Re: @Martin an gof -- Maybe I have missed the point
Fizzog
That brings back memories. Never use it myself but my grandmother and mother often used it.
Posts by Russell Chapman Esq.
64 posts • joined 12 Dec 2017
So how do the coronavirus smartphone tracking apps actually work and should you download one to help?
Tuesday 14th April 2020 16:24 GMT
Re: Maybe I have missed the point
I bought the hand sanitizer long before the lockdown, at the start of the incubation period of this virus here in the UK, in February. There was no social distancing, lots of shared contact surfaces while out and about. While many were laughing at me for wearing a mask on the Tube, I was helping my family stay as safe as possible, when outside. What precautions were you taking back then, or did you laugh to yourself and mock anyone who looked a bit daft in a mask.
Tuesday 14th April 2020 13:38 GMT
Re: Maybe I have missed the point
Antigen tests if you have the virus at the moment. Antibody testing is to see if you have developed immunity.
The complication with antibody testing is that there is a window, where you have developed immunity but still have some of that virus in your system, which you can still spread, particularly as it is based in the lungs and breathed out.
Nobody has sure data of how big that window is, at the moment. It could be days, or months, nobody knows for sure yet.
So TL:DR. Even with an antibody test to say you have developed immunity, you might still be able to infect others for an as yet unknown period of time.
Tuesday 14th April 2020 12:07 GMT
Re: Maybe I have missed the point
I have no problem with an App being used, its just missing working in conjunction with massive testing of the population. I started following Dr John Campbell on YouTube back in January. Once it was officially an epidemic in China and obviously different epidemiology to SARS back in the 2000's, governments around the world had a window of opportunity to get PPE, antigen testing and contact tracing etc in place weeks ago. That opportunity was wasted because of reactivity rather than proactivity.
I bought P3 level masks and litres of hand sanitizer in February, for me and my family, it was obvious what was going to happen.
Tuesday 14th April 2020 09:21 GMT
Maybe I have missed the point
If I'm going to use an app, I want it to tell me who to avoid, I don't want to know I have been in contact with an infected one after the fact. Secondly, the only way to know who to avoid via app is if we are mass antigen testing the population, getting the info into a database which can be accessed in real-time, which here in the UK is not happening. So correct me if I'm wrong but these apps will at best be able to tell you if you have already come into contact with one of the few who have actually been tested and positive for the virus, which is a bit late in my book. Am I wrong?
Ransomware scumbags leak Boeing, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX documents after contractor refuses to pay
From Amanda Holden to petrol-filled water guns: It has been a weird week for 5G
Tuesday 7th April 2020 07:46 GMT
The mental breakdown of society
All the institutions people used to trust no longer really work for most people and hence in times of crisis quickly lose any trust they did have. Added to this the huge complexity of the world, there used to be big ideas about how to make change, today at best, all governments are able to do is try and manage outcomes.
Many people are no longer really coping, they either make themselves go numb and simply try to get through each day or they become very angry using anything to vent their frustration at the sense of hopelessness in their lives, hence the 5G thing.
I think this quote is quite apt: ‘Confused by chaos, infantilised by ignorance, refugees from complexity flee to fanaticism and dogma.’
We're number two! Microsoft's Edge browser slips past Firefox in latest set of NetMarketShare figures
IT services sector faces armageddon as COVID-19 lockdown forces project cancellations – analysts
Wednesday 25th March 2020 16:35 GMT
With the world in lockdown.
From the 3rd paragraph. Who expected to read that in their lifetime? It is funny how we humans adjust to the new normal and continue, when things really are not normal at all. I'm just wondering how long it will be till there is civil unrest, with huge numbers signing on for Universal Credit, and many more not able to get through because the system can't handle the load, I wonder how long large numbers of people will be able to go without money to buy food.
Budget 2020 in tech: UK.gov splashes cash on broadband and R&D while trying to limit impact of COVID-19 outbreak
Wednesday 11th March 2020 20:31 GMT
Borrowing from yourself
As long as a country borrows in its own currency from its own central bank, the level of debt is not important, as long as inflation doesn't go up too much. There are no indications that inflation will be a problem given the current global economic situation. The UK government can essentially borrow from the central bank for free. That debt can also be canceled by the central bank after it has served its purpose. If you own the currency, you need never be in debt to yourself.
Why can't passport biometrics see through my cunning disguise?
Friday 29th November 2019 09:49 GMT
Passport barriers at Stansted
Depending on time of year and time of day, there is a golden half hour where the sunlight floods through the windows and blinds the cameras of the automatic passport readers. Because the machines are blinded by the light and can't see your face, you then have to pass along to the manual check, when I know the sun is in the right position, I go through the line, skip the machines and go straight to manual check. Saves time.
