Mass storage has come a long way since the introduction of the personal computer. [Tech Time Traveller] has an interesting video about the dawn of PC hard drives focusing on a company called MiniScribe. After a promising start, they lost an IBM contract and fell on hard times.

Apparently, the company was faking inventory to the tune of $15 million because executives feared for their jobs if profits weren’t forthcoming. Once they discovered the incorrect inventory, they not only set out to alter the company’s records to match it, but they also broke into an outside auditing firm’s records to change things there, too.

Senior management hatched a plan to charge off the fake inventory in small amounts to escape the notice of investors and government regulators. But to do that, they need to be able to explain where the balance of the nonexistent inventory was. So they leased a warehouse to hold the fraud inventory and filled it with bricks. Real bricks like you use to build a house. Around 26,000 bricks were packaged in boxes, assigned serial numbers, and placed on pallets. Auditors would see the product ready to ship and there were even plans to pretend to ship them to CompuAdd and CalAbco, two customers, who had agreed to accept and return the bricks on paper allowing them to absorb the $15 million write off a little at a time.

Unfortunately, the fictitious excellent financial performance led to an expectation of even better performance in the future which necessitated even further fraud.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful telescope ever put into space. As such, its helping usher in a new era of astrophysics. Astronomers can now study farther, earlier galaxies than ever before. //

As they peer into the deep, distant history of the universe, scientists are shocked to find galaxies showed in our cosmic history much sooner than scientists ever expected.

What galaxies forming earlier than scientists thought possible means for physics
Short Wave
What galaxies forming earlier than scientists thought possible means for physics
It's a galactic controversy that has astronomers around the world excited—and puzzled.

So what is it about these galaxies that is getting astronomers worked up? Not only is JWST finding galaxies forming 200-500 million years after the Big Bang, but also that they are bigger and brighter than astronomers expected. //

But much of the modeling astronomers have done up to this point has led them to believe that there wasn't enough time for galaxies to get this massive in so little time. //

In an attempt to explain the shockingly bright, highly structured—and possibly quite massive—galaxies existing so early in the timeline of the universe, a researcher has posited that the universe is roughly twice as old as previously believed. They push the age of the universe from a spry 13.8 billion years old to roughly 26.7 billion years old. //

"I think in science, if you already have a model that's simpler than that, you should stick to it—unless you have extraordinary evidence to do otherwise."

Moreno also cautions people against quickly jumping on this supposition that the universe is twice as old as previously thought. If it were true, scientists would be able to prove it through the direct observation of stars and galaxies that are older than 13.8 billion years old—the current accepted age of the universe.

No such evidence has been found.

Jennifer Van Laar
@jenvanlaar
·
Follow
🚨🚨 NEW: A US intelligence source tells RedState that the Top Secret documents leaked were leaked from the Pentagon's office of low intensity conflict/special operations - which is where suspected Iranian spy Ariane Tabatabai works with Christopher Maier https://wilsoncenter.org/person/ariane-tabatabai
11:04 PM · Oct 19, 2024

As Van Laar and Streiff have reported, numerous red flags have been raised regarding Tabatabai and Biden's special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley. //

Rep. Mike Waltz
@michaelgwaltz
·
Follow
It’s crystal clear: the Biden-Harris administration has been infiltrated by pro-Iranian apologists.
Jason Brodsky
@JasonMBrodsky
Very serious: CNN reports the documents that appeared on a pro #Iran regime Telegram channel are authentic and were marked top secret and have markings indicating they are to be seen only by the Five Eyes.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/19/politics/us-israel-iran-intelligence-documents/index.html
8:35 PM · Oct 19, 2024 //

Indeed. Biden's and Harris' silence on the matter thus far speaks volumes. //
StPHarper
an hour ago
In the mid-1970s, other soldiers and I were told that; because we were 'in the know,' as holders of TSSI clearances, if we ever simply commented on the validity or falseness of any published articles, we would be subject to punishment. Such punishment could include: loss of clearance, reduction in rank, court martial, and possibly time in Leavenworth. And now we can read this:

According to CNN, one person in the intelligence community confirmed the authenticity of the documents, thereby raising the level of seriousness of the breach.

