.

I'm tempted to swap back..(if the wife will go with it...) and If google cant be arsed to make decent nexus's I may end up considering a non-nexus like the htc one.. but I really hate the operator OS modifications with slow/poor updates.

'Safest car ever made' Tesla Model S EV crashes and burns. Car 'performed as designed'

Re: Safety features performed well

Need camera phones to have square sensors and auto rotate the captured image..

It's not the only car to catch fire.

This is not the first Accident of this type .

This is not a problem that is specific to battery cars. There is only so much you can design for. Accidents will always happen. In this case there was more time for a safe stop and evacuation.

Stored Energy has the potential to be released. Whether it is oil or battery based energy is dangerous.

So here are some figures on US vehicle fires. I make that over 500 fires per day.

The life of Pi: Intel to give away Arduino-friendly 'Galileo' tiny-puter

5v 3A

So not a mobile phone charger (5v1A) like Pi and Beagle then.. just another item for the cons list.

LIVE, my beauty, LIVE! Nokia revives dead phone with LIGHTNING powered Frankencharger

THIS.

SpaceX Falcon boosts to glory from Vandenberg space force base

Re: SpaceX

Public version is now up here.

SpaceX

The video from the SpaceX launch is not published yet, but I'll link you in here.

Sounds like the Grasshopper landing test achieved some goals, the engine was reignited twice, but did also suffer a flame out. no vid of soft landing test... not sure if there will be either.. but would be good to see some data maybe a graph or two...

Boris Johnson's ex-right-hand man's right hand lands johnson in web slip

Do you really think I would be that f****** stupid after 30 years in politics?”

But he is fucking stupid enough to take the pics in the first place.... and have them on his devices..

If you really need* the pics use a camera without connectivity and securely stash your memcard.

*presumably he's concerned that in a few years he'll forget what it looked like...

LOHAN rocket motor igniter goes pop at 20,000m

Good work all round!

Though I think Paul's "happy face" needs some work.

Highways Agency tracks Brits' every move by their mobes: THE TRUTH

If they don't get my phone number am i bothered? not really... but there is a concern that knowing which phone is at my house each night is a privacy issue..

Facebook Frankenphoto morgue will store your cold, dead selfies FOREVER

Assuming they use 4TB SMR drives: 4 x 345,600 = 1,382,400TB

Assuming Raid @ ~75% = 1.0 EB Total usable space.

So the 744 racks number starts to make sense...

Great Britain rebuilt - in Minecraft: Intern reveals 22-BEEELLION block map

Scale?

So what is the scale?

If each 1km grid square is a 20x20 block are we saying it's 50:1?

That's not bad, but I'd love a 10:1 or even 5:1!

Grand Theft Auto V: Violent, sweary and amazingly ambitious

I've not even looked at the multiplayer yet.

It's too early.

Nokia Lumia 625: Quality budget 4G phone ... but where's UK's budget 4G?

Re: What's the point of cut-price handset when there's no cut-price carrier plans

always jam tomorrow.

What's the point of cut-price handset when there's no cut-price carrier plans

Nail squarely hit. pointless.

As soon as the carrier plans become cheap 4g becomes oversubscribed and bandwidth plummets to next to rubbish. Exactly what we have with 3g the last hyped mobile 'broad'-band.. rubbish..

IT bloke denies trying to shag sheep outside football ground

Caught on CCTV

It was on Ewetube.

Korean stealth-scraper plans will turn 450 metre tower INVISIBLE

at certain points in the day it’ll be able to turn itself invisible.

Yes, I find that most objects become un-visible in the dark.

Google driver flees after Street View car crashes

Mob attack?

So looking at the multiple impacts on the windscreen and the smashed rear window I'd suggest there was a certain amount of mob activity involved too.. maybe the driver fled because of fear for his life rather than his money.

DRAMA at 75,000 FEET: Our Playmonaut's TERROR PLUNGE from EDGE of SPACE

Why no Rockblock iridium comms for GPS coords? surely you can make life easier on yourselves!

Life … moves … in … slow … motion … for … little … critters … like … flies

It's surprisingly easy to kill a fly.

Oddly you can take as long as you like to kill a fly on a window, by pushing a curtain onto it. complete failure to detect threat of imminent death.

Don't bother waving your hands around. just use a big white sheet of paper or a curtain and close in on the fly whilst it is sitting on the glass. easy as squashing bugs. Literally.

Time Perception.

It's obvious, time is relative to experience.

When you are young time takes forever, because to a five year old a year is 20% of a lifetime.

When you are old time flies by because to a 50 year old a year is 2% of a lifetime.

Simply put, the 1%'s fly by the 10%'s take ages.

DARPA: You didn't think we could make a Mach 6 spaceplane, so let us have this MACH TEN job

Grasshopper: it has not shown that the launch stack can spare enough fuel for this to happen

We shall soon see.. the next Falcon 9 Launch is the full size stack (60% larger than the current dragon launchers) it's using the octoweb engine configuration and it'll attempt a soft landing over water.. (which may or may not work depending on the radars ability to see water, as it's designed for land)

This is the first step in combining grasshopper into a real rocket. There are still many things that could go awry in just the rocket nevermind the soft landing. But its an awesome system nonetheless.

It's currently sat on the launch pad at Vandenburg afb, and is due to launch very soon (in days).

LOHAN hero playmonaut STRANDED on Spanish mountain

SPB Drone?

Sounds like a job for an SPB Drone. if the excuse were needed. You should be sending a drone to fly in to gps coords to video crash site, and report back, before you trek up to it...

Mid East undersea fibre telco hacked: US, UK spooks in spotlight

Belgacom

Is that some sort of euphemism?