Oh right. It's not like anyone in this administration currently in the top government ranks have willingly leaked sensitive, no less classified information.
The idea that it passed CIA review would seem to indicate that it did not contain classified information... On the other hand, the fact that the White House blocked it despite this would seem to indicate that it contained facts or opinions damaging to The Administration--and that's a bogus reason to censor anything.
The Wii is the first console I've bought since I saved up my hard earned shoveling snow money to buy a SNES. It's the only one that drew me in. It's way cool, way fun, and WAY less pretentious than the competitors.
The only thing I would like to see added to the Wii would be HD support, even if the games themselves weren't rendered at higher resolution, because some amount of scaling could benefit the titles. It was probably a wise thing to leave it out, to reduce costs and leave some potential to make people with HD sets happier later, if ever. I know I'd be happy to upgrade to a HD model if they offered one in the future, and I'd hook my old one up to an older tv, so it can continue to entertain. But 480p and anamorphic widescreen support make it work nicely enough on my set.
One big surprise was that dollars were NOT at a premium. Everyone would gladly accept either currency, give you change in whichever currency you requested, etc. I'd heard stories of how much more motivated people would be to accept dollars than rubles, but I guess that was a thing of the past, by then.
My guess is that the value of the dollar has nearly reduced by a third between 1990 and 2004, and that since the ruble and the economy had stabilized enough, it became less in demand--but that's just a guess.
So you're suggesting that Siemens AG will able to say "okay bend over" to everyone and his brother, because they're going to suddenly be solely in control of this technology, no less the rest of the global telecom industry, and everyone will put up with their asinine ways because bandwidth will fall from the skies like mana from heaven?
Suuuuure....
Here's how Siemens works: They make stuff and they sell stuff, and as much as they like to buy other companies, it's just not in their usual habit to buy all of the telecom companies everywhere, and at any rate, this tech is not likely to operate at half that rate in the real world.
When was the last time you saw an animal create art? Or music? Or contemplate quantum physics? Or do something out of moral duty? Or exhibit any signs of any sort of religion at all?
Fuck that... Let's go to some random intersection in LA and pick out a hundred people at random so we can observe them for these behaviors. Have you ever seen Jay Walking?
Heck, you're most likely not much better with a stupid argument like that. I've seen a few apes make more compelling arguments whilst picking their asses.
The truth is that NO ONE who manages to become president is dumb.
Exactly. The truth is, he is actually quite an intelligent and eloquent man off camera, but for one reason or another, he doesn't let the rest of the world know. The truth is, he's manipulated the lower and middle voting classes like no other president has before him, undoubtedly because he's excellent at acting dumb. Ronald Regan was known as the actor-president, but GWB is a much better actor--yet he hasn't been in a single film. Heck, if there were an award for acting dumb, even Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels would have to work pretty hard to overcome Mr. Bush.
There have been many people who have interviewed him one-on-one, and their stories are often similar. For instance, Matt Lauer said that he was surprisingly thoughtful and intelligent before he sat down in front of the camera, and that all of this went away the moment he did so, and the interview then proceeded like a typical President Bush interview.
However, the fact that I do acknowledge that he is smarter than he lets on, and that I rebut the popular meme which says that he's a dumb-ass should not be taken to mean that I like the man. I think he's a lot more evil than people can give him credit for, and I think he's just about the worst person to have in this position of power. I don't like their family, and I especially don't like Mr. Bush. I think it's a real life case of the fox guarding the hen house.
Yeah, but they poke fun at the inconsistencies all the time. That in itself is entertaining to me, because at least it shows a good sense of humor, a thing any "reboot" would likely be devoid of.
Yeah, well, when you have a ranch that puts feeders out to get the deer (or hogs or whatever) to come in and grub so your patrons can shoot them in the face, then you have employees run over, grab the "game", and take it to the in-house processing place to have it all butchered up and ready to go home with the "hunter" within a few dozen minutes, etc... You can hardly claim this to be hunting. But how many such places exist in Texas? It's like that inane "internet hunting" thing this guy was trying to get going over the last few years.
