For Gentoo, I can switch between systemd and OpenRC at boot time. Also for Ubuntu 15.04, you can switch between systemd and upstart. So I don't think your argument that the user does not have a choice holds, this is just about which package is installed by default.

You can't just leave things alone, because computers have also changed. Today we do not work on mainframes or desktop computers, but increasingly on laptops and mobile phones, which constantly change state, in terms of network connections, devices plugged in, location, hibernation.

I think there is consensus that these things did not work well on the old init system, although band-aids were found. I remember that changing the hostname stopped X from working, which can occur when DHCP gives you a new hostname. That is 80s design for you. Or changing the time messes up the logfiles.

Now you can choose which modern init system you want, and there are a couple out there: OpenRC, upstart and systemd are the most well-known ones.

OpenRC is the familiar runlevel based approach, which runs scripts which may or may not succeed.

Upstart is a triggering framework, that takes pre-defined actions (but does not work with goals). That means you have to write tasks for how to get from A to B with your system.

systemd is a dependency resolution program, that knows what to activate next to get to a certain state (goal). It handles services, mount points and network connections in the same framework. It is essentially an overseer of a services tree.

There are some upsides to systemd, besides parallelizing the tasks of a dependency tree to reach a goal. One is for every process it is known which service launched it (there are some Linux-specifics that allow marking those processes). Also, each service can be assigned resources (memory, number of processes), which it can not exceed (again, modern Linux supports that). And, obviously, you are not limited to a set number of runlevels.

Yes, systemd is annoying, because it is a new thing to learn. And it is annoying, because the maintainers are inconsiderate. But in the end, it is just a program to start other programs, with one particular way to do it. I don't get what the big deal is. If it is feature bloat -- Linux also has a lot of features, so does VLC -- there we consider them a good thing. Technically, the dependency resolution approach of systemd seems like a good thing (as in progress for Linux) to me.

Here is a presentation by Pim Schellaert (referenced in the article) with some more information:
http://www.lofar.org/wiki/lib/...

I've seen a presentation of their more recent results, but that doesn't seem to be public yet, I can't find a link.

One of the coolest things we did recently with the LOFAR telescope was to observe the Solar Eclipse in real time, I think it has never been done with a radio telescope before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

In general you can find a lot of info about what we're doing with the LOFAR telescope here:
http://www.astron.nl/dailyimag...
and here: http://www.lofar.org/wiki/doku...

My feet are on the ground, which is at an elevation of about 3 meters.

This is considered quite high in my country (The Netherlands) as it is above sea level.

I think Apple will stay in the desktop/laptop market as long as it's the development platform for their software. I believe it's a core principle of how Apple operates to not be dependent on anyone but Apple. It's why they have all their design and technology in house.
This gives them the immense power to switch suppliers and manufacturing locations and completely control their own future.

Pc-clone manufaturers and brands come and go because the parts are interchangeable. Apple doesn't live in that world and actively tries to prevent it.

Apple might let someone like Samsung, Asus or Foxconn manufacture something for them, but they do all the design themselves to prevent what Compaq did to IBM.

There are a few cracks in that Apple philosophy, in that they use Intel chips and some other PC components for their desktops, but they have demonstrated to be able to successfully switch if need when they moved from Power to x86. They have enormous power because they can believably tell any of their suppliers that they might move. It's why they have their own OS, office suite, cloud, browser, etc.

It gives them long term security and complete independence. This results in a company that is much more agile than it's size and age would let you to believe. It is one of the core reasons Apple is able to do what it does.

What Apple learned from the PC manufacturers, is to not depend on anyone. They are one of the few companies who keep all design and technology in-house.
It's key to how Apple operates that they can and do switch suppliers and manufacturing locations.

The whole PC-clone industry became possible because IBM and others didn't own the designs or the technology. It is why companies like ASUS, MSI, AMD and many others exist in the PC industry, but there are no equivalents in Apple land.

It is the key difference between the PC and Apple industry. It is also the reason why I think Apple will be making machines for OSX for a long time, at least as long as those are needed to develop software for Apple (iOS or whatever). Apple doesn't want to depend on any one and doesn't want anyone to be easily able to copy them. It is at the core of their business model.

You need a stellar-mass black hole for that, not a 4 million solar mass black hole.

I think what he/she was referring to is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
See also the Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer.

I think you can not make maps this way, I think you can only measure the spatial extension. Not sure though.

the duck farts

Then maybe you're spending on the wrong things, just like in US healthcare?

I think you need to blame a system where schools like that exist in the first place.

Dutch schools are funded per student, with extra budget for students with lower language proficiency and similar problems. There's also some extra funding for schools in small villages, monumental buildings, etc.

Secondly, students are put in classes with kids of similar academic achievement (4-5 levels), to allow them to challenge each other. This also separates academic ability from background, although it's not perfect.

What a silly idea to couple school funding to local property taxes. That's really weird and almost certainly will lead to large inequality. Is that really how it works in the USA?

Maybe not the engine, but a lot of parts in my car (a 2001 Saab 9-3) need the "tech 2 unit" to properly de-mate and then re-unite them with the car electronics. This includes things like the climate control, stereo and in-dash info display.

230 ppm is quite high.
In general you want your car to run with lower emissions, as it also means that it's using its fuel more efficiently. Those hydrocarbons are unburnt fuel.

And yes, most refineries make even the dirtiest trucks look clean. Follow the money and local ordinances "to keep the jobs in the town". Doesn't mean they're good for your health or the environment though.

Windows has had IPv6 stacks since Windows 95 and Microsoft even started supplying them as of 98.