Posts by Jimbo in Thailand 119 publicly visible posts • joined 29 Jun 2010
I confess I was eagerly awaiting Oculus to release the incredible Rift way back in 2013. To say I was shocked and disappointed when Oculus was acquired by Mark ZuckerBorg the next year is an understatement. No, I don't do FB nor would I even consider buying hardware from them, especially a device that requires an online connection so it tracks you 24/7. Did I mention the Borg?
IIRC "inherently unstable [military] aircraft design" requiring "fly by wire" to tame the uncontrollable beast began with the incredibly successful General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon that has been in production since the late 1970s, and is still in production.
On an aside, the irony is so thick you can cut it with a knife. This absolutely outstanding once-revolutionary fighter design is now being manufactured by the most incompetent moronic synapse-misfiring idiots in the aviation business worldwide. Yes, you guessed it... I'm referring to the pork-barrel-loving Lockheed-Martin that has blessed us with the 'exemplary' F-22 and even larger MASSIVE FAIL F-35. I still roll my eyes that Blighty's political elite let themselves be completely hoodwinked into buying these severely overpriced marginally performing sh1te designs. [double facepalm]
I'm extremely happy that AMD is back in the game and actually making a net profit. It's not surprising that Intel hasn't released anything significant in years, only begrudgingly releasing incremental performance improvements and die shrinks. And those have all been delayed releases.
Yep, it's obvious that sloth Intel has been holding back on releasing new kickass X86 products since as soon as chipzilla learned of Ryzen it magically announced its new i9 series (from out of nowhere). Of course this was to put AMD back in its place. This shows what a POS company Intel is without competition... and exactly why we need AMD to do well.
Had AMD not released their powerful new Ryzen line of chips recently it's a given that super-sloth Intel would have released f**k all interesting new chips again this year. That includes the recent Core i9 series.
And will this new Intel "gaming" line of CPUs be allowed to run on the still popular Windows 7? Will it ever snow in Bangkok? There's your answer.
You obviously suffer a lack of reading comprehension skills Just Enough. I clearly stated:
"I only wish...
...that the judge would appoint me to give Shkreli a little private one-on-one 'spiritual counseling' for about 15-20 minutes"
It has nothing to do with "vigilante justice" or any of your other purely BS points. And I'm not usually an "Internet bully" but in Shkreli's case I would certainly make an exception.
Have a nice day!
...that the judge would appoint me to give Shkreli a little private one-on-one 'spiritual counseling' for about 15-20 minutes. I honestly believe I could make him see the error of his ways. But even if he still chose to not see the light, I would walk away with a permanent grin knowing that I wiped that disgusting smirk off of the little prick's face, at least for a little while.
Yep, had former Pres. George W. Bush gotten his way Hubble would merely be a fond memory. Instead of upgrading the aging Hubble, Dubbya, aka the brainless 'Decider', decided to destroy it. His plan was to have it nudged from orbit and let it die a fiery death plunging earthward. What a tremendous loss that would have been!
"If you're not paying for the service, you're not the customer, you're the product."
Even in the days before Android I considered Google to be the new version of the Trojan Horse. But like millions of others I had already gleefully latched onto Gmail waaay back when it was a brand new beta service offering ever increasing amounts of free email storage and featuring a great user interface. Since I'm also a longtime Android 'product', Google definitely has the keys to my kingdom. And that's a pretty scary thought. Luckily, nothing sinister has resulted, but the future? How much longer before Alphabet's insatiably growing appetite for greed overcomes self-restraint?
Just why would anyone have a defensive anti-missile system connected to the freakin' tubes so it's vulnerable to attack by hackers in the first place?
Note: Had a really hard time choosing an appropriate icon since so many negative ones apply perfectly for such a dimwitted clueless implementation by S. Korea's Muppet-in-charge of this countless-lives-saving defensive shield. [rolling my eyes while shrugging my shoulders with palms up in the air while facepalming while scratching my head while rocking by head back and forth while saying WTF while...]
You can be absolutely 1000% sure that since the beyond--incompetent effing idiots at Lockheed Martin came up with this thing that it will be just another abysmal failure AND beyond severely overpriced, i.e., a "complete disaster" (in Trump's lingo). Did I mention overpriced? But how can I predict with such conviction that it will fail so miserably? I'll give you two hints...
