Posts by allthecoolshortnamesweretaken 6157 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Oct 2015
"... but you do understand that having a handle and posting here is still a form of social media."
Yes, thank you, I am perfectly aware of this.
However, there is a range. Like with the printed press where you have actual newspapers at one end of the spectrum and rags like The Sun or The Daily at the other end.
"... you don't have to join ..."
Guess what? I am aware of this as well!
I do pick and choose the "social media" I join, just as I try to choose the persons I interact with socially in real life (not always possible or feasible, but that's real life for you). Thing is, I do not use Twitter, Facebook or WhatsApp (to name just three), and yet they influence my daily life in various ways. And I do not like it.
"Now, why did the developers communicate it so poorly is a different story. I suspect it is a case of Hanlon's razor."
Well, people who write stuff like "the user's decision not to leverage our app's functionality is fully respected" obviously have poor communication skills.
Running a big business is not like running a country. There are quite a lot of things to it that are basically the same, so skills and experience from business can be transferred and applied. However, there are a lot of other tings that are quite different. Some come from the good old checks-and-balances rules, some are systemic. So yeah, learning curve and hard work ahead.
Stand in front of public webcam at a prearranged time and wave the flags or hold up signs... Or just walk past them and the signal is the colour of your hat or jacket...
I actually did something like that some time ago when webcams at public places started to pop up but mobile internet (+ roaming charges) were prohibitively expensive. Instead of writing postcards I'd stand in view of a webcam and wave, folks at home knew when to watch which webcam.
1. Get cheap digital camera. Fleabay, whatever. Doesn't even have to work.
2. Go to location with lots of tourists.
3. Ask tourist(s) if they can take your picture.
4. Give cheap digital camera to tourist.
5. Turn and run like hell.
6. Enjoy confusion from safe distance.
"This was said to be because the Americans have the lead on PR relating to F-35 maintenance arrangements and not because, as El Reg suggested, the US supplier tail is wagging the British customer dog."
No offence, but
1) We're talking really, really big fat tail and really tiny skinny dog here.
2) Do you really think the UK is a customer in this setup - as in "I'll order what I want, and get it, or will take my business elsewhere"?
"The ministry also strongly claimed that Britain retains sovereignty over the UK's F-35s, saying: "Whilst the UK is participating in a global support solution, it will still have full sovereign control of its aircraft and its carrier strike capability."
I'm kinda missing words like "fully operational" or something like that. When the spare parts dry up, for whatever reason (and there are many possible scenarios), the UK will have full sovereign control over a heap of very expensive scrap metal.
"Is there anyone in the Whitehouse with actual clout who stays across administration changes?"
The kitchen staff.
And before you scoff, watch My Fellow Americans.
Possible confusion with the Cascadia subduction zone here on Doc's behalf?
Anyway, California's geology is a very interesting subject.
"I’d retrieve what I thought was the packaging except for the fact that it got collected by the recycling lorry an hour ago."
Cardinal mistake when assembling anything that comes in a box, no matter what.
Always keep every last bit of the packaging until whatever it is is unpacked, assembled and tested.
Otherwise the single loose page correcting the manual or that other tiny plastic baggie with nuts and bolts will be lost forever.
And you won't realise it until after the shops are closed / the helpdesk is off duty / everbody else has left / the zombies are already on the front porch.
(Harsh lessions, learned young, etc etc. Have a nice weekend, everybody. I'm off to the DIY emporium.)
"As a result, the process of opening the box felt less like I was unpacking a heap of cardboard slats and more like defusing a bomb, with David Hemmings down in the boiler room asking me by walkie-talkie whether to cut the red wire or the white one."
IIRC, it's always the blue one.
Unless they're all blue. In that case you're screwed.
Pretty close, I gues.
Except for the "left-wing" bit. Ain't no such thing in The States since the 1930ies or so. The lads from Beyond the Fringe got it right.
On the other hand, let's not forget the silver linings.
"At least with the Cube, the configuration can be randomized to keep things interesting."
Maybe I'm on the wrong track here, but no nitpicking intended: "... the Rubik’s cube has 43 quintillion possible combinations of coloured squares but can be completed in 20 moves." Okay, doesn't that mean that while I can pick (more or less) randomly one combination out of 43 quintillion possible combinations as the starting point, the thing itself and the process of ordering the colours is anything but random?
If the batteries wouldn't just fail but explode, they could rebrand the thing as a fireworks display. I hear Disney is in the market.
So far he* reminds me of Warren G Harding, but we'll see.
* Oh please, can we start saying 'He who must not be named'?
Theranos isn't a "troubled bio-upstart"; Theranos is a scam.
BTW, Wallgreens isn't the first investor to sue: NYT: Theranos Sued by Investor Who Accuses It of Securities Fraud.
See also The Verge: Walgreens is suing Theranos for $140 million (several links to related stories).
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