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All hail Sargon

Posted by Arik on Friday April 26 2019, @03:46AM (#4190)
33 Comments
Code
I tried to give a more informative title, but the character limit conspired against me and I wound up giving in. If this is not your thing, please, hit the back button.

Title should be:

"All hail Sargon of Swindon"

I have to say, just to start with, the guy has thousands of hours up and not only can you probably find a few minutes here and there that are not comfortable, but I *have* found many of those minutes myself. Despite that I think I'd actually be a *lot* more comfortable hanging out with him that with his enemies.

"I will not apologize for my crimes against political correctness. I hate political correctness."

He's a candidate for MEP in the UK, and so far this is his most consistent tagline.

Yes, he has occasionally told a 'racist' joke. I particularly liked his defense of that one.

It's somewhere in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfRffGdeXDg

Which is, btw, a viciously cut publication. Full audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq_7-cQvisI&t=36s

If I was pretending to be a journalist and I just published a chop job like that, I am pretty sure I would ingest all drugs in the vicinity and then go KIA ASAP.

But anyhow.

He told a joke that used the word 'chink' in reference to chinese people.

Yes he did. He admits it, he is not ashamed.

Isn't that racist? She asks.

That depends on the context, he points out. In France, recently, a poll showed over 20% of french folk would not want to share a rental with a foreigner. I wouldn't tell that joke there, he says, there's some real prejudice, it wouldn't be funny. But here in the UK, where the polls indicate virtually no one cares at all of the national origin of their rental share, yes, it's funny, chinese folk found it funny, it was supposed to be funny, why should I apologize?

Why indeed?

Help to not overflow our landfills

Posted by DannyB on Monday April 22 2019, @08:43PM (#4184)
14 Comments
/dev/random

When the vacuum cleaner bag becomes full, attach it to a leaf blower, with a filter so that only the fine dust can be evenly distributed throughout the living space. The larger vacuumed up bits and crumbs will remain in the vacuum bag. If the vacuum bag is mostly empty, it can simply be re-attached to the vacuum cleaner. If the vacuum bag is too full after blowing out all of the fine dust, then its remaining contents can be:
* added to fireplace
* used as pillow stuffing
* added to garden soil
* leaf-blower disbursed into back yard
* mixed with used chewing gum as new form of play doh
* ingredient in cigarettes
* food additive, using a suitably complex ingredient name

Trump called Carter

Posted by Arik on Sunday April 21 2019, @02:51PM (#4182)
73 Comments
Code

Original source for this seems to be NPR member station WABE but I found it via antiwar.com.

I'll excerpt a bit but do read the whole thing.

President Donald Trump called former President Jimmy Carter for the first time this weekend.

Just that initial sentence was enough to brighten my day. I'm not a big fan of living Presidents, but Carter is the exception. If anyone can give Trump some good advice it will be Carter - and the fact Trump made the call indicates he just might listen to that advice.

So what kind of advice was given? Let me skip ahead a little.

(Carter) said Trump said he is particularly concerned about how China is “getting ahead of us.”

Carter agreed that’s true.

“And do you know why? I normalized diplomatic relations with China in 1979. Since 1979 do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody? None. And we have stayed at war,” he said.

The U.S., Carter said, has been at war for all but 16 years of its 242-year history. (China and Vietnam actually fought a brief border war in early 1979, weeks after normalization of U.S.-China relations.)

The last two sentence probably got reversed in an editorial mistake, because that reads quite awkwardly as is, but that's how my source has it.

He called the United States “the most warlike nation in the history of the world,” because of a tendency to try to force others to “adopt our American principles.”

And this is where, unfortunately, many of us obey our training, cover our eyes, stuff our fingers in our ears, and start saying something like 'hates America.'

No. This has nothing to do with hating anyone or anything. It has to do with the ability to set aside tribal sentiment and look at things objectively. What are the facts? As laid out above, China has been at peace since right about 1980, and focused single-mindedly on improving their economy, on building their originally pathetic industrial base until they are now the word leader. Over the same period, we've been at war virtually every year, and our military spending, already much larger than that of any other nation (or several put together) just keeps expanding.

We have to be able to acknowledge what that means, or we live in a dream, disconnected from reality, unable to understand the context of events we're therefore unable to respond appropriately.

Carter suggested that instead of war, China has been investing in its own infrastructure, mentioning that China has 18,000 miles of high-speed railroad.

“How many miles of high-speed railroad do we have in this country?”

It's definitely worth the click. Carter knows of what he speaks.

Our politicians need to evolve and learn

Posted by DannyB on Monday April 15 2019, @02:28PM (#4171)
30 Comments
/dev/random

Chants like "Lock Her Up" look childish.

Political candidates need to learn and evolve.

Act more like adults.

Instead of each candidate promising, if elected, to lock up their opponent, they need to start labeling their opponents as terrorists and their campaign organizations as terrorist organizations. Then promise to use the full force of government against these terrorists.

