Posts by John Smith 19

In *real* science

Observations meet theory.

Observations *win*.

Influence of sunspot and UV levels underestimated x6 and that is *not* important.

I'd suggest that is at *least* worthy of investigation.

And despite *repeated* observations that "We don't really understand the role of clouds" WTF don't you start *trying* to find out.

The fact that CFC production brought about changes in polar Ozone levels on *human* timescales proves that humans can change climate.

However I find the fact that the temperature pattern between ground level, troposphere and stratosphere matches the skeptics, rather than the advocates *astonishing*.

This is an empirical *fact*.

Yet I have not seen advocates *explain* it.

If that pattern does *not* drop out of their GCM runs by *default* that would suggest *all* GCM's are FUBAR anyway.

I believe that something is happening. Everything is *not* rosy in the garden.

However *real* science explains *all* the observations *and* predicts what will happen next.

And the skeptics look like they have demonstrated *superior* science and more honesty.

"glassy" is a state of matter, It's *not* transparent.

In fact opacity depends on the bonding between different atoms. The near *total* lack of order in this solid might make it *more* opaque than crystallised metal.

Note that most metal glasses are made by rapid *cooling* at around 1000 000 deg /sec by praying a sheet at a fast spinning water cooled copper cylinder. Only the thinness of the sheets *allows* the cooling to be this fast. AFAIK the *big* use of this stuff is in transformers and other magnetic components due to *much* better magnetic properties. However their temperature limit is *low*. While the raw alloy might be good to the Curie point of the alloy this stuff will start loosing its properties c275c as the atoms start to move and in principle it will begin to re-crystallize outward from whatever crystalline material it's in contact with.

So default configuration is insecure?

Cisco chanell the spirit of Microsoft?

Note what the original X prize has *lead* to.

Before.

Sub orbital flight. "Can't be done, no market, already been done, no one interested" blah, blah.

After

20+ entries made, many of whom were able to raise funding on the basis that "If we win this, there's a big bag of cash on the table."

Virgin Galactic wit 5000 people ready to offer $200k full fair on launch day.

New mexico spaceport

It's that *immediate* bag of cash right up front (if you can meet the criteria).

Not

"well our business plan anticipates a 7 year FDA approval delay but after that we expect a steady growth of at least 5% PA." Yawn.

That's what gets people excited.

That's what *can* get funding released.

The X prize was modeled on the Orteg prize that Charles Lindberg won for the New York to Paris run. BTW Lindberg was IIRC one of 7 entrants and the *last* to takeoff. It was neither the best funded nor AFAIK the most technically advanced, but it won.

Thumbs up. Obviously the devils in the details of the prize rules but I hope that they will prioritize *results* (IE a *reliable* diagnostic tool over a *comprehensive*) without specifying *method* (like it *must* analyse urine but does not have to look at a patients skin or eyes).

£10m sounds like a bargain

I believe a reports indicates the UK lost c£286m a day on this snow event.

Weather or not £10m can actually *do* anything about it is another matter.

8 years is a *long* time for VC's to stay in a company.

Which either means they have strong commitment to a visionary leader (good for potential start-ups approaching them but their competitors reckon they are saps) or they are weasel faced late comers who got in when success was virtually assured, which is the kind of move that gets them plenty of respect from other VC's.

Time will tell if they get bought (It's an IPO. Who buys the shares determines who the new presumably *minor* stockholders will be).

BTW Boeing is *relatively* fair as a competitor, possibly because they still make stuff for a *commercial* market. In contrast LockMart are pure government con-tractors. their playing of NASA in the X33 programme reminded me of the restaurant owner in Goodfellas who feels he *has* to take on an organised crime family as his "partner."Their "remarkable" ability to win contests despite "mishaps" (like *loosing* 70 million dollars in the *evaluation* stage of the JSF project)

I wish Spacex every success on this but hope Elon retains *significant* control.

Rather know *why* they were installed in the first place,

along with *who* authorised them (Let me guess. Something to do with ACPO Ltd perhaps?)

And WTF is that 5 year and (apparently ) *growing* data retention policy.?

So the historians of 2050 can study the driving patterns of their forefathers?

I think not.

Forget that storage is getting cheaper.

The cheapest storage is *not* to do it in the first place.

Not to worry.

After all everyone loves Americans (they just want to be loved after all) and besides any one who *might* be a bit upset at the country couldn't *possibly* figure out a way to use this information in some sort of petty, mean spirited attack against some kind of *imagined* attack on them.

Right?

Don't worry the samples will safety destroyed.

Should be delicious.

Still waiting to see someone take some birds eggs into orbit and see if they can learn to fly in the ISS.

Do social workers take typing tests?

Seriously

Only if recording *detailed* notes into a computer is needed I'd guess unless someone is a fair typist (shall we say 20WPM minimum?) *very* few of those notes they have been scribbling are going to end up on some child's record. Handwriting recognition (scanned or tablet entry).? Voice to text perhaps?

Let's note that in some ways child protection IT is a lot like *many* local/central government IT systems including social work, NHS patients and "offenders" from arrest to trial to prison to (possibly) parole.

1) Population of people moving through *multiple* jurisdictions/locations.

2) Notes may need to be attached to their record, possibly by *multiple* organisations. The classic "problem" family with parents on welfare, children misbehaving at school or committing crimes up to and including daddy being a bit too "affectionate" with his children could need input from at least social services, police, schools, hospitals, GPs.

3) Individual authorities have the right to procure their own systems.

