Posts by YumDogfood

I'll just leave this here...

https://empowerla.org/wanc

Dive! Dive! Dive!

Picked up some Juno stickers n' other stuff from the JPL table at the last Yuri's Night @ California Science center. :-)

If you are a space geek, SoCal is one heck of a place to be. Historically (you won't believe how many ex-Apollo workers there are here. Their reminiscences are fascinating) as well as Space-X, Virgin, Orbital etc. etc.

It is not the ads...

I live in Murica now and ads wash off me like a greased ducks back in a hypersonic wind tunnel. If I went back to Blighty and Tesco were handing out free gold bars, I'd be switched on cynical and wondering what angle they are playing.

It is the trickle of my limited Internets data allowance that irks. THAT. Bugger the tracking reasons because you ain't getting away from that anyhow.

May be a tad opinionated...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Convention_on_Human_Rights - "...the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention..."

The EU was formed in ~1993. The Maastricht treaty, and all that subsequent jazz - If you remember the fuss over it at the time. So, only those treaties and such after 1993, or those superseded by EU rulings are potentially going to get a full kerb stomping and kicking if we go full article #50. This is only conjecture from a poor semi-edumacated lad (thank you Labour, Tories. A pox on _all_ your houses), but I suspect the shape of the future to be somewhat familiar and not utterly alien. Human nature and history being what they are (rare bright spots in a whole load of crap.)

I'm disappointed that we may be leaving the EU. Note: not sad, weepy nor panicky Kermit the frog arm wavy. The dissembling, rhetoric and overtly emotional appeals to illogic are prime fuel for the dysfunctional who just love having an enemy, any enemy to fill up on hate with. Politics and soap opera indivisible.

This needs to stop or we'll continue to tear ourselves apart. I loath the GWB with us or against us partisan mentality that seems to wash over politics today. We need to get real and work it out, think instead of blamestorming the other side. Calling brexiters names will only push them Trumpwards. What happens if you get called a bad name? You think better of the name caller? Love em' up more, right? Use your noodle and persuade. Be subtle instead of deionising[1] putdowns.

OK, time for my meds and a cold shower. Nurse!

[1] Demonising of course, but I let the spell checker have its way.

The best cocktail in the world...

Ordered by my missus in Oklahoma City (we were doing a cross Murica road trip from GA to CA.) It had some French liqueur in it, violets or something. Very well balanced, delicate, not too sweet or overpoweringly boozy. Perfection, IMHO.

The bar was banging out G n' R, which we danced to, and... and... my memory fails after that point.

As to the bemusement of Brits encountering the strips of lard called bacon here in the USA, I finally figured it out! You gently heat strips of the things until the lard melts off. Then turn the heat up a bit. Decamp the crispy jerky impersonators to a paper towel to soak off the excess. Crack in egg or two into the lake o' lard and fry as usual. Fried bread optional. The lard imparts flavo(u)r[1] and is good hearty morning scram, or a general purpose day after bear soaker. Note: Don't use the really cheap "bacon", go to Whole Wallet and splash out for something that is not 100% subcutaneous oinker fat.

[1] Transitioning between spellings I am.

IMPLEMENTATION DEFINED, UNDEFINED, UNDEFINED., UNDEFINED...

Those words burned into my brain after reading too many ARM documents & datasheets. Seems somehow... relevant?

I'm off for a nice cup of tea and a sit down to rest my brain from the headless chickens I've encountered today.

Yes, I went there and said "avatars."

I wonder if we could do lip syncing & voice changing avatars instead? A Muppet Show Webex would be a hoot. Might have bindun, but I'm too lazy and caffeine deficient this Saturday morning to look.

PS: Future Shock! The story of 2000AD - futureshock2000ad.com

Decaying Mall Corners

Nothing like 'The Bluff', but not the least dangerous area to av' a lark in. Yep, very stupid: FALL FAIL.

The pilots are going be lovin' it, flying sideways.

I imagine the next step is for the cockpit and engines both be at the centre and rotatable as one unit.

Culture shocked

As a Brit ex-pat and member of the LA OASIS society[1] I'm continuously in jaw dropped mode. I've been introduced to the Space-X CEO, know people who's lecturers worked with Wolfgang Pauli and other scientific luminaries. It goes on and on, including people I know who work for JPL. The UK efforts, sadly, make it look like WASA[2].

Its an utterly different world and those not familiar with it have no idea of the core of talent, commitment, money and opportunities. The UK is no slouch when it comes to talented scientists, but everything else seems so shoe-string in comparison.

[1] https://info.aiaa.org/Regions/Western/LA/Lists/Calendar/DispForm.aspx?ID=159

[2] http://www.welshspaceagency.org

PS: One space science meeting was at Northrop Grumman's cafeteria, the exterior of which is best known to Star Trek fans as the place where Spock was attacked by the fried egg monsters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation:_Annihilate!

Green Shield Stamps, by the barrowload

Coupons? Looks like everybody is wanting to get out of the dollar, fast.

Lots of good suggestions made y'all made

The Centrifugal Rickshaw Dancer

Dying Earth series

Vurt

The Reproductive System (Sladek)

Gateway

Norstrilla

Cyberiad

Helliconia series

Naked came the robot

The diamond age

Darwin's Fix++

...and the site hosting the source of the automatic updates

...and each package source code

...and the developer with either a gun to their heads, or an agenda

...and...

...and...

End to end security for everything. Who do you trust?

I'm off for my Friday pint, not sure whats in the pint, it might be mind control drugs or GM water, you never know! *wibble*

The glass cellar

"women had no rights and were forced to stay at home with the children"

Yeah, it sure beats going down the mine and end up dying of pneumoconiosis while the coal board drags its feet on compensation that might have made my grandfather live longer, or in less pain. Or maybe it would have been more equal like my great-great grandmother and the kids down the mine along with the men? As to the company store - it was (economic) slavery. No wonder the miners had such a radical outlook after such exploitation (though it was transmuted into greed later by certain union leaders with political rather than humanitarian agendas).

