plaidlad - Slashdot User

Submission + - Voyager 1 engineers adjust thrusters again.

Submitted by plaidlad on Monday September 16, 2024 @06:17PM

plaidlad writes: After noticing thruster performance problems in 2002, Engineers made adjustments to fuel system pathing with more following in 2018.

Now, with 47+ years on her engine, Voyager 1 Engineers just made another long-distance tweak. This time they adjusted hydrazine flow through tiny (.25mm or 0.01inch) fuel tubes which had become blocked by the buildup of crud from seals and valves. As the article notes, " ...the tube opening was originally only 0.01 inches (0.25 millimeters) in diameter, the clogging has reduced it to 0.0015 inches (0.035 mm), or about half the width of a human hair."

Here I thought the carb on my old Citation was tough to work on.

Get more info on the Voyager 1 probe and her mission here https://blogs.nasa.gov/voyager

Submission + - Microsoft Office 365 Cloud Experiencing Major Outage (office.com)

Submitted by TorinEdge on Monday September 28, 2020 @07:17PM

TorinEdge writes: Microsoft appears to have botched an internal Office365 cloud services rollout today, with outages confirmed up and down the West Coast of North America. Confirmed roll backs were good early omens, but in the end did not appear to be successful. Outage now moving in to its third or fourth hour, 2 hours by confirmation from Microsoft's status page (https://status.office.com/) and official Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/MSFT365Status). Symptoms may include: All 365-related services flaking out, borking, alternately approving logins and confirming they definitely do not exist.

7 Scientific Reasons a Zombie Outbreak Would Fail 320

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 19, 2010 @06:40PM from the gasoline-and-head-shots dept.

Whether they spoil in the heat, freeze in the winter, or get taken out by a human-friendly venue of vultures, a zombie outbreak is unlikely to succeed. Here's 7 reasons why we should stop worrying about the shambling dead and start concentrating on a real threat: sparkly vampires.

Russian Scholar Warns Of US Climate Change Weapon 415

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 18, 2010 @10:11AM from the hurricane-cannon dept.

According to Russian political scientist, and conspiracy aficionado Andrei Areshev the high heat, and poor crop yields of Russia, and other Central Asian countries may be the result of a climate weapon created by the US military. From the article: "... Areshev voiced suspicions about the High-Frequency Active Aural Research Program (HAARP), funded by the US Defense Department and the University of Alaska. HAARP, which has long been the target of conspiracy theorists, analyzes the ionosphere and seeks to develop technologies to improve radio communications, surveillance, and missile detection. Areshev writes, however, that its true aim is to create new weapons of mass destruction 'in order to destabilize environmental and agricultural systems in local countries.'"

"Choose Your Own Adventure" On Your iPhone 135

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 18, 2010 @03:54AM from the turn-to-page-14 dept.

If you spent a good portion of your childhood reading the classic "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, you'll be glad to know that you can soon waste countless hours at work turning to random pages on your iPhone. Edward Packard, one of the original authors of the series, has helped create an app called U-Ventures which uses special effects to create a story in the traditional Choose Your Own Adventure format. From the article: "The first U-Venture is a sort of a sequel to a classic title, The Cave of Time. In 'Return to the Cave of Time,' the U-Venture, 'you go back in the cave — you don't have a choice on that,' Packard tells NPR's Neal Conan. But from that point on, the reader chooses her own course."

Man Takes Up Internal Farming 136

Posted by samzenpus on Friday August 13, 2010 @10:33AM from the cardiovascular-farming dept.

RockDoctor writes "'A Massachusetts man who was rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung came home with an unusual diagnosis: a pea plant was growing in his lung.' Just that summary should tell you enough to work out most of the rest of the details, but it does raise a number of questions unaddressed by the article: How did the pea roots deal with the patient's immune system? What would have happened if the situation had continued un-treated? I bet the guy has a career awaiting him in PR for a pea-growing company."

Comment Interesting, but late... (Score 1) 820

by plaidlad on Monday November 30, 2009 @04:50PM (#30275314) Attached to: Scientists Create Artificial Meat

"...researchers believe the breakthrough could lead to sausages and other processed products being made from laboratory meat..."

Obviously these scientists haven't sampled my ex-wife's cooking... I had always figured she had gotten the drop on these guys...

Comment WTF is this "off-duty" you speak of? (Score 1) 735

by plaidlad on Monday November 30, 2009 @03:24PM (#30274030) Attached to: Should You Be Paid For Being On Call?

I think that as IT pros, we all should make sure we understand what we're getting into before we accept an offer. I for one knew coming into my current position that even though I'm outside my 40 hours, and even on vacation or home sick at times, I still have to be responsive. Technically that means being reachable (i.e. "on-call") 24x7x365...

That said, it's also acceptable to understand that there may be times that I take an extra half-hour at lunch, leave a bit early or come in a bit late. I'm very lucky to have an employer who treats me like an adult and have found that simple discussions with your management can iron out a lot of the issues around being reachable ahead of time.

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