Slashdot Mirror

Thank you for illustrating my point with a real life example.

I'm pretty sure I was just hallucinating webpages like these:
http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/renew/biomass.htm
http://www.seai.ie/Archive1/Files_Misc/REIOBiomassFactsheet.pdf
http://www.ratical.org/renewables/biomass.html
http://www.biofuels.fsnet.co.uk/challenge.htm ["The author of this paper, following a long-standing interest in renewable energy, obtained a small Sustainable Communities Award from the Millennium Commission in 1998 to study the viability of electric vehicles and, subsequently, sustainable transport fuels. As a result of this research he was one of the first people in the UK to be awarded a Millennium Fellowship."]
http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/etcfc/docs/Biodiesel-CleanGreen.pdf

etc.

I must have also had two more bouts of weekly hallucinations going on for 4 months of a semester each, in which self-declared environmentalists were lecturing me and the rest of a class of 30 to 100 students on the environmental benefits of biofuels without mentioning even once that they compete with growing food. Are you kidding me? It we've had more than our share of environmentalists protesting against *delays* in the large-scale application of biofuels in Germany and enthusiastic exclamations of biofuel being used in lorries, ships, airplanes etc. as a sign of a green future. The Green Party being first among them.

Tell that to the Romans. Another dark age is definitely coming (in fact it's probably already started), but it ain't gonna be the fault of religion any more than it was in the past. I suggest you study some more history if you think religion causes dark ages. Here's a good place to start: http://www.darkage.fsnet.co.uk/Manuscript/The%20Coming%20Dark%20Age.pdf

So what happens at that temperature? CO2 starts pooling as a liquid on the ground?

At atmospheric pressure, the transition from solid to gas, and vice versa, does not go via liquid. Have a look at the phase diagram of carbon dioxide. So, no pools on the ground.

No

Tom...

Yes, still not cold enough as far as I can tell given this phase diagram and these temperatures and pressures.

And they eat all of our babies! "Git in my belly!"

http://www.alanjohns.fsnet.co.uk/goldmember/fat-bastard.jpg

Clearly he's not a member of the Apostrophe Protection Society.

I suspect that Shrinky Dinks are already patented.

What I want to know, is if Shrinky Dinks shrink when heated, why isn't fusing the toner to the Dink making it shrink? I mean, if you use the wrong transparency film in a laser printer, it MELTS and makes a horrible mess. Why aren't the Dinkys Shrinky?

"The spot fine is a direct and immediate result of the presumption of guilt you will have been warned and notified in advance that entry in required"

Entry is _never_ required in the UK without warrant, and in such cases, there must be a police officer in attendance. Somebody sending you a letter claiming otherwise doesn't change this one whit or iota.

"you have refused an appointed officer the chance to inspect your equipment to prove licensed within the law"

TV licensing people are not appointed officers of anything. The BBC sub-contracts license collection and enforcement to Capita Services Ltd., "easy payment" schemes to Revenue Services Ltd., and licence-related PR and publicity to the AMV Consortium, private corporations which, together with the BBC, operate under the "TV Licensing" trademark. The guys who come round in the uniforms with bullet proof vests and a nasty attitude work for Capita Services Ltd., and have exactly the same right of entry into your home as security guards, who also wear uniforms with bullet proof vests and work for private corporations, i.e. none.

"Therefore you are guilty and are responsible for the fine. "

You are not guilty of anything without proof, which they can't get if you don't let them in (unless of course you are silly enough to use an unlicensed TV where it can be seen or heard from the street). They also need proof to obtain a search warrant, which magistrates don't grant just because some employee of Capita Services Ltd., asks for it, and "our database says this premises hasn't got a TV license" isn't proof of receiving TV broadcasts.

"You can later challenge this in court, but it is however most certainly A CRIMINAL OFFENSE."

Which means that the rules of evidence are precisely the same as those of all other criminal cases, i.e. there needs to be some for a prosecution to take place, and refusing to admit an employee of a private corporation and ignoring threatening letters from said private corporation isn't evidence of committing any sort of crime.

"As the person refusing access YOU are responsible for YOUR part in the law being broken and are therefore equally culpable under the law."

Refusing access to an employee of Capita Group Ltd. isn't a crime, so no laws have been broken to be culpable under. Here are some links with plenty of evidence from both correspondence with the BBC itself and large numbers of personal experiences that make it quite clear how far you've been taken in the FUD:

http://www.bbctvlicence.com/Questions%20and%20answ ers.htm (make sure you read through the other section, because there's some good info in there)
http://www.marmalade.net/lime/ (nice collection of personal anecdotes and links to media resources)
http://www.savethepound.fsnet.co.uk/tvl.htm

There are plenty of others, but these should get you started.

