Posts by cambsukguy

Surely there cannot be a Los Vegas in Nevada as well as a Las Vegas?

Los, masculine, vegas (fields, meadows) feminine, so las.

And, as for safety systems, only auto-braking with ABS is really required to ensure maximum collision energy reduction.

And cars could *easily* see suicidal people wearing black at night (riding bikes with no lights), using infra-red. This would make auto-braking cars fantastically safer than human drivers.

The biggest problem is the fun kids and others would have jumping in front of the car to watch it scream to a halt. And the darwin-award-winning-deaths of the ones that mistook the vehicle type.

>But you, too, could put up your feet and make do on UBI

Except no nice car, no nice trips, no nice foreign holidays, no restaurants, no flashy xmas presents.

The only people that will accept not working and taking a small income to get by on are those that do not have a choice because they cannot work, those that have side careers (a bit of cleaning, a bit of drug peddling, a bit of day work, a bit of 'night' work etc. - cash in hand).

Many people want more than 'enough', indeed our economy requires it. Many people, myself included, have easily enough to get by but do not need loads of extras, don't need a 'better' car, don't need an expensive phone etc.

Part of the issue with stalling western economies seems to be that more people are happy enough with what they have and do not need too much extra, added to that the longevity of vehicles and flattening of performance increases of computers in general.

I am constantly amazed by how cheap stuff can be, including, often, even good food. Automation is definitely a benefit in that way at least.

I have spent almost 20 years attempting to do less work but still work, with only some success. People ask why I didn't work for a year or why there are gaps here and there. The answer cannot be 'I am lazy' or even 'I didn't need to' because we live in a society where that is resented even if that person is not a scrounger and doesn't live high on the hog either. So, I have to make excuses or stretch CV dates, tiresome.

I know that this way is better for me and would be better if we all did less where possible, especially if the alternative is only to make more and more stuff with finite resources. Far better to save the resources to use when required instead.

Re: Update nightmares

Well, I think UWP apps are supposed to fix that so I presume it is a matter of porting to that API.

If the 3rd party app is being maintained and updated then I suppose they should create a UWP version.

Admittedly, they would have to still support the Win32 version so I see their problem.

I did read that it is not terribly onerous for most programs to be ported though and, again I presume, that a port would abstract most of the code to be shared.

Obviously, supporting UWP on Win7 would be the best possible solution. Technically or politically difficult I imagine.

There is some utility to a restart not being totally clean, certain windows re-appear etc. so one is less likely to lose 'state'.

That is useful for most updates where things are not being restarted because they are broken but because Windows still requires restarts for some updates.

Re: VR? I'd rather have AR

It would appear that MS agree with you, since the device discussed is wireless.

Might need a cable to a belt battery pack though.

Re: Its not just the creationists ...intelligent design, my arse.

The Duck-billed Platypus has a Cloaca, very obviously an evolutionary precursor to the human females' twin orifices 'down there'.

I think, with Darwin and Dawkins and all the others in between, we have a good, solid road to reason as far as Evolution goes.

Even my Born-again Baptist ex believes in Evolution.

Now, if only we could persuade a few million holdouts that Hillary Clinton didn't run a Paedophile sex ring out of a Pizza joint.

Re: Wood behind the trees

"In the financial year 2012/13, Oxfam's chief executive was paid £119,560, which is in the lower quartile of what other large charities paid for their chief executives.  We believe this is fair reward for a job that involves long hours, large amounts of time away from family and overseeing a £360 million organisation that runs everything from a 700-branch national shop network to major emergency responses and long term development work to improve the lives of the poorest people on the planet. Our chief executive is also responsible for more than 5,000 staff and tens of thousands of volunteers."

Obviously well-paid but not really that well paid for the job done.

Re: Low casualties ....

I think if I lived there I would purchase a box for the specific purpose rather than rely on something else's secondary function.

A strong box that can be used as a cupboard is better than the reverse.

Actually, the latest info suggest that the SW 'thought' the lander was underground at one point. This could have been seen as a red flag that the data were wrong for that input at least.

Of course, this is easy to say now, who would have thought to add the code to say "If the data say we are underground, disregard it".

Never-the-less, info like "After this elapsed time, we ought to be about this high, anything outside a certain range must be wrong, guess a height". Guessing would probably result in a similar outcome though.

