clinton's comments

Yeah one atmosphere, but with the same atmospheric mix as what is on Mars. I was trying to simulate compressing the Martian atmosphere into a pressurised and thermally insulated greenhouse.

My enclosure is only good down to about 0.8 atmospheres, below that the big rubber seal around the door starts to leak. The vacuum pump is used when mixing the atmospheric composition.

Figure the first martian plants would live in a pressurised, insulated greenhouse. There are some neat passively heated designs around.

I think my next experiments will be with legumes trying to fix nitrogen and improve the soil. The way I see it, pressure, warmth and light are all problems for which we have existing solutions. The real question is can we get stuff to grow without importing tons of fertiliser?

It seems that this short story was originally published in an old science fiction magazine (that my local library doesn't stock). Was wondering if it also made its way into a compilation of some sort. Google hasn't turned up anything for me yet.

Best places to find a copy these days?

I ran a similar experiment at home, albeit with a fern rather than potatoes and without simulating martian light.

My fern started to perish (and it was a well established plant). The biggest problem I'm facing at the moment is that Mars is extremely nitrogen deficient.

https://reprage.com/post/marsarium-9

https://www.reddit.com/r/Colonizemars/comments/5vi52v/inspir...

It doesn't look like they have much storage at the top of the system. An easier approach might be to dynamically control the flow through the system, restricting it during low load and returning more water to the stream as 'environmental flows' to keep it healthy.

Thank you! Your hard work, and desire to be recognised for your efforts rather than your gender will make it just that little bit easier for my daughter to follow in your footsteps (if technology is her chosen vocation).

Somewhere between 32,000 and 70,000 consumer 3D printers have been sold to the end of 2012 -- http://reprage.com/post/35354576225/how-many-consumer-3d-pri...

About a month ago I installed OSQA and 'shapado' -- http://shapado.com/ QSQA appeared much more rounded compared with shapado, and behaved much more like StackOverflow. Only problem I have had with QSQA is that changing the theme / template could be easier.

Oh, and by default the admin page of QSQA had a strange almost intelligible layout. However this is a mode that can be turned off... Once you find the option.

QSQA also has a neat 'community bootstrap' mode that lowers the required reputation for many actions, linking URL's down votes, etc.

All in all very happy with QSQA.

That is interesting, descending or ascending order of price might be one of those things that you can only please half the people... Some of the time.

This is an interesting article that offers a counter argument: http://uxmovement.com/content/7-useful-design-strategies-for...

Video was done by my good friends at Josh Lamont Design, http://www.lamont.com.au/

Thanks for the tip of idea of description / value prop above the fold.

Been working on this for a little while now, today we launched a new introduction video.

I suspect it would make a pretty awesome skunkworks, hidden away from the glitz of the new main campus.

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for taking the time to work that up - your value proposition is a huge improvement.

Currently Java end-user app developers and their managers is very much the target audience.

The biggest thing that is actionable in the report is the most likely reproduction steps - see http://usermetrix.com/log_messages/8805/error for an example.

Provides developers with a huge head start on narrowing down and pinpointing the root cause of a problem rather than just the symptom, NPE or whatever.

Honest feedback is exactly what I am looking for, I have struggled to convey the concept with just words alone.

Here is a sample report that my application generates: http://usermetrix.com/projects/2 Hopefully this makes it a little clearer, and perhaps might give you a few thoughts on how I might do a better job conveying the concept?

Thanks for the frank feedback, here is some more content I have been working on for an 'about' section:

UserMetrix combines application analytics with error and usability logging, allowing you to instrument your software to seamlessly capture user feedback.

Data is collated in a central location, providing you with:

Analytics A high level summary of your application's popularity and stability.

Decision Support Problem prevalence allows you to focus on the issues affecting users the most.

Improved Error Reporting Details of application errors that include how to reproduce problems with ease, simplifying debugging.

Supported platforms: Java, Android

Does this convey the target audience a little better?

You can reach me via contact _at_ usermetrix _dot_ com

Very fair point - I found it difficult to condense the proposition while still providing all the details. Perhaps I could lengthen the proposition, i.e. have I tried to make it too short?

... I would wait until the royal commission before I lay blame on dam operators.

I suspect, that much of the flood waters came from the Lockyer Creek (the waterway that was the source of those horrendous videos from Toowoomba) - which actually feed into the brisbane river _downstream_ of Wivenhoe dam, meaning that the dam couldn't stop a large chunk of the flood water from entering the Brisbane river. See this map here: http://maps.google.com.au/?ie=UTF8&ll=-27.409109,152.603...

So maybe part of the blame should be placed on the Dam designers... But perhaps other topological constraints prevented the Dam from being located further downstream?

Lots of pieces to the puzzle and I don't think it is as simple as just the dam operators waiting till it was too late..

Possibly a reality check for someone who might have been chugging the ol Kool-Aid a bit much.

Unfortunately the "bottom line" section makes the whole article sound like a jaded entrepreneur who made a 'me too' social application that didn't bring in the easy dollars.

So Software startups are hard unless you try a 'boring' idea like 'bug tracking' or 'invoicing software'? Huh? So a software startup is 'easier' if you have have found people suffering problems that cost them real time or money, which your piece of technology can solve?

Guess what - those 'boring' ideas, or the lessons and rationale behind them is the real thing you are learning about building a business. Will it be 'easier' than your me too social app? Not a chance - it will have its own set of challenges and pitfalls - but you will learn even more about process and be be a little more likely to be 'successful' the next time round when you are thinking "Oh, man it would have been easier if I had have done this 'boring' thing over here that these people were successful with".

I suspect that this would be classed as subliminal advertising here In Australia, which is banned by the television code of practice:

"1.8.4 use or involve any technique which attempts to convey information to the viewer by transmitting messages below or near the threshold of normal awareness."

An interesting subliminal advertising case cropped up a few years back: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2082405.htm