My stock question for the likes of you: do you keep your KKK robes hung up in the closet where they will not get wrinkled but someone might see them, or do you fold them up and put them in a drawer so they will remain hidden and need to be ironed?
Wrong again. The software is screwed up as well. From the same Wikipedia page:
In November 2010, the Center for Defense Information estimated that the program would be restructured with an additional year of delay and $5 billion in additional costs. On 5 November 2010, the Block 1 software flew for the first time on BF-4. As of the end of 2010, only 15% of the software remained to be written, but this was reported to include the most difficult sections such as data fusion. In 2011, it was revealed that 50% of the eight million lines of code had been written and that it would take another six years to complete the software to the new schedule. By 2012, the total estimated lines of code for the entire program (onboard and offboard) had grown from 15 million lines to 24 million lines.
Wikipedia doesn't have any more recent information about how the software is going, but according to the above the expected completion date is 2017. The estimate for the number of lines of code was to have gone from 15 to 24 million as of 2012. Have you ever heard of a project of that size getting smaller and finishing on schedule? Or actually working on the delivery date?
If you RTFA you will also find out about how early incorrect software design/simulation causes significant problems, delays and higher costs later on in the program. So the software troubles were of the same scale as the other failures.
So the ACA is worse how? And who is raising hell in the congress (except McCain)? Go any search you a Google, and you will come back empty handed. But whining (and lying) about the ACA is the Republican national pastime, rather then, say actually trying to govern the country.
And that is why it's called "Compare and Contrast".
On 21 April 2009, media reports, citing Pentagon sources, said that during 2007 and 2008, spies downloaded several terabytes of data related to the F-35's design and electronics systems, potentially compromising the aircraft and aiding the development of defense systems against it. Lockheed Martin rejected suggestions that the project was compromised, stating it "does not believe any classified information had been stolen". Other sources suggested that the incident caused both hardware and software redesigns to be more resistant to cyber attack. In March 2012, BAE Systems was reported to be the target of cyber espionage. BAE Systems refused to comment on the report, although they did state, "[Our] own cyber security capability can detect, prevent and rectify such attacks."
...
On 21 August 2013 C-Span reported that Congressional Quarterly and the Government Accountability Office were indicating the "total estimated program cost now is $400b—nearly twice the initial cost". The current investment was documented as approximately $50 billion. The projected $316 billion cost in development and procurement spending was estimated through 2037 at an average of $12.6 billion per year. These were confirmed by Steve O'Bryan, Vice President of Lockheed Martin on the same date.
In 2013 a RAND study found that during development the three different versions had drifted so far apart from each other that having a single base design might now be more expensive than if the three services had simply built entirely different aircraft tailored to their own requirements.
In 2014, U.S. Senator John McCain blamed cost increases in the program on "cronyism".
In 2006, the F-35 was downgraded from "very low observable" to "low observable", a change former RAAF flight test engineer Peter Goon likened to increasing the radar cross-section from a marble to a beach ball. A Parliamentary Inquiry asked what was the re-categorization of the terminology in the United States such that the rating was changed from "very low observable" to "low observable". The Department of Defence said that the change in categorization by the U.S. was due to a revision in procedures for discussing stealth platforms in a public document. Decision to re-categorize in the public domain has now been reversed; subsequent publicly released material has categorized the JSF as very low observable (VLO).
...
In September 2008, in reference to the original plan to fit the F-35 with only two air-to-air missiles (internally), Major Richard Koch, chief of USAF Air Combat Command’s advanced air dominance branch is reported to have said that "I wake up in a cold sweat at the thought of the F-35 going in with only two air-dominance weapons." The Norwegians have been briefed on a plan to equip the F-35 with six AIM-120D missiles by 2019. Former RAND author John Stillion has written of the F-35A's air-to-air combat performance that it "can't turn, can't climb, can't run"; Lockheed Martin test pilot Jon Beesley has stated that in an air-to-air configuration the F-35 has almost as much thrust as weight and a flight control system that allows it to be fully maneuverable even at a 50-degree angle of attack. Consultant to Lockheed Martin Loren B. Thompson has said that the "electronic edge F-35 enjoys over every other tactical aircraft in the world may prove to be more important in future missions than maneuverability".
Given a choice between having Russia cut off the internet and the Republic of Texas doing the same thing, I wouldn't have much trouble saying that Texas should go.
