It's worth noting that at Fukishima many of the main problems appear to have been with spent fuel rods that they just didn't have anywhere safe to store without power. Similar US plants are reputed to have the same problems.
This is absolutely true. Spent fuel, for most of the first few months out of supposed "cold shutdown" are still spewing byproducts that decay, and generate a great deal of heat. Without active cooling, they can literally burst into flames, or even melt-down. An alternative solution is "dry-cask" storage, where they are stored in a manner where they don't have access to any oxygen, or any way to burn-through their container. But dry-cask storage containers are very expensive, and degrade over time from the intense neutron bombardment.
What is also "worth noting" is that the problems at Fukushima were caused by cooling-system damage that occurred during the earthquake, prior to the tsunami. Severe damage that could not be repaired. And the shaking that occurred at the plant location was within the plant's design rating. So - the plant did not withstand the earthquake it was designed to withstand.
It remains to be seen - but there are some sources who have said that the fuel has melted out of the cores, and is through the bedrock, and will make contact with the water table, causing a massive steam explosion sometime next year. Perhaps only unit #3. I don't actually think this is likely, because if the molten fuel was, indeed, burning through bedrock, there would be an ongoing release of gasses that would be apparent off-site. It would be very difficult to cover that up. But if a molten core does hit the groundwater, then this scenario would be difficult to deny.
Wearing my "Tester" hat. . . of course I would like ONE browser, and that ONE browser to be Firefox.
Wearing my "User" hat - I am happier with more competition and more choice. I just hope that the add-on market does not get cannibalized to the point where people stop producing and maintaining useful add-ons for Firefox. The add-on situation for other browsers is pathetic.
More hyperbole. Where exactly do you get all these kooky ideas from?
US Conservatives have always hated the idea of the EU. Since the Greek issue began, they've been raising this point as some supposed scholarly reason why currencies can't be unified where there is no common language. There is mobility of capital, but no mobility of labor, so imbalances develop as capital seeks the lowest labor costs, and labor can't make up for it by looking for the lower costs of living or higher paying jobs in other EU states.
(this phenomenon really has a lot more to do with a lot more factors than culture and language. . . for example, how many French or German people do you know who are not multilingual. ZERO. They are almost ALL bilingual).
Thus, US Conservatives are happily predicting the EU's demise.
Never mind that the US also has several very distinct cultural regions, and it's difficult (not impossible) for people to pick-up and move.
The whole problem with this idiotic theory, is that it assumes that people are widgets.
It is true that capital has the advantage in seeking lower rates, throughout the EU zone, but they can also go overseas. (as we do in the US, thanks to NAFTA, and our Asian arrangements). The answer to that, is called a "Tarrif". Which seems to be something that Conservatives consider to be some horrid communist torture device.
yeah - but the essence of that statement: If a quantum wavefunction is purely a statistical tool, then quantum states that are unconnected across space and time are able to communicate with each other.
. . . may sound like a sematical nightmare. . . and it is. If the states are able to "communicate", then, they ARE connected. Quantum Mechanics describes the effect, but not the MECHANISM. How does this work? More importantly - if there is "communication" does this "MEAN" that information is transmitted, and if information is transmitted, what are the thermodynamic ramifications? That's a violation of c. The horror. Cosmology is over.
I prefer to think that these particles are merely remaining stationary, and it is the state of the rest of the universe that is in flux. Much simpler that way.
By "Al Qaeda" - he meant ". . . paid operatives of a covert consortium of texas oil millionaires and wall street investment bankers who also performed 9/11". . .
There needs to be a Moral Hazard for those individuals who Deal in Bad Faith. And those who operate in our economy need to know that they can operate with risk. . . but without the risk that they are being scammed by criminals in a rigged casino.
In truth: Banks execute Corporate Death Penalties all the time. And yes. Hundreds of thousands of working class people get tossed out of jobs. And the top tier do avoid punishment. In most worst-case scenarios, they are in forced-retirement. In some worst-case scenarios, they're personally liable for fraud or white collar crime, and get their little slap on the wrist, but in the overwhelming majority, they end up in positions of trust at other companies in due time; while the rank-and-file have their lives disrupted for things that were no fault of their own.
