Posts by Eddy Ito

Re: so much wrong here...

Also, nearly all of the earthed/grounded variety get installed upside down because it makes them look like a face.

Actually there was no standard, hence no "upside down", prior to NECA 130-2010 and with many cords outfitted like this and wall warts like this one it made sense to have the ground pin on the bottom if for no other reason than gravity. Of course such items still exist and it isn't like anyone is going to cough up funds to mandate and inspect houses to ensure that all the electrical sockets are installed so that polarized wall warts actively work to remove themselves from the socket and have the earthing pin on top, note that few actually have a screw to retain them.

It was likely easier in the UK to switch since many appliances were delivered with bare wires and no plug and being just after WWII there was probably quite a bit of remodeling to be done anyway. Trying to convert all the appliances in the US would be near impossible on a cost basis alone as many folks can't plug things in right much less swap a plug on a power cord even if we could mandate a socket change.

I grant the UK plug is a better design albeit imperfect but then I'm dissatisfied with most electrical connectors. Don't get me started on the fact that the car cigar lighter has somehow managed to become a standard for 12V DC power. The horror, the horror.

Gee Tim, that would also put most politicians out of business. If they don't have the media to fawn over every word how are they going to convince the peoples that we really do need more F35s more than fixing the crumbling bridges. It would allow folks to make informed selections when voting.

I'm not even going to wade into one the yawning chasms that exists in the U.S. over hot button topics like pro-choice v. pro-life.

Let's not forget that if Imagination dries up and Apple grabs the remains at a discount, it quite effectively kills of potential future rivals who could have used Imagination's tech to compete.

#likethis?

Re: "beyond the bounds of the reasonably predictable"

I'm not sure the Uber car could have avoided it. From what I've read the Uber was in one of the three lanes heading south, my guess is the far right lane and with that I will continue to present one possible scenario.

The person turning left which hit the Uber may have had their view partially blocked by another car, possibly the Ford SUV in the photo, in a lane adjacent to the Uber car and was trying to get across quickly perhaps because the gap in traffic was small. Once that car has gunned it to sprint through the left turn the Uber car gets t-boned toward the back end which sets it spinning, impacting the curb on the far side of the intersection sideways which tips it on it's side and it continues to rotate until it comes to a stop against the Ford SUV.

In such an event, the Uber car would also likely be blinded by the adjacent vehicle, assuming it was tall like the Ford, and unable to detect the impending impact until there was little if any time for it to calculate and react. Of course that's just one possibility.

Re: About time

I got lucky, the wife was away for a month taking care of family and I never thought to check her machine until a few days before she got back. According to the logs when I booted it up for what I thought was the first time in nearly a month I found that the Windows 10 upgrade had failed four times with only the first being just before she left. Mind this was on a machine that was nominally turned off, not hibernating nor sleeping, the entire time and it still managed to try upgrading three times on its own. That was the day I flipped a few registry bits so it would permanently block the upgrade. Sadly that machine is a bit old and she wants a new one - with Windows 10.

Maybe it's time to play with this ReactOS thing.

Re: A bit drafty

A modern STOL version of the PBY Catalina might be nice. Maybe even roll it out into the water if the flight deck has a lot of traffic.

Re: It's fake news folks.

Ok, my last comment on this thread, I promise. I just thought I'd leave this here in case anyone wanted to play.

If corporations aren't legal people, they also cannot be taken to court.

I beg to differ. Nobody here, or anywhere else for that matter, would argue that an automobile or other inanimate objects are persons legal, natural, or otherwise. That has never stopped the United States from bringing lawsuits against inanimate objects. For example, I give you United States of America v. One 2003 Mercedes Benz CL500 (PDF) and US vs One 1985 Mercedes Benz and $12,000 in cash. Sadly I could go on for quite a long time using only Mercedes Benz. If I expand that to other automobiles or just cash or real estate it would be a very long list indeed. DDG, Google, Bing will all reveal just how sad it really is.

Re: or stowed in the hold

Perhaps it's the larger batteries? If it's in the cabin, there might be a way to mutilate the battery to initiate a conflagration that is very difficult to put out. It's one thing to douse a mobile but a 17" gaming rig, I don't know.

edit: Of course it doesn't stop one from carrying just a battery in their carry on bag so it's probably not that.

Re: .local

Interesting. I've been using .lan since OS/2 went 32 bit. Maybe when the next box dies it'll be time to migrate to .local since there's no RFC for .lan and I'm not convinced the asshats at ICANN won't assign it to something, perhaps largely all networks.

Re: WTF?

That was my exact thought, where's the lock-out, tag-out? Servicing live machines is simply nuts.

I assume the law was written as a bit of protection for the auto industry and likely has the nod from the auto unions since they're both corrupt and only interested in money and power while paying little more than lip service to the workers and paying vast sums to political hacks.

