The Mom Test involves nothing less than installing an OS on your mom's home desktop and seeing if she can figure out how to do all the things she would normally do with MS-Windows
If that involves calling me up asking what this blue screen means...
I'm an environmental engineer and I'm proud of it. I also come from a state that upon hearing 'environmental', shotgun's are produced and I can feel them all trained on me.
I am not an environmentalist. Environmentalists won't be content until we are living in a state that does not interfere with the environment. In fact, they'd probably prefer to take all of us off the earth and let it be without our influence.
As far as the windfarm is concerned, (to demonstrate precedence) several years ago there was a windfarm placed in California. (I forget exactly where.) It would generate a lot of electricity and power for local residents. When they put it up, they found out that they had placed it in the migratory path of some birds, and they were getting chopped into mcnuggets. Needless to say, the environmentalists threw a fit and got it shut down for a while. I can't remember the rest of the story, but I'm pretty sure that they put them back into action.
The fact that they are opposing the Nantucket windfarm does not surprise me. NIMBY is the major factor there. As far as putting the windfarms in a desert... I live in a desert right now. I wouldn't mind them, I wouldn't mind having a cheaper electricity bill. But the problem is this: A lot of our energy that we are producing now goes to California. We don't see the reduction in cost for our electricity bills, but it seems that they (California) want to keep putting their power plants out here where 'nobody' lives, and 'nobody' will care. But they are happy because that's one less power plant in their backyard, but five more in mine, without the price reduction benefit.
In fact a lot of people here would like to set up laws restricting the amount of electricity that can be delivered to California (wishful thinking -- Interstate Commerce Laws would override that in a heartbeat). The NIMBY attitude is outright annoying. Sure, you don't want to see a bunch of windmills obstructing your view. But, all I have to say is 'Tough titty said the kitty'. Somebody has to deal with it in their backyard. And since it is you that wants the power, you should either: not have the power that you want, pay more for what you get from placing them elsewhere (and hopefully reducing the price in that elsewhere), or put up and shut up.
I like the idea of getting our energy from renewable sources. Wind, Solar, etc. Holland has made tons of windmills (isn't that one thing they're famous for?). Nantucket could be a lot more like them. I wish we could put some up here next to our canyon. Every night and every morning the wind blows, hell that would be a nice project to reduce our bills.
"Both social security and medicare are in need of massive reform.
You can say that again. Next time, please try it without the pathetic rationalizations."
Yes Social Security and Medicare need to be reformed, a lot. They said earlier on that they wanted to put Social Security on a Stock Market type of thing. (Well, we see what has happened to the Stock Market, and what has happened to many people of retirement age who lost most of their retirement savings on it.)
Medicare especially needs to be reformed. They are the standard by which all other insurance companies base their claims and reimbursements. If Medicare decides today that it won't cover insulin, you could bet that in 7 minutes all other insurance companies would not cover insulin (this is just a hypothetical situation). In fact if you want a good analysis of Medicare, ask any Medical Treatment Professional who has to bill Medicare and fight for reimbursement.
Many people say that we need Health Care Reform. Our health care is great, what we need is Insurance Reform. They can do pretty much a lot of things and get away with it.
I know a little OT, but still an important thing to consider.
I do have to agree with some of what you are saying. And then again I have to agree with what the parent posted.
You need to keep communication lines open. But, this is like poker or dating (but some of you are unfamiliar with that). Don't let them see your cards. Don't let them have all the knowledge and power over you. Otherwise you'll end up getting bent over for all your worth and then discarded when they are done with you.
What's wrong with his university? The one I'm currently attending has a lawyer that any of the student can go talk to free of charge. Sure, it may not be the best, but at least we can get some legal advice and some ammo to help us fight for our rights.
It's good to see that people are moving away from oil and gas. I see this from a pollution standpoint. I live in an area where we get inversions all the time in the winter. And it sux!!!
Our problem comes from the fact that we have a huge agricultural industry (read beef) that the waste emits a lot of ammonia. Our traffic engineer needs to get his head out of his ass, because our streets are more like parking lots. So the emissions from the ammonia and the idling engines tend to combine and create terrible pollution for this valley.
A switch to hydrogen is a great step (although water vapor is a big greenhouse gas). But this company is not the only one doing this. Another company is working on a test for bigger vehicles.