Government mostly stands by and watches - or assists the Bank in the lawful execution. Examples: Enron Arthur Anderson Lehman Madoff and Associates
Roving Mobs don't have a clear understanding or definition of what "Person" means.
We get all upset and bothered over mexicans coming in and "stealing our jobs" but hell if we're going to pay more than $4 for a hamburger at McDonalds, because we had to pay some white kid minimum wage to pick the lettuce that goes on top. And the "illegal alien" that is the Chinese factory worker, who made our iPod, which we'll gladly contract out for about $250, but if we had to pay American unionized factory workers to make one, we'd be paying closer to $3000-$4000. That's enabled by NAFTA, of course. (and the H1-B stuff, as well).
We need to understand that the definition of what constitutes a Person, and who has which equal rights, is really important. That definition must be equal for all, and must have a delineation defined by national boundaries, currency use, taxation use, and it must be equal for Capital (Corporate persons) as well as Labor (actual working human beings). Otherwise, Capital will exploit those loopholes for profit. (and, in fact, use its unequal influence on government and policymaking to create larger and more obscure loopholes to exploit - which is exactly what has been going on for the past 30+ years in this country).
A NATIONAL border is part of the definition of one's personhood, one's legal rights, one's citizenship. I'm not saying that we need to build a wall or anything like that. I'm saying that this needs to be taken into consideration when we're talking about defining corporate personhood, free trade and the like.
I've been in this industry close to 20 years, worked at 3 different employers, one of which was bought 4 times, so really, 7 different companies. Basically, everyone is a manipulative asshole. I mean EVERYONE!!!
The industry was not "trashed by offshoring" Offshoring is just practice - which can be benign or malignant in implementation. (usually malignant) - - but it's the intent BEHIND the offshoring which is what trashed the industry. The intent was: cut costs, and improve (perceived) shareholder value. In pretty much all cases, offshoring will give you a short-term lower cost. Long term though, you cut your own throat as you lose out in innovation, independence, and agility. Some companies actually just plain can't compete - paying US labor costs, playing "the game" on honest terms. But as soon as finance comes into play, and having to appease shareholders. . . you're playing a game that has very little to do with technology and more to do with business and accounting. And that is what destroyed the industry. The industry was built on innovation and brains. The financiers came in, and we got our free cokes - then they pumped-and-dumped it all. Every last bit. SGI, DEC, Sun, pretty soon, HP, Xerox. . . one by one. The MBA's took over. That's what trashed the industry.
This is what happens when you let a businessman run a technology company.
I've pretty much always had cupcake interviews. . . but I've pretty much always ended up working for near-sighted and irrational people anyway. Seems to come with the territory.
No - this is exactly the fodder needed for the abiogenesis whackos out there; who are going to keep saying that if we only drill harder and deeper, we'll find more oil, and we'll all be just fine.
Remember - this is tech-journalism. It was a mistake in the article. The unit is 1 VW. They're going to produce 1 VolksWagen of energy - or the equivalent energy produced by a VolksWagen.
I think that with Oracle purchasing Sun/Java, this late in the game, there's so much established code out there, it's really hard to tell what's going to happen. But clearly, this industry can not exist by closed-source vendors.
Many NON-Austrians; (and actual-Keynesians) DID predict and loudly proclaimed the coming crash.
What was going on in 2003/2004 was NOT Keynesian spending. They were "spending" (keeping interest rates artificially low via FED policy) during an economic BOOM period. This runs exactly COUNTER to Keynesian theory, and Keynes specifically warned against it. Bush/Greenspan are not stupid, and this was obviously done intentionally.
Why? 1. to enrich those who were in a position to profit from it. 2. to bilk middle-class investors, who were not in a position to ride-out the bursting of the bubble and resulting recession. 3. . . . resulting in - de-funding the (political) opposition.
