Their "solution" still needs work. The optimization required is to get all the AC to DC conversion done in one step AND parallel the backup batteries. A blade enclosure taking ANY of those voltages you list is going to ALSO have to do more conversion steps since the final board in the blade needs other voltages. 48 volts would just be an intermediate step, so that's not practical. Perhaps what they can do is convert the AC to board level DC in the blade enclosure AND ALSO have a DC connector from the battery (at the same voltage), and do the parallel/transfer operation in the enclosure. But I don't see anything like that in their description.
A better idea might be to make battery packs AS BLADES and have the enclosure smart enough to handle either a CPU board or a battery pack in ANY slot (then we can decide what balance of compute power vs. backup power we want).
Your power comes in from the grid (and the backup generators) at AC. So you must do an AC to DC conversion somewhere. The issue is that doing so in the computer's own PSU is bad because there are issues getting the AC to the computer efficiently. Plus, there is also some power loss in doing the voltage conversions once in the PSU for "standard" DC voltages, then again on the motherboard for specific voltages it needs.
The best ideas basically run a single DC voltage to the computer and motherboard, and let the motherboard convert to what it needs. They get this single DC voltage in bulk from a single conversion from AC, and parallel the single DC with batteries. How large those batteries needs to be depends on whether you have generators. If you do have generators, smaller batteries are needed to carry the equipment long enough to get the generators started. If not, you probably want longer batteries so you can defer a shutdown long enough to see if the power will come back quickly (this generally needs to be 5 to 10 minutes), plus the time it takes to be sure all shutdowns are done gracefully (10 to 15 minutes total). Generators are usually good to go within 2 minutes and many a lot faster than that (in a few seconds).
The idea is to avoid those dual conversion online UPSes which result in AC to DC, DC back to AC, and that AC back to DC (and another DC to DC with common computers).
The big issue to be answered is just where to make the conversion from AC to DC. At one extreme is one big conversion for the whole data center, and run DC all over the place. This begs the question of what voltage to use. Too low and you have to way oversize the conductors and also have a massive fault current issue (arcs that go BOOM instead of just sizzle). Too high and it cannot be safely handled due voltages that kill people, arcs that don't stop flowing across switch gaps, and hugely expensive circuit breakers to interrupt without the benefit of a zero crossover that AC has.
AC and DC are both unsafe. But we've come a longer way with means to make AC safe in the hands of untrained people. The big hazard to the masses has been getting an electric shock. And we have a lot of solutions that work on AC. Most of them can also be used on DC. But DC, especially at these levels, has some extreme hazards that do not involve people getting an electric shock. DC arcs are harder to snuff out. DC is harder to make ground fault detectors.
IMHO, the safer system involves bringing AC all the way to the cabinet and do the AC to DC conversion here. This does open the option to use somewhat higher voltages like three phase 480/277 as found in North America. Europe and the rest of the world should just stick with 400/230 (but I do also suggest North America learn to work with 416/240 since it offers a direct 240 volt AC connection that can be directly used on equipment not able to use the DC system). That DC in the cabinet will now be paralleled with batteries and fed to all those single DC voltage motherboards that Google wanted.
My point is that it is safer to not mess with DC at such a large scale. 48 volts DC is about the same as 240 volts AC in regards to safely. But a data center wide 48 volt system is not optimal due to huge conductors, and 380 volts DC is overly dangerous and that danger goes all the way to the cabinets where people untrained on how to handle high power circuits would be working. (This is not an issue on the Klingon home world where they probably run everything at 2400 volts)
We are waiting for manufacturers to make the equipment that can handle this. Motherboards with a single DC input (though I'm not sure 12 volts is best, it is at least common and offers some advantages) are needed. Power supplies for older motherboards with that same DC input are also needed. Network switches and other devices used in these cabinets also need to take this DC voltage input. Then we need a "UPS" system that has the AC to DC conversion, DC output at the decided voltage, and blade-style battery packs so we can keep them small enough for one lanky sysadmin to replace (with integrated safety circuit so they don't arc when contacts touch, but have to be activated once plugged in).