Daimler/Chrysler is hooking up with UPS with one of their delivery trucks as a test to see how a fuel cell can handle an established route, next year. I think this will be a big help in getting fuel cells mainstream.
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-05-20/s_4510.asp
Personally, I wouldn't mind getting a vehicle that I can refuel at home at minimal cost to me. (You can set up a very efficient Hydrogen fueling station for fairly cheap (think long run)).
One of the things that will be a stumbling block for fuel cells/electric cars/alt energy vehicles, has been mentioned in several posts already. Right now they do not have the range or power that conventional gas powered vehicles have. But I'm sure that with time they will improve greatly. Hopefully in the next ten years we'll be able to be driving our own 'mini-hindenburgs'.
Actually, a business can discriminate against anyone they want.
My dad owns a business and has a sign above the cash register. It reads. "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone at anytime." That way if a customer comes in starts being an asshole to the customers and the employees we can say. "RTFS. Now leave."
But based solely on race, that is illegal and has been proven time and again in courts. The key word would be 'any-one'.
I'm curious as to why everyone keeps bitching and moaning about how GWB wants oil from Iraq? Doesn't France and Germany have more interest there in that respect? The main reason why they didn't want the war is because they do have large oil interests in Iraq, and they don't want to lose them. I don't think the US is really in this for the oil. GWB recently put forth a bill to put money towards fuel cell vehicles (what other president has done that?) moving away from the oil that everyone says that he's after.
Dogma, Dogma, dogma. Everyone has their own and will follow that.
I agree with what you say. We're not trying to go in and kill all the people there. The theory that the US is trying to do is to let the Iraqis know that we are coming and we won't be stopped.
As evidence to this there is the 'wall of steel' coming up from Kuwait to Bagdad. News broadcasts from other surrounding countries are still getting into Iraq. And they see this. The Iraqis see this. And when anyone sees a mass of military might that overpowers them come towards them it tends to 'shock and awe' them to the point of giving up before a real firefight ensues.
I think what is happening here is what the Iraqis somewhat expected in the first gulf war. They expected a major buildup and then a movement into Iraq. We caught them by surprise by coming around them and catching them in the back. This time they might expect that so we are coming up the line towards them. I think this shows our flexibility and our strength at the same time. Also, with the slower pace that we are moving towards them gives them time to either prepare or dissent and surrender. This tactic does have its pros and cons.
Yes, those damned big rigs tearing everything up. Those rigs need to be stopped now!!!!!! Before they can harm the children!!! -- end sarcasm
You are forgetting a few important things when you say all the rigs should be removed. Go to your local store, any store. Look on the shelf. How the hell did that item get there? It sure wasn't a "1984 mazda 626".
The rail still transports a lot of things, but it isn't the most convenient way of getting things around. Expanding the rail system? What do you mean? Do you want a rail road running through your neighborhood so it can drop things off at Wal-Mart because trucks are "more dangerous"?
First of all this is totally stupid. Look at the cost of implementing this. You need to purchase land to lay the tracks, then you have to lay the tracks. Then you need more diesel engines to pull the cargo. Then you need to hire more engineers. And so forth. Second, do you really want a train running near your neighborhood? Have you ever heard a train before. They have these loud horns that they must blare away on when they go through residential areas to warn people to get off the tracks. Third, who owns the railroads? Will the money that is not spent on repairing the roads be given back to the motorists? Will the money go to the railroad companies? Sure we may save $$$ there on the highways, but we would see an increase in the price of goods. The railroads are going to take their cut too (maintenance of tracks and engines and so forth), and we'd see the price of stuff increase. I'm dirt poor I couldn't afford an increase in cost of stuff. But would we see the $$$$ saved on the highways? Probably not. (one of the main reasons we do have highways is the military, excellent way to move stuff around, why didn't they go with railroads everywhere?)
Why are roads so unsafe? You state that big rigs cause roads to be unsafe. How so? Do they cause accidents? I would agree that a rig causing an accident is pretty serious but in all honesty how often does that happen? Rig drivers are professional drivers, they do this day in and day out for a living. They get into too many accidents and nobody wants to hire them. (Make a comparison to a shitty programmer -- makes too many shitty programs who wants to hire him.) Most accidents that happen on the highway are caused by autos not rigs. And most of these are caused by "distracted" drivers. (Cell phones, turning dial on radio, etc.) These people are the "casual" drivers, they drive to work sit somewhere, drive home, drive to the grocery store, etc. But they don't do it for a living.
