One thing bothers me about electric cars. If everyone has an electric car. What would we do? Electric re-gas stations with huge power conduit to them? Or revamp the entire electrical grid so each home would get enough amperage to handle it? Do we have brownouts now because the grid can't handle the load, or the power source can't produce enough
There's also option #3: put solar panels on every roof, so that much of the electric power for the electric cars can be generated locally and less added grid capacity is required.
I'm a so-called "knowledge-worker." Commuting is totally unnecessary for me. My employer refuses to entertain the idea of telecommuting. As I understand it (from past Slashdot stories, even), this is extremely common. Even if a worker does nothing at all, all day long, companies feel better if they can see them.
No problem; there are still a number of possible ways to reduce your energy consumption. In no particular order: drive something more efficient; carpool; take public transportation; move closer to your job; bike to work; commute during off hours rather than during rush hour; convince your employer to allow you to telecommute; or find another job that is closer or more flexible. Or you can just come with excuses for why nothing can be done. It's really up to you.
Until the overall cost comes down, panels aren't cost effective here. And panel costs do have to come down. Local power costs are not going to rise much. It's all coal. Coal is nothing if not predictable.
I agree than solar prices need to come down; and I think they will do that. As far as coal prices not going up; that depends to a great degree on whether the external costs of coal are ever factored into the price. Currently, those costs (global warming, pollution, mining damage, health problems) are being effectively subsidized by people other than those who benefit from the coal.
There is also the possibility of wind power and geothermal, depending on where you live.
Fix that, and I'll be first in line.
Sorry, I can't solve your problems for you. You know your situation better than I do; maybe you'll think of some clever solutions.
I don't know about you but I can't afford $110,000 for a Tesla Roadster, if I could even get on the waiting list before they're all sold out.
True, but you could probably afford a bike. Then perhaps you could bike more and drive less. Or you can wait for less expensive electric cars to come out. Or you could buy a motorcycle or a scooter (or even an electric scooter). Or you could organize your life in such a way that you don't have to travel so much. There are lots of things you can do, once you've shrugged off the "I must drive my car every day" mindset.
In any case, I wasn't posting about you personally, but about the society as a whole. We need to do whatever can be done to make it easier and more convenient for people (like yourself) to get off of oil.
I don't know about you but I can't afford $75,000 for the low-efficiency silicon solar panels required to power it.
FWIW, our HOA is about to put 43 kilowatts worth of solar panels on our condo building's roof, and it isn't going to cost us a cent. In fact, it will save us about $3,500 per year, starting at day one, with no up-front investment required. We're signing a Power Purchase Agreement with SolarCity, in which they will install the system and operate it, and sell us the resulting power at 9.5 cents per kWh. (We currently pay the power company 15.5 cents per kWh). I don't know if a similar deal is available where you are, but it is possible in many areas to get solar power without a big up-front investment.
The reservoir is unlikely to be located near the surface, so you've basically got a long, thin drill hole going down a long way.
Thanks, that actually makes a lot of sense. I wonder if they are considering strapping explosives to one of their underwater ROVs and sending it down as a suicide bomber. It seems like they could probably have the gushing stopped by tomorrow...
We should do our best to learn what went wrong and our best to avoid it in the future but we must accept that this is a consequence of the life style we enjoy the rest of the time.
We could also take it as a sign that our way of living needs to change. We need to use less energy and switch to less damaging, more sustainable energy sources. People hate to acknowledge it, but it's the simple truth.
Just writing this sort of accident off as "the cost of doing business" only works in the short term. Eventually, the cheap, accessible oil will be gone, the ecological damage will be irreversible, and then we'll still have to switch over to other energy sources. It's clear that we're heading down a blind alley, so why not turn around ASAP, rather than waiting until all possible damage has been done?
We will be footing the bill, not you. With higher gas prices that is.
Only to the extent that you choose to buy gas (and products that are dependent on gas).
(Yes, that is a lot of things... but dependence on oil is a problem that will have to be solved sooner or later... might as well start planning for it)
Nuke it. Drop one down into the hole and blow it closed.
Assuming that you (and the other 'blow it up' posts) aren't just kidding around... wouldn't this sort of thing be just as likely to make the hole much larger?
