As the book says, direct shit(human)-to-farm in a tight loop is a very bad idea on earth - bacteria and parasites that do well in (but not for) people are given an ideal transmission vector. An example disease is Amoebiasis (had it, not fun). It is very common in developing nations, where these kinds of farming practices are sometimes employed. But a composting toilet solves this. And good, modern ones can do so without any smells or unpleasantness.
I reckon Elon Musk/Tesla should do a composting toilet. It is the logical companion project to post-industrial-modernist home produced & stored electricity. The problem is, I guess, that Tesla's usual business model of capturing hearts and minds by going for the prestige end of the market first could be a bit tricky. Any ideas?
The problem is how to avoid people melting coins and selling the metal for a profit. Because the people of the Philippines already did that after the peso was devalued so much that the metal was worth more. Hmmmmmmm. How to avoid following the Philippines, without following Canada?
Solution: Outlaw notes. Make all currency out of metal coins, thus causing a global commodity shortage and increasing the price of metals.
You sound like a Californian with those preferences:) Are you? I don't think many people complain about having to visit Califronia. I always enjoy it when I get the chance.
At first the heat and humidity were a welcome novelty for me. But we eventually decided to move up into the cordilleras where the temperatures are year-round within 50-80 degrees. There's a month or two where it gets down towards 50 on some days and a month or two where it gets up towards 80. There's a kind of pine tree native to the area called the Benguet Pine - very pretty. That solves the heat - we can just head for the beach if we're in the mood, and I prefer town life over city life. There's still plenty of rain, but I don't mind the tropical storms. However, the rainiest month is in the northern hemisphere summer, and I heard they might be moving the school holidays to that time. If that eventuates, it could be a good time to do a little travel.
We haven't moved up there yet - still setting up a place. Will do so when the older kid finishes high school here in the city.
Serious? The point is wind power related deaths. A lot of them, as transitive parent stated above. Whenever there's a nuclear accident, environmental damage, injury, death or material stolen to make weapons there is instant press coverage. Wind power? Nobody seems to want to discuss it! They're not even sure how to not discuss it. Is it off-topic? Redundant? Just get me out of here!
In some Jurisdictions, the choice was taken to subsidize initially, however Wind turbines reached grid parity (the point at which the cost of wind power matches traditional sources) in some areas of Europe in the mid-2000s, and in the parts of the US around the same time. Falling prices continue to drive the levelized cost down and it has been suggested that it has reached general grid parity in Europe in 2010, and will reach the same point in the US around 2016 due to an expected reduction in capital costs of about 12%.
So now we have the situation, in Australia, where the incumbent government is very pro coal that traditional sources are, through "direct action" being subsidized to try to get them to be competitive again.
I can't understand why, whenever I wind power death happens, it just seems to be covered up. I have lost three close friends to wind power in just in the past few years:
James: Stopped for a picnic nearby to a wind-farm, with his fiance, Andrea. They'd spread out the picnic blanket and sat down to eat scotch eggs, and drink champagne. "Watch the blades against the backdrop of the sky! It is so relaxing!" he implored his beloved, and they did that for hours. There they were, in a picturesque field, holding hands, and idly describing the shapes they could see in the clouds. "A dragon!", "A dwarf!", "Your tits!", when suddenly a freak strong wind blew up and . . . . well, James was so fixated on following the turbine blades that his head started to spin at 350 revolutions per minute, in a figure-of-eight motion, at first like a very congenial Indian, and then progressively more violent. What happened next should not be written about. James was laid to rest with his head expertly reattached, but it was necessarily a closed-coffin funeral.
Lilia: TBD, but definitely wind power related.
Wang: Took his Tesla out for a drive when it started to get low on juice. By the selfies that were left behind, he clearly thought himself very clever for hacking a wind turbine to recharge it. But the car now had such a gloriously full battery that he floored it, pedal-to-the-metal all the way home, and ended up driving right past his own house, crashing into a power-pole at the end of the street.
