We have quite a few power plants. We have power plants that are LYING DORMANT because the cost of natural gas PIPED IN FROM TEXAS is so high that using it to fuel said plants is too expensive for the energy produces, again because they are charging 40x-100x the prices the SAME COMPANIES (Enron, for example) charge other states.
A power plant for every california family wouldn't help if there's still a stranglehold on the fuel.
Read a book, or a newspaper, before spouting off such childish economic mantras, will you?
While we're at it, isn't it interesting that gas prices in San Juan Capistrano (California) are the highest in the country, at $2.35 a gallon, while the lowest in teh country is, any guesses? Yep, San Antonio, Texas, at $1.27. That's an 85% markup over Texas retail prices, and natural gas is far, far worse.
California generates 75% of the power it uses in-state. This is far more than most of the larger states.
There isn't an 'energy shortage.' California as a state used 14% less energy this April than April 2000, while energy production in the country has increased in the same timeframe. Per capita energy consumption in California is lower than in 48 of the 49 other states in the union.
But Bush telling us that directing Federal agencies in the state to cut energy use by 10% will fix everything? That's an insult.
The fact of the matter is Bush is catering to Texas energy companies he has a stake in, at the expense of California. Last week he came to our state and said he wouldn't impose price caps on energy costs in California because the prices were simply reflecting the law of supply and demand and that a spending cap wouldn't do any good. He stood on a podium next to our governor and insulted his intelligence by acting as if withholding natural gas to drive prices up for apopulation of 28 million people, and consequently cutting their power is not something the president has any reason to act upon.
Now let me tell you, you "ignorant fuck," that when I, through my utility, have to pay $1900 for a megawatt hour that goes for between $22 and $32 in Texas, New York, or Florida, that it's not because of supply and demand, but because of cartel price manipulation, so go fuck yourself before giving me any more shit.
Or if you actually think you're right, then explain why and don't be an Anonymous Coward.
On one hand, I'm supposed to ignore California's energy problems. But I'm supposed to be hard on any Chinese retaliation against us. Damn, and Cheney took the weekend off. Umm. I know! I can call for more spy satellites! It'll justify my higher defense budget, and they're made in California, so the Cali's will be using more energy, which puts money back into Texas! Win-win!
It's worth noting that an antimatter drive would be efficient in the same way that an electric car is a zero-emission vehicle.
Once the electricity is in the car or the antimatter in the spacecraft, the system is very efficient/nonpolluting, but the preparatory process of making the electricity/antimatter is still fraught with regular industrial-age inefficiency and pollution. Of course, for a spacecraft this is ideal, as it's a lot more effective to have all the hardware on the ground instead of carrying it with you. I only say this to forestall people talking about such a drive as an ecologically friendly alternative.
'This makes it the first superconducting cable in actual use, ie. not in a laboratory.'
I think the author (Chick) is a little confused on the term 'actual use.' Just because a superconducting cable is used in a laboratory doesn't mean that the cable itself is the subject of the experiment, and could easily be seen as a case of 'actual use.'
More to the point, the 30m cable is a 20% load experiment which, if successful, will lead to a 100% 'actual use' implementation of several Km, so this Dutch installation isn't really specifically for 'actual use' either.
Let me get this straight: I'm replying to an author's response to a reader's review of that author's analysis of a filmmaker's interpretation of another author's creative statement about the human condition?
Please dear god someone reply to this, just to tell me I'm wrong!
Kevin Fox
--
Useful on a large scale
on
Flywheel UPS
·
· Score: 2
On a larger scale, this could solve the current energy problems. The problem isn't one of energy presources so much as energy delivery. If flywheels could be charged (like batteries, but with much less loss in the charging process) during off-peak hours, they could be used to cover overextensions at peak hours.
I read an article on/. around the beginning of the year about power companies burying large flywheels underground to cover brownouts and short-duration blackouts. This could be a great growth industry.
As a child, I want to be able to track my parents. I want to make sure that they're not up to no good, cheating on each other, acting in ways counter to my best interests. I want to know how much time they spend at their desk, how much time at the water cooler, and whether they're late home because they're playing Diablo II or cheating with their secretary (by using alpha-channel video card mods while playing quake, of course).
On the other hand, those folks who say that children have no right to expect privacy because parents are liable for the childrens' actions, where does this line stop? If (as mentioned on/. earlier) we have thought-sensing devices, do parents then have the right to implant them in their kids, so they'll know when the kid is thinking about committing a crime, fantasizing about having sex, or maybe having a snack before dinner?
Broad generalizations are always harmful. (laugh, okay?)
This c|net article states that Palm's market share slipped from 65% to 60.5% and Handspring's from 27% to 26%. It also says that the iPaq's market share has incredibly doubled... from 2% to 4%. This is hardly equivalent to iPaq cannibalizing Palm sales, and the numbers are exactly in line with my previous post.
