Posts by DropBear 4735 publicly visible posts • joined 4 Mar 2013
I already did, right after the end of that sentence (in parentheses like these, in case you missed them). And I do believe (beside failing to address my point following that controversial bit) you're conflating issues (like the effect of globalization on developing countries and the way we currently understand to handle distribution of wealth within a single country) that are in my opinion quite tenuously connected.
Lovely argument concluding that the poor have only themselves to blame (would they just be more skilled, they'd be positively swamped in money - or so we're told).
Me, I'm less concerned with the well-being of other countries (although I do wish them good luck), I'm simply making the argument that no-one needs to own luxury yachts, barns full of Veyrons and zip around in Learjets between their various palaces and penthouses (unsurprisingly, those possessing said items seem to disagree). I'm looking forward with great interest to hearing your argument that conversely, those generally not in possession of said items really, really, really don't need plentiful food, a roof above their head they can call their own, or affordable healthcare and education (we don't want them skilled after all do we - it's more money for us!).
I already despise most contemporary lunatics calling themselves "designers" ("hey, look, a levitating bed with 360 all-around holo-projectors and its very own warp drive, fuelled by fairy dew extracted directly form parallel dimensions! What do you mean we'll never have anything close in the next ten thousand years?!? But it's a CONCEPT!") - you really didn't have to show me the Twin-Z, I'm already at 11 about this anyway...
It's not a bumpy surface at all as far as I can tell from the evidence presented so far - just a dedicated but flat touch sensitive area, much like the "physical" buttons of some smartphones: lit and touch-sensitive, but NOT actually MOVING discrete pieces of plastic. I may well be wrong of course, but then please [citation needed] of a video or review that actually shows those touch-sensitive keys DEPRESSED AND PHYSICALLY MOVING.
Actually the problem is most likely to be most directly attributed to a combination of fat arse and tight trousers
Au contraire! A larger bottom would present a larger radius and therefore lesser curvature when a flat object such as a phone gets pressed onto it (since - as we scientists well know - all human bottoms, much like cows, are perfect spheres). Considering also that an overweight bottom is actually more likely to be soft and therefore more conforming than a hard, muscular one I'd say Queen-favoured behinds might actually have a better chance of not breaking a phone!
Yea, it's better times for pros, too. The market for embedded sw engineers, and especially those with some low power and/ or security knowledge, is looking quite rosy at present IN CHINA. FTFY.
Unfortunately, "embedded" means by definition some sort of production of goods taking place, and as we know that kind of thing happens exclusively in China these days (and I'm talking about design too, not just the physical production itself). I certainly wish you were right though - I just don't see any sign of it whatsoever...
The 'low power' part about the 'Internet of Things' comes into play in relation to the relatively long periods of inactivity such devices spend in low-power mode between bursts of activity. Sure, for a battery-powered mobile node the powered-up consumption is also important, but for an appliance permanently plugged into the mains - not so much. On the average, it will still consume exactly nothing if it 'sleeps' most all the time. And there's that other thing as well - even with power-conscious applications, it's not simply how much power you consume when active - it's also how long you need to stay active to get your stuff done (and a more powerful MCU can go back to sleep faster).
Er, no, automating 'soldering iron' soldering is not as far as I know practicable
As far as I know, components get soldered by hand not because the soldering operation requires human precision, but because either they have problematic through-hole pins and are not easily placed by machines, or because they have large-ish heat-sinking parts that result in inconsistent soldering if relying on reflow alone. To be honest, I would see no problem with a robot placing a SMT cap on the already-reflowed PCB then another robot coming in with a small hot-air nozzle (doesn't even need to be particularly precise) to quickly solder it in. Then again, I never purported to work on an assembly line, so what do I know...
If asteroids (etc) mass is/are reduced via mining, could that affect their trajectory (especially in regards to gravitational pull from other masses) and therefore endanger the earth?
The thing is, as long as the starship doing the mining would use its own engines to pull the mined part away (as opposed to, say, "kicking off" the remaining part is some way), it wouldn't affect the trajectory of the remaining part in the slightest. Think of it this way: if the part you're planning to take away would already be split from the part that remains in orbit, both parts would still fly in the same orbit alongside each other (assuming we neglect the gravity of the part we take away, which we might as well - it's TINY...). So, no issues there...
There's nothing to consume on the moon but a few paltry dregs that make living in the Sahara look easy
Well, we already know the Sahara is nothing but a giant warehouse of hourglass spare parts (granted, demand has been sluggish for those lately - people just don't seem to boil all that many eggs anymore). It's just a matter of finding out what moon dust is good for - I reckon "producing painted-on abrasive surfaces by powder-coating" might have a shot here... ;)
Just got around to finally watch the vids - what can I say... calling that 'bodging' would be far too kind; it's the sort of thing one might cobble together on an alternate universe electronics-themed episode of "Scrapheap Challenge". FFS, 10-year-olds have already managed to figure out to how to order their ten-pack of custom PCBs for ten bucks from China whenever they make anything more complicated than a blinking LED! To each his own, but I for one prefer to take some pride in my work and quite frankly, having seen those vids, I have some urgent eye-bleaching to do. Now 'scuse me...
No, but if I were the author, I surely would have included an "insane authenticity" option for the lulz, which (if activated) requires you to hand-trim the "tape head" using your volume buttons during loading, guided only by your ears as you try to find the sharpest pitch, unless you want to end up with a "TAPE LOADING ERROR"...
I would settle for a Precursors sequel - when was the last time you got to fight FPS style INSIDE the spaceship you were using to get around the galaxy (and generally kick ass both in space and planetside)....?
The point of Gorilla glass, sapphire, and similar, is that they are hard...
Here's an idea - how about we give up on hard but brittle glass screens completely, and use some soft-but-unbreakable plastic instead, but one that's self-healing, so scratches never become an issue either?
...which is why one should screw diagonal inches when buying a 16:9 TV to replace the old 4:3 set, and instead pay attention to the display HEIGHT being equal or larger than the old set's was - that way you're covered. 16:9 will look great, and UN-stretched old 4:3 will still look no worse than it used to...
Exactly - these days nothing short of selling EVERYTHING in a range is good enough, which only warehouse-based online sellers of electronic components can do. No small store with a bunch of wall cabinets can match that, no matter how big that wall is. There's no point in going to a store with my BOM if they don't have half of it (or 99% of it, more often) so in the end there's no point left going to such a store at all for anything more complicated than some batteries or CAT5 cable or a bunch of LEDs - and that's not enough to stay afloat.
RS's problem is that their original niche slowly sunk from under them with the changing of times as tinkering with transistors sort of went out of style, and they never found something else to do that others don't do much better already...
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