Posts by I ain't Spartacus

Re: Pics, or it didn't happen!

It was the 80s. Of course it did.

I had light grey leather shiny slip-on loafers, with tassles. Because, erm, I... erm, had no taste? Oh, and wore them with white socks, naturally. At various times I had white jeans, yellow jeans, and wore purple and orange shirts.

Although I refuse to apologise for wearing flourescent yellow socks.

[note to self: Must remember to hit anonymous button]

Re: the good old days

Mum got one of those videos that you could program with a barcode scanner. But I don't think they ever caught on, so the papers didn't print the barcodes with their listings.

So you had this plastic card that you could scan to set up your recordings that was even more user-unfriendly and hard-to-use than just programming the thing by kneeling in front of it and pressing buttons.

I've used some shockingly bad technology over the years!

My CD Walkman was pretty good though. It had enough memory that it neve skipped, but conversely you could skip tracks in a way that made your tape walkman look positively archaic. Came with rechargeable batteries, which was just as it was hungry for power. And came with a case that held 10 CDs. It was far less of a problem than my various knock-off tape walkmen - and didn't destroy any of my CDs in the way that ate tapes.

I'd forgotten that. As a teenager I did sound for my church - and we had a proper tape copying machine - as sermons were recorded, copied and sent out to people who couldn't make it to church to share the boredom in person. This was dead useful for making good copies of tapes. It had proper inch square coloured buttons that lit up when you pressed them - and stayed lit until the process was finished. Did a C90 in just a few minutes.

The world needs more light-up buttons and glowing dials. Controls on computer screens just don't cut it. Give me a big old panel full of chunky glowing buttons and toggle switches any day.

Re: Oh my...

Dad bought one of those Amstrad "HiFi" things in the 80s. It was about 1.2m tall and came in a glass case, with space to shelve your records at the bottom. It also had a radio and twin casette decks. So my music copying and mix-tape making tasks were pretty easy.

Although you couldn't turn the sound off while you copied, so trying to pirate computer games was incredibly unpleasant - you had to leave the room, and it upset the dog.

I remember trying to tape Radio 4's Lord of the Rings adaptation on Sunday afternoons, but this plan needed 13 weeks uninterupted access - which was foiled by family visits.

I still remember one mixtape with The Reflex (Duran Duran), 19 (Paul Hardcastle), Cricketers 19 (parody by Rory Bremner), I Like Driving in My Car (Madness) - though heaven knows why I made it.

Re: At least the Edible Arrangements® Company is getting some publicity that way

ratfox,

I guess it worked. I didn't know edible fruit based fake flower arranging was even a thing until a minute ago. I'm not sure this knowledge has particularly improved my life though...

Re: Julian Assange

Lagrange (point)

Re: Secured risk

No. The banks were bailed out by the taxpayer because they had taken secured risks, but due to the nature of banking their asset book contained lots of long-term debt they were unable to call in. But their debts were all in the form of short-term loans to their customers or slightly longer maturity bonds on the markets.

This is called liquidity transfortmation, and is one of the main social purposes of banking. It's what turns all our small savings accounts into money that can be invested for the long term in businesses and us buying mortgages.

Becuase of this we require Central Banks to loan the banks vast amounts of cash at no notice, to stop bank runs. All that cash was paid back within about a year (most much quicker) as that infinite backing is what stops the system collapsing an causing another 1930s great depression.

2 UK banks were so fucked that they required actual taxpayer bail-outs. For which the government took a matching stake in shares, and has sold off one of those holdings at a profit. Just RBS still to go.

Re: Not eating the bits at the bottom....

I don't get it. Doritos flavours are universally horrible - except for the lightly salted ones. But they are conveniently shaped like shovels. Hence their use for getting guacamole, sour cream and/or salsa into my mouth. Which conveniently then requires it to be washed through with some reviving liquid - preferably blended from 3 parts tequila, 2 parts lime juice and 1.8 parts triple sec.

