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Comment 90-day limit changes to 60-day limit (Score 3, Informative) 63

By default, Win11 creates an automatic restore point every 7 days, or when it detects an installation or update event. The previous default was to keep restore points for 90 days. This update reduces that to 60 days. Not a huge change.

With a 60 day limit on the change events and weekly triggers, you will probably have at least 10 restore points to choose from. If you feel weekly restore points are not frequent enough, you can add an event to the Task Scheduler to create them more often, limited by your assigned storage limit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I was concerned when I learned of the 60-day limit, until I found there was already a 90-day limit which didn't seem that restrictive. I'm OK with this.

Comment Re:Six terabytes (Score 5, Informative) 41

did you manage to figure out what that "close to the maximum allowed by physics" speed actually was, the pop-sci article seemed a bit short on details.

I didn't understand exactly, but a quick summary of a few articles indicated that when stars collapse into smaller objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, etc) their angular momentum is preserved so the smaller objects must rotate faster. With Sgr A* containing mass 4.3 million times the mass of the Sun, the angular momentum is huge and the mass spins extremely fast. The limiting factor seems to be the outer edge of the mass exceeding the speed of light which instead gets converted into gravity waves, keeping the mass from spinning any faster. Slower rotational speeds have been observed on other black holes, but Sgr A* seems to be spinning near the theoretical maximum as it absorbs more mass and rotational energy.

That was my layman's understanding of what was happening. Other stellar experts can probably explain it better.

Comment Six terabytes (Score 4, Informative) 41

The study of the black hole in our galaxy has taken years to analyze.

A large number of images were taken during an observing campaign in 2017, producing six terabytes of data. These data had to be processed and analyzed – a process that took years, and the development of new algorithms to compensate for the rapid changeability.

They also found we are at about 90 degrees from the accretion disc, almost on the axis of rotation. This should provide an interesting viewpoint for observation and analysis.

13.25: Christian Fromm of Würzburg University in Germany is now stepping up to tell us what the image tells us about Sgr A*.

The team used supercomputers around the world to model black holes. When compared with their models, the image tells us that Sgr A* is rotating and that we are looking at it face-on. https://www.sciencealert.com/l...

Comment Re:Uh oh (Score 2) 106

I wonder if Apple started the migration after the change in Oracle's licensing model in January 2023?

The Java SE Universal Subscription was introduced in January 2023 to an outcry from licensing experts and analysts. It moved licensing of Java from a per-user basis to a per-employee basis. At the time, Oracle said it was "a simple, low-cost monthly subscription that includes Java SE Licensing and Support for use on Desktops, Servers or Cloud deployments." However, licensing advisors said early calculations to help some clients showed that the revamp might increase costs by up to ten times. Later, analysis from Gartner found the per-employee subscription model to be two to five times more expensive than the legacy model. https://developers.slashdot.or...

Comment Re:Paper strips (Score 5, Informative) 151

No, they are strips of paper in plastic holders that the air traffic controllers use to sequence and track aircraft for take offs and landings.

Here is a quick video about Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that shows the paper tapes, equipment, and routines of the air traffic controllers.

What It Takes To Be An Air Traffic Controller At The World's Busiest Airport

Comment Re:Billions? (Score 2) 28

Yeah, Billions. If you have any doubts about the hidden items that you might not need but someone does, try searching for "2.5mm screws".

There are tens of thousands of items with so many options: Brand, Head Style, Drive Style, Material, Exterior Finish, Length, Thread Size, Thread Direction, Grade, Quantity, etc.

And that's just ONE item. Try searching for nails, washers, drill bits, bolts, or automotive parts. If you want to see another endless selection of items, try searching for "Toyota grills". After 20 pages of results, they suggest you refine your search by model and year. And that includes all the accessories like badges, screens, polish, LED kits, and sponsored links that brands add in there.

I just looked in my purchase history and the howling wolf T-shirt I purchased in 2009 still has an ASIN assigned, 16 years later. Yeah, billions is believable.

Comment Re:Hmm (Score 3, Informative) 28

Not really. Unless the tech company wants to invest in weather satellites showing visible and IR weather patterns, aircraft to fly through hurricanes to gather pressure and wind speed data, ships to deploy ocean buoys to gather water temperature, and Doppler radar sites to gather ground weather data.