Yes, it is an odd list. I'm not sure how Saudi Arabia does so well. Red flags for me are: Public beheadings, ultra conservative government, no separation of church (or mosque) and state. And it is a 3rd world, albeit, wealthy country by the traditional definition. That is, 1st world: western democracy, 2nd world, eastern socialism, 3rd world: Feudalism/other
My take on Singapore. A pleasant place to visit. I wouldn't personally want to live there. The first things that you'd perhaps notice are: The tropical heat & storms. It is very well functioning in terms of infrastructure, social services, economy and so forth. Freedom of self actualization and expression? Somewhat, but tough, to say the least, for folks who don't fit a narrowly defined mold. For example male homosexuality is illegal. And Wikipedia tells me just now: The city-state had the second highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 and 1999.
I live in the Philippines, though I was born in Australia. No plans to move - happy here, though, we (family) like to travel for work or leisure. Internet? Yup it is pervasive. Reasonably well used in the government sector & very highly utilized in the private sector. It is available, and used by, folks who live on a few dollars per day, of which there a still many. In some places has arrived, via affordable SmartPhones, ahead of other basics like city administrated water, sanitation, etc. . . . I'm not much of a nationalistic person - see myself more as a world citizen, but since I live here, I hope to do my small part to serve and help make it a better place.
According to the Human Development Index, Cuba, at 67th place is somewhat ahead of Jamaica, at 99th. Both places are ahead of where I live, though I think we're vastly ahead on the internet development index.
Your government is bank-rolled by Shell? Lucky bastards. We got [citation] ExxonMobil in Australia, although Shell have been backers in the past. Come to think of it though, our mob would have a tough time the Netherlands, as they completely have it in for windmills
It is worth mentioning (at least in the comments) that the UK government has a history of creating "marine sanctuaries" for dubious reasons.
"HMG would like to establish a "marine park" or "reserve" providing comprehensive environmental protection to the reefs and waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official informed Polcouns on May 12. The official insisted that the establishment of a marine park—the world's largest—would in no way impinge on USG use of the BIOT, including Diego Garcia, for military purposes. He agreed that the UK and United States should carefully negotiate the details of the marine reserve to assure that United States interests were safeguarded and the strategic value of BIOT was upheld. He said that the BIOT's former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos Archipelago were a marine reserve." - Wikileaks Cablegate Disclosures, 2010.
Yeah, sure. There's the Human Development Index, which is an attempt to quantify what "quality of life" means. Nothing like this can be without flaws, and of course individuals will have their own good and bad experiences in any country, but it gives an indication. . . anyway, on that list, USA comes in at number 8, and Cuba comes in at number 67, which is not too bad (though folks here would place high value with being on the technological forefront). Though it has some good parts, the country where I live comes in at 115, which is the lower middle quadrant.
If you're developing for Android it is worth checking out Kotlin along with the Anko libs from Jetbrains.
Kotlin, by the company that provides the Android Studio platform, is built on the Java platform and adds a modern, fashionable multi-paradigm (OO, functional) syntax, fixes some gaps in the Java standard libs, adds optionals that are (IMHO) easier to read than Swift's. It seems to be the best bet for getting a modern, fashionable language on Android, ie does not add to download size, seamless operation with other libs, etc.
You can also use Kotlin as a backend language, eg with Spring Boot, and it compiles to JavaScript too, so can be used client-side. You could even use it on iOS if you wanted, with RoboVM.
I've spent the last few years developing focusing almost 100% on iOS, but am willing to give Android another try in 2016
Is beta-carotene toxic? I knew Vitamin A was quickly toxic, but I thought beta-carotene, which is converted to Vitamin A in the body was close enough to non-toxic. Even in massive doses you'll just turn somewhat orange as the beta-carotene is, otherwise harmlessly, stored up. Vegans and juice-fasters (but not pizza-lovers and Paleo junkies) regularly do this. . . . it could be an adaptive form of camouflage to the new Martian environment.
"The enormous benefits given to the very wealthy, the privileges for the very wealthy here, are way beyond those of other comparable societies and are part of the ongoing class war. Take a look at CEO salaries. CEOs are no more productive or brilliant here than they are in Europe, but the pay, bonuses, and enormous power they get here are out of sight. They’re probably a drain on the economy, and they become even more powerful when they are able to gain control of policy decisions." -- Noam Chomsky
In the USA it is considered completely normal for the big end of town to finance and control policy decisions, either through legitimate channels, or with "hooker and blow" deals. The moment another grassroots group, like a Union, has coordination or funding to present a defensible point of view, it is considered a travesty.