One Side of a Conversation

Posted by DannyB on Saturday April 06 2019, @08:03PM (#4135)
2 Comments
/dev/random

It's annoying when you must hear only one side of someone's cell phone call. If they were courteous, they would put it on speaker so everyone around them could hear.

Further, when you can only hear one side, you cannot really understand what is going on.

For example . . .

Ring ring

Hello?

No! I'm not driving.

Well, yes I am in the car. But I'm stuck in traffic. Thus not driving. The car is in park right now.

No, I left the car seats at home.

Calm down, I don't need them. I don't have the kids with me.

No! No. Of course, I did not leave the kids alone. I left them safely with the dog.

Yes, I know it's my weekend.

They'll be alright. They're very smart for their age -- after all, I am their father. And the oldest is almost 7.

I just needed a break. That's all.

No. Don't worry. I am not going to the strip club. Not while this traffic is stuck.

You don't seem to understand. How can I be drinking and driving when I'm stuck in traffic, car in park, not driving? I know better than to drink and drive at the same time.

No, I'm not with my drinking buddies.

What do you mean "then where are they"? I swear, they are not in the car!

Look, they jumped out of the car because we could see a liquor store on the next block. And traffic isn't moving. I'm not with them because they haven't returned yet with more drinks for us. And we're taking turns driving, so it's okay.

Chill out. Nobody is drinking when it is their turn to drive.

What are you so upset about? I can't understand what you are saying.

Flying pigs!

Posted by DannyB on Tuesday April 02 2019, @02:09PM (#4126)
7 Comments
Science

You cannot have your Pork and eat/fly It too.

If the SLS flies, it will be so expensive that it will quickly implode the program.

In order to keep the program, the SLS must perpetually be in a state of delay, which will cancel the program.

Everyone knows pork does not fly.

The problem with Typewriters

Posted by DannyB on Friday March 29 2019, @02:14PM (#4114)
14 Comments
/dev/random

Typewriters are ancient and should be abolished. People who want to keep a typewriter should be punished by being forced to use one.

One problem with typewriters is that sometimes certain letters might not work.

This would make it difficult to understand an article explaining the difference between a 3.5 inch floppy di_k and a big hard di_k, versus a mi_roSD   _ard.

It would become almost impossible for the reader to infer what the malfunctioning letter might be.

Or multiple malfunctioning letters on some typewriters.

To blink an LED

Posted by DannyB on Monday March 25 2019, @08:28PM (#4102)
10 Comments
Code

Task:
        To blink an LED.

        A blinking LED is required on a control panel to indicate
          a warning condition.
        Therefore it must be extremely reliable.

Hardware engineer:

        Easy, I'll use a 555, a few resistors and a capacitor; or LM3909 chip.
        Done. Did I win a prize?

DIY Maker:

        Easy. I'll use an Arduino with the blink sketch and a resistor.
        Done. I have more billable hours than the first guy.

Senior Software Engineer:

        You guys have it all wrong.
        Such a system would never be flexible enough for a real application
          where a blinking LED indicator is required.

        Consider the inflexibility of the 555 approach.
        What if the marketing people change the requirements from a simple
          on/off blink to a different blink pattern.
        The simplest example would be the double blink.
                Blink, Blink, long pause, Blink, Blink, etc.

        Then consider the lack of sophistication that the Arduino has.
        With a simple microcontroller you can't have a web interface
          to configure the LED's blink rate.
        You would have to re flash the firmware.

        With a more sophisticated controller, like a Raspberry PI, or
          even better, a Beagle Bone, the system could automatically
          check on the internet for software updates; and automatically
          download and apply them.
        For security, downloads could be signed with 4096 bit keys
          using private certificates from the manufacturer.
        (This also ensures ongoing contracts since no other vendor
          would have the private certificates.)
        Higher end boards provide more flexibility.
        The LED controller could have it's own WiFI connection to
          not burden the rest of the system to provide its
          internet access.
        And even better . . .

(lightning bolt strikes in mid sentence)

A fo a go na moa.

Posted by Arik on Tuesday March 19 2019, @06:44AM (#4093)
12 Comments
Code
Text? What is text?

The essence of language? Or the fossil?

Slow Traffic

Posted by DannyB on Tuesday March 12 2019, @09:11PM (#4071)
7 Comments
Answers

A man is on his way home from work. Traffic comes to a complete halt.

"Wow this traffic is worse than usual. Nothing is moving."

Soon he observes a police officer moving back and forth among cars getting closer and closer.
He rolls down his window and asks "Officer, what's the delay?"
The officer replies...

"Trump is so depressed about not always getting his way, that he stopped his limo in the middle of traffic and is now threatening to douse himself in gasoline and set himself on fire. He says everyone hates him. He can't just quit because the Fake News would laugh at him. And he doesn't have, and never has had, enough money for REAL lawyers to defend himself from all the criminal prosecutions that would follow."

"So I've been taking up a collection.", the officer says.

"Oh, really, how much have you collected so far?"

"So far about 26 gallons, but many folks are still siphoning."

adapted from a "Canadian prime minister" joke