The National Weather Service (NWS) does more than just make predictions. They also gather all the data to feed into the weather models and archive the data for later analysis to improve their prediction models. Add in tsunami warning, waterway mapping, fishery monitoring, marine mammal protection and general marine science and NOAA does a pretty vital job with only 12,000 employees.

If Fred&Barney's AI shop says that using data from the NWS, their predictions are more accurate 50% of the time, then they are just guessing and playing the averages.

Comment Re:Actually cool news (Score 3, Informative) 50

Not quite. IR only shows temperature differences. As soon as you have more than a single layer of clothes on, the temperature differences start to blend together. Almost all titillating IR photos are of women wearing very thin blouses and no bras, knowing they were being filmed with an IR camera. In real life all you would see is warm spots around the face and general heat zones. Besides, these contacts only show general direction of strong IR sources, similar to what you can already do by closing your eyes and feeling which direction the sun is shining.

IR photo comparison

Comment Re:How about sense of smell? (Score 1) 111

Yeah, tinnitus is PITA. I found that having background noise helps distract me from noticing it as much. I use a sound machine at night to help me get to sleep without the constant ringing keeping me on edge. Either a dedicated sound machine or an MP3 player and a looping stream sound are helpful. Other people like the sound of rain or the sound of a fan.

Because tinnitus is so common for military members, the VA put out an informative guide on managing tinnitus. The information helps everyone, not just VA patients. https://www.ncrar.research.va....

Comment Not quite justified demand (Score 5, Interesting) 115

People aren't paying four figures for a "course" that can easily be generated with a free chat-gpt account.

No, they are paying for courses from an accredited institution that supposedly has been reviewed and vetted by the college. Using AI in developing teaching materials doesn't invalidate all the information taught in the class. The student will still receive a grade and credit hours for the class, and those credits can be transferred to other colleges that reciprocate credits from the accreditation agency.

If she really thinks she has a case, then she should complain to the accreditation agency, not the college. The accreditation agency might give her a more unbiased ruling as they have no financial motivation to protect.

Comment Re:TL;DR (Score 5, Informative) 31

Matt Parker of StandUp Maths did an overview of the new findings from AlphaEvolve. Some of the findings are very helpful and some are "new ways to pack circles in a box" variety.

The video explains how even a 1% better algorithm can be worth the effort if it translates to less processing needed or more efficient data centers. Worth a quick viewing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGCmu7YKgPA

Comment Re:Public space and right of way (Score 4, Informative) 22

EchoStar has 13 million customers so if EchoStar pays $13 million dollars each year for a licensing fee, divided by 360 million citizens, your 75% would equal 2 cents. That's ignoring the administrative costs to manage the program. Creating a yearly spectrum license fee would just increase the cost of doing business and they would pass the costs on to you the consumer. You want everyone to need to pay a TV tax, a radio tax, a cellphone tax, a WiFi tax, a Bluetooth tax, etc?

The government held a one-time auction to get the big players to pay for a license to use a specific band of the EM spectrum. This would hopefully get the company to actually use the spectrum for their customer's benefit in order to make money to justify the license. If the company is just squatting on the band then the FCC is correct to review the terms of their license. The phrase "use it or lose it" is applicable to this problem.

Comment Another hypersonic vehicle this weekend (Score 1) 13

Russia will have another hypersonic vehicle they will be tracking this weekend, traveling at Mach 26.

The Kosmos 482 Descent Craft will be deorbiting sometime this weekend, entering the atmosphere and slowing to about 150 mph as it crashes to the ground. Where will it hit? That is the big debate. Almost everyone reading this will have a slight chance of being in the decent area, unless you live in the arctic or antarctic. https://www.livescience.com/sp...

Not the same as a low-altitude hypersonic vehicle test, but even the Space Shuttle started at Mach 26 as it reentered the atmosphere from space.

Comment Re: Yep, that will go well (Score 1) 50

It's funny that most people that claim to be experts have never worked in a federal agency or with federal employees. So many experts don't know what two-thirds of the agencies do so they just assume they must be bloated.

Give yourself two points for each of these government offices you recognize: NIOSH, ORIA, NNSA, ONDCP, and OIPR. If you don't know what an agency is for, how can you state it is bloated and mostly unnecessary?

Stating that CISA is unnecessary is like saying seat belts and air bags just add unneeded weight to a car.

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