F-22...
and...
F-35
Enough said.
EXACTLY! Sure sounds like a coverup to me. This raises SO MANY questions like these:
1. So these two suppliers never made batteries for Samsung, or anyone else before?
2. If they did, then why no major problems with other models, or brands?
3. If the two battery makers are brand new manufacturers then why wasn't rigorous Quality Assurance/Quality Control inspections performed including periodic design compliance and random test-until-failure checks performed as part of the manufacturing production process?
4. What exactly was so radically different with the N-ferno 7 vs the standard Galaxy S7?
5. Speaking of S7, who made the batteries for S7 and other Samsung models?
5. Considering that N-ferno 7 incorporated the ubiquitous—but possibly dangerous—lithium batteries then why wasn't safety a top priority at Samsung for a brand new FLAGSHIP model... including its apparently BRAND NEW DESIGN batteries?
Now here's the stupidest part of it all. If it really was just defective batteries, think how much exponentially smaller the fiasco would have been had the idiots at Samsung opted for the once ubiquitous user-replaceable batteries? They could have easily saved the Note 7 model—and their reputation—by simply recalling the 'defective' batteries and replacing them with safe good quality user-installable units. It absolutely boggles the mind at such corporate stupidity. Of course, I've ranted about this ad nauseam in the past. Oh well.
So the autopilot instructed the aircraft to exceed its own NEVER EXCEED velocity (Vne) resulting in catastrophic structural failure! NTSB reports the following secret internal onboard communication:
"Sorry Dave... err... ummm.... Mark. Looks like I've made another poor decision, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.."
Yes, the Note 7 self-immolation fiasco definitely scorched sales, but the real reason Samsung is suffering market share (inside and outside of China) is that Chinese phones are now on par, quality-wise and feature-wise, with Samsung's best... BUT at half the cost... or less. I've watched this silent market-share metamorphosis unfolding for the past couple of years here in Thailand. Another contributing factor is that Samsung simply doesn't support its former flagship models (with Android upgrades) for very long. I've ranted about this before.
Regarding Apple, I'm guessing their recent trend of offering boring innovation-lacking iDevices is a key problem. And like with Samsung, Chinese phones are on par and much cheaper so... badda-boom badda-bing... there is lower demand from 'the great unwashed masses' for severely overpriced imported premium models. The situation is only going to get worse.. or better... depending upon your perspective. I personally will go for the model offering the best bang for the buck so look forward to this continuing trend.
Certainly with today's technology they can make supersonic passenger flight a viable option (for some folks, anyway), especially on a smaller scale than Concorde. Gotta admit, one huge regret for me is never having flown on the Concorde. I watched it fly at the Oshkosh annual fly in many years ago and it was simply gorgeous (and freakin' noisy!). If this new triple-engined XB-1 comes to fruition I will definitely have to put it on my bucket list. ;^)
ZOOM ZOOM!
Once innovative and a world leader in a tiny niche market, GoPro execs sadly fell into the fatal trap of sitting on their arses and basking in the (temporary) glory of a single product's phenomenal success. Sadly, many companies suffer from the same false sense of well-being if/when they're lucky enough to encounter such incredible early market success. Action cams are now a mature market, with a ton of Chinese knockoffs that, in many cases, are superior to recent GoPro models, and like some have mentioned, half the cost.
IMO, GoPro recently entering into the aerial photography drone market with their Karma drone is too little too late. And, except for it's easily removable stabilized-gimbal-mounted camera, the GoPro Karma is woefully lacking in features behind DJI's similar fold-up offering, the Mavic Pro, which is a technological marvel. Even more amazing is that DJI, a Chinese company, has been, and is still leading the market with its own innovative high-tech models.
GoPro execs had better get off their arses... and soon... or GoPro won't be around much longer. And that will be a shame since more competition in the market is always good for us.
"Wars they have no idea how to escape, never mind win."
