power them with backup power systems when transmission lines are taken down by storms or drunk drivers. I will be able to light my workshop and outbuildings with waterproof potted LEDs instead of high-maintenance bulbs.
Tip: When storms and drunk drivers become a central factor in the way you plan your life, it is time to consider moving to a different neighbourhood.
By the time Orion is actually getting ready to launch, Richard Branson (or somebody like him) will have rendered the entire program irrelevant by creating something cheaper/faster/better.
TFA appears to be slashdotted, but I would suggest that it's just a matter of trying different (often smaller) suppliers until you find somebody who is willing to oblige.
Smaller local shops can put together a system built exactly to your spec, and will happily install Windows XP, all drivers, test the entire rig before delivering it to you, and offer a warranty equivalent to the big boxes.
Spams with your real names in it are much more deceiving than say "Hello, abc123".
Only to the painfully naive... and while I know there are lots of painfully naive people out there on the internet I am seriously beginning to have a harder and harder time feeling any sense of pity for people who respond to spam or phish attempts - even if it happens to use your real name.
How far apart are the sites you need to work from? Within a few hundred kilometers of one another or literally all over the place? If you can set up a high-powered WAP in some kind of central location that has high-speed, you might be able to figure something out by putting some kind of repeater using dish antennas way the hell up there on a balloon or something.
Honeybee Robotics in New York City did a heroic job of designing and delivering the rasp on a very short schedule
Not to diminish the difficulty of getting something as complex as Phoenix onto the surface of Mars, but seriously how tricky is it to deliver a rasp on a short schedule? I can drive to the nearest Home Depot in about 10 minutes.
They can't force you (unless you suck with torture) What a relief... I was worried for a second but now I realize that all I need to do is not suck with torture.
How about some kind of mandatory test (every couple years or so) in which people are placed in various life-threatening situations involving wild animals, obstacle courses, etc.?
Those who exhibit a reasonable level of fitness would have a reasonable chance of evading death, while those who "let themselves go" are much more likely to end up as food for some kind of large carnivore or as feedstock for an industrial wood chipper.
Have the whole thing take place in some kind of a large controlled environment with lots of cameras and audio pickups, then sell advertising rights to the 24/7 broadcast of all the mayhem.
As a matter of fact it turns out I'm right. To prove it all I needed to do is count the number of pins on the resistor pack shown in the picture of the kit from the post below yours!
This definitely rates among the top ten most useless pieces of information that I can definitively prove I have retained for the past three decades.
Moving into the early 80's, the Timex Sinclair made a 4 chip z80 set.
I actually bought and built one of those Sinclair ZX-81 kits back in the day! I was just a young pup at the time and I was hella enthusiastic about starting right away when the package (assembly instructions, PCB, chips, various little baggies of resistors and caps, etc. etc.) arrived one bright and sunny day.
My Dad told me "wait until the weekend when your brother can help you... this is a complicated kit," but I wasn't having any of that and I got started soldering right away. All in all and considering my tender age, I think I did a pretty good job except for one fatal flaw: I soldered a 9-pin resistor pack onto the board backwards. Then, in attempting to fix the problem (using nothing but my unbridled enthusiasm and a roll of desoldering braid purchased from Radio Shack) I managed to pull the traces up off a portion of the PCB. At that point, the mess was officially beyond my (or my brother's) skill to fix.
The solution involved mailing the entire kit away to a repair depot and waiting for many, many, many weeks until they returned the machine (in working condition) along with a substantial bill for the repair work.
The fact I can remember so many details about this episode - right down to the number of pins on the ill-fated resistor pack or the exact spot on the living room carpet where I laid down newspapers in order to do my work - is testament to just how valuable these little experiences are for a young mind.
I said "average corporate employee." You know who I'm talking about... the guy who sits across the divider who does a reply-all to fucking everything that lands in his mailbox... the cute brunette in HR who literally giggled with glee when somebody showed her how to include graphics in her outlook signature... the sales guy with the disturbingly white teeth who is on the phone with IT at least once a week because "the internet doesn't work."