Carriers with shorter fibre optic paths have been able to command price premiums upwards of $500/month per millisecond of decreased latency vs. their competition. Eventually the exchanges will just host trading houses' servers locally, everyone will be on a level playing field, and this fiasco will end.
You have to admit, the end state of this system will be an interesting variation of "Core Wars", at least for those who have the money and skill to participate.
I'm surprised the article didn't mention PTPd, which is an implementation of the IEEE 1588 precision time-synchronization standard. I was under the impression that was the standard way to solve this sort of problem when NTP wasn't enough.
Of course, you can also get hydrogen from seawater. The question in either case is, can you collect it without expending more energy than you can extract from the resulting fuel?
The point was, wiping your anus with a dry piece of paper won't make it clean, any more than wiping your hands with a dry piece of paper would make them clean.
Of course, the computer you're on is the direct result of centuries of environment destroying progress that wouldn't have existed without capitalism. Actually you'd probably be dead without all the medical advanced it helped to come to pass. Granted, hypocrisy seems to be the staple of zealots.
Everything you said above is true, but none of it contradicts the parent poster's argument. Just because he's (arguably) a hypocrite doesn't mean he's not right.
As the CEO of Xerox once said, "we'll have the paperless office around the same time we have the paperless bathroom"
Actually, a paperless bathroom would be an improvement. Imagine if people cleaned their hands solely by wiping their hands with a dry piece of toilet paper. Not very effective, right? Well, the same logic applies elsewhere, if you take my meaning.
But he is bound by law to do the most he can to improve sales and shareholder value, regardless of the environmental cost, social need or greater economic benefit.
It's a lovely excuse, but legally unenforceable and a bit silly. How many executives have you seen dragged into court for not being ruthless enough? How would a judge even be able to determine whether an executive had "done the most he could", or not? The truth is, executives have pretty wide latitude to do what they want, and as long as they aren't blatantly defrauding the company, the law isn't going to touch them. Inefficient management is not illegal; if it was there would be few managers left.
Those of us who truly understand the free market and how to use them have no fear of the current healthcare system, because we don't need to rely on the charity and goodwill of others. Sorry you seem to have trouble with that.
Hurray, the current system works great for rich people. However, what we really want is a system that works for everyone. (yes, even poor people deserve access to health care)
Sexting is a "phenomena" of prudes having to face the fact that not everyone experiences the same reservations as them about nudity. No-one is forcing them to participate.
Clearly you've never received a visit from "Mr. Goatse" on your cell. I had to soak mine in bleach for an hour, and Verizon wouldn't honor the warranty after that.
That doesn't mean government being in charge will be any better.
Assuming the US government can do as good a job as the governments of other first world countries, it should be.
Of course, maybe the US will simply fail where so many others have succeeded. That's always a possibility... but if that happens, at least it should put an end to the "US is always the best at everything" triumphalism memes.
I'd like to know, from a historical perspective, how this was just "misplaced" so close to the capital, even during war time. Unlike Europe, this is not an area where a war occurred
True, but it's certainly an area that the war might have spread to, had things gone differently. Perhaps the weapons were stockpiled there in case they might be needed to defend the capital?
Slashdot is a collection of groupthink communities (Linux, Apple, MS, opensource, copyrights, etc., etc., etc.).
Only so far as any themed discussion group is. There is plenty of disagreement on all sorts of topics on Slashdot (as evidenced by your worrying about being modded down -- if Slashdot was really groupthink, there wouldn't be any need for moderation). You might as well call a sewing circle "groupthink" because all of the people in it like to sew.
Slashdot Mirror
One thing bothers me about electric cars. If everyone has an electric car. What would we do? Electric re-gas stations with huge power conduit to them? Or revamp the entire electrical grid so each home would get enough amperage to handle it? Do we have brownouts now because the grid can't handle the load, or the power source can't produce enough
There's also option #3: put solar panels on every roof, so that much of the electric power for the electric cars can be generated locally and less added grid capacity is required.
