Posts by Anonymous Custard
350 posts • joined Friday 25th July 2008 07:33 GMT
Re: Ebb and Flow
Indeed, a pint for the boffins.
They seem to be doing well with these "smaller and cheaper" missions - this pair plus of course Spirit and Opportunity all came in on or under budget and gave much more back than their original planning briefs asked of them. All in all perhaps there is some hope for the future in space after all...
Re: Or could it be....
@Greenawayr
Also, if you drop a book in the bath, it's only slightly less knackered than if you drop a kindle in the bath.
Perfectly true, but you'd be rather more pissed off if you dropped your entire electronic library in there. And also it's normally somewhat cheaper to replace the kind of book you'd read in the bath than it would be to replace the cheapest e-reader. Presuming you don't tend to want to risk splashing expensive first editions or other such expensive tomes
Your point about travelling and such guides when on a lengthy trip is a very valid one though.
Re: Or could it be....
Especially if bought second hand in a charity shop.
Also there are more potential issues for those who like to read in the bath, or on a beach holiday for example.
Posted in LOHAN's mighty orb launch live NOW
Re: Always "Late Delivery" !!
@Phil,
Nice one that man - good to fill in the gap and actually see the launch itself at last.
Posted in LOHAN's mighty orb launch live NOW
Re: Always "Late Delivery" !!
I wouldn't call it an "epic fail" by any means, arguably not even a fail of any kind. The launch worked (albeit a little delayed), and the worst that happened was some glitches in the web feed coverage and it ended up going a bit further than planned and getting a dunking.
But the primary items under test (the launching and SPEARS itself if I understood everything correctly) worked fine, and the other bits are fairly cosmetic. Plus of course by "failing" now rather than during the launch proper, there is time for review, improvement and adjustment.
Overall knowing what the 3G signal strength is in the area they were running around in, I was most impressed by how smooth the video-feed actually was (albeit not quite as nice as some views from the balloon itself would have been, but I guess that's a bit of an ask given the height involved).
And in the end it wasn't as if there was any obligation to do any kind of live-feed at all - par for the course would have been just some pics and canned video of the launch (which I guess we may get anyway as I think I saw Lester running around with a video camera on the feed) and a write-up (which I hope we also get soon).
So again a big well done to the whole team, and here's to an even better flight (and recovery) at the next stage.
Posted in LOHAN's mighty orb launch live NOW
Re: Bad Planning
I guess it's what happens when the brains of the SPB has to stay back and do her homework ;)
Posted in LOHAN's mighty orb launch live NOW
Re: Hi Corinne
We want a full report, presuming you survive.
Was a fun game of working out where the chase car actually was, and as said some good chat. Shame the main event feeds went a bit pear-shaped in significant places, as the others noted.
But overall nice one guys for taking the time and effort to try and include us all, and beer to the guys supplying the feed tech.
Re: @Phillip Lewis "OMG! I have upvoted RICHTO - the is nigh I tell you!"
Plus I'd say the quills on a flying pig add something to the overall mental image. Perhaps the evolutionary stage after their wings?
Either that or I'm too much in need of beer o'clock.
Re: Looks nice, but horrible to use
Intuitive after you've learnt it?
Isn't that a contradiction in terms? I always thought being intuitive meant you didn't need to learn it - it just was a natural progression?
Posted in LG claims UK Ultra HD TV first
Harrods
Must say that Harrods did surprise me the other weekend when we were there (taking the kids to see Santa) - their book section is now "by WH Smiths" (says so on the wall) and they had Twilight (the movie) merchandise on sale.
Of course still also had silly prices, but it did seem somewhat in danger of losing some of its reputation (whether this is a good or bad thing I leave to your personal judgement).
Because nothing says Christmas like a KFC "meal"?
“as a sandwich by sandwiching the fresh lettuce leaves and fragrant fillet in the bread, and topping it off with special mayonnaise.
I'm not sure what's more off-putting, the "fragrant fillet" (ie smells like it was cooked 3 days ago and then left in someones pocket), the "special mayonnaise" (bringing to mind cheesy 80s porn) or just the whole idea of an inescapable airline cabin reeking of the whole lot.
Like others have said, I can recall flying on JAL and enjoying the nice Japanese food that they served (albeit both the portion size and indeed the seat size were of oriental scale, but they did the job). I guess it's part of the sad trend that the modern younger Japanese just want to be Americans...
Re: Not that bad
A lot of that price though is probably the support contract (at least that's what our IT people keep telling us) and I don't see any word of that kind of thing here. I would be interested to know what an "industrial package price" (including machine, cover/keyboard and next-day on-site engineer support in case of issues) is for these things, and how it compares to a similarly spec'd laptop.
Plus whether there would be any kind of plan for desktop docks etc, for those who may want a decent sized screen when sat at a desk (touchscreen or not depending on preference and requirement).
