many energy sources in the developing world can cost 50 or 60 cents per kilowatt, a PowerPallet can do it for a dime
Which does not really add up with costing "less than $2 a watt", unless it should have said "a lot less" in which case $2 is just misleading. I would be interested to know which is true, though. The technology seems both interesting and useful.
another post cleared up the "less than $2 a watt" as being the initial machine cost
I suspect that the comparison in the developing world of "50 to 60 cents per kilowatt" is a typo, they probably meant "50 to 60 cents per kilowatt-hour" which is the cost of electricity. That the gasifier can do it for 10 cents per kWr is pretty amazing, I pay more than that...but I guess biomass\feedstock for the gasifer is probably super-cheap in the developing world
IIRC, the problem with the original soda cap plastic is that it degrades quickly in sunlight (UV) so it would eventually fail. I guess the film canister is made of a material resistant to UV.
J.L. Galache
on July 2, 2013 at 2:06 am said:
Dear Iain,
We never met, and never will, but your words will remain with me forever. Well, until it’s my turn to turn the lights off. And let me be clear that it’s the Sci-Fi words I’ll keep, not the mainstream ones you used to subsidize them. I admit to not having read all your Sci-Fi novels, but I do have a day job, you know?
Speaking of which, my job as an astronomer at the Minor Planet Center allowed me the opportunity to propose that the International Astronomical Union name an asteroid after you. I really did try hard to get it through the bureaucracy as fast as possible, but alas the naming came a fortnight too late. As I say in my article, I’d like to think you would have been amused by this:
I hope you can accept this humble gift on Iain’s behalf. Even if he is ever forgotten (and he won’t be), his name will remain as that of asteroid Iainbanks, a 6.1 km hunk of rock orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter every 3.94 years.
From the Wikipedia's EEStor article, you CAN fast charge at home without a ridiculous electrical system -- IF you have a second EESU that slowcharges overnight:
"Overnight charging at home should still be practical,[6] as is using a second EESU for the home which could be charged overnight using cheap, off-peak electricity to then charge the EEStor unit in the car in 5-10 minutes on demand - and deliver cheap electric power to the house too, making expensive peak power plants obsolete.[7]"
I lost the hard drive on my gaming machine last year.
After I got a new HD and rebuilt it, I just downloaded Steam and got all my Steam games reinstalled with just a few clicks...that was pretty sweet.
I know that I should hate DRM on principle, and one day Valve WILL shut down their authentication servers, but so far I have to say the benefits of Steam have outweighed it's negatives...for me, at least.
only 500 cycles, really? that seems a little low. do they mean that after 500 charges the battery begins to decrease in capacity, or that the battery will start to fail completely after 500 charges? because that seems really really low to me.
i mean, most rechargeable batteries today are Li-ion batteries, right? i just wanna know how many recharges i have left on my PSP.
does it help if you make sure to plug the battery back into the charger before it's out of charge? what can you do or not do to help preserve the capacity and life-span of a li-ion battery?
Li-ion batteries are usually limited by 'calendar' life, not charge cycles - they start losing capacity the moment they are packaged at the factory and generally last a couple of years before they become too weak to use.
However, there are some strategies to extend their life:
1. Keep them cool (but not frozen) 2. Keep them at around 40% charge
Now, this probably isn't too useful for batteries that you are actively using - however, if you have spare lithium batteries lying around that you aren't using at the moment you might want to drain the charge to about 40% and zip them up in ziplock bags and put them in the fridge until you need to use them (check it once in a while to make sure they haven't drained to zero charge because that can kill them).
Also, this means that you should avoid letting your Li-ion batteries get hot unnecessarily, like leaving them in a hot car in the summer.
Slashdot Mirror
Further down the journalist writes:
many energy sources in the developing world can cost 50 or 60 cents per kilowatt, a PowerPallet can do it for a dime
Which does not really add up with costing "less than $2 a watt", unless it should have said "a lot less" in which case $2 is just misleading. I would be interested to know which is true, though. The technology seems both interesting and useful.
another post cleared up the "less than $2 a watt" as being the initial machine cost
I suspect that the comparison in the developing world of "50 to 60 cents per kilowatt" is a typo, they probably meant "50 to 60 cents per kilowatt-hour" which is the cost of electricity. That the gasifier can do it for 10 cents per kWr is pretty amazing, I pay more than that...but I guess biomass\feedstock for the gasifer is probably super-cheap in the developing world
It'll only steam, not vacuum.
So you're saying...it doesn't suck?
Maybe captchas should be supplemented with logic puzzles to ensure commenters are actually capable of rational thought as well as pattern recognition.
If we did that, we'd lose half the comments.
Half?
IIRC, the problem with the original soda cap plastic is that it degrades quickly in sunlight (UV) so it would eventually fail. I guess the film canister is made of a material resistant to UV.
Pretty soon Tesla will have sold as many cars as De Lorian.
Your spelling is atro shus
Considering the people who need it don't own anything....maybe LACK?
Wait, that's taken
Apparently, Mr. Galache tried to get it through as fast as possible but unfortunately Mr. Banks passed away too soon.
