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Comment Re:Depends on the "shape" (Score 1) 81

Some people. Sure.. And I admire those who do.

It's like how some people can add and subtract without thinking.

It's not a skill that has ever really 'clicked' with me. I'm... not young and I still add/subtract on my fingers.
If someone is playing dice, I can see that it's a high or low number, I remember 'one' dot as 'lowest' and 'two full rows' as 'highest' but unless it's only those two extremes, I need to count to work it all out.

Comment Re:A car for women (Score 2) 52

Yes it is! It's going back to it's roots.
A kinder, gentler car for females to go shopping in. Just needs to have matching lipstick colour offers and it'll be the traditional Mustang.
Look into the car's marketing history sometime. There is a reason it's horse themed and automatic. And it's not because it's 'manly and tough'. :)

Comment Good 'ol Murphy's law (Score 4, Funny) 139

The original one. Or at least one of the originals. Long and complicated history, but one I liked:
"If there is a wrong way to do something, then someone will do it". or the longer version:
"If there's more than one way to do a job and one of those ways will end in disaster, then somebody will do it that way."

(Been a fan of 'Sod's law" being the "if something can go wrong, it will" one.)

Comment Re:Cost and holdover.. (Score 1) 167

It's also not just the cost of fuel, but also shedding of consumables(belts, break pads, clutch pads, etc) and frequent oil changes and other stuff.. This does balance against heavy EVs and their increased tyre wear.

In my case, I'm taking a tiny car from the early 80's and making it into a fun and cheapish EV.
Total kerb weight will be about 700-800kg.. And about for $2/100km of driving and near zero wear on any consumables.
Service every 2-3 years should be 'change gearbox oil, check break pads and fluids'.. And battery life should extend past 15 years before I'm below the 80% of original capacity.

As time goes on, conversions will come down to the point where if you have a nice car once the petrol engine blows up, you can get it replaced with an electric one very affordably and people will be buying good condtion shells and doing the conversions for resale to consumers.

It's also an amazingly good way to keep classic cars on the road. Austin Martan, Jaguar and others are already seriously looking down this path.

Comment Cost and holdover.. (Score 3, Insightful) 167

Biggest reason? Cost..

Yes, it works out cheaper over time, but EVs are still 1/3 to twice what you can get an equivalent car(This includes shopping around to find an functional equivalent from another manufacturer.)..
Between that and the perceived range limitations(Something you get used to and isn't a problem after the first few weeks and will become less as fast charging spreads more and more EVs are on the road) it makes people hesitant..

This method will make petrol/diesel cars more expensive over time and at the same time EV costs will come down so if you REALLY need 1000km of range and can refuel in 5 mins, you can get them, you'll just pay for that.. In the same way you pay a premium if you want to get a 7 seat minivan or a SUV instead of a little hatchback..

I'm doing an EV conversion and it'll still cost me about AU$20k to do it all up and it'll only give me about 150km of range if I'm lucky.. And can get a brand new petrol car with a 500km range for that price.. Where the cheapest EV is about AU$40-50k.. (And Teslas are a LOT more, proper luxury car money)

Comment Teaching is Discovery too. (Score 5, Insightful) 224

I'm closer to this view.
Every kid should be exposed to programming and computers. Just like every kid should be exposed to drawing, metalwork, drama, home economics and art.
You need to be forced outside your comfort zone for at least a little bit, so you can discover what you can and can't do.. And so you can look back and at least have some idea what it's about.
If it's not for you, then you don't pick it for your electives, if it is, you jump in and do it!
School is about discovering what you have the mind and aptitude for, as well as teaching.

Comment Your turn now, EU! (Score 4, Insightful) 99

GLONASS is online, now Beidou.
Come on Europe! Finish off Galileo! Lets get at least one system built primarily for commercial use, so we'll have something to use when the militarys of the world are busy trying to deny each other their systems.
And the rest of the time, I want to see tri and quad systems for all sorts of fun projects.
Millimetre accuracy(Without using the high accuracy/encrypted data) when all the systems are tied together or simply allow each system to act as a check against the other. We rely on this tech for so many things the world over. We need backups at the very least.

Submission + - Know The Enemy: Upgrade Your Threat Detection Strategy with Honeynets (linuxsecurity.com)

b-dayyy writes: Honeynets are an invaluable offensive security tool for learning the tactics and motives of the blackhat community and sharing the information and insights gathered. This article will explore what a Honeynet is, its value, how it works and the risks involved with deploying a Honeynet. It will also examine some great open-source honeynet options your organization may wish to consider.

Submission + - Vietnam: How a country so close to China managed to control Covid-19 (inews.co.uk) 1

AleRunner writes: "Considering Vietnam's proximity to China, where coronavirus was first reported, it might be expected that the Southeast Asian country would be affected by Covid-19 in a similar manner.

China has more than 84,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 4,600 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Painting a strikingly different picture, Vietnam, which sits below its southern border, has just over 300 cases among its 97 million citizens and not a single death, according to reports." the article points to a key willingness to "sacrifice short-term economic benefits for the health of the people" which is now paying back in that they plan to "partially resume international flights from 1 June".

The article then goes on to boost the value of Vietnam's "authoritarian leadership" and "socialist ethos", not mentioning the success of democratic and politically diverse countries like New Zealand, Slovenia, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. Still an interesting thought provoking read.

Comment Re:Evolution in Action (Score 3, Insightful) 285

I'm sort of the other way around, I don't like cinemas because you /can't/ talk to your friends, discuss what is going on and enjoy the movie as a group, instead you sit and wait for things to be over.. And instead you always end up sitting next to people who get upset when you try and talk. :)

I also like being able to pause to get a drink or something and also to rewind if we miss something..

At home it makes it a much more social, much more involved and interesting experience.

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