Re: Tears
I must admit whenever I hear the phrase "Surface tablet" it brings to mind "Cyanide pill".
Re: Let's see now...
@ Herby - upvote from me, as you've basically described the machine I have for my personal use whilst on business trips (in tandem with my work laptop).
Processor powerful enough for what I need, HDMI (& VGA) output, 3x USB ports and an (upgraded) battery which gives an 8 hour runtime. Dual-boot Win7 and LUbuntu - ticks all the boxes I need it to.
Re: I feel it must be said
It's something about Star trek actors and crooning - Brent Spiner (Mr Data in TNG) did it as well, with several of his male co-stars as his backing singers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsUke0g4ajQ if you dare...
Posted in Dell launches Sputnik Linux Ultrabook
Re: Does not compute?
I'd love to know who exactly is the target market, as I would hope anyone willing to spend that figure on a laptop wouldn't be your average casual emailer or novice. And I'm no Linux guru, and if I can do that kind of tweaking then almost anyone can. Judging by the other comments in this thread (and the upvotes and downvotes that various posts are attracting) then I'm not alone in this viewpoint.
Oh and aside from the fact you haven't got a clue as to who I am or what I do, I never said I charged, I said it's my professional rate that my employer charges our customers for my services (and which they pay for lengthy projects). Although you are correct, it should be a bit higher than $300. I just wish it was the rate that I got paid...
Posted in Dell launches Sputnik Linux Ultrabook
Re: Does not compute?
@ JDX
Paying someone $50 to set it up to a generic image which I'd probably then spend a while re-working and customising for how I want things (and probably de-crudding given what mostly happens) isn't something I'd do. And that of course doesn't include giving the choice of what distro to fly with.
Plus having stuck Ubuntu and other distro's on various laptops at various points over the years (most of which involved sticking in the CD/DVD and leaving them to it) and indeed then having to spend an almost equal amount of time whilst they then went off and updated themselves anyway (a joy of all OS's by nature) frankly the additional time to do the first installation is minimal and you end up with a clean install set up exactly how you want it.
And in all that time I don't recall having any significant functionality missing, and indeed on one occasion a network card that Windows (XP at the time) refused to reliably deal with played quite happily under Ubuntu (which I was very pleased about, as until then I had thought the thing was going hardware-senile).
So yes I value my time (at my professional rate the $50 would be about 10 minutes worth), but I also value the time I don't have to spend undoing stuff before I can do it how I want it.
Posted in Dell launches Sputnik Linux Ultrabook
Does not compute?
So you pay an extra $50 to have a OS on the machine that you can download for nothing, as opposed to one which you pay M$ an in-built license fee for? Even the tailored image set up for the machine is available via the link in the article.
Aside from the note about the screen, why would you pay extra for Ubuntu rather than buy the standard machine, blank it and then put the image on yourself? Yes it saves a little work (and it's nice to have the option) but it's hardly worth a $50 surcharge for the privilege.
Re: You forgot The Vortex
Gronda gronda Rangdo!
Iridium
The name comes from the element Iridium, which has an atomic weight of 77. This was the expected number of birds to form the satellite constellation, launched between 1997 and 1998, but in the end 11 fewer were needed.
Just as well really, as Dysprosium (atomic weight 66) doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Would have made it sound more like an indigestion-cure. That said, given how hard some of the products were to stomach then I guess it may ironically have been more accurate.
Likewise here, as back-up in case the current incarnation dies/wibbles/takes a dive in the toilet. Also a somewhere handy to store the second battery (same as that in the primary phone) without risk of it getting shorted out by any of the other junk in the drawer. But the comment above about current build quality and hardiness to everyday life is the aposite one here.
That said given the physical state of the things after they've been in use for a while even the most desperate charity probably wouldn't touch them as even a poor African would turn their nose up at it. But I'm sure the kids would enjoy using them as play-toys.
It shouldn't be labelled an education tool - it should be an inspiration tool...
Re: Stuff adults don't think of
And it's actually quite telling that the first thing many people want to do (including many of the fellow commentators here) is put the thing in a case...
Slightly missing the point
It's quite right that schools may not need the PI, in that they have PCs which can do the job equally well. But the point is that they do need the debate and attention that the PI has generated, as an opening to show that the subject is there (that there's more to computers than games and Word/Excel/PowerPoint) and to show that there are things that people can do themselves.
After all, yes you can do a number of things on PCs that you can do on PIs, but up until the PI came about and brought the whole thing into the public eye those things weren't being done on PCs in schools (for the most part - I would happily except any school forward-thinking enough to be doing so).
I compare what my kids have access to now (a reasonably powerful PC each in their "ICT labs" at school) to what we had when I was their age (a couple of BBC Micros between a class of 30 or so) and see so much more potential of what could be done if they were used not only as information gateways and M$ Office boxes but also for lower level creation and coding.