THEY never intended to "escape, never mind win" any wars—Post WWII—simply because wars are unfathomably big $$$ for the Military Industrial Complex fatcats. It's the same philosophy as the US pharmaceutical industry. How many 'cures' for heinous diseases have been introduced during the past 50 years? The answer is, the number is close to zero, if not zero. Compare that with the number of 'miracle' drugs that have been introduced that only 'treat' the condition. Cure a disease and the money stops. Treat a disease and the coffers keep swelling until the patient eventually dies. Wars are the same.... win a war and... uh oh... who turned off that damn $$$ faucet?! Of course, former President Eisenhower warned us to beware of the ultra-greedy MIC as he was leaving the Oval Office way back in 1961. Sadly, his prophetic warning fell on deaf ears.
Brand new hardware so it's bound to need a little initial tweaking. All I can say is... I WANT ONE! Been waiting for the shrink to ~14Nm from 28Nm for too long. Sadly, Nvidia has been batshit crazy on pricing for years now so thankfully AMD seems to be in a position to take advantage of Jen-Hsun Huang's greed with their new RX 480. I believe this gutsy move will be great for AMD.
Go AMD go!
Yep, could probably count the number of US citizens not being spied on using Clapper's fingers and toes. Of course, to get a more accurate answer Clapper would have to be waterboarded. While I'm 1,000,000% against waterboarding, aka torture, in this case I'll make an exception.
We can thank Mr. Obama for this as he certainly won't allow, or will delay as long as possible, legitimate Federal indictments to be served concerning her use of an illegal private server while she was Sec. of State. Sadly, to date, the purely evil Billary has managed to always be above the law, along with her disgusting husband. FFS, what a dynasty those two have created with their notoriety and especially their unimaginably dangerous $2 billion Clinton Foundation vote-buying 'charity'... yeah right... charity!
Not only is it unfathomable that HC isn't already in jail but that she's still in the Presidential race. And after trouncing Bernie Sanders in the NY primary she will most likely face Trump or ??? in November. If the incredibly stupid Clinton supporters would just open their fucking eyes they would see that Hillary flipflops on every position she's ever taken... as long as it furthers her agenda. Of course she always attacks anyone and everyone who calls her on those lies. There's also an incredible list of 'suicidal' dead people who have been associated with the Clintons once Slick Willy first infested the Oval Office way back in Jan. 1993.
One thing is written in stone, and that is if Billary is elected POTUS you can be sure that the pro-Adolf-Netanyahu worshiper will declare war on Iran ASAP and the shit will hit the fan. I can't even envision a worse choice for US commander in chief than HC. She's even more dangerous than loose-cannon Donald Trump, who at least has some proven talents. OTOH Billary has zero to offer except nuclear winter.
My choice for president is Bernie Sanders with... are you ready for this?... Donald Trump as Vice President. Using the strengths of both of these successful unique individuals could indeed make America great again. Think about it... Bernie would bring diplomacy back to the White House and Trump would dig us out of this mountain of debt, which is almost at the inflection point of no return.
My fellow Americans... PLEASE WAKE THE FUCK UP before it's too late!
"But to some degree that is just Thailand.... in my experience everything in Thailand is too loud."
LOL, that's certainly true but the last time I was in the US I went to see a couple of movies with my brother and the volume levels were also up a bit. Of course my other moviegoer complaints also apply, except that in US theaters, ticket and concessions prices are even more unbelievably outrageous.
1. LOWER THE FREAKIN' EXORBITANT TICKET PRICES!
2. LOWER THE FREAKIN' EXORBITANT POPCORN, DRINKS, & CONCESSIONS PRICES!
3. BUILD THEATRES WITH LARGE SCREENS AGAIN!
4. TURN DOWN THE FREAKIN' VOLUME LEVEL!
5. MAKE IT AN ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE FOR THE MOVIEGOER!
Just went to see Batman vs Superman in 3D the day it opened here in Thailand at a new cineplex at a mall that opened about a year ago. I only bring this up so you know it's not an old theatre. Disregarding the fact that B vs S was complete sh1te, the whole experience was disappointing because:
1. For the very 1st time we had to buy the damn 3D glasses!
2. The popcorn was typically ripoff priced... but this time it was half the size to make up for it.
3. The screen size was so small it was like watching the movie on TV at home.
4. The 3D effect was minimal even sitting only about 8 rows back from the screen.
5. The audio was SOOOOO LOUD I had to stuff tissue in my ears. This is nothing new, but each year they seem to increase the volume level. It's now cranked up to 11!
i had a similar experience watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens a few months ago and also Gods of Egypt in Bangkok not long ago.