All these other countries in the study also have healthcare, public transport, and so forth. The USA is the lone wolf. I live in a third world country and the similarities to the USA are striking. Here we have powerful elite can do what they want, there's a tiny middle class and most people get shit on. Of course a missing middle class means a missing consumer base, so the business interests of the elite are mostly export oriented, just like the USA with its IT services. And IT products/services is arguably the only thing currently keeping the USA afloat.
My wife, who is usually pretty open-minded, having grown up in a house without basic amenities like running water, was shocked when we visited San Francisco. There was one particular street made entirely of shit - people just shitting all over the road everywhere. Not at all what was expected, after having visited some other first world nations, previously. The expectation was the the USA would be like these, and yet given its wealth and image, even better. Nope. Streets made of human shit.
In the past, kid receives racist taunts. Makes a complaint. Investigation favors those making the taunts - they were clearly joking. Kid told to lighten up and develop social skills.
Kid gets taunted about having a bomb. Decides to lighten up and joke along. Gets sent to juvenile detention for joking about security matters.
There was a (verified) statistic going around Australia last year in response to government policies, showing that, in Australia, you're much more likely to die falling out of bed, than from a terrorism related event.
Actually the incumbent government of Australia is backed by the The Institute of Public Affairs, a "think tank" representing the interests of, mostly, oil companies. So in recent times, they've been subsidizing coal - "Direct Action", and putting barriers up against other sources. They even appointed a $200K per year part-time, 'Wind Farm Commissioner' who's sole role is to dig up dirt on Wind Power and disseminate it. Nonetheless, renewable sources continue to become more and more competitive.
It depends where you live - wind power reached grid parity (equal to fossil sources) in the mid 2000s in Europe and around the same time in certain parts of the USA.
Solar reached grid parity prior to 2014 in Australia and a few other places.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
Hehe, I thought the same thing. But seriously: As I understand it, current iPhones use IPS (in-plane switching) displays, which, while more expensive offer superior color reproduction. I'd bet that by 2018 OLED will have caught up or exceeded IPS in this regard and therefore it makes sense to switch at this time.
Slashdot Mirror
As the book says, direct shit(human)-to-farm in a tight loop is a very bad idea on earth - bacteria and parasites that do well in (but not for) people are given an ideal transmission vector. An example disease is Amoebiasis (had it, not fun). It is very common in developing nations, where these kinds of farming practices are sometimes employed. But a composting toilet solves this. And good, modern ones can do so without any smells or unpleasantness.
I reckon Elon Musk/Tesla should do a composting toilet. It is the logical companion project to post-industrial-modernist home produced & stored electricity. The problem is, I guess, that Tesla's usual business model of capturing hearts and minds by going for the prestige end of the market first could be a bit tricky. Any ideas?
The problem is how to avoid people melting coins and selling the metal for a profit. Because the people of the Philippines already did that after the peso was devalued so much that the metal was worth more. Hmmmmmmm. How to avoid following the Philippines, without following Canada?
Solution: Outlaw notes. Make all currency out of metal coins, thus causing a global commodity shortage and increasing the price of metals.
You sound like a Californian with those preferences :) Are you? I don't think many people complain about having to visit Califronia. I always enjoy it when I get the chance.
At first the heat and humidity were a welcome novelty for me. But we eventually decided to move up into the cordilleras where the temperatures are year-round within 50-80 degrees. There's a month or two where it gets down towards 50 on some days and a month or two where it gets up towards 80. There's a kind of pine tree native to the area called the Benguet Pine - very pretty. That solves the heat - we can just head for the beach if we're in the mood, and I prefer town life over city life. There's still plenty of rain, but I don't mind the tropical storms. However, the rainiest month is in the northern hemisphere summer, and I heard they might be moving the school holidays to that time. If that eventuates, it could be a good time to do a little travel.
We haven't moved up there yet - still setting up a place. Will do so when the older kid finishes high school here in the city.