2019 set to be the worst year yet for smartphone market as lack of worthy upgrades dents demand
Wednesday 17th July 2019 18:11 GMT 
My reason why....
My LG G3, which I bought in 2014 is giving up. The screen is on the way out, will cost as much to put in a new screen as buy another G3. Solution, just bought an LG G6 for £120, new factory sealed old stock (2017 model), 2 year warranty. To be honest the G3 had all the features I needed, so the G6 for me, will be quite an upgrade. I see no reason to ever buy a new model phone ever again. Linux icon, cuz I'm cheap but I will spend to get things they way I want them, not how others say I should want them.
This isn't Boeing to end well: Plane maker to scrap some physical cert tests, use computer simulations instead
Motion detectors: say hello, wave goodbye and… flushhhhhh
Friday 12th April 2019 13:37 GMT 
I hate airport toilets.
I don't know if it is only Stansted, but unless you sit perfectly still while doing the 2, it will flush, giving your balls a rinse at the same time. To add insult to injury, what is it about modern toilet design for public use toilets which means the tip of my you know what is touching the inside of the bowl. Are toilet designers dick defficient? Nothing worse than feeling the cold touch to the tip as you sit down and wondering how much bacteria is in the loo.
All's fair in love and war when tech treats you like an infant
Fun fact: GPS uses 10 bits to store the week. That means it runs out... oh heck – April 6, 2019
Canadians moot methods to embiggen moose monument and make Mac great again
The Large Hadron Collider is small beer. Give us billions more for bigger kit, say boffins
Wednesday 16th January 2019 09:14 GMT
Dark matter/energy question
Have wondered about this and what popped into my simple mind was virtual particles. The quantum field is constantly fluctuating and causes elementary particles to pop into and out of existence very briefly. My question is this, measured out over universe, what is the average mass of these virtual particles at any given time, could they account for the 'missing' mass of the universe? Because they only exist for very short periods of time before anihilating, rinse and repeat across the universe, could that be an explanation for why we can't find dark matter and energy, because although the mass exists, you really would have to be in the right time and place to see and measure it before it disappeared and popped up elsewhere. Just a thought, but am interested if anybody has any thoughts and if I'm wrong, help me understand.
Germany has a problem with the entire point of Amazon's daft Dash buttons – and bans them
Monday 14th January 2019 16:36 GMT
I'm not Germany's greatest fan but....
The country has some good things going for it, apart from my German ex-wife. They seem to want to genuinely protect consumers and take the work/life balance seriously. But everything is so ordered it is stifling, I guess we Brits all have a modicum of desire to bend rules and play the system to our personal advantage. Best wishes to them in taking on Amazon. Love the autobahn, the Weisswurstäquator and words like autoarschkrampe which describe perfectly a situation that very nearly went badly wrong. Don't live there but travel through it often enough. If you have a sweet tooth and you're near Heidelberg, do stop, the place has the most amazing cakes. I can not recommend marrying a German.
What happens when a Royal Navy warship sees a NATO task force headed straight for it? A crash course in Morse
Wednesday 2nd January 2019 21:52 GMT
Re: Vomit inducing
I've experienced F10, steady 8,regularly gusting 10 on a 15 metre boat. We were sailing across to Belgium, Reefed in but still exceeding hull speed down the waves, thankfully we were not in a following sea, would hate to broach. Lifelines on, the 3 of us taking turns sitting up in the bow, water-proofs on, waves breaking over, that was a hell of a ride.
Sorry, Mr Zuckerberg isn't in London that day. Or that one. Nope. I'd give up if I were you
Take my advice: The only safe ID is a fake ID
Super Micro China super spy chip super scandal: US Homeland Security, UK spies back Amazon, Apple denials
Send up a satellite to zap space junk if you want Earth's orbit to be clean, say boffins
Why are sat-nav walking directions always so hopeless?
Friday 28th September 2018 17:25 GMT
Re: never seems to taste the same?
I only eat bacon when I go home. Not even worth looking for it in Europe. Lidl sold something it called British bacon. As an experiment, bought a pack as it did look like bacon, was terrible all the gunk which came out of it. Dumped it in the loo. Dumped before eating, not after.
Friday 28th September 2018 14:19 GMT
Boiling water from the espresso machine
In a cafe or hotel, put teabag in cup and ask them to fill it from the espresso machine. Saves a ton of hassle trying to explain how the water should be boiling when they pour it on the tea. Works anywhere they have proper espresso machine and know how to make a decent coffee
Friday 28th September 2018 14:04 GMT
Re: As you might expect...
I haven't lived in the UK for a long time now. Always bring back a box of Yorkshire Gold Tea when I visit family. If I want a cup of tea in a bar. I take my own teabag and ask them to put it in the cup and use the hot water from the espresso machine to fill it. They look at you a bit odd but it works
IBM memo to staff: Our CEO Ginni is visiting so please 'act normally!'