And these jackasses wonder why people, more and more, choose to stay home and watch pirated versions.
Seems like Facebook's Mark Zuckerborg™ might be making the same mistake Google did when it included a spy camera in it's Google Glass, which we, the great unwashed masses, vociferously rejected. Had Go_ogle not included the spy camera I think Google Glass was a great idea and would have been a great seller. It will be interesting to see how well-received the Oculus Rift will be knowing that it will be tracking the user's every bob, wiggle, and gyration... and monitoring exactly what he/she is watching/playing/doing while gyrating.
Vote with your wallets brothers and sisters, just like I do.
With this announcement I'm guessing Nvidia's next-gen graphics cards (to be released June or July?) will also be 16nm. And AMD has also been hinting for months that their next-gen Radeons will be on a smaller die process. This is great news for us. Finally, rebranded/slightly-tweaked long in the tooth 28nm video cards will be relegated to the tar pits!
Thankfully, it's not just India that's enjoying lower LED bulb prices. Here in Thailand prices have nosedived as well during the past few months. I replaced all the interior light bulbs in my house with warm-white LED bulbs. Obviously, the main benefit is operational cost savings, followed by longevity. The new miserly replacement bulbs consume typically only 20-50% of the wattage of the similar E-27 compact fluorescents, which themselves are fairly economical.
One of the best features of LEDs is, for me, instead of 'operating room' stark grayish-white glare of fluorescents, LEDs give off the warm yellowish-white glow similar to incandescent bulbs. You can opt for cool-white LEDs if you have to do a heart transplant, though. Haha!
I'm still waiting for cheap LED replacements to swap out the long fluorescent tubes in the carport and covered patio but confess that's not a big deal. And my electric bill has been laughably small the past few months! It's all good and you should take the plunge if you haven't done it yet. ;^)
Steve Knox, are you just an effing idiot? It's you who is truly clueless if you can't see what the man has done for all of us, Americans and non-Americans alike. And he continues to suffer the consequences for standing up for what's right. At least he's brought some positive change from his whistleblowing revelations. And you're goddamned right I canonize Mr. Edward Snowden. To you, he may have only "done one good thing" but that "good thing" represents the finest qualities in an individual that are almost totally missing today. Edward Snowden would indeed make a great US President, certainly better than any of the garbage we've had infesting the Oval office in decades.
I have no idea how much time it will take, but I do believe Edward Snowden's good deeds and sacrifices will eventually be rewarded. It's truly sad that Obama completely forgot all of his 2008 campaign promises such as "Transparency in Government!" and instead joined the dark side of the force or he would have praised whistleblower Snowden for his incredible skills as well as praising him for his honesty, integrity, and drive to do whatever it takes to right unconstitutional government wrongs.
EDWARD SNOWDEN FOR PRESIDENT 2016! Why wait for 2020?!
"Our labor - even the most skilled of us - is priced way too high by global standards, and this will sort itself out eventually. It will be a very painful adjustment."
In the past that might have been true but not sure that's accurate today since non-outsourced employee salaries have plummeted post-2008 oil/banking bubble burst. Instead I think the staggering costs of current CEO salaries, perks, and bonuses, including those of the top brass, are bound to severely affect the ability of companies/corporations to compete globally. I believe US CEO pay should be capped at no more than 10:1 CEO/employee median salary ratio, like it was in the distant past instead of the current 50:1 to 600:1. Obviously this will never happen so the plot 'sickens' as my old California buddy used to say.
Yep, it's amazing that the FBI didn't take McAfee up on his offer to crack the San Bernardino iPhone FOR FREE way back on Feb 18th. It's also shocking that McAfee's offer didn't go viral in the media, but considering we're in a world of US presstitute news outlets, I guess it's not too surprising.
