The 300MW Thorium-cooled High Temperature Reactor in Hamm-Uentrop went live in 1983, but had mediocre success. I don't remember why, but do a Google search on THTR-300, and you'll find even stuff in English.
You're right, by diversifying the energy supply all renewable sources can be used. I just finished a PhD showing that just due to the effect of distributing wind turbines all over Europe, wind energy can easily cover 20% of the demand even within the hour-by-hour constraints of the current power plant mix. This is due to the (simple) fact that somewhere the wind always blows. Within Europe, the distance you need for a good smoothing is about 1500 km, much more doesn't make sense.
Solar power could give another 20-30 %, and the hydropower potential is not yet completely used up: on one end of the spectrum, there is a lot to be gained by small hydro (tens or hundreds of kW, with a potential of some single digit percentage), and on the other end there is the Grand Inga project in the Congo, with a potential of 45 GW. That is roughly as much as the installed capacity of the rest of Africa (bar South Africa) combined; or half as much as the installed capacity in Germany.
It stayed up so long, why should this time be final? Besides, everyone else was covering the infield, and HemogH with his 2008 bid the outfield...
Again: 2003-01-12 - 12:00:03
You're right, that's part of the problem. In Germany they did a study recently, figuring that unnecessary standby of appliances (a TV while you're out etc) used all the electricity produced in the countries four oldest nuclear reactors.
My tip: get yourself one of these multiplug power cables with a switch on it. It very simply turns off the printer power brick, the PC power supply, potentially the monitor supply, etc. That is, if you're not downloading pr0n while you're out...
Good to hear that wind energy can also provide capacity. Usually, this feature of wind energy is overlooked. The good thing about wind energy in this context is that it has marginal costs of zero - when you have that thing, every penny is additional income.
They are also very reliable. These days, availibility is typically way beyond 95% (from a new turbine, that is).
Wind energy is also rather fast to build. A wind farm can easily grow by a Megawatt a day, plus some months for the projecting (if you have solid wind data - otherwise, measure for a year or two first). BTW, wind energy has had a growth rate of some 35% during the 90ies, and still sustained, so expect to see more of it. Especially with 35$/barrel oil...
Another interesting question is whether there is enough elasticity in the demand to actually cut down the demand. If the kWh costs half a dollar, how much will consumption fall?
--
This is why all european networks are interconnected, from Portugal to Finland.
Just nitpicking, but the grid is swinging in phase "only" from Portugal to Northern Denmark and across to Poland and Yugoslavia. Finland is together with Sweden, eastern Denmark and Norway in Nordel. See the picture here at UCTE.
There is power transmission capacity via DC however, a few cables from Denmark to Norway and Sweden (none yet from western Denmark to eastern Denmark, though).
--
Yes, you're following your own rules. Mostly.
However, I have the impression that one bit of these rules is making a big difference to the European case: in the US, the administration is exchanged down to medium levels after an election. In Europe, even high-ranking public servants are, well, public servants. This is not to say that it is impossible that they are partial - but at least they didn't get there only due to the political allegiance to the current ruler. And: they are experts for the job.
But yes, the country posing to be the premier high-tech country in the world in troubles because some 19th century one-armed bandits are no longer punching the proper holes - the irony is not lost on us...
Actually, the situation is even worse: it is forbidden to make any digital copies. There is no such thing as a fair use clause in the Danish law.
AFAIK, this even was valid at some stage for taping (you know, these cassette type thingies you could put into thingies that used to be called Walkman) from the radio. I'm not sure what the situation is on that now.
Sorry, I forgot the source where I read it, but there are five countries currently having more mobile phones than landlines: Italy and Finland, and Cambodia, Rwanda and [another country I cannot remember, but belongs to the same category].
A sidenote: getting a landline in Denmark costs significant amount of money, and it is connected to your appartment. So people shifting appartments every now and then (students and similar) are often not having a land-line connected at all (eg me).
Actually, Italian is even worse, using at every second word the odd syllable more than Spanish (and three odd syllables more than English). That's why Italian dubbed (English) movies sound so much more strange than eg German dubbing.
