Microsoft employees use competing products like Google and AIM on their work computers. Microsoft products must compete for their employees' "business" just like they must compete for our business.
Now that it has been disclosed that the original story was wrong (MSN returns more than 15 hits) lets ask if more is better. How many people look past the first million or so?
Actually, the smell comes from all the other gasses that come off with the methane. It's burning all the other stuff along with the methane that reduces the odor. Which means that the exhaust from the motor/generator is more than pure CO2 and water. In fact, it's likely that the engine used to power the generator is more polluting than your recent model Chevrolet since there are no pollution standards for the "converted" internal combustion engine that was used. CO, NOx and all that.
It's not so much what this farmer is doing, it is what the members of the electric co-op are doing -- paying to subsidize this project. They're paying RETAIL for the power.
If this guy had to compete with the gas/coal fired mega watt power plant, he'd be spreading undigested manure on the field like everyone else.
If I could get someone else to shoulder the cost of solving my oder problem, I'd be raising 750+ cows too.
One of the source documents (from the State of Minn research people) estimates the capital cost to be $300,000 plus an additional 5% to 10% of that number per year in operational costs. At $0.30 per cow per day (from the electric co-op) and 750 cows, revenue is aprox $82,000 per year -- and the co-op is paying retail for the power. Assuming 10% per year depreciation ($30,000) on the capital cost and 7.5% for operation ($22,500), they're grossing a little less than $30,000 per year. AT RETAIL!
If they had to compete with a real power plant, they'd be better off flaring the gas off just like the real sewage plants do.
As a nation, we really are pretty efficient at generating electricity.
According to news reports, the Dell PDA will be Pocket PC, in stock, order today, ship today. Priced at $199 and $299. compared to HP's $500+ offering that's pretty revolutionary.
Most of the problems have been related to operator (pilot) error related to inadequate training. Investigators are unhappy at the number of times the Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript includes the phrase "What's it doing now?" or "Why did it do that?".
While these accidents and incidents are chalked up to "pilot error", the industry is beginning to understand that in many cases the user interface or design of the system is at fault.
Here in the USA, everyone (schoolkids upwards) has one, communications across networks doesn't mean anything to me (I answer it when it rings and dial it when I want to call someone), and moving across state boundaries are not a problem. Like my car, it starts every morning and gets me where I want to go. I am probably the one person out of a hundred that knows what technology my phone uses (CDMA).
People here buy what works for them if it is priced right. Handsets are cheap! Battery life is more important than bandwidth. Hell, the color of the case is more important than bandwidth.
If this picture taking thing catches on here, bandwidth will be important -- not in terms of a user understood spec, but in terms of "Why can't my phone do that?"
QualComm has demonstrated some horrendously fast signals in the real world. It will be an interesting few years coming up.
Interesting your reference to driving a car. Read the book, get the license, drive for 60 years without ever giving it another thought.
Buy the software, install it and run it until the computer dies without ever giving it another thought.
I saw a statistic a few years ago on how many cars with applicable safety recalls are actually taken to the dealer to have the inspection/service performed. Less than 20%. It's probably about the same for software updates.
Low yield agriculture is good as long as 90% of the population is content spending their lives growing food for their own use. This is what subsistance farming is all about and it is how people survived in North America when this country got started. Since then, we've learned how to let just 3% (maybe less now) of the population feed the other 97% so they can do things like develop software and semiconductors, read books and play baseball.
You and your corn crop would be in about as much danger as the Coca crops in Central and South America. The military can't blast Coca from the face of the earth so I doubt that any patent holder can clear all the corn from Zimbabwe.
They are pricing this product slightly above a simple Palm handheld. They claim functionality somewhere between the Palm OS and Linux (or maybe Pocket PC?). And people wonder why there is no funding available? It would be more cost effective to buy a boatload of Palms or Visors, give them away and let the professors write applications for those.
Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft employees use competing products like Google and AIM on their work computers. Microsoft products must compete for their employees' "business" just like they must compete for our business.
Now that it has been disclosed that the original story was wrong (MSN returns more than 15 hits) lets ask if more is better. How many people look past the first million or so?
Initial Value = $35,000
Ending Value = $150,000
Number of Periods = 47
Rate of Return = 3.1%
Not exactly reaching for the moon, is he?
And the power will be so inexpensive, well, it'll be too cheap to meter.
...
Wait, I heard that somewhere
The cost of solving the e-coli problem should be born by the people eating the cheese and drinking the milk, not by the people buying electricity.
