@martingreybeard.bsky.social
Ooi, what was the accessibility feature?
January 7, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Ooi, what was the accessibility feature?
I'm not convinced oil being priced in dollars is quite so beneficial to the US as the thread suggests. If the US treasury prints too many $s, the value of the $ drops, and the price of oil (in $s) rises.
January 4, 2026 at 5:39 PM
I'm not convinced oil being priced in dollars is quite so beneficial to the US as the thread suggests. If the US treasury prints too many $s, the value of the $ drops, and the price of oil (in $s) rises.
Maduro is not a nice person, and is not the legitimately elected president of Venezuela, but after the raging success of regime change in Iraq and Libya I'm not sure what Trump goes to achieve. Distraction from Epstein files, and terrible polls perhaps?
January 3, 2026 at 8:51 PM
Maduro is not a nice person, and is not the legitimately elected president of Venezuela, but after the raging success of regime change in Iraq and Libya I'm not sure what Trump goes to achieve. Distraction from Epstein files, and terrible polls perhaps?
Damn! I replied to the wrong message in the thread, didn't I. Sorry.
December 30, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Damn! I replied to the wrong message in the thread, didn't I. Sorry.
It wasn't technically moon _crossing_ but at closest approach it would be 80Mm from moon and 300Mm from earth. My Nuffield Physics estimate gives earth's mass 80× greater, but moon about 4× closer, r² means 16×. So moon's gravity is about 20% of earth's. That's plenty to disrupt the orbit.
December 30, 2025 at 3:22 PM
It wasn't technically moon _crossing_ but at closest approach it would be 80Mm from moon and 300Mm from earth. My Nuffield Physics estimate gives earth's mass 80× greater, but moon about 4× closer, r² means 16×. So moon's gravity is about 20% of earth's. That's plenty to disrupt the orbit.
You need espresso for Tiramisu.
December 21, 2025 at 11:49 AM
You need espresso for Tiramisu.
... and Germany. "Jonathan's legacy" is a dead link, but that's either deliberate (you ain't dead yet), or a different problem
December 18, 2025 at 10:43 AM
... and Germany. "Jonathan's legacy" is a dead link, but that's either deliberate (you ain't dead yet), or a different problem
It's not just a formality, but quite a few of those names have gone on to become Astronomer Royal too...
December 9, 2025 at 2:41 PM
It's not just a formality, but quite a few of those names have gone on to become Astronomer Royal too...
Being able to tell if a woman is interested in me. ("Mastering" is probably stretching a point here. )
December 8, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Being able to tell if a woman is interested in me. ("Mastering" is probably stretching a point here. )
Given how awful the British Empire was, it never cases to amaze me how popular we at these days.
November 30, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Given how awful the British Empire was, it never cases to amaze me how popular we at these days.
23% ??? What about all the oceans? They were ours too.
November 30, 2025 at 8:24 PM
23% ??? What about all the oceans? They were ours too.
"Cryptography is the study of how to turn a given problem into a key management problem" (I can't remember where I read that: from you is a very likely answer).
November 22, 2025 at 1:04 PM
"Cryptography is the study of how to turn a given problem into a key management problem" (I can't remember where I read that: from you is a very likely answer).
There's an awful lot of hand- waving above, but it should give you some sense of what is going on.
November 12, 2025 at 7:24 PM
There's an awful lot of hand- waving above, but it should give you some sense of what is going on.
A quantum computer can reduce the effective length of a ppk key to something like the logarithm of its length. So a 4096 bit RSA key ends up with effectively 20 bit length. That's about a million guesses to get the right answer, which isn't many.
November 12, 2025 at 7:22 PM
A quantum computer can reduce the effective length of a ppk key to something like the logarithm of its length. So a 4096 bit RSA key ends up with effectively 20 bit length. That's about a million guesses to get the right answer, which isn't many.
It turns out that quantum computers can be used to efficiently search for values with a given property (e.g. a number which is a factor of this number). That makes current ppk algorithms (RSA, EC) vulnerable.
November 12, 2025 at 7:07 PM
It turns out that quantum computers can be used to efficiently search for values with a given property (e.g. a number which is a factor of this number). That makes current ppk algorithms (RSA, EC) vulnerable.
Ppk algorithms all depend on an operation that is easy to do one way (e.g. multiply two large primes) and hard to do the other way (e.g. given the product, find the two original primes). Symmetric algorithms don't have this sort of structure.
November 12, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Ppk algorithms all depend on an operation that is easy to do one way (e.g. multiply two large primes) and hard to do the other way (e.g. given the product, find the two original primes). Symmetric algorithms don't have this sort of structure.
I'm sorry. I don't see a problem here? (I don't count the need to pour some in to a glass before you enjoy it as a _problem_.)
November 7, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I'm sorry. I don't see a problem here? (I don't count the need to pour some in to a glass before you enjoy it as a _problem_.)
I always wear socks with shorts, (and of I'm wearing shorts, I am wearing sandals or walking boots too). I am very disappointed to hear that at least half of this is fashionable.
October 31, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I always wear socks with shorts, (and of I'm wearing shorts, I am wearing sandals or walking boots too). I am very disappointed to hear that at least half of this is fashionable.
All of them?
October 29, 2025 at 4:12 PM
All of them?
I know many Greens find the following heresy, but I found Natalie more inspiring than Caroline Lucas when she came (as leader) and talked to Cambridge Greens
October 27, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I know many Greens find the following heresy, but I found Natalie more inspiring than Caroline Lucas when she came (as leader) and talked to Cambridge Greens
You have no idea how happy it makes me to see a German get articles wrong!
October 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
You have no idea how happy it makes me to see a German get articles wrong!
I'm not sure we do. She's a hardcore nutjob.
September 29, 2025 at 10:11 AM
I'm not sure we do. She's a hardcore nutjob.
Wot, like you? (And me. )
September 27, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Wot, like you? (And me. )
(Obviously Talis knows this, but not all her readers may. )
September 15, 2025 at 7:56 AM
(Obviously Talis knows this, but not all her readers may. )
Being a candidate is not the same as trying to get elected. There are many council seats where one party will win whoever they stand; but being a Green candidate in such a seat still gives voters the chance to make a positive choice (and increase the buzz around the GP).
September 15, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Being a candidate is not the same as trying to get elected. There are many council seats where one party will win whoever they stand; but being a Green candidate in such a seat still gives voters the chance to make a positive choice (and increase the buzz around the GP).