I assume your friend has seen IBOTs http://www.powerchair-review.fsnet.co.uk/, particularly the model 3000 that looks like a wheelchar, but climbs stairs.

I claim that, historically, companies that depend on patents and litigation for their income tend to crater. Some classic examples include the Wright patents and the Calotype patent.

Microsoft's PR department is backpedaling against Brad Smith's statements in Fortune. One of two things is going to occur. One, Ballmer or Gates will smack down Brad Smith and all will continue as before. Two, Microsoft's sales problems with Vista will gain political traction for Brad Smith within Microsoft, and Microsoft will turn into a lawsuit juggernaut. If point two comes to pass, Microsoft will bleed slowly, just like all the other companies that have depended on lawsuits for income.

Thank your lucky stars right now if you weren't born as a Tibetan, or if you did, that you've never heard about the vague terms of "the UN declaration of human rights" or "solidarity"... although sometimes what you don't know can still hurt you badly.

Luckily, or "double-luckily", for the expansionist Chinese junta, the territories of East Turkestan they grabbed from the turkic muslim Uygur people across the vast Taklamakan desert were far easier to exploit for oil, gas, minerals and even uranium since unlike Tibet (aka The Roof of the World) the Uygur homeland lies at or even below sea level.

And for some reason the islamic world is too busy hating the "West" to pay attention to their Uyghur brothers being wiped off the map in actual fact.

http://www.biofuels.fsnet.co.uk/sustain.htm
Typically, a 1460 x 230 mm K size industrial gas cylinder weighs 65kg and holds 7.2 cubic metres of hydrogen, which has to be compressed at 175 bar (c. 2500 psi) - a convenient size and weight (same as a 50 litre fuel tank) for one cylinder to fit into a car, but the actual weight of the hydrogen is only 0.6kg.
hmmm... 65kg/.6kg .0092 ratio... that's uh, less than 1/100th or 100 times as much packing material....

http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/

Please note item #3. Thank you.

the original Googleplex is intended to be preserved as part of the companies living history.

Turns out, it sniffs out it's prey

Seriously (and yes, this is offtopic, so what), learn how to use the fucking apostrophe. Jesus fucking christ, you could be intelligent, articulate, and have interesting things to say, but the moment you use an apostrophe where it doesn't go, you look like a fucking moron. Here's some help for the likes of you:
http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/
If you're not able to parse a goddamn thing unless it's illustrated (your blog suggests that you can in fact manage the written word, but this bit is funny just the same), here's one from the funny pages:
http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif
Signed,
Protector of the Apostrophe. Enemy of the department of redundancy department. Grammar Fascist. (Err, wait, nothing corporatist about grammar that I can think of, unless the question is one of buzzwords. Nevermind then.)

Cheers

Actually 60s is correct. (http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/)

I didn't say it was good music. It's just as valid as Britney Spears or whoever is crapping out pop these days. Why not give it a listen?

Read this for more information...

Here are a couple of links to MacOSX science applications http://www.macinchem.fsnet.co.uk/macosx.htm , http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/apps.php?sub=20, http://xanana.ucsc.edu/xtal/

I was in Harvard/MIT last week talking to a few people and I'd say >50% were using Macs

Just think of how much more flowery you would have sounded had you actually known how to spell "its".
I do apologise Kind Sir, for so dazed was I by the wit of the Grandparent poster that I did indeed abuse that poor grammatical device. I know many will be reading this and so I should correct this grave misdemenour.

In recalling how scintillated I was, my incorrect usage ("it's scintillating") would have translated to "it is scintillating", which as we and the world know, is wrong. I refer anyone further interested to the Apostrophe Protection Society for robust guidance.

First of all that UFO looks familiar, and pretty small too, a lot like a small uav or perhaps a model flying wing design.

As for it being blurred, have you never seen this effect before, where you track a moving object with the camera while photographing it?? Duh.

I can still read ancient Greek and Arabic poetry but I can't play Master's of Orion

(Emphasis mine.) You can read ancient Greek and Arabic, but you misuse possessive form in English? I don't know, that seems counter-intuitive to me. (By the way, isn't it Master of Orion anyway?)

I guess when the lexer sees an apostrophe, it must mean: here comes an “s”!

I suggest that you consult your local dictionary.

"A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true."

For instance, two identical twins who are of different ages might seem strange, but the situation might actually exist because of relativity.

Also, please consult this page so you can stop abusing the apostrophe. Remember, those in glass houses ...

If you're trying to say it is, replace the i with an apostrophe. Otherwise, no apostrophe. THIS IS AN EASY RULE. My head also asplode.

Google's what is not Unix?

... but please note that the possessive form of it does not take an apostrophe any more than ours, yours or hers do.

We have a learning opportunity here.

"Google is" is not a contraction.

The only other valid reason to use an apostrophe in this sentence is if Google somehow possesed the condition of "Not".

