That's the comedic joke. There are no real options.
The only one I can see really having any effect is a mass deployment of existing nuclear technologies, focusing the entire resources of the western world on solving the fusion problem, and a massive research project to develop super-capacitor or other high density electrical energy storage technology.
People can shout about other alternatives, wind, solar, whatever, but none of the people shouting have training in thermodynamics. I've crunched the numbers for myself. They tell me one thing: We're fucked, and nothing has the energy density to replace oil.
Sadly, none of the things that will make a difference are going to happen, and all the politicians spout is hot air, and lustily dream about taxing carbon - because see my original point, there are no real options.
The leadership isn't there because we don't have an energy crisis yet. The climate will change and populations will adjust.
In the mean time, I am investing heavily in fossil fuels. Teach your kids math and physics. Lack of both in the schools has us in this mess.
The rise of the code academies is people trying to profit. Nothing more. Same thing happened 15 years ago.
There's so much information out there for free now - tutorials, books, references, open source, computers (damn near free), operating systems - the types of personalities that will excel have the tools available.
The money would be vastly better spent in providing access to maker spaces, and programming spaces with fat connections and coffee so people can network and work on ideas. Find a way to mix in some entrepreneurial types and you've got something.
Buy iPads? Why not buy them all a copy of the art of computer programming instead. Even if you don't understand it, it sets a stage. I remember getting my hands on a copy when I was very young, but I didn't understand it very well. Not understanding it bothered me the same way not understanding how the radios I took apart worked. 20 years later I know how both things.
Been here a long time. Only come back for the discussions.
If they go ahead with the Beta, they'll have killed the site.
I agree; not so much providing an alternative as providing a place to go. There will be a vacuum created by the marketing droids and designers destroying this community.
Seriously, how much infrastructure could you possibly need to run a site like this in 2014, anyway?
Someone needs to get these on the market; it's been two decades since the promise was there; now we have photo realistic rendering and very high DPI screens, and dirt cheap high accuracy sensing.
I'm not sure exactly what the holdup is - but someone, be it Valve, or Occulus - release one of these already?
We are all going to die (well, the planet) in a nuclear holocaust when the Sun ages.
Why do anything, ever?
Because it's fun. Certain things our out of our control, but they should be in the back of our minds. Schools have done a poor job reminding students all those missiles are there, ready to kill Billions with the turn of a key.
Nobody remembers the cold war, except the old fogies. I'm an old fogie now, I guess.
Look kids - every day there are thousands of nuclear missiles aimed at cities in an uneasy truce to ensure that our governments maintain control. It's easy to pretend power doesn't matter, but let's be clear: Power is everything, and the power of the western world is enforced under threat of nuclear annihilation if we're messed with.
That's never going to change, and it's better to accept it and deal with it than pretend China and the USA and Russia will one day magically extinguish Prometheus' flames.
I hope they enjoyed the time not worrying about the bomb. As global energy resources (OIL) get tight, you'll see more of this type of thing starting up until the war is on again.
How'd that line go? Oh yeah. Judgement Day is inevitable.
Rice and potatoes in bulk purchased at opportune are almost free. Potatoes are mostly nutritionally complete with the skins, and high calorie, particularly fried or roasted in oil.
Oil is also very cheap purchased in bulk at lower grades.
You don't want candy, you want bulk sugar. It's also so cheap it's almost free.
The bulk stuff I could usually get a drive from someone once every month or two to help with. If you can't do that, work on making friends.
Those staples do not go bad nor need refrigeration.
Learned to use spices. Those days are long over but the lessons stayed.
The hardest thing I had to replace was protein. That was difficult to do cheaply, and I didn't carry a lot of muscle either. I remember I knew what bars had cheap wing deals and took advantage.. but that was 20 years ago now.
The situation with the imports of coal and oil / gas is not sustainable.
Renewable sources are part of it, but they do not have the energy density for baseload required to run a modern society. Japan is a nation with limited resources. Their power options are limited. Import of power from neighbors isn't a great long term move for sovereignty.
This puts them between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. Mark my words though, those reactors will be fired up, because they need to be. They should build more.
The scale of the amount of energy consumed by modern civilization is head-spinning. Nuclear is our only real option. Existing technologies should be deployed, and new ones researched. No politician in the west has the balls to do that, so we're going to burn every drop of oil instead, largely because nobody ever looks at the numbers and amount of energy required. (I however, did.)
