Posts by DavCrav

Re: re: <title is too long>

"That's because WeChat isn't Twitter."

So what? The OP is talking about how Twitter still hasn't taken down the original fake image.

Re: Technically ......

Aluminium doesn't rust. Apart from the fact that aluminium oxidizes, as rust specifically refers to iron oxide, while iron oxide is detrimental to the structure of iron, alimunium oxide is actually protective. So it isn't rust, either technically or morally.

Re: Hacks all the way down?

It's a hack to say 'I got this running on computer x', and then say 'well, I replaced most of the components in x, but I kept the box it came in.'

"Yet because modern kit has more capability, the developers couldn't resist sticking way more graphical complexity in than was required."

Sure, but there are probably two effects here:

1) Because it's only going to play on much better hardware, there's no incentive to optimize, as optimization takes time and thinking. Tiem and thinking that could be spent bashing out another mobile game to get more money.

2) Computer programming is very easy. Computer programming well is not. The number of people who can create fast, efficient code, is far smaller than the number of people producing code.

Case in point: Megadrive/SNES roms are around 1MB in size, many smaller. For an entire game. Space Academy Year 1, which has better graphics, but not massively better, than an old RPG game on the Megadrive (and the only one I have installed right now) is 765MB. A lot of that is texture files, sure. But now people will just paint a big tile rather than code the tile. I found in one game that they needed a black background for one menu and simply created a massive black picture file to use. Quick and dirty.

My A600 came with a hard disk. A 20MB beast. (This did not help with the saving and loading issue, since the memory couldn't take it whether you saved to df0 or dh0.)

"I'd argue that an old Mac, Amiga, ST, DOS PC - or even CP/M machine is just as effective for over 90% of users, 90% of the time."

No. At least an old Amiga anyway. I used to write my English homework on an A600. Without a memory module upgrade to 2MB RAM you couldn't save a document and then print it. So you have to write everything in one sitting, then print it, and then keep hold of the paper copy.

(Edit: you could print it and then save it, that wouldn't crash it. But you couldn't load a document and then print it, as it had run out of memory, so the effect was the same.)

Re: @Dwarf

"Which gets punished. But not what we are talking about unless you think so many businesses are running such?"

I was going to comment on other things in your post, but I decided that this morsel is the most illuminating. Oligopolies naturally form cartel-like behaviours without formally being a cartel. I guess you didn't do A-level economics (as you stated) because even there one finds out about non-price competition in duopolies.

It's a basic fact of the last thirty years or so that there is increasing consolidation in more or less every sector of corporate life, particulary in the US. With this consolidation comes much greater profits, and those come from the consumer, eventually. US companies are significantly more profitable than their European counterparts, and it's believed that consolidation is the reason for most of this variation. Large companies merge because they predict the ability to raise prices, reduce service quality, and therefore increase profits.

Apple makes a battery that cannot be swapped. But now so do almost every other manufacturer. Unless you want a Fairphone, you cannot get a user-repairable phone. Since Fairphone produce such a thing, it is clearly possible. But other manufacturers do not produce them. I, personally, have a list of things I want from my phone and the Fairphone doesn't fit them, so I cannot have one, but I would prefer a phone with their repairability, with other features. Such a phone is not available to me, so I cannot express my preference and purchase one.

Revealed preferences only work if there are the following features to the market:

1) Perfect information. Manufacturers hide significant amounts of information about their product. You cannot find out estimated failure rates of components of a new car, for example, because manufacturers do not provide them.

2) Low or zero barriers to entry. This is necessary because unsatisfied demand, say for a repairable phone, would be satisfied by a new entrant into the market, thus forcing current manufacturers to adapt to the demands of the market. Of course, unless you have a spare few billion you cannot set up your own phone manufacturer, so this one's difficult as well.

Of these, 2) is much more important than 1). With high barriers to entry, either natural (complex machinery) or artifical (advertising, regulation, restricted supply), the preferences of consumers can be subverted by manufacturers who can simply refuse to provide what the customer wants.

As a case study, consider gyms. Nobody wants a 12-month rolling contract. But that's what you get because fuck you. So PureGym was set up to take advantage of this untapped demand. The trouble is, PureGym cannot expend very easily, because barriers to entry are high: you have to buiild a lot of gyms. It took a long time for this competitor to become established, because the barriers to entry in this market are pretty high. PureGym, which gives customers what they want, is now the largest gym chain in the UK.

But ten years ago, your argument would have been that people really want 12-month contracts because look, that's what people are buying.

Re: @Dwarf

"That is where we do live in a free market. We have expressed preferences (want to choose who fixes my stuff) and revealed preferences which is what people actually do. It is free market which has brought this through consumer choice."

Please stop with your A-level economics. You have to take into account asymmetric information, where I do not know that the piece of equipment is difficult to repair, and cartel/oligopoly behaviour, where there are only a few manufacturers of a product , each of whom does the behaviour. You think HP could get away with their ink shenanigans if there were genuine, well-informed, choices available to consumers?