The whole point is this -- getting rid of rigs is ridiculous. At least for now (once we get teleporters or something then that would be better). Sure they may tear up the roads but they are more cost effective. And as for dangerous people on the highway, I'm more concerned about myopic programmers with cell phones.
This isn't intended as flaimbait, just a rebuttal to a ridiculous reply that was not thought out.
I checked into getting a Prius a while back. I'm not sure if much of anything has changed. But, one thing that I did like that they offered was maintenance guarantees.
If I'm out in the middle of Idaho and the car breaks down, no local mechanic is going to know how to fix the damned thing. One of the selling points about the Prius was that Toyota would fly someone out to my location (at their expense) and fix it. So I could virtually roam anywhere.
If they want to do a complete switch-over are they going to provide this type of service for all their vehicles? Most likely not, especially if they are going to mass produce the vehicles and distribute like they do with their current non-hybrids. If they did have this same guarantee, that would be great. I'm thinking that they might have to train the Dealership mechanics and if you get stuck out somewhere you have to tow it to the nearest dealer. That's inconvenient. What would be best, in my opinion, is to offer a class to train independent mechanics (not affiliated with the dealership) on how to fix the hybrid vehicles when they break down. This would resolve some of the inconvenience issues.
Slashdot Mirror
The Mom Test involves nothing less than installing an OS on your mom's home desktop and seeing if she can figure out how to do all the things she would normally do with MS-Windows
If that involves calling me up asking what this blue screen means...
...then why doesn't someone hack into his computer and destroy his computer like he wants to do to so-called 'pirates'.
Ok just trollin'
What, is this the first you're just hearing of this or are you not paying attention?
/.
Lemme guess....
You're new to
It seems that DNA has a lot in common with /.
/. posts are 'Junk Posts' (like this one)
99% of DNA is 'Junk DNA'
99% of
hmmmmmm
--Laugh it will make you smile
I'm an environmental engineer and I'm proud of it. I also come from a state that upon hearing 'environmental', shotgun's are produced and I can feel them all trained on me.
I am not an environmentalist. Environmentalists won't be content until we are living in a state that does not interfere with the environment. In fact, they'd probably prefer to take all of us off the earth and let it be without our influence.
As far as the windfarm is concerned, (to demonstrate precedence) several years ago there was a windfarm placed in California. (I forget exactly where.) It would generate a lot of electricity and power for local residents. When they put it up, they found out that they had placed it in the migratory path of some birds, and they were getting chopped into mcnuggets. Needless to say, the environmentalists threw a fit and got it shut down for a while. I can't remember the rest of the story, but I'm pretty sure that they put them back into action.
The fact that they are opposing the Nantucket windfarm does not surprise me. NIMBY is the major factor there. As far as putting the windfarms in a desert... I live in a desert right now. I wouldn't mind them, I wouldn't mind having a cheaper electricity bill. But the problem is this: A lot of our energy that we are producing now goes to California. We don't see the reduction in cost for our electricity bills, but it seems that they (California) want to keep putting their power plants out here where 'nobody' lives, and 'nobody' will care. But they are happy because that's one less power plant in their backyard, but five more in mine, without the price reduction benefit.
In fact a lot of people here would like to set up laws restricting the amount of electricity that can be delivered to California (wishful thinking -- Interstate Commerce Laws would override that in a heartbeat). The NIMBY attitude is outright annoying. Sure, you don't want to see a bunch of windmills obstructing your view. But, all I have to say is 'Tough titty said the kitty'. Somebody has to deal with it in their backyard. And since it is you that wants the power, you should either: not have the power that you want, pay more for what you get from placing them elsewhere (and hopefully reducing the price in that elsewhere), or put up and shut up.
I like the idea of getting our energy from renewable sources. Wind, Solar, etc. Holland has made tons of windmills (isn't that one thing they're famous for?). Nantucket could be a lot more like them. I wish we could put some up here next to our canyon. Every night and every morning the wind blows, hell that would be a nice project to reduce our bills.
"Both social security and medicare are in need of massive reform.
You can say that again. Next time, please try it without the pathetic rationalizations."
Yes Social Security and Medicare need to be reformed, a lot. They said earlier on that they wanted to put Social Security on a Stock Market type of thing. (Well, we see what has happened to the Stock Market, and what has happened to many people of retirement age who lost most of their retirement savings on it.)
