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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/CANDU_fuel_cycles.jpg
Its like humans in the food tree. Currently the US cycle is enrichment -> LWR -> bury .... which is obviously unsustainable.

This is the tow-ture truck.

[ Two men are tending to a beat-up primer gray Chevy Nova in a public parking lot. One of them is under the rear, fixing it, and the other is standing to the side of the Nova. The tow-ture truck operator attaches his winch hook to the rear bumper of the Nova. The man standing to the side of the Nova grabs the cable and begins to spin it in defiance of the tow-ture truck operator. The spinning cable resembles the probability density plot of the hydrogen wavefunction when seen from above. ]

Tow-ture truck operator :

First, don't spin my cable,
which is a solution to
the partial differential equations
schroedinger knew

the direction field follows
a blurry twist
which is why, if you can't see it,
it dosen't exist.

[ The winch on the tow-ture truck begins to pull the rear of the Nova upwards as the man under it, previously oblivious to the spectacle, asks, "what the hell?" as a robot arm extends from under the tow-ture truck and grabs him by is ankle. He is being pulled under the tow-ture truck, enclosed on all sides by metal walls and the ground below. he is trapped under the towture truck when it begins to move slowly... ]

Tow-ture truck operator :

next, we back over you
till you're under the bed
if you cant keep up, the motorized tailgate
will crush your head.

as long as you keep crawling,
I'll go slow enough for you,
but if I vent the coolant plugs
I may turn you to stew.

One more thing --
there is no way...you can crawl out the sides,
50 Kilovolt lightning rods
will fry your fuckin' hide.

The top 1000 clients of google likely piss away a million $ a day in coffee alone.

Wikipedia is a top 10 site, maybe even top 5, but the Wikimedia Foundation made only $8,658,006 in revenue for FY2008–9. And come on, we're talking top 1000 here, not top ten. I've run an Alexa top 10,000 site on under $5,000 a year. (Currently it's more like 15–25k, it's a gaming site and popularity fluctuates with release cycles.) It doesn't cost much to run a big website.

It's official, Cuban has lost it. Does he really think that $1M will persuade any of the big players? Heck, even Wikimedia (sixth in Alexa rankings) is not trying to make a profit, would only meet 12% of its operational expenses with a free million. Does he really think Amazon or Ebay would let go one of their major revenue streams? That said, maybe Windows Live (5th in Alexa) wouldn't mind the extra million...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Internet_blackholes_en.png

[W]hat would happen if a NY cop were to do the exact same thing [...]

See: Serpico.

This is the tow-ture truck.

[ Two men are tending to a beat-up Chevy Nova in a public parking lot. One of them is under the rear, fixing it, and one is standing to the side of the pickup. The tow-ture truck operator attaches the winch hook to the rear bumper. The man standing to the side of the Nova graps the cable and begins to spin it. When the cable is spun quickly, it smears to the various shapes of the hydrogen wave function when seen from above. ]

Tow-ture truck operator :

First, don't spin my cable,
which is a solution to
the partial differential equations
schroedinger knew

the direction field follows
a blurry twist
which is why, if you can't see it,
it dosen't exist.

[ The winch on the tow-ture truck begins to pull the Nova upwards as the man under it, previously oblivious to the spectacle, says, "what the hell?" as a robot arm extends from under the tow-ture truck and grabs him by is ankle. He is being pulled under the tow-ture truck, enclosed on all sides by metal walls and the ground below. he is trapped under the towture truck when it begins to move slowly... ]

Tow-ture truck operator :

next, we back over you
till you're under the bed
if you cant keep up, the motorized tailgate
will crush your head.

as long as you keep crawling,
I'll go slow enough for you,
but if we vent the coolant plugs
we may turn you to stew.

One more thing --
there's no way...you can crawl out the sides,
50 Kilovolt volt lightning rods
will fry your fuckin' hide!

See: Bads

Sorry, prior rock art.

Less than half a penny out of every tax dollar goes to NASA. 5 cents goes to the 'global war on Terror.' [see: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ef/Fy2008spendingbycategory.png

And 5c/$ underestimates it quite a bit -- since DOD spending would also be vastly less without the GWoT, not to speak of DHS spending, big chunks of the Department of VA's costs, and the interest on the debt created by a half-trillion of GWoT-related costs in past budgets...

