I'm glad it works some places, but in the U.S. greed rules the day - demand-based pricing, long-term, will cost most Americans more.
In regards to my comment about it being unnecessary for residential users, that's very simple... if industrial users shed load during peak periods, residential users don't have to...
And keep in mind that even just one large industrial user shedding some load is equivalent to all the electrical usage of hundreds, if not many thousands, of residential users combined.
Shedding load during peak periods for large industrial users truly makes a difference, and economically pays off for both utilities and them.
However, for individual consumers, long-term, a "smart" grid that controls people's appliances will probably cost residential users much more than what they're paying now.
Right now, I can turn on any device in my home and know it will cost me exactly the same price per KWH to run regardless of what the appliance or what time it is.
Contrast that with demand-based pricing in which utilities can place appliances into various rate classifications, as well as of course charge dramatically different rates depending on the time, or even the duration of use.
Ie. a really greedy utility, say for running an air conditioner, could charge a higher rate per KWH for simply running the unit regardless of the time of day due to its high energy draw, plus then bulk the rate up even more depending on the time of day it's run, plus then up top of all of that, bulk the rate up even further for running the unit for too long of duration at a time.
In short, one could find themself being nickled and dimed and ultimately paying much more... flat-rate for most people is a better deal, if they want comfort... or as another poster lemented, perhaps the U.S. is well on its way to becoming a 3rd world country, but I digress.
The way the power grid is structured now makes such demand based pricing for *residential* users unnecessary, since industrial loads tend to run somewhat opposite times of residential loads. And during peak periods, many large industrial users have already agreed to shed load automatically, so why should residential users be burdened... they shouldn't.
Rambling on... in my view, to reiterate, the main drivers of demand-based pricing is greed - utilities will likely, long-term, earn much more with demand-based pricing, and also "feel good" environmentalism driven more by emotion than facts.
No, it means they control 134.17.0.0 to 134.17.255.255... NOT 16 addresses, but rather 65,536 addresses. Though still a far cry from them controlling all of 134, since they only have 1/256 slice of it.
I use wildcard dns to resolve all.COM domains that are pointed to my name servers; similar to how parking companies do it. A common side effect of various wildcard configs is that all subdomains are resolved too.
It's poor form, but saves me the hassle of always having update my zone files when I add more domains - this way they resolve immediately.
I originally sought to limit the subdomain resolving functionality, but after reading about many ISPs resolving sub-domains of domains they don't control, I'm glad it works as it does - ie. rfidtoys.com - http://anything.rfidtoys.com/
And yet, Ebay still sends email to users regarding important matters despite the security risks that poses - ie. how can a user know the email is real, it's not encrypted, etc.
Instead of banning browsers, Ebay should address the bigger security issue of Ebay sending email to users - instead Ebay should only send notices simply saying one has new messages in their Ebay message center, and require the user to actually visit Ebay to view the message contents - not fool-proof, but would substantially reduce the effectiveness of email spoofs.
Many people store much of their email, contact lists, images / video, etc on such services - when one loses access to their account, they lose access to much, if not all, of their user content. That can be devestating for many people.
Personally, I don't use Google / Yahoo for anything important, but I know many people who do - some don't understand the risks while others simply accept the tradeoff of possibly losing access / data as the price of using such "free" services.
Is your credit card a U.S. issued card?... if so, you have a lot longer than 30 days. You have at least 60 days from the statement date, and potentially even longer for unauthorized purchases, to dispute them.
Chargebacks, for on-line purchases, even many months later are common - call your credit card issuer again and press the matter.
Examining / seizing laptops is nothing new - there have been numerous discussions on GFY.com (adult webmasters forum) over the years about people who got snared due to posessing various adult oriented text / images by Customs of various countries - not just the U.S., but also Canada and elsewhere.
The safest course of action is to store data remotely whenever possible - with the internet, here and there makes no difference... for documents / email, which is most often what people need on business, it's nearly just as easy to access that data from a secure remote server...
Not 100% fool-proof, but remote data storage raises the bar quite a bit - greatly reduces the risk of problems with Customs... they are more likely to let the laptop quickly pass-through, if all they find is a Windows default install with a few mundane documents in the document folder, etc.