German was a world language not only in chemistry, also in physics in the 1930ies. Think of people like Heisenberg, Einstein, Hahn, etc, they all were writing German. And anyone really into physics had to learn German at that time. It was mainly history that decided otherwise...
Aren't you confusing that with Italian or Spanish?
Anyway, there are intricacies en masse with yes or no answers on negative questions. Most every language I've seen so far had it different. And occasionally, different dialects will turn the tables again... In Japanese eg, yes ("hai") is just a way to express "I'm still listening", and only the second answer is actually answering the question.
Actually, me German too. And me too doing everything computery in English, since it somehow feels so natural (no wonder, most software _is_ English to start with).
But I believe the problem of expressions is a problem with English in general. I don't know who said this, but it certainly sounds true:
To learn English takes 30 days, to master it 30 years.
Other languages have interesting parts, too - swearing in Italian is just so much more colorful, and some languages have words I miss in others. Danish eg has two different words for day, one being used for day as the opposite of night, and the other one to describe a 24-hour period.
Even within German there are times when to use Hochdeutsch and when to use the local dialect... what I want to say is that some languages are more up to a task than others, and most languages have their own beauty. Another problem for a non-native speaker is that usually, complex nuances are prepared in the native tongue and then translated - until one gets stuck due to a lack of words for the concept. However, this doesn't mean that the other language does not have the capability to express the concept. Often, a completely different approach is used, so that you build your sentence rather differently. These things are also hard to look up in a dictionary, since the other language uses different metaphors.
You see there are things called laws. There's nothing magic about laws. Criminals and governments break them all the time.
Actually, the law and the right of people can be two different things - remember that Stalins mass executions were perfectly lawful, as was the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis. This was best put into words by Birgit Breuel, an Eastern German liberal who had a fair share in "tearing that wall down". Looking back at the development, she said: "Wir wollten das Recht, und wir bekamen den Rechtsstaat." (Which in English translates maybe even better to "We wanted our rights, and we got the law.")
Wasn't this featured in a NextGeneration episode? I don't recall the name, but it was with Data being Holmes again, and his opponent wanting to get out of the holodeck - and he Data and Picard managed to have him do that, while unknowingly still being in the holodeck. What do I want to say with this? I don't recall.
I talked to one guy recently who just finished his PhD in physics (something completely esoteric - I think it was gravitation), and now got a job with a switch manufacturer. He gets 85kDM, which is some 40k$. This does for a rather comfortable living in southern Germany - housing is very expensive, petrol too, and taxes are medium to high.
However, he got a contract for 35 hrs/week and works 35 hrs/week! Add 5 weeks paid holidays a year, and you finally have money to spend and time to spend it!
I wonder who the targetted audience is for building this kind of response into their system - I mean, if you already know that you're looking for InfoSeek, and you know the least bit about the internet, you would look where? www.infoseek.com, exactly. So which clueless portal user are they aiming at?
My analysis exactly. But a couple of things could come to save the forests: one is the Xerox ePaper or similar developments, which you could rewrite, and hence could (not necessarily would) use for drafts, or stuff with a short shelf life.
In an addition to this, imagine rewritable wallpaper (real one, not the desktop metaphor one) - this should give you a few extra pixel to stare at!
Also plain A4 (or letter) sized displays to just read and store information would be incredibly handy. I'm still waiting...
Just like Octal said, it gets rid of messy adjectives: the premier German example of a compound word is Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän, which translates in English to Danube Steam Ship Cruise Company captain (see? same thing, just with spaces), and in French (probably - my Italian is better) to capitan de la Compagnie de navigation autrichienne sur le Danube (translations from EuroDictAutom). Just to prove the point...
Actually, I use EcoHack since quite a while, and I'm really happy with it, since it does conserve batteries and I'm mostly read (newspapers, magazines and the like) on my Pilot 5000. But I can feel the character recognition accuracy go way down when I use it, so for entering anything resembling a bigger text, I switch it off, or put it in overclock mode.