I'm a so-called "knowledge-worker." Commuting is totally unnecessary for me. My employer refuses to entertain the idea of telecommuting. As I understand it (from past Slashdot stories, even), this is extremely common. Even if a worker does nothing at all, all day long, companies feel better if they can see them.
No problem; there are still a number of possible ways to reduce your energy consumption. In no particular order: drive something more efficient; carpool; take public transportation; move closer to your job; bike to work; commute during off hours rather than during rush hour; convince your employer to allow you to telecommute; or find another job that is closer or more flexible. Or you can just come with excuses for why nothing can be done. It's really up to you.
Until the overall cost comes down, panels aren't cost effective here. And panel costs do have to come down. Local power costs are not going to rise much. It's all coal. Coal is nothing if not predictable.
I agree than solar prices need to come down; and I think they will do that. As far as coal prices not going up; that depends to a great degree on whether the external costs of coal are ever factored into the price. Currently, those costs (global warming, pollution, mining damage, health problems) are being effectively subsidized by people other than those who benefit from the coal.
There is also the possibility of wind power and geothermal, depending on where you live.
Fix that, and I'll be first in line.
Sorry, I can't solve your problems for you. You know your situation better than I do; maybe you'll think of some clever solutions.
I don't know about you but I can't afford $110,000 for a Tesla Roadster, if I could even get on the waiting list before they're all sold out.
True, but you could probably afford a bike. Then perhaps you could bike more and drive less. Or you can wait for less expensive electric cars to come out. Or you could buy a motorcycle or a scooter (or even an electric scooter). Or you could organize your life in such a way that you don't have to travel so much. There are lots of things you can do, once you've shrugged off the "I must drive my car every day" mindset.
In any case, I wasn't posting about you personally, but about the society as a whole. We need to do whatever can be done to make it easier and more convenient for people (like yourself) to get off of oil.
I don't know about you but I can't afford $75,000 for the low-efficiency silicon solar panels required to power it.
FWIW, our HOA is about to put 43 kilowatts worth of solar panels on our condo building's roof, and it isn't going to cost us a cent. In fact, it will save us about $3,500 per year, starting at day one, with no up-front investment required. We're signing a Power Purchase Agreement with SolarCity, in which they will install the system and operate it, and sell us the resulting power at 9.5 cents per kWh. (We currently pay the power company 15.5 cents per kWh). I don't know if a similar deal is available where you are, but it is possible in many areas to get solar power without a big up-front investment.
Nonsense! For example, a real human could never mishear the phrase "guide dog" as "gay dog" and refuse to let a dog into a restaurant.
Well to be fair, understanding Australians is an order of magnitude more difficult than understanding English speech.
(ducks)
The reservoir is unlikely to be located near the surface, so you've basically got a long, thin drill hole going down a long way.
Thanks, that actually makes a lot of sense. I wonder if they are considering strapping explosives to one of their underwater ROVs and sending it down as a suicide bomber. It seems like they could probably have the gushing stopped by tomorrow...
We should do our best to learn what went wrong and our best to avoid it in the future but we must accept that this is a consequence of the life style we enjoy the rest of the time.
We could also take it as a sign that our way of living needs to change. We need to use less energy and switch to less damaging, more sustainable energy sources. People hate to acknowledge it, but it's the simple truth.
Just writing this sort of accident off as "the cost of doing business" only works in the short term. Eventually, the cheap, accessible oil will be gone, the ecological damage will be irreversible, and then we'll still have to switch over to other energy sources. It's clear that we're heading down a blind alley, so why not turn around ASAP, rather than waiting until all possible damage has been done?
Why we thought that the oil companies could honestly handle this on their own is beyond me.
Didn't you get the memo? Government is the problem, not the solution. The free market will handle everything!
We will be footing the bill, not you. With higher gas prices that is.
Only to the extent that you choose to buy gas (and products that are dependent on gas).
(Yes, that is a lot of things... but dependence on oil is a problem that will have to be solved sooner or later... might as well start planning for it)
Nuke it. Drop one down into the hole and blow it closed.
Assuming that you (and the other 'blow it up' posts) aren't just kidding around... wouldn't this sort of thing be just as likely to make the hole much larger?
