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User: CraigV

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  1. Re:Possibly a good answer, maybe not on IBM Moving Developer Jobs Overseas · · Score: 1

    I don't expect to have much choice about where the quality items I need are made. In fact, I expect most will be made overseas. I will try to save our sinking ship by voting for candidates with some concept of the future, but I won't bet my children's future on these destructive trends changing.

    Forty years ago, a typical worker could lead a reasonable life, but since then both parents have gone to work to meet growing expenses. As income became squeezed, shopping at local businesses became too expensive and CostCo, WalMart, etc., grew. Read Fast-Food Nation to get a perspective on what is been happening and then project into the future.

  2. Re:Disturbing... on IBM Moving Developer Jobs Overseas · · Score: 1

    Three thoughts:

    We're not quite helpless. Anticipating what this will do to the future of the US, we might stop all unnecessary consumption and horde money. That way, we will be ready for the coming depression.

    If enough folks were to stop buying junk, corporations might start to hurt a bit.

    As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the only legal option for the poor will be servicing the excesses of the rich. Illegal options might then look quite attractive.

  3. Is this a problem of feature inflation? on Exploit Available for Cisco IOS Vulnerability · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I had the impression that routing was a fairly straight-forward task and that 100% reliable software should be available for the routers. Has Cisco added frills to such an extent that the basic routing is compromised? Is this current problem associated with unnecessary features?

  4. Re:Appropriate on Linux vs. SCO: The Decision Matrix · · Score: 1

    His wife can stand in for him. She's something like 5-time Finnish karate champ.

  5. Re:Sounds fine to me. on 10th Anniversary Of Supreme Court's Daubert Ruling · · Score: 1

    This is another example of how our society is hurt by a lack of science education for non-scientists. Law schools should require a substantial understanding of science and math. We scientists must take quite a few humanities and social science courses, but somehow non-science majors can often graduate ignorant of science and math.

  6. "Uphill" stream alongside I-70 in Utah on Water Flows Uphill · · Score: 1

    As one drives east on I-70 out of Salina, Utah, into the Fishlake Wilderness, there is a stream alongside the highway that convincingly appears to be flowing the wrong way. My wife had to use our GPS to be sure that we were still going uphill. It seems that the mountains alongside the canyon are highest above the road and river at the lower elevations and that difference steadily diminishes as one drives up the road.

    I had the opposite feeling driving down highway 191 from West Yellowstone, WY, to Bozeman, MT, alongside the Gallatin River.

  7. The real problem is resource waste on Ink Cartridges with Built-In Self-Destruct Dates · · Score: 2, Interesting

    20 years from now US business and consumer practices will be condemned for the waste of natural resources. What makes profit in the short term is usually wrong for the environment and future availability of natural resources.

    I had an electric fan go bad because it had bushings instead of ball bearings. I then tried to deterimine which possible replacement fans had ball bearings - few retailers know or care. All sorts of rotating products which could last 20 years will fail in a couple because of this short-sightedness.

    There are many more examples: poor tires sold with new cars, poorly-engineered plastic parts (plastic per se can be very good), dc motors without replaceable bushes, equipment poorly spot-welded instead of bolted or riveted,...

    Of course, the typical consumer hardly knows how to replace a light bulb. When I went to junior high school in the 50's, we all (well just the guys :( , but some of us took typing with the girls :) ) took drafting, electric shop, metal shop, wood shop, and plastic crafts. Those courses have helped me throughout the subsequent 45 years.

    I worked one summer for HP, felt the pride of doing quality work, and bought their test equipment for the next 30 years as a physicist. Yet, I sadly agree with the /.ers who feel HP has abandoned its quality tradition. Bill and Dave must be screaming from their graves.

    The sooner this tradition of waste ends, the better will be the future of civilization.

  8. Re:Hydrogen isn't ready... check out hybrids on Increasing Fuel Mileage With Hydrogen? · · Score: 1

    We live in the Sierra Foothills and have a Toyota Prius. After 5000 miles of mountain driving, we average 47 mpg. In the little bit of city driving we have done, we got 56 mpg. The engine turns on and off as needed, typically 50 times per hour in mountains and city driving. With hybrids, energy is primarily lost to air and rolling resistance, not breaking and waiting at stop lights. The worst mileage (45 mpg or so) is with high-speed freeway driving.

    Its 1.5 liter engine is the same size as my Honda Civic Wagon, but the Prius can get additional acceleration from its Electric Motor. Power is no problem.

    My wife drives more aggressively than I, and gets 46-47 mpg on her 66 mile mountain commute. I usually can get 51-56 mpg by driving gently so that nearly all braking is done with the regenerative braking (motor as generator); the "real" brakes hardly ever get used and should last a very long time.

    The hybrid technology will work with all sizes of vehicles and all styles of combustion engines (e.g. hydrogen). And it is here now!

  9. Computer Snafus book on Examples of Programming Gone Wrong? · · Score: 1

    The book "Computer Snafus - Crashes, Errors, Failures, Foul-Ups, Goofs, Glitches, and Other Malfunctions that Cause Computers to go Awry" by Herman McDaniel should be just what you want.

  10. Kelvin Water Drop Experiment on Surprising Science Demonstrations? · · Score: 4, Informative

    A stream of water is split in two using a tubing "tee". Each stream then is allowed to drop through a bottomless can and into a catching can. The pairs of cans are crosswired and well-insulated. With the water streams breaking up into droplets as they pass through the bottomless cans, an initially slight imbalance of charge is amplified until a spark jumps between them. Typically a 1" spark can be attained after flow of 30 seconds or so. As the charge grows, the water dropplets of each stream repel each other providing an indication of the voltage buildup. If the weather is humid or the insulation of the cans inadequate, the charge leaks away without jumping the gap.

    A google search on "Kelvin Water Drop Experiment" gives lots of additional info.

  11. Energy In - Energy Out = Weight Gain on Scientific Battlegrounds in Diets · · Score: 1

    You can't beat the 1st Law of Thermodynamics. Either eat fewer calories or exercise more (or both).

    To have a healthy heart and circulation system, science clearly says go with a low-fat diet with lots of fruits and veggies. Since corporate America can't make much money on healthy food like brown rice, oatmeal, etc., people are brainwashed into overdosing fatty (expensive) foods.

    Also, research that supports the conventional scientific wisdom is often ignored by the press since it isn't "news."