Dude, don't you watch Dark Angel? You jump the motorcycle through a window, and shoot the terrorists before you land, then you calmly radio in for the troop transport as you unlock the front gate.
This is also how we have Apple Computers' mark side by side with Apple Records.
Actually, Apple Records sued Apple Computer around 1982 and they reached a settlement that involved an undisclosed sum paid to Apple Records and an agreement that Apple Computer wouldn't venture into the music industry. This is why they had to license Roland's MIDI samples instead of making their own, and were later drawn back into court when they started advocating quicktime and other music-related products.
As I understand it they did reach another settlement, but this was certainly a pair with a history of litigation.
I don't think you can justify saying that Palm's losing money because of the superiority of WinCE devices when Palm-based PDAs still have a 85% market share of the PDA market, and that's new purchases, not just the installed base, which is even more favorable to Palm.
No, if I had to guess I'd say the reason for the slowdown is because most people already have the palm that suits them, be it V/Vx, IIIx, m100, or VII, and the new models aren't enough to convince them to spend $300 for an incremental upgrade.
Hardware expansion has always underdelivered on all the PDAs, so springboard, MMC, and MemoryStick slots don't carry enough incentive to upgrade.
I love my palm, as does everyone I know who owns one. The problem is that we love the palms that we have, so we're not spending money to buy new ones.
Reading all the CdrTaco backflap about AIMster being related to AIM and therefore vulnerable, it's amusing to me that while I and others here can see, and reluctantly agree with, the decision that AIMster does infringe on the trademark, we all think that fuckgeneralmotors.com should remain under independent control.
Kind of a double-standard here? It's okay if the site in question just bitches about a company, but not if they make money?
1) Get an idea
2) Fake a business plan
3) Get VC funding
4) Use the money on development, not marketing
5) Release the code as open source
6) Go under
7) Leave the world a better place on the VC dime.
Could it be that there's just more mass in the solar system than we think? Wait, hear me out. I'm not talking about Planet X or a bloated G, I'm talking about ambient stellar gas.
Here's the deal: On the Earth, the gravitatinal forces acting on you at the surface all sum out to equal to the forces that would be exerted by a point source with the Earth's mass and a distance r, the diameter of the Earth. Though that ocean to your left and that continent to your right pull you in opposite directions, and the ground under your feet is pulling harder than the ground in China (um, unless you're in China, in which case, 'hi'), but it all sums out exactly right to a point mass at radius r.
Now, take that example and pose it to the solar system. Forget about the forc of solar wind blowing, and realize that all that wind has mass, and exists everywhere. It's pretty thin, but it's a lot thicker than the four hydrogen atoms per cubic meter in deep interstellar space. All that stuff, wispy as it is, has mass, and even though most of it is so godawful far away, the net gravitational effect of all of it is as if there were an additional point source inside the sun, with the mass of all the stray gasses and particles inside the huge sphere that has the sun as the center and the space probe on the outer surface.
What makes the math even more wonky is that, assuming a roughly even distribution of gas as inversely proportional (or inverse square, or even constant, doesn't matter in this case as long as it's uniform by uniform radius) to the distance form the sun, then the farther out the probe goes, the more mass there is behind it, and the farther back the point source goes.
If the density were uniform (it's not) then the effect of this force would actually increase as the probe got further away. As it is, it may be a constant force. For conceptualization's sake, if you had a well to the center of the earth and went to the bottom (forget magma, use the moon if it makes you feel better) you'd be weightless. Go halfway up, and you'd have a force of one-half g. Go to the surface and you are being pulled with a stronger force than you were when you were closer to the center.
Anyhow, HTML's bad for math, but I just wanted to get the idea out there. I don't have enough info on particulate density over the scope of the solar system and beyond to make any educated numbers anyhow. Hopefully someone out there does.
Slashdot Mirror
Jos Whedon, Buffy:TVS creator, has already pioneered using Zepplin technology over Neptune for an upcoming episode.
Kevin Fox
--
"If a tree falls in a forest.... it isn't a tree making the noise but a log"
So, if a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, the sound is logged?
+1 Funny
-1 Offtopic
+1 Funny
-1 Redundant
+1 Underrated
-1 Flamebait
Kevin Fox
--
We have quite a few power plants. We have power plants that are LYING DORMANT because the cost of natural gas PIPED IN FROM TEXAS is so high that using it to fuel said plants is too expensive for the energy produces, again because they are charging 40x-100x the prices the SAME COMPANIES (Enron, for example) charge other states.
A power plant for every california family wouldn't help if there's still a stranglehold on the fuel.
Read a book, or a newspaper, before spouting off such childish economic mantras, will you?
