Interesting Links for 19-10-2019

[andrewducker]

"I thought I knew about feminism - then I started work in a women's prison"

(tags:prison women feminism )

Brexit extension unavoidable if MPs reject deal, says Merkel

(tags:UK europe )

Johnson's deal: The reality of what is being proposed

(tags:UK Europe trade )

UK Chick-fil-A outlet to close in LGBT rights row (after 8 days!)

(tags:homophobia LGBT chicken uk )

ME Services in the UK Not Fit for Purpose

(tags:healthcare uk fail )

The time signature of the Terminator score is a mystery for the ages.

(tags:music terminator )

Explaining how fighting games use delay-based and rollback netcode

(tags:networking games fighting prediction time )

FactCheck: even if Johnson's deal passes, there's another no-deal threat ahead

(tags:UK Europe Doom )

Brexit: The uncomfortable truth about Boris Johnson's deal

(tags:BorisJohnson UK Europe Conservatives )

The 4,800 Year Old Artificial Eye

(tags:eyes archeology iran )

Alphabet's Wing begins making commercial drone deliveries in the US

(tags:drone shopping USA delivery )

US Air Force finally retires 8-inch floppies from missile launch control system

(tags:military technology USA )

Comments

[chickenfeet]

RE 8" floppies. Apparently the British and US nuclear missile subs still run on Windows XP.

[symbioid]

Commented on a friends share of that 8" floppy story how I was lucky enough to have been able to experience an IBM 5120 as a child (family friend). I remember the massive disks. All I remember using it for was ASCII Snoopy printed and ASCII Pinup Girl Printed.

I'm sure there were other things but that's all I cared about as a kid.

Not about the 8" but the Computer itself, I saw that it had a switch that allowed you to observe the registers directly on the screen (?) Kinda interesting...

But yeah I feel privileged to be able to say that.

[snippy]

In the mid-1980s I used a proprietary word processing system that used 8-inch floppies.

[armiphlage]

We just upgraded the controllers for some machines at work that used 8-inch floppies. Still using the machines to make aircraft electronics.

[autopope]

It's kind of hard to infect a Windows XP setup with malware over the internet when it's locked inside a Faraday cage under a couple of hundred metres of salt water a couple of thousand kilometers from the nearest internet-connected router.

As Windows XP at least originated in the 21st century I'm slightly less worried about the supply of spares and replacement parts. If it does the job ...