I've been pondering the security implications of this stuff lately.
Most of the places I've worked over the past few years use RFID based access controls.
If I scanned someone's security badge with my wrist watch, then went home and programmed another RFID to match it, I would get access to controlled areas...
Not all Solar is as toxic as you make it out to be. Significant strides are being made to manufacture panels as cleanly as possible.
Evergreen Solar is one company with a cleaner manufacturing process.
First Solar uses a thin film technology that is more easily recycled than traditional panels. Their manufacaturing plant includes recycling technology. It is a serious concern of their engineers.
Astropower used to manufacture their product from recycled silicon from the semiconductor industry. It isn't clear they still do so since being sold to GE, but they represent another attempt to reduce the environmental impact of the panel manufacture.
Lastly, the US Department of Energy remains optimistic that by the time the contemporary solar modules have reached end of life, recycling technology will have vastly improved in efficiency. Certainly we'll have a better chance of recycling solar modules than we will of spent uranium.
Maybe if you left coast people unrolled some big rolls of duct tape from the coast up to the mountains you could hold it together and avert the worst of the disaster.
If you have some extra, cover over the primary fault lines really well as well....
Re:We, the US, brought this on ourselves...
on
Out of Gas
·
· Score: 1
Actually the probability of Saudia Arabia being invaded is even higher now than before. I have heard it argued that one of the (long list) of reasons we invaded Iraq was due to instability in the Saudi government (that is what Osama is after - after all). If the Saudi government falls, we need to be ready to secure those oil fields ASAP. We cannot risk the US economic collapse that would occur if we lost control of those fields.
Although mostly defunct now, back in the bubble days we had a company selling an IE add-on which added an 'up' button to your browser.
By going 'up' instead of forward or back, you stepped out to a meta-content page where you could view other people's comments and related links (ranked by popularity).
I would suspect that the owners of BrowseUp, or whoever they sold their IP to, still own the concept, patent, trademark, copyright, or whatever related to buttons in browsers that take you up.
I have no idea if they'd pursue royalties, but thought I'd offer implementers advice to tread cautiously...
Google 'BrowseUp' and you'll see a few old references to the company.
You may recall the story on Slashdot from a
few months ago Cremation? Burial? How about Diamonds? where the deceased can be cremated and turned into diamonds.
Extending that idea just a little...
It give a whole new meaning to naming a machine.
... "Log into Grandpa over there to see if he is up."...
... "I used to have a family. Now I have a Beowulf cluster"...
I'm going to have to change my domain from wartytroll.com to ductapytroll.com ? Most strange.
Well, Trolls aren't very bright, but then again they do have a thing for duct tape, don't they?
What to do? what to do?
Registered owner of the wartytroll.com domain....
Re:Swapping Values Without Using a Temporary Varia
on
The Python Cookbook
·
· Score: 1
Sorry - forgot to select "Text Formatted" for this cut and paste in my post from a minute ago... (and danged if I'm going to convert all of those ">" to ">".
$ python Python 2.0 (#1, Nov 5 2000, 21:13:18) [GCC 2.95.2 19991024 (release)] on sunos5 Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> a='hello' >>> b='goodbye' >>> (a,b)=(b,a) >>> a 'goodbye' >>> b 'hello'
Re:Swapping Values Without Using a Temporary Varia
on
The Python Cookbook
·
· Score: 1
$ python
Python 2.0 (#1, Nov 5 2000, 21:13:18)
[GCC 2.95.2 19991024 (release)] on sunos5
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> a='hello'
>>> b='goodbye'
>>> (a,b)=(b,a)
>>> a
'goodbye'
>>> b
'hello'
Most of the Linux work that I've observed is
being implemented by hacks and amateurs in
a hurry and trying to save a buck.
This will turn around and bite the Linux
community pretty hard. Be prepared for a major backlash as companies start getting burned by poor implementations...
I do not believe in general, in a T.C.O.
(total cost of ownership) savings by going
to Linux. The true cost is in systems
administration, intellectual property, and
data. Hardware, OS, and COTS Apps are not
significant by comparison.
So now we have amateur hack systems which
aren't realizing significant cost savings.
This spells trouble brewing for Linux.
--
ps - I am a professional linux system
administration consultant. I am trying
my dangdest to keep the above predictions from
coming true - but I fear the worst.
One of the common approaches to outsourcing is
to retain all of your management, and transfer
your technical people to the outsourced company.
Guess what? Now you have twice as many managers
for the same number of workers - on top of
that the technical team is supposed to make a
profit.
It just doesn't add up to either efficiency or
cost savings.
Most of what I've observed is companies cutting back on their basic maintenance.
Just like you can't drive your car forever without changing the oil - eventually you are going to have to go back and invest some money to clean up the messes induced by lack of proper maintenance.
Slashdot Mirror
I've been pondering the security implications of this stuff lately.
Most of the places I've worked over the past few years use RFID based access controls.
If I scanned someone's security badge with my wrist watch, then went home and programmed another RFID to match it, I would get access to controlled areas...
Libraries used to offer access to back issues of both magazines and newspapers without charging.
Don't they still?
Not all Solar is as toxic as you make it out to be. Significant strides are being made to manufacture panels as cleanly as possible.
Evergreen Solar is one company with a cleaner manufacturing process.
First Solar uses a thin film technology that is more easily recycled than traditional panels. Their manufacaturing plant includes recycling technology. It is a serious concern of their engineers.
