Slashdot Mirror

It won't be cheap, but you can do better. Double paned glass helps. Did you insulate the floor? Did you double wall insulate the rooms? There's about a million things that can be done, but it has to be done right or you won't get anywhere. Look into a book called Home Recording Studio: Build it Like The Pros. It's a little over the top, and not quite 100% applicable to this purpose, but if you follow that, and you still have issues, than you have to move, but I highly doubt that you'll still have issues if you do it right . (An example of "right" in this context is ensuring that you do NOT fasten everything to the studs, because in doing so you are transferring the sound through the studs and basically bypassing any insulation you've created, but this is a very complex setup to achieve, so do your homework well.)

Not really. You could probably get carbon from coal cheaply enough. Especially with many countries no longer using coal from power plants and such. Carbon is not a rare element by any means. There's probably much cheaper ways to get carbon powder than heating up sugar to 1500 degrees. I really don't know how similar it is to what they are using, but graphite powder is pretty cheap. If you're actually using it produce batteries, the bulk price is even cheaper. Only about 20 cents a pound.

...regardless of popular opinion based on the liberal media, though grossly exaggerated, the film in question is somewhat accurate. Anyone who doesn't think so I would encourage to read this book and other books in the same series.

Huh, you're completely right.

I sometimes have jobs that require me to edit HTML by hand. (Once my team wrote a whole goddamn book that way; yes, I know it's lame, we inherited the workflow from a simpler age). For obvious reasons, I used a Firefox plugin that color coded all my links based on the HTTP codes they returned. Anyone know a Chrome plugin that does the same thing?

But all that requires planning and motivation.

What I did after I went to china for the first time was to setup an openVPN server on a free AWS VM.
If you know how to use the Linux command line, this is probably the cheapest way to get around any censorship, insecure wifi and other things. Steps (not very detailed):
1. Get an AWS account (you need a credit card, but it will not be charged until you get over 15GB traffic and then it's 0.12$/GB) (here)
2. Set up a micro VM of your choice (I prefer debian-based OSs)
3. Install openVPN and configure it according to the HOWTO
4. Install the client software on the computer you will be taking there (everything except iOS is supported)
5. Test it

You may want to set up a dynamic DNS for your server so the address doesn't change after restarts.

As a bonus, the location of your AWS server is the exit point, so you can choose where you want your VPN to exit based on what is censored where at which time (I currently have it exiting in the USA because in Germany almost all music on Youtube is blocked).

Actually, that sounds like a good idea if actually done properly. How efficient are these infrared bulbs, compared to, say, baseboard heaters?

I direct your attention to the Easy Bake Oven

Just like with house roof panels, it's not always sunny, plus, heck, some people purposely park in the shade for other reasons (cooling usually).

That's why I say recharging at the "pump" will be a rarity, as opposed to a non-event.

One would assume a person with a solar-charged car would probably want to avoid parking in shady areas, also assuming the car has some sort of ventilation system, like a fancy, built-in version of this.

Server installs:
Slackware 0.9 on CD in 1994
More Slackware on CD
Debian, something old on CD
Red Hat, via FTP, then CDs, then back to FTP, from about 1996 to 2003
Fedora until 2008
Debian until now

Workstation installs:
Slackware 0.9 in 1994
Debian in 1994
Red Hat in 1995
Suse from 1996 to 2004
Ubuntu since then

My first install was Slackware from The Internet CD book, what a challenge. First server was up in 1995, Red Hat, running proxies, VPNs, and DNS for a client. In 1996 I inherited the ISP business we bought, and that got me another server and hax0rs galore for two years. Fun times.

I installed Slackware on a spare machine two days after a fiasco with a SCO client, trying to get a printer working. The app developer wrote their own print handling, and charged about $600/hr to add a new printer or change one, which we wanted to do to improve speed. The client wanted to know why we couldn't just plug it in, cause Windows let you do that. I was happy to see them find another servicer, who promptly asked ME for the root password. We were under NDA with the dev to not disclose it even to the client. Arg.

To understand the reasons, I suggest reading When the Lights Go Out by Maggie Koerth Baker. This is an excellent book that details the reason the electric generation and transmission infrastructure in the USA (and most of the world) is a trainwreck waiting to happen.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I've had a bit of practice, but it's really not that hard. This is no craft brew, and certainly not a time honored family recipe. It is tasty on a hot day.