That depends on the sourced voltage. The if the source voltage is X relative to ground, the floating system cannot be greater than X+V where V is the voltage across the secondary terminals. And there are also ways to hold the float near ground, as well (e.g. winding shielding, or a double stage low voltage grounding). But the simple case of a plain transformer with an ungrounded secondary is an issue at X+V.
It is possible that the passenger had sat on the phone by having it in their back pocket and then battery could have ignited after the glass punctured the battery and sweat reacted with the lithium.
Please don't tell the terrorists how to turn them into an iBomb.
Yesterday Warner Bros. responded to Hotfile’s allegations, admitting that it indeed removed materials for which they don’t hold the copyrights. In addition, the movie studio states that it removed many titles based merely on keywords and without verifying their actual content.
Proof that the law is flawed! The law needs to be updated to require that content owners must either: (1) provide proof of the ownership of the content... OR: (2) stipulate agreement to be liable for $1000 per file per calendar day, plus damages and legal fees, for all content they take down that they have no ownership of (or equivalent legal delegated rights). Missing or flawed proof constitutes electing option #2.
Mac was always better than Windows. But Mac never took over the market Windows has. So clearly, it's not an issue of which is better. It's more of an issue of which is forced on you by decisions other make.
1) WINE is not Linux. The only reason you need to use WIN* is because you delegated the choice of OS to some software company that doesn't give a rat's arse about your computer security.
2) There is a GUI for mplayer. Actually, 3 or 4 of them. Don't confuse the screen candy with the functionality.
3) You have desktop environment choice. OK, so if you don't like any of them, that's a valid excuse. But is it because they don't replicate Windows exactly, which is what you want because it is the only one you have experience with? Tell more.
4) Talk to the game developers. That's not a Linux decision.
5) Flash is (and always was) broken... period. But if you really want a working Flash, you need to take that up with Adobe. Only they know why their programmers can write portable code.
6) Bugs in proprietary drivers are the responsibility of the developers. You did file a formal complaint with them for their incompetence, right?
7) I don't really know what the issue was with that.
8) This is an Apple issue. But it's not unexpected since they do want you to shell out money for their other products. That's how business works. You won't Linux doing that.
9) If you are constantly rebooting, how would you even know?
10) I've never needed *nix. I've needed things to be done well, and *nix was virtually always the solution.
11) Again, another issue with a heartless greedy corporation (it's what they do, by definition).
12) Windows has improved. But I remember the day I was actually able to get WIndows 98 to stay up for a full week. We went out to celebrate. When I came back it had crashed. I guess it didn't appreciate the Linux box right beside it that had been up and running for 2.5 months.
I once got a job offer several years ago that included stock options, because the salary was below market. The catch was the offer merely said "stock options" and gave no terms whatsoever. WTF! That's like saying they would give me a salary compensation without saying how much. I explained to the recruiter that was trying to hire me that I had to interpret the options part of the offer as "1 share per year, vested in 10 years". He said it would be a lot more than that. I asked him how much more. But he only said that they were still working out the details with the lawyers. So I declined the offer. They later went out of business, so I guess they must have had trouble doing a lot of things right.
If you get an offer with stock options, you need to know exactly what the terms are. And technically, you should understand the risks, including the risk of the company going under. And to do that properly you need to look at the business plan and financials. You almost certainly won't get to see the latter unless the offer is for CFO or CEO. If you're sure the company will succeed, then you at least need to know the terms to know how much you could get out of it, and the risks they will cheat you.
,,, were it not for Gnome by default. But I've yet to see anything (and it would take a lot, so I'm not expecting it) to overcome their overly short support cycles. I need something better to use this at work, for either the desktops (we only use Windows where there is absolutely no other choice, which makes a grand total of 2) or the servers (0). But even Ubuntu's slow (in some cases) security updates are starting to bother me (over an issue they haven't yet updated in my one-version-behind system even though Slackware fixed the same one over a month ago in versions all the way back to 2007).
Did you also explain to them that Apple iOS is already NOT even making at attempt to protect their privacy by block apps from getting personal information? At least Android tries.
Yes, we should make these things as secure as users think they are. Too bad Apple has changed course on this, having inherited Steve's arrogance without inheriting his wisdom.
So someone needs to watch out for that 95+%. Apple and Miller are both trying to do that. One of those two is even willing to cooperate with the other to that end goal. The other appears to be on the track to dishonesty over the matter.