Re: There is a world of difference

Not having luggage is a bother as it gets you the stink eye for quite a while. I did a day trip to Bern for a change of scenery after spending a week at an expo in Paris and didn't bring anything with me. I got to have a nice long chat with the security folk in Bern who basically asked the same questions but from different people in a slightly different way. It only took about ten minutes with odd glances going about the room and a final shrug and I was off. Of course that was in 2000 so they probably thought I was potentially just a drug mule and it was just the high speed rail not a plane.

Move that greeting to today in JFK and it's a whole nutter can-o-worms. Bring at least a carry-on with a change of clothes if only as to have something to change into when TSA finishes with you. Maybe pack some sterile wipes too, just in case.

Re: Sometimes I can't use a long password

Come now, you're exaggerating. The only institutions using simple rules capped at 8 characters are the unimportant and trivial ones where security isn't really a concern, like banks. Oh, hang on.

Re: Small-caliber rifle? For wild boar?

Better pictures here. Definitely using air rifles and the one in the second pic is almost certainly a Daystate.

Re: Er ...

@streaky

Freedom of speech also implies a freedom to not speak as compelled speech isn't free. It's one thing that always bothered me about the court system and its ability to compel a person to testify under threat of loss of liberty or fine. Further, considering how any such statements would, by definition, be made under duress I don't see how a jury can apply any real weight to that testimony.

To your later point, you're absolutely right they will pull it directly from your head the instant they are able and likely without regard as to whether it does any damage to you or the memories or how reliable those memories might have been in the first place. I can see them going to great lengths to "enhance" the extracted memory to better understand in the same way they are always "enhancing" pictures in the cop shows.

Re: And if you think about it for more than 10 minutes...

The extra dimension gets you very little since it increases the complexity of control by an order of magnitude. Consider if you're dividing the atmosphere into bands then you're creating corridors of limited space which is what you state is the cause of congestion and collision.

Worse in many cities there are tall vertical structures that one would have to fly between further limiting space and reducing the 10 m bands to near copies of the existing streets. Complicating that further is the need to traverse between bands to get the the proper band. In a city the "flying cars" will be functionally flying over the roads unless the aim is to go a substantial distance or for intercity travel where you first rise to clear the entire city.

You're also ignoring the fact that much of the congestion is caused by people going to and from the same hubs whether it's Times Square or Madison Square Garden or the East Village. The only place where the flying cars will have an advantage is when it can avoid geographical bottlenecks like the Brooklyn Bridge or Holland Tunnel.

Lastly there's one problem that nobody seems to mention and that's noise. These flying cars will have to be far quieter than a helicopter or typical drone if they're ever going to be accepted in any great number. If it's a problem that's been solved it must be expensive to implement since it isn't often that a subsonic flying object sneaks up on anyone.

Re: Needling me?

The same is true of us, if we no longer make our tanks, our ships, our planes we will lose the next conflict.

Sorry but that's too simplistic a view. Two other factors also make up a large portion of that equation and they are:

1. Who the other player(s) in the conflict are. For instance US invading Grenada

2. Does the country really want to do what it takes to win? See the Vietnam Wars, either US or French.

Argentina's problem was it really didn't have many friends at the time with both the US and France refusing to sell them the arms and parts they needed. In short, it was stupid and beyond arrogant of the Proceso junta to not consider the lay of global alliances and they never really had much of a chance as while they may have been the baddest bull in their little rodeo, they weren't at all prepared for the rest of the world.

Country's don't need to make all their own stuff but they do need to know who their friends are. Consider that if the alliances in '82 had been reversed it would likely have been a very different outcome.

Re: Errrmmm....

Before anyone gets too worked up; all UK domestic supply is single phase, and won't be using these 3 phase meters.

Right, so at worst they'll only exaggerate energy consumption by 194 per cent, tops.

Re: Looking for something to blame?

The psychobabble must be gaining traction. I saw Barbara Streisand was blaming Trump for her weight gain so it seems that minds are going to mush. Although I grant it may not have been a big change for some.

Especially if you are a hedge funded that is shorting them (or their investors) and is leaking these stories to the press

Shorting a company before the IPO. An interesting proposition,.it would require one of the VCs or another private stakeholder to lend shares but then to whom would the short sell those shares since it isn't a public company other than to another VC. It wouldn't surprise me if it were possible I'm just struggling to understand how it would work. I suppose there's always a naked short but still there's the issue of a buyer since you couldn't sell to just anybody.

@TheProf

I think that should be Vogons by the pints

Re: For, or Against... You're both wrong.

