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User: dattaway

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Comments · 2,118

  1. How much of the light spectrum? on The Largest Digital Photo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So it maps a large area with fine granularity. Its flash so I can't determine if its a RGB or CYMK photo. Or even if it details bands in the infrared spectrum. Or wavelengths in the ultraviolet?

  2. I'll just take the drive on High-Def Format Wars - Battle of the Freebies · · Score: 1

    for the high power blue laser diode.

  3. Re:What this takes. on Google Campus to Become Solar-powered · · Score: 1

    The prices for the panels are just the beginning. Consider the costs of the massive power distribution, storage, conversion, and switchgear. Batteries are a very high maintenance item over the years, too. The raw cost of the cells and mounting them are only a part of the price.

  4. Re:Why use the courts? on School Official Sues Over MySpace Page · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry. What was I thinking? I thought parents and children were reasonable, rational people. Even when someone misbehaves, I found that they too can be embarassed by silly behavior and laugh it off. I guess not. I didn't know school children these days must be psychotic and drugged. The common sense must have been lost over the years. I must be still living in the past. At least at work people seem intelligent.

  5. Why use the courts? on School Official Sues Over MySpace Page · · Score: 1

    Someone attaining the position of assistant principal should have the intelligence to confront the problem themselves. Seems like all school administrators these days are requiring the LAW to teach students. Education used to be about learning and it doesn't appear this principal is demonstrating the ability to learn herself.

  6. Re:mnb Re:ethanol ? Air ! on Electric Vehicle Kits for the Masses? · · Score: 1

    Television is all about entertainment. I bet owning an air powered car would be entertainment too! No one mentioned maintenance of a compressed air system. Compressing air creates condensation inside the iron tanks. Note that tanks have a lifespan. An air dryer is required. Often this would be a heat exchanger and a molecular sieve to reduce the dew point down to -40F. 100 horsepower is going to need 74,600 watts by definition assuming 100% efficiency. Since we are dealing with compressed air, multiply that by 10. So you are going to need about 1 megawatt from the utility. Bring in the electrical switchgear. The support center for a single car is going to end up into one big industrial megaplex with three phase oil filled transformers.

    People have tried this. Its not science, its not practical, its fun. If you enjoy waste.

  7. US Department of Commerce? on Chinese "Cyber-Attack" US Department of Commerce · · Score: 1

    What could possibly be of importance on US Department of Commerce computers? Are they trying to download warez? Logs off steamy chat rooms? Minutes of another boring meeting a typical government official attended?

  8. Re:well... on 64% of Online Gamers Are Female · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My wife plays on pogo.com. Simple games, cute sound effects and characters, and a chat window. And they talk about kids and family. That's something I don't hear horny teenage boys talk about, so yes, they are mostly females.

  9. Re:Hate to say it by Comcast is partially correct on Comcast Lying About Vonage · · Score: 1

    I have RoadRunner in Kansas City and P2P doesn't affect VoIP, either Vonage or Packet8. Heavy uploads will affect the other computers on my network, but the calls go through at full bandwidth. What's interesting the VoIP calls do not affect download or upload speeds. RR seems to be playing very nice to us.

  10. Re:Javascript is the security problem on Hackers claim zero-day flaw in Firefox · · Score: 1

    Why must most web pages HAVE to have javascript to convey textual information? I already have a browser, why do I need another mysterious program running to help me read?

  11. Re:I think I've heard of it... on Pirate Radio Stations Challenge Feds · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The problem with CB radio is it uses a very long wavelength, requiring long antennas for an efficient transmission. It would be nice to have the 460MHz FRS, 2.4GHz, and 5GHz spectrum much wider so communities can freely hack more uses for them. The public spaces are so crowded and freedom to explore the potential is often limited.

  12. Re:Hybrid Vehicles? on Google.org, a For-Profit Charity · · Score: 1

    SONY will have their line of cars as well, but with DRM'd hydrogen fuel supply sticks. If you try to use an unauthorized fuel source, the vehicle spontaneously explodes, but not until it quietly passes root emissions out of its tailpipe to nearby vehicles.

  13. Re:In Mickey Mouse Land on Vaporizing Garbage to Create Electricity · · Score: 3, Informative

    The stainless steel pipes are what we use for steam, but its the gaskets that keep blowing. Its friction due to heat contraction cycles that wears them out and creating leaks all the time. The gaskets are made out of high temperature sythetic aramid fibers and have a limited lifetime due to this wear. I know, because I used to have to replace them. I won't mention maintenance due to hard water deposits, insulation problems, and the expansion due to long lengths of pipe. And these massively long schedule 80 pipes do expand great lengths. That fresh Tropicana Orange Juice had better be next door, because even a mile of pipes is going to require constant work.