I continue to be puzzled when I hear people describe nuclear energy as "cheap." If you count only the construction costs for a new facility, and the cost of fuel, then nuclear is competitive on a $/kw.h basis.
But the moment you need to refurbish or decommission a reactor, just watch what happens to your costs. In my jurisdiction, I have witnessed spectacular overruns (both in time and money) for the refurbishment of 4 generating units out of an 8-unit power station. I am talking about tens of billions of dollars down a black hole. And when something like this happens it's either the taxpayers who get stuck with a bailout, or the costs are spread across the entire energy portfolio so that all producers (coal, wind, hydroelectric) pass the pain equally along to consumers.
And what about long-term storage of nuclear waste? How many years and dollars have been spend studying Yucca Mountain or other similar disposal options? What's the latest estimate to get a full-scale storage facility up and running there? Are those costs being added onto the per kw.h cost for nuclear-derived energy or would that be the federal government footing the bill again?
Given the holy mess we've created by increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations by ~50% since the start of the industrial revolution, it's entirely possible that nuclear power is one of our best options in the short term. But it shouldn't be a conversation based on the idea that nuclear power is cheap. With full-cost accounting, building a couple hundred new nuclear power facilities is really really expensive... I'm talking "why don't we explore the idea of orbital Solar Power Satellites beaming microwave power back to a collector grid in Montana" expensive.
I wonder how many units you'd have to commit to in order to have a factory in China somewhere design and fab a DTV receiver that just totally ignores anything to do with content locking.
Group buy anyone?
The Movie industry is loosing viewers in droves to the internet. If the experiance is substandard to Internet... people will just not bother Tough call... I've seen my share of movies with laughably bad subtitles, but something tells me I'll have to keep coming back to the internet to get my hit of really bad spelling and grammar.
Slashdot Mirror
It may be earthlike, but it sure wouldn't be a comfortable place to spend any amount of time.
power them with backup power systems when transmission lines are taken down by storms or drunk drivers. I will be able to light my workshop and outbuildings with waterproof potted LEDs instead of high-maintenance bulbs.
Tip: When storms and drunk drivers become a central factor in the way you plan your life, it is time to consider moving to a different neighbourhood.
What's next?
Canadian oil?
By the time Orion is actually getting ready to launch, Richard Branson (or somebody like him) will have rendered the entire program irrelevant by creating something cheaper/faster/better.
TFA appears to be slashdotted, but I would suggest that it's just a matter of trying different (often smaller) suppliers until you find somebody who is willing to oblige. Smaller local shops can put together a system built exactly to your spec, and will happily install Windows XP, all drivers, test the entire rig before delivering it to you, and offer a warranty equivalent to the big boxes.
So this money will come from where? Damn limited liability.
Actually various inside sources seem to indicate that Darl McBride will end up being sentenced to serve as Jerry Seinfeld's butler.
Spams with your real names in it are much more deceiving than say "Hello, abc123".
Only to the painfully naive ... and while I know there are lots of painfully naive people out there on the internet I am seriously beginning to have a harder and harder time feeling any sense of pity for people who respond to spam or phish attempts - even if it happens to use your real name.
That's why I sign up for all of my anonymous email accounts using the name Edward Kramer
I am an Edward Kramer you insensitive clod!
Waterloo is alright ... though the local Mennonite community lends a somewhat strange vibe.
How far apart are the sites you need to work from? Within a few hundred kilometers of one another or literally all over the place? If you can set up a high-powered WAP in some kind of central location that has high-speed, you might be able to figure something out by putting some kind of repeater using dish antennas way the hell up there on a balloon or something.
remote locations in Northern Canada
Almost certainly negates this:
Get a lot of phone lines and dial-up connections
Honeybee Robotics in New York City did a heroic job of designing and delivering the rasp on a very short schedule
Not to diminish the difficulty of getting something as complex as Phoenix onto the surface of Mars, but seriously how tricky is it to deliver a rasp on a short schedule? I can drive to the nearest Home Depot in about 10 minutes.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
That episode was an absolute classic.
