Standard caching. My dinky little local ISP does it too, tho not that dramatically. For the first 2mb or so, I get around 2.5Mbit instead of my standard 1.5Mbit. This is useful for stuff like webpages, not so useful for sustained downloads.
The idea I had in mind was to replace propane for those of us who can't get natural gas. Propane has become hideously expensive to heat with -- my bill for December 2007 was over $300, and that's with propane only providing about half the heat and keeping my rather small house at no more than 62F. (Propane costs $3.20/gallon here, and even a low-capacity furnace burns about one gallon every 10 minutes.)
When I read the FAQ for the existing on-demand units meant as supplements for diesel rigs -- turns out they use 10 amps of electricity to generate H2. That's not cost-effective at SoCalEdison's 28 cents per KWH -- works out at a cost of about $360/month if it runs full time.
But if you hook up a solar cell and cut Edison out of the loop, then on-demand H2 might have potential to generate very cheap fuel for home heating. Wouldn't matter if it's inefficient, since water is cheap and sunlight is free.
Oh, that's interesting... as I wondered in another post, maybe H2 generators could replace or supplement propane for home heating, in areas off the natural gas grid (propane is hideously expensive, works out to about $10/hour to heat a small house). Use solar panels for the electricity required and the ongoing operating costs are nil, tho initial setup would cost plenty. Still, at Calif energy prices, it might work out to a good bargain.
However, it just occurred to me that this could be useful for home heating -- and possibly replace propane for those of us who can't get natural gas, and even a fairly pricey initial setup could pay for itself in a hurry, given that water is cheap and propane costs a fortune (at its present price of $3.20/gallon, about $10/hour to keep your house at a frigid 62F). Wouldn't matter if it was inefficient, just make a bigger unit for home heating purposes (since it's stationary, no one cares about its own weight or mass).
May not be efficient enough now, but never hurts to keep trying to make it efficient enough for Real Life. Combine several inefficient processes, and maybe you get enough volume to be useful. (Admittedly I don't know how much H2 it takes to run a vehicle, tho I'd expect it'd be similar to propane -- ie. not really much different from gasoline.)
However, I do think you're right that it's presently more a distraction than a reality. We get a lot of "promote or enforce use of alternative energy" legislation proposed in California, and (as I've discovered by reading the entire texts) these bills are uniformly corporate welfare for alt-energy companies that can't make a profit in the energy market as it is today, rather than being anything truly beneficial to the Real World.
But if I grok it correctly, what this new method potentially means (and hopefully it won't be, uh, vaporware) is effectively on-demand H2 production. You store it as water, but use the H2 as you go, so there's never very much in storage, and vastly less risk. (Probably more on a par with those quart-sized propane tanks.)
As I recall the main problem with hydrogen-powered engines was the trouble of keeping the H2 contained, since it seeps out of just about anything. But if you're storing it as water, and extracting H2 as you go, this problem goes away entirely; you then only need to do short-term containment as the H2 wends its way from extraction to engine.
"Users suspected of wrongly downloading films or music will receive a warning e-mail for the first offence, a suspension for the second infringement and the termination of their internet contract if caught a third time, under the most likely
option to emerge from discussions about the new law." (Emphasis added)
Also, one of the discussion posts:
"Who is snooping on me all the time anyway??? How will HE know what I download unless Big Brother is always watching me? That to me is a far more serious threat"
And again, this post:
"So how much would it cost me to get my own laws passed? Or do I have to create a company of a certain size before the government will listen to me?"
Indeed! My first thought was to reply, "Unless you hand over the entire fee to me, and swear never to threaten me again, I will have no choice but to send my personal assassin to remove you."
And if the inverse-mark protests, up the ante: "I am sorry, but my assassins are already on their way. If you wire me the fee immediately, plus $NNNN for processing, I may be able to call them off before they can reach you."