    The joys of working with 450F, 450psi steam. Ever seen pictures of someone who got exposed to something like that?

  14. Re:Power consumption? on Download Torrents With Your PC Turned Off · · Score: 1

    Many embedded computers use very low power. I installed one inside a router case that uses less than one watt of power. You can run it off a 9 volt battery for a long time.

  15. Its not an improvement on Upgrading Wi-Fi — What, When, and Why · · Score: 1

    ...until we have a greater bandwidth (LOTS of channels) of a microscopic slice of the microwave spectrum. And use frequency hopping.

    Why are free channels on the radio spectrum so scarce?

  16. Re:Um... reality has intervened MOD UP on Are Liquid Explosives on a Plane Feasible? · · Score: 1

    Were they really explosives? You can set off all the bomb alarms by having nitrates on your shoes just by walking through a chicken house or stepping on fertilizer.

  17. Re:Back it up on Does the NSA Need More Electricity? · · Score: 1

    Apparently their electricity budget is 21 million dollars.

    I'd say about a dozen 3000KVA CAT generator trailers and large framed UPS units ought to do the trick. That's just a portable solution that a contractor of a large city can deliver within a few hours of a phone call. That and needing 2000 gallons of diesel per hour . . .

  18. Re:Free cooling on Does the NSA Need More Electricity? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Or go half way up a mountain in Alaska or Yukon,

    Because this isn't about being practical. This is about jobs for the families of our elite. Do you really think they want to live in an icebox? Follow the money and you will see where the money goes. It isn't from Alaska and if it was, it sure isn't going back there.

  19. Re:How about eliminating patents on Patent Reform Act Proposes Sweeping Changes · · Score: 1

    Where are you getting your information? When some big medical company, MegaFeelgoodCorp or something, wants to create a new AIDS treatment, you're saying they go out to BFE and observe how the ancient Buntuchuku tribe handles people with AIDS?

    Family works in the drug industry and does a LOT of travel. What better lab can you get for your dollar than setting up shop in a different culture and observing? No clinical trials, no regulations, no red tape. Its like pleasure, but its all business. Bring your camera, lots of notebook paper, and sunscreen. And something to treat the water with . . .

  20. No way on Does the NSA Need More Electricity? · · Score: 5, Funny

    No Such Agency needs that kind of power.

  21. Re:How about eliminating patents on Patent Reform Act Proposes Sweeping Changes · · Score: 1

    Does it really NEED to cost millions of dollars or is this our government's way to protect business models? When you have a lot of people in a society, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to create a rocket. People stumble upon novel ideas and often share and improve on others. We don't need a patent system to lock a society down. We are discouraging the natural process of innovation by creating an upper class of IP rights holders.

  22. Re:How about eliminating patents on Patent Reform Act Proposes Sweeping Changes · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Patents do work, especially in the medical area. Pharmaceuticals would be prohibitive to develop (without direct state involvement) without patent protection.

    I hear this a lot. Is this really true? Drug researchers often research native cultures and find what traditional remedies they have used. Then the drug company finds a way to mass produce or synthesize it. And don't forget decommoditizing it so they can guarantee profits. So what they are doing is patenting little known prior art and marketing the hell out of a protected derivative.

  23. Re:Physical access ALWAYS means all bets are off. on Worst Ever Security Flaw in Diebold Voting Machine · · Score: 1

    This article is a little high on the hype. The general rule is that if you have physical access to any computer system you can compromize its security.

    At least with Microsoft's Xbox, it took lots of tools and minds to break inside. Diebold only requires a casual glance by anyone familiar with a boot sequence.

    Do I dare say Microsoft is less evil than Diebold? Did I just say that?

  24. Re:Who the hell.... on John Romero, the Man Behind the Hype · · Score: 1

    You might be too young to know who John is. He pretty much started the 3D video game on the IBM PC computer, which wasn't yet popular in homes. Doom let us know PC computers could be serious entertainment and be fun in the home.

  25. Re:This is damned good stuff on License Plate Tracking for the Average Citizen · · Score: 1

    You don't need a fancy LCD screen license plate. Time to go shopping for infrared blocking paint. Yes, the same stuff used in all visible digital camera lenses can be on your plate to render them black only to a pesky surveillance camera:

    http://industrial-coatings.globalspec.com/Industri al-Directory/ir_coatings