The lethal dose for inhaling Pu-239 is 0.1 microgram. That means that (theoretically) 28 grams (or 1 ounce) would be enough to kill everyone in the USA.
Sure, if the Plutonium was carefully divided up into 0.1 microgram doses and surgically implanted in the lungs of everyone in the USA.
According to The Myth of Plutonium Toxicity, inhaling 10 micrograms of Plutonium should result in an one-in-twenty risk of cancer (1/200 risk of cancer per microgram).
Plutonium is nasty stuff but its dangers have been grossly exaggerated by some anti-nuclear activists.
Controlled burns are relatively safe if done under the right conditions. In many arid environments, it is normal for natural fires to periodically burn off the accumulated brush and other fuel. This is much less damaging than tearing up everything with a bulldozer.
She may not have a "real" vote but she can sit on committees and influence other members of congress. This has helped when Congress writes the D.C. budget. On the other hand, Walter Fauntroy, the previous representative, was a waste of protoplasm.
What about reliability? Where I work, we have a big Rolm PBX. It wasn't cheap but it has been very reliable. It has a hot backup CPU in case the primary CPU faults. The techs can do maintenance without taking it down. The LAN is much less reliable, probably due to the large number of components that are single points of failure. It was designed to be fast and cheap, not redundant and reliable.
And when was the last time we had a totalitarian government we had to defend ourselves from in either Canada or the US?
In the not-so-ancient history department, Black Americans have had to use firearms to protect their families and communities from racist thugs such as the Ku Klux Klan. In many of these cases, the local government and police department either looked the other way or were active supporters of the Klan. This can happen to any racial, religious or ethnic group that is unpopular with the general populace. There are still people in this country that burn churches and synagogues, and would be happy to see all Blacks, Jews and other "undesirables" deported or exterminated. My local synagogue was painted with NAZI graffiti and another synagogue burned down under suspicious circumstances. That is one of the reasons that I am a gun owner and I encourage all Jews to purchase a firearm and learn how to use it safely and effectively.
What happened to the modified version of Ethernet that allocated 10 mbps to data and 6 mbps to voice/video? I think it was being pushed by National Semiconductor. It looked like a clean way to run voice over Ethernet without the delay and loss problems of standard Ethernet.
When the State of Maryland does background checks on gun purchases, the dealer is required to put the make, model and serial number of the firearm on the form before sending it to the State Police. Why do they need this information if they are only doing a background check?
The scary thing is that the movie was correct. Every time a gun is purchased from a licensed dealer, the purchaser fills out a form ("yellow sheet", ATF Form 4473) that lists the purchaser's name and address, the make, model, and serial number of the gun, and a list of questions about the purchaser's legal status (Are you a convicted felon? etc.). The dealer keeps the form as a permanent part of his records, subject to audit and inspection by the BATF. If the dealer goes out of business, all the records are transferred to the BATF. The BATF has stated that they would like to computerize their records with the eventual goal being to store all of the 4473 forms in a database. The current system is a result of the Gun Control Act of 1968. Letting the gun dealers keep control of the 4473 forms was not an accident, it was intentional. Congress didn't want the federal government to have instant access to this information. The current system allows the government to trace the ownership of a firearm recovered in a criminal investigation, but the FBI or BATF has to do some leg work to trace the firearm from the importer or manufacturer to the retail purchaser. They just can't punch the serial number into a computer terminal and get the name and address of the owner. It also prevents them from doing a database query on all firearms purchased by a given individual.
This has already been done at the state level. In Maryland, background checks for handgun purchases are done by the State Police. The check is supposed to be done within two weeks. The State Police are infamous for sitting on the paperwork for four to six weeks. The state law says that you can pick up the handgun from the dealer if the State Police have not processed the paperwork within two weeks. In reality, the State Police have threatened gun dealers with reprisals if they let the purchaser pick up the handgun before the State Police process the paperwork. The people who run the State Police are political cronies of the Governor, who is usually a Democrat who would like to ban all guns.