• Buy a pre-hopped extract. I made a Cooper's Bitters recently. This one says to add 1 pound of sugar, but I use prefer to use one pound of Dried Malt Extract (DME).
• Acquire a food safe plastic bucket + lid. Buy one, or ask a local restaurant for a used one.
• Acquire some food safe plastic tubing. I couldn't find anybody to borrow, so I bought it.
• Buy some bottle caps and a capper.
• Acquire an air lock and rubber stopper.
• If your bucket doesn't have a hole in the lid, drill a hole in the bucket's lid so the stopper/airlock will fit snuggly.
• Wash the bucket, lid, stopper, airlock, and a big wooden spoon. Don't use soap. Make sure it's visibly clean, then soak in diluted bleach. Rinse with potable water.
• Put 4 gallons of potable water in the bucket.
• Dump pre-hopped extract and sugar/DME into the bucket. Stir until dissolved. Dump yeast packet (it came with the extract) in the bucket.
• Put the lid on. Insert rubber stopper into the hole, fill the airlock with water (to the line), and put the airlock in the stopper.
• Let sit for 3-14 days, until it stops bubbling.
• Clean ~50 used beer bottles (prefer the kind that need a bottle opener, but twist-off will work, they're just harder to cap). Soak tubing, bottles, and caps in diluted bleach. Rinse everything with potable water.
• Using the food grade tubing, start a siphon, and fill as many bottles as you can. Leave some room in the bottle; fill it to the same level as store bought bottles.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar/DME to each bottle for carbonation. Measure carefully, err on the side of less sugar. If you add too much sugar, you may be making a CO2/glass bomb. Cap bottles.
• Let bottles sit for 3-5 days at room temp.
• Chill bottle and enjoy.

The most important step is cleanliness. Make sure everything is visually clean, and not scratched. Make sure everything has been in good contact with the dilute bleach. Make sure the bleach is well rinsed before it touches the ingredients/beer. If the beer gets moldy, or doesn't look/smell like beer when you're done, don't drink it.

There a many different techniques and gadgets for every step in that process. Every step can be expanded and customized to make the beer more uniquely yours. You will get better results with better equipment and a better process. But you dont' have too. This process, plus a can of pre-hopped extract will reliably make decent beer. It's not good beer, but it's better and cheaper than american mass-brews. This process costs US$20-30 to setup, and about $20-25 for 2 cases of beer. If you're really cheap, you can make it cheaper (use a growler instead of bottles+caps; use sugar instead of DME).

If you're interested, I recommend Complete Joy of Home Brewing. If you're already a brewer, and you don't believe me that you can make beer with this setup, then I recommend The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible.

I think electric scooters already fill that niche.

I recommend Darryl McMahon's book if you want to see a solid analysis of hydrogen.

Short version: it simply can't compete with gasoline or lithium-ion batteries in most uses and does nothing to reduce dependencies on other sources of power, because usable amounts of free hydrogen do not occur in nature. You have to make hydrogen.

Found this on amazon, apparently some company already created it.

(though Truecrypt might be just a little cheaper...)

There is a great discussion of this in The Wide Lens.

In a nutshell, Michelin developed technology similar to this in the 1990's and partnered with Goodyear to bring it to market. It was pretty cool, but the problem was they couldn't get tire installers to pay for the expensive equipment and employee certification required to implement the technology. Fine for commercial or military fleets, but the overall ecosystem didn't work for consumers. What ended up happening was that when you got a flat you ended up having to replace all 4 tires and only at the dealer. Lawsuits ensued.

Hopefully they have resolved the ecosystem issues.

Did we collectively forget how when a random US senator ordered Amazon to take down wikileaks, with no legal authority to do so, Amazon complied with a ridiculous excuse about terms of service violations?

This is the same Amazon which Ubuntu is now working with?

Shame on Amazon, and now Ubuntu too... and "opt out" makes me want to puke. This is the sort of thing Ubuntu is supposed to be a safe haven FROM.