NASA's budget is such a small fraction of the overall budget ($17.318 billion out of $2.9 trillion in 2008) that it really has very little effect on the economy. If you want to worry about the U.S. economy, fighting two different expensive wars is a much bigger problem. Less than half a penny out of every tax dollar goes to NASA. 5 cents goes to the 'global war on Terror.' [see: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ef/Fy2008spendingbycategory.png%5D

They have been to Canada too.

If they allow Russia and Norway and Ukraine to join the EU, that penis will disappear. Like so: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Europe_(orthographic_projection).svg

'Allow' isn't the issue. Switzerland (the 'hole') and Norway (the 'foreskin') don't want to join, Ukraine isn't ready, and Russia obviously can't join as that would come down to the EU joining Russia.

If they allow Russia and Norway and Ukraine to join the EU, that penis will disappear. Like so: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Europe_(orthographic_projection).svg

27 of them to be exact; in operation it appears similar to the U.S. Executive Cabinet, if said cabinet was appointed by the 50 States instead of the president.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/EU_Insigna.svg Why is there a hole in the middle of Europe? Is that where the CERN Accelerator used to be?

44.1kHz sampling is enough to reproduce an 11kHz signal exactly, despite only sampling it four times per period. Read about the sampling theorem. Specifically: "If a function x(t) contains no frequencies higher than B hertz, it is completely determined by giving its ordinates at a series of points spaced 1/(2B) seconds apart."

screenshot of doom4(uses raytracing)

Why didn't they just change the logo to something like this or this or this or this?

Mandrake in Hebrew is (dûdã'im), meaning "love plant". Among certain Asian cultures, it is believed to ensure conception.[citation needed] Most interpreters[who?] hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 ("love plant") and Song of Songs 7:13 ("the mandrakes send out their fragrance"). A number of other plants have been suggested such as blackberries, Zizyphus Lotus, the sidr of the Arabs, the banana, lily, citron, and fig.

According to the legend, when the root is dug up it screams and kills all who hear it. Literature includes complex directions for harvesting a mandrake root in relative safety. For example Josephus (c. 37 AD Jerusalem - c. 100) gives the following directions for pulling it up

The mandrake plant was associated with magic long before the "Mandrake the Magician" came along. You can't copyright the name of a plant that has been called by that name for mellinia.

Why didn't they just change the logo to something like this or this or this or this?

Mandrake in Hebrew is (dûdã'im), meaning "love plant". Among certain Asian cultures, it is believed to ensure conception.[citation needed] Most interpreters[who?] hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 ("love plant") and Song of Songs 7:13 ("the mandrakes send out their fragrance"). A number of other plants have been suggested such as blackberries, Zizyphus Lotus, the sidr of the Arabs, the banana, lily, citron, and fig.

According to the legend, when the root is dug up it screams and kills all who hear it. Literature includes complex directions for harvesting a mandrake root in relative safety. For example Josephus (c. 37 AD Jerusalem - c. 100) gives the following directions for pulling it up

The mandrake plant was associated with magic long before the "Mandrake the Magician" came along. You can't copyright the name of a plant that has been called by that name for mellinia.

Why didn't they just change the logo to something like this or this or this or this?

Mandrake in Hebrew is (dûdã'im), meaning "love plant". Among certain Asian cultures, it is believed to ensure conception.[citation needed] Most interpreters[who?] hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 ("love plant") and Song of Songs 7:13 ("the mandrakes send out their fragrance"). A number of other plants have been suggested such as blackberries, Zizyphus Lotus, the sidr of the Arabs, the banana, lily, citron, and fig.

According to the legend, when the root is dug up it screams and kills all who hear it. Literature includes complex directions for harvesting a mandrake root in relative safety. For example Josephus (c. 37 AD Jerusalem - c. 100) gives the following directions for pulling it up

The mandrake plant was associated with magic long before the "Mandrake the Magician" came along. You can't copyright the name of a plant that has been called by that name for mellinia.

1) The European socket has a plastic outside cone for insulation. If the cable is partially unplugged, you cannot touch it with your fingers. The British version has nothing.

Except Insulated pins

2) The European socket allows you to plug the cables upside down (which is extremely helpful in certain situations).

I've never need to do this. I don't think I've ever seen a European plug inverted either. Can't be that useful.

Honestly, the european plug is fine. So's the UK style. The article was stupid, but it's equally stupid getting upset over it.

