Normally I'm not too put off by much of what anyone does, but the use of actual formerly-alive animals in this little costumed joke is pretty friggin' gross.
And formerly-alive plants as well! Ones on which fungi have been allowed to grow! In fact, it consists mostly of the excreta of yeast! Eeww!
> There are also people working on leeching power from WiFi radio signals in > order to recharge cell phones, with the consequence of reducing the range of > your WiFi.
That would not reduce the range of your WiFi: the rf would be absobed by the body of the cellphone user anyway (but even if it weren't, so what? If you don't want me to absorb your radiation and put it to use don't spray it at me).
> So, making a copy of a song is piracy and stealing...
No. Copyright infringement is not theft.
>...but taking energy from a power line is clever and innovative? Seems like > very selective morality for what Slashdot condemns and what they find > worthy of reporting without criticism.
"Clever" is not a moral judgement (not to mention that the bit about recharging from powerlines is wild speculation imported from another article about another project run by a different organization).
> They didn't grow up in the area, they didn't know that choice A was 150km, > and choice B was 250km. That's exactly when they turn on the GPS and confirm > which fork in the road to take.
Because, you know, what else could they do? Use a paper map? That's so twentieth century!
It's a contract dispute between two individuals. The outcome will depend on the facts of the case and the judge's interpretation of the contract. No rights involved, except for the plaintiff's exercise of his right to sue.
Sure, in a country less than 1000Km in extent and with much of the population right in the center. It's farther from Oregon to Southern California than it is from one corner of Spain to another.
> Why, technically speaking, is your power grid in the CA area in such poor > condition?
It has not been established that it is. It's substantially farther from Oregon to Southern California than from Barcelona to Lisbon. The cost of upgrading the transmission lines to handle peak wind farm output that is present perhaps 1% of the time probably far exceeds the value of doing so.
This is not evidence of a deficiency in the grid. It is evidence of a major disadvantage of wind power.
The grid is not in poor condition. It lacks the capacity to handle the peak output of the wind farms, but it is not clear that it would make sense for it to be able to do so. Wind farms have a very large peak to average power ratio. Building enormous transmission lines that would used at a small fraction of their capacity 99% of the time would be wasteful.
> Consider the immense and largely unexplored ecosystem in a square metre of > soil outside your door. Try duplicating that in a lunar or Martian context.
> Similarly I was under the impression that it wasn't necessarily attenuation > from atmospheric mass that provided cosmic radiation shielding, but rather > the magnetosphere...
The atmosphere stops the cosmic rays, which are far too energetic to be bothered by the magnetic field. The latter stops the solar wind which would otherwise erode the atmosphere, though it would stop them quite readily while it lasted.
Slashdot Mirror
And formerly-alive plants as well! Ones on which fungi have been allowed to grow! In fact, it consists mostly of the excreta of yeast! Eeww!
Have some cheese.
> ...is it still a beer?
No,
...any such thing as 110 proof beer.
> Uh, the birds aren't recharging.
A Great Snowy tried that on the 7200V line that used to run over one of my pastures. Hung there upside down for weeks.
> There are also people working on leeching power from WiFi radio signals in
> order to recharge cell phones, with the consequence of reducing the range of
> your WiFi.
That would not reduce the range of your WiFi: the rf would be absobed by the body of the cellphone user anyway (but even if it weren't, so what? If you don't want me to absorb your radiation and put it to use don't spray it at me).
> So, making a copy of a song is piracy and stealing...
No. Copyright infringement is not theft.
> ...but taking energy from a power line is clever and innovative? Seems like
> very selective morality for what Slashdot condemns and what they find
> worthy of reporting without criticism.
"Clever" is not a moral judgement (not to mention that the bit about recharging from powerlines is wild speculation imported from another article about another project run by a different organization).
> Or he assumes that people who live in rural areas get lost easily.
Or, like the average Slashdotter, he assumes that none of the hicks and rednecks that live in rural areas would know what SatNav is.
> They didn't grow up in the area, they didn't know that choice A was 150km,
> and choice B was 250km. That's exactly when they turn on the GPS and confirm
> which fork in the road to take.
Because, you know, what else could they do? Use a paper map? That's so twentieth century!
Oh. Wait.
It's a contract dispute between two individuals. The outcome will depend on the facts of the case and the judge's interpretation of the contract. No rights involved, except for the plaintiff's exercise of his right to sue.
> Follow the money, the money always comes from the viewer. YOU (and me)
YOU, maybe. Not me. I block all ads.
Yes, and it's one I suggested the last time around with this subject. Irrevokeable Authenticated Delayed Publication
> Facebook allows you to communicate with almost anyone you have ever known
Why would I want to do that? Almost all of them were, at best, uninteresting.
Obviously there are reasons they continue to use a site with which they say they are dissatisfied.
But, since the users are still there, they must be satisfied despite what they say when surveyed.
...of how far Europe is ahead of the USA in science.
Sure, in a country less than 1000Km in extent and with much of the population right in the center. It's farther from Oregon to Southern California than it is from one corner of Spain to another.
> Why, technically speaking, is your power grid in the CA area in such poor
> condition?
It has not been established that it is. It's substantially farther from Oregon to Southern California than from Barcelona to Lisbon. The cost of upgrading the transmission lines to handle peak wind farm output that is present perhaps 1% of the time probably far exceeds the value of doing so.
This is not evidence of a deficiency in the grid. It is evidence of a major disadvantage of wind power.
> ...it is an electricity grid in poor condition.
The grid is not in poor condition. It lacks the capacity to handle the peak output of the wind farms, but it is not clear that it would make sense for it to be able to do so. Wind farms have a very large peak to average power ratio. Building enormous transmission lines that would used at a small fraction of their capacity 99% of the time would be wasteful.
> Consider the immense and largely unexplored ecosystem in a square metre of
> soil outside your door. Try duplicating that in a lunar or Martian context.
No need to duplicate it. It's portable.
Sounds great, as long as they don't, uh, collapse.
Right. After all, some of them are only a billion years old.
> Normal body temperature was 96 on the original scale...
Fahrenheit's wife's armpit, actually.
> Celsius is not arbitrary.
Neither is Fahrenheit.
> Water freezes at 0C and boils at 100C.
More or less, depending on composition and pressure.
> I'm not saying that using Kelvin as measurement of temperature is any
> better or worse,
Kelvin is based on absolute zero and the triple point of water of a specific composition.
What important property of H2 does the Celsius scale relate to?
> Similarly I was under the impression that it wasn't necessarily attenuation
> from atmospheric mass that provided cosmic radiation shielding, but rather
> the magnetosphere...
The atmosphere stops the cosmic rays, which are far too energetic to be bothered by the magnetic field. The latter stops the solar wind which would otherwise erode the atmosphere, though it would stop them quite readily while it lasted.