By ignoring McAfee, and others, we at least now know that the FBI did indeed want to set a legal precedent forcing an American company to comply with an unfair unconstitutional demand. Gotta admit I suddenly have a ton of respect for Tim Cook for standing his ground against Obama's dark forces. There may be some hope yet, if other CEOs will follow Tim Cook's lead.
As a now-inactive real-aircraft pilot (and former aircraft owner) I find it too sad that the FAA is forced to step into the toy-drone fray, which they clearly did not want to do. If drone owners, I won't even use the term 'flyers' or 'pilots', since those skills are not required with these semi-autonomous-self-flying devices, would just use some common sense we wouldn't even be talking about this. RC flyers have enjoyed their hobby for decades flying within sight of their aircraft, which is required... and away from jetports and/or any hazardous-to-others areas. No reason that drone operators can't do the same, I'm a geek and I love technology but saw this drone problem coming a mile away. Gotta admit that the latest drones are indeed fantastic toys, and I plan to snag one with a 4K camera this year, but in the hands of the typical numpty they can indeed be dangerous.
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the results to change on their own."
That would be trying to land a freakin' rocket vertically on a floating barge out in the constantly-moving unpredictable ocean, which is obviously an absolutely insane task. Since SpaceX has the proven capability to accurately and dependably return a rocket directly to, but not on, a floating barge, they should instead opt for a non-drifting not-pitching non-rolling landing pad on terra firma. In fact, it's already been done successfully by rival space outfit Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos company.
While watching SpaceX's first barge-landing attempt, I remember thinking, "HOW EFFING STUPID!". When you were a young student ever try to get your pencil to stand up vertically, flat eraser end down, on a flat surface? (I was bored in that class, OK?) FFS, it's extremely difficult because the tall thin pencil is inherently unstable in that orientation. Obviously, a tall thin rocket is similar, even if it has short landing legs to help stabilize it. It makes much more sense to pursue this ocean barge folly by transitioning the returning rocket from a vertical attitude to horizontal prior to touchdown then gently catching it in a huge kevlar or ??? high-temp super-strong, yet flexible, net, suspended above the barge. This technique should improve the odds of a successful non-damaging landing exponentially.
The bottom line is why Elon Musk's team continues to try to defy basic physics is beyond me. Where is the quadruple facepalm icon?
I think Android has reached an inflection point, much like M$ hit with Windows 7, where the benefits of upgrading are less and less compelling, except maybe for bragging rights. Last year I upgraded my trusty old (rooted) Samsung Galaxy Note 2 from Jellybean to Kitkat . I did this in spite of Samsung's blocking of official updates to rooted phones (more on this in a second). The only reason I upgraded was to get Mirrorcast, screen-mirroring functionality. Other than that single feature, Kitkat, for me, just seems to only add some minor improvements - nothing earth shattering. I've also looked at Lollipop. While it has some cute eye-candy type improvements over Kitkat, again, nothing really compelling, from my perspective. That said, I still would have upgraded to Samsung's official version of Lollipop... except that it doesn't exist for Note 2 - Samsung killed the update at some point. Therein lies the problem.
Because Samsung not only refuses to support older smartphone models that are still viable, from a hardware perspective, but also blocks rooted phones, it's doubtful I will buy another Samsung phone. And like I ranted about last year, Chinese phone manufacturers have definitely upped their game and are now selling equivalent premium models at half the premium prices Samsung demands.
Regarding Android, Google had better get off its ass/arse and come up with some new unique compelling features AND fix/improve some substandard existing 'features'. FFS, typing anything substantial on Android is still frustrating and a pain in the ass. A decent browser would also be appreciated. And Go_ogle should indeed force phone manufacturers to support older models as a condition of licensing. Apple supports its older devices so no reason why Samsung, with it's premium pricing can't copy Apple. The other top Android phone manufacturers should also be forced to follow suit and support their customers.
You beat me to it AC! With a title of "Under-fire Apple backs down, crafts new iOS to kill security safeguard" and considering the timing of the article, just after the 'Apple vs FBI tug of war newsflash, it clearly is clickbait. Shame on you Shaun Nichols and shame on you El Reg for allowing this low-road tactic!