Slashdot Mirror
The 300MW Thorium-cooled High Temperature Reactor in Hamm-Uentrop went live in 1983, but had mediocre success. I don't remember why, but do a Google search on THTR-300, and you'll find even stuff in English.
You're right, by diversifying the energy supply all renewable sources can be used. I just finished a PhD showing that just due to the effect of distributing wind turbines all over Europe, wind energy can easily cover 20% of the demand even within the hour-by-hour constraints of the current power plant mix. This is due to the (simple) fact that somewhere the wind always blows. Within Europe, the distance you need for a good smoothing is about 1500 km, much more doesn't make sense.
Solar power could give another 20-30 %, and the hydropower potential is not yet completely used up: on one end of the spectrum, there is a lot to be gained by small hydro (tens or hundreds of kW, with a potential of some single digit percentage), and on the other end there is the Grand Inga project in the Congo, with a potential of 45 GW. That is roughly as much as the installed capacity of the rest of Africa (bar South Africa) combined; or half as much as the installed capacity in Germany.
It stayed up so long, why should this time be final? Besides, everyone else was covering the infield, and HemogH with his 2008 bid the outfield...
Again: 2003-01-12 - 12:00:03
Does anyone know the etymology of the word "nickname" itself?
My tip: get yourself one of these multiplug power cables with a switch on it. It very simply turns off the printer power brick, the PC power supply, potentially the monitor supply, etc. That is, if you're not downloading pr0n while you're out...
Good to hear that wind energy can also provide capacity. Usually, this feature of wind energy is overlooked. The good thing about wind energy in this context is that it has marginal costs of zero - when you have that thing, every penny is additional income.
They are also very reliable. These days, availibility is typically way beyond 95% (from a new turbine, that is).
Wind energy is also rather fast to build. A wind farm can easily grow by a Megawatt a day, plus some months for the projecting (if you have solid wind data - otherwise, measure for a year or two first). BTW, wind energy has had a growth rate of some 35% during the 90ies, and still sustained, so expect to see more of it. Especially with 35$/barrel oil...
Another interesting question is whether there is enough elasticity in the demand to actually cut down the demand. If the kWh costs half a dollar, how much will consumption fall?
--
There is power transmission capacity via DC however, a few cables from Denmark to Norway and Sweden (none yet from western Denmark to eastern Denmark, though).
--
Yes, you're following your own rules. Mostly.
However, I have the impression that one bit of these rules is making a big difference to the European case: in the US, the administration is exchanged down to medium levels after an election. In Europe, even high-ranking public servants are, well, public servants. This is not to say that it is impossible that they are partial - but at least they didn't get there only due to the political allegiance to the current ruler. And: they are experts for the job.
But yes, the country posing to be the premier high-tech country in the world in troubles because some 19th century one-armed bandits are no longer punching the proper holes - the irony is not lost on us...
Actually, the situation is even worse: it is forbidden to make any digital copies. There is no such thing as a fair use clause in the Danish law.
AFAIK, this even was valid at some stage for taping (you know, these cassette type thingies you could put into thingies that used to be called Walkman) from the radio. I'm not sure what the situation is on that now.
I wonder why noone has brought up vote-auction.com yet, this most american of all electional systems...
Sorry, I forgot the source where I read it, but there are five countries currently having more mobile phones than landlines: Italy and Finland, and Cambodia, Rwanda and [another country I cannot remember, but belongs to the same category].
A sidenote: getting a landline in Denmark costs significant amount of money, and it is connected to your appartment. So people shifting appartments every now and then (students and similar) are often not having a land-line connected at all (eg me).
Actually, Italian is even worse, using at every second word the odd syllable more than Spanish (and three odd syllables more than English). That's why Italian dubbed (English) movies sound so much more strange than eg German dubbing.
German was a world language not only in chemistry, also in physics in the 1930ies. Think of people like Heisenberg, Einstein, Hahn, etc, they all were writing German. And anyone really into physics had to learn German at that time. It was mainly history that decided otherwise...
Aren't you confusing that with Italian or Spanish?