If they left the state that'd be fine with everyone, the problem is corporations staying in the state, using the public services, the roads, the police and fire department, the courts, and sending their employees to the Medi-Cal office, all the while claiming that they don't have to pay for any of it because they happen to rent a mailbox in Reno, Nevada.

It's even worse in some states, where the threat of a multi-national employer moving out-of-state has convinced legislatures that they have to extend open-ended tax holidays, or grant the employer the right to pocket their employee's payroll taxes, among other things.

If there’s any industry willing to quash innovation and progress to save its stodgy existence, it’s book publishing. Sales reps have become incredibly adept at the care and feeding of the university faculty that they depend upon to adopt their books. even private industrial leaders and economic pragmatists like Alan Greenspan have begun to criticize the decline of traditional liberal arts education and the rise of the corporate university as economically and socially disastrous.

Good luck on your quest.

That's one version of history. It is a version that quite frankly puts the CIA on a very high pedestal. This book offers a completely different account of what happened and comes to the conclusion that it was inevitable even if the CIA was not involved. http://www.amazon.com/Iran-CIA-Fall-Mosaddeq-Revisited/dp/0230579272

Without reputation there is no difference between a cheap forced labour made rip off job like an iPhone and a serious communication device like an EADS Tetra terminal. If you ended up in with your communication device packing up just because you put it sprayed it with water to stop it melting you would be rightly upset when you found out someone had given you an inferior product by accident.

Yay, TETRA terminals for everyone! Wait, where's the web browser on this thing? Why does my T-Mobile SIM not work?

With the swiss railways, there is serious value here. When you buy a watch endorsed by them it means something. This is not some random quartz knock off job. Proper precision engineering.

Err, no. It's overpriced chinese garbage, which tends to fail quite often - as one can read in the Amazon reviews. No swiss engineering involved. Maybe you should read the stuff you're referring to.

not that it is especially wrong for this: everyone steal from everyone, and then improves on it. this is how creation works

There is an Academic concept of plagiarism. This is very interesting because it has nothing to do with copying; academics are supposed to copy. Someone who fails to report what their predecessors said is treated with more contempt. Plagiarism, however, is worse. It is taking other people's words and ideas without crediting them. That gives you some idea what is wrong here.

which tells us how useless and ignorant intellectual property, as a concept, is

For "Intellectual property" as a phrase and a grouping you are probably right, but we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are specific kinds of intellectual property, trademarks are one of them, which have real value. Without clear ownership of names it's very difficult for companies to build a reputation. Without reputation there is no difference between a cheap forced labour made rip off job like an iPhone and a serious communication device like an EADS Tetra terminal. If you ended up in with your communication device packing up just because you put it sprayed it with water to stop it melting you would be rightly upset when you found out someone had given you an inferior product by accident.

With the swiss railways, there is serious value here. When you buy a watch endorsed by them it means something. This is not some random quartz knock off job. Proper precision engineering. Think of the famous joke:

Q: You are standing in Bern railway station; you see a train coming in; you look at your watch and see that the train is late; What are the two possible explanations?
A1) it's not a Swiss watch.
A2) it's not a Swiss train.

In this particular case there are series of design elements which are completely different from a normal clock; Lack of numbers; a bright red circle on the second hand. A very plain white disk. These are things which are original from Swiss railways and that nobody used before them. If you exactly copy these then you are basically trying to make off the reputation of the Swiss railway. This is something which can reasonably be protected; merely by changing from a bright red to a blue triangle you can copy the concept (a clock which emphasises the change of every second) without copying the design.

Now you might ask; "why does the rtfa-troll support Swiss Railways here and not Apple there". Well firstly; I'm not supporting them for a "beeelion dollars" like Apple wants. I'm supporting them for a couple of hundred quid and an apology. Secondly; pick a random Samsung Galaxy S vs iPhone comparison. Have a look at the way that key design elements (the bare metal surround on the side of the phone) are different. Anything which clearly distinguishes one product from another should be enough. The key standard is "designed so as to be easily confused with" not "designed to pay homage to".

It would be a shame if the IP cowboys forced us to throw away all of the things that are valuable in trademarks or secrets just because they abuse patents and copyright.

I'm afraid you've got things a bit wrong.

It's also no small matter that the UK has the BBC. . . . The licensing fees you pay are amply repaid not just in terms of quality programming, but also unbiased programming.

