* Posts by Charles 9

16605 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Holy moley! The amp, kelvin and kilogram will never be the same again

Charles 9

Re: SI

"That's why we should stop changing our clocks twice a year."

That's another argument altogether owing to the need to synchronize everything in a locality (so just changing times as needed raises scheduling conflicts) combined with the problem of short days in the winter the closer to the pole you get (and limited daylight is more practical later in the day--and England gets it worse than in the US because it's farther north; the winter solstice really stinks up there).

Charles 9

Re: @A.P. Veening Economists - In 1889?

"But the ideal keel material would be osmium."

In terms of density, yes, but last I checked osmium's also very brittle, meaning a hard knock can break it: NOT a good thing when it comes to a keel.

Charles 9

Re: Gold no better choice

"The weight loss (small but measurable) is a result from the cleaning, necessary because stuff from the air will cling to it."

Wasn't that taken into consideration by placing the prototypes under double bell jars?

Charles 9

Re: Soooo ....

Or you just put both of them in identical sacks...

Charles 9

Re: Soooo ....

"If it's the American, is it a pound of feathers, or a pound of lead?"

So you're telling if you put a pound of feathers on one end of a balance and a pound of lead on the other, it wouldn't balance given they're both supposed to be a pound?

Charles 9

Re: SI

"I don't ever recall hearing "Captain's Log, 13th of June..." after all. ;)"

Actually, the reboot of Star Trek starting with the 2009 movie DOES do that. The rebooted Stardate is simply <Gregorian Year>.<Day of Year starting from 1>.

As for why mks, it seems there IS some natural coherence between the units, particularly when you mesh electrical phenomena to physical ones. In fact, this is why the kilogram was used versus the gram: the relationships didn't fit with the g but did with the kg. In fact, modern science notes a lot of interrelation between mass, energy, and time. That's one reason for the redefinitions. With the second defined as it will be, one can redefine the kilogram in terms of the Planck constant (which uses time), redefine the ampere in terms of the elementary charge (which uses time), and redefine the Kelvin in terms of the Boltzmann constant (which uses time, mass, and distance which is unchanged).

As for why cesium, it's easier to measure and more consistent than hydrogen.

Charles 9

Re: "...using methods that can be replicated anywhere on the planet."

Incorrect fix. The second is still defined terestrially, and there's currently no way to change this because of the lack of any kind of absolute point of reference. Put it this way. The measurement of cesium oscillation can change depending on how high up one is on the planet (due to time dilation effects). That's why the qualification of using mean sea level on a theoretical geoid.

Charles 9

Here's a little food for thought. It seems one big reason they wanted to redefine the kilogram was because the different prototype kilograms were diverging from each other, and they were a little puzzled as to why: was one losing mass or the other gaining mass, and so on. That and the research into using the Kibble balance meant they could move away from prototypes.

Same for the temperature redefinition, as using the triple point basis wasn't consistent at extreme temperatures, and the Boltzmann constant was a better fit.

Charles 9

Re: A few comments

"It seems a little peculiar that they were quite happy to use the charge on an electron to define the Coulomb, but didn't wan't to use the mass on the electron to define the kg (it is known to an appropriate precision)."

Except the rest mass of an electron is calculated from the Planck constant (and the Rydberg constant): any uncertainty in its measurement comes from the Planck constant, so you could say this is closer to the source.

"There is still a bit of awkwardness with certain units, like the definition of the second is based upon being measured at sea level (as general relativity plays a role)."

Took a bit of reading to figure out what's involved (time dilation caused by the differing scalar speeds at differing altitudes). I guess in the end you have to pick something because there are no real absolute points of reference in the universe.

"Also I will kind of miss Avagadro's constant being the number of atoms in 12 grams of carbon 12."

Probably because that would have to depend on the definition of the gram (or in this case, the kilogram). That puzzles me. Why does SI use the kilogram instead of the base gram? Might this change in future now that the standard-bearer has changed as well?

Charles 9

I have a thought, though. How can one define the mole by Avogadro's Constant when the constant is defined in terms of moles? Sounds circular if you ask me.

Microsoft menaced with GDPR mega-fines in Europe for 'large scale and covert' gathering of people's info via Office

Charles 9

Re: Getting away with it

Not necessarily. Their lawyers will have to content with Microsoft's lawyers, and which do you think are better paid?

Charles 9

Re: "Head on a pike"

Or it just convinces their legal team to lawyer their way out of it. Bet you credits to milos they'll find a way to reduce the fines and liabilities, perhaps hang a threat of incompatibility in the government the future, perhaps a change of emphasis to Asia if they have to disconnect things. That's the thing with transnationals: they can play sovereignty against you, and few things are lawyer-proof.

