They can save about 500% of my bandwidth by just letting me perma-download Family Guy, American Dad, and Buffy, which I keep watching over and over and over again.
I would love the ability to preload a fixed number of shows to a device even if it was for a time limited period.
Repeat after me: Ada Lovelace wrote a program for the Analytical Engine architecture.
I'm sure Babbage's Difference Engine is fascinating, but it can't be programmed. The architecture you're looking for is the Analytical Engine. At least get the basics right.
Given that the OP merely mentioned that the Difference Engine exhibit at Santa Clara is fascinating, and made no mention of Ada, I'd suggest that your nerd rage is out of control and you need to sit back and take some deep breaths before you next post.
As several posters have mentioned, the simplest way is to just use the heat to boil water.
The boiling water part is still non trivial for a fusion reactor because of those pesky magnets you need to keep at rather low temps in order to contain the plasma. I think you may be better off with direct conversion that you mentioned below. And that was the sort of link I was looking for.
Take a look at the specs in TFA. The magnets in this system are cooled with liquid helium to -270 deg C. The plasma sits inside the magnets. Thus any energy extracted from the plasma has to cross the boundary of the magnets, while at the same time not upsetting the magnets themselves.. What I want is an explanation of how this aspect is being considered. Once you have the energy out of the core you can pipe it into turbines to produce electricity. But that part is easily done.
Same as a fission reactor? The cooling system powers steam turbines
Yes.. but how? The devil is in the details. Are you jacketting the toroid in a cooling layer? or are collecting the energy via another method? (A poster below mentions the drawing off of helium that will be required for continuous operation - no idea if that harvests enough energy to be viable or not)
That said, for continuously operating toruses you do have to "draw off" the "ash" (helium) by means of an "exhaust" system that juts up into the outer reaches of the plasma stream (where the heavier helium concentrates), which is "a" challenge (the component is subject to a very hostile environment and faces huge thermal loads), but it's not a showstopper challenge by any means.
So what sort of mass of helium are we talking about? (I have no understanding of the scales involved) and is this a viable way of bleeding off energy? (and if so will that make fusion reactors potentially the worlds best source for helium?)
Standard PWR fission reactors use a 2 stage liquid/steam system to move energy from the core to the turbines. The first stage is flowing the liquid directly over the core inside the reactor vessel, which in turn keeps the reactor vessel at a decent temperature. But you can't do this with a fusion set up due to not being able to get to the inside of the (in this case) toroid. Thus all of the produced energy seems like it has to flow through the toroid walls in order to escape the reactor vessel - which would be rather nasty for any systems in close proximity to that reactor vessel (EG control systems that operate the magnetics and keep the plasma bottled up). So It seems to me that the only practical way of extracting the energy is by dunking the entire reactor vessel in the first stage liquid - and that seems impractical.
In all of the test fusion reactors I have seen there appears to be no mechanism to draw off the "excess" energy for use in power production. They all seem to be sealed units. So what are the conceptual ideas for taking the energy out from a fusion reactor?
I'd accept time travel as an adequate solution before believing that it's possible to, completely unaided by corruption, money, and connections, earn a PhD at 20 on merit alone.
You seem to be under the impression that the bell curve has limits on its extremities. Perhaps listening to some Mozart or Beethoven might dissuade of this restrictive idea.
The older I get, the more I've learned that these wunderkind child prodigies that get advanced degrees before they're old enough to drink (in the US) are more the result of political connections and corruption (and probably gaslighting asshole managers) than anything else.
I seriously doubt that anyone who had Richard Feynman on his thesis committee skated by on his degree.
Yes the crew were not fully trained, but according to Airbus the plane couldn't get into the situation it was in, so why train pilots for that? Also the faulty part had been faulty for a significant amount of time. This flight was not the first flight that had issues with the particular equipment.
Cox also lets you just buy a cable modem and install it yourself, without a visit from a technician. Comcast and other companies require you to have a tech visit and charge you $100 just to plug in a modem.
Nope, not my experience. The last time I upgraded my cable modem (18 months ago?), I called Comcast tech support, plugged it in myself and was up and running in 15 to twenty minutes tops. I have never had them come out to just plug in a cable modem.
and it took all 6 of them to do your job half as well but the cost for 6 was 3x what the company was paying you
And that is what makes the least sense out of it all.
While it may not make sense to you from a programming point of view, the outsourcing money will be a different line item in the companies budget than your salary. And that can improve the overall bottom line, and hence make it attractive from a financial point of view. As an analogy it can be better financially for companies to lease rather than own the buildings or equipment they use.
Slashdot Mirror
Look into something called "Boxed Sets".
So then .. looks like I'll have to buy the white album .. again.
They can save about 500% of my bandwidth by just letting me perma-download Family Guy, American Dad, and Buffy, which I keep watching over and over and over again.
I would love the ability to preload a fixed number of shows to a device even if it was for a time limited period.
Why haven't Alice and Bob been replaced with Ada and Babbage yet?
Because then the movie with Ted and Carol would seem even weirder,
*sigh*
The difference engine. Really? Seriously?
Repeat after me: Ada Lovelace wrote a program for the Analytical Engine architecture.
I'm sure Babbage's Difference Engine is fascinating, but it can't be programmed. The architecture you're looking for is the Analytical Engine. At least get the basics right.
