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New Blu-ray Disc to be Made of Corn
aws910 writes "I've often thrown away a CD and wondered how long it will take to biodegrade. Pioneer has developed a blu-ray disc that is made of corn. If this disc is widely used, it may be the only easily biodegradable computer part/accessory (with the exception of pizza). Now I wonder what would happen to one of those new discs if you put one in the microwave for 5 seconds." While the idea of a corn disc isn't new, it's the first Blu-ray version of it.
And best of all, it stays crunchy in milk!
Fritz Pisot!
Mom says my
Eco-friendly disc is nice, but how many people are going to throw away Blu-ray disc?
25GB is serios amount of data, I (maybe just me) would try to keep it even if it contains very unimportant data, since it's so easy to store a disc, it's not like you need one 5x5 room to store it.
--
Play iCLOD Virtual City Explorer and win Half-Life 2
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Now I wonder what would happen to one of those new discs if you put one in the microwave for 5 seconds.
Would that be a popcorn disc?
So what happens when the computer gets hot?
Marxist evolution is just N generations away!
Let the corny jokes commence.
Oh wait...
Is the middle of the disc called the "corn hole"?
Slashdot: come for the pedantry, stay for the condescension.
I'm glad you included pizza; They don't call rackmount servers "pizza box" servers for nothing ;) ... fit a mini-atx nicely :D
Made with corn... ...but filled with porn!
The cost? Your first born.
Thank you. I'm here all week.
You can put it in the microwave and have popcorn made directly on a serving platter
We have been gentically engineering corn for a variety of purposes for a while now. I wonder if this will spur a "Blu-ray" variant of corn. It should be interesting to consider what properties of the corn would make the best discs (longest lasting, scratch-resistant, etc.)
would it have the same shelf life?
Id hate to see my pr0n just rot away...
how long does the corn last anyway?
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Delicious warm digitalized pr0n.
Does this mean that /.-ers will start storing their pr0n on their cr0n?
If you get your finger stuck in the spindle hole, does that constitute being cornholed?
blu-ray taco... *drool*
Work is punishment for failing to procrastinate effectively.
My CD-Rs are slowly falling apart due to age. After about 4 or 5 years, they're about as good as dirt. Ive been slowly converting everything to DVD but I fear the same thing will happen to them. I remember reading on slashdot that disks have a limitted shelf life due to corrosion and the breakdown of laminates. Now, these disks are designed to breakdown. What good is this to anyone who wants to keep data beyond half a decade?
"Hey man! You said these disc were made of corn, right?"
*crack*
*scream*
Let me know when they make a 64-bit processor out of polenta.
Man,
That's gonna be thousands of tons of corn diverted away from making nachos.
Make those discs out of egg plant instead. Nobody will miss them.
Mmmm... Nachos.
The Internet is full. Go Away!!!
eat this right up!
*ahem*
So sorry.
corny jokes :P
I can see it now, hobos doing door to door pretending to be "Blu-Ray Disc Inspectors", chewing every disc they see to see if its authentic and then have the BIG FEAST with all the other Blu-Ray Disc Inspectors.
This will be great for recycling discs to feedstocks, since most of Hollywood's output is swill fit for pigs anyway. (Sorry if I offended any pigs. I am such an insensitive bastard.)
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Now I wonder what would happen to one of those new discs if you put one in the microwave for 5 seconds.
He writes that knowing full well what happens to current discs when you put them in the microwave.
That is.... Awesome lightshow caused by arcs between the thousands/millions of pits and hills on the disc's surface.
I highly recommend it, but suggest:
a) Not using your own microwave
b) Not using a disc you like to watch...
In case you can't resist,
c) Not putting it back into your own DVD player afterward.
Indy Media Watch-Proctologist of the Internet
I remember seeing a story several months back about ants getting into a powerbook because the board was some kind of polymerized carbohydrate. Will they like discs now, too?
I for one welcome our new blu yellow multi eared overlords!
24 comments already and no bad jokes using the word "kernel". I'm proud of you all.
Do we really need another corn-based product? Nearly everything you eat has corn in it. Drinks have high-fructose corn syrup. Bread has corn as well. Beef is raised on a diet of corn (and they have to use antibiotics so that the cows can digest it).
