george.herbert

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• Commented on Admin notice: server crash
  For informational purposes, the cloud providers I have used* charge by system image "turned on" time, not on CPU usage thereof. You install a committed usage Medium-large sized webserver image, you leave it running, you're paying the same hourly price...
• Commented on The language of alienation
  Charlie: That's non-portable as it is; I have no idea what a "graduating senior" is, and on this land mass, a college is not a university (although if you're at one of a small number of universities you may be...
• Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
  Alatriste: "Hey, you can't leave us in the lurch like that! What did the Chinese Major General say?" http://carnegieendowment.org/files/0409carnegie-day2-morning-keynote.pdf Q: Thank you, (Paal ?). Major General Yong Shu (ph) from China. MR. CHUNG: You are guest media? MR. PAAL: No,...
• Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
  Perhaps England should sell its used Trident subs and missiles to South Korea....
• Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
  I find it slightly amusing at one level as we see the beginnings of what may - MAY - be a South Korean decision that they are faced with an unacceptable threat in the North, lack of perceived effectiveness of...
• Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
  Lacero up in comment #5 wrote: Frustratingly I can't find a link to it now, but a while ago I read an article on arms control wonk that made me reconsider nuclear disarmament in the other direction. The idea is...
• Commented on PSA: Ignore the news
  I understand the ill effects, and completely understand the value of the deeper analysis one finds in better venues after a little bit of data collection and analysis has had time to happen, but I consider the "bury your head...
• Commented on Why I Do Self-Publish
  waters.boyd wrote: And yet I would love to take you along the used bookstores of Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley -- California, that is. The former used bookstores of Telegraph, Ave. I'm going by press reports and the web (I lived...
• Commented on Press Release: Stross Uncloaks Secret Media Project
  Is there any way.... we can pay them... not to make another Transformers?...
• Commented on The map is not the territory.
  Jay wrote: Also, silencers/suppressors lose effectiveness after a few shots, so using them with submachine guns probably isn't a good choice. You're overstating this; they all overheat, but the ones that drop off after 3-4-5 shots are only the liquid...
• Commented on The permanent revolution
  On the wireless front - keep in mind that fiber optic data transmision is "wireless" - it's a waveguide, working on photons. It's entirely possible to - over short distances - do away with the waveguide. Stick a LED beacon...
• Commented on The permanent revolution
  commenter-with-messed-up-google-ID writes: I'm afraid your comment shows little understanding of how nuclear weapons are controlled in the US and the general threat to the world of nuclear weapons. "The military" does not decide when or how to use nukes; the...
• Commented on The permanent revolution
  scott-sanford writes: Since the subject's been raised, is there anything cool coming up in the backbone & server fields? I admit not being remotely current on the subject. Like most infrastructure, it's all but invisible to most people even as...
• Commented on The permanent revolution
  Jay wrote: I don't know anything much about the backbone between cities and server farms, except that it seems to work. It doesn't matter to me whether they use fewer fast lines or more slow lines. This is why people...
• Commented on The permanent revolution
  wulf88 writes: So that's why it seems to me that we're reaching the physical limits of what can be carried on glass fiber. Just today, a new hollow fiber with very thin walls was announced that raises the speed in...
• Commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  I'm not even vaguely against the idea of trying something like this, I just want a complete and realistic appreciation of what's involved. Please don't take this as The Man stepping on the idea 8-)...
• Commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  It's not really zero risk. For one, you then have to write it, and the public may be more fickle than a publisher regarding staying on original concept. The opportunity to piss off your readership in a public manner is...
• Commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  scott-sanford: While I'd watch a Laundry TV show, I'm glad I'm not trying to sell it. And I'm fine with Charlie being flown to Hollywood to be showered with cocaine and hookers for the negotiations. *grin* Or, read Gaiman's "The...
• Commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  I just got a big numbers comment held for moderation (three links inside it, gasp), however on slightly different subtopic... I think that a combination of PoD and eBook primary focus offers a model that might be very attractive to...
• Commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
  Charlie: Video games: range in scale from amateur hobbyist projects up to big budgets rivaling high-end Hollywood blockbusters. Novels: range in scale from amateur hobbyist projects up to ... nope, not going there. Even the biggest breakthrough fiction series of...
• Commented on How I feel this morning
  OGH: It's like offering someone who asks for a spreadsheet a paint package. Sadly, I watched a borderline computer illiterate person try that in the mid-90s....
• Commented on Thinking the unthinkable
  Greg: G h @ 255 Aagin - I ask: HOW THE FUCK do we get serious reform of the EU, before it collapses into a corporate, corrupt super-state, please? This would be preferable to “UK OUT”, but I can see...
• Commented on Thinking the unthinkable
  GoCaptain wrote: 'The US separation of powers and checks and balances are features of government that are exceptionally important' I think it possible the offending expression here is 'US'. European states do have the same constitutional model as the US:...
• Commented on Thinking the unthinkable
  Nojay - You seem to have completely and totally missed my points. The two points were: 1. The EU organizational structure is on 1.something and needs to be on 2.something. Reorganizing is not a bad thing, it's demonstrably a good...
• Commented on Thinking the unthinkable
  OGH writes: I think it would be a really bad idea to dismiss an institution which has cemented such a peace, don't you? Keep in mind that the current US federal government structure is the 2.27 version of the idea....
• Commented on Me, talking
  Ah, my bad. I didn't realize the southern border was with Graubunden (Switzerland) not Austria. Wrong zoom levels consulted in the map tool; user error. That entirely makes sense. Thanks....
• Commented on Me, talking
  I am kind of curious how Swiss army staff could cross that border by accident. The Swiss/Leichtenstein border is a river for its entire length... There are plenty of bridges, but still......
• Commented on Mo' holding pattern
  daniel.duffy20 wrote: The difference is between short sharp shocks (like that experienced by Col Stapp) and sustained g forces. Highly trained fighter pilots can sustain 9gs and still function. Depending on duration, 10 g results in tunnel vision, black out...
• Commented on Me, talking
  The assumptions I have seen either use stuff which absorbs neutrons without ill effects, or which is relatively low cross section, for the most intense flux areas. Reinforced carbon-carbon, etc. Metal only in the outer layers, past the Lithium breeder...
• Commented on Me, talking
  Regarding the neutron problem... Fluxes are lower than those in fission reactors. The energy is higher (14 MeV rather than fission spectrum) but the problem is understood. The panic of "ZOMG NEUTRONS UNCLEAN!" is a bit premature. The hope of...