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Comment Re:It's an algorithm (Score 2) 352

Actually I am impressed that it did see how similar Apes and people are. Honestly people getting upset over it are just a bit silly. The problem is people think that someone put person_of_african_descent == ape in the code and that is not true. The algorithm just confused one great ape with an expressive face with another. It is no more racist or intentional than the same system confusing a Camaro with a Firebird.
 

Comment Re:Iran is not trying to save money (Score 1) 409

Well, you have to factor in the Iranian cultural mania for disagreeing with each other. The Shah couldn't keep them under his thumb, neither can the mullahs, who have their hands full disagreeing with each other.

From a tyrant's perspective Iran is ungovernable, which doesn't mean elements in the government don't give tyranny a go on a regular basis. It's an ideal setup for producing martyrs. The futility of cracking down means you have a little space to rake some muck before official anger overcomes reason.

Comment Re:Ask other retro communities (Score 2) 66

This is for a cluster that is being used not an exhibit in a glass box.
I think modifying the existing power supplies is probably the best way to go today. Replace the caps and possibly the voltage regulators with newer parts might be a really good way to go today.
I would suggest starting a project to create a modern PS that could be a drop in replacement for the old one. It could use a lot less power and be more reliable in the long run.

Comment iOS users feel it (Score 1, Insightful) 311

I currently have a web radio transceiver front panel application that works on Linux, Windows, MacOS, Android, Amazon Kindle Fire, under Chrome, Firefox, or Opera. No porting, no software installation. See blog.algoram.com for details of what I'm writing.

The one unsupported popular platform? iOS, because Safari doesn't have the function used to acquire the microphone in the web audio API (and perhaps doesn't have other parts of that API), and Apple insists on handicapping other browsers by forcing them to use Apple's rendering engine.

I don't have any answer other than "don't buy iOS until they fix it".

Comment Re:Big giant scam ... (Score 1) 843

I distinctly remember it being promised that the F-35 would beat anything but an F-22 in air-to-air combat, at a fraction of the price. It was not part of the original concept for the system but it was definitely sold politically as being capable of acting as a poor man's F22.

I wonder about the helmet mounted display, whether that's something you'd consider absolutely necessary in an aircraft whose job is to hit surface targets in contested airspace.

Comment Re:Big giant scam ... (Score 1) 843

As a supposed air-superiority platform, this is an utter failure.

To be fair, that was not the original justification for the thing. That was mission creep.

I think the original impetus was to have something stealthy that could do ground strikes in enemy territory. And it makes sense to do a naval version of the same thing. If they'd just focused on that they'd have been done a long time ago with a solid design, which of course in engineering nearly always turns out to be more versatile than you planned for. Adding STOVL and the whizbang helmet (cool as that may be) as necessary elements of the system turned this into an "everything for everyone" project, which almost always turns out less versatile than you hoped.

Comment Re:Dogfights?! What year is it?! (Score 1) 843

Sure you can identify scenarios where the A-10 is useless. But in the last twenty years it's been extremely useful in a number scenarios we've actually faced.

The idea that a system ought to play every role in every conceivable situation is why the F35 performs none of them very well. In hindsight the idea of accommodating the Marines' need for a STOVL aircraft in the same basic design probably dictated too many compromises in the plane's other roles.

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