Serious? The point is wind power related deaths. A lot of them, as transitive parent stated above. Whenever there's a nuclear accident, environmental damage, injury, death or material stolen to make weapons there is instant press coverage. Wind power? Nobody seems to want to discuss it! They're not even sure how to not discuss it. Is it off-topic? Redundant? Just get me out of here!
In some Jurisdictions, the choice was taken to subsidize initially, however Wind turbines reached grid parity (the point at which the cost of wind power matches traditional sources) in some areas of Europe in the mid-2000s, and in the parts of the US around the same time. Falling prices continue to drive the levelized cost down and it has been suggested that it has reached general grid parity in Europe in 2010, and will reach the same point in the US around 2016 due to an expected reduction in capital costs of about 12%.
So now we have the situation, in Australia, where the incumbent government is very pro coal that traditional sources are, through "direct action" being subsidized to try to get them to be competitive again.
I can't understand why, whenever I wind power death happens, it just seems to be covered up. I have lost three close friends to wind power in just in the past few years:
Yes, it is an odd list. I'm not sure how Saudi Arabia does so well. Red flags for me are: Public beheadings, ultra conservative government, no separation of church (or mosque) and state. And it is a 3rd world, albeit, wealthy country by the traditional definition. That is, 1st world: western democracy, 2nd world, eastern socialism, 3rd world: Feudalism/other
My take on Singapore. A pleasant place to visit. I wouldn't personally want to live there. The first things that you'd perhaps notice are: The tropical heat & storms. It is very well functioning in terms of infrastructure, social services, economy and so forth. Freedom of self actualization and expression? Somewhat, but tough, to say the least, for folks who don't fit a narrowly defined mold. For example male homosexuality is illegal. And Wikipedia tells me just now: The city-state had the second highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 and 1999.
I live in the Philippines, though I was born in Australia. No plans to move - happy here, though, we (family) like to travel for work or leisure. Internet? Yup it is pervasive. Reasonably well used in the government sector & very highly utilized in the private sector. It is available, and used by, folks who live on a few dollars per day, of which there a still many. In some places has arrived, via affordable SmartPhones, ahead of other basics like city administrated water, sanitation, etc. . . . I'm not much of a nationalistic person - see myself more as a world citizen, but since I live here, I hope to do my small part to serve and help make it a better place.
According to the Human Development Index, Cuba, at 67th place is somewhat ahead of Jamaica, at 99th. Both places are ahead of where I live, though I think we're vastly ahead on the internet development index.
Your government is bank-rolled by Shell? Lucky bastards. We got [citation] ExxonMobil in Australia, although Shell have been backers in the past. Come to think of it though, our mob would have a tough time the Netherlands, as they completely have it in for windmills
It is worth mentioning (at least in the comments) that the UK government has a history of creating "marine sanctuaries" for dubious reasons.
"HMG would like to establish a "marine park" or "reserve" providing comprehensive environmental protection to the reefs and waters of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), a senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official informed Polcouns on May 12. The official insisted that the establishment of a marine park—the world's largest—would in no way impinge on USG use of the BIOT, including Diego Garcia, for military purposes. He agreed that the UK and United States should carefully negotiate the details of the marine reserve to assure that United States interests were safeguarded and the strategic value of BIOT was upheld. He said that the BIOT's former inhabitants would find it difficult, if not impossible, to pursue their claim for resettlement on the islands if the entire Chagos Archipelago were a marine reserve." - Wikileaks Cablegate Disclosures, 2010.
Yeah, sure. There's the Human Development Index, which is an attempt to quantify what "quality of life" means. Nothing like this can be without flaws, and of course individuals will have their own good and bad experiences in any country, but it gives an indication. . . anyway, on that list, USA comes in at number 8, and Cuba comes in at number 67, which is not too bad (though folks here would place high value with being on the technological forefront). Though it has some good parts, the country where I live comes in at 115, which is the lower middle quadrant.
Different to the USA in so many ways, but life expectancy is about the same: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
The IntelliJ platform is much more than an editor. For example, it provides the following:
If you're developing for Android it is worth checking out Kotlin along with the Anko libs from Jetbrains.