Carriers with shorter fibre optic paths have been able to command price premiums upwards of $500/month per millisecond of decreased latency vs. their competition. Eventually the exchanges will just host trading houses' servers locally, everyone will be on a level playing field, and this fiasco will end.
You have to admit, the end state of this system will be an interesting variation of "Core Wars", at least for those who have the money and skill to participate.
I'm surprised the article didn't mention PTPd, which is an implementation of the IEEE 1588 precision time-synchronization standard. I was under the impression that was the standard way to solve this sort of problem when NTP wasn't enough.
how long will it be before the malware infects one of these machines, maybe it will write web addresses on your incision.
Most likely it will either turn you into a zombie, or carve you up into spam.
URANIUM FROM SEAWATER
Of course, you can also get hydrogen from seawater. The question in either case is, can you collect it without expending more energy than you can extract from the resulting fuel?
Effective at what?
Effective at removing viscous substances.
I keep my anus out of my mouth just fine.
The point was, wiping your anus with a dry piece of paper won't make it clean, any more than wiping your hands with a dry piece of paper would make them clean.
You do realize that trees grow back right?
They can plant new trees, but they can't bring back the ecosystem that was destroyed.
Of course, the computer you're on is the direct result of centuries of environment destroying progress that wouldn't have existed without capitalism. Actually you'd probably be dead without all the medical advanced it helped to come to pass. Granted, hypocrisy seems to be the staple of zealots.
Everything you said above is true, but none of it contradicts the parent poster's argument. Just because he's (arguably) a hypocrite doesn't mean he's not right.
As the CEO of Xerox once said, "we'll have the paperless office around the same time we have the paperless bathroom"
Actually, a paperless bathroom would be an improvement. Imagine if people cleaned their hands solely by wiping their hands with a dry piece of toilet paper. Not very effective, right? Well, the same logic applies elsewhere, if you take my meaning.
But he is bound by law to do the most he can to improve sales and shareholder value, regardless of the environmental cost, social need or greater economic benefit.
It's a lovely excuse, but legally unenforceable and a bit silly. How many executives have you seen dragged into court for not being ruthless enough? How would a judge even be able to determine whether an executive had "done the most he could", or not? The truth is, executives have pretty wide latitude to do what they want, and as long as they aren't blatantly defrauding the company, the law isn't going to touch them. Inefficient management is not illegal; if it was there would be few managers left.
If a person needs a new head, then you really need a person.
That's why you grow the new head before you need it, as a hot spare. Failover FTW!
Those of us who truly understand the free market and how to use them have no fear of the current healthcare system, because we don't need to rely on the charity and goodwill of others. Sorry you seem to have trouble with that.
Hurray, the current system works great for rich people. However, what we really want is a system that works for everyone. (yes, even poor people deserve access to health care)
Considering that is related to (the size of) Greece and that it could grow more, maybe in the future could be called Gaia?
I think 'Cthulu' might be more appropriate.
Sexting is a "phenomena" of prudes having to face the fact that not everyone experiences the same reservations as them about nudity. No-one is forcing them to participate.
Clearly you've never received a visit from "Mr. Goatse" on your cell. I had to soak mine in bleach for an hour, and Verizon wouldn't honor the warranty after that.
That doesn't mean government being in charge will be any better.
Assuming the US government can do as good a job as the governments of other first world countries, it should be.
Of course, maybe the US will simply fail where so many others have succeeded. That's always a possibility... but if that happens, at least it should put an end to the "US is always the best at everything" triumphalism memes.
I'd like to know, from a historical perspective, how this was just "misplaced" so close to the capital, even during war time. Unlike Europe, this is not an area where a war occurred
True, but it's certainly an area that the war might have spread to, had things gone differently. Perhaps the weapons were stockpiled there in case they might be needed to defend the capital?
Slashdot is a collection of groupthink communities (Linux, Apple, MS, opensource, copyrights, etc., etc., etc.).
Only so far as any themed discussion group is. There is plenty of disagreement on all sorts of topics on Slashdot (as evidenced by your worrying about being modded down -- if Slashdot was really groupthink, there wouldn't be any need for moderation). You might as well call a sewing circle "groupthink" because all of the people in it like to sew.