This is all because of ludicrous subsidies the government gives corn farmers. It results in corn products so cheap that they're essentially free.
Biodegradeable products are great. Don't get me wrong, but I suspect the only reason they're using corn here is that it's "free".
Hey Republican Majority! You know how you always talk about fiscal responsibility, reducing taxes, and reducing the size of the government? Now's the time to wipe out the corn subsidy once and for all. Maybe there's one thing you'll do in the next 2 or 4 years that won't completely piss me off.
i can't wait for cream corn cds, mmmmm cream corn!!
Spiral out. Keep going...
You guys are killing me... "If this disc is widely used, it may be the only easily biodegradable computer part/accessory (with the exception of pizza)." Seriously, though, computer paper is still recyclable and I assume bio-degradable and anyone else remember paper punch cards and tape? Marc
Is this corn stuff sturdy enough to endure intense office frisbee action?
I think this is a potentially a very cool thing, but you have to admit it's immensley funny if you think about it.
Five Pioneer R&D guys sitting at a table, thinking what they are going to do with Blu-Ray. One of them looks down at his bag of nacho's... look's up at the picture of the DVD, then back at the Nacho's.
The rest is history.
--
The last digit of pi is four.
So I didn't RTFA, but why divert corn from the food supply? I'm sure it's not exactly in short supply but with so many starving people in the world wouldn't it be better off actually feeding people?
;)
Or will the occasional coaster now be edible?
Who doesn't like free music?
pass the bean dip
Some bio plastics are made from bacteria and some use parts of the hemp plant to strengthen it like fiber glass.
Let the corny jokes commence.
Atkins dieters are eagerly awaiting the Blu-ray disc composed of pork rind.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Now I wonder what would happen to one of those new discs if you put one in the microwave for 5 seconds.
You get...pop music!
corn? pioneer?
sounds like http://www.pioneer.com/ might be able to team up with http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ on this.
Somehow I don't think this do anything cool in the microwave...
Seedy Rom.....
I don't think they are going to do anything that displeases their masters in the red states. We are going to have ugly, bad for the economy corn subsidies for a long time.
So what happens when the computer gets hot?
It smells like corn tortillas, of course.
What I want to know is, can you make nachos from the discs that end up as the inevitable coasters?
Mmmmm, blu-ray disc nachos...
R(k)
Only thing I wouldnt like about this idea is storing the disks somewhere for a while, only to come and find it rotting (including data loss) but if there is something to help protect again, I am all for it.
I'm waiting for the day when AOL starts sending me free breakfast in mail, everday! :)
My other dog is a Wienerschnitzel.
This would be great for corporate espionage. If you are caught by security, you can hastily wolf it down. No more evidence!!
"It was a rice cake, I swear!"
Unknown host pong.
The new SCO Open Server CDs are going to be made from re-cycled bullshit.
More news at eleven
Last I checked, programmers were also easily biodegradable, with the exception of a few bones.
I wonder what would happen to one of those new discs if you put one in the microwave for 5 seconds.
... soon I will be able to make tacos/burritos/quesadillas/enchiladas/etc out of old copies of Linux. Further, I don't drink up enough coffee to use all those coasters AOL sends me, I can make something yummy out of those too. Genius, whoever thought of this!
I don't know what will happen if you put one in the microwave, but if my drive stops reading one of these things I might throw some shredded cheese on it and find out... Really though, this is truly brilliant. I have stacks upon stacks of dated versions of random Linux distros that I have no idea what to do with
"Let the corny jokes commence."
Why didn't CmdrTaco bring us this story?
I think you'll find it will be a corny pop disc.
Sounds like the perfect uni students dream.. something that holds your entire mp3 collection and doubles as a 2am mid study snack!
iSnack 2.0 - Download it now to your iToast 9.0
"What's for dinner tonight, Pa?"
"We gots us some o' these here A-O-L treats."
WTF? Can someone explain to my WHY I would want to store my data on biodegradable discs? Isn't the whole point of disc to store long term?
Lisa: His shoes are corn, his hat is corn, I think even that check is made of corn.