Re: Lady crisps

I take it back! King bacon advertises itself as perfect for the true gentleman's sunday brekkie with eggs. Which is fine.

But then suggests putting it in a salad sandwich! Quelle horreur!

Ban this sick filth immediately!

Re: South Pole

Isn't the South Pole where the Great Old Ones hang out?

Re: A rocketeer that cannot comprehend Gravity?

"Intelligent push is the only truth."

That theory sucks as much as gravity.

Nope. That theory doesn't suck. It blows.

Are you taking a giant spaceship full of port and crackers to the Moon? Then sign me up!

There's a place in Crystal Palace does a banana and icing pizza.

You could have that for dessert afterwards.

Nah. I just can't see the tomato going with the gravy. Or the cheese.

Perhaps if they went a bit different. Base the pizza on Fiorentina. Which is spinach and egg, but add sausage.

So you half bake your yorkie, then quickly open the oven and top with spinach and a couple of raw eggs. Oh, plus some sausage, make it Italian if you want to pretend authenticity. I'd argue that ship sailed long ago... Then back in the oven for them to cook. Then top with lots of lovely onion gravy.

Admittedly what I've basically done here is add eggs to toad in the hole, and hidden a few sad vitamins in it with the spinach, that nobody is going to notice.

Yes please. With curry ketchup. And then something dreadful that's packed with sugar for pudding. An ice cream sundae with Maltesers, choc chips, toffee pieces, cream and chocolate sauce please.

Re: Son-Of-Toad-In-The-Hole

If you're in Belgium, stuff the boring moules-frites. Have at the lovely lamb, with dauphinoise potatoes (yummy!) and nice red wine. Then some sort of chocolatey monstrosity for pudding. Only once fortified with that lot, do you then approach the serious business of necking some beer.

Ah, nostalgia...

Re: Marco

Voland's Right Hand,

This is a normal deployable AA missile. This was a test of the SM3, as deployed by the US and Japan on their Aegis equipped destroyers and (US) cruisers. The test in Hawaii was on a shore-based version of it, instead of ship-based, but it's basically the same system.

I don't know the details of the test, but the Aegis is tasked to do 2 different jobs. Japan and the US deploy them off the coast of North Korea in order to intercept missiles in their take-off phase. That should be relatively easy, as they're bigger targets, going slower. But obviously that means opening fire on a missile launch that might only be a test.

This test was against something incoming, and air launched. Obviously we don't know if it was simulating a missile still in space in its coast phase, or an incoming warhead. So we don't know what they failed to do.

Israel's system is designed to deal with smaller incoming missiles and mortars. It has a very limited area of defence, and mostly doesn't engage targets that are expected to fall outside residential areas. But it's not an ABM system - and is dealing with much slower targets at lower altitudes.

As I understand the US system they've got 3 components. Aegis ships at sea, to shoot at Nork missiles as they go up. Aegis on land stations designed to intercept warheads in space at the mid-course stage. Then THAAD (terminal high altitude area defence), which is the anti ICBM warhead system that's probably not all that wonderful, but has worked in some tests. It's designed to be the last line of defence against incoming warheads and I think is only deployed in Alaska, with some interceptors promised to South Korea. Nothing can stop a saturation attack, but North Korea don't hae that many warheads, and even fewer missiles.

So what they've done is to build a layered defence of imperfect technologies to deal with the lower threat of Iran and North Korea, who they felt less able to deter with mutually assured destruction - while also working on the diplomatic channel to try and get those countries to cease their nuclear programs.

While you can't say that's a perfect policy, it's broadly worked with Iran, and at least means they've got some hope of dealing with a few missiles if the North Koreans prove capable of producing any, and decide to use them.

Re: Oh sorry!

At least you didn't use it as your lunch support animal...

Re: As it should be

Wasn't the C5 the one product he was able to make enough of - and that wasn't delayed. Admittedly that was because nobody wanted them...

I drove one a few years ago, and it was amazing how unstable they felt, for something so low to the ground. The thought of taking one on actual roads is terrifying.