Brit boffins build 'quantum compass'... say goodbye to those old GPS gizmos, possibly

Charles 9

Re: Bah!

How would the pedometer know you had two feet? You could have three legs for all it knows.

Charles 9

But it's still a thing going through the water. It will inevitably interfere with something (the earth's magnetic field if nothing else), and there WILL be ways of picking it out. Put it this way. Has there been any significant advance of stealth technology since multistatic and passive radar (which BTW is ALSO much tricker to detect and defeat, especially in passive radar which uses ambient radio waves) has made even today's state of the art practically useless if not counterproductive?

Charles 9

Re: Isn't this inertial guidance?

Are you sure you didn't mean a gyrocompass, which at least works in a mobile setting (gyrotheodolites need to remain stationary)?

Anyway, what I'm wondering is if the increased precision in this experimental setup might be spoiled by "noise" factors such as accounting for the earth's celestial movement, which also produces measurable forces.

Charles 9

Re: Isn't this inertial guidance?

"And has always fallen down due to error compounding in the integration process..."

Which as I recall was due to the lack of precision in the initial measurements. But with this, your initial measurements are MUCH more precise, meaning the compound effect is greatly reduced making the final result much more reliable.

What piques my curiosity is just HOW sensitive these instruments really are. I mean, are they sensitive enough to measure astronomic motion like that of the Earth's rotation and revolution in space (which are both curved and therefore will always have an acceleration invovled)?

Between you, me and that dodgy-looking USB: A little bit of paranoia never hurt anyone

Charles 9

"When security requirement are imposed externally, and the likes of GDPR can do that, it becomes in the top team's interest to take is seriously."

Is it? Or is it just a case of the lawyers finding a way out of it? I've yet to see anything really lawyer-proof.

Charles 9

Re: eAnarchy

It usually isn't pretty. Eventually, someone amasses enough power to push everyone aside and take over. Like you said, usually isn't pretty.

Charles 9

Re: USB is a godsend, but

So how do you transfer things too complex for a human to enter into an airgapped device? Stuxnet got through Sneakernet because you had to have SOME way to program the machines.

Charles 9

"There's also the fact that some of us work/have worked for businesses that take security very seriously and there it really does start at the top."

Applicable word being SOME, not MOST. You're the exception; most places the execs have the ability to override and use their legal teams to find whatever excuse they need to make it above-board. Isn't that why there hasn't been any REALLY crippling judgments against big companies?

Charles 9

Re: USB is a godsend, but

You bet your career on that?

Charles 9

Re: Beware the RED USB drive

...except for the possibility whoever DID leave the device could ALSO order the ninjas around.

Charles 9

I thought they monkeyed with the controller directly, making it OS-independent. Thus why they say if you think your controller's been hit by BadUSB, you can never trust it again, OS be damned.

Charles 9

"It just needs to be reasonably lawyer-proof so that it would lead to at least a long expensive court case."

No, it has to be Pyrrhic, as in it costs more to lawyer their way out of it than to pay the penalties for losing. Then the shareholders will get involved.

Charles 9

Re: paranoia

I'm old enough to remember the poisoned Tylenol scandal. And I think they managed to do it DESPITE tamper resistance.

Charles 9

Unless you can prove it's totally lawyer-proof, C-suites can probably just counter they can lawyer their way out of nigh anything.

Charles 9

But that doesn't do anything about the likes of BadUSB which work at the controller level AND can be tamper-proof in itself. Something like that could potentially detect a non-standard filesystem and ruin your day that way.

Charles 9

"A blanket ban on all USB sticks and any mass storage devices, and any "unauthorised" USB devices in general."

And how do you stop this being countermanded by someone over your head?

Charles 9

Re: A paranoid mount option ?

And what will that do against the likes of BadUSB which work at the chip level, below the OS and therefore OS-independent as well? Remember, state-level malware is already at the chip level as well, and it can only trickle down from there.

Charles 9

Re: My superiors?

And if he counters, "Who hired this clown?"

Court doc typo 'reveals' Julian Assange may have been charged in US

Charles 9

Hard to say. They have offices in Virginia and Maryland.

Another Meltdown, Spectre security scare: Data-leaking holes riddle Intel, AMD, Arm chips

Charles 9

Re: Speed vs. Security

It really does cost too much. For many, they couldn't afford it even if they wanted to, their margins are THAT thin. It may be a delicate situation, but that's the hand they're dealt.

