Posts by LogicGate

I would drive 100 miles and I would drive 100 more just to be the man that drove 200 miles to... hit the enter key

Re: Just being pedantic...

You're welcome..

A remarkable improvement don't you think?

Re: Just being pedantic...

Go military and call them "Klicks", and the rhythm will work again.

However, seeing that the main goal with Brexit now appears to have been the ability to return to the Imperial system when going on a binge, why not replace "walking miles" with "drinking pints"?

I believe that this would make the song work well in a Scottish sense as well.

Ex-DJI veep: There was no drone at Gatwick during 2018's hysterical shutdown

Incorrect, it was a UFO, and it will remain assuch until identified (as a duck that repeats "you bloody fool" again and again).

Guntrader breach perp: I don't think it's a crime to dump 111k people's details online in Google Earth format

Re: My ten cents (or pence)

The "left" did not try to committ a coup.

..And why, in the name of everything that goes bang, do you feel the urge to modify a .22 caliber into fully automatic? What is the user case that needs protection?

Please enlighten me, why an American civilian needs the right to own anything fully automatic, or for that case, semi automatic with a large capacity magazine?

Are you expecting to go full Rambo and hold off a Russian invasion all on your own?

If you need 30 rounds to kill that copperhead or scare off that burglar, then you are doing something wrong!

Oh.. and funnily enough, it is the "left" leaning Hollywood that has trained generations to believe that all problems can be solved with a big enough gun..

Volkswagen to stop making its best-selling product for Wolfsburg workers: VW-branded sausages

That should be Würst Käse Scenario

NASA tests flying taxis made by biz dreaming of being the Uber of the sky

The elephant in the room..

While there is currently a lot of VC money available for the development of airtaxi's, especially if they are 3d printed and equipped with AI, I personally struggle to see them succeed beyond a niche market already covered by helicopters. The issue is one of noise. In order to generate lift, air must be vertically accelerated. For a VTOL air vehicle, the lifting fans / propellors must perform this function. The noise generated by this process is directly related to the disk loading (force divided by proulsor disk area). Since the weight of the vehicle (force) is unikely to be negotiable, this means that the vehicle requires a substantially higher disk area than a comparable helicopter, or the noise will be the same or higher than that of said helicopter. This requirement is counter to the wish for a compact and easy to handle air vehicle, which explains why I have not seen many air-taxi projects with overly large propulsors. While some positive effects can be achieved by tweaking motor rpms and relative propellor positions, I do not expect noise levels to come much below that of a helicopter.

Now imagine a city where a significant portion of the personal transportation was taken over be vehicles operationg at low altitude while emitting helicopter-level noise.......

LibreOffice 7.2 brings improved but still imperfect Microsoft Office compatibility

Re: Does "compatibility" mean having the same issues?

Microsoft office has trouble with Microsoft office compatibility. We moved our complexly formatted manuals to LibO after finding ourselves upening Word documents that Word could no longer open without crashing in LibO on order to re-save as a Word-file that Word could open again. At this point we concluded that .odt was the way to go.

Simple documents, presentations and spreadsheets are still made in MsOffice, but for real document generation, we go to LibO.

84-year-old fined €250,000 for keeping Nazi war machines – including tank – in basement

Re: WTF?

The problem is that this is Germany, and if Germany is seen to condone any kind of nostalgia towards the Nazi era, then the rest of the world community will be all over them like a ton of bricks.

Also, German law - written by the Allies after 45- take a very negative view towards Nazi memorabilia

Museums are a different matter, but these to will not gloss over the stuff that happened.

German schools spend a large part of history classes explaining what happened.

On top of it all, the country is still scarred with the ruins of the war. It is easy to find stone buildings pockmarked by ordnance, and many cities clearly show where the old city core disappeared in flames.

As a result, most Germans have a strong aversion against anything that has to do with the era.

You will NOT see WW2 reenactors outside of very iffy circles.

The man did not have the required paperwork, he collected Nazi weaponry...

To expect a different outcome would have been naive.

Re: Ha!

..And on this side of the pond, americans are easily recognizable by their baseball-caps, whether they are ammosexuals or not..

Tesla battery fire finally flamed out after four-day conflagration

Re: Extinguishers...

