"Computer models point to two possibilities"... Hollywood plot writers point to dozens of possibilities: 1. Gargantuan space monster is about to hatch 2. Micro black hole has consumed part of the core... and its growing faster! 3. Mimas, you're drunk. Go home! 4. Transformers are line dancing, causing this wobble... you know there's more!
Solar panels often have a limited return-on-investment because they also have a limited lifespan. The efficiency and energy output of a solar panel declines over time, estimates are often at 1% per year. While nuclear, coal, hydro, and other power generation mechanisms have modular, maintainable, repairable parts, solar panels are usually an all-or-nothing replacement option. So if you invest in solar panels that generate 10 kWh of electricity on a bright shiny day when they are installed, they will probably only generate 8 kWh after 20 years. YMMV, and different manufacturing techniques will produce different results, which can be modeled theoretically, but as every good engineer should consider, the best way to measure degradation is to measure output (for a manufacturing technique, statistical sampling of manufactured batches, etc) for a number of years to determine how much degradation occurs. Solar panel manufacturing is still very much a "wild west" technology, with new innovations coming out faster than hard data on reliability and efficiency, which doesn't make solar any less cool, it just makes it more difficult to accurately estimate ROI or energy savings.
GoogleBoat is in production...
on
The Google Navy
·
· Score: 1
The Unmanned Pirate-Hunting boat is old news from 2006 but I didn't know Google was involved! But you can be certain Google knows about it... because I googled to find that article again.
I believe that the crux of the Google ~ Smith&Wesson analogy is that in the Wild Wild West (pick your time period), when guns were "new(er)", and "more" people shot/were shot, the laws did not always get consistently enforced, and varied from place to place e.g. you might get away with shooting someone.
Clearly, in the Google side of this analogy, the behavior of gratuitously publishing personal/private info (by ZDnet) may not covered clearly by law, or consistently enforceable, but does not constitute the highest standards of behavior that we would aspire to have society act within.
The question of whether this publishing (shooting) is a noble act, drawing a spotlight to the emerging controversy that needs more attention, or whether it is a grievous misuse of technology (guns) is not answerable once for everyone, but an individual question of opinion. The opinions of many (should) shape the form of laws to come regarding this behavior.
Maybe I'm just a sucker for a meaningful analogy, but I think this analogy is more about development of laws & regulation than about right & wrong. Just as Smith&Wesson had (and has) an active role in development of laws about firearms, I expect Google to play an active role in laws about personal privacy.
those with skills... find themselves working... as a webmaster/designer for a porn site.
And those are those the Lucky, geeks, because they are working, right?
Is it coincidence that UserFriendly is down? Is there _really_ an injuction againgst Illiad, or is that an Fool on us, too. I'm hoping... because I miss DustPuppy. (http://www.userfriendly.org/)
Slashdot Mirror
Please keep 'em coming - This started my day off.
I just shared this with my youngest son.
Still 25% more by volume vs American servings ... we'll be fine ... f i n e I say...
I'm working on a sextuple-helix ultra-micro-QNA therapy!
"Computer models point to two possibilities" ... ... and its growing faster! ...
Hollywood plot writers point to dozens of possibilities:
1. Gargantuan space monster is about to hatch
2. Micro black hole has consumed part of the core
3. Mimas, you're drunk. Go home!
4. Transformers are line dancing, causing this wobble
you know there's more!
Solar panels often have a limited return-on-investment because they also have a limited lifespan. The efficiency and energy output of a solar panel declines over time, estimates are often at 1% per year. While nuclear, coal, hydro, and other power generation mechanisms have modular, maintainable, repairable parts, solar panels are usually an all-or-nothing replacement option. So if you invest in solar panels that generate 10 kWh of electricity on a bright shiny day when they are installed, they will probably only generate 8 kWh after 20 years. YMMV, and different manufacturing techniques will produce different results, which can be modeled theoretically, but as every good engineer should consider, the best way to measure degradation is to measure output (for a manufacturing technique, statistical sampling of manufactured batches, etc) for a number of years to determine how much degradation occurs. Solar panel manufacturing is still very much a "wild west" technology, with new innovations coming out faster than hard data on reliability and efficiency, which doesn't make solar any less cool, it just makes it more difficult to accurately estimate ROI or energy savings.
The Unmanned Pirate-Hunting boat is old news from 2006 but I didn't know Google was involved! But you can be certain Google knows about it... because I googled to find that article again.
I believe that the crux of the Google ~ Smith&Wesson analogy is that in the Wild Wild West (pick your time period), when guns were "new(er)", and "more" people shot/were shot, the laws did not always get consistently enforced, and varied from place to place e.g. you might get away with shooting someone.
Clearly, in the Google side of this analogy, the behavior of gratuitously publishing personal/private info (by ZDnet) may not covered clearly by law, or consistently enforceable, but does not constitute the highest standards of behavior that we would aspire to have society act within.
The question of whether this publishing (shooting) is a noble act, drawing a spotlight to the emerging controversy that needs more attention, or whether it is a grievous misuse of technology (guns) is not answerable once for everyone, but an individual question of opinion. The opinions of many (should) shape the form of laws to come regarding this behavior.
Maybe I'm just a sucker for a meaningful analogy, but I think this analogy is more about development of laws & regulation than about right & wrong. Just as Smith&Wesson had (and has) an active role in development of laws about firearms, I expect Google to play an active role in laws about personal privacy.
those with skills ... find themselves working ... as a webmaster/designer for a porn site.
And those are those the Lucky, geeks, because they are working, right?
Is it coincidence that UserFriendly is down?
Is there _really_ an injuction againgst Illiad, or is that an Fool on us, too.
I'm hoping... because I miss DustPuppy.
(http://www.userfriendly.org/)