The other tricks that have been used in anti-gun states and localities are:
1. Require the purchaser to have taken a gun safety course that is only offered by the state government. Then make sure that the gun safety courses are rarely scheduled and are made as inconvenient as possible.
2. Accept the paperwork from the purchaser and drop it in the nearest trash can. If the purchaser objects, tell her to fuck off and hire a lawyer if she doesn't like it. A variation on this theme is to always be "out of stock" on the necessary forms.
An example: If I copy The Stand word-for-word, and try to sell it, that's a copyright violation. If I rewrite it in my own words, but retain all of the plot, characterization, etc., that is not a copyright violation.
If I write a book that uses the characters from Star Trek(TM), their lawyers would have me in court within 50 ns, even though I haven't copied the literal expression of their work.
The problem is that sleazy lawyers (Hi Helena!) can get subpoenas and use them to unmask the identity of their enemies, even if they don't intend to follow through with a lawsuit. This has become a common tactic when anonymous critics manage to upset large companies or scams^H^H^H^H^Hreligious organizations.
The traditional definition of a common carrier is a business that offers a service to the general public, without discrimination, on a regular basis. Common carriers are usually subject to federal and state regulations. A common carrier can not refuse service to a customer except under unusual conditions such as lack of capacity. That is where most Internet companies flunk the common carrier test. They reserve the right to not offer service or to discontinue service without cause. The telephone company on the other hand, must provide service to anyone who can pay for it, even if they are the League of Communist Dope Fiends and Child Pornographers for Satan, Reformed.
The problem with noise sources (thermal noise, semiconductor junction noise) is that it can be difficult to keep external signals out of the circuit. The power supply must be clean and the circuit must be shielded. The output of the noise generator must be carefully tested to detect any biases and correlations. Engineers have told me that this is a tough problem. A radioactive decay detector has the advantage of not being affected by these problems.
I built one of these with an Aware Electronics RM-60 radiation monitor, a radiation source extracted from a cheap ionization smoke detector and a small program to collect the bits. The data rate isn't high but it is fine for generating keys and one-time-pads. The RM-60 is cheap, small, and is powered by the voltage on the RS-232 interface.
A local hard drive with a file system means that the computer has state that isn't portable, must be managed and backed up. If it breaks, you can't just ship it off for repair and seamlessly replace it with another unit. The user's files should be on a well managed server. If there is a local hard disk, it should be used for virtual memory, temporary files and cached copies of files.
I've been building, using, repairing and programming computers for a long time. That means that the technology doesn't scare me and I actually understand most of the cryptic error messages.
When I stop and think about it, I feel sorry for what has been inflicted on the non-technical computer user by the computer industry. Too much of the hardware and software is designed by programmers and engineers, for other programmers and engineers. Unless you are careful, it is easy to forget that the non-technical user is not an engineer or a programmer, and doesn't understand I/O ports, interrupts, low level disk formatting, tracks, sectors, file systems, video signal timing and hundreds of other concepts that the typical slashdot user takes for granted.
I would argue that non-technical users shouldn't be expected to learn the technical details of their computers. The operating system should not allow them to do things that will damage or disable the computer. The computer should be an appliance, with all the gears and wires carefully hidden away. The user should only see a carefully designed set of abstractions that are proven to be useful and understandable. Everything else should be invisible. A computer is a tool, not an end in itself.
How are you going to do this without the cooperation of Microsoft? SMB support is integrated into Windows. I'm guessing that Windows supports Novell because of customer demand and a desire to infiltrate Novell based networks.
Why can't we impeach these idiots for violating their oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States"? If they don't like something in the Constitution, they should try to amend it, not introduce unconstitutional bills.
If they threw away all the displays with a few bad pixels, the yields would be much worse and the cost of the display would be unaffordable for many people.