The general consensus for firefighting a burning Lithium battery appears to be to use not only water, but A LOT of water. Cool it dow, smother the fire, and continue to apply water after the fire is out. If you can, submerge the whole battery compartment in water.

Ex-health secretary said 'vast majority' were 'onside' with GP data grab. Consumer champion Which? reckons 20 million don't even know what it is

Re: Cronyism

With "the last lot", do you mean the May cabinet or the Cameron cabinet?

Rackspace literally decimates workforce: One in ten staffers let go this week

Re: So they are openly admitting to firing US workers and replace them with foreign ones

I suspect that this would mainly have been a question of how much money ended up on the bank account of the Trumpsterfire.

(edit:spelling)

Russia's Pirs ISS module scheduled to fall away, much like Moscow's interest in the space station

Re: space technology from the Third Reich.

That was just a stupid movie plot!

Everybody with half a brain knows that Mr. Hitler is hiding out in his secret base on Antarctica!

What else would U-530 and U-977 have been up to in 45?

Re: With a whimper, not a bang

While many western corporations handed themselves over to the Chinese for short term profit, I believe that, right now, space is one fielf where this has not taken place. Whether the ISS will become irrelevant, with single or multiple starships entering orbit and performing the same job faster, cheaper and better, or whether the ISS will grow into an orbital servicing and refueling station for interplanetary missions remains to be seen. However, I am more optimistic about space now than I have been for the most of my life.

Happy 'Freedom Day': Stats suggest many in England don't want it or think it's a terrible idea

Re: Odd...

I to am now fully vaccinated, and the 7 day incidence where I live is currently at 11 (up from 6).

Still I test twice a week and wear a mask when I need to be in close proximity to strangers. Partially because a vaccine is no guarantee against becoming infected (and an infected vaccinated person is a more efficient incubator for resistant strains), and partially because strangers will not know that I am fully vaccinated. Wearing a mask will therefore put them more at ease . Common politeness and regards for others is something that many on the other side of the fence seem to have very little regard for.

Re: Sheep

And that is why I would prefer to have the UK-EU border closed for unvaccinated / non quaranteening travel.

Annoyed US regulator warns it might knock SpaceX's shiny new Texas tower down

Re: And yet

I suspect that the issue is the planned erection of a tall structure within a FAA regulated area intended for takeoff and landing of aerial vehicles. Try to erect a skyscraper within the glide slope of a runway, and the FAA will be similarly amused. Seeing that the SpaceX site is intended for vertical takeoff and landing only, it is quite possible that the FAA would ultimately have allowed for the erection, however, they might prefer to be consulted before handing out the approval, since otherwise question might be asked along the line of: "Why did the FAA not do something about the tall tower that the rocket flew into, it is a FAA apprived launch site after all?

United, Mesa airlines order 200 electric 19-seater planes for short-hop flights

Re: Hydrogen?

Fuel cell becomes viable if you require low power over a long time. This aircraft appears to require the opposite. Assuming that the hydrogen storage issue can be solved, it might be a better solution to modify (simplify) a jet engine to burn H2. While most of the imissions would be H20, there would still be the issue of NOX emissions.

Re: Great idea.

HS2 will be replaced by HS3, wich will tunnel underneath England, Scotland, Wales and Nothern Ireland.

The main station will be underneath the Isle of Man, and the tunnel walls will be painted in a repeating Union Jack pattern. The station entrance staircases will be carpeted in over-size English flags made out of robust micro-fibers. The production contracts will be handed out on a no-competition basis due to Covid. The whole thing will prove to be an integral part in levelling up the UK.

Richard Branson uses two planes to make 170km round trip

How time flies!

Still.. AFAIK the basic concept of the feathering wing was Rutan's brainchild

True, but he has yet to strap himself to one of those.

..Now that is one event that I would observe while enjoying my Popcorn.

Especially if he invited Bezos to join him.

What is the most telling, is that only by adding a 3rd column for SpaceX would the table show the relevant achievements of the competing teams in a more true light. Space is not that hard.. Orbit is.

..And I truly hope that Mr. Musk will not do anything like that. Those that need to know the difference already know.

And still, congratulations to all 3 teams for getting stagnant space moving again.

A great achievement indeed, congratulations Burt Rutan!