BBC chief Mark Thompson admits 'Left-wing bias'
Mark Thompson: “There was massive left-wing bias at the BBC”

That has been found more than once, by the way.

Lastly, the UK was bombed into near-nothingness. The US never has been. The closest we've come to having to reassess economically was the Great Depression. Because we never had to rebuild from scratch, we never learned the social lessons that an experience like that offers --

19 - Ruins of Charleston, 10 - Damaged Atlanta, 7 - Burned-out Richmond

Besieged, bombarded and blocked from commerce, Charleston suffered greatly in the war. Sidney Andrews, a Northern reporter in Charleston at war’s end described it as “a city of desolation, of vacant homes, of widowed women, of deserted warehouses, of weed wild gardens ... of miles of grass grown streets.” - - The Destruction of Charleston in the Civil War

Ruins seen from the State Capitol - Columbia, SC, 1865

It's not socialism per-se that we're afraid of -- it's the idea that we aren't in control of our own fate. That we aren't individuals, but actually part of something more than ourselves, . . . .

Religion takes a back seat in Western Europe
The Europe Syndrome and the Challenge to American Exceptionalism

For us, socialism is a sign of weakness;

Soviet internationalist socialist "weakness" on parade
Chinese internationalist socialist "weakness" on parade
North Korean internationalist socialist "weakness" on parade
Polish internationalist socialist "weakness" on parade
Czeck internationalist socialist "weakness" on parade
German internationalist socialist "weakness" on parade (Same tailor as below?)
German Nationalist Socialist "weakness" on parade (Same tailor as above?)

The Big Lies of the Soviet Union

I was recently re-reading John Gross’s marvelously entertaining Oxford Book of Parodies when I came across a 1938 passage from George Orwell that attempts to explain the strangeness of

So why not keep the parts that do work and just buy the ones that need Excel 2010 a copy of Excel 2010 and call it a day?

The problem with Excel is that the Excel jockeys really push the limits when it comes to using the features so sticking with the old version doesn't really work. Word? meh I've had no problem editing and saving Word 2K10 files in Word 2k, most folks don't use any more features now than they did then. Sure they like the preview bit in 2K7 and 2K10, but that doesn't affect the final document.

With Excel on the other hand they are using every feature and then some, adding macros all over the place and using it almost as much as a programming tool as a spreadsheet. Now I understand why, its because too many companies have BOFH that lock the shit out of everything and won't let them having IDEs or DBs but what does every desktop seem to have? Excel and Access, so they use what they have. But that means that since they are really pushing it you have to keep up when it comes to those two, Excel especially.

A couple of my SMB customers had the same problem so i just got them the newest Excel and they are happy. Powerpoint works fine, Word works fine, the ones I deal with aren't big on Access (thank the FSM) so by just buying the one program that needed updating they are able to get along just fine.

In the name of humanity, please buy this book: Attacking Faulty Reasoning, by Edward Damer

No wonder some states want to ban the teaching of critial thinking. Check out the price of this book.

I had a stroke and only have had use of 1 hand for about 14 years now. I used to game with a regular 2 button mouse but recently got a razer naga hex and it's probably the best mouse for me http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006W3ZXEW/?tag=hyprod-20&hvadid=19398558576&hvpos=1o2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=398679345943500799&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B006W3ZXEW it takes some getting used to though I use 2 not left click for shooting as it's much easier to have your index finger on the top forward and backwards buttons and just hit 2 with your thumb. The other buttons can be used to crouch, run, jump, etc. and are fairly easy to press with your thumb also. I'm mainly talking about first person shooters here as it's what I play most, but I heard it's a great MMO mouse too. If you want to use a regular two (3?) button mouse my only advice is have pushing button 3 (the scroll wheel) move you forward and left button shoot with right reloading. I hope I helped, feel free to ask me anything if I made this confusing or if you just want to know more.

Leftist and litigious.

I think that's where the conversation would end abruptly.

I doubt that. Facebook seems to be of the leftist leaning. They recently refused to advertise a book by a conservative radio talk show host named "50 things liberals love to hate".

It seems they would be fine with the leftist and might ask you for help on the litigating part.

it would have to be a damn fantastic dimmer to have wi-fi.