It can be hard to get even a small amount of code right in all circumstances.

I think it is Horses for courses.

Few people eat from assholes, most use plates.

And, a dishwasher is kinda like that toilet, with the drying feature added that is.

As a previous poster said, the best way for the 'daily' users is to go soon before exercise, shower, whatever and be nice and clean in case you are knocked down by a car and go to hospital.

Re: msn mail still working via thunderbird

Hotmail.co.uk works fine, haven't seen an issue.

But then nor has my hotmail.com partner, in the UK at least

Re: Stuck IN the Middle

You live in a horrible place.

I have visited much of the US, not since 9/11 but extensively prior to that.

I avoided all the southern states, except southern Florida of course and didn't venture any further into Va than Arlington, just in case.

Whilst much of the US is friendly and outwardly generous, much of it is so casually racist it is hard to believe, if you come from these parts that is.

On my first trip, back in '84, I had dinner with my US business contact and his wife. Both white, both middle class.

So, having known this person for two days the following joke was spoken at the dinner table by the guy, in front of his English (business) guest and his wife.

Do not read further if you are easily offended.

"What is the different between a Black Bowling ball and a Black pussy? You could eat a Bowling ball if you had to".

Can't help but feel it hasn't gotten better, won't be going back.

Re: Absolutely agree

If there is one product type that has tons and tons of choice it is laptops and their ilk.

Re: Company law

"Profit is the highest priority" is the reason the video doesn't play in the article, Google want their money.

No wonder Metrotube continuously has to update its app on my phone - to keep up with Google trying to ensure ads are present.

Personally, if the ad can't be skipped in short order, I skip the lot; it's just a cat falling off a sofa after all.

Re: Where's the Transparency???

Laws and sausages, you do NOT want to see how they are made.

Add huge takeover agreements to the list.

And US presidents.

Re: Oh, Puh-LEEEZE!

It was never a conspiracy, it is a plain, open, specific desire not to co-operate.

No other evidence is needed since Merrick Garland was offered for SCOTUS and refused even a hearing because of the GOP-controlled houses.

More evidence would be the dozens of attempts to overturn Obamacare by adding amendments to that end to any number of totally unrelated bills, causing the bill to ultimately fail.

Garland was not even considered left wing, he has the right credentials and would be a fair offering.

I can almost guarantee that the person put forward will be noticeably right-leaning, the house will allow them to be put forward and they will be accepted.

We have to hope and pray that Ginsberg survives at least 2 years, preferably four and that the SCOTUS is not made hard right for a generation.

Re: Shame

Bought my kid a 650, bargain phone.

Loaded the backup of his previous WP8.1 1020 and was up and running in no time. Took a while to download all the apps funnily enough.

I use the RBS app because it uses a PIN to access the accounts quickly once set up. I don't do much with it but it is handy for checking the balance to see if I have been paid.

I do think it is a shame WP10 doesn't get the love, as ISPs and Mobile operators clearly show, two choices are definitely not enough.

Even if MS simply produce one or two devices, I will stick with it I think, since, like a previous poster, I don't care about apps-du-jour and being incessantly harangued by ads.

I prefer clean, downloaded maps and clean(er) search results, with noticeably less fake news.

Re: Google vs Wikipedia

Which leaves the BBC (website) I would have thought.

Apart from the IT correspondent, fairly openly an Apple shill, the BBC seems to have tolerable balance.

Probably why it is regarded as a hotbed of commie lies by folks in the USA.

Now we know that to be a positive attribute.

Re: You ban "agile".

This has happened to me several times for several reasons.

It is the reason I am a contractor, it was impossible for me to survive most environments for more than a couple of years because I got too invested in the product and made too much noise if I saw problems, current or future.

It happens occasionally even as a contractor of course, it seems immoral to stay quiet when one sees an issue, but it is easier to say it and then shut up because I have no skin in the game and it is not my place.

It does mean I am PNG in several places, even where I made objective improvements to systems/code etc. - people are amazing at holding grudges.

My current boss is one of the good ones, I tell him bad news, he doesn't hold it against me and may or may not take appropriate action.

Fortunately, I don't have to worry to much about it anymore as retirement or semi-retirement beckons.