You beat me to it Green Nigel 42. The Note 2 continues to be a great phone. I've just - finally - updated it to Samsung's official KitKat 4.4.2 version to get the screen mirroring functionality. Sadly, 4.4.2, while a bit more speedy than Jelly Bean, is pretty buggy and, also sadly, it's the last official version available for the Note 2. Still, the Note 2 does so many things so well I'm not ready to upgrade to anything yet.
Once you've lived in the Land of Smiles for as many years as I have it's not unusual to hear frustrated expats muttering "T I T" under their breath while rolling their eyes. It simply means This Is Thailand and usually follows some eyebrow-raising totally illogical event or action by a Thai national. Thais aren't stupid and most are friendly and try to help but they are extremely logic challenged. There is no such thing as going from step A to step B, instead, it's A to Z to C to T to L to X to B. Had Mr. Spock visited Thailand for any length of time he would have suffered permanent raised-eyebrow syndrome.
Facepalm 'cuz no raised-eyebrow icon.
If you squint real hard at that galactic image you will see Zenu looking back at you bent over in uncontrollable laughter guffawing at the fools on this small 3rd rock so far away who actually believe in LRH's 'gift' of the cult of Suckertology. But wait... there's also something else... uh oh... wait a sec... there's definitely a disturbance in the David Miscavige force... someone has just escaped... yes... yes... it's true... why it's Leah Remini... and she's finally free after 30 years... and she's telling everyone what absolute BS it is! OH MY BODY-THETANS! Who will be next?
"It will end when you remove or kill your military dictators."
Ummm... sorry PleebSmash... I personally have no military dictators. And I certainly don't advocate killing anyone, even in jest, especially on a public forum. Have you lost your your freakin' mind?!
Under 'Fearless Leader' there is already rampant censorship on the tubes since the coup last year. It's compounded exponentially because the phucking moronic idiots who are tasked with monitoring the Internet can't even read and understand basic English. I get the official green 'censored' screen frequently for all manner of non-Thai, non-political, non-judgmental jokes, news, recipes, advertisements, sports, you name it. It boggles the mind how this 21st century zeitgeist of incompetent leadership has become the norm, not only here, but also in the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia, and New Zealand. When will it phucking end?!
I was really excited when Intel finally announced its extremely late to the party 14nm Broadwell chips earlier this year. Shortly afterwords I was thinking WTF... where are they? Broadwell came and went faster than a virgin foreigner in a Thai brothel. Sadly Broadwell, overall, was no better than the excellent Haswell 22nm chips. The long overdue reduction from 22nm to 14nm die process must have been problematic as Intel only released slower versions.
What's even worse are these shite Skylake CPUs since the 4% IPS increase can't make up for their slower than Haswell clock speeds. This is what happens when there's no competition. Sadly, underdog AMD simply hasn't had the financial resources to provide any real competition to Intel for over a decade and Intel is taking advantage of its monopoly position in the ancient X86 arena. To get the full story go check out Anandtech.com at: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation. Their conclusion is don't even bother upgrading unless you're still running a Sandy Bridge rig or are dependent on Intel's ramped up built-in graphics capabilities.
AMD... PLEASE WAKE UP before it's too late.
+1 Nate Amsden! I was hoping Samsung wasn't going to switch to the dark side but... dammit... they apparently have. A welded-in battery and no microSD card slot have always been deal breakers for me. My trusty, but now ancient, SG Note 2 has always sported a 3rd party 6400mAh 'fat' battery that usually only requires recharging about every 3-5 days, depending on usage of course, but never less than 3 days. Of course it's thicker from the waist down but that makes it much easier and MORE COMFORTABLE to hold. It also sports a 64GB mSD card stuffed with tons of scrumptious tunes and videos. Like Nate, I think I'll be on the lookout for a heavily discounted Note 3, the model that can shoot 4K videos.
Gotta admit it's tough, being the hipster geek that I am, entering this new zeitgeist where tech manufacturers no longer give a phuck about their customers. Apparently Samsung, like so many others, has forgotten that many customers don't want to lose these valued features in premium-priced phones.
Like I've ranted about before... vote with your wallet!
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