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User: vikingpower

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  1. Re:You would think science could help on Can We Really Stop Climate Change By 'Capturing' Carbon? (vox.com) · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is simultaneously one of the most stupid and the most insidious arguments for burning more fossil fuels I've ever read. Sheesh, dude, who pays you ? Tar Sands of Alberta, Inc. ?

  2. Re:parachute on Blue Origin Lands Rocket During Launch Escape Test (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    Just looked up "abort mode IA" in the Saturn V Flight Manual (I am pretty proud to possess a paper copy of that one, it has a prominent place in my library). Time between drogue opening and parachute opening was 12 to 16 seconds, dependent upon altitude on abort. The manual is not very explicit on aborting on the pad or close to the pad, but something can be gleaned from the conditions under which the mission could be aborted; all of these presuppose ignition of all five engines of Stage I to have succeeded. I.e., before that event, it seems the crew would 've been fucked. After that, the abort propulsion rockets would 've given them at least a fighting chance.

  3. Re:Competition.... on Blue Origin Lands Rocket During Launch Escape Test (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 3, Informative

    The order is: Shepard, Grissom, Glenn, Carpenter, Cooper, Shirra, Borman, Lovell.... (source: "The Parliament of Poets", by Frederick Glaysher)

  4. Competition.... on Blue Origin Lands Rocket During Launch Escape Test (gizmodo.com) · · Score: 1

    ...seems to show one of its many upsides. This may spur SpaceX to do at least as well, or better. Forget about Boeing et al.. These are small, agile (in the dictionary sense, not in the software engineering sense) companies that can move, react and even pivot in a way Boeing et al. could not even begin to dream of. Great job, Blue Origin! Now it's SpaceX's move.

  5. Bash on Ubuntu on Windows ? on New Project Lets You Install Arch Linux In the Windows Subsystem For Linux · · Score: 1, Funny

    Why not MS Nano on MS Windows Server on Slack on Cygwin on Win 95 on Bash on Ubuntu on Windows ? I mean - all these CPU cycles and all that unused RAM has to go somewhere, right ? Why not Rocco Sifredi on Kim Kardashin on Sylvester Stallone on Meryl Streep on Chuck Norris ? What say you ?

  6. Re:Why don't Canadians get any of this cool stuff? on Amazon Piles On the Prime Benefits With New 'Prime Reading' Perk (geekwire.com) · · Score: 1, Troll

    There is nothing fucking cool about Giant Corp. "offering" you around 1.000 eBooks in order to vendor-lock you in. Rather, you be glad to be in Canada. I'm in Austria and visit physical book stores, getting to hold physical books and helping physical people to make a living. Which is way closer to my definition of "cool".

  7. Re:Calling BS on some points on Boeing CEO Vows To Beat Elon Musk To Mars (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    I stand corrected. Of course you're right. Thanks!

  8. Calling BS on some points on Boeing CEO Vows To Beat Elon Musk To Mars (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    1. The Boeing that, indeed, did build the Saturn V first stage was not nowadays Boeing. The former was much smaller, more agile ("agile" not in the software engineering sense, but in the common dictionary sense).

    2. Boeing is indeed heavily involved in the SLS program. That program's pace, however, is set by NASA, whereas Musk's SpaceX, being a virtual start-up, sets its own and dramatically different pace.

    This is not to say that Boeing could not or should not be involved in what might became a "race toward Mars". I am, however, calling bullshit on the Saturn V and SLS arguments.

  9. Livestream URL on Rosetta Spacecraft Prepares To Land On Comet, Solve Lingering Mysteries (sciencemag.org) · · Score: 5, Informative
  10. Re:How a tyrant & dictator on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 1

    You, Sir, are a moron and a drunk parrot.

  11. Re:It's a shame. on BlackBerry Says It's Done Designing and Building Its Own Phones (theverge.com) · · Score: 1

    Agreed. I'll keep my Passport until it dies - if not, they'll have to pry it from cold, dead fingers. Blackberry Hub is making my corporate life sooooo much simpler !

  12. Re:How a tyrant & dictator on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 2

    Replying to myself, alas. I see that the trolls and AC Putin/Trump supporters have taken over this thread. This is most unfortunate and wholly unintended.