Given that the OP merely mentioned that the Difference Engine exhibit at Santa Clara is fascinating, and made no mention of Ada, I'd suggest that your nerd rage is out of control and you need to sit back and take some deep breaths before you next post.
Seymour Cray in that suit would make for a good Dr Who
As several posters have mentioned, the simplest way is to just use the heat to boil water.
The boiling water part is still non trivial for a fusion reactor because of those pesky magnets you need to keep at rather low temps in order to contain the plasma. I think you may be better off with direct conversion that you mentioned below. And that was the sort of link I was looking for.
Take a look at the specs in TFA. The magnets in this system are cooled with liquid helium to -270 deg C. The plasma sits inside the magnets. Thus any energy extracted from the plasma has to cross the boundary of the magnets, while at the same time not upsetting the magnets themselves.. What I want is an explanation of how this aspect is being considered. Once you have the energy out of the core you can pipe it into turbines to produce electricity. But that part is easily done.
Same as a fission reactor?
The cooling system powers steam turbines
Yes .. but how? The devil is in the details. Are you jacketting the toroid in a cooling layer? or are collecting the energy via another method? (A poster below mentions the drawing off of helium that will be required for continuous operation - no idea if that harvests enough energy to be viable or not)
That said, for continuously operating toruses you do have to "draw off" the "ash" (helium) by means of an "exhaust" system that juts up into the outer reaches of the plasma stream (where the heavier helium concentrates), which is "a" challenge (the component is subject to a very hostile environment and faces huge thermal loads), but it's not a showstopper challenge by any means.
So what sort of mass of helium are we talking about? (I have no understanding of the scales involved) and is this a viable way of bleeding off energy? (and if so will that make fusion reactors potentially the worlds best source for helium?)
Heat. Thermal transfer to steam turbines.
Standard PWR fission reactors use a 2 stage liquid/steam system to move energy from the core to the turbines. The first stage is flowing the liquid directly over the core inside the reactor vessel, which in turn keeps the reactor vessel at a decent temperature. But you can't do this with a fusion set up due to not being able to get to the inside of the (in this case) toroid. Thus all of the produced energy seems like it has to flow through the toroid walls in order to escape the reactor vessel - which would be rather nasty for any systems in close proximity to that reactor vessel (EG control systems that operate the magnetics and keep the plasma bottled up). So It seems to me that the only practical way of extracting the energy is by dunking the entire reactor vessel in the first stage liquid - and that seems impractical.
It's bizarre because the story isn't quite a dupe.
The Bizarre Reactor Scientists Hope Will Save Fusion Research
In all of the test fusion reactors I have seen there appears to be no mechanism to draw off the "excess" energy for use in power production. They all seem to be sealed units. So what are the conceptual ideas for taking the energy out from a fusion reactor?
I'd accept time travel as an adequate solution before believing that it's possible to, completely unaided by corruption, money, and connections, earn a PhD at 20 on merit alone.
You seem to be under the impression that the bell curve has limits on its extremities. Perhaps listening to some Mozart or Beethoven might dissuade of this restrictive idea.
The older I get, the more I've learned that these wunderkind child prodigies that get advanced degrees before they're old enough to drink (in the US) are more the result of political connections and corruption (and probably gaslighting asshole managers) than anything else.
I seriously doubt that anyone who had Richard Feynman on his thesis committee skated by on his degree.
Good thing I have my quiver of crooked arrows.
Selling more guns and accessories to these folks won't increase violence one iota.
So the bell curve doesn't exist on your planet?
Almost as good as unicode support here
What major programming language isn't corporate controlled?
How come you aren't giving the elephant in the room some love. Surely Go is worth mentioning.
I love how the headlines on CNN (and now WSJ) lead with "Pilot Error" but the BBC leads with
Faulty equipment was a "major factor" in the AirAsia plane crash last December that killed all 162 people on board, Indonesian officials say.
AirAsia crash: Faulty part 'major factor'
Yes the crew were not fully trained, but according to Airbus the plane couldn't get into the situation it was in, so why train pilots for that? Also the faulty part had been faulty for a significant amount of time. This flight was not the first flight that had issues with the particular equipment.
Can someone explain me why emojis are in Unicode at all?
What emojis? People keep sending me texts that my RAZR flip phone* renders as solid white boxes.
Now get off my lawn
* I actually do use an original RAZR flip phone that is going on 7 years old now. It makes phone calls.
That's why U+1F36B is a generic chocolate bar rather than a HERSHEY'S® bar.
Given that Hershey's is a disgusting concoction that barely resembles real chocolate I am happy that the emoji for a chocolate bar is generic.
Cox also lets you just buy a cable modem and install it yourself, without a visit from a technician. Comcast and other companies require you to have a tech visit and charge you $100 just to plug in a modem.
Nope, not my experience. The last time I upgraded my cable modem (18 months ago?), I called Comcast tech support, plugged it in myself and was up and running in 15 to twenty minutes tops. I have never had them come out to just plug in a cable modem.
what exactly is OS X missing?
The troll's righteous indignation?
OS X
and it took all 6 of them to do your job half as well but the cost for 6 was 3x what the company was paying you
And that is what makes the least sense out of it all.
While it may not make sense to you from a programming point of view, the outsourcing money will be a different line item in the companies budget than your salary. And that can improve the overall bottom line, and hence make it attractive from a financial point of view. As an analogy it can be better financially for companies to lease rather than own the buildings or equipment they use.