Anyway, there are intricacies en masse with yes or no answers on negative questions. Most every language I've seen so far had it different. And occasionally, different dialects will turn the tables again...
In Japanese eg, yes ("hai") is just a way to express "I'm still listening", and only the second answer is actually answering the question.
Talking about additions, a word for "please" in the Scandinavian languages would be nice...
Actually, me German too. And me too doing everything computery in English, since it somehow feels so natural (no wonder, most software _is_ English to start with).
But I believe the problem of expressions is a problem with English in general. I don't know who said this, but it certainly sounds true:
To learn English takes 30 days, to master it 30 years.
Other languages have interesting parts, too - swearing in Italian is just so much more colorful, and some languages have words I miss in others. Danish eg has two different words for day, one being used for day as the opposite of night, and the other one to describe a 24-hour period.
Even within German there are times when to use Hochdeutsch and when to use the local dialect... what I want to say is that some languages are more up to a task than others, and most languages have their own beauty. Another problem for a non-native speaker is that usually, complex nuances are prepared in the native tongue and then translated - until one gets stuck due to a lack of words for the concept. However, this doesn't mean that the other language does not have the capability to express the concept. Often, a completely different approach is used, so that you build your sentence rather differently. These things are also hard to look up in a dictionary, since the other language uses different metaphors.
Rambled enough? Cheers for bearing with me.
A slight correction: not everyone was out yet to buy the VHS - here in Europe, sales only started now, so the warning comes timely.
You see there are things called laws.
There's nothing magic about laws. Criminals and governments break them all the time.
Actually, the law and the right of people can be two different things - remember that Stalins mass executions were perfectly lawful, as was the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis.
This was best put into words by Birgit Breuel, an Eastern German liberal who had a fair share in "tearing that wall down". Looking back at the development, she said: "Wir wollten das Recht, und wir bekamen den Rechtsstaat." (Which in English translates maybe even better to "We wanted our rights, and we got the law.")
Wasn't this featured in a NextGeneration episode? I don't recall the name, but it was with Data being Holmes again, and his opponent wanting to get out of the holodeck - and he Data and Picard managed to have him do that, while unknowingly still being in the holodeck.
What do I want to say with this? I don't recall.
I talked to one guy recently who just finished his PhD in physics (something completely esoteric - I think it was gravitation), and now got a job with a switch manufacturer. He gets 85kDM, which is some 40k$. This does for a rather comfortable living in southern Germany - housing is very expensive, petrol too, and taxes are medium to high.
However, he got a contract for 35 hrs/week and works 35 hrs/week! Add 5 weeks paid holidays a year, and you finally have money to spend and time to spend it!
I wonder who the targetted audience is for building this kind of response into their system - I mean, if you already know that you're looking for InfoSeek, and you know the least bit about the internet, you would look where? www.infoseek.com, exactly.
So which clueless portal user are they aiming at?
Or am I missing something?
My analysis exactly. But a couple of things could come to save the forests: one is the Xerox ePaper or similar developments, which you could rewrite, and hence could (not necessarily would) use for drafts, or stuff with a short shelf life.
In an addition to this, imagine rewritable wallpaper (real one, not the desktop metaphor one) - this should give you a few extra pixel to stare at!
Also plain A4 (or letter) sized displays to just read and store information would be incredibly handy. I'm still waiting...
Just like Octal said, it gets rid of messy adjectives: the premier German example of a compound word is
Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän,
which translates in English to
Danube Steam Ship Cruise Company captain
(see? same thing, just with spaces), and in French (probably - my Italian is better) to
capitan de la Compagnie de navigation autrichienne sur le Danube
(translations from EuroDictAutom).
Just to prove the point...
Hey, so the conversion is actually easy: combine this law with the "Three strikes - out" rule, and everyone will be in line in no time!
Actually, I use EcoHack since quite a while, and I'm really happy with it, since it does conserve batteries and I'm mostly read (newspapers, magazines and the like) on my Pilot 5000. But I can feel the character recognition accuracy go way down when I use it, so for entering anything resembling a bigger text, I switch it off, or put it in overclock mode.