Although Google has indexed much, they still have not found a way to posess conditions.

Here's a great web reference for apostrophe usage.

http://www2.b3ta.com/heyhey16k/

Jonathan

Oscar The Grouch Does California, Nevada & Arizona - http://www.mccormackj.fsnet.co.uk/oscarthegrouch

why not use Konqueror to... and rip mp3's

More examples of apostrophe abuse at The Apostrophe Protection Society.

For all non-UK Slashdotters, this forum will bring you up to speed on what has been happening in the last week. - http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/forumdisplay.p hp?f=139

I usually hate reality TV shows, but this one has me hooked, maybe because we have done the fantasic ATX http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/visitKSC/atx.asp so some of the training looked familiar and it brought back some happy memories.

BTW, they are either the stupidest people ever.. or brilliant actors.

Jonathan

Oscar The Grouch Does California, Nevada & Arizona - http://www.mccormackj.fsnet.co.uk/oscarthegrouch

In other words, the preponderance of evidence & informed opinion that several ancient cultures (including the Romans, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Chinese) built advanced highway systems for military & commercial purposes is either wrong, or vastly underestimates the incredible importance of the innovation of the road bridge to go over roads, which was never thought of before the idea popped into Adolf Hitler's head!

Well, you are wrong;

here:
"Lord Cathcart-Fellingham thought a large oak tree would be just the centerpiece for the one hundred and forty acre grounds of his estate. Since Cathcart-Fellingham was neither patient nor young, he bought a perfect mature oak tree from a farm some two hundred kilometers away. The oak's rail journey stopped at the old Roman overpass near Nordgrenshire; the huge tree couldn't pass under the ancient arch."

& here:
"Traffic engineering principles are well rooted in ancient history. Records indicate that many of these principles were utilized in Rome, such as one-way streets, roadway guide signs, parking regulations, and prohibiting vehicles on certain roadways."

& here:
"The ancient system of highways linked Rome with its most distant provinces. Their primary purpose was military, but they also were of great commercial importance and brought the distant provinces in touch with the capital. In Italy roads led out of Rome in every direction. The roads often ran in a straight line, regardless of obstacles, and were efficiently constructed, generally in four layers of materials; the uppermost layer was a pavement of flat, hard stones, concrete, or pebbles set in mortar. Roads were built or rebuilt by the Romans throughout the empire in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Many modern roads are laid out on their routes, and some of the old bridges are still in use."

What I loved about SETI@Home compared to other distributed computing networks like http://www.ud.com/ was that there was loads of clients out there for Operating Systems and hardware dating back to the 80's. Hell you could even get a client for Satan itself, http://www.sco.com/ OpenServer

Now, you basically have to run Windows, MAC or Linux, if not you can feck off

I've got 2 old AlphaServers in work that have been running SETI@HOME since 2000, one running NT4 and one OpenVMS 7.1, never any downtime with either of them, time to call it a day on 15th December, it's a shame