Homer: Lisa, a man who has plenty of corn is less likely to hurt Stalky than someone whose corn supplies are running low.
Unknown host pong.
Don't CDs have to be shiny and reflective? What is shown in the picture sure looks dull and matte. Has blu-ray eliminated the need for the reflective backing? -- Marcio
Remember, we are living in a disposable society (Cars. Computers. Etc.). There is far more good media (as in "stuff to see, listen, read") than anyone has time to consume, even if you just go to the public domain (ie; project gutenberg).
.tgz, PGP), and damn everyone else to the hell that they're (un)knowingly getting themselves into.
To some extent, this unplanned obsolescence of media (the carrier of information) such as VHS->DVD, Cassette->CD->MP3/AAC/WMA has given the media conglomorates more opportunities to (re)sell all of their Beatles and Pink-Floyd catalogs.
Now, if you can guarantee the obsolence of your media (accidentally!, and even making environmentalists happy while doing it), and put that decay beyond the event-horizon of the average purchaser (increasingly easy to do), you've got a recurring revenue stream. That's one reason why I ripped all my CD's to OGG (not MP3), and am not buying anything from iTunes.
1- OGG specification and all tools are completely public domain
2- I trust CD media less than copies of my music on two separate hard-drives.
3- No DRM (I didn't put it there), and I can always go from OGG->WAV in the worst-case scenario (I ripped at reasonably high quality (-q7=~220kbps), so I wouldn't even feel too bad transcoding them to 128kbps MP3 if I wanted to).
What it points to is: The right to maintain current, known-good backups must be protected, and YOU store YOUR data in an open, known-good, future-proof format (OGG, RTF, HTML, JPG/PNG,
--Robert
to making moonshine from my pirated DVDs.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
First we're holding funerals for our programs, now we're burning our data onto corn based disks as an "environmentally friendly" to "dispose of data"
What? Isn't rm -rf / enviromentally friendly enough?
imagine, blu-ray disck with subliminar messages ?
children of the corn?
i'm over 16, damit... gotta run... C ya...
What ? Me, worry ?
How come none of the engineer thought that bubble tape could be a serious contender?
Why not make them out of banana's, why corn?
I'll leave on a bad joke,
Now we know what the 'pop secret' was.
Of course it may be biodegradable but aren't peeps supposed to be also?
Fastduke
So tell me again exactly what percentage of the landfills are composed of discarded cd's and dvd's? And tell me again how you expect anything to biodegrade in an anerobic environment? And again how much Cargill or Archers Daniels Midlands stock do you own?
Woo-hoo! FREE NACHOS !!!
"The first thing that comes to mind are security camera videos. DVD-/+R is the prevered medium due to its small size and low cost but long term storage is pointless."
Microsoft E-mails and Source Code, Enron documents, Pentagon secrets, Nixon tapes, Monika recordings, Halliberten contracts, Worldcom evidence. What's not to like?
If they are designed to be degradable, what is their shelf life in my stereo cabinet..
.. ever ...
Id prefer them to NOT degrade in my house
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I can't see these things replacing cobs in the outhouse.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Don't fret I think we've been storing data on biodegradable media which can last for thousands of years if stored right.... it's called paper.
I'm beginning to have serious concerns about the integrity of the world's data. NASA's old data is deteriorating faster than they can archive it. CD's will only last for 20 years or so, DVD's probably less. What forms of PERMANENT (T> 100y) data storage are available to us? Is all of our digitil information doomed to be lost?
"Anyone that has ever gotten an idea based on any of my work and done something better with it-good for you."--J.Carmack
There have been lightweight videotapes that are meant for purposes like promotional mailings. The tapes are made out of a material like Styrofoam with an outside of cardboard and thin plastic. See one such brand here.
"Sorry, third world... you can't have this corn to eat. We need it to store our valuable data!"
No, Starvin' Marvin, that's a bad Starvin' Marvin!
Would work well with the one day use disposable dvd movies. Don't have to return the movie you just throw it out .
------
insert sig here,here, and here
This Korn?
Pssst! hey, what's that gap in the center?
That's the cornhole.
