Posts by Paul 77
73 posts • joined Thursday 18th June 2009 16:14 GMT
aeronautical mobile operations
Yup,
I think it is silly that we're not allowed to use amateur radio from airborne devices. I have listened to a US Ham transmitting from an aircraft (on 14MHz) returning from a disaster relief operation in Haiti.
I can understand that they may wish to limit the power, and possibly dictate which bands are used (perhaps 430MHz and higher) so as to reduce the possibility of interference on a wide scale, but I cannot seen any reason for the current outright ban.
Paul (another radio amateur).
Re: Private sector needs to show the public sector how it is done
I thought it was Lunar Excursion Module - LEM...
Posted in Jam today: Raspberry Pi Ram doubled
Hmmm, well after months mine was despatched from RS on the 9th... Not seen it yet as I'm at sea, but I'm now hoping it will be a new one...
Re: Pffft
Ummm... X-Plane works very nicely on my Galaxy S3 :-)
Posted in Satnav blunders blamed for £200m damages
Re: Re: Maps
I did wonder about that. Apparently you can use them on a Tom-Tom using OpenTom (http://opentom.org) , but I have not been brave enough to try it yet!
Posted in Brit space agency sends up 1st satellite
deorbiting
UKube 1 has this spoiler thing which is designed to limit the time it can stay in orbit, so it won't be up there forever, getting in the way.
Posted in The BBC Micro turns 30
Beebs still running :-)
Have a Master 128, B+64, B+128, 6502 2nd processor, Music 500, and a teletext adapter. What I would have loved to get my hands on was the 32016 2nd processor. Has anyone actually seen one? Haven't actually switched one on for a while. Real life and having a son seems to get in the way of doing "real" computing these days...
Lightning...
I'm still a little curious to see how well one of these handles a lighting storm...
Apple and openness...
I'm mostly into Linux, but I have scrounged an old PowerMac G5 and it is a beautifully put together piece of hardware - both inside and out.
That said I'm dismayed about the Apple app store Police, and will almost certainly not buy another iPod because (as others have already said) managing it is all but impossible without iTunes. This is a shame really. I do believe Apple could still succeed, as a company, purely on the design of its products, if they started using open standards. Please note: this doesn't mean they have to *support* use of iPods/iPhones/iPads under Linux, but they could at least make it possible by either using an existing open communication protocol, or documenting the protocols they use.
And yes, I know... Not strictly on topic. I'll stop waffling and leave now.
Well, even then you'd still have GLONASS, COMPASS and the very beginnings of a GALILEO constellation. And lets face it, its not gonna happen tomorrow.
My guess is that increasingly there will be receivers that can use all four systems to get a position. Hell you could get a combined GPS & GLONASS solution (Ashtech GG24) at least ten years ago.
@bazza
Well, we had SunOS/Solaris workstations from Sun 3/60. through SPARCstation's 1/IPX/IPX/5/10/20, Ultra's 1/5/10 and Sun Blades 150 and 1500. It came time to replace the 1500's and... we couldn't. So we ended up getting a Sun Enterprise T5120 to run our stuff on. Problem is that we have some legacy stuff that will only run on SPARC, so we will have to keep it going for a while...
So, we are continuing to use the Sun Blade's as X terminals and to run some things.
I wonder if there's an open-source SPARC emulator that will run on an x86 Linux box... :-)
But...
if they actually wanted to win back the science market they should consider building a workstation based on it... But I guess the days of the Sun workstation are permanently over...
My 2p's worth...
Hopefully it didn't happen, but suppose someone within one of these cell blackout zones suffered a heart attack, but help couldn't be summoned because of the lack of cell coverage, and the person ended up dead. I imagine it could be a rather interesting time in court for the railway people.
As for police with guns (which seems to have come up as a side-topic on this one) I believe that they should not be armed, other than in special circumstances. I travel to the US quite a bit (my other half is from there) and I am dismayed to see that even the people checking the passports of people from incoming international flights are armed. I honestly believe that the US should sort out its gun problem with the aim of eventually getting to the situation where regular police do not need to be armed with deadly weapons. Of course it will almost certainly never happen.
@BobC
Galileo still only being built - not operational.
Last time I checked (which was a while back) the operators of GLONASS (ex Soviets) were struggling to maintain a full constellation. I was on a research ship in the1990's which had an Ashtech GG24 GPS/GLONASS receiver. Just for a test I put it in GLONASS only mode. Did not get much coverage. The ship was operating between the UK and the high Arctic at that time.
Posted in Nokia snubs UK with N9
Such a shame
Well, I guess they won't sell many that way. But I suppose it means that there will be the odd one turning up on eBay, and that is probably where I will look to get one - if I do. Oh well, still have the N800 and N900 to play with :-)
Vectored Thrust
I'm with Chris Long, except that I don't believe you need to gymbal the whole engine, I think it might be possible to have a steerable thrust guide, sort of like a kort nozzle on a ships prop. I think that would get rid of the worry about flight control surfaces during the first phase of the flight - just leave them centred.