That's a better idea. Use a P2P client and a single originating source, let patches propagate like any other file (but be sure to have a good security hash system in place so they can be confirmed as original).
But a worm? That requires that FIRST my system MUST be vulnerable to worms in general. If a good worm can get in, a bad worm can too.
And I don't necessarily WANT every patch that comes down the pipe; sometimes they do more harm than good.
So, you're a lawyer, except on slashdot, where you play a laywer?? My brain hurts. Where's my lawyer, I need to sue someone for damaging my intellectual property!;)
There's plenty of evidence that record companies are only out for record companies, not for artists. One need only look at an average recording contract to learn that. Here's a nifty analysis from someone IN the industry:
[goes off, reads blogspot link about counterclaims]
Very interesting indeed. We arrest and try individuals for in criminal court for exactly the same actions, yet the RIAA thinks they can get away with it. Glad to see the scales peeling from more and more judges' eyes.
I thought it already worked that way -- that you need nn-many sigs before you can run for office?
As to the "Yea" and "Nay" votes on any given candidate -- that is how elections for municipal judges already work in California. I'm not sure it accomplishes anything when the voters have no idea who it is; I can't remember any judge ever being voted out of office that way.
But for major candidates -- I think it'd be worth a try. Set it up as a parallel system (would need volunteers to run it) where everyone can "vote" a second time, then publicize the results and compare them to the real election. It might put a completely different perspective on the "real" vote, and change how some people feel about elections (probably not for the better, in the current system, which would be all to the good -- unhappy people work for change).
The parent was saying that meth is something any joker can make in his basement, so you don't NEED to import it. It doesn't require acres of cropland and a serious distillery (like, frex, heroin).
As to how the gov't profits from imported drugs -- look at all the shit they get to confiscate and auction off thanks to the "war on drugs".
What russotto said. Even 10 years ago, we could go to/from Canada with no ID, and 20 years ago I went to/from Mexico with no ID. And I was never asked for my ID to get into/out of anywhere within the U.S. borders until about 5 years ago (and I'm 52, and used to travel extensively).
I have a locking gas cap, because back when I got my truck, sugaring a new vehicle's gas tank was a popular sport. (For you young'uns who grew up deprived of such pastimes... the resulting gunk seizes up your engine.)
So how does Sir Pumps-a-Lot get that open? It mugs me, takes my keys, and unlocks the gas cap! Problem solved!!
Does you no good if boisterous middleschoolers decide it'd be fun to sugar your gas tank. (Which in my observation is far more likely to happen in a middle-class or upscale neighbourhood than in a slum.)
"I can't really think of anything other than vaccines that pharma companies sell without a crazy profit margin."
Erm... new vaccines have the same crazy profit margin as any other drug that's still under patent. I've seen newly-developed animal vaccines retail for as much as $60 PER DOSE. Ask any horse person how much they had to cough up for West Nile vaccine the past few years, you'll get an earful.
Serious question: If someone hasn't sufficient experience to perform ALONE in the office, how can you expect him to have sufficient experience to surround himself with GOOD advisors? It's just as likely that he'll surround himself with people who talk a good line but don't have the country's interests at heart, or don't really know what they're doing either.
In fact, I think we have that situation right now.:(
Hmm. That's an interesting system. So in my own party I could vote FOR the candidates I like, and AGAINST the ones I don't like; and in other parties, I could say to myself "If we must elect someone from this icky party, I'd prefer it was X and not Y" and could vote accordingly.
Maybe give each person a certain limited number of votes, so they'd have to spend them wisely. Five seems reasonable.
Slashdot Mirror
Standard caching. My dinky little local ISP does it too, tho not that dramatically. For the first 2mb or so, I get around 2.5Mbit instead of my standard 1.5Mbit. This is useful for stuff like webpages, not so useful for sustained downloads.