For some of us, both seem to be places where demagogs whip up political frenzy to manipulate the masses, mindless violence becomes normal (hello open carry), citizens loose their rights (reproductive rights, for one) and oligarchs warp the system to grab even more power and money (home of the Bushes). Then there's the macho culture, cult of alcohol and fusing of church and state.
Until I wrote this I had no inkling just how much Russia and Texas had in common. Thanks, Slashdot!
So Jeff Bezos, aspiring monopolist, holder of the infamous one click patent, wants to replace Russia as the engine manufacturer for the ULA. Somehow that is so appropriate.
These three red, white and blue Republicans, defenders of American Freedom, critics of government interference in the market place, gung-ho capitalists, have ULA facilities in their districts. So what would be more natural then their trying to squash competition, make the US vulnerable to foreign pressure, and degrade US excellence in aerospace technology.
They would never place campaign contributions and the narrow interests of their constituents ahead of the interests of the USA, would they?
So if Blue Origin and ULA prevail, do you think that Bezos would threaten to deny access to orbit if there were legislation that would negatively impact Amazon's business model or tax breaks? He already seems so in tune with the current ULA congressional caucus.
So you think this is different then the Christian Republican right trying to suppress the teaching of evolution? Or pretty much the entire Republican party denying climate change? Or all the science illiterate parents who decided that their precious baby isn't going to risk those evil vaccines?
So before you go around using a goat herd as a representative of all Arabs, take a look around. We are actively supporting a lot of extremely stupid thinking right here in the US, much of it under the guise of religious freedom or free speech.
Do we have more to fear from ISIL (note: ISIS does not stand for any organization; it's the stupid press pandering to the stupid public), or are we more at risk from the Koch family deliberately interfering with addressing global warming? ISIL can do a lot of bad things, including attacking in Europe or the US, but they can't really do anything to destroy the West. The Koch brothers/Republican Party and global climate change; that is a real concern, and it could conceivably end western civilization.
It's critical that the constitution of the US remain invalid for another 90 days because if the NSA doesn't have their anal probes in the asses of every person in the world then
the terrorist will win and Osama Bin Laden will return from the grave and institute Sharia law and take away our bacon cheese burgers and beer and NFL/NBA/MLB and get rid of all the booze like prohibition and make everyone bow to Mecca five times a day and keep girls from walking around in shorts because you know THEY HATE OUR FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The electrolysis of water using renewable energy inputs is being actively pursued as a route to sustainable hydrogen production. Here we introduce a recyclable redox mediator (silicotungstic acid) that enables the coupling of low-pressure production of oxygen via water oxidation to a separate, catalytic hydrogen production step outside the electrolyzer that requires no post-electrolysis energy input. This approach sidesteps the production of high-pressure gases inside the electrolytic cell (a major cause of membrane degradation) and essentially eliminates the hazardous issue of product gas crossover at the low current densities that characterize renewables-driven water-splitting devices. We demonstrated that a platinum-catalyzed system can produce pure hydrogen over 30 times faster than state-of-the-art proton exchange membrane electrolyzers at equivalent platinum loading.
Or in even simpler terms
Photosynthesis splits water to provide protons and electrons for plant growth; oxygen is a by-product. When chemists split water, they're also more interested in making fuel, and the simplest product is hydrogen (a combination of protons and electrons). One challenge is keeping the reactive hydrogen and oxygen product streams separate. Rausch et al. present a scheme that captures the protons and electrons in a molecular cluster of silico-tungstic acid. Later, they expose the cluster to platinum, coaxing the acid into releasing hydrogen. Eliminating the mixing risk increases the potential for household use.
Note that platinum is still required, but it works 30 times more efficiently. Also the pressure needed is much lower.
Oooooooh, something you don't know about on Slashdot. Scary scary. CRAFTED, Two Bit Circus. Obviously Beneath Your High Standards. Wouldn't it be horrible if you were reading something on Slashdot and actually learned about something new? Much better to only read posts about things that you are completely comfortable with, since you already know everything you will ever need to learn.
Ick ick ick. Clicking on a link to find out what's going on. Too complicated and confusing. Better to keep sucking on that thumb so at least one hand will stay where it is safe. Here's a suggestion. Suck on one thumb, jam the other up your ass. Then both hands will stay safe and you will know where they are. Just remember to not swap up the the thumb assignments. Or not, if that makes you happy.