One should click the "X" to close out such windows - or likely better yet, especially when in doubt, do so via keyboard CTRL-F4 (think that's the combo).
Anyone who has done some VB programming, etc is well aware that the labels on dialogue boxes can say most anything and be assigned to most anything - problem here is that most Window's users don't know that "Cancel" can be assigned to the same function as "Yes", etc... don't trust any option shown, use the "X" instead; that's not full-proof either, but much safer than clicking "No", "Cancel", etc.
No arguing necessary - Disney has a policy to allow people who object to using the finger scanner to show a government issued photo ID instead.
While cast members working the gates should be aware of this policy, it's downplayed; it's all about getting people in as efficiently as possible while maintaining control over tickets (shared tickets / fraud was a huge problem before), which is the driving force behind having such scanners.
Personally, I have no problem with the finger scan - it's fast and much easier than searching around for my ID... and for folks staying on property travelling with children, not using finger scan can make things more complicated for young teens who are old enough to travel on their own within Disney World, but don't yet have photo ID of their own.
In an ideal world, there would be no finger scanners, but it's a reality... for those paranoid, one work-around is to paste a fake print over their finger - best for one day visit / short vacation.
Also, this is a, admittedly more complicated, way to test whether Disney really deletes fingerprint data or not after 30 days - they claim to... but do they really? -be interesting to see that tested. But I digress.
It's only a matter of time before biometrics become mandatory most everywhere - and I'm not talking just international travel, but domestic travel as well.
On an aside, several U.S. states, including California have required fingerprint(s) for one to merely get a drivers license for decades regardless of where one plans to travel...
Speaking of travel - even within the U.S., there are internal checkpoints where people (drivers, bikers, etc) are stopped and asked for ID and/or questioned about their activities - some checkpoints are for catching illegal aliens while others are for checking for contraband - typically invasive plants, foods, insects, etc that themselves are legal, but not for transport in/out of some areas, and then there are the DUI checkpoints and Safety checkpoints.
Point is that people in the U.S. have long tolerated / accepted many other invasive actions without any uprising. I expect that fingerprinting won't be any different in the longrun...
Many here speak of not traveling to such and such place due to fingerprinting... but keep in mind that young people growing up today are increasingly accustom to being watched, and many actually feel more secure being constantly monitored - they far outnumber the folks who avoid travel due to fingerprinting, etc...
And it will get worse too - requiring DNA samples, IRIS scans, RFID tagging (already happening via passports), etc...
So again, it's just a matter of time before most everyone who wishes to travel anywhere is tagged, photographed, and profiled; barring a major revolution, it's inevitable.
I agree that carrying around a lens could be a hassle for many people, but is a simple, viable solution that will work today.
Looking way into the future, it may be possible for cell phone manufactures to come up with a screen that appears much larger when viewed from a normal reading distance - that is to say the enlarged image would appear to float about a foot or so above the actual screen.
EBooks delivered to and read on Cell Phones is the future.
Screen resolution on cell phones has greatly improved allowing much more text to be displayed...
Of course, reading such a small screen poses challanges... but a simple magnifier lens solves that problem... could be in the form of a snap-on for regular glasses or as a separate bluetooth unit that's worn over one eye; guy from MIT used something like that for over 5 years to surf the internet most anywhere he went... to digress a bit, I wouldn't be surprised if in say 5 years, accounts of people walking into other people, walls, cars, etc become commonplace.
There's also a psychology factor to consider - people are already accustom to paying for extra stuff (ring tones, wall papers, etc) via their cell phone; billing system is already in place.
Plus young people, especially teens and younger, are very comfortable with reading text off a computer screen - they aren't as emotionally attached to physical books as older people are; many schools / colleges are increasingly transitioning over to on-line instruction... in 10 or so years, most students likely won't even have physical textbooks anymore - it will be all on computer; cell phones will be one of the many methods by which people will be able to study while on the go.
While many here are discussing UPSes, chillers, set-points, etc the most serious flaw is being glossed over... the lack of redundency outside the data center, such as multiple, diverse power lines coming in...
From the articles, it appears that Rackspace datacenter doesn't have multiple power lines coming in and/or many come in via one feed point.