Ask, and you shall receive. Some damn fantastic dimmers!

What kind of wireless dimmer do you want?
http://www.amazon.com/X10-LM465-Lamp-Control-Module/dp/B00022OCCI/ref=sr_1_4
http://www.amazon.com/X-10-Decorator-Companion-Slave-Switch/dp/B003ZMA24O/ref=pd_sim_e_4
http://www.amazon.com/X10-WS4777-Remote-Dimmer-Switch/dp/B00022OCFK/ref=sr_1_6

Just add a laptop and control it over WiFi!

it would have to be a damn fantastic dimmer to have wi-fi.

Ask, and you shall receive. Some damn fantastic dimmers!

What kind of wireless dimmer do you want?
http://www.amazon.com/X10-LM465-Lamp-Control-Module/dp/B00022OCCI/ref=sr_1_4
http://www.amazon.com/X-10-Decorator-Companion-Slave-Switch/dp/B003ZMA24O/ref=pd_sim_e_4
http://www.amazon.com/X10-WS4777-Remote-Dimmer-Switch/dp/B00022OCFK/ref=sr_1_6

Just add a laptop and control it over WiFi!

it would have to be a damn fantastic dimmer to have wi-fi.

Ask, and you shall receive. Some damn fantastic dimmers!

What kind of wireless dimmer do you want?
http://www.amazon.com/X10-LM465-Lamp-Control-Module/dp/B00022OCCI/ref=sr_1_4
http://www.amazon.com/X-10-Decorator-Companion-Slave-Switch/dp/B003ZMA24O/ref=pd_sim_e_4
http://www.amazon.com/X10-WS4777-Remote-Dimmer-Switch/dp/B00022OCFK/ref=sr_1_6

Just add a laptop and control it over WiFi!

What's wrong with the summary? We no longer needed to get those nutrients from meat -- we could survive solely on plant life.

Let me introduce you to something call logic: I can survive on plant life. I chose not (ergo I'm not vegetarian).

Meaning capacity(vegetarianism) -> trait(vegetarian) == FALSE

Therefore, we could become vegetarians.

Petitio Principii

Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc"

In the name of humanity, please buy this book: Attacking Faulty Reasoning, by Edward Damer

And this book : New Oxford American Dictionary

What's wrong with the summary? We no longer needed to get those nutrients from meat -- we could survive solely on plant life.

Let me introduce you to something call logic: I can survive on plant life. I chose not (ergo I'm not vegetarian).

Meaning capacity(vegetarianism) -> trait(vegetarian) == FALSE

Therefore, we could become vegetarians.

Petitio Principii

Cum Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc"

In the name of humanity, please buy this book: Attacking Faulty Reasoning, by Edward Damer

And this book : New Oxford American Dictionary

I got a Volcano with the solid valve kit for xmas from my wife (she truly loves me) and I use it almost exclusively. But sometimes, the situation just calls for a rice paper. I also picked up a Magic Flight Launch Box which is great for on-the-go situations... which are occurring less and less as the months progress.

Thanks for the tip though - I've been spreading the word on vaporizers as well.

Bullshit. V1.2 of the USB battery charging specification permits up to 5A of current. This dates to 2010, so it's not like Apple hasn't had plenty of time to use it instead of their proprietary plug.

If anyone is not quite sure how much 5 A is, it is enough to power a small belt sander. If there is a device that takes more current to charge than a belt sander, I'd love to hear about it.

Yeah, this is even dumber than that book on color theory I had when I was getting my I graphic arts degree. That book only had two pages that were actually in color. (Yes, all the other illustrations and reference diagrams were in grayscale/B&W.)

However my art history class wasn't so bad. Marilyn Stokstad's Art History is what I had, and would be a much better deal than that piece of unfinished crap they got. It still wasn't cheap though, but at least you'd get your money's worth. (Stokstad wrote one of those books you'd keep because it's plenty interesting on it's own.)

Compelling reasons: well, for starters, that colony would be insurance against an extinction-level asteroid impact here on Earth. So there's that.

A Mars colony would be dependent on Earth for supplies for decades if not centuries. And a civilization that was capable of e.g. terraforming Mars would probably be capable of deflecting an asteroid anyway.