:
I hope Mr. Galache does not mind my reposting of his post from http://friends.banksophilia.com/guestbook
J.L. Galache on July 2, 2013 at 2:06 am said:
Dear Iain,
We never met, and never will, but your words will remain with me forever. Well, until it’s my turn to turn the lights off. And let me be clear that it’s the Sci-Fi words I’ll keep, not the mainstream ones you used to subsidize them. I admit to not having read all your Sci-Fi novels, but I do have a day job, you know?
Speaking of which, my job as an astronomer at the Minor Planet Center allowed me the opportunity to propose that the International Astronomical Union name an asteroid after you. I really did try hard to get it through the bureaucracy as fast as possible, but alas the naming came a fortnight too late. As I say in my article, I’d like to think you would have been amused by this:
http://minorplanetcenter.net/blog/sci-fi-author-iain-m-banks-gets-asteroid-named-after-him/
Dear Adele,
I hope you can accept this humble gift on Iain’s behalf. Even if he is ever forgotten (and he won’t be), his name will remain as that of asteroid Iainbanks, a 6.1 km hunk of rock orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter every 3.94 years.
May it orbit forever.
Yours,
—JL Galache
Astronomer
Minor Planet Center
Wasn't that an April Fool's Day joke article?
...for Leibowitz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz
Read your own news story.
They may have started the riots, but the first man to die was a monk slain by Muslims.
Retaliation is perfectly acceptable.
Pursing the specific killer\killers of the first monk might be acceptable.
Starting a riot and murdering dozens of people just because they happen to be Muslim is not acceptable. At least not to me.
Does a mob of Muslim-murdering Buddhists count?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/08/us-myanmar-violence-specialreport-idUSBRE9370AP20130408
Same for me, my old account is still there and I logged in.
However, when i checked for some rare torrents that I knew were there before, they were gone.
I'm with you on hoping the rare torrents getting seeded again - that was Demonoid's niche in the torrent community
I know this is breaking the rules, but I've read TFA. The DNA sample was found on a lighter in the girl's bag next to her body.
Not just on the lighter
From TFA: ...cigarette lighter found in Vaatstra's bag which contains dna traces that match the traces found on the schoolgirl's body. "
"
How can there be 100's of different plug varieties when there areonly 10's of different elctric cars yet.
I think the 'hundreds of plug varieties' comment is hyperbole
Also, how can plug-design speed up charge time 24 times?
The plug design change added more pins (the DC ones) and those can be used to deliver more amps quickly
Considering some of the postings I've seen, I'm not even sure if some posters read the title
Don't all guys wanna give their girlfriends a 'hard drive'?
Most girlfriends usually don't mind, as long as it isn't SCSI...
I'm here til Thursday, try the veal
If so I can't imagine why
We've all got time enough to cry
From the Wikipedia's EEStor article, you CAN fast charge at home without a ridiculous electrical system -- IF you have a second EESU that slowcharges overnight:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EEStor
"Overnight charging at home should still be practical,[6] as is using a second EESU for the home which could be charged overnight using cheap, off-peak electricity to then charge the EEStor unit in the car in 5-10 minutes on demand - and deliver cheap electric power to the house too, making expensive peak power plants obsolete.[7]"
I think once you wander through Grayditch, you'll notice some ants...
Mod parent up.
I lost the hard drive on my gaming machine last year.
After I got a new HD and rebuilt it, I just downloaded Steam and got all my Steam games reinstalled with just a few clicks...that was pretty sweet.
I know that I should hate DRM on principle, and one day Valve WILL shut down their authentication servers, but so far I have to say the benefits of Steam have outweighed it's negatives...for me, at least.
PS- are web shooters included?
You only get one but you're not gonna like where you have to shoot it from...
This might be helpful to the pop-culture challenged:
"Why in Vertigo, the lyrics go "UNO, DOS, TRES... CATORCE"? (meaning 1,2,3,14)?"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071204125822AAU9OFn
You can read more in the Wikipedia link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo_(song)
But hey, at least you got a +5 Funny!
only 500 cycles, really? that seems a little low. do they mean that after 500 charges the battery begins to decrease in capacity, or that the battery will start to fail completely after 500 charges? because that seems really really low to me.
i mean, most rechargeable batteries today are Li-ion batteries, right? i just wanna know how many recharges i have left on my PSP.
does it help if you make sure to plug the battery back into the charger before it's out of charge? what can you do or not do to help preserve the capacity and life-span of a li-ion battery?
Li-ion batteries are usually limited by 'calendar' life, not charge cycles - they start losing capacity the moment they are packaged at the factory and generally last a couple of years before they become too weak to use.
However, there are some strategies to extend their life:
1. Keep them cool (but not frozen)
2. Keep them at around 40% charge
Now, this probably isn't too useful for batteries that you are actively using - however, if you have spare lithium batteries lying around that you aren't using at the moment you might want to drain the charge to about 40% and zip them up in ziplock bags and put them in the fridge until you need to use them (check it once in a while to make sure they haven't drained to zero charge because that can kill them).
Also, this means that you should avoid letting your Li-ion batteries get hot unnecessarily, like leaving them in a hot car in the summer.
This is a good reference http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
and probably a change of underwear
Is there a 'How to make a lightsabre' lab?
(and make sure to follow up 'Coping with Accidental Autoamputation 201')