Posts by Mark 85

Re: so...

I was wondering that also.. but how do you measure the mass of a black hole?

Re: Invoking the conspiracy theory argument

Which *vested* interests?

Probably anyone who: a) questions his science. b) those who won't give him unlimited grant money c) those who won't give him his 15 minutes of fame on Oprah!.

He does seem to be using the same tactics as those selling snake oil in the medical world. One would think that this is wrong approach. He could be right but with his tactics he'll fall into the dustbin of history as one of those shady types selling the oil of snakes.

Re: No more terrorism.

Sadly, I things will continue to go the "other" way. 7/7, 9/11, etc. have led the powers that be to "mandate safety" at all costs. At least for now, the terrorists are winning although I'm starting to see signs here in the States that people are fed up. More and more the Benjamin Franklin quote is popping up. Perhaps.. maybe perhaps, things will change but as long as those who seek power can, they will rub our noses in these events and use them for their advantage. I sometimes wonder who's worse.. the guy with the bomb or the guy being elected.

If we knock them out "into space", I'm not sure if they'll keep on going or just orbit around at a higher level. If we nudge it downwards, there's still problems since it's getting crowded up there. The problem seems to be applying the nudge and how much to give it. We wouldn't want to push it at the wrong time or wrong speed as it might create more problems than it solves with collisions.

As I recall, various groups/individuals have proposed this type of capture scheme for several decades... Not a bad idea if we could build something (or several somethings) big enough and maneuverable enough to clear the big and the small stuff. There's bolts up there still from Apollo and other early systems that used explosive bolts for separation and other functions. The big stuff (like the bigger satellites can be avoided. It's the little stuff that is becoming a big problem.

Re: Defining Hacking Team and HBgary...

Nice sentiments and I agree. These types of firms will keep popping up as long as someone waves cash in their face and as long as there are repressive governments, there will cash.

*Had to withdraw and edit.. stupid typos.. Bad keyboard! Bad! Go to the corner!"

Re: Wait...I'm seen the film Species...

They'll only kill the men. It's the women they want. Although when they get to the "reality star" section of that selection, they may run away.

Re: omg

No!

Ms. Clinton's reported statements suggest that she is either naive about the way governments behave or has judged rather cynically, but probably correctly, that US voters are clueless about that.

I tend to believe it's the later part about the voters. During the Snowden affair, it seems many readers would look, maybe read a bit and then... "oh.. the Kartrashians are on vacation. I must go see" <click>

Somehow, either by plan or just sheer folly, American voters have been dumbed down. I've worked with some high ups in the company (almost C-Suiters) who's main source of news is.... ready for this..... People Magazine. Even Fox would have been a better choice.

Re: A four-switch panel to control two lights?

I am surprised any of us made it through childhood. There is something about our parent's generation that is scary.. they felt they could do anything even the stuff they had no idea about.

My dad has an expression he uses often about if they could do the Manhattan Project* under the stands of a football stadium then he could certainly do <fill in the blank>. Every time I hear that, I have a mental image of mushroom cloud over Chicago.

*Yes, his info is wrong. It was the first sustained chain reaction and not the bomb that was done in Chicago.

If you think about it, you could fill pages of lists of genocides where the world stood by and did nothing. It seems to be part of history back to the earliest of times.

So.. what have you done today, AC, to stop genocide in the world?

Re: Now someone tell the banks

There's so much truth to that, I'm not sure the Joke Alert! icon is even valid. But it probably needs to be added... "and if there too's much fraud with too much loss, the banks will scream for and get a bail-out".

Re: So one piece will be fine...

Probably we humans will eat it. Harvest it, process it, and turn it into something edible.

<cynic mode> Sounds like a tasty future doesn't it? </cynic mode>

Just a bit of a double-standard methinks. Pretty normal for him.

Ah.. you bad-mouthed Ford by saying you didn't like it. So it was either a Ford lover or a bot or some poor lad in Marketing tasked with reading comments to articles mentioning Ford.

Re: This story is very relevant

I like that idea and the support from the upper person. Where I'm working, all "crash" tests are carefully planned and set up such that nothing will go wrong (hopefully) and thus, no heads will roll. Management comes up with very specific guidelines and it seems that only "trusted and tested" systems are ever failed over in order to make nice Powerpoint slides showing success.

Then when things do crash down for real and things really go hell, management points fingers and usually not at themselves for all the systems that have never been tested.

Re: Oh for more innocent times

Indeed... and at any moment now it will be breathlessly announced that the Norks... err.. Chinese.... Russians(?)... err... a lone wolf hacker did it. But gloriously, not a student.

Re: "3D Printed" is most often obvious nonsense...

Yeah, but.. we're not marketing types. We know this. Sort of amazing how marketing twists the buzzwords, isn't it. Like the auto industry back a few decades touting "space-age materials" when the only place they used things like carbon fiber and titanium were in the trim work.

Re: You have to wonder how much they spent

You forgot the extras like the explanation by the designer on the "way the oo's bring together the richness of the social environment followed by the majestic "k" which ensures that everyone plays nice together".... and somewhere will be the statement about "representing synergies>....<choke>

Re: Not fit for purpose?

If the contract is similar those in the States, it's a "cost plus" contract. The refundables are buried and well-fortified due to the "plus" part. So once the buying agency starts making changes and doing the gold-plating... recoverables are zip.