How else is it that a car crash quite some distance from the datacenter can cause such disruption. Does anyone even plan for such events - I get the feeling most planners don't, since I've seen first-hand many power failures occur in places where one would expect more redundency from dumb things like a vehicle hitting a utility pole, etc.
Instead of storing power in the device, send power to it instead - that is put in a RFID-like receiver that can be energized from a distance, such as from a current-inducing remote control.
Think outside the box... no need to even have a capacitor.
If any of the astronauts get seriously shocked or even killed, NASA managers are going to wish they had followed basic electrical safety precautions in an industrial environment, which the ISS is...
Lock Out and Tag Out electrial safety procedure - something NASA should be following - imagine the public and political outrage, if someone is seriously injured / dies as a result of skipping some basic safety precautions like turning off that solar array...
While it's true that in some instances electrial repair is done on live wires / devices, that's typically done by people with much electrial experience wearing specialized safety gear... the astronauts have neither of those things - little to no experience with electricty and no safety gear designed for live electrial work - in short, work on a live solar array without the proper training and gear is reckless!
It's one thing for astronauts to take risks, but not dumb ones that are unnecessary... when it comes to safety, NASA is still cutting corners!
Video-on-demand, both on cable and via internet, will make blu-ray / HD-DVD irrevelant...
Sure some people will buy / use such players, but most people are skipping right to utilizing video-on-demand instead... and with ever increasing affordable, even free (ie. YouTube / Wifi, etc), bandwidth, VoD is well on the way to drive the newer physical HD formats to a premature extinction.
Most all IDNs in most TLDs are stored/accessible in standard ASCII... you mentioned "hemp"... well, I happen to own the.com IDN (see http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?wdrst=0&popup=1&wdqchid=%E9%BA%BB to view character) in Chinese / Japanese... its punycode (ascii representation) is xn--mc7a.com
2nd+ level IDNs have existed for over 7 years - they are not new.
What is new is the TLD part, such as.COM, of domains will also be representable natively in other character sets / formats. There won't be any landrush because each IDN TLD representation will be aliased to the corresponding standard ascii form of the TLD.
One should always have at least the bare minimum of three copies of their data whenever possible with at least one of the copies *always* located off-site...
1. The HD in the computer
2. Backup device #1 that's intended for the next backup stored locally or off-site
3. Backup device #2 that's intended for the backup *after the next one* stored off-site
If one only has two copies, which is common, the problem is if the backup fails for whatever reason, then one can suddenly end up with messed up data on their HD *and* on the backup device too... in essance leaving *no* valid backup at all.
The key to avoiding that problem is doing backups in rotation where at least one copy (ideally even more than one) is always off-site during the actual backup operation... this shuld be obvious to folks in IT... yet often this basic precaution is neglected, especially by laypeople, due to ignorance, economy, laziness, etc.
So at their current rate of travel, in about 30 years, get prepared to celebrate when the first of the probes will finally reach the distance of 1 lightDAY!
Many people tout solar as the solution to the world's energy problems - yet most neglect the issue of its low energy density... it takes a lot of solar panels to match the power generation of even a small coal power plant let alone a nuclear power plant, etc.
Most people don't want to live in a place that's covered in solar panels and windmills far as the eye can see...
And on a related note, neither windmills nor solar panels are benign - they both have a subtle effect on the environment... there's always a tradeoff with energy generation.
With all that said, for personal / household use solar has much promise, assuming the price can be reduced further, such as panels on roofs, etc to help people augment their energy needs.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm glad it works some places, but in the U.S. greed rules the day - demand-based pricing, long-term, will cost most Americans more.
... if industrial users shed load during peak periods, residential users don't have to...
In regards to my comment about it being unnecessary for residential users, that's very simple
And keep in mind that even just one large industrial user shedding some load is equivalent to all the electrical usage of hundreds, if not many thousands, of residential users combined.
Ron
Shedding load during peak periods for large industrial users truly makes a difference, and economically pays off for both utilities and them.
... flat-rate for most people is a better deal, if they want comfort ... or as another poster lemented, perhaps the U.S. is well on its way to becoming a 3rd world country, but I digress.