Thankfully, China may save us.
I just hope the nuclear option picked isn't the one with the warheads. That will fix the problem too. There is some quality black humor and irony there.
I don't care what the retail one costs.. it's not just the HMD; you can find very high end HMD units and they're awesome - it's the integration into all the games that makes this irresistible.
Putting a small retainer and/or having a working relationship with a lawyer is invaluable at times, and it's easier to set up while you're healthy and there's no fecal matter impacting a air displacer.
Most law firms have arrangements for secure storage, or just let them know you have a PO box. If something happens they're equipped to deal with it, and they should be equipped to deal with all your estate matters.
If a state actor really wants your passwords, they'll just use the wrench anyway.
Preferably a small one that's already a tax shelter, and will back the currency with gold. Or a large one who wants to cause some shit. Can you imagine if China got behind something like that?
You have no idea the crapstorm that would cause internationally. I hope someone does it..
The acid test for a currency is can you buy an ounce of coke with it. If you can, it's currency. If you can't, it's not..
Forget the exact quote, but what a time to be alive. My first computer program was written on a Vic-20. Watching the industry grow has been incredible.. I am not worried about the demise of traditional lithographic techniques.. I'm actually expecting the next generation to provide a leap in speed as now there's a strong incentive to look at different technologies.
Slashdot Mirror
That's the comedic joke. There are no real options.
The only one I can see really having any effect is a mass deployment of existing nuclear technologies, focusing the entire resources of the western world on solving the fusion problem, and a massive research project to develop super-capacitor or other high density electrical energy storage technology.
People can shout about other alternatives, wind, solar, whatever, but none of the people shouting have training in thermodynamics. I've crunched the numbers for myself. They tell me one thing: We're fucked, and nothing has the energy density to replace oil.
Sadly, none of the things that will make a difference are going to happen, and all the politicians spout is hot air, and lustily dream about taxing carbon - because see my original point, there are no real options.
The leadership isn't there because we don't have an energy crisis yet. The climate will change and populations will adjust.
In the mean time, I am investing heavily in fossil fuels. Teach your kids math and physics. Lack of both in the schools has us in this mess.
The rise of the code academies is people trying to profit. Nothing more. Same thing happened 15 years ago.
There's so much information out there for free now - tutorials, books, references, open source, computers (damn near free), operating systems - the types of personalities that will excel have the tools available.
The money would be vastly better spent in providing access to maker spaces, and programming spaces with fat connections and coffee so people can network and work on ideas. Find a way to mix in some entrepreneurial types and you've got something.
Buy iPads? Why not buy them all a copy of the art of computer programming instead. Even if you don't understand it, it sets a stage. I remember getting my hands on a copy when I was very young, but I didn't understand it very well. Not understanding it bothered me the same way not understanding how the radios I took apart worked. 20 years later I know how both things.
Been here a long time. Only come back for the discussions.
If they go ahead with the Beta, they'll have killed the site.
I agree; not so much providing an alternative as providing a place to go. There will be a vacuum created by the marketing droids and designers destroying this community.
Seriously, how much infrastructure could you possibly need to run a site like this in 2014, anyway?
"Thanks for Windows 8!"
Heh heh.
Cheap hardware. No MS tax. Noms.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/1...
Old news.
What's so hard to understand?
Municipalities should own infrastructure.
We have a situation where the roads of the future are privately owned, gated, and tolled. The rest of the world is preparing to steamroller over you.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
They're being cheap.There are high-end HMDs already.
I'd drop serious coin on one but what they are promising is integration with games. That's what's always been missing.
They should take some of my money and make it less expensive.. in revision 2.
Technologies exist and are available to fix the latency issue.. ship something..
Someone needs to get these on the market; it's been two decades since the promise was there; now we have photo realistic rendering and very high DPI screens, and dirt cheap high accuracy sensing.
I'm not sure exactly what the holdup is - but someone, be it Valve, or Occulus - release one of these already?
Still listens to music (CDs), eats butter, and yes, has an electric bed warmer. (Canada, it's cold here)
My 70 year old mother uses Facebook.
Once a technology reaches that level of integration into society, it, or at least the core product benefit, will be with us forever.
Good chance to make some money on rising energy costs. ...cause nobody wants to build nuclear plants, but nobody likes being cold, either.