You know, with all kinds of domain names like:
alt.binaries.go.pound.sand.up.your.ass
comp.sys.obscure.programming.language.that.only.six.remaining.bearded.men.even.remember
can.forsale.illegal.bootleg.dvds.buffy.vampire.slayer
According to Chris Rock we don't need gun control, we need bullet control.
Goatse modded insightful? Isn't this one of the seven signs of the coming apocalypse?
How about some kind of mandatory test (every couple years or so) in which people are placed in various life-threatening situations involving wild animals, obstacle courses, etc.?
Those who exhibit a reasonable level of fitness would have a reasonable chance of evading death, while those who "let themselves go" are much more likely to end up as food for some kind of large carnivore or as feedstock for an industrial wood chipper.
Have the whole thing take place in some kind of a large controlled environment with lots of cameras and audio pickups, then sell advertising rights to the 24/7 broadcast of all the mayhem.
All upside. No downside
As a matter of fact it turns out I'm right. To prove it all I needed to do is count the number of pins on the resistor pack shown in the picture of the kit from the post below yours!
This definitely rates among the top ten most useless pieces of information that I can definitively prove I have retained for the past three decades.
I actually bought and built one of those Sinclair ZX-81 kits back in the day! I was just a young pup at the time and I was hella enthusiastic about starting right away when the package (assembly instructions, PCB, chips, various little baggies of resistors and caps, etc. etc.) arrived one bright and sunny day.
My Dad told me "wait until the weekend when your brother can help you ... this is a complicated kit," but I wasn't having any of that and I got started soldering right away. All in all and considering my tender age, I think I did a pretty good job except for one fatal flaw: I soldered a 9-pin resistor pack onto the board backwards. Then, in attempting to fix the problem (using nothing but my unbridled enthusiasm and a roll of desoldering braid purchased from Radio Shack) I managed to pull the traces up off a portion of the PCB. At that point, the mess was officially beyond my (or my brother's) skill to fix.
The solution involved mailing the entire kit away to a repair depot and waiting for many, many, many weeks until they returned the machine (in working condition) along with a substantial bill for the repair work.
The fact I can remember so many details about this episode - right down to the number of pins on the ill-fated resistor pack or the exact spot on the living room carpet where I laid down newspapers in order to do my work - is testament to just how valuable these little experiences are for a young mind.
I said "average corporate employee." You know who I'm talking about ... the guy who sits across the divider who does a reply-all to fucking everything that lands in his mailbox ... the cute brunette in HR who literally giggled with glee when somebody showed her how to include graphics in her outlook signature ... the sales guy with the disturbingly white teeth who is on the phone with IT at least once a week because "the internet doesn't work."
I continue to be puzzled when I hear people describe nuclear energy as "cheap." If you count only the construction costs for a new facility, and the cost of fuel, then nuclear is competitive on a $/kw.h basis.
But the moment you need to refurbish or decommission a reactor, just watch what happens to your costs. In my jurisdiction, I have witnessed spectacular overruns (both in time and money) for the refurbishment of 4 generating units out of an 8-unit power station. I am talking about tens of billions of dollars down a black hole. And when something like this happens it's either the taxpayers who get stuck with a bailout, or the costs are spread across the entire energy portfolio so that all producers (coal, wind, hydroelectric) pass the pain equally along to consumers.
And what about long-term storage of nuclear waste? How many years and dollars have been spend studying Yucca Mountain or other similar disposal options? What's the latest estimate to get a full-scale storage facility up and running there? Are those costs being added onto the per kw.h cost for nuclear-derived energy or would that be the federal government footing the bill again?
Given the holy mess we've created by increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations by ~50% since the start of the industrial revolution, it's entirely possible that nuclear power is one of our best options in the short term. But it shouldn't be a conversation based on the idea that nuclear power is cheap. With full-cost accounting, building a couple hundred new nuclear power facilities is really really expensive ... I'm talking "why don't we explore the idea of orbital Solar Power Satellites beaming microwave power back to a collector grid in Montana" expensive.
I wonder how many units you'd have to commit to in order to have a factory in China somewhere design and fab a DTV receiver that just totally ignores anything to do with content locking. Group buy anyone?