I'm still torn about security in such appliances. Ideally the user should fully own the device as well as all code running on it, but in practice, users being what they are, having a central control instance may very well be the lesser evil.
Let the end user decide whether they want the central control, or not. Just make sure that status can't be altered by other than the actual user.
With digital devices filling every part of my life now the very thought of being personally responsible for every bit of code running on every one of them makes me shudder. Life is just too short for that.
Do I trust Apple? Not very much. Do I trust Apple more than myself when I haven't got the time to spend more than a few minutes a day to care for each device (and its software) that I own and use? Probably, yes. Sad but true.
Is there someone else you trust? How about having a trust choice? And for those of us that do trust ourselves, "self" should be one of the choices.
I do trust Apple with one thing... that they will make business decisions that they believe will boost their bottom like. That is the only thing I trust them to do.
In theory, that's how it should work, by design. But when there's a bug in the code somewhere, that can provide a means to go around the checks. Too bad Apple inherited Steve Jobs' arrogance and refuses to work with security researchers.
What they complain about almost as much is that after they notify a service provider of an infringing song or movie clip and they're removed, new copies appear almost immediately.
What they (content providers) need to do is consider WHY so many people will re-post the content that was removed. Trouble is, in their little ivory towers, where they lack real knowledge of the real world, they will be totally unable to see reality. And this is why they are still using their failed business model.
In the mean time, let's introduce a new feature to our friends over at the RIAA and MPAA that will allow them to shift the burden of checking data they store for users to see if it's some pirated content. MD5! That should keep them busy for a few more years before the whining resumes. Just don't tell them, yet, that it's their business model that's broken.
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This could also affect everyone that develops open source on any project.
Their "solution" still needs work. The optimization required is to get all the AC to DC conversion done in one step AND parallel the backup batteries. A blade enclosure taking ANY of those voltages you list is going to ALSO have to do more conversion steps since the final board in the blade needs other voltages. 48 volts would just be an intermediate step, so that's not practical. Perhaps what they can do is convert the AC to board level DC in the blade enclosure AND ALSO have a DC connector from the battery (at the same voltage), and do the parallel/transfer operation in the enclosure. But I don't see anything like that in their description.
A better idea might be to make battery packs AS BLADES and have the enclosure smart enough to handle either a CPU board or a battery pack in ANY slot (then we can decide what balance of compute power vs. backup power we want).
I found this one to be more fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FivDcIHfguU
Your power comes in from the grid (and the backup generators) at AC. So you must do an AC to DC conversion somewhere. The issue is that doing so in the computer's own PSU is bad because there are issues getting the AC to the computer efficiently. Plus, there is also some power loss in doing the voltage conversions once in the PSU for "standard" DC voltages, then again on the motherboard for specific voltages it needs.
The best ideas basically run a single DC voltage to the computer and motherboard, and let the motherboard convert to what it needs. They get this single DC voltage in bulk from a single conversion from AC, and parallel the single DC with batteries. How large those batteries needs to be depends on whether you have generators. If you do have generators, smaller batteries are needed to carry the equipment long enough to get the generators started. If not, you probably want longer batteries so you can defer a shutdown long enough to see if the power will come back quickly (this generally needs to be 5 to 10 minutes), plus the time it takes to be sure all shutdowns are done gracefully (10 to 15 minutes total). Generators are usually good to go within 2 minutes and many a lot faster than that (in a few seconds).
The idea is to avoid those dual conversion online UPSes which result in AC to DC, DC back to AC, and that AC back to DC (and another DC to DC with common computers).
The big issue to be answered is just where to make the conversion from AC to DC. At one extreme is one big conversion for the whole data center, and run DC all over the place. This begs the question of what voltage to use. Too low and you have to way oversize the conductors and also have a massive fault current issue (arcs that go BOOM instead of just sizzle). Too high and it cannot be safely handled due voltages that kill people, arcs that don't stop flowing across switch gaps, and hugely expensive circuit breakers to interrupt without the benefit of a zero crossover that AC has.