Kotlin, by the company that provides the Android Studio platform, is built on the Java platform and adds a modern, fashionable multi-paradigm (OO, functional) syntax, fixes some gaps in the Java standard libs, adds optionals that are (IMHO) easier to read than Swift's. It seems to be the best bet for getting a modern, fashionable language on Android, ie does not add to download size, seamless operation with other libs, etc.
You can also use Kotlin as a backend language, eg with Spring Boot, and it compiles to JavaScript too, so can be used client-side. You could even use it on iOS if you wanted, with RoboVM.
I've spent the last few years developing focusing almost 100% on iOS, but am willing to give Android another try in 2016
.
That might save the music industry, but it could be very destructive for the sock industry if all the odd ones were suddenly to return.
Is beta-carotene toxic? I knew Vitamin A was quickly toxic, but I thought beta-carotene, which is converted to Vitamin A in the body was close enough to non-toxic. Even in massive doses you'll just turn somewhat orange as the beta-carotene is, otherwise harmlessly, stored up. Vegans and juice-fasters (but not pizza-lovers and Paleo junkies) regularly do this. . . . it could be an adaptive form of camouflage to the new Martian environment.
Not sure. It would've been somewhere within walking distance to the downtown hotels.
Ah . . . the soap-box had gone to my head a little by that point in the speech.
"The enormous benefits given to the very wealthy, the privileges for the very wealthy here, are way beyond those of other comparable societies and are part of the ongoing class war. Take a look at CEO salaries. CEOs are no more productive or brilliant here than they are in Europe, but the pay, bonuses, and enormous power they get here are out of sight. They’re probably a drain on the economy, and they become even more powerful when they are able to gain control of policy decisions." -- Noam Chomsky
In the USA it is considered completely normal for the big end of town to finance and control policy decisions, either through legitimate channels, or with "hooker and blow" deals. The moment another grassroots group, like a Union, has coordination or funding to present a defensible point of view, it is considered a travesty.
All these other countries in the study also have healthcare, public transport, and so forth. The USA is the lone wolf. I live in a third world country and the similarities to the USA are striking. Here we have powerful elite can do what they want, there's a tiny middle class and most people get shit on. Of course a missing middle class means a missing consumer base, so the business interests of the elite are mostly export oriented, just like the USA with its IT services. And IT products/services is arguably the only thing currently keeping the USA afloat.
My wife, who is usually pretty open-minded, having grown up in a house without basic amenities like running water, was shocked when we visited San Francisco. There was one particular street made entirely of shit - people just shitting all over the road everywhere. Not at all what was expected, after having visited some other first world nations, previously. The expectation was the the USA would be like these, and yet given its wealth and image, even better. Nope. Streets made of human shit.
I can imagine something like:
In the past, kid receives racist taunts. Makes a complaint. Investigation favors those making the taunts - they were clearly joking. Kid told to lighten up and develop social skills.
Kid gets taunted about having a bomb. Decides to lighten up and joke along. Gets sent to juvenile detention for joking about security matters.
I read a study once that most men die with (but not of) prostate cancer.
There was a (verified) statistic going around Australia last year in response to government policies, showing that, in Australia, you're much more likely to die falling out of bed, than from a terrorism related event.
Actually the incumbent government of Australia is backed by the The Institute of Public Affairs, a "think tank" representing the interests of, mostly, oil companies. So in recent times, they've been subsidizing coal - "Direct Action", and putting barriers up against other sources. They even appointed a $200K per year part-time, 'Wind Farm Commissioner' who's sole role is to dig up dirt on Wind Power and disseminate it. Nonetheless, renewable sources continue to become more and more competitive.
It depends where you live - wind power reached grid parity (equal to fossil sources) in the mid 2000s in Europe and around the same time in certain parts of the USA. Solar reached grid parity prior to 2014 in Australia and a few other places. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...
Hehe, I thought the same thing. But seriously: As I understand it, current iPhones use IPS (in-plane switching) displays, which, while more expensive offer superior color reproduction. I'd bet that by 2018 OLED will have caught up or exceeded IPS in this regard and therefore it makes sense to switch at this time.