That is the problem with the oil sands in Northern Alberta. They are using natural gas reserves to extract the oil, but are using more energy than the oil provides.
There aren't enough natural gas reserves to continue providing the states with gas to fire their cleaner electricity generating stations though.
The US may have to choose. Do they want our gas or our oil
With all the advances in technology, why are mints still using paper money, that will always counterfeitable?
Why can't the mints move to using a public debit card type system, and provide stores with terminals to enable the transfer of currency? Public terminals could enable the exchange of money between individuals. Paper and coins could be used for $10 or less.
Right now, I can use the bank's card to make a purchase (but pay a service charge), or I can use the public currency exchange system (paper money). It's time to upgrade the public system.
If I walk into someone's store, the store is permitted to have someone follow me -- either in person, or by video camera. I'm on private property, and the property owner is entitled to watch what I am doing.
When you surf on a site, you are accessing someone elses server. They are the property owner, and they have the right to a report to see what you are doing.
There is nothing that I can see that RedSherriff becomes resident on your machine and watches you elsewhere. It just uses cookies to provide enhanced site stats to, in this case, the beeb.
Nothing to see here......move right along, please.
They have no intention of building anything, just make money for their shareholders from tha patents. And this encourages innovation? All it does is put a roadblock against someone who really wants to build it.
From their site ("company summary" page)
Our aim is to generate returns for our shareholders by acting now to acquire control of important blocks of intellectual property (patents and trade secrets) in the ETT field. We currently own the patent and trade secret rights to Evacuated Tube Transport, the first practical evacuated tube transport technology. We believe that these ultra efficient and environmentally benign systems, will become key components of numerous future worldwide transport systems. ET3.COM INC. intends to take full advantage of the generic nature of this unique technology by securing the intellectual property rights on the lion's share of all specific applications, new devices, and novel systems issuing from it. Management also believes that we are well positioned to gain control of other major intellectual property by developing new patents and trade secrets through our own internal efforts and by developing patent-exploitation agreements for the patents and trade secrets belonging to others.
If they insist on calling it property, then let's start treating it like Real Estate.
If I have a farm in the way of a new superhighway that's required for the common good, then the government just expropriates it -- they force me to take a 'reasonable' amount of money, and they take the property. The gov't gets to decide what is reasonable.
I wouldn't mind my tax dollars being used to expropriate OpenGL
It would be cool if it had just enough to start a network install of a few Linux distro's -- the same stuff that's usually on the floppy of the distro.
There have been many times where I've wished I could just plug in a new computer to cable or adsl, and just start a network install.
In this world there are two types of writers, -- writers who write because of the love of creation, and the urge to 'scratch an itch', and paid prostitutes of corporations (like, um, CNET and Microsoft) who don't write what they choose to write, but rather write what their corporate overlords require to maximize profits.
The unpaid creative artists have been around for centuries, while paid scribes and boy bands have a short history.
I would value the writing or music of a true artist far more that a person who is only around for the money. I don't see why programming should be any different.
The whole notion of trees as 'carbon sinks' is poor thinking. Trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere, true, but then give it up when they die and rot. In balance, a forest is pretty much neutral.
If you were to harvest a tree and turn it into something that doesn't rot -- well then you've become a 'sink' -- except the tree still degrades -- just slower.
What is even more delicious is that this was released on a Saturday morning -- when the lawyers are away from their offices enjoying the sun and a few beer. Lots of time to spread it around before the judicial system has a chance to yank it
The prestigious British medical journal (www.bmj.com) went online years ago. They too had to tackle some of the thoughts that were mentioned here.
This was one of their first articles introducting their online edition ( "BMJ on the internet"). It also has links to many more articles.
BMJ seems to have been able to maintain their prestige, yet successfully move to the internet. As a non-doctor, I often read the articles on their site with great interest -- but would never be able to afford to purchase a subscription to keep up with research purely for interests sake.
People have praised the move for more worthy reasons too -- MD's in developing countries now have immediate and free access to valuable advances in medical knowlege. The traditional approach locks information into the developed world thus deepening the divide
What are the best/funniest April Fools jokes and articles on the web that you've seen?
My favourite was the Mybc.com article about a bridge shutdown because of a rare bird. What makes it even better troll is that we are in the middle of a transit strike.
Richer still the NDP (aka) socialists are about to be trounced -- check out the latin bird names
Just spray the whole farm with Roundup. Any plant that survives is a non-licensed Monsanto product and should be destroyed. Easy, and cheap.
Actually, that's what he did. He sprayed an area with Roundup, then collected the seeds from the surviving plants for his next crop. Whether or not you agree with Monsanto's right to enforce their patent, this farmer did knowingly plant their seed. It wasn't accidental
But where to get the energy from in the first place?
My parents live in a hot area, and don't use the air conditioning much due to the cost. They are used to the heat. I'm not.
As I was lying in bed, unable to sleep one night, it occurred to me that air conditioning shouldn't cost energy. There should be a way of reaping net energy from cooling air. After all you are bringing the air down from a high energy state (hot) to a lower energy state (cool)
Would it be possible to set up a compressor system that would use the ambient heat to boil water and drive a turbine, or a thermocouple? Could it be a net usable energy provider?
Slashdot Mirror
That is the problem with the oil sands in Northern Alberta. They are using natural gas reserves to extract the oil, but are using more energy than the oil provides.
There aren't enough natural gas reserves to continue providing the states with gas to fire their cleaner electricity generating stations though.
The US may have to choose. Do they want our gas or our oil
With all the advances in technology, why are mints still using paper money, that will always counterfeitable?
Why can't the mints move to using a public debit card type system, and provide stores with terminals to enable the transfer of currency? Public terminals could enable the exchange of money between individuals. Paper and coins could be used for $10 or less.
