Posts by Eddy Ito

Well sure but "the ZTE would be commercially available from its Moviestar shops on 2 July." Since it's been out since tomorrow through one network operator it only seems reasonable that it would be ahead of nothing.

Re: Gotta hand it to the yankees, though

I propose that the use of the term 'Yanks' should generally apply to the people and 'yankees' or equally 'yank-mees' to apply to the government. Alternatively the citizenry should carry the capital 'Y' to differentiate from the lesser form which is the government which should get the respect it deserves with a lower case 'y'.

Re: Cricket vs Baseball

If you were paying someone $8M to play 16-20 games per year, wouldn't you want them in a protective suit also?

Re: Wang Yaping

Would a short video do?

Re: Need an OS with that box, Mr Customer?

Do you honestly think ARM doesn't have the ability to unlock the boot loader? I'd wager their RT tablets are dual boot units by now.

Re: @Martijn Otto

"the only country spying on another country"

That's just it. It has always been big government on big government Cold War type action and it sold rather well, just look at the money the James Bond franchise makes. Unfortunately something happened when everyone just started to get along as it were and sure there was still spying but the big tension filled headlines about nuke missiles, nuke subs & spy vs spy faded to be replaced by "War on [insert nonentity here]". There was the war on drugs where we spied on Moriega and Escobar to take them down and followed it with the war on terror and spying on the Taliban and Saddam and it all looked like big government vs either government or international crime syndicate which many people thought was fair. The problem is it wasn't just that and still isn't, it is government vs the people - We the People.

Lots of people contend the second amendment is pointless because a US citizen armed with an AR15 rifle is no match for an armed battalion with tanks. It's more than likely true but it's no less true that a US citizen armed with the Constitution is no match for the current police state that swerves, jukes and spins its way through secret courts, specious claims of national security, dismisses habeas corpus by labeling someone a terr'ist and decrees by fiat a person so labeled is guilty until proven innocent.

Constitutional Convention anyone?

Re: The new wok?

The problem is the term "3d printing" has become a catch all for every type of additive manufacturing. We aren't likely to see consumer level selective laser sintering (SLS) machines for a while yet but the current set of fused deposition modeling (FDM) or fused filament fabrication (FFF) is useful for far more than toys depending on the material used and the abilities of the printer. You could print anything from custom chocolates to replacement or custom car parts. Lots of cars today have plastic intake manifolds and some FDM machines will handle thermoplastics with the needed heat properties. You can also overprint substrates so if you needed a part with metal threads it would be trivial to start the print, insert a metal nut as required and finish printing the rest of the part encapsulating the nut. Taking it another step these printers are good for making wax patterns for casting metals at which point the SLS machines aren't really necessary.

Sure, I see your point that 3d printers aren't going to be like TVs but so what? TVs are leisure devices not productive ones. Productive devices are tools and generally people buy the tools they find useful and particularly it's the low cost, easy to use, multipurpose tools that are most frequently bought. These printers aren't any different from sewing machines, not everyone has one, not everyone has a need for one but for those who have and use sewing machines they are very useful, domestically. It all depends on what your "day-to-day domestic uses" are.

Oh, I'm not clear on what you mean by "The new wok?". Is the wok the utensil which consigned all the other cookery to the cupboard or is it a piece that has been so consigned? I know mine is used almost daily but that doesn't mean my black iron skillet, stock pots and waffle iron aren't used. Notably the waffle iron is mostly used only on weekends but then it is rather specialized.

Re: The history of tribal violence

I didn't say there wasn't preexisting tribal violence but it's hardly an Africa only thing so Africa isn't special in that regard. It was hardly peace, love doves, tie-dye sheets and waterbeds anywhere in precolonial days. Go back to the Aztecs and you'll find they weren't the nicest people around and were overthrown in part because all the nearby tribes signed up with Cortez in hopes of sloughing off their existing master. Also notice that many alliances between Native Americans and the different European powers were based on joining the side opposite the alliances of their tribal enemies.

My comment that Africa is young refers to the actual living populous not the historical record. If you want to see similar behavior have a look at the young hoodlums that form gangs (not exactly tribal lines but often racial) in parts of some US cities. In general the former colonies that had easy transitions also had the benefit of an older population and longer life expectancy. Africa has a population that is mostly made up of children who are easily influenced by the nearest figurehead, be it tribal or warlord, who promises them some shiny.

Sure colonialism may have temporarily suppressed violence but it didn't do anything to address the cause so when the time came for withdrawal it's hardly surprising that little changed. Effectively the colonial powers screwed up by installing a fragile toy government and walking away only to wring their hands when it quickly swings back to either chaos or a powerful dictator and the only thing they can think to do is throw money at it.

Re: Not gloopy

"Sebastian Brosig asked for detailed reports from the other end."

Ok this "not gloopy" bizness, are you talking about the gozinta or the gozouta? On a side note I have it on good authority that color depends a lot on bile production and how long it stays in your system. Think of it like a traffic light, green slips right on through, yellow gets delayed a bit and red, let's hope you had beets last night.

Re: SCO ... do us all a favour . . .

Too true, the "Zombie lawsuit..." should have been a dead [no pun intended but hey it works] give away.

Re: Name the unit of capacatance.

May be it was maibee it wasn't but it was an oral test and he did have an odd accent.

Re: Anti-Apple bias

"... once the new Samsung inspired, I mean Apple inspired Phablet is introduce you'll be put in your place."

iPhablet, Shirley.

Re: Yeah, its about protecting your stolen phone - seriously?

"all they have to do is ask (or require) the phone company to disconnect that phone number"

It's unlikely they would know exactly which phone was being used as a trigger and far easier to just jam the signals in an area to prevent the call from coming in. I agree that bricking every nearby device to eliminate the possibility of evidence of police misconduct being posted to youtube is a better possibility.

Re: You have two hand-picked partisan polticians: CHOOSE ONE

Too true, it's usually the networks that parrot their political masters' comments about third party candidates. It's usually the radical, extreme, fringe, quixotic or unelectable candidate versus the two respected, honorable, experienced and or wise candidates from the major parties.

In reality the two party cartel is basically voting for the shit sandwich with mayo or the shit sandwich with mustard. Of course there are the extremes of the two parties which claim to be whole wheat or multi-grain too but still a shit sandwich.

Re: @ribosome

Yes, realpolitik has been around pretty much since the inception of the US. Consider that it was only 9 years from Washington becoming the first President and the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts which were later used to stifle political opposition. It then follows step by step to the present day with the heel of government coming down on the neck of someone who only really wants what was promised in a document that is now little more than memorialized toilet paper considering how my government really treats it.

@Trevor: Great vid. Thanks. :)

Re: USA <-> CHINA

Welcome to the United Stasi of America