My current laptop had its display replaced twice due to gross defects when it was new. The third display worked fine until recently, when a complete vertical line of pixels stopped working. Now it is no longer under warranty and it would be too expensive to replace the display.
Do the manufacturers want to sell goods directly to the public? Selling small quantities and holding the customer's hand is expensive. Many manufacturers would rather ship a truckload of goods to a wholesaler or retailer, and let them deal with the end users.
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Sure, if the Plutonium was carefully divided up into 0.1 microgram doses and surgically implanted in the lungs of everyone in the USA.
According to The Myth of Plutonium Toxicity, inhaling 10 micrograms of Plutonium should result in an one-in-twenty risk of cancer (1/200 risk of cancer per microgram).
Plutonium is nasty stuff but its dangers have been grossly exaggerated by some anti-nuclear activists.
Funny you should say that. Go to the library and read the history of the revolt in the Warsaw Ghetto.
You might also try expanding your vocabulary to include words other than "fuck".
Controlled burns are relatively safe if done under the right conditions. In many arid environments, it is normal for natural fires to periodically burn off the accumulated brush and other fuel. This is much less damaging than tearing up everything with a bulldozer.
Under the right circumstances, Plutonium can burn. See the DOE handbook for details.
She may not have a "real" vote but she can sit on committees and influence other members of congress. This has helped when Congress writes the D.C. budget. On the other hand, Walter Fauntroy, the previous representative, was a waste of protoplasm.
What about reliability? Where I work, we have a big Rolm PBX. It wasn't cheap but it has been very reliable. It has a hot backup CPU in case the primary CPU faults. The techs can do maintenance without taking it down. The LAN is much less reliable, probably due to the large number of components that are single points of failure. It was designed to be fast and cheap, not redundant and reliable.
The District of Columbia has one non-voting representative in the House of Representatives, currently Eleanor Holmes Norton (D).
In the not-so-ancient history department, Black Americans have had to use firearms to protect their families and communities from racist thugs such as the Ku Klux Klan. In many of these cases, the local government and police department either looked the other way or were active supporters of the Klan. This can happen to any racial, religious or ethnic group that is unpopular with the general populace. There are still people in this country that burn churches and synagogues, and would be happy to see all Blacks, Jews and other "undesirables" deported or exterminated. My local synagogue was painted with NAZI graffiti and another synagogue burned down under suspicious circumstances. That is one of the reasons that I am a gun owner and I encourage all Jews to purchase a firearm and learn how to use it safely and effectively.
What happened to the modified version of Ethernet that allocated 10 mbps to data and 6 mbps to voice/video? I think it was being pushed by National Semiconductor. It looked like a clean way to run voice over Ethernet without the delay and loss problems of standard Ethernet.
When the State of Maryland does background checks on gun purchases, the dealer is required to put the make, model and serial number of the firearm on the form before sending it to the State Police. Why do they need this information if they are only doing a background check?
The scary thing is that the movie was correct. Every time a gun is purchased from a licensed dealer, the purchaser fills out a form ("yellow sheet", ATF Form 4473) that lists the purchaser's name and address, the make, model, and serial number of the gun, and a list of questions about the purchaser's legal status (Are you a convicted felon? etc.). The dealer keeps the form as a permanent part of his records, subject to audit and inspection by the BATF. If the dealer goes out of business, all the records are transferred to the BATF. The BATF has stated that they would like to computerize their records with the eventual goal being to store all of the 4473 forms in a database. The current system is a result of the Gun Control Act of 1968. Letting the gun dealers keep control of the 4473 forms was not an accident, it was intentional. Congress didn't want the federal government to have instant access to this information. The current system allows the government to trace the ownership of a firearm recovered in a criminal investigation, but the FBI or BATF has to do some leg work to trace the firearm from the importer or manufacturer to the retail purchaser. They just can't punch the serial number into a computer terminal and get the name and address of the owner. It also prevents them from doing a database query on all firearms purchased by a given individual.