The idea I had in mind was to replace propane for those of us who can't get natural gas. Propane has become hideously expensive to heat with -- my bill for December 2007 was over $300, and that's with propane only providing about half the heat and keeping my rather small house at no more than 62F. (Propane costs $3.20/gallon here, and even a low-capacity furnace burns about one gallon every 10 minutes.)
When I read the FAQ for the existing on-demand units meant as supplements for diesel rigs -- turns out they use 10 amps of electricity to generate H2. That's not cost-effective at SoCalEdison's 28 cents per KWH -- works out at a cost of about $360/month if it runs full time.
But if you hook up a solar cell and cut Edison out of the loop, then on-demand H2 might have potential to generate very cheap fuel for home heating. Wouldn't matter if it's inefficient, since water is cheap and sunlight is free.
Oh, that's interesting... as I wondered in another post, maybe H2 generators could replace or supplement propane for home heating, in areas off the natural gas grid (propane is hideously expensive, works out to about $10/hour to heat a small house). Use solar panels for the electricity required and the ongoing operating costs are nil, tho initial setup would cost plenty. Still, at Calif energy prices, it might work out to a good bargain.
'Nkay... likely you are right, at least for cars.
However, it just occurred to me that this could be useful for home heating -- and possibly replace propane for those of us who can't get natural gas, and even a fairly pricey initial setup could pay for itself in a hurry, given that water is cheap and propane costs a fortune (at its present price of $3.20/gallon, about $10/hour to keep your house at a frigid 62F). Wouldn't matter if it was inefficient, just make a bigger unit for home heating purposes (since it's stationary, no one cares about its own weight or mass).
May not be efficient enough now, but never hurts to keep trying to make it efficient enough for Real Life. Combine several inefficient processes, and maybe you get enough volume to be useful. (Admittedly I don't know how much H2 it takes to run a vehicle, tho I'd expect it'd be similar to propane -- ie. not really much different from gasoline.)
However, I do think you're right that it's presently more a distraction than a reality. We get a lot of "promote or enforce use of alternative energy" legislation proposed in California, and (as I've discovered by reading the entire texts) these bills are uniformly corporate welfare for alt-energy companies that can't make a profit in the energy market as it is today, rather than being anything truly beneficial to the Real World.
But if I grok it correctly, what this new method potentially means (and hopefully it won't be, uh, vaporware) is effectively on-demand H2 production. You store it as water, but use the H2 as you go, so there's never very much in storage, and vastly less risk. (Probably more on a par with those quart-sized propane tanks.)
As I recall the main problem with hydrogen-powered engines was the trouble of keeping the H2 contained, since it seeps out of just about anything. But if you're storing it as water, and extracting H2 as you go, this problem goes away entirely; you then only need to do short-term containment as the H2 wends its way from extraction to engine.
"Users suspected of wrongly downloading films or music will receive a warning e-mail for the first offence, a suspension for the second infringement and the termination of their internet contract if caught a third time, under the most likely option to emerge from discussions about the new law." (Emphasis added)
Also, one of the discussion posts:
"Who is snooping on me all the time anyway??? How will HE know what I download unless Big Brother is always watching me? That to me is a far more serious threat"
And again, this post:
"So how much would it cost me to get my own laws passed? Or do I have to create a company of a certain size before the government will listen to me?"
'Nuf said.
Indeed! My first thought was to reply, "Unless you hand over the entire fee to me, and swear never to threaten me again, I will have no choice but to send my personal assassin to remove you."
And if the inverse-mark protests, up the ante: "I am sorry, but my assassins are already on their way. If you wire me the fee immediately, plus $NNNN for processing, I may be able to call them off before they can reach you."
That's a better idea. Use a P2P client and a single originating source, let patches propagate like any other file (but be sure to have a good security hash system in place so they can be confirmed as original).
But a worm? That requires that FIRST my system MUST be vulnerable to worms in general. If a good worm can get in, a bad worm can too.
And I don't necessarily WANT every patch that comes down the pipe; sometimes they do more harm than good.