I have no problem with hunting, but I do have issues with some hunters, even though I am a bow hunter... And I can say that it's not very likely that a blind hunter, along with his "helpers" is likely to successfully sneak up on a target in a real hunting scenario, where hunting would be characterized by tracking and stealthily coming into range of your prey... It would seem to me that the vast majority of blind hunters would have to engage in a scenario like the one in the last paragraph to be successful. That's not right. Furthermore, it's been my experience that the majority of hunters in the areas I've hunted in are there for the moment of pulling the trigger, and have little compassion or respect for the lives they take; this is a great dishonor to the prey to the sport, and to other hunters.
Still, dont'ca think we should dig a giant moat around Texas, then fill it with crocodiles and laser beam sharks, or something? I mean, to hell with a fence across the Mexico border... We need to address the bigger problem here!
Kind of like if a tire company wants you to like new tires, but they won't let you drive them on your own car. You have to use their car. And you have to compare it to a different car that they have without the tires. And people accept that.
Hey, just how'd this Ferrari engine wind up in a Honda Civic anyway?! You trying to pull something fast, Mr. Tire Salesman? Hmmm?!
I think I watched about two of the shows when they aired: the fist one that aired, and some other episode. I liked the two I saw, and I tried to watch the others, but due to whatever ape schedules their programming, I wasn't able to track it down 'cause I'm no mentalist.
Starkweather realized that downloading movies was an obvious variation to downloading music.
You see, even the patent author thought downloading movies was an obvious variation to something that's already pretty obvious, so, how did this stupid patent get approved?
What I'm curious to know is how they can claim there is a "signature" that could link this material to anyone, Russian or not, no less than to a particular Russian power station. I'm just an armchair physicist, so could anyone enlighten me?
So, it's now unethical to give people what they want and take money in return?
You make it sound like he's the trifecta evil incarnate: By day he smacks starving African children around, rampages through Tokyo bi-daily, and then pisses in public swimming pools. By night, when he has time for a break, he curls up next to a cozy immolated Christian and snacks on candied babies, and then...he...sells virtual items online?!?!?!!!! *gasp* Why, you'd expect that someone so evil wouldn't sleep so well, except perhaps, by the comforting warm glow of a burning Pope.
How good of a salesman does it take to convince people to fork a million dollars over a period of a couple months, in exchange for a couple bits on a computer? Do you even have an idea of what that kind of talent is worth?
You're jealous. You're bitter. You wish you thought of it first. You wish you had the balls and the skills required to pull it off.
You might have a point, but your last sentence is totally meaningless.
No, it's not meaningless, aside from a little typo. The GP was postulating that this frequency might have some special, as of yet unknown effect on human physiology. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but I don't think it matters in this context.
My sentence said, in effect, that receiving a large amount of external radiative heat for a long period of time is not going to be good to any one. If you spend eight hours sunbathing at the equator, you would receive less external energy than if you spent eight hours in front of a consumer grade microwave oven with the door open, assuming a photon->heat conversion ratio about %80 or better, when in reality it's probably closer to 95% at this specific wavelength.
The point was, and still is, to spell it out clearly, that the effect of this wavelength, in context of his microwave experiment, is not useful.
p.s. 2.45Ghz radiation (indeed anything labeled "microwave") is not powerful enough to be ionizing radiation, unlike the two examples you gave. Gamma rays and ultraviolet photons are many orders of magnitude more powerful than a puny 2.45Ghz photon. To even put microwaves in the same class as radiations that are very well understood to be dangerous, well...
So yes, there are other technologies which operate right around 2.4 GHz, but wireless networks are one of the only technologies which operate at that precise wavelength (which interacts strongly with water and lipids), with those power levels, without shielding, and with long durations of exposure.
First of all, the idea that 2.45Ghz is the resonant frequency of water (or fats or sugars), and that 2.45Ghz was chosen because it was particularly effective at heating water is a complete myth. This frequency was chosen because it penetrates into food well enough that it can cook the interior of meats reasonably well, and yet it oscillates molecule dipoles fast enough to make heating, well, fast. This frequency is a compromise between a) heating evenly b) heating effectively and quickly
Huge industrial microwaves used for various purposes operate from the low 400Mhz range to 2.5Ghz (corresponding wavelengths between ~24-4 inches), and they can be doing anything from drying lumber to baking saltine crackers, and yet they're doing the same basic job--heating water. The advantage is that lower frequencies penetrate much better, and that magnetrons operating at low frequency are easier to build to put out MUCH higher powers, and industrial magnetrons can put out as much as 100KW per unit.