Posted in PCTV NanoStick T2 USB TV tuner
Nag, nag, nag, bloody titles. Nag. If I'm replying shouldn't it do it for me?
I was gonna say exactly the same thing, but it looks like people are - even though its not perfect. Take a look at:
http://stevekerrison.com/290e/
Posted in Nokia N9 joins next month's mobile match
I would love one...
If they weren't horrendously expensive. Yes, like others above I would have liked Nokia to have made Meego available on my N900 - which I still use and love. I bought it unlocked for an awful lot of money, but have used it on two different networks, so it has definitely been very useful.
I wonder how difficult it will be to unlock an N9... And how soon they will start appearing on eBay at sensible prices... And also, how long before someone ports Android to it :-)
Posted in Ten... festival survival gadgets
Mosquito thingy
Bought one of these and used it in Bangalore a couple of years back and it DID work. I know because we forgot to turn it on one night.
I agree...
Yes, ISP''s have to take a lead on this, and once they offer an IPV6 service, then they have to shout about it, and make sure their customers know that it is available.
At present I run a Vigor 2820, and I understand that Draytek will not be upgrading the Firmware to deal with IPV6, so I will have to get a new router, and obviously there is no point in doing that until my ISP supports it.
Stop sign - for obvious reasons.
@Meanwhile
1 Are you saying the published birth certificate is fake?
2 What do his educational records have to do with the price of eggs?
3 Why do you care about his step-mother and half-siblings?
10 Personally I wouldn't want all my medical records to be released to all and sundry... Why do you want them?
13 Does he have to baptised to be president?
Ummm...
Why couldn't they simply move all the videos across to YouTube themselves? Can't be that difficult.
I have one but...
Unfortunately the screen was damaged - the glass is actually cracked - whilst it was on its way to me.
Anyone know where I can get a replacement CRT? Or how I can actually hook up an external screen using that edge connector?
I do know that the computer itself actually worked (and I guess the review who wrote the article can try this too), because I hooked up a terminal to the serial port and used something like:
stat con:=tty:
It may not have been *exactly* that command, but it was something similar. Different CP/M boxes called their serial ports by different names.
Great article though. Please, someone, do one on the RML-380Z - I have a non-working one of those too :-(
<sigh>A title - why doesn't it automatically put a title in when you reply?
Hmmm,
I thought MFM wasn't an interface type... There was ST-506 (SASI?), ESDI, the old narrow SCSI that I used during my early career.
But I do remember bodging of IRQ's, including the use of 16bit IRQ's on an 8 bit ISA card... I'm fairly sure little bits of wire and solder were utilised. You could do things then that you probably couldn't get away with now because of the much higher clock speeds.
You cannot be serious!!
"At the very least I can see this leading to WP7 taking a lead position in the business market."
Where I work, the people who are given mobile devices for business are currently ALL given Blackberries. The previous phones were all iPhone 3GS units. Nokia & Android not even in the running. I think when it comes to business, RIM have got a very solid product that gets the basics right *for business* - not as a toy, and they will not surrender that position easily - if at all. I think pressure from employees may give a reasonable share of the business market to the iPhone, but I don't think Microsoft will be able to make much impact.
I agree... Why?
I will never understand why they did not want to continue development of Maemo. Like you I own an N900 (which I bought, unlocked as soon as it came out!) as well as the older N800, which I still occasionally use. But Maemo seems to have stopped all development, other than a little maintenance of some apps by 3rd party developers, so I'm seriously thinking about sticking Android on the N900 - someone has already done the hard work.
Like you, right now, I can't see me ever buying Nokia again. Great shame.
Posted in BOFH: This buck's for you
This is my title. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Thank goodness - seems like ages since the last one...
A shame, but...
There are some things I *need* Windows for (bespoke database software + timesheet software). So, at work, the primary OS is Linux Mint, with Virtual Box allowing me to run Windows XP and Windows 7 when I need to.
As with many organisations(I imagine) many of the forms I have to fill in are now Word or Excel documents, and I've filled all these in with OpenOffice. Not a problem.
But not all workers are going to want the relative hassle of operating virtualisation software to run a few nasty Windows apps, so I can see that it might just be easier to revert to XP :-(
This is my title. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
There is one BIG problem with IE. The fact that it basically only operates on one platform. If you're running on Linux or Solaris, then its just not an option.
Not just gaming...
It wasn't just gaming that needed the firmware update to work. The LoveFilm program wouldn't work without the update, which is why we ended up doing it.
Tools
I think there needs to be, either at the ISP level or higher simple tools that people can use to see if their machine is sending out SPAM. I can't be that difficult for an ISP to profile its users by the amount of traffic on port 25 (or maybe secure SMTP, which I can't remember the number for), and then maybe look a little more closely at the people who are sending unreasonably large amounts of traffic.
Presumably at the higher level, people do notice the IP addresses where much of this traffic is coming from, and there could be a web site like, amIazombie.com or something, which looks at your IP address (in the same way bandwidth checkers do), compares it with a list of known bots/zombies/whatever you want to call them and says yes or no.
Or am I wandering around with my eyes closed and these already exist?
Tux, 'cause there's less chance of a Linux machine being got :-)
Its a title, Jim, but not as we know it...