We can agree in opposition of the FED. But the idea that fiat currency is inherently bad and that we need to go to a "gold" standard, is alarmingly ignorant, as is the idea that all debt is bad and that government can never borrow money (especially during depressions or recessions as a stimulative spending effort).
How we've implemented it in the US though, is very unscientific. Mainly - how we've allowed commercial bias and ethical conflicts of interests to pollute what has been falsely advertised as unbiased scholarly research.
That has NOTHING to do with the basis of the systematic approach to the study of Economic theory. But certainly - there have been a lot of harebrained theories that have become floated and widely accepted in Western Europe and the US; inside and outside of Academic circles. They need a thorough house-cleaning. Far worse than the most foaming-mouth lunatic ravings of the climate-science deniers.
I wasn't able to convince my wife. . . . . . and this is the fatal flaw of so-called "Austrian Economics". It places unrealistic expectations on people who don't have the convenience of being independently wealthy. - ie. had you been born into a family that allowed you to inherit some fabulous trust-fund; then you might have been able to widen your search for local rental-homes, or you wouldn't have been otherwise so constrained in your housing choices - - you blame your inability to "convince your wife" and maybe that was the case. But at the end of the day, we could all just forgo living in a house, and instead camp out somewhere in the back of a van, and safe a crapload of money, couldn't we?
The fatal reality that sabotages Austrian Economics is that living people actually want to live. We ALL only have a finite number of days to do so.
Austrian Economics may not push a moral code on how people *should* live. But its proponents very often do.
Slashdot Mirror
It's worth noting that at Fukishima many of the main problems appear to have been with spent fuel rods that they just didn't have anywhere safe to store without power. Similar US plants are reputed to have the same problems.
This is absolutely true. Spent fuel, for most of the first few months out of supposed "cold shutdown" are still spewing byproducts that decay, and generate a great deal of heat. Without active cooling, they can literally burst into flames, or even melt-down. An alternative solution is "dry-cask" storage, where they are stored in a manner where they don't have access to any oxygen, or any way to burn-through their container. But dry-cask storage containers are very expensive, and degrade over time from the intense neutron bombardment.
What is also "worth noting" is that the problems at Fukushima were caused by cooling-system damage that occurred during the earthquake, prior to the tsunami. Severe damage that could not be repaired. And the shaking that occurred at the plant location was within the plant's design rating. So - the plant did not withstand the earthquake it was designed to withstand.
It remains to be seen - but there are some sources who have said that the fuel has melted out of the cores, and is through the bedrock, and will make contact with the water table, causing a massive steam explosion sometime next year. Perhaps only unit #3. I don't actually think this is likely, because if the molten fuel was, indeed, burning through bedrock, there would be an ongoing release of gasses that would be apparent off-site. It would be very difficult to cover that up. But if a molten core does hit the groundwater, then this scenario would be difficult to deny.
Wearing my "Tester" hat. . . of course I would like ONE browser, and that ONE browser to be Firefox.
Wearing my "User" hat - I am happier with more competition and more choice. I just hope that the add-on market does not get cannibalized to the point where people stop producing and maintaining useful add-ons for Firefox. The add-on situation for other browsers is pathetic.
Nature will enforce that rule.
You call it disaster.
I call in "Natural Selection" writ large.
tested and failed.
More hyperbole. Where exactly do you get all these kooky ideas from?
US Conservatives have always hated the idea of the EU. Since the Greek issue began, they've been raising this point as some supposed scholarly reason why currencies can't be unified where there is no common language. There is mobility of capital, but no mobility of labor, so imbalances develop as capital seeks the lowest labor costs, and labor can't make up for it by looking for the lower costs of living or higher paying jobs in other EU states.
(this phenomenon really has a lot more to do with a lot more factors than culture and language. . . for example, how many French or German people do you know who are not multilingual. ZERO. They are almost ALL bilingual).
Thus, US Conservatives are happily predicting the EU's demise.