The big reveal images have already been negotiated with some major media outlet. Nat Geo, NBC, CBS, ABC, or BBC, and similar outfits in other languages.
Archeological research can get a boost from media coverage just like any other endeavor. Do you really expect that they're going to let the first bozo with a camera let all that hype potential go to waste? Expect press conferences and specials on TV. For example, this could be a great fundraiser for PBS.
Wake up, it's the 21st century. Publicity is golden, no one in their right mind lets an opportunity like this fizzle out.
Guess what racial/ethnic backgrounds the cops/self professed thugs have vs. the people they steal from? It's an easy question to answer. Case in point
Nevada county settles suits on I-80 cash seizures
Tan Nguyen of Newport and Michael Lee of Denver said in lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Reno they were stopped last year on Interstate 80 near Winnemucca about 165 miles east of Reno under the pretext of speeding. They said they were subjected to illegal searches and told they wouldn’t be released with their vehicles unless they forfeited their cash.
The suits accused the same veteran deputy, Lee Dove, of taking a briefcase full of $50,000 in cash from Nguyen after stopping him for exceeding the speed limit by 3 mph in September, and seizing $13,800 and a handgun from Lee during a similar stop in December.
...
Nguyen was given a written warning for speeding but wasn’t cited. As a condition of release, he signed a “property for safekeeping receipt,” which indicated the money was abandoned or seized and not returnable. But the lawsuit says he did so only because Dove threatened to seize his vehicle unless he “got in his car and drove off and forgot this ever happened.”
The day after Nguyen had his money taken, the sheriff issued a news release with a photograph of Dove pictured with a K-9 and $50,000 in seized cash “after a traffic stop for speeding.”
“This cash would have been used to purchase illegal drugs and now will benefit Humboldt County with training and equipment. Great job,” the statement said.
If you look at the information about the seizures it would be immediately obvious that the targets don't look like your stereotypical redneck sheriff. Surprise, surprise.
Want to smuggle anything? Look like a good old boy and have a NRA sticker on your car. For bonus points add some Tea Party crap. The cops will give you a thumbs up and send you on your way.
I have a friend who is a registered nurse and evaluates complaints about healthcare delivery. He has to write technical reports that refer to medical terminology and procedures. He is a native born US English speaker and writes well, and takes pride in his ability to communicate complex situations that can have important ramifications. For example, hospitals could loose accreditation or doctors could loose their licenses based on his reports.
His boss is a native speaking Chinese woman. She cannot write proper English sentences. She micromanages and rewrites his reports and turns his careful prose into hard to understand crap. She has a master's degree. She makes him less productive and degrades the quality of his work. Upper management loves her, and she get's paid more then he does. They like the fact that she is always finding fault, because it means that somehow they are the untrustworthy people who do the actual work.
So much for the myth of high quality US business practice.
Metapost is a part of Knuth's TeX suite of languages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MetaPost. It is a graphic language that emits Postscript and supports spline line drawing. It was derived from Metafont, the font generation language for TeX.
First, Metapost is implemented as a macro language, so it is similar to C shell languages in the way it is evaluated. The symbols x, y, and z are predefined macros. For a location x the construct 3x is three times x. There are built in lengths, so 2cm and 1in are lengths. You can extend the language by defining you own macros for prefix or uinary and binary operations, which is the way that many of the operators are implemented.
The if and loop syntax
if boolean1 : expr1; else: expr2; elseif boolean2: expr3; fi
for i=1 step t until n: statement; statement; endfor
There are four levels of precedence. This is why multiplication by a constant can be expressed by putting a number in front of a value.
These are just some of the syntax features. The data types include splines, transforms, colors and numeric pairs for points. Built in operations can find points where two curves intersect and sub-curve sections between intersections.
It's fun in a strange fashion, and you can make some interesting geometrical pictures.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Bush and his war criminal cronies used 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq. They knowingly lied their teeth out about the existence of weapons of mass destruction. If you look at the history of the US right wing going after Hussein, just look at the writings of Bill Krystal before Bush was appointed to the Presidency by the Supreme Court of the Republican Party. They used the Al Qaeda terror attack as a justification Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Do you think Putin would have as easy a time invading Ukraine if the US was not tied up in the quagmire of Iraq? Would ISIS (which is not a real name, it's actually the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), even have come into existence if the US hadn't invaded Iraq?
The damage done by Bush is far from over. I expect much worse to occur.