Several map out to smileys

"Oh Noes!" :O
"Boooo >:o"

And last, but not least,

"Oh Hai! :D"

US plug design makes the cutest face. (Well, okay, the face actually looks kind of like the original Capt. Pike, but still better than theirs.)

No, this one is the safest because the plugs screw in for a secure fit. Why it isn't already used in wall sockets is anybody's guess.

T-Gage is much cooler..

If want to understand the Windows family, use this chart.

In a related note, over the past couple of weeks I have been porting Colossal Cave Adventure to Google Wave. Send a ping to colossal-wave@appspot.com to play :-)

Brilliant! You, Sir, just ruined my weekend, for I will have to play this! Thank you!!

In a related note, over the past couple of weeks I have been porting Colossal Cave Adventure to Google Wave. Send a ping to colossal-wave@appspot.com to play :-)

..the Fed (by printing money and giving it to them at zero percent even if it destroys the dollar)

The Federal Reserve does not print money. Maybe you were speaking metaphorically, but you're still wrong. The Federal Reserve can influence interest rates, and it can change the size of the the money supply by issuing and recalling treasury bills and by adjusting the reserve requirement.. Those functions allow the Fed to alter the price of money, but that's not equivalent to printing more money.

I was reading earlier this week the U.S. now has the greatest income inequality in the world except for Singapore and Hong Kong which are tiny city states

Well you read wrong. Equality of income distribution is quantified by the Gini coefficient. Wealth is less evenly distributed in the US than many places (ie Europe), but there's more than 40 countries ahead of us. China and Mexico for instance. See this map for more detail.

For anyone whose interested, the Planet Money blog and podcast is a great place to start. Their reporting and research is done by actual economists rather than ideologues and talking heads, and they explain why things are the way they are and how they got there. Like I said, our current financial situation is kinda FUBAR, but approaching it with a level head and trying to understand what's really going on is better than getting angry and playing the blame game.

It doesn't really matter what they use it for, now does it? The fact that they choose to use MySQL at all shows they put an amount of faith into it. You don't store data in a database because you want to lose it, right?

But, to answer your question, a quick Google learns Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia store all of their important data in MySQL databases. I know Google doesn't use MySQL for searches, but they do store other stuff. I'm not sure what Nokia does, but they do seem to like MySQL a lot.

Mac OS X's operating system is XNU. The XNU is the operating system (so called "hybrid kernel"). The XNU operating system kernel is a Mach 3.0. Mach 3.0 is just a microkernel and all other OS parts (servers) are from the (Free)BSD (networking, filesystems etc) and Driver I/O Kit.

The Darwin is then a XNU operating system + development tools. You need to darwin to get the XNU operating system compiled so it will work with the Mac OS X API's.

If you want, you can just compile the Mach 3.0 microkernel, while leaving all other OS parts (XNU) in touch.

http://cs.nyu.edu/~pcg234/xeniac/compile_darwin_x86.html

http://dinomite.net/2006/darwin-kernel-compile/

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Diagram_of_Mac_OS_X_architecture.svg/556px-Diagram_of_Mac_OS_X_architecture.svg.png (even that it has GNU-like propaganda in it)

Even GNU's own operating system Hurd, use derivated Mach 3.0 microkernel what is called "GNU Mach". GNU Mach is the kernel of the Hurd operating system what is part of GNU/Hurd development environment. All other Hurd OS parts are written by GNU people but the microkernel is copied from Mach 3.0.

The rim looks pretty reasonable - new craters have raised rims (see, e.g., the Sedan crater).

What does look a little suspicious is the edge of the rim - I would expect at least some debris sprayed out into the surrounding fields, which I don't see in the pictures. Also, the video from last night is suspicious - why would stuff at the bottom of the crater burn ? That should just be more dirt - meteorite impacts rarely cause fires, and craters rarely have burnable stuff at the bottom.

If this isn't a hoax, I wonder if some World War II ordinance (say, a 500 lb bomb) couldn't have exploded ? Latvia was certainly fought over during the War (2 or even 3 times in places), and old explosives can become unstable and go off for little or no reason.

>>>Where would you get these warez? And would you pay for additional phone lines

Same place I got them in the 80s - have the crackers mail them to me on disk, and post them on my BBS for everyone to grab. Or rip the games, CDs, DVDs myself. Or if somebody already beat me to the punch and posted it on some distant California BBS, I'd just grab it from them and share it with all my users.