While we're at it, isn't it interesting that gas prices in San Juan Capistrano (California) are the highest in the country, at $2.35 a gallon, while the lowest in teh country is, any guesses? Yep, San Antonio, Texas, at $1.27. That's an 85% markup over Texas retail prices, and natural gas is far, far worse.
California generates 75% of the power it uses in-state. This is far more than most of the larger states.
Kevin Fox
--
There isn't an 'energy shortage.' California as a state used 14% less energy this April than April 2000, while energy production in the country has increased in the same timeframe. Per capita energy consumption in California is lower than in 48 of the 49 other states in the union.
But Bush telling us that directing Federal agencies in the state to cut energy use by 10% will fix everything? That's an insult.
Kevin Fox
--
Sorry. Actually I won't.
The fact of the matter is Bush is catering to Texas energy companies he has a stake in, at the expense of California. Last week he came to our state and said he wouldn't impose price caps on energy costs in California because the prices were simply reflecting the law of supply and demand and that a spending cap wouldn't do any good. He stood on a podium next to our governor and insulted his intelligence by acting as if withholding natural gas to drive prices up for apopulation of 28 million people, and consequently cutting their power is not something the president has any reason to act upon.
Now let me tell you, you "ignorant fuck," that when I, through my utility, have to pay $1900 for a megawatt hour that goes for between $22 and $32 in Texas, New York, or Florida, that it's not because of supply and demand, but because of cartel price manipulation, so go fuck yourself before giving me any more shit.
Or if you actually think you're right, then explain why and don't be an Anonymous Coward.
Kevin Fox
--
On one hand, I'm supposed to ignore California's energy problems. But I'm supposed to be hard on any Chinese retaliation against us. Damn, and Cheney took the weekend off. Umm. I know! I can call for more spy satellites! It'll justify my higher defense budget, and they're made in California, so the Cali's will be using more energy, which puts money back into Texas! Win-win!
Kevin Fox
--
Why is the term 'megapixel' odious to the author?
Surely you don't thik we should go around talking about how our floppies can hold one million four hindred-forty thousand bytes of data, do you?
Kevin Fox
--
For some reason, everything spork posts is rated -1, but without moderation notes. I think he has severely negative karma...
Kevin Fox
--
I'm assuming that you're looking for a different answer than: Get a Mac?
Kevin Fox
--
I like it. The Echelon guys would be in for a nasty shock when they try to splice that fiber...
OTOH, the next thing you know, California's internet fees go up to $1900 a month, compared with $30 for the average user.
Kevin Fox
--
It looks like exactly the same thing.
Kevin Fox
--
It's worth noting that an antimatter drive would be efficient in the same way that an electric car is a zero-emission vehicle.
Once the electricity is in the car or the antimatter in the spacecraft, the system is very efficient/nonpolluting, but the preparatory process of making the electricity/antimatter is still fraught with regular industrial-age inefficiency and pollution. Of course, for a spacecraft this is ideal, as it's a lot more effective to have all the hardware on the ground instead of carrying it with you. I only say this to forestall people talking about such a drive as an ecologically friendly alternative.
Kevin Fox
--
'This makes it the first superconducting cable in actual use, ie. not in a laboratory.'
I think the author (Chick) is a little confused on the term 'actual use.' Just because a superconducting cable is used in a laboratory doesn't mean that the cable itself is the subject of the experiment, and could easily be seen as a case of 'actual use.'
More to the point, the 30m cable is a 20% load experiment which, if successful, will lead to a 100% 'actual use' implementation of several Km, so this Dutch installation isn't really specifically for 'actual use' either.
Kevin Fox
--
Nah. Before that happens they'll devote billions to R&D to find new markets.
Face it folks, Microsoft may be our best bet for interstellar travel, if only so they can find other civilizations that need Windows machines!
Kevin Fox
--
Let me get this straight: I'm replying to an author's response to a reader's review of that author's analysis of a filmmaker's interpretation of another author's creative statement about the human condition?
Please dear god someone reply to this, just to tell me I'm wrong!
Kevin Fox
--
On a larger scale, this could solve the current energy problems. The problem isn't one of energy presources so much as energy delivery. If flywheels could be charged (like batteries, but with much less loss in the charging process) during off-peak hours, they could be used to cover overextensions at peak hours.
/. around the beginning of the year about power companies burying large flywheels underground to cover brownouts and short-duration blackouts. This could be a great growth industry.
I read an article on
Kevin Fox
--
To extend the argument both ways:
/. earlier) we have thought-sensing devices, do parents then have the right to implant them in their kids, so they'll know when the kid is thinking about committing a crime, fantasizing about having sex, or maybe having a snack before dinner?
