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Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#301

Post by smcin »

Koshkin wrote: post #279
smcin wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, North America, you mean. 2G is still alive and kicking, especially in Africa and South Asia: https://streetwave.co/mobile-networks/2g-switch-off-by-count... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2G#Phase-out

> what's wrong with corporate America

I don't know that it's necessarily that, simply that SMS became very heavily used _and still is_ for basic functionality, essential services, billing, notifications etc. in Europe, Africa, Asia - unlike the US. Compare to e.g. the US requirement for universal lifeline (landline) phone service.

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#302

Post by II2II »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #235
II2II wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that "corporate America" is problematic, the lessons from Voyager are not really applicable. For starters, it was designed to take advantage of something that predictably happens every couple of hundred years. Very few corporations last that long. Then there is the element of predictability. The solar system pretty much works like clockwork. You can predict simple things, like the orbits of major bodies…

> it was designed to take advantage of something that predictably happens every couple of hundred years. Can you explain this more? Does it mean something like a gravity assist based upon the location of planets when the launches were done?

I was thinking about how we can predict the location of planets with a high degree of accuracy. They are pretty close to an ideal physical system and is governed by a single physical law. The dynamics are so well understood that we have been able to predict the existence of, and find, other planets based on small deviations. We have even been able to refine our understanding of the structure of planets, even of gravity itself, based upon small deviations.

That said, it certainly includes our ability to use gravity assists when planning a mission.

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#303

Post by eru »

dnissley wrote: post #293
nyjah wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get eternal licenses (or an outright sale of rights), if you are willing to pay Not for everything. When I can do that I do, but it’s getting harder and harder to avoid subscription fees for everything these days.

I mean effectively you could. Do something like the following: Take a subscription product that costs $10/mo right now as an example. Let's say you want a license that lasts your whole life. Estimate the time you have remaining in your life. Let's call it 50 years. Now you can use an interest calculator to see how much it would cost to effectively buy a license until the end of your life. Plug in $10/mo contribution,…

You are right about the financial calculations, but the terms of the license might change, or it might no longer be available at all.

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#304

Post by eru »

dns_snek wrote: post #270
eru wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Where do you buy long lasting stuff? This is a serious question, I'm looking for new appliances and I am willing to pay more, within reason. Miele is good for household appliances like washing machines and dishwashers. Kärcher is good for vacuum cleaners. There's lots of other German (and Swiss and Japanese etc) brands like that. But in any case, I didn't (and can't) promise that you can get that kind of quality by…

Miele was my first thought as well because they were historically regarded as an expensive, but high quality brand. Now they have a Trustpilot rating of 1.6. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.miele.de

Our Miele appliances work just fine after using them for 7 years and after several house moves. I have never heard of this trustpilot before, interesting. Seems to be an American website?

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#305

Post by eru »

mppm wrote: post #271
eru wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [...] but where exactly would you turn if you are looking, for example, for a dish washer that will just work for the next ten years? Miele works well for us. I understand your complaint. I'm also sure it's really hard to get high quality buggy whips these days without paying through the nose, now that everyone has switched to these newfangled horseless carriages.

> Miele works well for us. That's what I would have said as well, until recently. Last year we had to replace ours, and its been an absolute nightmare. Cost us endless hours of wrangling with technicians and customer service to have it installed and configured properly (and already repaired once). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Interesting. Which country was that in?

We never had any issue with Miele in Singapore.

(The Australian customer service of Bosch was a joke, though. The one in Singapore seems competent, though.)

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#306

Post by tomcam »

eru wrote: post #180
johnklos wrote: post #152

I think the Voyager probes teach us lots about what's wrong with corporate America. Imagine devices that don't have built-in obsolescence, or licensing that expires, or that isn't built by committee where they just keep shipping requirements around from one department to another. Imagine if it weren't all proprietary and if it didn't have no public or even complete documentation. Think of all the problems we have ins…

> Imagine devices that don't have built-in obsolescence, or licensing that expires, [...] You can buy long lasting stuff just fine, if you are willing to pay. You can get eternal licenses (or an outright sale of rights), if you are willing to pay. It's all about trade-offs, and many people have priorities that are different from 'last as long as possible'. Eg many computers from the 1980s are still perfectly usable t…

> You can buy long lasting stuff just fine, if you are willing to pay.

Where do you recommend I buy long-lasting refrigerators, washers, and dryers?

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#307

Post by leobg »

gdubs wrote: post #65
leobg wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool! I do the same thing with books like Asimov’s Earth and Space (science) or Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars (fictional history). What other books can you recommend?

Good question but I have a fever at the moment so unfortunately my brain is not fully functioning :/

Wishing you a speedy recovery

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#308

Post by justinclift »

dartos wrote: post #277
justinclift wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. Can you point at something online with details of how that happens?

Many companies have separate license sales if you call them on behalf of a large company. I worked at a large project management app where we charged per-seat. We only offered per seat pricing, yet we had at least 3 companies that had flat pricing because they wanted >100k seats. Deals outside of standard pricing gets cut all the time.

Thanks, that's informative. :)

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#309

Post by InDubioProRubio »

eru wrote: post #267
InDubioProRubio wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they though, or are they just powerless consumers with no real choice, besides the colour of the wrapping?

Why would consumers be powerless?

There data is held hostage, they lack the knowledge and the skill to migrate services, the several companies they could buy from are owned by often one huge owner which prevents any meaningful competition. Consumers have a choice only in the placebo sense of which colour to choose in the company store with the company scrip.

Re: Voyager 1 breaks its silence with NASA via radio transmitter not used since 1981

#310

Post by account42 »

eru wrote: post #269
wvh wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One can see how quickly people could drop through the bottom of society once you can't afford to pay your phone or car bills. None of that technology comes cheap, not at least if you hit hard times for a while, and you will become a second class citizen.

Luckily, technology has become cheaper and cheaper over time, and continues to do so.

Don't worry, software developers will keep upping the minimum requirements to compensate.
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