tjmc

30 ms·

1. 271.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   Guess we'll find out next week if it's the screening time because season 2 just finished. So from next Monday will there be a drop in Australian GoT torrents because the show is equally available on iTunes? It'd be interesting to see the st
2. 272.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   Interestingly GoT seasons 1 and 2 are available on iTunes in Australia. The latest episodes only take an extra week to show up from when they're first screened in the US. Even so, Australians apparently pirate the show in greater numbers t
3. 273.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   There's a documentary about the NK-33 called "The engine that came in from the cold". Pretty amazing story - the Russians had these engines hidden in a warehouse for over 20 years before the Americans found out about them and they were bett
4. 274.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   If you've ever seen a 2 year old or, worse, a baby boomer playing with an iPad you'd realize we're basically there. At this point Jeff's car analogy is about right. Is it useful to know how your car and computer work under the hood? Yes. Is
5. 275.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   Not the only country. Australia launched a satellite in 1967 and it no longer has an active satellite program. However they still do some cool aerospace research here like this Mach 10 scramjet test back in 2007: http://www.newscientist.co
6. 276.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   Here's hoping. Under the Westminster parliamentary system you can say anything in parliament and not be held liable. Everything said is then transcribed and made available as a public record. It's the ideal soapbox.
7. 277.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   In honour of those across the pond - here's their last attempt at a rocket launch ;-) Worth watching the whole thing, but go to about 7:15 for the business end... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b4WzWFKQ20
8. 278.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   Although Michael Dell is ultimately responsible, I think the blame here lies squarely with Dell's Danish office. Dealing with cultural differences is a minefield for multinationals. To take an extreme example - imagine running a similar eve
9. 279.▲
   by tjmc 14y ago

   Anti-competition laws (in the US at least) only take effect where a company 1. has a monopoly or near-monopoly in a market and then 2. abuses that position to keep out or disadvantage competitors. The laws don't apply to Google here becau
10. 280.▲
    by tjmc 14y ago

    > What resources are so scarce that it would pay to mine them in space ? Helium-3 http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/moon-mars/1283...
11. 281.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    You're off by a carbon atom. The taxis here run on LPG not LNG. In other words - propane rather than methane. Australia still produces more LNG than pretty much anywhere, but it's all shipped off to China, Korea and Japan.
12. 282.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    tl;dr Gruber's still pissed he didn't get the official biographer gig.
13. 283.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    I prefer the Yorkshire quote "Where there's muck, there's brass". Spolsky did a great post on it in 2007: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/12/06.html
14. 284.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    Another suggestion - try to avoid reinforcing group think or popular memes. It's a form of karma whoring that just encourages narrow thinking and prevents the discussion of new ideas. There's really nothing to say about software patents at
15. 285.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    I think the real estate prices here are more a side effect of the mining boom rather than the drivers of the cost of living here. We recently got a quote of $5000 for paving ~30m^2 out the back of our house. It's a joke. Trades people are i
16. 286.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    It's partially real estate, but I think it's also a combination of a tight labour market distorted by big mining wages and a "captive audience". Perth (and Darwin) are so isolated that the hospitality industry seem to get away with murder.
17. 287.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    I'd like to see where Perth sits on that scale. There's a pub here that charges $18 (~$19US) for a pint of Hoegaarden and an average pint of beer is $10.
18. 288.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    There's a very powerful transmitter from a US spy base in Exmouth that was suspected at one point: http://www.takesontravel.com/web/index.php?option=com_k2&#38...
19. 289.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    Indeed - it's just weird that they're focusing on capturing low grade kinetic energy right when photovoltaic solar is at the tipping point of beating grid power with under a 5 year payback period. Expect (in sunny climates) to see a switch
20. 290.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    Given that the plane was on battery power when it landed, a ground crew may not have still had contact and control of the aircraft. In the case of the "Gimli Glider" mentioned below, there was a total power failure due to fuel exhaustion a
21. 291.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    When someone can tell me with a straight face that the 440 passengers and 29 crew members of QF32[1] would still be alive without the heroes they had up front that day. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qantas_Flight_32
22. 292.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    I agree completely. But the point of working smart is to pick a profession where continuous refinement of your skill-set will put you in both higher demand and rarer company. This is hard to do as a taxi driver. It's hard to do in IT too wh
23. 293.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    Warren Buffett has said “In business, I look for economic castles protected by unbreachable ‘moats’.” Where the castle is a metaphor for the business and the moat its competitive advantage against competitors. The wider the moat the better.
24. 294.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    For sure. I'd pay $1000 for a machine that perfectly ironed my shirts. I hate ironing
25. 295.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    I don't think people are arguing against working hard, I think they're just pointing out the untold part of pg's wealth essay. Namely, you can work your butt off for that 4 years and still not make it. Sadly, that's a far more probable outc
26. 296.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    AC electricity was Tesla. Edison killed an elephant trying to discredit it.
27. 297.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    Or end the futile prohibition on drugs and tax them instead. Worked for alcohol.
28. 298.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    I miss speed dial. Other than that, my iPhone is a limb.
29. 299.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    Some illustrative charts from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-protesters-a...
30. 300.▲
    by tjmc 15y ago

    Everyone who voted the parent comment down because it offended their groupthink should read the forwards of a few books. Authors constantly sing the praises of editors who helped them get their books into shape. Good producers do the same t