Robots still suck. It's all they can do to stand up – never mind rise up

Re: Stopped by a blade of grass

Still not too worried:

https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/

Re: Perfect workers

"In Germany the employees are robots, repeatedly doing stuff and never questioning or challenging,..."

Having spent my working life in Germany, I do not recognize this description. Can you provide some sources?

A fairly interesting review of the VW factory: https://youtu.be/WlSxy_5GGh0

(With which I am not affiliated)

Florida Man sues Facebook, Twitter, YouTube for account ban

While I agree that it is a prickly issue, you must take into account that Mango Mussolini had already breached the TOCs multiple time. The only reason that Typhoid Larry had not lost his account earlier was because his insane tweets (which earned them a lot of money) were politically relevant because he was the man to whom the nuclear football (at the time located in the lost and found cabinet at Mar a Largo) belonged to. Normal users would have lost their accounts a long time ago. Once he lost the coup, he was no longer relevant and normal terms and conditions re-applied.

Re: Cheers

Interest ech i he ...

Seeing that the series contains only stick figures, the "episode" containing a "strip" is far less titillating than it may seem based upon your description..

Ouch! When the IT equipment is sound, but the setup is hole-y inappropriate

Re: SVGA cable screwed...

Lemmeguess: D-SUB HD22 (3 rows / VGA) into D-SUB HD20 (2 rows / old serial mouse)?

An easy enough mistake since the outer connector shells look almost identical.

...and the pins of a HD22 can indeed easily be crushed.

Toyota reveals its work on an honest-to-goodness cloak of invisibility

Hardness and maximum (tensile) stress are two radically different properties, and they should not be confused.

Re: Easy peasy

And not that novel:

https://www.evo.co.uk/jaguar/14825/jaguar-land-rover-develops-invisible-pillars-and-ghost-car-technology

We don't know why it's there, we don't know what it does – all we know is that the button makes everything OK again

Re: A Story about Magic

The reasoning is obvious. By putting the positivce on the inner core, your outer negative worked as shielding, either protecting your positive from a nasty EMI environment that it had to pass through... or alternatively, it protected the rest of the car from all the nasty EMI on your positive.

I just hope that you did not accidentally create a ground loop while doing so.

BOFH: Despite the extremely hazardous staircase, our IT insurance agreement is at an all-time low. Can't think why

Re: YAY! BOFH & Dabbsy!

Here... have some dried frog pills Mr. Bursar.

Baby Space Shuttle biz chases dreams at Spaceport Cornwall

The actual term used was "een pissboogen"..

..but yes.. most books will use "ballistic trajectory" in order to avoud controversy :)

Beer or sample? ----->

Juist to be a bit pedantic: That would not be a "low earth orbit", but rather (as my lecturer in orbital mechanics put it) a "piss-arch". Which is a nice term to keep in mind, when Bezos & Branson et al go on their expensive excursions.

Who gave dusty Soviet-era spacecraft that unwanted lick of paint? It was an idiot, with a spraycan, in Baikonur

Re: Shame

Bobastic: I often disagree with your opinions, but here is one that I can fully support.

Pity that the current cleptocracy in power makes it impossible for Russia to realise it's potentials.

Chinese AI censors live-streamed Alpacas – beasts with a very NSFW and political back story

Re: Meanwhile ...

Are you really putting the situation in the west at the same level as the opression found in China?

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

China sprayed space with 3,000 pieces of junk. US military officials want rules to stop that sort of thing

Re: Two faced?

I am not sure why you take differentiating uncontrollable shrapnel from space vehicles with working propulsion- and guidance-systems as a reason to start selling elephant powder.

Anyway, everybody knows that elephants are kept away from the strawberry-patch by means of very large mouse-traps. The various ointments and powders found on sale have been scientifically proven not to be anywhere near as effective.

Re: Two faced?

You are comparing apples with oranges.

SpaceX satelites operate in controlled orbits and are equipped with active controls allowing them to avoid collisions and de-orbit at EOL. Should a satelite fail, then the very low orbit that it follows means that it will re-enter the atmosphere in a relatively short time. The results of the chinese Rapid Scheduled Dissasembly come in all sizes (many too small to be tracked, but big enough to be lethal, they fly in all sorts of orbits, many quite elliptical (altitude varies, overlapping many stable circular orbits), and they will remain a problem for a much longer time.