... they shouldn't.
... in my view, to reiterate, the main drivers of demand-based pricing is greed - utilities will likely, long-term, earn much more with demand-based pricing, and also "feel good" environmentalism driven more by emotion than facts.
However, for individual consumers, long-term, a "smart" grid that controls people's appliances will probably cost residential users much more than what they're paying now.
Right now, I can turn on any device in my home and know it will cost me exactly the same price per KWH to run regardless of what the appliance or what time it is.
Contrast that with demand-based pricing in which utilities can place appliances into various rate classifications, as well as of course charge dramatically different rates depending on the time, or even the duration of use.
Ie. a really greedy utility, say for running an air conditioner, could charge a higher rate per KWH for simply running the unit regardless of the time of day due to its high energy draw, plus then bulk the rate up even more depending on the time of day it's run, plus then up top of all of that, bulk the rate up even further for running the unit for too long of duration at a time.
In short, one could find themself being nickled and dimed and ultimately paying much more
The way the power grid is structured now makes such demand based pricing for *residential* users unnecessary, since industrial loads tend to run somewhat opposite times of residential loads. And during peak periods, many large industrial users have already agreed to shed load automatically, so why should residential users be burdened
Rambling on
Ron
No, it means they control 134.17.0.0 to 134.17.255.255 ... NOT 16 addresses, but rather 65,536 addresses. Though still a far cry from them controlling all of 134, since they only have 1/256 slice of it.
Ron
SSDs have greatly improved, and typically utilize wear leveling methods to more evenly distribute writes across memory cells.
However, in real-world situations, do SSD write limitations ever pose a problem or is it a total non-issue these days?
Ron
I use wildcard dns to resolve all .COM domains that are pointed to my name servers; similar to how parking companies do it. A common side effect of various wildcard configs is that all subdomains are resolved too.
It's poor form, but saves me the hassle of always having update my zone files when I add more domains - this way they resolve immediately.
I originally sought to limit the subdomain resolving functionality, but after reading about many ISPs resolving sub-domains of domains they don't control, I'm glad it works as it does - ie. rfidtoys.com - http://anything.rfidtoys.com/
Ron
And yet, Ebay still sends email to users regarding important matters despite the security risks that poses - ie. how can a user know the email is real, it's not encrypted, etc.
Instead of banning browsers, Ebay should address the bigger security issue of Ebay sending email to users - instead Ebay should only send notices simply saying one has new messages in their Ebay message center, and require the user to actually visit Ebay to view the message contents - not fool-proof, but would substantially reduce the effectiveness of email spoofs.
Ron
When determining the "ideal" text colors for a website, one needs to take into account that many people have color blindless.
Furthermore, simply choosing contrasting colors won't work - ie. red on green is bad, red on blue is bad, etc.
With that said, some of the color combos mentioned, such as black/white or green/black often work well - easy to read by most all people.
Ron
Many people store much of their email, contact lists, images / video, etc on such services - when one loses access to their account, they lose access to much, if not all, of their user content. That can be devestating for many people.
Personally, I don't use Google / Yahoo for anything important, but I know many people who do - some don't understand the risks while others simply accept the tradeoff of possibly losing access / data as the price of using such "free" services.
Ron
Is your credit card a U.S. issued card? ... if so, you have a lot longer than 30 days. You have at least 60 days from the statement date, and potentially even longer for unauthorized purchases, to dispute them.
Chargebacks, for on-line purchases, even many months later are common - call your credit card issuer again and press the matter.
Ron
Examining / seizing laptops is nothing new - there have been numerous discussions on GFY.com (adult webmasters forum) over the years about people who got snared due to posessing various adult oriented text / images by Customs of various countries - not just the U.S., but also Canada and elsewhere.
... for documents / email, which is most often what people need on business, it's nearly just as easy to access that data from a secure remote server...
... they are more likely to let the laptop quickly pass-through, if all they find is a Windows default install with a few mundane documents in the document folder, etc.
The safest course of action is to store data remotely whenever possible - with the internet, here and there makes no difference
Not 100% fool-proof, but remote data storage raises the bar quite a bit - greatly reduces the risk of problems with Customs
Ron
With all this talk about AI cars, some very tough issues are ignored / glossed over ...