AC and DC are both unsafe. But we've come a longer way with means to make AC safe in the hands of untrained people. The big hazard to the masses has been getting an electric shock. And we have a lot of solutions that work on AC. Most of them can also be used on DC. But DC, especially at these levels, has some extreme hazards that do not involve people getting an electric shock. DC arcs are harder to snuff out. DC is harder to make ground fault detectors.
IMHO, the safer system involves bringing AC all the way to the cabinet and do the AC to DC conversion here. This does open the option to use somewhat higher voltages like three phase 480/277 as found in North America. Europe and the rest of the world should just stick with 400/230 (but I do also suggest North America learn to work with 416/240 since it offers a direct 240 volt AC connection that can be directly used on equipment not able to use the DC system). That DC in the cabinet will now be paralleled with batteries and fed to all those single DC voltage motherboards that Google wanted.
My point is that it is safer to not mess with DC at such a large scale. 48 volts DC is about the same as 240 volts AC in regards to safely. But a data center wide 48 volt system is not optimal due to huge conductors, and 380 volts DC is overly dangerous and that danger goes all the way to the cabinets where people untrained on how to handle high power circuits would be working. (This is not an issue on the Klingon home world where they probably run everything at 2400 volts)
We are waiting for manufacturers to make the equipment that can handle this. Motherboards with a single DC input (though I'm not sure 12 volts is best, it is at least common and offers some advantages) are needed. Power supplies for older motherboards with that same DC input are also needed. Network switches and other devices used in these cabinets also need to take this DC voltage input. Then we need a "UPS" system that has the AC to DC conversion, DC output at the decided voltage, and blade-style battery packs so we can keep them small enough for one lanky sysadmin to replace (with integrated safety circuit so they don't arc when contacts touch, but have to be activated once plugged in).
That depends on the sourced voltage. The if the source voltage is X relative to ground, the floating system cannot be greater than X+V where V is the voltage across the secondary terminals. And there are also ways to hold the float near ground, as well (e.g. winding shielding, or a double stage low voltage grounding). But the simple case of a plain transformer with an ungrounded secondary is an issue at X+V.
It is possible that the passenger had sat on the phone by having it in their back pocket and then battery could have ignited after the glass punctured the battery and sweat reacted with the lithium.
Please don't tell the terrorists how to turn them into an iBomb.
So where's the Android app to do this? Oh wait, it would probably spam everyone in the room, first.
They didn't train the weapons officer to know to do this, yet he could just do it from those words?
The content producer only needs to tell the Youtube staffer what time index in the original full movie that the infringing content is from.
Yesterday Warner Bros. responded to Hotfile’s allegations, admitting that it indeed removed materials for which they don’t hold the copyrights. In addition, the movie studio states that it removed many titles based merely on keywords and without verifying their actual content.
Proof that the law is flawed! The law needs to be updated to require that content owners must either: (1) provide proof of the ownership of the content ... OR: (2) stipulate agreement to be liable for $1000 per file per calendar day, plus damages and legal fees, for all content they take down that they have no ownership of (or equivalent legal delegated rights). Missing or flawed proof constitutes electing option #2.
Mac was always better than Windows. But Mac never took over the market Windows has. So clearly, it's not an issue of which is better. It's more of an issue of which is forced on you by decisions other make.
Please post the replies from the makers of all these companies explaining why they won't sell you a Linux version.
1) WINE is not Linux. The only reason you need to use WIN* is because you delegated the choice of OS to some software company that doesn't give a rat's arse about your computer security.
2) There is a GUI for mplayer. Actually, 3 or 4 of them. Don't confuse the screen candy with the functionality.
3) You have desktop environment choice. OK, so if you don't like any of them, that's a valid excuse. But is it because they don't replicate Windows exactly, which is what you want because it is the only one you have experience with? Tell more.
4) Talk to the game developers. That's not a Linux decision.
5) Flash is (and always was) broken ... period. But if you really want a working Flash, you need to take that up with Adobe. Only they know why their programmers can write portable code.
6) Bugs in proprietary drivers are the responsibility of the developers. You did file a formal complaint with them for their incompetence, right?
7) I don't really know what the issue was with that.
8) This is an Apple issue. But it's not unexpected since they do want you to shell out money for their other products. That's how business works. You won't Linux doing that.