The other tricks that have been used in anti-gun states and localities are:
1. Require the purchaser to have taken a gun safety course that is only offered by the state government. Then make sure that the gun safety courses are rarely scheduled and are made as inconvenient as possible.
2. Accept the paperwork from the purchaser and drop it in the nearest trash can. If the purchaser objects, tell her to fuck off and hire a lawyer if she doesn't like it. A variation on this theme is to always be "out of stock" on the necessary forms.
Cool. What are the ballistics on one of those things?
If I write a book that uses the characters from Star Trek(TM), their lawyers would have me in court within 50 ns, even though I haven't copied the literal expression of their work.
The problem is that sleazy lawyers (Hi Helena!) can get subpoenas and use them to unmask the identity of their enemies, even if they don't intend to follow through with a lawsuit. This has become a common tactic when anonymous critics manage to upset large companies or scams^H^H^H^H^Hreligious organizations.
The traditional definition of a common carrier is a business that offers a service to the general public, without discrimination, on a regular basis. Common carriers are usually subject to federal and state regulations. A common carrier can not refuse service to a customer except under unusual conditions such as lack of capacity. That is where most Internet companies flunk the common carrier test. They reserve the right to not offer service or to discontinue service without cause. The telephone company on the other hand, must provide service to anyone who can pay for it, even if they are the League of Communist Dope Fiends and Child Pornographers for Satan, Reformed.
The problem with noise sources (thermal noise, semiconductor junction noise) is that it can be difficult to keep external signals out of the circuit. The power supply must be clean and the circuit must be shielded. The output of the noise generator must be carefully tested to detect any biases and correlations. Engineers have told me that this is a tough problem. A radioactive decay detector has the advantage of not being affected by these problems.
I built one of these with an Aware Electronics RM-60 radiation monitor, a radiation source extracted from a cheap ionization smoke detector and a small program to collect the bits. The data rate isn't high but it is fine for generating keys and one-time-pads. The RM-60 is cheap, small, and is powered by the voltage on the RS-232 interface.
Intel started being stupid about this with the Pentium. The infamous "Appendix H" that required an NDA.
A local hard drive with a file system means that the computer has state that isn't portable, must be managed and backed up. If it breaks, you can't just ship it off for repair and seamlessly replace it with another unit. The user's files should be on a well managed server. If there is a local hard disk, it should be used for virtual memory, temporary files and cached copies of files.
When I stop and think about it, I feel sorry for what has been inflicted on the non-technical computer user by the computer industry. Too much of the hardware and software is designed by programmers and engineers, for other programmers and engineers. Unless you are careful, it is easy to forget that the non-technical user is not an engineer or a programmer, and doesn't understand I/O ports, interrupts, low level disk formatting, tracks, sectors, file systems, video signal timing and hundreds of other concepts that the typical slashdot user takes for granted.
I would argue that non-technical users shouldn't be expected to learn the technical details of their computers. The operating system should not allow them to do things that will damage or disable the computer. The computer should be an appliance, with all the gears and wires carefully hidden away. The user should only see a carefully designed set of abstractions that are proven to be useful and understandable. Everything else should be invisible. A computer is a tool, not an end in itself.
How are you going to do this without the cooperation of Microsoft? SMB support is integrated into Windows. I'm guessing that Windows supports Novell because of customer demand and a desire to infiltrate Novell based networks.
Why can't we impeach these idiots for violating their oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States"? If they don't like something in the Constitution, they should try to amend it, not introduce unconstitutional bills.
My current laptop had its display replaced twice due to gross defects when it was new. The third display worked fine until recently, when a complete vertical line of pixels stopped working. Now it is no longer under warranty and it would be too expensive to replace the display.
Do the manufacturers want to sell goods directly to the public? Selling small quantities and holding the customer's hand is expensive. Many manufacturers would rather ship a truckload of goods to a wholesaler or retailer, and let them deal with the end users.