Never mind that the US also has several very distinct cultural regions, and it's difficult (not impossible) for people to pick-up and move.
The whole problem with this idiotic theory, is that it assumes that people are widgets.
It is true that capital has the advantage in seeking lower rates, throughout the EU zone, but they can also go overseas. (as we do in the US, thanks to NAFTA, and our Asian arrangements). The answer to that, is called a "Tarrif". Which seems to be something that Conservatives consider to be some horrid communist torture device.
yeah - but the essence of that statement:
If a quantum wavefunction is purely a statistical tool, then quantum states that are unconnected across space and time are able to communicate with each other.
. . . may sound like a sematical nightmare. . . and it is.
If the states are able to "communicate", then, they ARE connected. Quantum Mechanics describes the effect, but not the MECHANISM. How does this work? More importantly - if there is "communication" does this "MEAN" that information is transmitted, and if information is transmitted, what are the thermodynamic ramifications? That's a violation of c. The horror. Cosmology is over.
I prefer to think that these particles are merely remaining stationary, and it is the state of the rest of the universe that is in flux. Much simpler that way.
skeptical is ALWAYS a good thing in science.
Sometimes it's also good to be skeptical of knee-jerk skepticism.
By "Al Qaeda" - he meant ". . . paid operatives of a covert consortium of texas oil millionaires and wall street investment bankers who also performed 9/11". . .
"Monopolist seeks rent" Photos at 11.
I've got a BIG ONE for them. . .
There needs to be a Moral Hazard for those individuals who Deal in Bad Faith.
And those who operate in our economy need to know that they can operate with risk. . . but without the risk that they are being scammed by criminals in a rigged casino.
In truth: Banks execute Corporate Death Penalties all the time. And yes. Hundreds of thousands of working class people get tossed out of jobs. And the top tier do avoid punishment. In most worst-case scenarios, they are in forced-retirement. In some worst-case scenarios, they're personally liable for fraud or white collar crime, and get their little slap on the wrist, but in the overwhelming majority, they end up in positions of trust at other companies in due time; while the rank-and-file have their lives disrupted for things that were no fault of their own.
Government mostly stands by and watches - or assists the Bank in the lawful execution.
Examples:
Enron
Arthur Anderson
Lehman
Madoff and Associates
Roving Mobs don't have a clear understanding or definition of what "Person" means.
We get all upset and bothered over mexicans coming in and "stealing our jobs" but hell if we're going to pay more than $4 for a hamburger at McDonalds, because we had to pay some white kid minimum wage to pick the lettuce that goes on top. And the "illegal alien" that is the Chinese factory worker, who made our iPod, which we'll gladly contract out for about $250, but if we had to pay American unionized factory workers to make one, we'd be paying closer to $3000-$4000. That's enabled by NAFTA, of course. (and the H1-B stuff, as well).
We need to understand that the definition of what constitutes a Person, and who has which equal rights, is really important. That definition must be equal for all, and must have a delineation defined by national boundaries, currency use, taxation use, and it must be equal for Capital (Corporate persons) as well as Labor (actual working human beings). Otherwise, Capital will exploit those loopholes for profit. (and, in fact, use its unequal influence on government and policymaking to create larger and more obscure loopholes to exploit - which is exactly what has been going on for the past 30+ years in this country).
A NATIONAL border is part of the definition of one's personhood, one's legal rights, one's citizenship. I'm not saying that we need to build a wall or anything like that. I'm saying that this needs to be taken into consideration when we're talking about defining corporate personhood, free trade and the like.
these guys would just take out loans against their pending bonuses. Then file for personal bankruptcy.
I've been in this industry close to 20 years, worked at 3 different employers, one of which was bought 4 times, so really, 7 different companies. Basically, everyone is a manipulative asshole. I mean EVERYONE!!!
Try Retail?
HA HA HA HA HA~!!! :)
they can't obscure my reflexive typing of "www.google.com" into the address bar though. Keep trying Bill . . .