9) If you are constantly rebooting, how would you even know?
10) I've never needed *nix. I've needed things to be done well, and *nix was virtually always the solution.
11) Again, another issue with a heartless greedy corporation (it's what they do, by definition).
12) Windows has improved. But I remember the day I was actually able to get WIndows 98 to stay up for a full week. We went out to celebrate. When I came back it had crashed. I guess it didn't appreciate the Linux box right beside it that had been up and running for 2.5 months.
If the discovery in the lawsuit would require information they are supposed to be quiet about for the IPO, that would suspend the IPO.
I once got a job offer several years ago that included stock options, because the salary was below market. The catch was the offer merely said "stock options" and gave no terms whatsoever. WTF! That's like saying they would give me a salary compensation without saying how much. I explained to the recruiter that was trying to hire me that I had to interpret the options part of the offer as "1 share per year, vested in 10 years". He said it would be a lot more than that. I asked him how much more. But he only said that they were still working out the details with the lawyers. So I declined the offer. They later went out of business, so I guess they must have had trouble doing a lot of things right.
If you get an offer with stock options, you need to know exactly what the terms are. And technically, you should understand the risks, including the risk of the company going under. And to do that properly you need to look at the business plan and financials. You almost certainly won't get to see the latter unless the offer is for CFO or CEO. If you're sure the company will succeed, then you at least need to know the terms to know how much you could get out of it, and the risks they will cheat you.
Sue them! That's the American way! Or do Le Québécois not think they are in North America?
Just wait until GRUB3 comes out. You won't even need to boot an OS with that. The question is whether GRUB3 will include Xfce or just be GNOME only.
,,, were it not for Gnome by default. But I've yet to see anything (and it would take a lot, so I'm not expecting it) to overcome their overly short support cycles. I need something better to use this at work, for either the desktops (we only use Windows where there is absolutely no other choice, which makes a grand total of 2) or the servers (0). But even Ubuntu's slow (in some cases) security updates are starting to bother me (over an issue they haven't yet updated in my one-version-behind system even though Slackware fixed the same one over a month ago in versions all the way back to 2007).
Did you also explain to them that Apple iOS is already NOT even making at attempt to protect their privacy by block apps from getting personal information? At least Android tries.
Yes, we should make these things as secure as users think they are. Too bad Apple has changed course on this, having inherited Steve's arrogance without inheriting his wisdom.
So someone needs to watch out for that 95+%. Apple and Miller are both trying to do that. One of those two is even willing to cooperate with the other to that end goal. The other appears to be on the track to dishonesty over the matter.
Android does not lead people to a false sense of security.
I'm still torn about security in such appliances. Ideally the user should fully own the device as well as all code running on it, but in practice, users being what they are, having a central control instance may very well be the lesser evil.
Let the end user decide whether they want the central control, or not. Just make sure that status can't be altered by other than the actual user.
With digital devices filling every part of my life now the very thought of being personally responsible for every bit of code running on every one of them makes me shudder. Life is just too short for that.
Do I trust Apple? Not very much. Do I trust Apple more than myself when I haven't got the time to spend more than a few minutes a day to care for each device (and its software) that I own and use? Probably, yes. Sad but true.
Is there someone else you trust? How about having a trust choice? And for those of us that do trust ourselves, "self" should be one of the choices.
I do trust Apple with one thing ... that they will make business decisions that they believe will boost their bottom like. That is the only thing I trust them to do.
In theory, that's how it should work, by design. But when there's a bug in the code somewhere, that can provide a means to go around the checks. Too bad Apple inherited Steve Jobs' arrogance and refuses to work with security researchers.
What they complain about almost as much is that after they notify a service provider of an infringing song or movie clip and they're removed, new copies appear almost immediately.
What they (content providers) need to do is consider WHY so many people will re-post the content that was removed. Trouble is, in their little ivory towers, where they lack real knowledge of the real world, they will be totally unable to see reality. And this is why they are still using their failed business model.
In the mean time, let's introduce a new feature to our friends over at the RIAA and MPAA that will allow them to shift the burden of checking data they store for users to see if it's some pirated content. MD5! That should keep them busy for a few more years before the whining resumes. Just don't tell them, yet, that it's their business model that's broken.