4)The systems should be able to report on staff to some level of detail.

5)The system (whatever it is) *will* change how staff work.

Perhaps they should concentrate on *core* functions and make damm sure the data can be transferred

But at heart the system needs staff who will do their *jobs*.

It took 60 visits to kill Peter Connelly.

it would have taken *one* (by someone *authorised* ) to save him.

So Huawei is the Chinese Cisco.

Customers may make of that what they will.

Steve has a little message for all you non Windows Skype users

You gonna squeal like a pig.

That is all.

So who's the company?

NCC?

Dettica (BAe infrastructure spying subsidary)

AN Other?

Fail as I don't consider bumping up £500m of UK taxpayers money spent on "Cyber security" (WTF that is) well spent.

Now for the UK..

I *think* the feed in tariff (at this level for 25 years after installation) has done its job of lowering the average installation cost by a substantial amount.

What to do about it.

Well 2 options seem possible.

Lower the feed in tariff .

Shorten the period. Remember this is a fixed tariff for 25 years.

Or of course do both.

There are enough options regarding PV cell type, inverter and power storage suppliers (personally I'd like to see someone have a go with flywheel storage based on train wheels) that competition and economies of scale *seem* to have started working.

As others have pointed out the cost of electricity (especially give the apparent oligopoly of the UK market) is unlikely to go *anywhere* but up.

The UK would probably not end up with the most *efficient* system

Digital privacy.

How about a *thorough* review of the PATRIOT act for starters?

But I think most people reading these pages know that Apple and Google (and Microsoft if they had a bigger mobile presence) will do what they can get away with.

Until someone stops them *from* getting away with it.

Ask yourself two little questions.

Do they have a *need* to know this information in order to provide the services *you* pay for?

Do they have any sort of *right* to ask for it?

If they answer to both is "no" then WTF are they doing collecting it?

"trusted private sector identity service providers"

I smell a re-purposed Identity and Passport Office bait and switch.

Didn't take long for the data fetishists to come out of their holes, did it?

How many home routers are IP6 ready?

I mean it's only been what 15 *years* since this standard was issued.

FFS there should have been an IP6 mode in *every* home router by now.

In infrastructure the future does not just *happen*.

Good through small balls and sand.

and presumably molten magma.

Not so sure about going through rock though.

I think the words "f***king chancer"

about covers him.

As for that "I;m skint" routine I'd rather strongly doubt it.

I suspect a good forensic accountant would discover some very interesting transactions on his finances.

Maybe they can co-locate with Talk Talk

All that bandwidth back tho China must be expensive.

Impressive

If they deliver.

But why not the tile-zilla series?

Sounds like still *no* effective oversight

So expect continuing self serving mis-information "CP is a billion dollar industry" etc.

What I'd *love* to know from all those *years* of secret ISP blacklists, raids and seizures are

1) What is the *real* proportion of online UK paedophiles versus the total number of UK internet users?

2)How much does each prosecution cost?

3)What is their conviction rate?

4)What is their conviction rate *after* appeal?

5) How many children have been identified as being *in* the UK?

*Maybe* £8m a year is *not* too high a price to pay

But I *strongly* doubt it.

Remember there are 450 landline ISP's in the UK.

Of which the top 4 hold about 96% of the market.

I imagine *most* of the rest would welcome new business.

Finding them and getting connected might be more difficult

Finding a good list of all of them is seems difficult but this one has quite a lot of them. It's a start.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/isp_list/

Neat idea which keeps in mind pespective.

It seems when people have looked at the compressor idea they imagined *huge* compression ratios (100s of atm in the tank). This fellow has worked out its about changing the *average* density of the airship itself. Pumps the He into some double or triple strength gas bags, leave air in the rest and voila, down she goes.

Neat. Subtle and a good use of the greatly increased room temperature strength of various fibers.

On the topic of bullets. An old school friend told me about a demonstration they gave at his officer cadet course.

The fired some machine gun rounds (9mm) at a water soaked blanket hanging on a clothes line.

The bullets did not pass through.

The combination of heavy load (the wet blanket is 100x of times heavier than any bullet) which was free to fall backwards decelerated the bullet enough to retain it in the layers of blanket.

The builders of the Atlas launch vehicles (not the current design) used to demonstrate that hitting it *hard* with large mallet had no effect on it despite it only being kept stable by internal air pressure.

I think this sort of airship will use a tight woven Kevlar for its skin so as long as the air pressure is not too high normal rounds won't work (not after they have decelerated by being fired a km straight up. Incendiary *might* ignite the Kevlar and all bets are off with armor piercing but this is a *very* big structure. It would *sink*, not crass like an aircraft.

I wish them luck with the prototype. Personally I would have tapped the gas cells in the Zeppelin and used *them* for fuel. But what do I know.

A note on Fracking USA.

The companies that do this have an *Exemption" from prosecution under the Clear Air, Clean Water and Clean Drinking water acts. Kind of like "contractors" in Iraq.

A little gift from Shrub to his good ol boy friends and *generous* supporters in the Oil & Gas industry. With a little help from Dick Cheyney.

With *no* fear of prosecution under this legislation is it any wonder they will pump the cheapest, nastiest crap they can find down a hole?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-brune/why-dick-cheney-sticks-to_b_764024.html

I'll take a wild guess that things are a *little* tougher in other parts of the world.

BTW Was anyone thinking "Patriot games"

At the description of watching the events in real time?

Which turned out to be complete nonsense.