1. Car breakdowns - what happens if a car in an automated car fleet gets a flat, stalls, runs of gas, etc?
2. How will an auto-driven car recognize / react to a construction zone; flagger standing in the middle of the road manually directing traffic, etc?
3. How will an AI fleet handle deer and other various animals, including pedestrians, that unexpectedly appear on the road?
Ron
One should click the "X" to close out such windows - or likely better yet, especially when in doubt, do so via keyboard CTRL-F4 (think that's the combo).
... don't trust any option shown, use the "X" instead; that's not full-proof either, but much safer than clicking "No", "Cancel", etc.
Anyone who has done some VB programming, etc is well aware that the labels on dialogue boxes can say most anything and be assigned to most anything - problem here is that most Window's users don't know that "Cancel" can be assigned to the same function as "Yes", etc
Ron
No arguing necessary - Disney has a policy to allow people who object to using the finger scanner to show a government issued photo ID instead.
... and for folks staying on property travelling with children, not using finger scan can make things more complicated for young teens who are old enough to travel on their own within Disney World, but don't yet have photo ID of their own.
... for those paranoid, one work-around is to paste a fake print over their finger - best for one day visit / short vacation.
... but do they really? -be interesting to see that tested. But I digress.
While cast members working the gates should be aware of this policy, it's downplayed; it's all about getting people in as efficiently as possible while maintaining control over tickets (shared tickets / fraud was a huge problem before), which is the driving force behind having such scanners.
Personally, I have no problem with the finger scan - it's fast and much easier than searching around for my ID
In an ideal world, there would be no finger scanners, but it's a reality
Also, this is a, admittedly more complicated, way to test whether Disney really deletes fingerprint data or not after 30 days - they claim to
Ron
It's only a matter of time before biometrics become mandatory most everywhere - and I'm not talking just international travel, but domestic travel as well.
... but keep in mind that young people growing up today are increasingly accustom to being watched, and many actually feel more secure being constantly monitored - they far outnumber the folks who avoid travel due to fingerprinting, etc ...
On an aside, several U.S. states, including California have required fingerprint(s) for one to merely get a drivers license for decades regardless of where one plans to travel...
Speaking of travel - even within the U.S., there are internal checkpoints where people (drivers, bikers, etc) are stopped and asked for ID and/or questioned about their activities - some checkpoints are for catching illegal aliens while others are for checking for contraband - typically invasive plants, foods, insects, etc that themselves are legal, but not for transport in/out of some areas, and then there are the DUI checkpoints and Safety checkpoints.
Point is that people in the U.S. have long tolerated / accepted many other invasive actions without any uprising. I expect that fingerprinting won't be any different in the longrun...
Many here speak of not traveling to such and such place due to fingerprinting
And it will get worse too - requiring DNA samples, IRIS scans, RFID tagging (already happening via passports), etc...
So again, it's just a matter of time before most everyone who wishes to travel anywhere is tagged, photographed, and profiled; barring a major revolution, it's inevitable.
Ron
I agree that carrying around a lens could be a hassle for many people, but is a simple, viable solution that will work today.
Looking way into the future, it may be possible for cell phone manufactures to come up with a screen that appears much larger when viewed from a normal reading distance - that is to say the enlarged image would appear to float about a foot or so above the actual screen.
Ron
EBooks delivered to and read on Cell Phones is the future.
... but a simple magnifier lens solves that problem ... could be in the form of a snap-on for regular glasses or as a separate bluetooth unit that's worn over one eye; guy from MIT used something like that for over 5 years to surf the internet most anywhere he went ... to digress a bit, I wouldn't be surprised if in say 5 years, accounts of people walking into other people, walls, cars, etc become commonplace.
... in 10 or so years, most students likely won't even have physical textbooks anymore - it will be all on computer; cell phones will be one of the many methods by which people will be able to study while on the go.
Screen resolution on cell phones has greatly improved allowing much more text to be displayed...
Of course, reading such a small screen poses challanges
There's also a psychology factor to consider - people are already accustom to paying for extra stuff (ring tones, wall papers, etc) via their cell phone; billing system is already in place.