As pointed out, removing a justice is the same as removing anyone else. Article 2 Section 4 of the constitution reads "The president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." and as judges are civil officers they can be removed. Further the "good behavior" in Article 3 implies that impeachment is possible for other, presumably lesser, reasons than "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

As for the ages of the judges, only half are beyond 67 which is what Social Security considers full retirement age. A number which I feel only proper to point out that there is an excellent chance that it will be higher for our younger commentards. I also don't see anything backing up your assertion that "it's a scientific and medical fact" that age necessarily means declining mental faculties. I would say there is quite a lot of evidence that would support that it is the young whippersnappers who, without any experience, lack any sensible judgement at all and some of said cohort even revel in that fact and promptly post the resulting video to youtube or send the nude selfie to their [b,g]f.

Now consider that Senators must be at least 30 and Representatives at least 25 and you might realize why it seems that they are so old to you. The average age for Reps in the 114th Congress was 57 and the Senate was 61 which is lower than the 63.1 years for the 111th congress a few short years ago. That's not terribly old when you consider that congresscritters typically don't run or get elected until they are near 50. How many 32 year olds are even running for a political office at the national level? Probably not many have the resources or recognition to start a campaign and those youtube vids likely aren't helping.

Oh, those boneheaded laws the congress comes up with, they were bought and paid for by the people who put those critters in office.

Re: I really really want my shares back

Why didn't you replace it with Softbank stock back in September? They're up about 18-20% since the ARM buy. I watched it for a bit but it largely dropped into November so I held off. Now wish I was smart enough to have bought that dip.

Re: New internet law needed...

Well, word_merchant, you've got a fundamental problem. That problem is that while the Nazis will be long remembered in a very few decades people will say "VHS? Beta-what?"

First it ignores the fact that the "wrong" format didn't win. VHS won for a very simple reason. It's a lot like evolution, it's not a battle of the best fit in the sense of strongest but the one that best fits the role. The role was recording as much as possible at a watchable resolution. Betamax gave at most 5 hours and VHS gave 8 to 12. It wasn't a contest. Sure Betamax may have been technically better but for all practical purposes VHS gave folks more of what they wanted and what they wanted was to not have to worry about changing the tape in the middle of the Super Bowl having gone to work an hour before kickoff. Yeah, delayed start wasn't an initial feature and there was no accounting for overtime "back in the day" and even for the folks who had such features, the clock always flashed <blink>12:00</blink> because "it was too complicated" to set the clock once they lost the remote, more than likely to one too many glasses of wine which let the magic smoke out but I digress.

No, the law you're looking for one where better will always lose out to more. Go to any restaurant in America and notice the portion is about twice what you'd normally eat. It doesn't matter what it tastes like, it's all about more not better. It's a 20/80 rule, 20% more will trump 80% better.

Re: Same here....

Yep, got locked out on one account with a "command not recognized" error on Thunderbird logging in via imap with Oauth2.0. An older computer that I hadn't used in a year or so and hadn't set Oauth wasn't allowed to log in to that account as well. I got imap mail back about 9 am (PST) Friday morning but still can't get in with a browser or other devices since it won't recognize responses to security questions and the recovery email address is long gone and I'd forgotten to update it. I guess I'll be transitioning off that account to a new one.

Re: Sorry You Were Out

I can't imagine the failed delivery is all that bad since I've had a pair of orders arrive on the same day by different trucks. I had gotten two messages indicating that the packages were on the way about ten minutes apart and since they were from the same UPS center I figured that meant it was the time it was put on the truck but no, they actually came on two different trucks. Oddly the second truck arrived over an hour before the first. In the end, if they can send two trucks to one address in a day it can't be much hassle to send a package out again the next day.

Frequently if it's something expensive I have it delivered to the nearest UPS store which fortunately for me is about a mile away and I can pick it up on the way home.

Re: Now ask me why ...

Newer cars certainly aren't heavier in the US. The IIHS test pitted a 2009 Malibu at between 3400 to 3500 lbs with a 1959 Bel-Air with a 6 cylinder at 3500 to 3600 lbs so it's a pretty even match. For the Cadillac matchup the older model weighs in at 4500 lbs and the newer one at 3800 lbs so the newer one is actually giving up 18% or so.

I don't see either being particularly friendly to anything outside their respective envelope but the newer ones certainly aren't more dangerous to pedestrians and such. One might even argue that the softer rounded corners present less of a hazard than the older squarish designs and that some newer designs also have better visibility so as to better detect the presence of people and animals which may be preparing to cross ahead.

Some time ago when crumple zones were just becoming a thing I had both an old 60's sedan and a newer car it was interesting to look at the insurance quotes. The line items for repairing each differed greatly and I asked if it was because parts were that much more expensive for the new model. My insurance agent said it wasn't really the individual part cost but it was that given a minor fender bender with no injuries the newer car would suffer quite substantial damage and be very costly to repair while the old tank would have little more than a scratch.