My PC is on fire! Can you back it up really, really fast?
Friday 4th May 2018 12:19 GMT
Re: I recall even my mum (a bit like Dilmom) telling me a fire story
I'm guessing you are from a younger generation than me. Way back when, we had specific teachers for chemistry, physics and biology, each a specialist in their own field and they all loved the experimental lessons. Two lessons of each field of science a week, one theory, the other, getting hands dirty in the labs. It was all about the adventure of discovery, doing stuff that wouldn't always be in the exam paper but was fascinating to learn. This was high school back then, 11-18 year olds being presented with stuff that could blow your mind, or kill it, as per the cyanide gas demonstration. Yes, the gas is colourless but we were transfixed watching the experiment, knowing the gas could wreak so much harm, it was like watching silent death, we were in awe, so when the extraction chamber broke down it was frightening yet exhilarating to escape at the same time.
Friday 4th May 2018 09:43 GMT
Re: I recall even my mum (a bit like Dilmom) telling me a fire story
Not a fire story, a cyanide gas story. High school in the 80's, chemistry teacher decided to demonstrate how cyanide gas is produced, mixed the appropriate ingredients in the gas extraction chamber and we were advised to stand back, during the experiment, the chamber decided to break down and was partially open to the rest of the lab. Cue very urgent shouts from teacher to 'get the fuck out as fast as possible'. As the chamber was near the door we rather ungracefully exited via the windows. If the lab had not been on the ground floor, I reckon it could have turned into a pretty nasty situation.
Another quarter, another record-breaking Tesla loss: Let's take a question from YouTube, eh, Mr Musk?
Thursday 3rd May 2018 15:46 GMT
Re: It's not that old a company. So much turnover. So much cash on hand. So *little* profit?
Tesla share price today is based on expected earnings in the future, the P/E ratio. What that means is many shareholders of Tesla stock today, expect to see Tesla earn a lot of money in the future. If the shareholders lose faith in Tesla's ability to make money in the future, the share price will collapse. Share prices are not based so much on what a company is doing now, but what investors think it will do in the future.
Thursday 3rd May 2018 14:57 GMT
Respect to Musk but...
Elon Musk got the EV market kickstarted, he will always be remembered for that, and I have a lot of respect for the guy, he is a visionary when it comes to new products. But. He tried to over-automate production, the likes of VW and Toyota are on the cutting edge of mass production using automation, however they have the experience to know which jobs are better served by human hands. I do quite a bit of work for a company which designs and produces automated production lines for car companies, customers include, VW Group, Kia, Jaguar/Land Rover. Unfortunately, Tesla doesnt have long term experience with mass production, it is still very much in a learning process. In the meantime, the big auto makers, who have been doing a ton of research into EV's, are getting ready to launch their own vehicles, the difference being, they have the mass production experience, the economies of scale and already profitable businesses and, will, in my opinion, eat Tesla's car business for breakfast.
I would also be closely watching the Chinese EV makers, they have been experimenting with electric taxis and buses in the big cities and are getting ready to hit the international market big time in the next couple of years.
In the middle of all this is the minnow, Tesla. Forget the cars, their build quality is similar to that of Kia 10 years ago, Tesla will probably licence its car name to one of the big car makers. Part of the problem arises from a person being a visionary running a company of growing complexity. They are too focused on the ideas and big changes, but have little grasp of the detail needed to make a company of growing complexity, work. SpaceX however, that is very hard engineering and is the future I see for Tesla, in this way Musk can focus on one big product and make it work beautifully. The car business is a different kettle of fish, not suited to his psychology.
Furious gunwoman opens fire at YouTube HQ, three people shot
F-35B Block 4 software upgrades will cost Britain £345m
Thursday 22nd March 2018 10:15 GMT
Charging us for Beta grade software then
Everyone in the software business thinks they can get away with it these days. Get something out the door, worry about patching and upgrading later, meantime you have to keep paying through the nose. I bet it will be Block 5 or 6 before things are ready. How much more will we have to pay. Yeah sure they have reduced the price of the aircraft, but they are clawing the discount back through software 'upgrades'
We need to talk, Brit Parliamentary committee tells Mark Zuckerberg
Tuesday 20th March 2018 16:16 GMT
Governments finally realizing they are not as in control as they thought they were
With the likes of FB and Google having data on millions, if not billions of people, I think politicians are now realizing they are not as high and mighty as they once were. As these companies are international, they can collect data anywhere, but base operations for the use of that data where they like, out of the jurisdiction of national governments. FB and Google etc, are in fact now, supra-national bodies, you can be sure they won't be so careless about similar operations in the future. This situation is simply part of the learning phase for them. It might already be too late to stop them.