I used to say that all TV was fiction except the weather, but then I saw Fox lying about that too: severe winter weather does not contradict global warming/climate change.
Re:Figure, Figure, Figure
on
Patents That Kill
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Since the end of the Cold War Russia and the USA have been following the same economic/political path: control by oligarchy/elites. In Russia the balance is that the government holds power over the oligarchs and they do the government's bidding. In the USA the government does the oligarch's bidding. Given a long enough time the two systems will differ only in insignificant details.
Russia never had long period of democracy, so the slide to authoritarianism does not have that far to go. The USA has a much longer democratic tradition (except for women, racial minorities, Native Americans, etc.) so it it taking longer to eliminate democratic forms of government.
Still democracy is slowly dieing in the USA, as evidenced by end of independent journalism, most criminal court cases being decided by plea bargains, the increasing costs of elections and the dysfunction of the legislative branch, the polarization of the Federal judiciary (the Roberts court decision on the Voting Rights Act) and the inability of the President to make deals with the Congress. (Note to Republicans: when there is a Republican President and the Democrats control the House and/or Senate, they will be just as unwilling to cooperate in running the country as in the current division of political power. Don't whine when you get bit by your own strategy.)
Nuclear power is only "cheaper" if you ignore the issue of insurance.
There would be no civilian nuclear plants if they had to buy real insurance.
All nuclear power is implicitly backed up by government guarantees that they will pick up the cost if a major accident happens. In the US, there are explicit limits to the amount that utilities have to pay out if something goes badly wrong. That is the only reason they can get any insurance at all. If they had to get insurance without that limit the economic model would not work. No one will insure a reactor because the down side is so huge. The low probability of an event does not counterbalance the immense burden of failure. No insurance company would take a bet like that.
Although the mechanism is different in Japan, the Japanese government is deeply involved in maintaining the illusion that TEPCO is a solvent company. In other venues, like the US, they would have already been forced into involuntary bankruptcy, and the government would be on the hook.
The Japanese government is taking much of the financial and administrative responsibility for cleanup. A big part of the funding is coming from all the other energy companies in Japan. Effectively the are taxing the energy sector for TEPCO's failure.
This is another example of how big corporations want the freedom and lack of oversight of laissez-faire capitalism while taking vast subsidies from the government. If you want to see how far this can go just examine the current state of Wall Street. They are literally getting free money from the Treasury. That's what the US government's current zero interest policy means.
If you assume that CS is in the same category as Electrical Engineering, you should make a meaningful comparison.
EEs need to know the basics of electrical theory. Even if they use design tools that handle all the low level details, to do a good job and avoid mistakes they need to know simple things like Ohm's law. No one says "that's too low level, the state of the art has made Ohm's law only useful to a small set of professionals."
The low level tools of CS are languages and interfaces. A professional needs to have knowledge of both high level and low level tools. If they don't their training is inadequate. Even if the exposure is in school, and not used professionally, it's important to have the experience.
By the way, so called Software Engineering is a bad joke. It is almost non-existent. Real engineers, like ME or EE or Civil Engineer types can design something for a predictable cost that has a very high likelihood of meeting all it's design goals. If the cost, time or result is wrong it's because someone failed. By that criteria all software development is always a failure. Using the term "Software Engineer" is fraudulent. Other engineering disciplines should stop computer software developers from degrading the term Engineer.
Slashdot Mirror
My stock question for the likes of you: do you keep your KKK robes hung up in the closet where they will not get wrinkled but someone might see them, or do you fold them up and put them in a drawer so they will remain hidden and need to be ironed?
Wikipedia doesn't have any more recent information about how the software is going, but according to the above the expected completion date is 2017. The estimate for the number of lines of code was to have gone from 15 to 24 million as of 2012. Have you ever heard of a project of that size getting smaller and finishing on schedule? Or actually working on the delivery date?
If you RTFA you will also find out about how early incorrect software design/simulation causes significant problems, delays and higher costs later on in the program. So the software troubles were of the same scale as the other failures.
So the ACA is worse how? And who is raising hell in the congress (except McCain)? Go any search you a Google, and you will come back empty handed. But whining (and lying) about the ACA is the Republican national pastime, rather then, say actually trying to govern the country.
And that is why it's called "Compare and Contrast".
Program cost increases and delays Some selected examples.
Concerns over performance and safety The very last item is the best.