Medicare especially needs to be reformed. They are the standard by which all other insurance companies base their claims and reimbursements. If Medicare decides today that it won't cover insulin, you could bet that in 7 minutes all other insurance companies would not cover insulin (this is just a hypothetical situation). In fact if you want a good analysis of Medicare, ask any Medical Treatment Professional who has to bill Medicare and fight for reimbursement.
Many people say that we need Health Care Reform. Our health care is great, what we need is Insurance Reform. They can do pretty much a lot of things and get away with it.
I know a little OT, but still an important thing to consider.
...then they won't really understand this!!!!
I do have to agree with some of what you are saying. And then again I have to agree with what the parent posted.
You need to keep communication lines open. But, this is like poker or dating (but some of you are unfamiliar with that). Don't let them see your cards. Don't let them have all the knowledge and power over you. Otherwise you'll end up getting bent over for all your worth and then discarded when they are done with you.
What's wrong with his university? The one I'm currently attending has a lawyer that any of the student can go talk to free of charge. Sure, it may not be the best, but at least we can get some legal advice and some ammo to help us fight for our rights.
Had to shoot the damn rabbit!!!
Put 'im on the grill to watch TV!
Ooooh Wheeee!
(Rabbit ears don't work hear, must use grill)
It's good to see that people are moving away from oil and gas. I see this from a pollution standpoint. I live in an area where we get inversions all the time in the winter. And it sux!!!
Our problem comes from the fact that we have a huge agricultural industry (read beef) that the waste emits a lot of ammonia. Our traffic engineer needs to get his head out of his ass, because our streets are more like parking lots. So the emissions from the ammonia and the idling engines tend to combine and create terrible pollution for this valley.
A switch to hydrogen is a great step (although water vapor is a big greenhouse gas). But this company is not the only one doing this. Another company is working on a test for bigger vehicles.
Daimler/Chrysler is hooking up with UPS with one of their delivery trucks as a test to see how a fuel cell can handle an established route, next year. I think this will be a big help in getting fuel cells mainstream.
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-05-20/s_4510.asp
Personally, I wouldn't mind getting a vehicle that I can refuel at home at minimal cost to me. (You can set up a very efficient Hydrogen fueling station for fairly cheap (think long run)).
One of the things that will be a stumbling block for fuel cells/electric cars/alt energy vehicles, has been mentioned in several posts already. Right now they do not have the range or power that conventional gas powered vehicles have. But I'm sure that with time they will improve greatly. Hopefully in the next ten years we'll be able to be driving our own 'mini-hindenburgs'.
Madonna?
Shit! I thought you were doing smurfs!
I'd like to see one. Could anybody send me just a couple of them so I could see them?
Actually, a business can discriminate against anyone they want.
My dad owns a business and has a sign above the cash register. It reads. "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone at anytime." That way if a customer comes in starts being an asshole to the customers and the employees we can say. "RTFS. Now leave."
But based solely on race, that is illegal and has been proven time and again in courts. The key word would be 'any-one'.
Are you telling me this is a joke? Damn! I wanted one so badly.
Here's a cool site with a bunch of April's Fools pranks that were done. This is just a list of the top 100.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/top100.html
A few of my favorites are:
#13: The 26-Day Marathon
#16: Kremvax
#22: Arm the Homeless
#24: Drunk Driving on the Internet
--'Next, I'll show you my balls to your fist technique!'
I read once somewhere (in other words I don't know who the author of this was):
As long as there is contention between religions, there can never be peace in the world.
I'm curious as to why everyone keeps bitching and moaning about how GWB wants oil from Iraq? Doesn't France and Germany have more interest there in that respect? The main reason why they didn't want the war is because they do have large oil interests in Iraq, and they don't want to lose them. I don't think the US is really in this for the oil. GWB recently put forth a bill to put money towards fuel cell vehicles (what other president has done that?) moving away from the oil that everyone says that he's after.
Dogma, Dogma, dogma. Everyone has their own and will follow that.
BUFF - Big Ugly Fat F@cker
just FYI
I agree with what you say. We're not trying to go in and kill all the people there. The theory that the US is trying to do is to let the Iraqis know that we are coming and we won't be stopped.
As evidence to this there is the 'wall of steel' coming up from Kuwait to Bagdad. News broadcasts from other surrounding countries are still getting into Iraq. And they see this. The Iraqis see this. And when anyone sees a mass of military might that overpowers them come towards them it tends to 'shock and awe' them to the point of giving up before a real firefight ensues.