We are not the same country for which others, and I, have served. This sh*t has got to stop.

soxfan4life StPHarper
37 minutes ago
Weird I was told for the rest of my natural life. These people spill the beans and face zero consequences. And then wonder why we hate them. //

bk
2 hours ago

Waltz: "It’s crystal clear: the Biden-Harris administration has been infiltrated by pro-Iranian apologists."

I wouldn't say "infiltrated", since that means they sneaked in for nefarious reasons opposed to what is intended.

Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal

BREAKING: MEGA MILITARY CONTRACTOR CAUGHT FAKING SATELLITE DATA TO TAKE DOWN STARLINK

SpaceX just exposed a dirty ploy by Lockheed Martin and Omnispace to block Starlink’s direct-to-cell service.

Lockheed’s partner allegedly rigged their aging satellite to fake interference and filed bogus FCC complaints, trying to stop Starlink from dominating the 5G space.

In a bombshell FCC filing, SpaceX revealed how Omnispace manipulated its MEO satellite to “intentionally detect” Starlink signals—despite the satellite barely being operational.

SpaceX slammed the claims as “bizarre,” accusing Omnispace of creating “artificial conditions” to fake interference.

The plot thickens: Omnispace refused standard coordination talks and went as far as licensing through Papua New Guinea to dodge regulations.

It’s all part of an effort to sabotage Starlink’s $34.9 billion future in global communications.

Will the FCC see through this sham, or will Lockheed’s shady tactics derail Starlink’s revolution?

Joshua says:
September 29, 2023 at 10:38 am
Indeed, certain black/white models were of fine quality.
And their power suppliers weren’t such a Russian murks, either (see Junost TV internals juck).
Whoever wanted to get a large, but pure b/w TV back in late 20th century simply had to give them a try.

By the time, West Germany had stopped production of big b/w CCIR TVs and had focused on PAL color TVs.
So even West Germans had to think about importing a b/w TV from GDR.

Also interesting: The GDR was about the last county still operating pure b/w transmitters.
That’s because SECAM had reduced b/w quality, even if the source material didn’t have color. So pure b/w programme were being aired in plain CCIR norm, not SECAM.

Joshua says:
September 29, 2023 at 10:45 am
What’s also notable, East German products were also being used by us West Germans.
They were sold via Quelle catalog, albeit with their origin being hidden.

Which is kind of sad, because we had no problems using GDR appliances.
Their RG28 mixer wasn’t worse than our Krupp model.

In general, GDR products weren’t made with planned obsolescence in mind yet, because the GDR didn’t even thought about such business practices (too naive, I suppose).

So yes, a lot of West Germans grew up with East German products, either knowingly or unknowingly.

The tip of the ice berg was that many gifts from West German relatives were from Quelle catalog. So East Germans literally got their own products back, depending on how we see it. :)

milldude says:
September 29, 2023 at 12:07 pm
The “lack” of planned obsolescence was not out of naiveté, but born out of necessity. The scarce resources and low production volumes meant long-lasting products came naturally. Also, in the “Planwirtschaft” system theory, if there would be no further (or rater, reduced) need of a certain product, the state-owned factorys just would reduce output of that good and produce something else instead. There was also an extensive recycling system for glass and metal containers, much like we have today.

Joshua says:
September 29, 2023 at 2:29 pm
Yes, but GDR had produced twofold, as far as I know.
a) for own use, to satisfy the needs of the people
b) for export, to make good money (D-Mark)

Usually, it was the way that the norm that the ‘good’ products were sold for export and the stuff with small defects (scratches etc) was sold in GDR to the own people.

Same goes for sweets and chewing gum. The export version was being sold in a shiny package, while the version for the people was sold in a dull package.

Officially, the explanation was that this was a trick, to fight capitalism with its own weapons. Unofficially, it was clear that the own people were less being worth to the regime.

Dude says:
October 1, 2023 at 12:18 am
GDR was a Potemkin village of the soviet system in the first place, so the quality of products was higher for the show of it.

Otherwise the soviet system was searching for the lowest “socially necessary” cost. The reason why soviet products were built so robust was because of a quirk of the accounting system: not money but kilometer-tonnes. People had production quotas, which could be filled more easily if you put unnecessary amounts of material in the design. Whether the product actually works – who cares?