For some of us, both seem to be places where demagogs whip up political frenzy to manipulate the masses, mindless violence becomes normal (hello open carry), citizens loose their rights (reproductive rights, for one) and oligarchs warp the system to grab even more power and money (home of the Bushes). Then there's the macho culture, cult of alcohol and fusing of church and state.
Until I wrote this I had no inkling just how much Russia and Texas had in common. Thanks, Slashdot!
Every constituency got it's blowjob.
if you were talking about a male politician? Can you define misogynist?
ULA has been a major player in trying to keep US heavy launch platforms dependent on Russian RD-180 engines by any means possible. Their employees in Congress, Representatives Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) have sent a letter to NASA "demanding that the agency investigate what they call 'an epidemic of anomalies' with SpaceX missions".
These three red, white and blue Republicans, defenders of American Freedom, critics of government interference in the market place, gung-ho capitalists, have ULA facilities in their districts. So what would be more natural then their trying to squash competition, make the US vulnerable to foreign pressure, and degrade US excellence in aerospace technology. They would never place campaign contributions and the narrow interests of their constituents ahead of the interests of the USA, would they?
So if Blue Origin and ULA prevail, do you think that Bezos would threaten to deny access to orbit if there were legislation that would negatively impact Amazon's business model or tax breaks? He already seems so in tune with the current ULA congressional caucus.
So before you go around using a goat herd as a representative of all Arabs, take a look around. We are actively supporting a lot of extremely stupid thinking right here in the US, much of it under the guise of religious freedom or free speech.
Do we have more to fear from ISIL (note: ISIS does not stand for any organization; it's the stupid press pandering to the stupid public), or are we more at risk from the Koch family deliberately interfering with addressing global warming? ISIL can do a lot of bad things, including attacking in Europe or the US, but they can't really do anything to destroy the West. The Koch brothers/Republican Party and global climate change; that is a real concern, and it could conceivably end western civilization.
the terrorist will win and Osama Bin Laden will return from the grave and institute Sharia law and take away our bacon cheese burgers and beer and NFL/NBA/MLB and get rid of all the booze like prohibition and make everyone bow to Mecca five times a day and keep girls from walking around in shorts because you know THEY HATE OUR FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or in even simpler terms
Note that platinum is still required, but it works 30 times more efficiently. Also the pressure needed is much lower.
To really seal the deal put NRA and Tea Party stickers on your vehicle. Playing country music and Rush Limbagh is also a big plus.
The only way to stop this is to criminally prosecute corrupt cops.
You mean to imply that there are cops that aren't corrupt?
Ick ick ick. Clicking on a link to find out what's going on. Too complicated and confusing. Better to keep sucking on that thumb so at least one hand will stay where it is safe. Here's a suggestion. Suck on one thumb, jam the other up your ass. Then both hands will stay safe and you will know where they are. Just remember to not swap up the the thumb assignments. Or not, if that makes you happy.
Archeological research can get a boost from media coverage just like any other endeavor. Do you really expect that they're going to let the first bozo with a camera let all that hype potential go to waste? Expect press conferences and specials on TV. For example, this could be a great fundraiser for PBS.
Wake up, it's the 21st century. Publicity is golden, no one in their right mind lets an opportunity like this fizzle out.
So what is the Canadian equivilant of the Great Wall internet barrier?
If you look at the information about the seizures it would be immediately obvious that the targets don't look like your stereotypical redneck sheriff. Surprise, surprise.
Want to smuggle anything? Look like a good old boy and have a NRA sticker on your car. For bonus points add some Tea Party crap. The cops will give you a thumbs up and send you on your way.
I have a friend who is a registered nurse and evaluates complaints about healthcare delivery. He has to write technical reports that refer to medical terminology and procedures. He is a native born US English speaker and writes well, and takes pride in his ability to communicate complex situations that can have important ramifications. For example, hospitals could loose accreditation or doctors could loose their licenses based on his reports.
His boss is a native speaking Chinese woman. She cannot write proper English sentences. She micromanages and rewrites his reports and turns his careful prose into hard to understand crap. She has a master's degree. She makes him less productive and degrades the quality of his work. Upper management loves her, and she get's paid more then he does. They like the fact that she is always finding fault, because it means that somehow they are the untrustworthy people who do the actual work.
So much for the myth of high quality US business practice.