Jonathan
~~~~~~~~
Oscar The Grouch Does California, Nevada, Arizona - http://www.mccormackj.fsnet.co.uk/oscarthegrouch/

YEARS NOT YEAR'S DAMNIT

The Apostrophe Protection Society

Used it myself a few times when I worked in London in the 80's.

First of all, it would only work with a Nat West Deposit Account, if you did it with a current account you were screwed as you would get charged.

Lets say you had a big weekend coming up, you had £100 in your pocket and £100 in the bank. You would go to the bank and deposit £100 in the branch so you had £200 in Nat West. This would flag up on the ATM as you had £200 to withdraw, so you could go and withdraw £200 from the ATM, but for some reason (I assume the ATM's did a processing job every couple of days to a mainframe) the transaction didn't register on the branches computers for about 3 days and you could walk into the same branch 5 minutes later and withdraw another £200, so you had £400 now for the weekend. 3 days later however, the bank will have caught up and you are overdrawn by £200.

OK, now you are thinking about "hey you are going to get big charges for that", but the beauty was that it was meant to be impossible for you to go overdrawn on a deposit account so there was no charging procedures in place (the old computers are infallible thing that was mentioned in the original article), I did get called in to the bank once or twice to explain my actions but I just shrugged my shoulders and said "Well, I thought I had that much money in my account, sorry I buggered up, but why did you let me take that extra money out when I didn't have it, why didn't your computers stop me?" So I got away with it every time.

It was never a way to get free money, it was just a way to tide you over if you were a little short before your next pay day.

Jonathan

Oscar The Grouch Does America - http://www.mccormackj.fsnet.co.uk/oscarthegrouch/

"It's impressive, but I think that the goal of bridges is to be as short as possible (although in this case, that's obviously the shortest length it can be)."

Hmm, I wonder if Northern Ireland holds the record for shortest bridge :)

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits /w-findaplace/w-carrickarede/

Jonathan

Oscar The Grouch Does America - http://www.mccormackj.fsnet.co.uk/oscarthegrouch/

When you boot up, it flashes up "When I'm 64" which is apt for a machine with an Alpha chip in it ;)

Jonathan

Oscar The Grouch Does America - http://www.mccormackj.fsnet.co.uk/oscarthegrouch

You have been especially selected for our FREE Apostrophe 101 course.

We recommend that you pay particular attention to module 3...

It's "fees", not "fee's" and "cents" not "cent's". Although you managed to work out how to pluralise "thing", "sale" and "cost" and even "micropayment" correctly.

4 out of 6 plurals correct... Well done, but do try harder next time... :)

You may be interested in the Apostrophe Protection Society. But really, who cares about English? It's such a mongrel language. Then again, it's great fun playing with its faults... ;-)

Agreed. Those who are confused can receive guidance at:
http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/

Furthermore, the word "number" is more appropriate than "amount".

Those of us who live on the net have to accept the fact that we live in public in a far more direct and exposed way than ever before. But actually as the sheer volume of data on the net grows, it becomes more arduous, not easier, to find out about people. For example, ten years ago, if you asked Alta Vista about 'Simon Brooke', the only Simon Brooke it knew about was me (but it knew a hell of a lot about me).

Nowadays, if you ask Google about 'Simon Brooke', you'll learn (as I've just done) that I played a wife beater in a 2001 film, and that I run a specialist insurance brokerage, that I'm obsessive about elderly aircraft, that I've written a novel called '2Cool2BTrue', that I used to be an academic at the University of Dublin, and that my nickname is Derick. Fortunately, none of these things happens to be true.

Yes, it probably is possible to work out that some of these Simon Brookes definitely are not me, and it's probably possible to work out some things about 'Simon Brooke' which definitely are me. But with every year that passes it's getting harder. How do you hide in a forest? Make like a leaf.

The entire character seems to be pandering to the same crowd that 7-of-9 was in Voyager.

Yeah, because that's never been done on SG-1 before, right?

Claudia Black's character in SG-1 is a con artist, and uses the sex appeal to help work it. Nothing wrong with that as motivation for her to dress like that. As for worst episode of season 8, I'm going to have to go with the "holodeck malfunction"-esque plot of the one where Teal'c is trapped in that game. Or, from a "what the hell are you on?!" moment bad, Carter playing along with RepliCarter enough to give the replicators the ability to resist the Ancient weapon was terrible. That SHOULD have been, Teal'c and Carter step through the gate to to meet RepliCarter, Teal'c raises gun, BOOM! end of that threat.

"Has IT Marketing learned it's history lesson"

Here's A page on how to use the apostrophe in the English language, and another.

Oh come off it - just because someone said it looks a bit like a mac doesn't mean it's as sexy as a mac! Even if it had the same designer it probably wouldn't of been as sexy - take the Fiat Coupe (http://www.fiat-coupe.fsnet.co.uk/) as an example: It was designed by Pininfarina, you can't tell me that it looks even slightly as sexy as the Ferraris he designed??

Haydn.

Air Foyle HeavyLift does charter that single flying AN-225 that is considered "the world's largest aircraft". (specifications)

Since you brought it up...

"Reader" is pluralised by adding an "s" to the end. This is standard English convention, and has been for hundreds of years.

Apostrophes are NEVER ever used to denote plurals!

Now to address your real point: why do you think I put "leading brand" in quotes? The "leading brand" in commercials is almost never really the brand with the most market share. It's simply one or more high-profile competitors. Geesh. Lighten up a notch or two, and enjoy your weekly dose of Thurrott. Slashdot is obviously too sophisticated for you.

p

and frankly they are bloody brilliant. no slow death like windows boxes which need reformatting annually, spyware notwithstanding. the OS is on ROM for some of them i believe.

and so many hours wasted on Stunt Racer 2000. so many happy hours...

emulator http://www.redsquirrel.fsnet.co.uk/redsquirrel.htm l

but not TG...

http://www.rossrabbits.fsnet.co.uk/rabbit-sales.ht m

A simple adblock rule like those in My Filter List can block the domain they laod from very easily. I never see floaters any more since I installed it (Norton Internet Security failed to block them and has been uninstalled as a result)

god damn you, don't use an apostrophe in plurals. it's 'sorts' not "sort's", and 'devices' not "device's". go here to go back to grade school:

http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/

grrr!!! wtf did you people learn to do this??

Thank you to the reviewer for posting such a stale old story. I haven't had such a good laugh on /. for quite a while.

A few more news items:

Elephants are comming over the Alps. Head for the hills!

Man discovers fire.

Leave Troy now!