  13. How a tyrant & dictator on Vladimir Putin Is Replacing Microsoft Programs With Domestic Software (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 2, Interesting

    can unintentionally do the right things: kick Microsoft's, SAP's et al.'s ass.

  14. Re:What's the _actual_ algorithm. on Researcher Modifies Sieve of Eratosthenes To Work With Less Physical Memory Space (scientificamerican.com) · · Score: 1

    You are right. I am so burning curious, however, to get a look at this stuff, that even the few days needed for arXiv to publish this, mean a win for me. (In my current project, a critical subsystem is a prime generator that might benefit from this).

  15. Re:What's the _actual_ algorithm. on Researcher Modifies Sieve of Eratosthenes To Work With Less Physical Memory Space (scientificamerican.com) · · Score: 1

    The address is hhelfgo at uni-math.gwdg dot de

  16. Re:What's the _actual_ algorithm. on Researcher Modifies Sieve of Eratosthenes To Work With Less Physical Memory Space (scientificamerican.com) · · Score: 1

    See my post below. Prof. Helgott did a presentation at the Buenos Aires conference, he's working on putting up a preprint. Stop whining.

  17. Re: What's the _actual_ algorithm. on Researcher Modifies Sieve of Eratosthenes To Work With Less Physical Memory Space (scientificamerican.com) · · Score: 0

    200 million 32-bit primes in about 100 megabytes of space

    That is not 40:1, that is 8:1. Moreover, I looked at your source code - that is so non-portable, my toes cringe when thinking of porting it to e.g. Linux or Solaris. Even if that thing is somewhat of a technical feat, 8:1 compression ratios on pure numbers can be obtained with much less code and much less complexity.

  18. At least there is one state on Facebook Told To Stop Taking Data From German WhatsApp Users (bloomberg.com) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    having the decency to squarely tell Facebook "you're breaking our laws, stop it or else".

  19. Re:What's the _actual_ algorithm. on Researcher Modifies Sieve of Eratosthenes To Work With Less Physical Memory Space (scientificamerican.com) · · Score: 1

    Update Prof. Helfgott has kindly replied to my email inquiry, promising to signal me as soon as he's put a preprint up. If you're interested, ping me.

  20. Re:Impressive spec on SpaceX Tests Its Raptor Engine For Future Mars Flights (techcrunch.com) · · Score: 1

    Thank you. I stand corrected.

  21. Re:What's the _actual_ algorithm. on Researcher Modifies Sieve of Eratosthenes To Work With Less Physical Memory Space (scientificamerican.com) · · Score: 2

    Helfgott has not (yet) published his paper. The only thing I could find was an abstract, in Spanish. . He works at the University of Göttingen, and so probably knows basic German. Me speaking German, I'm going to gently ask him for his paper by email.

  22. Impressive spec on SpaceX Tests Its Raptor Engine For Future Mars Flights (techcrunch.com) · · Score: 0

    311 seconds of specific impulse in space vacuum is impressive. Combined with such a massive thrust of 3 Meganewtons, this certainly allows - on paper - for lifting heavy payloads onto a trajectory toward Mars. Another point to consider is the speed at which these developments are taking place. They're doing in a couple of years what took the Mercury and Jupiter programs, as preparations for the Saturn program, more than a decade. It remains to be seen, however, how much of this is just for the media and how much will go into actual rocketry and rocket-launching. Regardless of this, still quite the achievement.

  23. Re:What the Idiotic Hell./ on Which Programming Language Is Most Popular - The Final Answer? (zdnet.com) · · Score: 1

    “Object-oriented programming is an exceptionally bad idea which could only have originated in California.” – Edsger Dijkstra

    Coming from Dijkstra, who once compiled and printed a book named "Famous quotes by Dijkstra", this quote has no real value. And, BTW, OOP did not originate in California. It originated most probably in Norway.

  24. Too bad on Senate Panel Authorizes Money For Mission To Mars (usatoday.com) · · Score: 1

    this can not be done in Europe: mandate historical space missions by law. We for sure, over here in the EU, have the dough for it...

  25. Not a Basket of Deplorables on Scientists Discover That Horses Can Use Symbols To Talk To Us (sciencemag.org) · · Score: 1

    the horses understood the consequences of their choices

    Which is way better than must Trump voters do....