Re: Suppose Boeing was Chinese

"The Chinese government would definitely have jailed the managers responsible for bringing disgrace to the country. Note they still would had made efforts to hide the incident from the general public (local and international), but simply to avoid the embarrassment."

I don't think that's quite right. They would have jailed/executed the managers responsible for face reasons, but they would have dressed it up as tax evasion or corruption, rather than let the real reason be known. (Like with all the other people jailed/executed for corruption in real life.) What I mean is, they wouldn't have 'made efforts to hide', they would have tried to cover it up entirely. And that includes jailing/executing any whistle-blowers as well. Then produced a software patch and try to silently install it on those jets in service. Hopefully without anyone noticing.

"Why would you be a bit concerned about it?"

Because generally the pandemic has led a large number of people to re-evaluate their attitudes towards safety. Flying is only slightly more dangerous than before (because of issues with maintenance) but perception of risk has changed.

"The 777 is arguably the safest jet Boeing has ever produced"

Hops from Heathrow to Frankfurt are generally done by A320s, or possibly a 737 normal. I think all of the BA trips I've been on for that journey have been A320s, although I forget which variant. I don't think the neo.

"Hmmm - I think that the JU-52 safety record is a bit worse than 'one crash since 1939'."

It was meant to be humorous. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

"How about a Ju 52?"

One crash since 1939? Boeing would love that safety record.

Also, hopefully there are planes between WWII and modern ones? 747-400s are pretty safe nowadays, aren't they?

After the whole Covid thing, and Boeing nosediving, and planes possibly not being maintained very well while grounded, I am not 100% looking forward to travelling to Germany next August. It'll be my first flight in several years now (kids and then pandemic) and I actually genuinely am a bit concerned about it.

Re: Average crew

"So cross your fingers and hope you have at least an average pilot?"

I should point out that this is a general statement, not restricted to setting foot on a MAX. (I will check my calendar before flying on a MAX, and if every day isn't labelled 'Sunday', I won't be going.)

Re: Average crew

"Aren't half the crews below *average*, by definition?"

So cross your fingers and hope you have at least an average pilot?

Re: Ticket master

"Ticketmaster exists for the same reason Amazon & ebay do. People's own web stores, shipping, and customer service are usually totally crap."

Yeah, if these venues had their own e-shops, with their l;ow-budget IT department, they might end up with card-skimming malware for years without anyone noticing.

"Hummm... I wonder where they got the idea from:"

More than one company lies in press releases. Full story at 11.

Re: Team America: World Police

Driving on the wrong side of the road for a length of time (i.e., not momentarily drifting) would be likely classified as dangerous driving rather than careless driving.

And legging it to another country is considered an aggravating factor in this case. I would expect the maximum (or close to it) sentence to be handed down, like Assange was handed 51 weeks (maximum 52 weeks) because of the egregious aggravating factor.

Re: Laptop shields

"I'd prefer that the OS reliably stopped it."

Not possible, for the 'master mute/unmute button' issue. You cannot have a software feature that is above all other software features. Only hardware can do that.

Re: That's not a reason to stop.

"Death by careless driving doesn't normally result in a prison sentence - or even an automatic ban from driving!"

As she was driving on the wrong side of the road for some time, I would expect death by dangerous driving to be the correct charge on the docket.

Re: Team America: World Police

"Their legal system allows for criminals to be charged where the victim is, so they have applied for extradition."

That's absolutely fine. I think the problem that I, and many others here, have, is where this is accepted by the UK court system.

This one-way extradition treaty has to end.

Re: Team America: World Police

"and the criminal was in another county, you'd tell her what?"

That he hopefully will go to jail in that other country?

"Wait until you learn what the US does under the guise of "state sponsored actor"."

Is it force a million ethnic-minority women to marry dominant-race men, then subject them to repeated state-orchestrated rape?

No wait, that one's China.

"I'm more productive as well as feel more refreshed and can code away during Teams meetings etc."

Being able to get on with real work during meetings has been a massive productivity bonus.

Re: "without ANY compensation"

"HMRC is allowing people working from home to claim money back for increased heating bills"

Yes, an increase in the tax-free allowance of £6/week, so less than £3/week cash. The removal of commuting costs and time are for me a vastly larger benefit. An order of magnitude better, likely two depending on how you cost your time.

"TPTB"

Is that short for 'the pillock that be'?

Re: Here's something you may not know.

"It's because Putin flat out hates Hillary. When Hillary was Secretary of State during the Obama administration, she ran a covert operation, in Russia, that interfered with Putin's reelection campaign."

I indeed have never heard about this. Can you provide some evidence of it? Because some Googling came up with nothing either. And something at least slightly reputable please, not Rudy Guiliani for example.