God bless this mess: Study says UK's Christian beliefs had 'important' role in Brexit

Re: Great quote

Where I currently reside (in Germany), every second village is catholic. Apparently there used to be a certain pairing of villages, when it came to go looking for a life-partner that was not a cousin. I have never noticed any particular animosity between villages of different systems of belief.

Generally, the southern Germany is catholic, while the north is Lutheran.

Quality control, Soviet style: Here's another fine message you've gotten me into

Re: Such value for money

Comment from a Niva-owner that I know:

"It is amazing that it is possible to buld such a good car from such a collection of horribly bad parts!"

Also: The obligatory Lada Niva song:

https://youtu.be/gbdrllUXI3w

Good news: An end is in sight for the COVID-19 pandemic. Bad news: Nitrogen dioxide pollution is on the up as life returns to normal

Re: Sliver linings in the clouds?

For that, there are lorries sitting in trailer parks, many of them empty, some of them with engines idling to keep refridgeration going. In january, parts that we purchased from the UK took 2.5 weeks to get across the border. I hope that this is better now. Still, I agree that putting all those lorries on a (longer distance) ferry may have a positive impact on emissions (assuming that the ferry runs on a somewhat clean fuel).

Personally, I hope that fuel cell powered lorries will become a thing. The higher purchasing price of the system would be offset by lower fuel consumption over time due to the high conversion efficiency and the vehicle utilisation (unless it sits in a lorry park in Kent, that is).

What happens when cancel culture meets Adolf Hitler pareidolia? Amazon decides it needs a new app icon

Re: But humans with the moustache

Or ze Germans invented some amazing anti-aging treatments in the late fourties, and you are the only one who has made the connection and lived to tell about it ..

...so far..

Take care around Herr flick lookalikes.

Re: I guess sometimes you just can't win.

"Clearly they didn't check how it would be perceived by the public."

I think that the answer is somewhat simpler:

A logo was designed.

Nobody percieved anything negative about it.

Logo was released.

Somebody found a funny but unflattering inerpretation of logo.

Interpretation went viral because once you know what to look for, you see it (London olympics logo anyone?).

Amazon now had 2 choises:

1: Live with it

2: Tweak it so that viral interpretation no longer fits.

London olympics chose #1, Amazon chose #2.

No cancel culture, no ill meaning, you just cannot win them all.

Revealed: The military radar system swiped from aerospace biz, leaked online by Clop ransomware gang

Not impressed

So far, it sounds to me like they got their hands on external CAD data, data which is sufficiently detailed (useful for fit check etc) that it can be requested only after signing a NDA , but not sufficiently detailed to enable reverse engineering. There may be more undisclosed data, but this may just as well be criminals tring their best to inflate the percieved value of what they stole.

SpaceX small print on Starlink insists no Earth government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities

Re: Remember 1776 ......

"a collection of sports no one else plays"

Do you happen to be thinking of the very american sport of "hand-egg"?

British owners of .eu domains given an extra three months to find a European address

Re: The UK is in Europe!

So if it was not for Brexit, the complete current UK government could have been transferred to Brussels?

A lucky escape for the EU :P

Japan’s COVID-19 contact-tracing app hasn't warned users of encounters with carriers since September

Correction: I meant to write mid November, not mid October.

It is my impression that the problem was recalcitrant state governments. It was clear to everone that Germany should have locked down mid October. Instead they waited and waited until one week before the schools would close for christmas vacation anyway, and then they told people that they were allowed to meet for Christmas and new year. The result was that people took liberties (..I am only seeing one group of family members at a time.. ..Wheher I go shopping at home or go shopping at my vacation home 800 km away makes no difference..), and here we are. Still not as bad off as the UK, but a horrorshow nevertheless. And Mrs. Merkel, whom the Brexiteers have accused of running the EU, could not even push through a timely lockdown.

LibreOffice 7.1 Community released with user-interface picker, other bits and bytes

Re: Lacks the Polish?

I experienced exactly this issue with a large document with complex formatting.

In the end, we migrated all technical documentation to LO. MS Office (2010) is mainly kept for excel now.

With regards to calc: I just wish LO would introduce 3d (xyz) point and mesh (and, drool, textured mesh) plotting. I guess excel compatibility is keeping it back, which is a shame.