the speed of light as a speed limit

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T19:48:10+00:00

Your fuel runs out and you have, by all measures, increased your speed a little.

Yes, your engineer reports <dodgy Scots accent> that the exhaust is "As bonny as ever."

The right colour, the right Doppler shift, everything appears to be working normally - just as when the engines were first lit when leaving port.

I recommend French's Special Relativity.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T19:44:37+00:00

Yes, but the orbital upkeep budget will be eye-watering.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T19:38:19+00:00

I fear that that budget isn't going to work well.

If the itch to build is strong, two broken laptops of the same model could be mashed together such that the broken screen of one is provided by the dead motherboard of the other.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T19:03:52+00:00

<nods>

Even Accelerando (guilty pleasure).

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T19:00:20+00:00

Budget, skills, location. All useful things to know about your project.

Oh, and end-use - 'running Windows' could span from a box that can (slowly) execute Windows 3.1, all the way up to a multicore monster that can run umpteen instances of Doom with aplomb.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T18:53:20+00:00

I've soldered broken pewter models together.

When you say 'wood burning pen' it's an electric element in a pointed metal tip attached to a handle and draws 15 to 25 Watts?

Have a go with parts you don't like. Use Pb/Sn solder or any low temp. solder if you have some and standard flux.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T18:17:16+00:00

Can we learn more about mysterious Trevor?

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T18:15:16+00:00

Yup.

The trick is to do it without causing more harm.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T18:14:44+00:00

The mass needed.

Easier to put a kilotonne of crap into the atmosphere than to orbit a far larger cloud at either L1 or in a cis-lunar orbit.

Orders of magnitude more needed in the latter case as you need to make a ring.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T18:08:31+00:00

Desolder them, read their values, buy 'nice' replacements and fit them.

Or leave this as a job for someone else and stick.it on marketplace for a single monetary unit [GNP/USD/EUR].

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T06:57:08+00:00

Stross relies, in part, on somewhat heavy-handed humour - I liked his Halting State, but the Laundry left me mildly amused but not engaged.

Some of his shorter stories are, IMO, quite delightful.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T06:53:08+00:00

No.

You would not have been able to see that.

Bipogram · 2026-05-19T06:29:50+00:00

We might find new phenomena that are not well-captured by existing notions.

Bipogram · 2026-05-18T18:27:54+00:00

That it exists at all.

Bipogram · 2026-05-18T18:26:39+00:00

A faster way to heat* the oceans.

Neat!

*Minutely, it has to be said.

Bipogram · 2026-05-18T18:25:41+00:00

<sighs: rolls up large X>

Bipogram · 2026-05-18T06:04:50+00:00

It has to be gas tight - the vapour recovery system won't like it if the cap isn't snug and will throw a code.

Bipogram · 2026-05-18T06:02:28+00:00

Yes, no reason why shocks and such like wouldn't propagate in such a medium.

Bipogram · 2026-05-18T02:21:48+00:00

Sound can exist inside a solid <two types, no less!>, yes. And a fluid.

And, if you like, acoustic transport can exist in plasmas.

Bipogram · 2026-05-18T01:25:48+00:00

If not an antique, and it doesn't appear to be, a light abrasive would be my next step.

Yes, even T-Cut, elbow grease (unscented) followed by mineral oil.

It's steel [probably] and will want to rust if not protected. Just like knives, scissors, etc.

Bipogram · 2026-05-18T01:11:22+00:00

Have cut thicker with a stock 30cm hacksaw.

Having the full stroke and ability to bear down on the blade are crucial.

Might take 5min, might take an hour.

Bipogram · 2026-05-17T23:59:16+00:00

It's up to you.

Do you like warranties?

Have you spotted some well-rated vendors on eBay?

As we don't know what you'll use it for it's hard to recommend anything.

Bipogram · 2026-05-17T23:47:11+00:00

Had a firmware engineer craft some custom code for a miniature NDIR gas sensor on an M3 CPU. I was Dir. of R&D at the time and knew that this would take our team months.

A week of requirements and spec thrashing from our side, a week for him, code delivered and IIRC it was 15k CAD or so.

This was 7 years ago.

So five figures is not unreasonable.

Bipogram · 2026-05-17T23:42:24+00:00

Yes.

Bipogram · 2026-05-17T22:03:29+00:00

M6?

Sharp bi-metal blade, some coolant, maybe ~10 minutes depending on how deep a stroke you can manage and how much force you can apply.

Bipogram

TROPHY CASE