VBprogrammer

50 ms·

1. 2311.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   Yeah, I know that sound well. It's a sound I strongly associate with Edinburgh train-station having taken the final leg of the Kings-cross service back to Glasgow many times while at University. Apparently the sound of the Valenta engi
2. 2312.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   Interesting, however all of the references I could find still quote the HST125 as the official record holder. I expect due to one technicality or another.
3. 2313.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   In all honesty I prefer the HST125. Part of that is nostalgia, the HST125 is a great example of technology from the golden age of British Engineering which, like the Route-master bus, outlived several generations of successors. The other pa
4. 2314.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   Ah, you got me. Not a true train buff :)
5. 2315.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   Its a little sad that repeating the exercise today shows little improvement over 30 years ago. The HST125 is still the fastest diesel train in the world (the actual video was likely taken from a Diesel Multiple Unit which are lighter and mo
6. 2316.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   Unfortunately it is rarely that simple. For example I can easily spot 'pillar box' red and have no difficulty telling it apart from 'snot' green. In fact, its only in strange or low lighting that I generally have a probl
7. 2317.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   I prefer using a multi-meter. That might be something to do with being colour-blind though.
8. 2318.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   I'd love to see a citation for that. Maybe its just the sad fact that bad news tends to travel more widely but I have yet to hear (on UK news) of a situation were an honest law abiding citizen has stopped a tragedy. I realize that thei
9. 2319.▲
   by VBprogrammer 13y ago

   A slightly mind blowing fact is that if you ride a motorbike at reasonable speed in order to enter a turn to the right you actually turn the handle bars to the left. This causes the motorcycle to lean-over to the right and thus entering a t
10. 2320.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    I've heard it said in Java that if your private methods need testing its a sign that those methods should be public methods of another class. I can't see why this would not also apply to Javascript, other than that Javascript is r
11. 2321.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    Indeed, that is a strange fallacy but I don't think it is one I've used. Both calling for someone to be killed and engaging in wars around the world are deplorable and I'd rather neither happened. Your assumption that Iran wo
12. 2322.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    Perhaps not, and I'm not trying to claim that the Iranian government is a shining example, not by a long shot. However, my government have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the wars in Iraq and Afghanis
13. 2323.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    Iran has not been an aggressor in a war in the last 150 years. How does that compare to your own country? I know it puts mine to shame.
14. 2324.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    This travel diary and the Iranian people I've met through Work and University really made me question the mainstream medias depiction of Iran. http://c90adventures.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view...
15. 2325.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    I think you'd have to be slightly delusional to feel that the USA is more diverse than the whole of the EU.
16. 2326.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    Millions of flights a year are conducted safely with this apparently lax security. Perhaps the pilots simply weight up the minuscule risk and rate urinating in their trousers as the greater inconvenience. Back in the 90s I still remember th
17. 2327.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    Yeah, I'm quite sure Sadam Hussain would agree with you but unfortunately he lost his head when the US government decided it didn't like him as much as it used to. It is very naive to not understand that the leader of the US has a
18. 2328.▲
    by VBprogrammer 13y ago

    An interesting fact is that Concorde had a similar inversion in its drag curve where as it slowed down the amount of drag increased meaning you had to throttle up to maintain the same speed. In Concorde's case this was caused by the massive
19. 2329.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    By definition”, I begin “Alternative Medicine”, I continue “Has either not been proved to work, Or been proved not to work. You know what they call “alternative medicine” That's been proved to work? Medicine.” - Tim Minc
20. 2330.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    It is a pretty good test of human intelligence, never mind vehicular intelligence! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_%28Swindon%29
21. 2331.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    I believe the Google car has pretty good intelligence for this, such that it will begin to creep forward to indicate that it feels its turn has come, in the same way humans do. That being said, I don't believe that is a type of intersection
22. 2332.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    Hydrogen cars always seemed like a solution waiting for a problem to me. The fact is if you can distribute and store hydrogen reasonably well then ordinary everyday cars could run it today, as easily as they do petrol except they only produ
23. 2333.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    I would guess that when Tesla allow you to borrow one of their cars for the purpose of writing a review one of the lines on the contract says they are allowed to record your journey. The original article mentions it is normally turned off f
24. 2334.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    What does Afghan insurgent mean in this context? Do you mean an Afghani citizen robbing a bank in the USA? Or an Afghan insurgent who also decides to rob an Afghan bank? Or an Afghan insurgent who robs a bank in the USA (presumably in an at
25. 2335.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    I'm sure you feel that way. But I'm certain plenty of people felt that way when horses were replaced by cars. There is no arguing with better. As likely as not the government will eventually force your hand with driverless only lanes / road
26. 2336.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    Ah, sorry think we are talking about different things. I thought you where complaining about: if [something]: VS if [something] is True: In the case I think you are talking about I would probably agree with you that returning
27. 2337.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    Obviously its a matter of personal preference but PEP 8 (official Python style guide) disagrees with you.
28. 2338.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    Does anyone have metrics on how many people actually scan QR codes? I'd count my self as pretty technical and except for a few attempts years ago for novelty value I've never scanned one. I can't imagine non-technical people even knowing wh
29. 2339.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    The people who get the bill for the solar panels presumably.
30. 2340.▲
    by VBprogrammer 14y ago

    I'm impressed at how quickly the criminal underground pivots. To identify Gittip as a potential money laundering scheme while it is relatively unknown even with Tech circles is, in a slightly discussing way, actually quite impressive. It do