And: Many BBSes of the 80s had two or three lines, and the computer on my desk would handle these 2-3 users all at the same time. It was standard practice. Don't you remember? Hmmm.
.

>>>AOL being resurrected counts directly as recreating the internet.

Completely and totally false. Back before 1993, AOL was only accessible via a 1-800 phone line. There was NO internet or IP protocol whatsoever. Here you can see what AOL looked like back then: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Qlink-mainmenu.png Here you can see another BBS that used ANSI (not Internet protocol) to create graphics: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/VC-DMSEL.PNG
.

>>>Usenet newsgroups like rec.arts.tv would not exist because the internet is turned off and so there is no way to access it.

(sigh). Okay you know what annoys me? It's not ignorance; it's okay to be ignorant. What annoys me is people who make comments about Subjects they nothing about. Like you. ----- Before the internet became widespread, Usenet and FIDOnet used phonelines. During the 80s, at a predetermined time of 1 or 2 or 3 a.m. thousands of computers all over the U.S. would connect to one another via Dialup modem and exchange messages. Then they connected to computers in Europe. And those connected to computers in Russia and Japan. And Japan would connect to the U.S.

No. Internet. Involved. The messages would propagate around the world using the plain-old telephone service, and users would read these by logging into a local BBS using their 2400 or 9600 baud modems. That's how it was done when I first joined rec.arts.tv and rec.arts.startrek in 1988. And that's how it would be done AGAIN if the internet suddenly died.

:-)

>>>Where would you get these warez? And would you pay for additional phone lines

Same place I got them in the 80s - have the crackers mail them to me on disk, and post them on my BBS for everyone to grab. Or rip the games, CDs, DVDs myself. Or if somebody already beat me to the punch and posted it on some distant California BBS, I'd just grab it from them and share it with all my users.

And: Many BBSes of the 80s had two or three lines, and the computer on my desk would handle these 2-3 users all at the same time. It was standard practice. Don't you remember? Hmmm.
.

>>>AOL being resurrected counts directly as recreating the internet.

Completely and totally false. Back before 1993, AOL was only accessible via a 1-800 phone line. There was NO internet or IP protocol whatsoever. Here you can see what AOL looked like back then: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Qlink-mainmenu.png Here you can see another BBS that used ANSI (not Internet protocol) to create graphics: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/VC-DMSEL.PNG
.

>>>Usenet newsgroups like rec.arts.tv would not exist because the internet is turned off and so there is no way to access it.

(sigh). Okay you know what annoys me? It's not ignorance; it's okay to be ignorant. What annoys me is people who make comments about Subjects they nothing about. Like you. ----- Before the internet became widespread, Usenet and FIDOnet used phonelines. During the 80s, at a predetermined time of 1 or 2 or 3 a.m. thousands of computers all over the U.S. would connect to one another via Dialup modem and exchange messages. Then they connected to computers in Europe. And those connected to computers in Russia and Japan. And Japan would connect to the U.S.

No. Internet. Involved. The messages would propagate around the world using the plain-old telephone service, and users would read these by logging into a local BBS using their 2400 or 9600 baud modems. That's how it was done when I first joined rec.arts.tv and rec.arts.startrek in 1988. And that's how it would be done AGAIN if the internet suddenly died.

:-)

• Perhaps, instead of trying to shoot them all yourself, you need to find some kind of predator that'll keep their numbers down. - introduction of non-native species is likely to be disastrous; they'd likely do the job, but then you have another problem on your hands. It is very risky - remember Australian rabbits and European {sparrow,starling} in North America. Shooting of squirrels is the absolutely best, ecologically speaking, way to control the population. Poisons are largely illegal (100% illegal where it matters, like on farms.)
• Would cats be good for this? - Not likely; both[1] species of California ground squirrels are about the size of a cat, and they are faster, and they have excellent underground burrows. Squirrels also live in colonies and notify each other about the danger. Squirrels prefer areas that offer good visibility of ground- and air-based predators. All in all, I doubt that a cat could even win the battle. It is also important that a wild squirrel is far more aggressive than a domestic cat, and its claws are longer than cat's own (and not retractable.)
• rattlesnakes eat them - first of all, I'd take 1,000 squirrels instead of one rattler :-) Also note that some populations of adult squirrels are partially immune to the poison; also note that squirrels learned to confuse snakes by chewing on rattler's shed skin, and by heating their tails.
• Maybe you could catch some feral cats and relocate them to your area. - this is illegal, even if there was an easy way to catch a feral cat :-) Also cats are rare here, somehow, which is sad because I like cats.
• Trees can be protected by wrapping the base with light-gauge metal - yes, this is known, particularly useful against rabbits. Looks ugly, though :-) but in 2010 I'll probably leave my squirrels alone for a year (to let them multiply a bit) and protect the trees instead. I have no intention of exterminating them all; I only want to let them know who pays the property taxes ;-)