... and PG&E is further required to pay above market rates for that power.
Actually, the smell comes from all the other gasses that come off with the methane. It's burning all the other stuff along with the methane that reduces the odor. Which means that the exhaust from the motor/generator is more than pure CO2 and water. In fact, it's likely that the engine used to power the generator is more polluting than your recent model Chevrolet since there are no pollution standards for the "converted" internal combustion engine that was used. CO, NOx and all that.
It's not so much what this farmer is doing, it is what the members of the electric co-op are doing -- paying to subsidize this project. They're paying RETAIL for the power.
If this guy had to compete with the gas/coal fired mega watt power plant, he'd be spreading undigested manure on the field like everyone else.
If I could get someone else to shoulder the cost of solving my oder problem, I'd be raising 750+ cows too.
One of the source documents (from the State of Minn research people) estimates the capital cost to be $300,000 plus an additional 5% to 10% of that number per year in operational costs. At $0.30 per cow per day (from the electric co-op) and 750 cows, revenue is aprox $82,000 per year -- and the co-op is paying retail for the power. Assuming 10% per year depreciation ($30,000) on the capital cost and 7.5% for operation ($22,500), they're grossing a little less than $30,000 per year. AT RETAIL!
If they had to compete with a real power plant, they'd be better off flaring the gas off just like the real sewage plants do.
As a nation, we really are pretty efficient at generating electricity.
Water is used to wash down the "facilities". They may add more so they can pump "product" around and so the bio-critters won't dry out.
Maybe a number two laddie and a legal pad.
According to news reports, the Dell PDA will be Pocket PC, in stock, order today, ship today. Priced at $199 and $299. compared to HP's $500+ offering that's pretty revolutionary.
Most of the problems have been related to operator (pilot) error related to inadequate training. Investigators are unhappy at the number of times the Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript includes the phrase "What's it doing now?" or "Why did it do that?".
While these accidents and incidents are chalked up to "pilot error", the industry is beginning to understand that in many cases the user interface or design of the system is at fault.
this "article" is the result of IBM PR.
The wonders of IBM's PR department.
The tinfoil would be a radar reflector, not repeater. Just a small detail.
The man was found dead in the bathroom but the headline says he died from playing computer games. I think he expired from a difficult defecation.
At least they didn't blame the Internet.
Here in the USA, everyone (schoolkids upwards) has one, communications across networks doesn't mean anything to me (I answer it when it rings and dial it when I want to call someone), and moving across state boundaries are not a problem. Like my car, it starts every morning and gets me where I want to go. I am probably the one person out of a hundred that knows what technology my phone uses (CDMA).
People here buy what works for them if it is priced right. Handsets are cheap! Battery life is more important than bandwidth. Hell, the color of the case is more important than bandwidth.
If this picture taking thing catches on here, bandwidth will be important -- not in terms of a user understood spec, but in terms of "Why can't my phone do that?"
QualComm has demonstrated some horrendously fast signals in the real world. It will be an interesting few years coming up.
So, Bill walked next door and got a Whopper for 99 cents. I don't see a problem here.
Interesting your reference to driving a car. Read the book, get the license, drive for 60 years without ever giving it another thought.
Buy the software, install it and run it until the computer dies without ever giving it another thought.
I saw a statistic a few years ago on how many cars with applicable safety recalls are actually taken to the dealer to have the inspection/service performed. Less than 20%. It's probably about the same for software updates.
And we could go back to programming computers with punch cards. *They are tried and true, and accuracy is very high, in most places 98% or higher.*
Low yield agriculture is good as long as 90% of the population is content spending their lives growing food for their own use. This is what subsistance farming is all about and it is how people survived in North America when this country got started. Since then, we've learned how to let just 3% (maybe less now) of the population feed the other 97% so they can do things like develop software and semiconductors, read books and play baseball.
I like high yield farms.
Next, they'll be banning "non-organic" Nitrogen fertilizer. Better to piss and shit on the corn.
You and your corn crop would be in about as much danger as the Coca crops in Central and South America. The military can't blast Coca from the face of the earth so I doubt that any patent holder can clear all the corn from Zimbabwe.
They are pricing this product slightly above a simple Palm handheld. They claim functionality somewhere between the Palm OS and Linux (or maybe Pocket PC?). And people wonder why there is no funding available? It would be more cost effective to buy a boatload of Palms or Visors, give them away and let the professors write applications for those.