It's the return of Mitsui Gold...yes, there have been tests on this kind of CD-R that have suggests that they will last, if not 300 years, a lot longer than most commonly available media.
I think that it is generally agreed that both Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim/Mitsubishi Azo CD-Rs are going to last at least 100 years if archivally stored.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
This has been posted for almost 55 minutes and I seen no kernel jokes. Everyone must be as tired as I am tonight ...
I guess this is the culmination of ears of research.
Steve: Yeah, umm. I don't know man... after last time...
Dr. Weird: This time... SHALL BE DIFFERENT... BWAHAHHAHAHAHAH!
Steve: Well alright, cause I am hungry again.
(Corn fly towards Steve, stabbing through him)
Dr. Weird: It's not different at all, is it Steve! HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!
(By the way, Simpsons always flies on Slashdot... Now let's see if Aqua Teen does)
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Ethanol added to gasoline is also made from corn, so it isn't necessary that everything an edible plant can be made into also be edible itself.
Also, hopefully corn discs will contribute to a reduction in farm subsidies by increasing the demand for corn.
Let's think about this for a second? Is this a wonderful move for the environment? Or is it a shrewd move for an industry that deperately wants you to rebuy the same content over and over whether you feel like it or not?
If these discs will be usable for 100 years or more, then it's a very nice move I suppose. However if they start degrading within a lifetime, it's a pretty crappy situation for someone who wanted to hang on to them. Especially if it's less like 100 and more like 10.
Just a thought...
Ingredients:
* AOL
* corn disks
* Computer cookery 5000 with Intel Pentium Prescott (TM) as the heat source.
What do you get?
FREE POPCORN!
I can see it now. Kids cheating in school could use these to store test answers and then eat the disc to destroy the evidence.
I could also see this being good for the spy trade for the same reasons. The enemy is closing in on you, eat the top secret data and it will never fall into their hands. Well at least not in the form they would want it in.
DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
Remember those days when we used to forget our rented video tapes in the car when we went to the beach and they bent? also vinyls,cds... It will happen no more!! Now the new corn cds/dvds/blueraydiscs will just "pop" and then you'll have something to eat meanwhile you go to pay for the "broken" blueraymovie!
Rimember: Jappi Pipol In Da Jaus
The world's first widespread use of money was used to buy poon-tang.
Not a bad substitute for food, though.
After all, it would make AOL's idiotic discs very welcome in third-world countries.
I can't wait until the rats, roaches, or ants get into my CDs and literally eat them. As if CD/CDR rot weren't bad enough.
Its bad enough that CDRs and DVDs degrade over time, but now this? I want media that LASTS LONGER and will protect my data over time.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Dr. Weird : Gentlemen! Behold!... Corn!
Steve : [pretending to be surprised] Okaaay... you know, this is pretty nice! Yeah, I am kinda hungry...
Dr. Weird : Good! Then let the mating BEGIN! Mwahahahahah!
[the corn punctures Steve and pins him to the wall]
Courtesy of IMDB
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
Will it shit out big pieces like I shit out corn pieces?
... can we pleez stop subsidizing big corn agribiz?
:{)
(no, because of the Senate
(from http://www.wisagclassroom.org/Corn%20Plastic.pdf )
:
Materials Needed
cornstarch
measuring spoons
corn oil
water
medicine dropper
food coloring
microwave
sandwich-size resealable plastic bag
Procedure:
1. Place a tablespoon of cornstarch in a resealable plastic bag.
2. Add two drops of corn oil to the corn starch.
3. Add one and a half tablespoons of water to the oil and cornstarch.
4. Stir the mixture.
5.Add two drops of food coloring to the mixture and stir well.
6.Next, microwave your biodegradable plastic for 20-25 seconds on high.
(and obviously, use caution)
I have a few Korn CD's, I don't see what's so great about them though.
Like those starch-based packing foam peanuts? They melt in your mouth. yum.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Is a blue-ray burning application for KDE and call it Korn. Then we can be sued by the RIAA for *insert violation of the week kere*
BTW, I've got a couple of korn CD's in my collection, but they do not taste very good.