[1] The other species is Spermophilus richardsonii, they live in North California / South Oregon.

• Perhaps, instead of trying to shoot them all yourself, you need to find some kind of predator that'll keep their numbers down. - introduction of non-native species is likely to be disastrous; they'd likely do the job, but then you have another problem on your hands. It is very risky - remember Australian rabbits and European {sparrow,starling} in North America. Shooting of squirrels is the absolutely best, ecologically speaking, way to control the population. Poisons are largely illegal (100% illegal where it matters, like on farms.)
• Would cats be good for this? - Not likely; both[1] species of California ground squirrels are about the size of a cat, and they are faster, and they have excellent underground burrows. Squirrels also live in colonies and notify each other about the danger. Squirrels prefer areas that offer good visibility of ground- and air-based predators. All in all, I doubt that a cat could even win the battle. It is also important that a wild squirrel is far more aggressive than a domestic cat, and its claws are longer than cat's own (and not retractable.)
• rattlesnakes eat them - first of all, I'd take 1,000 squirrels instead of one rattler :-) Also note that some populations of adult squirrels are partially immune to the poison; also note that squirrels learned to confuse snakes by chewing on rattler's shed skin, and by heating their tails.
• Maybe you could catch some feral cats and relocate them to your area. - this is illegal, even if there was an easy way to catch a feral cat :-) Also cats are rare here, somehow, which is sad because I like cats.
• Trees can be protected by wrapping the base with light-gauge metal - yes, this is known, particularly useful against rabbits. Looks ugly, though :-) but in 2010 I'll probably leave my squirrels alone for a year (to let them multiply a bit) and protect the trees instead. I have no intention of exterminating them all; I only want to let them know who pays the property taxes ;-)

[1] The other species is Spermophilus richardsonii, they live in North California / South Oregon.

I think of desktop graphics as being like T&A.

Looks good, might even provoke a physical response, but doesn't really contribute much in the long term. As long as my desktop is easy-to-use it could be black-and-white as far as I am concerned. Like so: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/Macintosh_System_7.5.3_screenshot.png

Sparkfun from the good old days.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Old_Sparky.jpg
http://www.slate.com/id/32298/

I already have one hundred trillions. But thank you. Here's your tip.

I already have one hundred trillions. But thank you. Here's your tip.

>Sorry... Apple didn't win the smartphone market

no1 smartphone os = symbian
no2 = RIM
no3 = iphone

[source]

right handed versus left handed traffic. solution best decided by vanuatu:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9b/Vanuatu_driving.png

rail gauge. there's european and chinese, standard, but russia uses a broad gauge, which is a serious problem for economic development:

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/2008/01/11/138592/Beijing-to.htm

Personally I will withhold judgement until I know who exactly will be releasing the information. It just might become something that you do want to see.

Oooh... Tux has an outie... and he ought to lay off the herring for a while, too, from the look of things.

Personally I will withhold judgement until I know who exactly will be releasing the information. It just might become something that you do want to see.

Nah She'll be back!

Also further explained at about 10:20 in http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Richard_Stallman_Talk_2009-10-09_part2.ogv

RMS has recently also described cloud computing as nebulous (I think it's the second question, about 40s in):
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Stallman_Talk_2009-10-09_part5.ogv

That's a pretty bold claim you're making. Let's have a look at some actual numbers, shall we?

This chart indicates that not only are we keeping up with Moore's law, for the past 2-3 years we've actually moved ahead of where we'd expect to be. And the graph doesn't even include AMD's R800 graphics chips, which have even higher transistor densities than RV770/GT200.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringworld http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Ringworld(1stEd).jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/Spy_vs_spy.gif