I think what is happening here is what the Iraqis somewhat expected in the first gulf war. They expected a major buildup and then a movement into Iraq. We caught them by surprise by coming around them and catching them in the back. This time they might expect that so we are coming up the line towards them. I think this shows our flexibility and our strength at the same time. Also, with the slower pace that we are moving towards them gives them time to either prepare or dissent and surrender. This tactic does have its pros and cons.
Now I will have time to come up with witty comments and get +5 Funny, instead of -8 Redundant.
Monkey! Quit playing with your pee-pee!
Maybe we should just go build our own vehicles and solar powered houses.
"Oh Yeah? I'm going to go build my own solar powered car! With blackjack and hookers! In fact, forget the car!"
I hope my sys admin isn't really reading this book.
(I hope he's already obtained these skills)
"I usually spend the day dressed up as my evil twin."
Can't do that I am the evil twin!
Besides I don't want to wear my twin's dresses.
Yes, those damned big rigs tearing everything up. Those rigs need to be stopped now!!!!!! Before they can harm the children!!! -- end sarcasm
You are forgetting a few important things when you say all the rigs should be removed. Go to your local store, any store. Look on the shelf. How the hell did that item get there? It sure wasn't a "1984 mazda 626".
The rail still transports a lot of things, but it isn't the most convenient way of getting things around. Expanding the rail system? What do you mean? Do you want a rail road running through your neighborhood so it can drop things off at Wal-Mart because trucks are "more dangerous"?
First of all this is totally stupid. Look at the cost of implementing this. You need to purchase land to lay the tracks, then you have to lay the tracks. Then you need more diesel engines to pull the cargo. Then you need to hire more engineers. And so forth.
Second, do you really want a train running near your neighborhood? Have you ever heard a train before. They have these loud horns that they must blare away on when they go through residential areas to warn people to get off the tracks.
Third, who owns the railroads? Will the money that is not spent on repairing the roads be given back to the motorists? Will the money go to the railroad companies? Sure we may save $$$ there on the highways, but we would see an increase in the price of goods. The railroads are going to take their cut too (maintenance of tracks and engines and so forth), and we'd see the price of stuff increase. I'm dirt poor I couldn't afford an increase in cost of stuff. But would we see the $$$$ saved on the highways? Probably not. (one of the main reasons we do have highways is the military, excellent way to move stuff around, why didn't they go with railroads everywhere?)
Why are roads so unsafe? You state that big rigs cause roads to be unsafe. How so? Do they cause accidents? I would agree that a rig causing an accident is pretty serious but in all honesty how often does that happen? Rig drivers are professional drivers, they do this day in and day out for a living. They get into too many accidents and nobody wants to hire them. (Make a comparison to a shitty programmer -- makes too many shitty programs who wants to hire him.) Most accidents that happen on the highway are caused by autos not rigs. And most of these are caused by "distracted" drivers. (Cell phones, turning dial on radio, etc.) These people are the "casual" drivers, they drive to work sit somewhere, drive home, drive to the grocery store, etc. But they don't do it for a living.
The whole point is this -- getting rid of rigs is ridiculous. At least for now (once we get teleporters or something then that would be better). Sure they may tear up the roads but they are more cost effective. And as for dangerous people on the highway, I'm more concerned about myopic programmers with cell phones.
This isn't intended as flaimbait, just a rebuttal to a ridiculous reply that was not thought out.
I checked into getting a Prius a while back. I'm not sure if much of anything has changed. But, one thing that I did like that they offered was maintenance guarantees.
If I'm out in the middle of Idaho and the car breaks down, no local mechanic is going to know how to fix the damned thing. One of the selling points about the Prius was that Toyota would fly someone out to my location (at their expense) and fix it. So I could virtually roam anywhere.
If they want to do a complete switch-over are they going to provide this type of service for all their vehicles? Most likely not, especially if they are going to mass produce the vehicles and distribute like they do with their current non-hybrids. If they did have this same guarantee, that would be great. I'm thinking that they might have to train the Dealership mechanics and if you get stuck out somewhere you have to tow it to the nearest dealer. That's inconvenient. What would be best, in my opinion, is to offer a class to train independent mechanics (not affiliated with the dealership) on how to fix the hybrid vehicles when they break down. This would resolve some of the inconvenience issues.