Right now, I can use the bank's card to make a purchase (but pay a service charge), or I can use the public currency exchange system (paper money). It's time to upgrade the public system.
Canada
Conservative Liberal New Democratic
Party Party Party
X X X
X X
Republicans Democrats
USA
To everyone who keeps saying digesters are nothing new; my greatgrandfather pooped into a digester and heated his house, etc. RTFA!
The article is talking about a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that directly converts the energy to electricity.
It is a first, since previous ones ran on glucose.
On a day where there were absolutely huge anti-Bush demonstrations in London, I don't see a mention of this .co.uk website.
Nah... no bias here!
My number used to be a fax number. I continue to get fax calls -- if I hook up a fax to the line, they are all junk faxes.
I've tried to ask them to remove me -- and when I asked one of the junk faxers where they got my number, they said the phone company sold it to them.
Now if only there was a simple way to only ring the phone if it was not a fax call
The correct link is http://www.wa.gov/ago/consumer/forms/ not the ./form/ that was in the original link.
If I walk into someone's store, the store is permitted to have someone follow me -- either in person, or by video camera. I'm on private property, and the property owner is entitled to watch what I am doing.
...move right along, please.
When you surf on a site, you are accessing someone elses server. They are the property owner, and they have the right to a report to see what you are doing.
There is nothing that I can see that RedSherriff becomes resident on your machine and watches you elsewhere. It just uses cookies to provide enhanced site stats to, in this case, the beeb.
Nothing to see here...
They have no intention of building anything, just make money for their shareholders from tha patents. And this encourages innovation? All it does is put a roadblock against someone who really wants to build it.
From their site ("company summary" page)
Our aim is to generate returns for our shareholders by acting now to acquire control of important blocks of intellectual property (patents and trade secrets) in the ETT field. We currently own the patent and trade secret rights to Evacuated Tube Transport, the first practical evacuated tube transport technology. We believe that these ultra efficient and environmentally benign systems, will become key components of numerous future worldwide transport systems. ET3.COM INC. intends to take full advantage of the generic nature of this unique technology by securing the intellectual property rights on the lion's share of all specific applications, new devices, and novel systems issuing from it. Management also believes that we are well positioned to gain control of other major intellectual property by developing new patents and trade secrets through our own internal efforts and by developing patent-exploitation agreements for the patents and trade secrets belonging to others.
If they insist on calling it property, then let's start treating it like Real Estate.
If I have a farm in the way of a new superhighway that's required for the common good, then the government just expropriates it -- they force me to take a 'reasonable' amount of money, and they take the property. The gov't gets to decide what is reasonable.
I wouldn't mind my tax dollars being used to expropriate OpenGL
It would be cool if it had just enough to start a network install of a few Linux distro's -- the same stuff that's usually on the floppy of the distro.
There have been many times where I've wished I could just plug in a new computer to cable or adsl, and just start a network install.
I guess we really need to keep track of those geese and seals, though!
In this world there are two types of writers, -- writers who write because of the love of creation, and the urge to 'scratch an itch', and paid prostitutes of corporations (like, um, CNET and Microsoft) who don't write what they choose to write, but rather write what their corporate overlords require to maximize profits.
The unpaid creative artists have been around for centuries, while paid scribes and boy bands have a short history.
I would value the writing or music of a true artist far more that a person who is only around for the money. I don't see why programming should be any different.
The whole notion of trees as 'carbon sinks' is poor thinking. Trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere, true, but then give it up when they die and rot. In balance, a forest is pretty much neutral.
If you were to harvest a tree and turn it into something that doesn't rot -- well then you've become a 'sink' -- except the tree still degrades -- just slower.
Anyone got an idea of what the parallel lines are in this pic are?
What is even more delicious is that this was released on a Saturday morning -- when the lawyers are away from their offices enjoying the sun and a few beer. Lots of time to spread it around before the judicial system has a chance to yank it
This was one of their first articles introducting their online edition ( "BMJ on the internet"). It also has links to many more articles.
BMJ seems to have been able to maintain their prestige, yet successfully move to the internet. As a non-doctor, I often read the articles on their site with great interest -- but would never be able to afford to purchase a subscription to keep up with research purely for interests sake.
People have praised the move for more worthy reasons too -- MD's in developing countries now have immediate and free access to valuable advances in medical knowlege. The traditional approach locks information into the developed world thus deepening the divide
This is one of their latest thoughts on the subject " What is Publication?"
furgettabout the link. They've pulled the article. But the question still stands
This one should have been an Ask Slashdot
What are the best/funniest April Fools jokes and articles on the web that you've seen? My favourite was the Mybc.com article about a bridge shutdown because of a rare bird. What makes it even better troll is that we are in the middle of a transit strike.
Richer still the NDP (aka) socialists are about to be trounced -- check out the latin bird names
Just spray the whole farm with Roundup. Any plant that survives is a non-licensed Monsanto product and should be destroyed. Easy, and cheap.
Actually, that's what he did. He sprayed an area with Roundup, then collected the seeds from the surviving plants for his next crop. Whether or not you agree with Monsanto's right to enforce their patent, this farmer did knowingly plant their seed. It wasn't accidental
The big difference is that these guys are offering TV and cheap long distance on their wire as well. I can't wait for them to get to my building!
My parents live in a hot area, and don't use the air conditioning much due to the cost. They are used to the heat. I'm not.
As I was lying in bed, unable to sleep one night, it occurred to me that air conditioning shouldn't cost energy. There should be a way of reaping net energy from cooling air. After all you are bringing the air down from a high energy state (hot) to a lower energy state (cool)
Would it be possible to set up a compressor system that would use the ambient heat to boil water and drive a turbine, or a thermocouple? Could it be a net usable energy provider?