As a child, I want to be able to track my parents. I want to make sure that they're not up to no good, cheating on each other, acting in ways counter to my best interests. I want to know how much time they spend at their desk, how much time at the water cooler, and whether they're late home because they're playing Diablo II or cheating with their secretary (by using alpha-channel video card mods while playing quake, of course).
On the other hand, those folks who say that children have no right to expect privacy because parents are liable for the childrens' actions, where does this line stop? If (as mentioned on
Broad generalizations are always harmful. (laugh, okay?)
Kevin Fox
--
This c|net article states that Palm's market share slipped from 65% to 60.5% and Handspring's from 27% to 26%. It also says that the iPaq's market share has incredibly doubled... from 2% to 4%. This is hardly equivalent to iPaq cannibalizing Palm sales, and the numbers are exactly in line with my previous post.
Kevin Fox
--
Dude, don't you watch Dark Angel? You jump the motorcycle through a window, and shoot the terrorists before you land, then you calmly radio in for the troop transport as you unlock the front gate.
Kevin Fox
--
This is also how we have Apple Computers' mark side by side with Apple Records.
Actually, Apple Records sued Apple Computer around 1982 and they reached a settlement that involved an undisclosed sum paid to Apple Records and an agreement that Apple Computer wouldn't venture into the music industry. This is why they had to license Roland's MIDI samples instead of making their own, and were later drawn back into court when they started advocating quicktime and other music-related products.
As I understand it they did reach another settlement, but this was certainly a pair with a history of litigation.
Kevin Fox
--
I don't think you can justify saying that Palm's losing money because of the superiority of WinCE devices when Palm-based PDAs still have a 85% market share of the PDA market, and that's new purchases, not just the installed base, which is even more favorable to Palm.
No, if I had to guess I'd say the reason for the slowdown is because most people already have the palm that suits them, be it V/Vx, IIIx, m100, or VII, and the new models aren't enough to convince them to spend $300 for an incremental upgrade.
Hardware expansion has always underdelivered on all the PDAs, so springboard, MMC, and MemoryStick slots don't carry enough incentive to upgrade.
I love my palm, as does everyone I know who owns one. The problem is that we love the palms that we have, so we're not spending money to buy new ones.
Kevin Fox
--
Reading all the CdrTaco backflap about AIMster being related to AIM and therefore vulnerable, it's amusing to me that while I and others here can see, and reluctantly agree with, the decision that AIMster does infringe on the trademark, we all think that fuckgeneralmotors.com should remain under independent control.
Kind of a double-standard here? It's okay if the site in question just bitches about a company, but not if they make money?
Kevin Fox
--
Wasn't this a Star Trek episode in 1989? Five years from now NASA will be warning us about the Borg.
Kevin Fox
--
I like this new net order:
1) Get an idea
2) Fake a business plan
3) Get VC funding
4) Use the money on development, not marketing
5) Release the code as open source
6) Go under
7) Leave the world a better place on the VC dime.
Kevin Fox
--
Could it be that there's just more mass in the solar system than we think? Wait, hear me out. I'm not talking about Planet X or a bloated G, I'm talking about ambient stellar gas.
Here's the deal: On the Earth, the gravitatinal forces acting on you at the surface all sum out to equal to the forces that would be exerted by a point source with the Earth's mass and a distance r, the diameter of the Earth. Though that ocean to your left and that continent to your right pull you in opposite directions, and the ground under your feet is pulling harder than the ground in China (um, unless you're in China, in which case, 'hi'), but it all sums out exactly right to a point mass at radius r.
Now, take that example and pose it to the solar system. Forget about the forc of solar wind blowing, and realize that all that wind has mass, and exists everywhere. It's pretty thin, but it's a lot thicker than the four hydrogen atoms per cubic meter in deep interstellar space. All that stuff, wispy as it is, has mass, and even though most of it is so godawful far away, the net gravitational effect of all of it is as if there were an additional point source inside the sun, with the mass of all the stray gasses and particles inside the huge sphere that has the sun as the center and the space probe on the outer surface.
What makes the math even more wonky is that, assuming a roughly even distribution of gas as inversely proportional (or inverse square, or even constant, doesn't matter in this case as long as it's uniform by uniform radius) to the distance form the sun, then the farther out the probe goes, the more mass there is behind it, and the farther back the point source goes.
If the density were uniform (it's not) then the effect of this force would actually increase as the probe got further away. As it is, it may be a constant force. For conceptualization's sake, if you had a well to the center of the earth and went to the bottom (forget magma, use the moon if it makes you feel better) you'd be weightless. Go halfway up, and you'd have a force of one-half g. Go to the surface and you are being pulled with a stronger force than you were when you were closer to the center.
Anyhow, HTML's bad for math, but I just wanted to get the idea out there. I don't have enough info on particulate density over the scope of the solar system and beyond to make any educated numbers anyhow. Hopefully someone out there does.
Kevin Fox
--