Posts by John Brown (no body) 25434 publicly visible posts • joined 21 May 2010
" (they've had 5 years since Windows 10 to plan the next version) "
Not really. It;s just patching on patching on patching. There are no new versions as such. When a new "version" is announced, what really happens is the coloured pencil department make visibly obvious changes by adding lipstick to a very slightly genetically modified pig.
Exactly. Any satellite without a guidance and positioning system isn't really going to be all that much use. Empty steering jet fuel tanks or worn out gyros are the life limiting factors, barring other operation failures. Using the last of the steering ability to point a SRB in the right direction at the right moment shouldn't be too hard. Making sure that a one shot SRB can sit in space for years and still work might be a little more difficult.
Yeah, words can be as slippery as H2 molecules in a sieve :-)
The plans was to launch. Something went wrong and the launch was scrubbed. They failed to reach the point of launch so could be a failed launch. Likewise, if a rocket ignites and starts going up and then explodes a mile or two up, arguably that was a successful launch but a fail in the flight, not actually a failed launch.
The situation you just described is a pretty rare occurrence, otherwise the news would be full of reports of bodies being found in ditches all over the countryside. Providing a service to millions "free for the first two years" where the actual need for it might be a very few people still sounds like a marketing gimmick. It comes across as "if saves one childs life, it's worth spending billions/restricting the right of millions/whatever" type of cries we here frequently.
I'm not saying this service should not exist, nor that it is pointless or useless. I'm simply pointing out that a hugely profitable corporation like Apple isn't doing this to save lives. it's a marketing exercise, for whatever reason they think they have for it. Maybe it's costing them next to nothing to add the feature and they think it's worth the extra expense for the reputational gloss they get from it?
It's certainly a new feature. But at this early stage, I'd suggest it's more of a "nice to have" option for a minority of iPhone users and not a "killer app". After all, *all* features are useful to *someone*, but when it's a small minority, it smells more like desperate marketing rather than genuinely useful for the many. There's not been anything really new or revolutionary in the smartphone market for a while now. New "flagships" are ann9ounced every year or two and they are only minor upgrade iterations of the last one. That, along with market saturation, is killing Apples "upgrade or die" model.
"Their constitutional position in each of those separate countries is identical."
Not sure of that. I was only half listening to something on the radio while driving up the M1 today when someone mentioned something about one or more of those countries constitutions referring to "The Queen", not "The Monarch". If I heard correctly, there may need to be a bit of hasty re-writing.
Yes, I also heard that on the news today too. I was a little surprised that plans were not already in place, just awaiting the final approval. The PO also said they have been told not to pulp or otherwise "waste" the existing stick of stamps, even when new ones with the King[*] on them are ready.
It still feels weird saying "King". I've had 59 years, my entire life, with the "Queen" on money and stamps. (Apart from the many King George and Queen Victoria coins still around when I was younger, pre-decimalisation, some so wor you could barely make out the letting on them)
...and remains burned on a bonfire of lawyers?
(I suspect that either Heinlein didn't know much about constitutional monarchies or it was just another of his "phases" that he went through re politics and political systems, since there's not much tyranny to be had in a constitutional monarchy. He was probably referring to absolute monarchs, which we've not really had ever since that gathering at Runnymede.
Agreed. The thing is though, what jobs do they need to be good at? All round mechanic and troubleshooter in case anything breaks? LEM pilot in case the automation fails? They won't actually be doing much science on the Moon. Just setting up equipment and collecting samples. Maybe an amateur selenologist to pick out "interesting" looking samples. One of them will be a government "minder" of course, to make sure there's no photos or video of the alien base. Or the Nazi base.
Tue. But the main point is, despite her early background, she's yet another Oxford PPE grad.
I'd like to think she might have a little more empathy with the majority of British people due to her background, but I suspect the circles she's' moved in since Oxford and her performance in government roles in recent years say not.
"our glorious unelected PM"
If you think a UK PM is elected, than you don't understand the UK political system. No PM is elected as PM because no one votes for a PM . Votes are cast for an MP. One MP from the winning party gets to be PM.
Sadly, thanks to the swamping of UK news with US political stories and the "americanisation" of UK political campaigning, many voters do actually seem to think they are voting for a PM and not a local MP.
"Many of the animals will rely on the morning dew to live I wonder how much this will reduce that dew."
Yes. Most "deserts" have an ecosystem. Few are the "rolling sand dune" we imagine when hearing the word "desert". They are not all like the sandy dunes of parts of the Sahara.
"Nope, no more than I assume you're defending Western/EU/NATO expansionism."
Errr, what? Western/EU/NATO "expansion" is not only voluntary, but countries *apply* to join, they aren't forced at gunpoint. The recent "expansion" has been a direct result of Putins neighbours being concerned about his *violent* and fear-mongering expansionism. Finland, for example, has been happy for many years to be a neutral between NATO and Russia. Not any longer. They are desperate to join NATO now. NATO "expansion" directly attributable to Putin.
Yep, I read "the most arid environments...a system which extracts water from airborne vapour"
If the place is so arid there's little ground water because it almost never rains, how much effect will taking even more water out of the local atmosphere have? The concept is interesting, but I suspect the practice and stated aims will not be achievable. On the other hand, they may develop some stuff chasing this rainbow that can be used in other areas. It all feels a bit "blue sky" at this stage, so not necessarily a bad use of time, but odds aren't great for success.
On the other hand, look at some of the great "accidental" discoveries such as Penicillate or Teflon :-)
Without getting into whether Musk is right or wrong, evidence not previously know about is often brought up in court if it confirms or strengthens your existing claims and evidence. If it was unrelated evidence leading a new and different claim, then it might not always be admitted.
Coincidently, we had a Yodel delivery today. Wife wasn't sure, but thought she heard someone in the back. By the time she got there, no sign of anyone. No one had rung the prominently displayed bell push or knocked on the door. She did notice a card about to blow away, caught it, and all it had on was a barely legible delivery number. So she checked in the bins, nothing, checked in the shed, found the parcel. I suppose we should be grateful the delivery guy found the right door number, right street and even the right town!
Or coming south over the Tyne Bridge from Newcastle Upon Tyne to Gateshead where you need to be in the left lane to go straight ahead and the right lane to turn left. Strangers don't see the flyover around an S bend and if not carefully noting the signs, often find themselves in the wrong lane. Likewise, same location, to head west, you stay left and turn east to go around a 3/4 anti-clockwise circle to approach the lights and cross the road and junction you just passed.
Not quite. On the Beeb, it was designed for that function, (although really designed for ROMS, not RAM). Most earlier micros did it as a dirty hack, often in different ways by different 3rd party add-ons. The TRS-80 model IV was designed to cope with 128KB with two switched 64KB banks too.
Most of the earlier 8-bit systems had extra RAM in one form or another from 3rd parties as RAM prices fell, but generally only the later ones had that as a designed in option.
"I really don't understand how my bank app runs to 121MB"
Apart from the graphics, there's probably also a library or three hard linked into the app with loads of functions, only one or two of which are actually used. Maybe a left-pad function that was too hard for the dev to code themselves?
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