I'll concede that sitting in front of a household microwave might be bad for you. I'm not particularly willing to test it out. Nor am I particularly willing to sprawl my naked body out on the desert sand for a comparable length of time*.
*Hint: average total body surface area for an adult male is about 2m^2, solar power density near the equator at sea level is around 400W/M^2, average microwave output is about 1000W. Do the math.
Well I dunno. I think complexity wise, the two systems would be very comparable. Pretty much every part of the system would have an analogue to the other. The one true advantage electric hybrids have over other methods is that they can do regenerative braking without adding any additional mechanical complexity.
The steam system would probably be a bit lighter and could produce better torque at operating temperature, but it might not work so well in freezing conditions, and it would have to be refilled regularly, unless it's fitted with a bulky and heavy condenser so that you have a closed-loop system. If our battery technology was better and lighter, a vehicle could take better advantage of regenerative braking, and it would be no contest. However, I think a diesel/steam hybrid could be just as viable and reliable, and maybe even a bit more efficient for light urban driving, as the state of technology exists today.
Plus, who wouldn't love having a steam whistle on their car? Mmmm.
How about powering a car hybrid style with a little steam boiler that surrounds the exhaust, and a motor that interfaces with the standard drivetrain? Last I heard, BMW was working on this as an alternative to engine/electric hybrids, and with great success.
All you need, at a minimum are a few pipes to act as heat exchangers, a motor to convert steam energy into torque, and a valve to control it. A person with good mechanical skills and access to a lathe and a mill could work this solution out in a little time, and if that's not powering your car off the waste heat from exhaust, nothing is.
I haven't had the chance to play with the Wii yet (dying to, just haven't had the chance), but I have a feeling that the system might be a little more flexible than people give it credit for. It's probably possible to enhance the controller inner-workings with a patch. It would be really neat if they could add TrackIR support:)
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Oh right. It's not like anyone in this administration currently in the top government ranks have willingly leaked sensitive, no less classified information.
The idea that it passed CIA review would seem to indicate that it did not contain classified information... On the other hand, the fact that the White House blocked it despite this would seem to indicate that it contained facts or opinions damaging to The Administration--and that's a bogus reason to censor anything.
Wii is a cool, but underpowered machine.
The Wii is the first console I've bought since I saved up my hard earned shoveling snow money to buy a SNES. It's the only one that drew me in. It's way cool, way fun, and WAY less pretentious than the competitors.
The only thing I would like to see added to the Wii would be HD support, even if the games themselves weren't rendered at higher resolution, because some amount of scaling could benefit the titles. It was probably a wise thing to leave it out, to reduce costs and leave some potential to make people with HD sets happier later, if ever. I know I'd be happy to upgrade to a HD model if they offered one in the future, and I'd hook my old one up to an older tv, so it can continue to entertain. But 480p and anamorphic widescreen support make it work nicely enough on my set.
Hey, that's a really awesome idea.
One big surprise was that dollars were NOT at a premium. Everyone would gladly accept either currency, give you change in whichever currency you requested, etc. I'd heard stories of how much more motivated people would be to accept dollars than rubles, but I guess that was a thing of the past, by then.
My guess is that the value of the dollar has nearly reduced by a third between 1990 and 2004, and that since the ruble and the economy had stabilized enough, it became less in demand--but that's just a guess.
Even then, they knew you lived longer drinking alcohol than water.
Especially sea water!
Huh?
So you're suggesting that Siemens AG will able to say "okay bend over" to everyone and his brother, because they're going to suddenly be solely in control of this technology, no less the rest of the global telecom industry, and everyone will put up with their asinine ways because bandwidth will fall from the skies like mana from heaven?
Suuuuure....
Here's how Siemens works: They make stuff and they sell stuff, and as much as they like to buy other companies, it's just not in their usual habit to buy all of the telecom companies everywhere, and at any rate, this tech is not likely to operate at half that rate in the real world.
Well, that's basically what the Brits did with their sailors, and they had one of the most powerful fleets anywhere...
When was the last time you saw an animal create art? Or music? Or contemplate quantum physics? Or do something out of moral duty? Or exhibit any signs of any sort of religion at all?
Fuck that... Let's go to some random intersection in LA and pick out a hundred people at random so we can observe them for these behaviors. Have you ever seen Jay Walking?
