Posts by DropBear

Re: Weak points...

Well, to be fair, it probably depends on the exact context. On the other hand, I do believe a really good assembly programmer will produce shorter and/or faster code than a really good higher-level programmer every. single. time. No exceptions. How much longer it would take him is another matter...

Re: The thruster

Now if the ground is hard when Philae fires the harpoons, won't the recoil kick it back into space with no way to get back

The thing has some built-in "suspension" - when the feet touch surface, the main body is still moving towards the comet. Of course, if the harpoons fail to grip...

But, but...

...can it haul a bad guy's ass straight through a brick wall...?

Re: Never seen gogglebox then

You have obviously not seen three different members of the same family watching the exact same show at the exact same time in three different rooms of the same flat. I have. Do not make the mistake of thinking that's an exception...

Re: What better use for reused rockets

Huh? What latency...? Communicating through a geostationary bird sitting out there one-tenth of the way to the moon is one thing; but whether your relay is 4km or 300km away won't make much of a practical difference in latency...

There is this little thing where information is intended to be conveyed not so much by the truth content of the sentences spoken / written, but rather by what is being said when, and how (yes I know this is a troublesome concept for a lot of men). While I'd say nobody argues that negligent handling of firearms is a good idea, that's not what this pamphlet is about - instead, it's the equivalent of shouting "SIT!" to your dog, or spelling out "the only reason you folks get to play with your guns is because we allow you to - for now", practically expressed almost ad literam in the pamphlet itself (if it's genuine of course). Making thinly veiled threats is hardly a way to make friends, unless your point has never been to get friendly in the first place...

Re: Would you care enough to pay more for ...

Try telling me with a straight face that you could announce today owning slaves becoming legal again in the southern US without as much as a single soul setting out immediately to attempt to buy some. Go on, I could use a good laugh. Social perceptions of what is or is not acceptable may evolve solely on their own as well - but without the occasional law declaring something unacceptable basically overnight at a time when large sections of the population still see nothing wrong about it (it has 'always been this way' after all), it might take several centuries longer to get to the same conclusion - if ever.

Re: Has WiRED

While I share the sentiment that 3D printing currently is way less useful in general terms than the zealots would have you believe, I did see an (admittedly very niche) application where it is indeed very useful even today: people working on restorations or in any similar field where casting metal is required can use it to produce casting patterns of arbitrary complexity in a relatively short time (compared to having to fabricate it traditionally), easily iterating over variations if necessary. It makes a world of difference...

I'm not so sure about that - it's true today because mainstream languages are far more similar to each other than they are different, in how they go about turning text into code. While I'm not expecting that to change in the next decade, I take issue with the stance that it's flat out impossible to devise some method of conveying desired functionality that makes typical programming errors hard if not impossible to commit. It would still make it perfectly possible to specify a different functionality than the one you mean to mind you, but I don't think it's impossible to deliver that functionality in a robust, fault-resistant way. And before you ask just how one would go about doing that - well if I knew, would I be sitting here commenting on El Reg....?!?

Re: Over-Speed lock

The tail feathering is designed to operate at ludicrous speed, its whole point is to get the spacecraft through the high speed "re-entry" phase. It is not, however, designed to be operated while the engine is still firing - you can see it would point the engine a significant angle away from the direction the craft is supposed to be travelling when feathered. Obviously that would mess things up more than a little bit...

It would be remarkable indeed - if only those would have been honestly believed words. As it is though...

Re: Was it just me?

Sigourney Weaver as the next Doctor...? Hmmm, intriguing idea...

Re: I wonder

Tongue-in-cheek, yes, but strictly speaking "re-entry" and heat are involved only when something is returning with cosmic levels of speed - this was just falling from a near standstill, even if it got rather fast by typical parachuting standards...

Re: Not saying they didn't do it....

Could start with something as simple as a certain door opening...

There are times I definitely decry the lack of a persistent "people filter" for the comments; if using "quite rightly" and "gitmo" in the same sentence doesn't warrant it, I really don't know what would.

Re: Honestly confused

Google tracks you even closer when using Maps, for example

What makes you think I ever allowed any Google service, maps included, access to location, with any degree of accuracy? You're not supposed to need that if you're only looking at the map, but I'm using a different - get this, an offline one - map app anyway that has the side advantage of actually being freely correctable if it happens to be wrong... Now, Google may or may not go behind my back and track me without consent anyway, but I'm certainly not going to make it easy for them.