It does if you decide to nuke him from Orbit (its the only way to be sure).
No mission!
Of course they're getting rid of all the shuttles, so we won't be able to send two up with Bruce to sort it all out when the Big One comes!
The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.
Nope, not the Aghulas, but I don't want to tell you for reasons that would become obvious if I did :-)
A new Harrier perhaps?
I do get annoyed that the only options for aircraft are US... It would be nice if we could actually have an aircraft industry in the UK, that did not just put aircraft together from kits bought from other nations.
I wonder if either of the following is possible:
a) develop a new harrier with more use of composite materials, which would hopefully make it lighter and more stealthy. Because it would be lighter it would be able to carry a heavier weapons load, or more fuel. It would probably still not be supersonic, but it could probably still be very useful in the ground attack or air support role.
b) develop a tailhook version of the Typhoon. I'm sure I'm seeing this from a very simplistic standpoint, but apart from the tailhook and strengthened undercarriage, what changes would need to be made? Don't we have some of these in mothballs somewhere, that we could use as development aircraft?
Just thoughts from someone sitting on a (non naval) ship in the South Atlantic...
Posted in OpenOffice files Oracle divorce papers
Oh dear
I do hope they change it back to Open Office in the long term. I can't understand why Oracle would have any problem with this project, so why the need for a change of name?
Posted in Vulture 1: Plane plans planned
Seconded!!
If I'm *actually* in the country at the time, and it doesn't happen around the time a certain happy event (i.e. the birth of our child) is happening, I would love to have a go at tracking it. Any ideas of a launch site for the actual flight yet?
73!
Paul.
BBC Micro SD card interface?
I saw a picture of a BBC Micro hooked up to an SD card, and I'm wondering if anyone knows where I can find details of how to build the interface (I'm guessing it uses the 1MHz bus), as I've not been able to find details online so far.
Thanks!
Paul.
But...
Might it not be possible to have a carrier version of the Typhoon or Tornado? I seem to remember a bunch of Typhoons were going to be bought to spend most of their time sitting in a hangar. If so, surely a couple could be used as development aircraft to testnew undercarriage and arrestor hook arrangement.
I would have thought a Tornado could be turned into a pretty good carrier aircraft because of its variable geometry.
But I'm not an expert in these things. And yes, I know it would cost money, but I would imagine that much of this money would be spent in the UK, rather than elsewhere :-)
Posted in Sat firm fails to stop legal challenge
GALILEO
Yeah, the initial sat was sent up to "reserve frequencies" I seem to remember, and they now have two, or maybe three sats up.
PIC instead of BBC Micro?
I think learning a little about low-level programming could help educate a new generation of geeks :-)
But instead of the Beeb, how about using PIC development kits?
At a slightly higher level, my favourite project in my HND Computer Studies course was using C under OS-9 on 68000 boxes to make vector graphics on oscilloscopes using digital to analogue boards - really cool!
I guess its all about getting a computer to do something other than just making something happen on a screen, be that turning LED's off and on, moving a robot arm or controlling a laser :-)
Posted in Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro
80%? Yes. Definately.
Having lived with one of these (a free upgrade on Three) for a couple of weeks now, I believe it does deserve at least 80%. The keyboard is fine for texting and I've not experienced any bugs with it.
There are two things I have had minor problems with. Sometimes after a long call I've had trouble working out how to hang up - but then I've not read the manual. The other minor niggle is that the microphone on the supplied hands-free kit seems to be a bit insensitive, so that you have to grab the mic bit and bring it fairly close to your mouth.
Posted in 1984's MacPaint source code hits web
Source Code Tour of UNIX??
Is this a book or a Web Site... Just done a quick google, and I can see some bits about John Lions - slightly different spelling. But can't see anything about a "source code tour of UNIX"...
Best Regards,
Paul
~~~~
Posted in YouTube, iPlayer on a TV? Simples
@Chris Pearson
The way I read this, it actually goes inside the TV, running on its processor...
US has problems too...
Some of my inlaws live in Rindge, New Hampshire. Wired broadband stops approximately a mile from their house. The only options are slow dialup or slightly faster satellite broadband - which they have recently gone for, but even that has not been perfect, probably because they're in the middle of forest and the wet leaves attenuate the satellite signals.
Posted in The Reg guide to Linux, part 3
Mint Root login
Root isn't a problem. If I didn't want to go the sudo route, which seems to work fine, I would do sudo once and then simply "passwd root" and there we go :-)
Posted in The Reg guide to Linux, part 3
Re: Linux Mint
There is ONE problem with Linux Mint, versus standard Ubuntu (hopefully someone will tell me I'm wrong and how to get around this :-)
When there are distribution upgrades, Ubuntu tells you a new version is available in the package manager, and you can start the big upgrade process from there.
Linux Mint does not seem to allow this. The only method available seems to be to back up your user area and do a complete new install before restoring your user area.
Or am I wrong?
Songbird
I was slightly alarmed when you said that Songbird was no longer in development, so I went to Songbirdnest.com and found that a new beta was released on 14th June :-)