Heck, you're most likely not much better with a stupid argument like that. I've seen a few apes make more compelling arguments whilst picking their asses.
The truth is that NO ONE who manages to become president is dumb.
Exactly. The truth is, he is actually quite an intelligent and eloquent man off camera, but for one reason or another, he doesn't let the rest of the world know. The truth is, he's manipulated the lower and middle voting classes like no other president has before him, undoubtedly because he's excellent at acting dumb. Ronald Regan was known as the actor-president, but GWB is a much better actor--yet he hasn't been in a single film. Heck, if there were an award for acting dumb, even Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels would have to work pretty hard to overcome Mr. Bush.
There have been many people who have interviewed him one-on-one, and their stories are often similar. For instance, Matt Lauer said that he was surprisingly thoughtful and intelligent before he sat down in front of the camera, and that all of this went away the moment he did so, and the interview then proceeded like a typical President Bush interview.
However, the fact that I do acknowledge that he is smarter than he lets on, and that I rebut the popular meme which says that he's a dumb-ass should not be taken to mean that I like the man. I think he's a lot more evil than people can give him credit for, and I think he's just about the worst person to have in this position of power. I don't like their family, and I especially don't like Mr. Bush. I think it's a real life case of the fox guarding the hen house.
Yeah, but they poke fun at the inconsistencies all the time. That in itself is entertaining to me, because at least it shows a good sense of humor, a thing any "reboot" would likely be devoid of.
Yeah, well, when you have a ranch that puts feeders out to get the deer (or hogs or whatever) to come in and grub so your patrons can shoot them in the face, then you have employees run over, grab the "game", and take it to the in-house processing place to have it all butchered up and ready to go home with the "hunter" within a few dozen minutes, etc... You can hardly claim this to be hunting. But how many such places exist in Texas? It's like that inane "internet hunting" thing this guy was trying to get going over the last few years.
I have no problem with hunting, but I do have issues with some hunters, even though I am a bow hunter... And I can say that it's not very likely that a blind hunter, along with his "helpers" is likely to successfully sneak up on a target in a real hunting scenario, where hunting would be characterized by tracking and stealthily coming into range of your prey... It would seem to me that the vast majority of blind hunters would have to engage in a scenario like the one in the last paragraph to be successful. That's not right. Furthermore, it's been my experience that the majority of hunters in the areas I've hunted in are there for the moment of pulling the trigger, and have little compassion or respect for the lives they take; this is a great dishonor to the prey to the sport, and to other hunters.
Still, dont'ca think we should dig a giant moat around Texas, then fill it with crocodiles and laser beam sharks, or something? I mean, to hell with a fence across the Mexico border... We need to address the bigger problem here!
Kind of like if a tire company wants you to like new tires, but they won't let you drive them on your own car. You have to use their car. And you have to compare it to a different car that they have without the tires. And people accept that.
Hey, just how'd this Ferrari engine wind up in a Honda Civic anyway?! You trying to pull something fast, Mr. Tire Salesman? Hmmm?!
I think there's a button on the hat switch on my joystick. Does a button on a switch count?
I think I watched about two of the shows when they aired: the fist one that aired, and some other episode. I liked the two I saw, and I tried to watch the others, but due to whatever ape schedules their programming, I wasn't able to track it down 'cause I'm no mentalist.
Starkweather realized that downloading movies was an obvious variation to downloading music.
You see, even the patent author thought downloading movies was an obvious variation to something that's already pretty obvious, so, how did this stupid patent get approved?
What I'm curious to know is how they can claim there is a "signature" that could link this material to anyone, Russian or not, no less than to a particular Russian power station. I'm just an armchair physicist, so could anyone enlighten me?
Yeah, sure... That's just what those mad scientists bent on bringing the Apocalypse about want you to think.
So, it's now unethical to give people what they want and take money in return?
You make it sound like he's the trifecta evil incarnate: By day he smacks starving African children around, rampages through Tokyo bi-daily, and then pisses in public swimming pools. By night, when he has time for a break, he curls up next to a cozy immolated Christian and snacks on candied babies, and then...he...sells virtual items online?!?!?!!!! *gasp* Why, you'd expect that someone so evil wouldn't sleep so well, except perhaps, by the comforting warm glow of a burning Pope.