Grant said it was only about making a point about their faith, not about Trump. He said he was pushed, which you can see on the video. They were cursed at, heckled, and mocked, he added. Grant explained it was important for young people like themselves to understand, "This is what you're going to get with a Kamala Harris presidency. You're going to get the Kamala Harris that alienates over 50 percent of the U.S. population which is Christian. You're going to get the Kamala Harris who skips the Al Smith memorial dinner which no major candidate has skipped since Walter Mondale [Democrat] in 1984." He said it just proved what kind of person she is, and what kind of leader she would be. //

The response to these students was in sharp contrast to how she responded to a Gaza protester who interrupted her earlier in the day at another event in Wisconsin.

Ben Shapiro
@benshapiro
·
Follow
Over the last two days, Harris was confronted with two sets of protesters.

One shouted, "Jesus Is Lord!"

She said, "You guys are at the wrong rally."

The other shouted that Israel is committing "genocide."

She said, "It's real."

She's radical and awful.
11:57 PM · Oct 19, 2024

Google, Amazon, Microsoft dive into costly deals that aren't generating anything yet. //

Nuclear power contracts signed by hyperscalers show they're desperate for reliable "clean and green" energy sources to feed their ever-expanding datacenter footprints, however, investment bank Jefferies warns that these tech giants are likely to end up paying over the odds to get it.

Jet engines are known for their unique sounds, from the powerful roar of takeoff to the soothing hum of cruising altitude. For some, the distinct noise of different jet engines can evoke excitement and nostalgia. Whether it’s the distinctive buzz of an RB211 or the roar of a GE90 which sound resonates with you most? Let us know and share your thoughts!

The 20 most-commented-on tech support columns from On Call's first 500 instalments

Welcome once again to On Call, The Register's weekly column in which we recount readers' reactions to the drudgery of digital duties. This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as "John Smith" who once worked for a very large bank. No doubt you've never met anyone with such an unusual name.

nagle
13 Jan
There’s a lot to be said for lithium-iron-phosphate batteries. They don’t have a thermal runaway problem and will survive the “nail test”. Energy density per unit weight is lower, though. Energy density per unit volume is about the same, but the batteries are heavier.

Lower-end electric cars, such as the Tesla low-end models and most of BYD’s output, have already gone to lithium-iron phosphate. Probably a good idea.

Making an oscilloscope is relatively easy, while making a very fast oscilloscope is hard. There’s a trick that converts a mundane instrument into a very fast one, it’s been around since the 1950s, and [CuriousMarc] has a video explaining it with an instrument from the 1960s. The diode sampler is the electronic equivalent of a stroboscope, capturing parts of multiple cycle of a waveform to give a much-slowed-down representation of it on the screen. How it works is both extremely simple, and also exceptionally clever as some genius-level high-speed tricks are used to push it to the limit. We’ve put the video below the break.

[Marc] has a Keysight 100 MHz ‘scope and the sampler allows him to use it to show 4 GHz. Inside the instrument is a pair of sample-and-hold circuits using fast diodes as RF switches, triggered by very low-rise-time short pulses. Clever tricks abound, such as using the diode pair to cancel out pulse leakage finding its way back to the source. To complete this black magic, an RF-tuned stub is utilized to help filter the pulses and further remove slower components.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoBdPis59kI

It’s thus interesting on more than one level to find a promotional film from the mid 1970s showcasing VEB Fernsehgerätewerk Stassfurt (German, Anglophones will need to enable subtitle translation), the factory which produced televisions for East Germans. It provides a pretty comprehensive look at how a 1970s TV set was made, gives us a gateway into the East German consumer electronics business as a whole, and a chance to see how the East Germany preferred to see itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0xMK6UZBys //

The film is at pains to talk about the factory as a part of the idealised community of a socialist state, and we’re given a tour of the workers’ facilities to a backdrop of some choice pieces of music. References to the collective and some of the Communist apparatus abound, and finally we’re shown the factory’s Order of Karl Marx. As far as it goes then we Westerners finally get to see the lives of each genosse, but only through an authorised lens.