And little problems like patches and updates that are incompatible with YOUR system. Frex, this Vista disaster: http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/showpost.aspx?postid=2848906&siteid=17
An AC proffers legal advice:
"Maybe you should settle out of court. Want a lollipop?"
What a pathetic settlement offer. I've suffered great harm here; I deserve to get the whole candy store!!
So, you're a lawyer, except on slashdot, where you play a laywer?? My brain hurts. Where's my lawyer, I need to sue someone for damaging my intellectual property! ;)
There's plenty of evidence that record companies are only out for record companies, not for artists. One need only look at an average recording contract to learn that. Here's a nifty analysis from someone IN the industry:
http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
(Haven't been thru the entire archive, but might be more useful stuff in http://www.negativland.com/intprop.html)
[goes off, reads blogspot link about counterclaims]
Very interesting indeed. We arrest and try individuals for in criminal court for exactly the same actions, yet the RIAA thinks they can get away with it. Glad to see the scales peeling from more and more judges' eyes.
So long as you're a good talker, we don't care. [g]
Now, go crack some more eggs!!
[This is the RIAA. This is the RIAA fried with bacon. Any questions??]
I thought it already worked that way -- that you need nn-many sigs before you can run for office?
As to the "Yea" and "Nay" votes on any given candidate -- that is how elections for municipal judges already work in California. I'm not sure it accomplishes anything when the voters have no idea who it is; I can't remember any judge ever being voted out of office that way.
But for major candidates -- I think it'd be worth a try. Set it up as a parallel system (would need volunteers to run it) where everyone can "vote" a second time, then publicize the results and compare them to the real election. It might put a completely different perspective on the "real" vote, and change how some people feel about elections (probably not for the better, in the current system, which would be all to the good -- unhappy people work for change).
The parent was saying that meth is something any joker can make in his basement, so you don't NEED to import it. It doesn't require acres of cropland and a serious distillery (like, frex, heroin).
As to how the gov't profits from imported drugs -- look at all the shit they get to confiscate and auction off thanks to the "war on drugs".
What russotto said. Even 10 years ago, we could go to/from Canada with no ID, and 20 years ago I went to/from Mexico with no ID. And I was never asked for my ID to get into/out of anywhere within the U.S. borders until about 5 years ago (and I'm 52, and used to travel extensively).
I have a locking gas cap, because back when I got my truck, sugaring a new vehicle's gas tank was a popular sport. (For you young'uns who grew up deprived of such pastimes ... the resulting gunk seizes up your engine.)
So how does Sir Pumps-a-Lot get that open? It mugs me, takes my keys, and unlocks the gas cap! Problem solved!!
Does you no good if boisterous middleschoolers decide it'd be fun to sugar your gas tank. (Which in my observation is far more likely to happen in a middle-class or upscale neighbourhood than in a slum.)
"I can't really think of anything other than vaccines that pharma companies sell without a crazy profit margin."
Erm... new vaccines have the same crazy profit margin as any other drug that's still under patent. I've seen newly-developed animal vaccines retail for as much as $60 PER DOSE. Ask any horse person how much they had to cough up for West Nile vaccine the past few years, you'll get an earful.
Remember too that "cheap generic drugs" is a euphemism for "expensive namebrand drugs whose patent has expired".
Serious question: If someone hasn't sufficient experience to perform ALONE in the office, how can you expect him to have sufficient experience to surround himself with GOOD advisors? It's just as likely that he'll surround himself with people who talk a good line but don't have the country's interests at heart, or don't really know what they're doing either.
:(
In fact, I think we have that situation right now.
Hmm. That's an interesting system. So in my own party I could vote FOR the candidates I like, and AGAINST the ones I don't like; and in other parties, I could say to myself "If we must elect someone from this icky party, I'd prefer it was X and not Y" and could vote accordingly.
Maybe give each person a certain limited number of votes, so they'd have to spend them wisely. Five seems reasonable.