Stop with the divide and conquer mentality promoting your own kind of sexism, we all live different lives, and the best thing we can do is to help others achieve, or at least try, whatever we want to do without getting caught in the traps of poverty and ignorance, or stomping on each other like rats in a trap.

Casting (typedef) structs to char* WTF!?

Utterly evil, never mind that it could be structs compiled (#pragma) packed or unpacked, or both options in different libs and the calling code (the horror, the horror...)

Its a big sign that someone is not paying attention to architecture and portability issues.

When dinosaurs roamed the earth

It is the age of shambling zombie corporations. Once lively and fleet of foot, they now roam the world to feast on those still living and productive. Brains and talent ripped out and devoured in greed, with nothing at the end of the day to show for it except more corpses and undigested great ideas, products and talent slowly decomposing within the putrid frame of the mega-corp as it shambles it way to a fresh victim.

Travel from time T2 toT1 obviously requires a T-800.

I'll get my coat.

So they've given on of the chair fetish then?

Product design is an incestuous field of luvvies contained within the M25. Artisan fail: Because you did not make it yourself.

FAIL

...the first of many.

LOL!

When I pointed a while back that this was the score, I got shot down here. LOL! That that server to app link - all it needs is a basic UDP/TCP over IP and whatever protocol some demented megalomaniac developer can think up over lunch.

The only reason HTML is still here for apps is developer laziness - its a done deal so we only plug in the component and point it at the same port 80 address.

TARD-IS

...in the room.

Time for a cider my luvvers.

ThHuLe

Phil Oakey a bit shiner on top nowadays. Still got it though, go see them if you get the chance.

Not a member of The Register?

The FUDy shills are out in force today. *sigh*

Premature optimization is the root of all evil

All this newbie code monkey jabbering, click-jerk down-voting and inter-generational cluebat swinging. I really, really, really, could do with a few pints about now to deaden the pain of it all.

Oh yes, I was going to say something about measuring bottlenecks, profiling and such. Too late, I've already got my coat on. Have a good weekend all.

Cunning plan

"This is the warrant for your arrest Mr. Assange."

"What? Did you get permission to use my name? No? Remove my name from that document immediately! I'm gonna sue you!"

2. Profit!

TardWars

Thank you all. I've really enjoyed this flap in the peanut gallery.

Marrying the wrong person?

Working at your marriage is a lot art when the current environment encourages a lazy, entitled attitude with the ease of bailing out if it. Eat-prey-cheat and the rest of the divorce glamor industry don't help either, bashing from Kay Hymowitz telling us to "Man up" because we're not good enough (LOL!) The list is endless; various cultural bits of shiny-shiny worthless tinsel pulling couples apart or preventing them from trusting one another. I'm glad I'm not a young bloke in this horrid era. One major cluebat for y'all is: Men don't (often) commit because women are (often) bad at *keeping* commitments (look at the gender ratio for *who* files for divorce.)

"Secret History of Silicon Valley"

I'm a bit late here, but this insightful talk (~1hr) is worth a view. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo

Path of least resistance

1. Fill false preggers bump with Kg of the good stuff and walk on through (sans THz scanners).

2. Find an under 18 year old stupid enough to be a mule (not exactly hard, that one)

3. Either rohypnol & make a deposit in an unsuspecting lightweight thinker or a fake ID and take acting lessons in not firing on all thrusters.

Ways and means people, ways and means.

Moshpit or GTFO

I feel the evil need for a portable FM transmitter and the latest Beiberific or BrokeNCYDE abortion.

Yes, but did she spit or swallow the drink?

I know, this Mr Obvious is going to hell.

/coat, the shiny metallic asbestos lined one.

Versions;1

Like wot VMS and other OSs had yonks ago?

Post anonymously?

Would have got away with it, if it weren't for 400 of those pesky kids.

holodeck=Pr0n

FIFY. ;-)

Microsoft and the version #3 rule.

Punting a WP7 on Nokia hardware should be simple - munge the existing drivers for the WP7 API and you could 'knock one out' (yes, I know) in a hurry. Its an engineering problem, one Nokia are good at (sans all the engineering teams walking out, err...)

I expect WP7 to advance quite a bit and catch up, as long as the consumer unit and BU don't go to war over features. The only thing that would work against that is lack of communication between, and commitment from, MS and Nokia engineering teams. The only thing that could _really_ bollox it all up are their respective bureaucracies, but we have already tread on that ground, around and around, like Marvin the paranoid android stuck in a hole.

There is enough cash floating around for them, I think, to do it the X-Box way and chuck it around until something sticks, all gooey and cheaply, to whatever demographic is unfortunate enough to be in the way. As with any MS product, I would wait for version #3 though (I'm joking, really!) before it hits its stride and the money sucking starts in earnest.

PS: Nokia, please get an industrial designer that did not work on chunky Casio watches for orienteering bods. Thanks, much appreciated.

Time heals

Give it up on the ancient feuding people, I'm all for multiculturalism! For instance I'm *just* starting to get uses to all those Roman/Frenchy/Viking sorts hanging around these Isles. It does add a bit of colour to the place you know.

Y Cymro.

PS: I really don't mind them but hey do often reek of garlic and drink that awful alcoholic red stuff made from some some bizarre small squishy fruit clumps. As for not believing in lots of gods that you can actually see (sun,rock,plant,animal,sky) and only in one invisible one, Well, It might impact the hut prices around here (its already at two goats and a hen!) Thats all I'm saying, you know.

/ tongue, cheek, coat.