Astropower used to manufacture their product from recycled silicon from the semiconductor industry. It isn't clear they still do so since being sold to GE, but they represent another attempt to reduce the environmental impact of the panel manufacture.
Lastly, the US Department of Energy remains optimistic that by the time the contemporary solar modules have reached end of life, recycling technology will have vastly improved in efficiency. Certainly we'll have a better chance of recycling solar modules than we will of spent uranium.
Maybe if you left coast people unrolled some big rolls of duct tape from the coast up to the mountains you could hold it together and avert the worst of the disaster. If you have some extra, cover over the primary fault lines really well as well ....
Actually the probability of Saudia Arabia being invaded is even higher now than before. I have heard it argued that one of the (long list) of reasons we invaded Iraq was due to instability in the Saudi government (that is what Osama is after - after all). If the Saudi government falls, we need to be ready to secure those oil fields ASAP. We cannot risk the US economic collapse that would occur if we lost control of those fields.
But the "Y" is next to U, and "O" is next to I.
This is a myth ... American Solar Energy Society FAQ on energy payback.
One of the more advanced energy efficient, solar power homes in the country is under construction in Ohio: http://www.solterra.info
It uses 5 alternative energy sources.
For your people mover idea a good resource might be - http://www.kitcars.com
Although mostly defunct now, back in the bubble
days we had a company selling an IE add-on which
added an 'up' button to your browser.
By going 'up' instead of forward or back, you
stepped out to a meta-content page where you could
view other people's comments and related links
(ranked by popularity).
I would suspect that the owners of BrowseUp, or
whoever they sold their IP to, still own the
concept, patent, trademark, copyright, or whatever
related to buttons in browsers that take you up.
I have no idea if they'd pursue royalties, but
thought I'd offer implementers advice to tread
cautiously...
Google 'BrowseUp' and you'll see a few old
references to the company.
You may recall the story on Slashdot from a few months ago Cremation? Burial? How about Diamonds? where the deceased can be cremated and turned into diamonds.
Extending that idea just a little...
It give a whole new meaning to naming a machine.
Here are some pictures of the airships.
They certainly do help.
I'm wearing the SoftFlex gloves even as I type this.
They've been helping me reduce hand and wrist pain.
We are assuming there isn't an smoke on the
battlefield.
The laser would require IR transparent media
to traverse before striking the intended (IR
absorbant) target.
Smoke is probably not IR transparent.
If it happens to be, I'm sure the enemy
could arrange for some non-transparent smoke
to be present.
Dust storms, and other atmospheric scattering
would diminish the beam effect as well (acid
rain).
I wouldn't bet _my_ life on one of these...
How long before someone commits murder over
the internet with this technology?
I bought it for the pr0n, but now its killing me!
I'm going to have to change my domain from wartytroll.com to ductapytroll.com ?
Most strange.
Well, Trolls aren't very bright, but then again they do have a thing for duct tape, don't they?
What to do? what to do?
Registered owner of the wartytroll.com domain....
Sorry - forgot to select "Text Formatted" for ... (and danged if I'm going to convert
this cut and paste in my post from a minute
ago
all of those ">" to ">".
$ python
Python 2.0 (#1, Nov 5 2000, 21:13:18)
[GCC 2.95.2 19991024 (release)] on sunos5
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> a='hello'
>>> b='goodbye'
>>> (a,b)=(b,a)
>>> a
'goodbye'
>>> b
'hello'
$ python Python 2.0 (#1, Nov 5 2000, 21:13:18) [GCC 2.95.2 19991024 (release)] on sunos5 Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> a='hello' >>> b='goodbye' >>> (a,b)=(b,a) >>> a 'goodbye' >>> b 'hello'
Most of the Linux work that I've observed is being implemented by hacks and amateurs in a hurry and trying to save a buck.
This will turn around and bite the Linux community pretty hard. Be prepared for a major backlash as companies start getting burned by poor implementations...
I do not believe in general, in a T.C.O. (total cost of ownership) savings by going to Linux. The true cost is in systems administration, intellectual property, and data. Hardware, OS, and COTS Apps are not significant by comparison.
So now we have amateur hack systems which aren't realizing significant cost savings.
This spells trouble brewing for Linux.
--
ps - I am a professional linux system administration consultant. I am trying my dangdest to keep the above predictions from coming true - but I fear the worst.
One of the common approaches to outsourcing is to retain all of your management, and transfer your technical people to the outsourced company. Guess what? Now you have twice as many managers for the same number of workers - on top of that the technical team is supposed to make a profit. It just doesn't add up to either efficiency or cost savings.
Most of what I've observed is companies cutting
back on their basic maintenance.
Just like you can't drive your car forever
without changing the oil - eventually you are
going to have to go back and invest some money
to clean up the messes induced by lack of proper
maintenance.
When that will happen? Who knows?
Alternatively you could encrypt secret messages
/dev/null ...
in SPAM. Broadcast your SPAM to thousands of
folks.
Only those "in the know" would realize they
weren't reading a message about organ
enlargement.
Everyone else would SPAM filter your secret
message to
(And heck, maybe a few people would sign up
for your organ enlargment program and you
can make a few bucks on top of relaying your
message.)
Nope - I've got 7 Novell Unixware boxes running
Oracle. (From before it became SCO.)
They are running on newer hardware though -
Pentium 200's.
If this subject interests you check out the articles at MuSICA website where they did a lot of research on music and the brain.
How long might they be stuck there if we can't get a shuttle up for a while?