Humor Random Comments Thread

[Andy44]

Now, how to handle the privacy violation and data mining in the example? It is the price for the service and for a once in a quarter year trip, it is not too painful (compared to everyday travel or travels for work). But in general - was the past really better for not depending on some kind of technology that is now commonplace? How much independence or autonomy is still civilization?

The problem with this tech is that the benefits are immediate and obvious, but the pitfalls that come with loss of privacy and invasiveness are hidden from view and will only be felt later.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

These intertoobs are pretty useful sometimes. Started my car yesterday morning and airbag light was illuminated (uggh, $$$$$). Google make of car and 'airbag light' and get numerous instructions how to reset airbag module with a paper clip. Works, done in 2 minutes, money stays in my pocket.

 

[mojoey]

Aaaaand crush developed.

 

[kamaz]

Procedural generation FTW!

download: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=67113

 

[SolarLiner]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nasYOEFICk

Unigine 2 - Earth Model. It really doesn't look all that much better than Orbiter 2016. It puts all the effort put into Orbiter into perspective (and maybe gives someone an idea or two :hmm: )

The upside of Uningine is that all the processing is done in real time, from rendering (obviously), to data streaming, to procedural refinement or the color, elevation, night lights, clouds, etc.
But it's also its ability to load worlds of any scale while maintaining playability and visual immersion.

In fact, there are plans to use Uningine for a Flight Sim:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB6kH80W-wI"]Next Gen Flight Simulator Tech Demo - Port Angeles - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Urwumpe]

RIP Zaha Hadid, world-class architect, first female Pritzker Architecture prize laureate and designer of the Wolfsburg science museum Phaeno.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Aaaaand crush developed.

 

[boogabooga]

Saw this on the frontpage of Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Travel_(video_game)

Much of it sounds familiar....from 1969!

 

[Urwumpe]

No April fools day joke: Severe truck crash on the Autobahn A5 near Alsfeld towards Frankfurt because of multiple centimeters of snowfall.

I was driving there a few days ago with summer tires. :blink: The region is pretty mountainous (especially for a Autobahn) at about 400 meters above MSL.

---------- Post added at 12:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 AM ----------

And another one bites the dust :uhh:

Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former German foreign minister died today. He was the longest serving Vice Chancellor in German history, from 1974 to 1992 with only a few weeks break between. His greatest moment was sure the 30th September 1989 at the embassy in Prague, announcing to GDR citizens camping around the embassy that the transit to the FRG was allowed.

In his youth, he fought in the German 12th Army (Armee Wenck) during the final days of WW2 in the Battle of Halbe, fighting to keep a corridor from Potsdam to the west side of the Elbe open to allow about 50,000 civilians and the remains of the 9th army to flee from the Soviet army towards the US Army near Stendal. The event was subject of the Sabaton song "Hearts of Iron".

 

[SolarLiner]

This years's YouTube April Fools is SnoopaVision. I don't know why, but this is right on so many levels:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPEJB-FCItk"]Experience YouTube in #SnoopaVision - YouTube[/ame]

 

[orb]

Finally a reason to start thinking about getting a VR headset:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/457860/

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Finally a reason to start thinking about getting a VR headset:
Apollo 11 Walk Around on HTC Vive - YouTube
Apollo 11 VR Trailer - YouTube
http://store.steampowered.com/app/457860/

I think when I buy my next house and have my own office, I am going to get a real desktop computer and play with all this VR stuff. I've just been poking around with netbooks and such for a long time, almost seems like technology has passed me by. I have never really been a gamer, but love simulation and I think VR just looks too fun to not try.

 

[Andy44]

Imagine if Apollo had HD cameras back then.

It's funny when I think about it: The astronauts flew to the Moon using technology that is quite primitive by today's standards. There was no such thing as a portable computer, let alone smart phones or even laptops, they used purely mechanical cameras with film, and wore purely mechanical watches on their wrists. The clocks in the cockpits of the spacecraft were electromechanical (Accutron tuning fork movements).

They had no digital video, there was no satellite navigation of any sort, no flat panel displays in the cockpits, which were a bunch of buttons and switches and indicator lights. Did they even have LEDs or were they using incandescent bulbs?

And yet in so many ways it was high tech. The engine tech, the heat shield tech, the radio ranging, the astronavigation devices in the CM. Today's computers have gotten way smaller and more powerful but the mechanical tech has advanced incrementally.

 

[Frilock]

Batman Vs Superman High School edition

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD-iCanIVUI"]Walter Meego "Girls" - Official Video - YouTube[/ame]









Maybe college.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Imagine if Apollo had HD cameras back then.

It's funny when I think about it: The astronauts flew to the Moon using technology that is quite primitive by today's standards. There was no such thing as a portable computer, let alone smart phones or even laptops, they used purely mechanical cameras with film, and wore purely mechanical watches on their wrists. The clocks in the cockpits of the spacecraft were electromechanical (Accutron tuning fork movements).

They had no digital video, there was no satellite navigation of any sort, no flat panel displays in the cockpits, which were a bunch of buttons and switches and indicator lights. Did they even have LEDs or were they using incandescent bulbs?

And yet in so many ways it was high tech. The engine tech, the heat shield tech, the radio ranging, the astronavigation devices in the CM. Today's computers have gotten way smaller and more powerful but the mechanical tech has advanced incrementally.

I beg to differ on the engine tech point. The J-2 and F-1 are both highly advanced relative to their time, but are far surpassed by modern engines in terms of efficiency and TWR.

 

[mojoey]

Yeah but...on the cool scale though, they far surpass anything more technically modern.

 

[Andy44]

I beg to differ on the engine tech point. The J-2 and F-1 are both highly advanced relative to their time, but are far surpassed by modern engines in terms of efficiency and TWR.

Yes, but modern engines are not orders of magnitude ahead of 1960s engines in terms of performance.

Microelectronics (ie. computers) has advanced far faster, as Moore's Law predicted. In addition, there are electronic devices and technologies today that were not even dreamt of in the 60s.

Heck in some ways we've gone backwards with hardware. We actually had a working nuclear thermal rocket in the early 70s, and we purposely abandoned that line of development indefinitely.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Imagine if Apollo had HD cameras back then.

The science cameras the astronauts brought with them were very good quality for the time, and really not too shabby by today's standards, but none of that footage or photos was delivered to the public in real time, so unless you are actively looking for it no one will see it. The Project Apollo Archive is loaded with a lot of this, really great browsing.

I think what I pine for most would be to see a Saturn V launch in full HD and audio. There is grainy TV tape of the launches, better quality film of liftoff and climb out, but actually seeing, hearing, and feeling something that massive lifting off...wow.

It's funny, I remember watching the STS-1 launch on TV and being enthralled by it, but the video quality wasn't much better than for the Apollo launches. But since in later years I have seen shuttle launches in HD and with good audio, I actually have a better memory of STS-1 because my brain can fill in the blanks of resolution. I have to watch the STS-1 video every now and again to remind myself how poor TV cameras and audio used to be.

 

[Fabri91]

By the time SLS-1 rolls around we'll be close to being able to follow it live in VR, almost.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

By the time SLS-1 rolls around we'll be close to being able to follow it live in VR, almost.

I think VR will be the only way SLS-1 gets off the pad. I really don't see this program surviving our fickle congress much longer, but I'd be happy to be wrong about this.