The industry was not "trashed by offshoring" Offshoring is just practice - which can be benign or malignant in implementation. (usually malignant) - - but it's the intent BEHIND the offshoring which is what trashed the industry. The intent was: cut costs, and improve (perceived) shareholder value. In pretty much all cases, offshoring will give you a short-term lower cost. Long term though, you cut your own throat as you lose out in innovation, independence, and agility. Some companies actually just plain can't compete - paying US labor costs, playing "the game" on honest terms. But as soon as finance comes into play, and having to appease shareholders. . . you're playing a game that has very little to do with technology and more to do with business and accounting. And that is what destroyed the industry. The industry was built on innovation and brains. The financiers came in, and we got our free cokes - then they pumped-and-dumped it all. Every last bit. SGI, DEC, Sun, pretty soon, HP, Xerox. . . one by one. The MBA's took over. That's what trashed the industry.
This is what happens when you let a businessman run a technology company.
I've pretty much always had cupcake interviews. . . but I've pretty much always ended up working for near-sighted and irrational people anyway. Seems to come with the territory.
No - this is exactly the fodder needed for the abiogenesis whackos out there; who are going to keep saying that if we only drill harder and deeper, we'll find more oil, and we'll all be just fine.
Remember - this is tech-journalism.
It was a mistake in the article.
The unit is 1 VW.
They're going to produce 1 VolksWagen of energy - or the equivalent energy produced by a VolksWagen.
next thing I'm going to do is go back to school, study chemistry, and figure out a way to cold-fusion-synthesize gold fuck-yeah.
Netscape/Mozilla filled a necessary vacuum.
I think that with Oracle purchasing Sun/Java, this late in the game, there's so much established code out there, it's really hard to tell what's going to happen. But clearly, this industry can not exist by closed-source vendors.
Many NON-Austrians; (and actual-Keynesians) DID predict and loudly proclaimed the coming crash.
What was going on in 2003/2004 was NOT Keynesian spending.
They were "spending" (keeping interest rates artificially low via FED policy) during an economic BOOM period. This runs exactly COUNTER to Keynesian theory, and Keynes specifically warned against it. Bush/Greenspan are not stupid, and this was obviously done intentionally.
Why?
1. to enrich those who were in a position to profit from it.
2. to bilk middle-class investors, who were not in a position to ride-out the bursting of the bubble and resulting recession.
3. . . . resulting in - de-funding the (political) opposition.
We can agree in opposition of the FED. But the idea that fiat currency is inherently bad and that we need to go to a "gold" standard, is alarmingly ignorant, as is the idea that all debt is bad and that government can never borrow money (especially during depressions or recessions as a stimulative spending effort).
Economics is too a science.
How we've implemented it in the US though, is very unscientific.
Mainly - how we've allowed commercial bias and ethical conflicts of interests to pollute what has been falsely advertised as unbiased scholarly research.
That has NOTHING to do with the basis of the systematic approach to the study of Economic theory. But certainly - there have been a lot of harebrained theories that have become floated and widely accepted in Western Europe and the US; inside and outside of Academic circles. They need a thorough house-cleaning. Far worse than the most foaming-mouth lunatic ravings of the climate-science deniers.
I wasn't able to convince my wife. . .
. . . and this is the fatal flaw of so-called "Austrian Economics". It places unrealistic expectations on people who don't have the convenience of being independently wealthy. - ie. had you been born into a family that allowed you to inherit some fabulous trust-fund; then you might have been able to widen your search for local rental-homes, or you wouldn't have been otherwise so constrained in your housing choices - - you blame your inability to "convince your wife" and maybe that was the case. But at the end of the day, we could all just forgo living in a house, and instead camp out somewhere in the back of a van, and safe a crapload of money, couldn't we?
The fatal reality that sabotages Austrian Economics is that living people actually want to live.
We ALL only have a finite number of days to do so.
Austrian Economics may not push a moral code on how people *should* live.
But its proponents very often do.