We are all going to die (well, the planet) in a nuclear holocaust when the Sun ages.
Why do anything, ever?
Because it's fun. Certain things our out of our control, but they should be in the back of our minds. Schools have done a poor job reminding students all those missiles are there, ready to kill Billions with the turn of a key.
I'm a fun guy at parties. Honest.
Nobody remembers the cold war, except the old fogies. I'm an old fogie now, I guess.
Look kids - every day there are thousands of nuclear missiles aimed at cities in an uneasy truce to ensure that our governments maintain control. It's easy to pretend power doesn't matter, but let's be clear: Power is everything, and the power of the western world is enforced under threat of nuclear annihilation if we're messed with.
That's never going to change, and it's better to accept it and deal with it than pretend China and the USA and Russia will one day magically extinguish Prometheus' flames.
I hope they enjoyed the time not worrying about the bomb. As global energy resources (OIL) get tight, you'll see more of this type of thing starting up until the war is on again.
How'd that line go? Oh yeah. Judgement Day is inevitable.
Toaster oven.
I was poor in university. Real poor.
Rice and potatoes in bulk purchased at opportune are almost free. Potatoes are mostly nutritionally complete with the skins, and high calorie, particularly fried or roasted in oil.
Oil is also very cheap purchased in bulk at lower grades.
You don't want candy, you want bulk sugar. It's also so cheap it's almost free.
The bulk stuff I could usually get a drive from someone once every month or two to help with. If you can't do that, work on making friends.
Those staples do not go bad nor need refrigeration.
Learned to use spices. Those days are long over but the lessons stayed.
The hardest thing I had to replace was protein. That was difficult to do cheaply, and I didn't carry a lot of muscle either. I remember I knew what bars had cheap wing deals and took advantage.. but that was 20 years ago now.
The situation with the imports of coal and oil / gas is not sustainable.
Renewable sources are part of it, but they do not have the energy density for baseload required to run a modern society. Japan is a nation with limited resources. Their power options are limited. Import of power from neighbors isn't a great long term move for sovereignty.
This puts them between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. Mark my words though, those reactors will be fired up, because they need to be. They should build more.
The scale of the amount of energy consumed by modern civilization is head-spinning. Nuclear is our only real option. Existing technologies should be deployed, and new ones researched. No politician in the west has the balls to do that, so we're going to burn every drop of oil instead, largely because nobody ever looks at the numbers and amount of energy required. (I however, did.)
Thankfully, China may save us.
I just hope the nuclear option picked isn't the one with the warheads. That will fix the problem too. There is some quality black humor and irony there.
I don't care what the retail one costs.. it's not just the HMD; you can find very high end HMD units and they're awesome - it's the integration into all the games that makes this irresistible.
I wear glasses... Not an option for me, unfortunately. The lenses they provide are pretty kludgey.
I will get LASIK if required for the commercial version.. they need to ship it, stat.
I've wanted one of these since I played around with an early unit from VIO, I think, in 1996.
Please, pretty please, ship this. Stat.
You do have a lawyer, right?
Putting a small retainer and/or having a working relationship with a lawyer is invaluable at times, and it's easier to set up while you're healthy and there's no fecal matter impacting a air displacer.
Most law firms have arrangements for secure storage, or just let them know you have a PO box. If something happens they're equipped to deal with it, and they should be equipped to deal with all your estate matters.
If a state actor really wants your passwords, they'll just use the wrench anyway.
Preferably a small one that's already a tax shelter, and will back the currency with gold. Or a large one who wants to cause some shit. Can you imagine if China got behind something like that?
You have no idea the crapstorm that would cause internationally. I hope someone does it..
The acid test for a currency is can you buy an ounce of coke with it. If you can, it's currency. If you can't, it's not..
..took us in directions we hadn't considered.
Forget the exact quote, but what a time to be alive. My first computer program was written on a Vic-20. Watching the industry grow has been incredible.. I am not worried about the demise of traditional lithographic techniques.. I'm actually expecting the next generation to provide a leap in speed as now there's a strong incentive to look at different technologies.
Here's to yet another generation of cheap CPU.
SD sockets are also readily available for this factor and mechanically robust. Handy if one, say, wanted to build a Beowu.. nevermind.
Lots of other small entrepreneurs too.
The author hasn't thought things out very well.