Charles 9

Re: Speed vs. Security

"It would be nice if the problem was addressed before it becomes a major issue but since those who could act are being paid not to, then everyone else has a lot of pain in their future that will continue until people again believe that putting all your eggs in one basket is a bad move."

Unless you can only afford ONE basket. Then having all your eggs in there is preferable to trying to carrying them in your arms.

Charles 9

Re: Speed vs. Security

But that inevitably entails sacrifices in speed: sacrifices users apparently aren't prepared to make. Better to be on-time than wrong because one can BS around a wrong answer but can't around a missed deadline.

GDPR USA? 'A year ago, hell no ... More people are open to it now' – House Rep says EU-like law may be mulled

Charles 9

"This problem was never going to be fixed like turning on a light switch, but it is a big step forwards."

No, unless it IS light-switch no-wiggle-room, they'll just find ways around it. That's always been the thing with business, especially BIG business: they' like sovereign entities unto themselves who just work their way around any obstacle. After all, they can play sovereignty against countries.

Charles 9

"What we needed was the GDPR to STOP irrelevant data collection and tracking."

Laws won't stop that. Companies are big enough and shrewd enough to lawyer their way around them. Nol the only solution is to Fix Stupid and make it so that a sizeable number of people (enough to seriously affect their bottom line) make it a non-starter: threaten to turn everything into a cash-and-carry transaction unless websites start allowing the same: no exceptions. Until then, you're decidedly in the minority, and your money just doesn't speak loud enough.

Charles 9

Re: The real problem is

Or they'll get smart enough to worm or lawyer their way out of it.

Charles 9

IOW, making something foolproof only leads to better fools coming along, able to do things so audacious it boggles the mind. And as a comedian said, You Can't Fix Stupid.

Charles 9

Re: Keep the politics out please

So you're basically saying human society as a whole is doomed...

Charles 9

Re: Chinese Option

"One item that will not be in any law is the Chinese option for the C-suites - execution."

Besides, I would think savvy Western execs already have the answer to the Chinese solution: preplanned scapegoats.

Windows XP? Pfff! Parts of the Royal Navy are running Win ME

Charles 9

Re: Few comments

"IDE to compact flash converters;"

That's the saving grace of Compact Flash. Its design is based on PATA; thus why it has 39 pins, so it's probably the most basic thing to try if you need an old PATA drive in this day and age. There are other solutions for other legacy devices as well (SD floppy emulator, for example).

Charles 9

NT4? I thought it was CE...

Charles 9

Re: Few comments

Are you sure about that? Isn't the budget the bane of any military?

Charles 9

Re: Few comments

Virtualuzation won't help you if the hardware is custom and/or runs on a deprecated bus like ISA. Remember the story of the XP-controlled six-figure lathe?

Charles 9

"- We don't connect it to everything else in the world because it doesn't need to be connected to everything else in the world."

And how do you KEEP it that way? Especially against both clandestine bridging and PHBs who don't know better?

Solid state of fear: Euro boffins bust open SSD, Bitlocker encryption (it's really, really dumb)

Charles 9

Re: Duh?

The way it normally works (and I know TrueCrypt and VeraCrypt do this) is that the drive is normally encrypted with a fixed key that is ITSELF cryptographically hashed from the password you enter and then stored. That way, if you want to change the password, you enter both old and new passwords. The old password decrypts the key which can then be re-encrypted using the new key. No need to re-encrypt the whole drive, yet you still need the new password to get even basic access to it.

One UI to end gropes: Samsung facelift crowns your thumb the king

Charles 9

Re: How about we acknowledge that big phones aren't as usable

"And stick to <5" phones."

And what about those of us with big hands. 5" is the smallest I'll accept.

Charles 9

Forget TouchWiz and you can forget sensitive apps since many are root-, custom- and (in this case) Knox-aware (last I checked, you can't install anything custom without tripping Knox).

Beyond code PEBCAK lies KMACYOYO, PENCIL and PAFO

Charles 9

Re: from a prior support gig....

Locked. A DIE/JFDI automatically makes it YOUR problem, and since the "E" means "or Else" (and a DIE/JFDI usually comes from a supervisor, usually one with termination powers), you're on an ultimatum.

Memo to Microsoft: Windows 10 is broken, and the fixes can't wait

Charles 9

Re: User Error ...

Even if there are no alternatives to the stuff they use everyday? OR if they're forced to by forces beyond their control (like, say, BOSSES)?