First, Metapost is implemented as a macro language, so it is similar to C shell languages in the way it is evaluated. The symbols x, y, and z are predefined macros. For a location x the construct 3x is three times x. There are built in lengths, so 2cm and 1in are lengths. You can extend the language by defining you own macros for prefix or uinary and binary operations, which is the way that many of the operators are implemented.
The if and loop syntax
There are four levels of precedence. This is why multiplication by a constant can be expressed by putting a number in front of a value.
These are just some of the syntax features. The data types include splines, transforms, colors and numeric pairs for points. Built in operations can find points where two curves intersect and sub-curve sections between intersections.
It's fun in a strange fashion, and you can make some interesting geometrical pictures.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Bush and his war criminal cronies used 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq. They knowingly lied their teeth out about the existence of weapons of mass destruction. If you look at the history of the US right wing going after Hussein, just look at the writings of Bill Krystal before Bush was appointed to the Presidency by the Supreme Court of the Republican Party. They used the Al Qaeda terror attack as a justification Iraq and Sadam Hussein did not have anything to do with the 9/11 attack.
Do you think Putin would have as easy a time invading Ukraine if the US was not tied up in the quagmire of Iraq? Would ISIS (which is not a real name, it's actually the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), even have come into existence if the US hadn't invaded Iraq?
The damage done by Bush is far from over. I expect much worse to occur.
Anyone remember that itty-bitty little mistake of invading the wrong country after 9/11 based on falsified intellegence?
On a scale of 0 to Iraq, how does Putin invading Ukraine rate?
I used to say that all TV was fiction except the weather, but then I saw Fox lying about that too: severe winter weather does not contradict global warming/climate change.
Russia never had long period of democracy, so the slide to authoritarianism does not have that far to go. The USA has a much longer democratic tradition (except for women, racial minorities, Native Americans, etc.) so it it taking longer to eliminate democratic forms of government.
Still democracy is slowly dieing in the USA, as evidenced by end of independent journalism, most criminal court cases being decided by plea bargains, the increasing costs of elections and the dysfunction of the legislative branch, the polarization of the Federal judiciary (the Roberts court decision on the Voting Rights Act) and the inability of the President to make deals with the Congress. (Note to Republicans: when there is a Republican President and the Democrats control the House and/or Senate, they will be just as unwilling to cooperate in running the country as in the current division of political power. Don't whine when you get bit by your own strategy.)
And we know how well that worked the last time.
There would be no civilian nuclear plants if they had to buy real insurance.
All nuclear power is implicitly backed up by government guarantees that they will pick up the cost if a major accident happens. In the US, there are explicit limits to the amount that utilities have to pay out if something goes badly wrong. That is the only reason they can get any insurance at all. If they had to get insurance without that limit the economic model would not work. No one will insure a reactor because the down side is so huge. The low probability of an event does not counterbalance the immense burden of failure. No insurance company would take a bet like that.
Although the mechanism is different in Japan, the Japanese government is deeply involved in maintaining the illusion that TEPCO is a solvent company. In other venues, like the US, they would have already been forced into involuntary bankruptcy, and the government would be on the hook.
The Japanese government is taking much of the financial and administrative responsibility for cleanup. A big part of the funding is coming from all the other energy companies in Japan. Effectively the are taxing the energy sector for TEPCO's failure.
This is another example of how big corporations want the freedom and lack of oversight of laissez-faire capitalism while taking vast subsidies from the government. If you want to see how far this can go just examine the current state of Wall Street. They are literally getting free money from the Treasury. That's what the US government's current zero interest policy means.
EEs need to know the basics of electrical theory. Even if they use design tools that handle all the low level details, to do a good job and avoid mistakes they need to know simple things like Ohm's law. No one says "that's too low level, the state of the art has made Ohm's law only useful to a small set of professionals."
The low level tools of CS are languages and interfaces. A professional needs to have knowledge of both high level and low level tools. If they don't their training is inadequate. Even if the exposure is in school, and not used professionally, it's important to have the experience.
By the way, so called Software Engineering is a bad joke. It is almost non-existent. Real engineers, like ME or EE or Civil Engineer types can design something for a predictable cost that has a very high likelihood of meeting all it's design goals. If the cost, time or result is wrong it's because someone failed. By that criteria all software development is always a failure. Using the term "Software Engineer" is fraudulent. Other engineering disciplines should stop computer software developers from degrading the term Engineer.
You are just slightly ahead of the curve:Sen. Mark Udall Calls For Resignation Of CIA Director Brennan.