The doping compound for the Hindenburg was a new substance, engineered as part fo the high-tech design of the ship. Unfortunately, nobody had the forsight to realize that it contained both Iron oxide AND alluminum filings. The modern day term for such mixtures is thermite.
It takes a lot of heat to touch off a reaction between the two, but once it's going, it'll BURN. It's the same stuff used to weld railroad tracks together, burn holes through tank and automobile engine blocks to disable them, and to weld underwater. Supposedly, the stuff will even burn though concrete.
the reaction taking place is a transfer of oxygen from the iron to the alluminum and can probably be thought of as the combustion of alluminum. The resulting slag can be in excess of 5000F.
Personally, I'm happy enough browsing with javascript always off and simply turning it on for the few sites that may require it. I've found that it's often not worth the trouble of leaving it, as I usually and it's a major pain when it crashes.
you're just asking for it buddy. Now I'm going to have to start pointing out (EEEEK) poor grammar.
"Chad" is already plural. And the wrong word, too. The punched out "holes" should more accurately be called chaff. The term chad refers to the ribbons of paper off the side of a sprocket-fed printing system.
>But isn't that exactly what they do when they
>rule a law to be unconstitutional? (Excuse my
>ignorance)
IIRC from my high school government class, only the supreme court of the US can declare something unconstitutional, and they can only do so once a case comes into their jurisdiction (on appeal or whatnot). The lower courts (such as that which Kaplan adjudicates) can only decide whether a law has been broken.
I have a feeling that my description is probably off a little, as it has been a few years since I covered the material.
>Actually, though, how is this
>different (or less complicated) than,
>say, using PGP and an IRC client (with
>DCC) to effect the same sort of transfer?
The same could be said for Napster, ICQ, or many other similar widespread information sharing systems, and I've often found myself wondering the exact same thing.
My best guess is that a lot of people simply don't understand the usage of IRC and never applied that paradigm to uses other than the most obvious. All they see and understand is chatting, if the depth of their knowledge extends even that deep. So with a program bluntly aimed at one possible aspect of another system, a wider audience can make use of the technology (and whoever writes the app can stand to make a pretty profit)
They should be happy if they don't lose a whole load of customers over this. The way I see it, what they did in the first place was bad business. They're doing now what they have to do to avoid a potentially very messy situation. There is no reason I, as a paying customer, should trust them.
The're doing what they can to right their wrong, but they should never have committed that wrong in the first place.
Wouldn't that imply that MP3.com has caused that much of a decrease in UMG's sales? I find that highly unlikely. Decisions like this simply make my blood boil. I mean, I have a hard time accepting the validity of the case to begin with, but putting that aside, how can they justify that much? Did anyone even attempt to figure a reasonable amount? Or does everyone involved realize that the it would be hard to prove any difference in sales, since all cd sales have been increasing for several years now?
I agree that we should should try to make it way too expensive to prosecute everybody that posts links to DeCSS, but to do that by the suggested method would give the MPAA exactly what they want: few to no agenuine DeCSS's floating around.
Rather than taking copping out just short of the goal the goal of telling the MPAA to shove, I propose we go the full length by providing a ceaseless stream of valid mirrors.
In the spirit of civil disobedience, the offending law/decision should not be followed.
White probably wouldn't be so hard (just put all the colors in there and have the detector filter out those that it didn't want to track), but how about graphite? (Make all the colors a bit dimmer?) That would be a challenge!
It would be a lot easier to just use a white light and filter through the same opaque plastic they use in their cases.
Exactly! Our economic system relies on consumers being well informed. Withholding important information can be potentially dangerous.
It reminds me of that thing with the pickup trucks a few years ago with the side mounted gas tanks that could go up in t-bone. In this case, an oversight by the designers directly endangered lives. Luckily, that's (usually) not the case with software, but nonetheless, even if the minor problems are never publicized, who's to say they ever get fixed? Without public disclosure, John Q Public can't place the appropriate economic pressure to guarantee that the software being bought is as safe as possible.
I don't think the analogy fits too well. It's more like we're tenants and the software houses are the supers. Suppose somebody finds a way the locks in the building can be easily defeated. Now they have a few options:
1. not telling anyone 2. telling just the super 3. telling the super and the tenants 4. telling everyone
Obviously (1) won't get anything fixed. (2) is a bit curious, as it relies on the fortitude of the supers. (3) or (4) would result in some action, if not on the part of the super, then possibly by the tenants and maybe even legal action against the super if nothing is done.
But this analogy still isn't dead on. Option (3) would be very difficult to achieve with any publicly consumed software, thus (4) is the only feasible way to guarantee that the people who need the information (consumers) gets it.
>It also led to nuclear power plants, which are one of the most efficent >and enviornmentally-friendly methods of energy production around >(beaten only by hydro-electric dams and solar power). I'm not too sure I can agree with that assessment. Nuclear power plants are quite fuel efficient, but with how insidious radiation is to living things, and how long nuclear waste remains, well, nuclear, they pose a very significant environmental hazard in containment, storage and (hopefully eventually) disposal. It can't just be swept under the rug, afterall. Whether it's any better growing a few spare limbs than choking over petrolium emissions remains to be seen, I guess. Personally, I've always thought it would be cool to have a tail.;)
similar story with hydroelectric dams, too. They're clean but not necessarily very environmentally friendly.
Not that I mean to come off as an eco-nazi here. Just playing devil's advocate. I like my electricity.:)
Slashdot Mirror
I think genocide, written for dos about 5 years ago is the best of the 3d artillery games I've played.
---
there was one for dos called genocide that was released 4 or 5 years ago.
