Posts by John Brown (no body)

"There's no sensible reason for using animal fat when making money,"

You don't actually thing there's a special farm somewhere fattening up animals for the slaughter just to make fivers and throwing away all that meaty and leathery by-product, do you?

If the fat is being used to make some plastics, it's most likely that it's "waste" product. Selling it for other uses instead of disposing of it (at a cost) means less waste so those of us who have chosen the blood thirsty, murdering lifestyle of eating meat can feel better that more of the animal is useful in death.

Re: Korolev, Challenger, Columbia...

I think he's suggesting politicians/administrators over-ruling engineers is not a good thing. Whether he's right (or I've interpreted his intentions correctly) is another matter.

"Data doesn't travel along the roads so there is no particular reason to mention it."

Many, if not all motorways do have data running along them. That's how smart motorways and the big matrix signs and CCTV cameras work. It's what is in that purple flexi-pipe you might have seen running along bridges etc.

I've no idea if that is an entirely private network or if it's shared backbone or something else. But if government is genuine about building out fibre then maybe the various departments need to talk to each other about what resources they have in place and how it might be shared, either the capacity or just the space for others to run fibre.

Re: A few clarifications

"The intercooler-recuperator was designed and built by an American defence company."

If I buy a brand spanking new car and it fails/breaks down on a regular basis and has a provable design flaw, I expect the manufacturer to repair or replace at no cost to me and supply an equivalent working vehicle for me to use while they fix the problem. The fact the supplier bought in parts from outside contractors isn't my issue. Let the vehicle supplier deal with the their suppliers and claim back the costs from them.

"Labour have never knowingly been against more surveillance."

Yep, only the LibDems are openly against it and managed to stall it/reject it while in the coalition. Then their so-called supporters shit all over them because they didn't get everything they wanted. (the minor partner in a coalition is never, ever, going to get much passed. They just get to modify, delay or reject Big Brothers proposals while having a few crumbs handed to them for playing "nice".)

Re: Was he told he needed to disclose it or not?

"The article states that he asked whether a criminal record check was required, not whether or not any convictions needed to be disclosed."

But both are effectively the same. If he needed to pass the Aus equivalent of a DBS check that would have shown any relevant unspent convictions. Since the company didn't require a DBS check, why would it be relevant to volunteer the information? A major part of the "punishment" is supposed to be rehabilitation and once the process is over, why should a company get to be an even higher judge and dish out further punishment?

I bet there's more than one poster here with current or spent convictions that would be very distressed to find themselves suddenly out of a job because someone "discovered" their past misdemeanours from years ago which are no longer relevant in their life, let alone their career.

An escort agency?

"... On the subject of the article, life probably won't get better than being a rocket scientist who is allowed to play with matches."

Light blue touchpaper and retire to a safe distance :-)

Re: Vote Fraud? Are you CRAAAZY?

"but I bet you haven't driven or purchased alcohol without documentation."

You need ID to buy alcohol? Really? Understandable if the buyer is of an age where they might be either side of the line, but everyone, even a 70 year old retired person?

"Come on, WTF? How is a bearing on an electric ship any f*** different from a bearing on a normal ship?"

Although you raise a good point, see the reaction to the now infamous strut on the SpaceX launch failure. That was mainly "we learned a lot from the launch failure"

Re: Only just saw proof they are bunch of cowboys

"If I wanted something similar we have a local company who does similar, but then most companies deliver anyway"

A couple of the local takeaways I use now and then are both part of these delivery franchise things like Deliveroo. They don't like it and and would rather not use them but they have no choice because even some of the regulars go via them instead just phoning up as normal. But people like Deliveroo expect certain prices, ie no more than the normal shop price, except Deliveroo take a commission out that price paid by the customer.

"just don't expect the rest of us to pay for it."

Why not? Are you saying you pay the full market value for everything you buy?

If BB is seen as a nationally required infrastructure then it should be priced approximately the same no matter where it is. I wonder how much your fresh water would cost if you were charged by the delivery mile compared to those living next to the reservoir? Reservoirs and power generation are both rural industries in many/most cases and yet rural dwellers pay the same urban dwellers who may be many miles from the source at the end pf long and expensive wires/pipes.

CyanogenMod, I presume

Re: Meanwhile MP's friends (cough) trouser the cash.

"So, logically the profits made by the private companies will be shared - 50% to the private companies and 50% to the government?"

It's a little more complex than that. Investing in infrastructure has more wide ranging benefits to the country as a whole other than any direct profit from the initial investment. It's a bit like commercial entities seeing warranty support as a cost centre when the reality is that a good warranty support brings in more customers, hence more sales and hence more profits.

Re: Coming from a "Man" who said wages are too high

"directly benefit Trump or punish his current enemies."

That's the bit about him that worries me the most. He spouts off a lot about trust in business and loyalty but he does seem to be very vindictive and holds grudges for a long time. Likewise, he seems far too thin-skinned to be in politics which will only exacerbate his existing traits.

Re: James Hansen will be furious

"National AERONAUTICS and Space Administration"

Oops, of course! I was thinking faster than I could type :-) Some people really annoy me.

Re: Scrap everything

"Any commercial company worth its salt is going to have people whose entire job is working out how to exploit an opportunity like this, to pitch their products in front of school-children."

Borland were doing this years ago with 80% discount for anyone who could demonstrate they were in education of one form or another back in the days of Paradox and Turbo C. Get the educators using your software and that's what the students will want to use in industry.

"Well bugger me!"

Let me introduce you to Charles Ernest Thickbroom.

(really? Christ! what a name)