Plus young people, especially teens and younger, are very comfortable with reading text off a computer screen - they aren't as emotionally attached to physical books as older people are; many schools / colleges are increasingly transitioning over to on-line instruction
Ron
While many here are discussing UPSes, chillers, set-points, etc the most serious flaw is being glossed over ... the lack of redundency outside the data center, such as multiple, diverse power lines coming in...
From the articles, it appears that Rackspace datacenter doesn't have multiple power lines coming in and/or many come in via one feed point.
How else is it that a car crash quite some distance from the datacenter can cause such disruption. Does anyone even plan for such events - I get the feeling most planners don't, since I've seen first-hand many power failures occur in places where one would expect more redundency from dumb things like a vehicle hitting a utility pole, etc.
Ron
Instead of storing power in the device, send power to it instead - that is put in a RFID-like receiver that can be energized from a distance, such as from a current-inducing remote control.
... no need to even have a capacitor.
Think outside the box
Ron
If any of the astronauts get seriously shocked or even killed, NASA managers are going to wish they had followed basic electrical safety precautions in an industrial environment, which the ISS is...
... the astronauts have neither of those things - little to no experience with electricty and no safety gear designed for live electrial work - in short, work on a live solar array without the proper training and gear is reckless!
... when it comes to safety, NASA is still cutting corners!
Lock Out and Tag Out electrial safety procedure - something NASA should be following - imagine the public and political outrage, if someone is seriously injured / dies as a result of skipping some basic safety precautions like turning off that solar array...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_and_tag
While it's true that in some instances electrial repair is done on live wires / devices, that's typically done by people with much electrial experience wearing specialized safety gear
It's one thing for astronauts to take risks, but not dumb ones that are unnecessary
End of my tirade.
Ron
Video-on-demand, both on cable and via internet, will make blu-ray / HD-DVD irrevelant ...
... and with ever increasing affordable, even free (ie. YouTube / Wifi, etc), bandwidth, VoD is well on the way to drive the newer physical HD formats to a premature extinction.
Sure some people will buy / use such players, but most people are skipping right to utilizing video-on-demand instead
Ron
Most all IDNs in most TLDs are stored/accessible in standard ASCII ... you mentioned "hemp" ... well, I happen to own the .com IDN (see http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?wdrst=0&popup=1&wdqchid=%E9%BA%BB to view character) in Chinese / Japanese ... its punycode (ascii representation) is xn--mc7a.com
.COM, of domains will also be representable natively in other character sets / formats. There won't be any landrush because each IDN TLD representation will be aliased to the corresponding standard ascii form of the TLD.
2nd+ level IDNs have existed for over 7 years - they are not new.
What is new is the TLD part, such as
Ron
One should always have at least the bare minimum of three copies of their data whenever possible with at least one of the copies *always* located off-site ...
... in essance leaving *no* valid backup at all.
... this shuld be obvious to folks in IT ... yet often this basic precaution is neglected, especially by laypeople, due to ignorance, economy, laziness, etc.
1. The HD in the computer
2. Backup device #1 that's intended for the next backup stored locally or off-site
3. Backup device #2 that's intended for the backup *after the next one* stored off-site
If one only has two copies, which is common, the problem is if the backup fails for whatever reason, then one can suddenly end up with messed up data on their HD *and* on the backup device too
The key to avoiding that problem is doing backups in rotation where at least one copy (ideally even more than one) is always off-site during the actual backup operation
Ron
Sounds a lot like how Service Merchandise stores were set up.
Ron
So at their current rate of travel, in about 30 years, get prepared to celebrate when the first of the probes will finally reach the distance of 1 lightDAY!
Many people tout solar as the solution to the world's energy problems - yet most neglect the issue of its low energy density ... it takes a lot of solar panels to match the power generation of even a small coal power plant let alone a nuclear power plant, etc.
... there's always a tradeoff with energy generation.
Most people don't want to live in a place that's covered in solar panels and windmills far as the eye can see...
And on a related note, neither windmills nor solar panels are benign - they both have a subtle effect on the environment
With all that said, for personal / household use solar has much promise, assuming the price can be reduced further, such as panels on roofs, etc to help people augment their energy needs.
Ron