Humans moving beyond the confines of Earth is Manifest Destiny. It's inevitable. Man must always have frontiers, else, he is not Man.

Those frontiers might be virtual. One of the most interesting ideas in Vernor Vinge's novel Marooned in Realtime (which I recommend to all Slashdotters -- he was thinking about the Singularity years before anyone else) is that instead of expanding into space, a sentient race might instead choose to move into a virtual reality, with all the infrastructure located so deep underground that it wouldn't have anything to worry about for millions of years. Yes, expansion might occur someday, but it doesn't have to occur so early in a race's history as you think.

Also, Richard Branson isn't requiring you to bless his spreadsheet, because his effort is privately funded

I would argue that a billionaire wanting to sink money into this when the technology isn't there yet, should be taxed higher so that the money can be directed towards more urgent things (I'm not talking necessary about feeding the poor or whatever, but at least some great investment in basic research).

I kinda regret seeing this comic immediately when it became live, as just as the working day had just begun here and I sunk an enormous amount of time into exploring it, but I'm nonetheless thrilled whenever webcomics do something that extends the comic format beyond the limitations of paper.

Earlier XKCD strips could easily be converted to print format, just see the first collection XKCD Volume 0 that Randall published (yes, he found a way to put the alt text in there too). But taking advantage of HTML and Javascript, making the comic interactive to a degree, feels like something fresh. Cyanide and Happiness have also been employing animated GIF elements. There's a lot of room for creativity in the webcomic format.

I bought a Nyko IR remote for my PS3 - you plug a dongle into the PS3 and use the Neko-provided remote. Except that I had my Harmony remote earn the IR codes from the Nyko. I've have full control over the PS3 with my Harmony remote for years - long before Logitech released a bluetooth module.

Looks like you can't get new ones directly from Amazon, but they're under $10 if you want to look anyway. Plus there's probably an equivalent.

Fact: Sometimes you fight just as a matter of principle.

Mann's published work is all you need to judge the quality of his science. Nothing else really matters. If you can discredit his science* then you have nothing.

*And no, the Hockey Stick Graph controversy has done nothing to discredit his science. It has been borne out by multiple other studies since 1998 by (mostly) different researchers using different sets of proxies. Despite some imperfect statistics in the original paper it has held up well in the ensuing time.

If you want a full account of Mann's battles in the climate wars read his book, The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines

You can get keyboards for $2+shipping on Amazon. $15 seems high to me.

Something like a $35 laptop would work for this guy.

There's also this $18 portable LCD monitor that could be used (check the user images, people are already using it for the Raspberry Pi). It's analog (composite/RCA) so the resolution is limited, but it would be better than the two line LCD (36 character limitation) you linked to, and it would require less planning and development time.

Sure, the colour LCD would require more power, but if the original poster is willing to go ~$10 over his initial budget he could power both the Raspberry Pi and that monitor from the same batter and it would probably have a decent operating time.

Or, alternatively, he could use generic UPS units with USB->outlet adapters and power multiple heads from a single UPS unit, rather than having each head using it's own battery system.

You may find Richard Rhodes' Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb interesting. It discusses a lot of detail in various hydrogen bomb designs, and why things are as they (possibly) are. (The technical points all seem to be internally consistent but, other than that, I have no way of verifying the accuracy of the book. Still, it's a great geek read.) Even the Wikipedia entry is enlightening.

One point is that it's tough to get deuterium hot enough to fuse, without having the energy radiate away as just a bright X-ray source, cooling things back off. (Turning a liability into an asset -- using pressure from the radiation of the fission first stage to compress and ignite the fusion second stage -- is supposed to be one of the key ideas of the Bomb.)

1) Multiple keyboards/monitors connected to one desktop -- too expensive, a pain to setup
2) Mechanical typewriter -- need to restock paper and tape -- too expensive
3) Some kind of electric typewriter, like this one on Amazon.com Try to buy them from China, where they cost pennies, or hunt for bargains, like the one I linked. There is 12 of them available for US $28. As far as electricity being in limited supply -- that problem is much easier to fix: get a UPS power supply. (electric typewriters are not power-hungry), a solar panel, or even a power generator connected to a stationary bicycle (my father told me they used to use those during power outages)