The TVs made at Stassfurt were sold under the RFT East German technology combine brand, and the factory continued in operation through the period of German re-unification. Given that many former East German businesses collapsed with the fall of the Wall, and that the European consumer electronics industry all but imploded in the period following the 1990s then, it’s something of a surprise to find that it survives today, albeit in a much reduced form. The plant is now owned by the German company TechniSat, and manufactures the latest-spec digital TVs. //

As a juxtaposition of how a communist TV factory saw itself, have a watch of a capitalist one doing a bit of self-promotion.
https://hackaday.com/2017/12/29/retrotechtacular-1950s-televisions-were-beasts/#more-287834

America's homeowners are allowed to claim just one home as their primary residence: the one they live in the majority of the year, according to federally backed lender Freddie Mac. Yet Schiff alternately declared both California and Maryland homes as “principal” on multiple mortgage and election forms dating to 2003 and reviewed by Just the News. //

Those conflicting sworn statements provided the California congressman with both financial and political benefits over the years, primarily lower mortgage interest rates, tax advantages, and the ability to run for election in a California House district. //

The pattern was first detected by Sacramento-based real estate investigator Christine Bish, who also is running for Congress as a Republican this year. She filed an ethics complaint against Schiff in Congress.

Bish alleges in her complaint: "Depending on tax history and statements or misstatements made, Adam Schiff may also be guilty of tax fraud." //

U SAID IT
an hour ago
A Trump DOJ can still take up a case.
That would be poetic justice.
Gee, that would be a shame for shifty to have to resign a senate seat he sooo longed for. //

NavyVet
2 hours ago edited
AG Garland, here's a slam-dunk case for you!

Oh, never mind, Schiff is a democrat and, as we all know, you never prosecute democrats, no matter how brazen their criminality, no matter how flagrant their fraud, no matter how clear-cut the case is against them, do you?

In the olden days of five years ago, it used to take months for threat actors and cybercriminals to start taking advantage of a newly-discovered exploit, but that window has shrunk to several days.

Google's Mandiant threat hunters released a report of 2023 time-to-exploit trends and found that, from 2022 to 2023 the average observed time to exploit (TTE) shrunk from 32 days to just five, meaning threat actors are moving incredibly quickly nowadays. That drop wasn't gradual, either: from 2018 to 2019 Mandiant said it was around 63 days, which dropped to 44 in 2021, before lowering to 32 in 2022.

The 51 Factory has been established with the goals of supporting the legendary P51 Mustang, British Spitfire, and other Rolls Royce or Packard Merlin powered aircraft of the WWII era.

These superb aircraft powered by 1650 cubic inch, over 1500 hp, liquid cooled V-12 engines, represented some of the most advanced technologies of the day, and most certainly greatly contributed to the allied victory, both in the Pacific, and in Europe.

The fighters developed in WWII are the pinnacle of piston engine, propeller driven aircraft performance. Even today, the fastest piston engine aircraft in the world are modified WWII fighters with Rolls Royce/Packard Merlin V-12’s, as seen at the annual Reno Air Races.

Video shows moment multiple batteries exploded at South Korea factory: https://youtu.be/eY7eUbFY2X0

johnwalker 13 Jan

nagle:
Two islands with four chargers each can charge eight cars. Charging stations may be able to replace gas stations on the same real estate.

Current standards for electric vehicle charging stations have the following maximum power delivery:

• SAE J1772 DC Level 2 — 400 kW
• IEC 61851-1 — 80 kW
• Tesla NACS — 250 kW
  (Again, these are maxima under the standards: many installed charging stations are lower power. A typical Tesla V2 Supercharger provides 120 kW.)

Plans for future higher power charging standards include the Megawatt Charging System 1 (MCS) with a rating of 3.75 megawatts (3000 amperes at 1250 volt DC).

Let’s compare this to a gasoline pump. A typical filling station pump in the developed world delivers around 50 litres per minute (38 l/min in Safetyland), and gasoline has an energy content of around 7500 kcal/litre depending on its formulation (around 5000 kcal/litre for pure ethanol and 8600 for #2 diesel). Plugging these into Units Calculator, we get:

 (50 litres/minute) * (7500 kcal / litre) = 26.15 megawatt

so even the proposed MCS (which is primarily intended for large commercial vehicles and buses) delivers only around 1/7 the power of a gasoline pump.

Now, even getting installation of five megawatt electrical service is a pretty big thing in most places (that is the consumption of a very large office building), so it looks like building out an infrastructure which will allow electrical vehicle charging times competitive with gasoline filling will require very substantial upgrades to the power grid and local distribution facilities.