On a serious note, how long do these last? I once lived in a share house and during our yearly clean up we found a packet of cornflakes(TM) in the cupboard. The useby date was about 8 months prior and they did not look too good.
it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
Do we really want data to be biodegradable?
I mean, yes, with the widespread use of DVDs and CDs, this could become a problem, but aren't there many things that could be made biodegradable where it would be more desirable than data?
Intolerance for ambiguity is the mark of the authoritarian personality.
If it is biodegradable, doesn't that mean it won't last that long? I'm worried about it biodegrading like that.
1-Crawl 2-Cnfg 3-ATF 4-Exit ?
sure brought out the corny jokes
This sig is intentionally blank
Fast way to lose all your backups
And then maybe the dog would really eat your homework.
God spoke to me:
www.geocities.com/James_Sager_PA
God spoke to me
Not biodegradable by any stretch of imagination - made to survive high stress and temperature, don't flex much, but expensive to make (need to throw out any parts with very small cracks, since it is very brittle).
Wow, transparent corn, you know what that means! We're only one step away from transparent aluminum!
...and here is where it's all going.
------------
Create a WAP server
Remember to chew your Blu-Ray disc thoroughly or you know what happens.
"We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
Let the corny jokes commence.
We call it maize.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
Ok.... your an ubber l33t hacker, and you store all your scripts and stuff on one of these corn discs. :P.
The police arrive at your house.
Your like "OMG OMG THEY'RE GONNA FIND OUT"
But wait! This is a corn disc.
Just eat the damn thing and your stomach acid will take care of the rest
-Tony
tonyville dot org
There was a time when people actually used to eat corn, but I guess that's just a historical artefact now that world hunger has been completely solved.
you had me at #!
So not only do TV programs on PBS get supported by a grant from the Archer Daniels Midland Corporation, Supermarket to the World (tm), but if you want to watch a DVD it'll still be made out of Corn from Kansas? Sounds pretty Dole....
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Is the data safe on a bio-degradable disc? Will it turn into dirt in my PC?
Digestion-safe data storage.
Feeding stock is really wasteful. ie. 20 food units in --> about 1 food unit out. I doubt that the corn disks will be usable as stock food (ie. I expect that they're some cellulose/plastic stuff with little food value), but if they are then they could be reprocessed as stock food.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
But I don't want my data storage media to biodegrade. I want it to survive a nuclear war.
But can you lick them and stick them together to build things, like you can with the corn starch packing peanuts? ;-)
(Licking used packing peanuts is not recommended. Just a little disclaimer for those not astute or sober enough to figure that out on their own!)
No Laughing Allowed!
I stuck it in my cd drive and it didn't spin up.
God spoke to me
Go hug some trees.
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/0 2/0011220&tid=198&tid=126&tid=134&tid= 1
1. Take corn based AOL disks, water, and yeast
2. Allow to ferment
3. Distill and enjoy
AOL, "You got drunk"
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Hard Pore Corn :P
:)
Its so hot, it keeps on popping up
See my art -> http://herbevore.deviantart.com
Now when people ask about your data source, simple say "nacho cheese"...
The article says that the discs are 87% natural, whatever that means. What's the other 13% composed of, and how biodegradable will that be?
...you should use the ones made from blue corn. Something to do with the wavelength of light.
Hee Haw Season 1 now available on DVD - made from real props.
Proper storage:
Keep DVD in a cool, dry place, out of reach of incects and rodents.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
You'll get my popcorn when you pry it out of my cold, dead, hands, you hippie!
Damn...
I suppose the price of Blue Corn enchiladas is now gonna increase here in New Mexico due to increased demand for the makin's elsewhere...
If you disagree with me on social issues, then it's pretty clear that you are a narrow-minded bigot.
However, we could be processing our garbage to convert stuff like that to fuel. Pollution? Well, at least the large amount of paper in the garbage got its carbon from the atmosphere in the first place...
Or, as the Indian call it, Maze.
Thank you,
Bart Simpson
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
Now I wonder what would happen to one of those new discs if you put one in the microwave for 5 seconds.
All the Blu Rays will escape, that's what!