He made $1.3M selling NON-stuff.
How good of a salesman does it take to convince people to fork a million dollars over a period of a couple months, in exchange for a couple bits on a computer? Do you even have an idea of what that kind of talent is worth?
You're jealous.
You're bitter.
You wish you thought of it first.
You wish you had the balls and the skills required to pull it off.
You might have a point, but your last sentence is totally meaningless.
No, it's not meaningless, aside from a little typo. The GP was postulating that this frequency might have some special, as of yet unknown effect on human physiology. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but I don't think it matters in this context.
My sentence said, in effect, that receiving a large amount of external radiative heat for a long period of time is not going to be good to any one. If you spend eight hours sunbathing at the equator, you would receive less external energy than if you spent eight hours in front of a consumer grade microwave oven with the door open, assuming a photon->heat conversion ratio about %80 or better, when in reality it's probably closer to 95% at this specific wavelength.
The point was, and still is, to spell it out clearly, that the effect of this wavelength, in context of his microwave experiment, is not useful.
p.s. 2.45Ghz radiation (indeed anything labeled "microwave") is not powerful enough to be ionizing radiation, unlike the two examples you gave. Gamma rays and ultraviolet photons are many orders of magnitude more powerful than a puny 2.45Ghz photon. To even put microwaves in the same class as radiations that are very well understood to be dangerous, well...
So yes, there are other technologies which operate right around 2.4 GHz, but wireless networks are one of the only technologies which operate at that precise wavelength (which interacts strongly with water and lipids), with those power levels, without shielding, and with long durations of exposure.
First of all, the idea that 2.45Ghz is the resonant frequency of water (or fats or sugars), and that 2.45Ghz was chosen because it was particularly effective at heating water is a complete myth. This frequency was chosen because it penetrates into food well enough that it can cook the interior of meats reasonably well, and yet it oscillates molecule dipoles fast enough to make heating, well, fast. This frequency is a compromise between a) heating evenly b) heating effectively and quickly
Huge industrial microwaves used for various purposes operate from the low 400Mhz range to 2.5Ghz (corresponding wavelengths between ~24-4 inches), and they can be doing anything from drying lumber to baking saltine crackers, and yet they're doing the same basic job--heating water. The advantage is that lower frequencies penetrate much better, and that magnetrons operating at low frequency are easier to build to put out MUCH higher powers, and industrial magnetrons can put out as much as 100KW per unit.
I'll concede that sitting in front of a household microwave might be bad for you. I'm not particularly willing to test it out. Nor am I particularly willing to sprawl my naked body out on the desert sand for a comparable length of time*.
*Hint: average total body surface area for an adult male is about 2m^2, solar power density near the equator at sea level is around 400W/M^2, average microwave output is about 1000W. Do the math.
Well I dunno. I think complexity wise, the two systems would be very comparable. Pretty much every part of the system would have an analogue to the other. The one true advantage electric hybrids have over other methods is that they can do regenerative braking without adding any additional mechanical complexity.
The steam system would probably be a bit lighter and could produce better torque at operating temperature, but it might not work so well in freezing conditions, and it would have to be refilled regularly, unless it's fitted with a bulky and heavy condenser so that you have a closed-loop system. If our battery technology was better and lighter, a vehicle could take better advantage of regenerative braking, and it would be no contest. However, I think a diesel/steam hybrid could be just as viable and reliable, and maybe even a bit more efficient for light urban driving, as the state of technology exists today.
Plus, who wouldn't love having a steam whistle on their car? Mmmm.
How about powering a car hybrid style with a little steam boiler that surrounds the exhaust, and a motor that interfaces with the standard drivetrain? Last I heard, BMW was working on this as an alternative to engine/electric hybrids, and with great success.
All you need, at a minimum are a few pipes to act as heat exchangers, a motor to convert steam energy into torque, and a valve to control it. A person with good mechanical skills and access to a lathe and a mill could work this solution out in a little time, and if that's not powering your car off the waste heat from exhaust, nothing is.
Sadly, it's not easily fixable with a patch.
:)
I haven't had the chance to play with the Wii yet (dying to, just haven't had the chance), but I have a feeling that the system might be a little more flexible than people give it credit for. It's probably possible to enhance the controller inner-workings with a patch. It would be really neat if they could add TrackIR support