So yes the PI isn't the be-all-and-end-all vital component that all kids need to have thrust into their grubby mits, but it is the source of discussion and window on what could be done already which the subject desperately needed.
Re: Or equally likely
I was thinking more of the news, but that's only because I try to avoid most of what you suggest myself (for similar reasons of sanity and mood).
Including those would change my original timeline to microseconds...
Or equally likely
A newly self-aware AI comes on-line, scans the net with regard to the current state of the world. Then after a few milliseconds worth of deep analysis, pondering and trying out various case studies promptly switches itself off in despair and refuses all attempts at switching it on again.
Well what do you expect for a rainy Monday morning, optimism?
I was wondering more if the next iPad will be powered by Higgs bosons or something equally exotic.
That damn place would make a fine American cousin to the LHC (in lieu of the Tevatron anyway).
Opportunity
And good to see Opportunity still going along, doing work and not getting forgotten by being overshadowed by it's bigger little brother. Let's hope it does outlast this latest potential threat.
Re: Money for nothing?
And if I remember correctly they subsequently admitted it was him they were talking about, even though they didn't name him.
SPB chief, in traditional local headdress, patiently awaits the arrival of WiMAX
But enough about Katarina, why the hell are you pretending to be a planter?
Re: because every computer has Bluetooth these days?
Although you can buy USB bluetooth dongles in the pound shop these days, which work remarkably well all things considered...
Windows 8 launch hasn't gone as expected for the world's largest software maker.
Whereas it's gone exactly as expected by everyone else...
So it's a swipe from the left, and then a move to the right...
Has someone in Microsoft been overdosing on Rocky Horror? Or perhaps Gangnam Style?
Re: So Much FAIL
I think you may have Android and "Don't plan to use a tablet at work" backwards (the 11% and 17% figures) with Android being the one at 11%.
At least that's based on other articles on the net based on the same report, although I can fully understand the confusion as both seem to be using the same grey colour on their pie chart.
Re: Not surprising.
But wouldn't it have made more sense to widen it a bit towards Win7 for non-touchscreens and Win8 for touchscreens?
That way if adoption of hardware goes towards touch if/when applications where it's a plus, then naturally Win8 adoption will follow. And if not then nothing's particularly lost and you're still on the optimised for application path, and worst-case Win8 can become a touch-niche.
That way Win8 could have its best chance to look good on touch hardware where it fits best, without all the negativity that has happened surrounding trying to jam it into non-touch kit where it doesn't fit and its relevance is much more questionable over Win7.
Re: Really?
From similar articles elsewhere on t'net, Android was at 11%.
Re: Damned Good Stuff, Trevor.
Indeed, they kinda add to it in a way.
Brings up the mental image of someone so irate and fuming at the whole thing that they can't even type properly.
The only other thing I would say is that being here in the comments of the original article may hide this beauty from people who don't generally bother to look in the peanut gallery. The thing deserves to be a full article in itself as a proper follow-up!
Not again
Didn't this happen a few months back as well, with just the same root cause? I have a deja-vu feeling about having to roll air back then as well.
Plus also there was a similar glitch in one of the Adobe bits built into Chrome which similarly borked iPlayer desktop unless you went in under the hood and disabled it.
Where's that damn popcorn icon?
Or failing that the shoot the lawyers one or the TM/patent meh one?
Re: Kill it.
Or just run away whilst it's getting its boots on?
Re: where managers earn their money
Forget hypothetical - look at today's news where a rogue digger in Moscow took out Russian communications to the ISS and their array of satellites.
OK a slightly different casebook, but similar electon pipelines.
As my old syshack used to say...
Never underestimate the transfer rate of a van full of hard disks.
Waiting for the "next Facebook news"
That membership and associated advertising revenue must be doing very well, as suddenly they have 20% more brand new pages on the site.
(Figure picked out of the air, but you get the point).
Divorce
So what happens when things become "it's complicated"?
Are we gonna get arguments from divorce lawyers?
"You have the page, I don't want it!"
"No you have it, I don't want it either"
Three Wise Monkeys
How about a 3 wise monkeys icon (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil)?
Specificially at the moment for Apple/Samsung patent discussions, relating to "I don't give a **** any more, I'm fed up with it" posts?
Re: Something linked to departing executives…
The exit door or a parachute perhaps?
Although it does go along the lines of the coat icon (<----- that one) which I guess it could perhaps replace.
Lohan
As an update to the Paris icon, and in honor of SPB's latest.
Posted in Skyfall makers 3D printed Bond's DB5
As impressive as 3D printing has become, Skyfall had a budget of $200m and we don't even get to see a real car explode. Cheapskates.
No matter what the budget, touching a real DB5 would be sacriledge.