---
Go here and get genocide.zip. It's a lot of fun.
---
It takes a lot of heat to touch off a reaction between the two, but once it's going, it'll BURN. It's the same stuff used to weld railroad tracks together, burn holes through tank and automobile engine blocks to disable them, and to weld underwater. Supposedly, the stuff will even burn though concrete.
the reaction taking place is a transfer of oxygen from the iron to the alluminum and can probably be thought of as the combustion of alluminum. The resulting slag can be in excess of 5000F.
---
Personally, I'm happy enough browsing with javascript always off and simply turning it on for the few sites that may require it. I've found that it's often not worth the trouble of leaving it, as I usually and it's a major pain when it crashes.
---
now if only I could find the vettes, vipers, and bmw M-classes. =D
---
you're just asking for it buddy. Now I'm going to have to start pointing out (EEEEK) poor grammar. "Chad" is already plural. And the wrong word, too. The punched out "holes" should more accurately be called chaff. The term chad refers to the ribbons of paper off the side of a sprocket-fed printing system.
---
IIRC from my high school government class, only the supreme court of the US can declare something unconstitutional, and they can only do so once a case comes into their jurisdiction (on appeal or whatnot). The lower courts (such as that which Kaplan adjudicates) can only decide whether a law has been broken.
I have a feeling that my description is probably off a little, as it has been a few years since I covered the material.
---
>Actually, though, how is this >different (or less complicated) than, >say, using PGP and an IRC client (with >DCC) to effect the same sort of transfer?
The same could be said for Napster, ICQ, or many other similar widespread information sharing systems, and I've often found myself wondering the exact same thing.
My best guess is that a lot of people simply don't understand the usage of IRC and never applied that paradigm to uses other than the most obvious. All they see and understand is chatting, if the depth of their knowledge extends even that deep. So with a program bluntly aimed at one possible aspect of another system, a wider audience can make use of the technology (and whoever writes the app can stand to make a pretty profit)
---
> My favorite example is the damn Prilosec "Purple Pill" commercial. It gives you the impression that taking this pill will save your life..
Heartburn? I never paid attention to the ad and always assumed it was an anti-depressant. Interesting.
---
> Anandtech is running NT. Serves 'em right.
I'd say it doesn't seem to be serving them anything.
---
> this will get moderated... That's a shame. That was a truly funny reply.
---
I have fairly straight hair, but when I open my keyboard for cleaning, most of it in there is somewhat curly...
---
They should be happy if they don't lose a whole load of customers over this. The way I see it, what they did in the first place was bad business. They're doing now what they have to do to avoid a potentially very messy situation. There is no reason I, as a paying customer, should trust them.
The're doing what they can to right their wrong, but they should never have committed that wrong in the first place.
---
Wouldn't that imply that MP3.com has caused that much of a decrease in UMG's sales? I find that highly unlikely. Decisions like this simply make my blood boil. I mean, I have a hard time accepting the validity of the case to begin with, but putting that aside, how can they justify that much? Did anyone even attempt to figure a reasonable amount? Or does everyone involved realize that the it would be hard to prove any difference in sales, since all cd sales have been increasing for several years now?
---
I agree that we should should try to make it way too expensive to prosecute everybody that posts links to DeCSS, but to do that by the suggested method would give the MPAA exactly what they want: few to no agenuine DeCSS's floating around.
Rather than taking copping out just short of the goal the goal of telling the MPAA to shove, I propose we go the full length by providing a ceaseless stream of valid mirrors.
In the spirit of civil disobedience, the offending law/decision should not be followed.
---
inertia.
>1 of you there are , there are 25 ... have no desire to go buy
>who
>the real thing
But who's to say those 25 would have bought them otherwise?
Exactly! Our economic system relies on consumers being well informed. Withholding important information can be potentially dangerous.
It reminds me of that thing with the pickup trucks a few years ago with the side mounted gas tanks that could go up in t-bone. In this case, an oversight by the designers directly endangered lives. Luckily, that's (usually) not the case with software, but nonetheless, even if the minor problems are never publicized, who's to say they ever get fixed? Without public disclosure, John Q Public can't place the appropriate economic pressure to guarantee that the software being bought is as safe as possible.
I don't think the analogy fits too well. It's more like we're tenants and the software houses are the supers. Suppose somebody finds a way the locks in the building can be easily defeated. Now they have a few options:
1. not telling anyone
2. telling just the super
3. telling the super and the tenants
4. telling everyone
Obviously (1) won't get anything fixed. (2) is a bit curious, as it relies on the fortitude of the supers. (3) or (4) would result in some action, if not on the part of the super, then possibly by the tenants and maybe even legal action against the super if nothing is done.
But this analogy still isn't dead on. Option (3) would be very difficult to achieve with any publicly consumed software, thus (4) is the only feasible way to guarantee that the people who need the information (consumers) gets it.
>It also led to nuclear power plants, which are one of the most efficent >and enviornmentally-friendly methods of energy production around >(beaten only by hydro-electric dams and solar power). I'm not too sure I can agree with that assessment. Nuclear power plants are quite fuel efficient, but with how insidious radiation is to living things, and how long nuclear waste remains, well, nuclear, they pose a very significant environmental hazard in containment, storage and (hopefully eventually) disposal. It can't just be swept under the rug, afterall. Whether it's any better growing a few spare limbs than choking over petrolium emissions remains to be seen, I guess. Personally, I've always thought it would be cool to have a tail. ;)
:)
similar story with hydroelectric dams, too. They're clean but not necessarily very environmentally friendly.
Not that I mean to come off as an eco-nazi here. Just playing devil's advocate. I like my electricity.