I wonder if they're going to get into trademark trouble with the other Pioneer
The Tortilla!
in other news, the price of corn sky rockets, millions go hungry, and we feel guilty for backing data up!
:) :) pun intended!
im investing in corn, and agri and fertilizer.
im projecting steady growth
And !
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
/me rushes to the local patent office
Are made from people! It's people!
Ever see corn come out the other end?
"... always going forward 'cause we cant find reverse! "
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While I'm all for creating materials that are bio degradable, a part of me screams what about those people who are hungry all over the world? Should we use perfectly good food to create disposable, non-eatable CDs?
Maybe I am wrong, maybe this is made out of parts of the corn that are not eatable or it could be created from food that would be wasted anyway. But somehow I doubt it.
[]'s Victor Bogado da Silva Lins
^[:wq
What with Monsanto having a corn monopoly, this is a unexpected windfall for them.
When the disk decomposes what becomes of the die and it's effect on the environment.
Hey I thought that blu-ray movie was kinda corny... (badabing)
picturing a bunch of fat American kids sick in the hopspital after losing at San Andreas...
...on what are the soylent-green-ray discs made of?
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
I think you'll have to figure in the time it takes bacteria to evolve entirely new enzyme systems.
pick up some CD's along with the milk. They're in the bread section...
"If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him" --Voltaire
A common plastic made from corn is polylactic acid (just google it). It's strong, clear, and easy to work with. More expensive than its comptetitors. But yes, it is biodegradable. Just toss it in the compost heap. It's also the same plastic used to make absorbable medical implants (sutures, screws, etc). That's right, if put a chunk under your skin (not that I recommend it), your body slowly absorbs it.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
I mean, say you're a some geek bachelor--but alas, I repeat myself.
Mark Twain. He's back. And this time he's out for revenge. Revenge.... on every third rate mangling of his humorous quotes. Once he's spotted you.... there's no escape.
(Clip.. voice of Mark Twain); "Viewer, suppose you were a mangler of the work of Mark Twain. And suppose you were someone who was going to die by having their bowels ripped out through their throat. But I repeat myself."
Twain; The Revenge. At cinemas on Friday, rated 18.
(At this point, the author of this post is killed by the ghost of the real Mark Twain, pissed off that his quote got mangled again).
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
But it tastes best when popped with salt and butter!
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
nothing really decays in a landfill; there is basically no oxygen in a landfill and that prevents pretty much everything from decaying. throw an apple into the garbage, it will not biodegrade. whoever puts that label on anything seems to keep their garbage on their patio.
From the article:
" While the disc can theoretically be eaten, it is coated by a 0.1-millimeter (0.004-inch) thick layer of resin and is too hard for even the strongest teeth."
like g-a-r-y, only different
Don't CDs have to be shiny and reflective?
Answer; no, they don't. The reason CDs are shiny and make pretty rainbow patterns when held up to a bright light is down to marketing. When they were launched in the 1980s, people were easily impressed with such hi-tech glitz, and it was decided that this would be a good marketing gimmick.
In fact, the original plan was to have one of those pictures that flicks between two images when you wiggle it round on the underside. Unfortunately, this went too far... during test-marketing in Iowa, the inhabitants thought the new-fangled gimmickry was the work of the devil, and burned the salesman at the stake.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
-1 Flamebait or not, the article made me laugh; thanks.
Actually, there's nothing particularly funny about the article overall, nor its context, but... better to laugh than not.
[ Another stupid idea from agriculture lobby ] like highly subsidized ethanol from corn so people don't realize it's more expensive than gasoline.
Gasoline is subsidised, too. You have to pay money to support friendly regimes to ensure you get your supply (and let's not get started on the real motives of the Iraq war). Would the United States be wasting time and money propping up an unpopular regime in Saudi Arabia (and thus providing a great recruiting point for vermin like Bin Laden, which in turn will cost more to defend yourselves from), if it wasn't for oil?
The question is, is corn the best way to go?
I never thought I'd hear myself saying this when I was a kid, but I think that nuclear power will be the best way forward for many countries, in the forseeable future. No, it won't be cheap if you consider the "real" cost. But from that perspective, oil isn't as great as people would like to think either.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
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