Back in the day we sold complete business systems based on Apple computers, and one of our developers was having mysterious problems with one program. While trying to track it down he implemented a joke error screen that would pop up and say, "Bad ju-ju error 456. Please wave chicken bones over computer." (456 was a trace number)
Anyway, about six months later we received a call from a customer in Louisiana who said he'd gotten the error message, had been waving said chicken bones for the last half hour, no joy, and what gives?
We explained the situation, but needless to say, the customer was not as amused as we were.
Are we talking about live performances? Try getting tickets to Phantom on Broadway at $80 to $120 a pop.
BTW, theater ticket prices, followed by DVD sales, apply directy to the costs of the movie production. The same, however, can't be said for concert ticket prices and CD/studio production costs.
Next time, if possible, put more than five seconds of thought into your glib response...
Go up two levels in this subthread and find the post that spawned it, namely joe_155, who is running Linux, and was complaining that he and his Linux box COULD NOT RUN the MOV files on Apple's site. If he says he can't, then I have no reason to disbelieve him. So it's not some misconception or FUD about Linux; it was, apparently, fact.
And given the level of rapid fanaticism we're experiencing, I have to feel that the one comment made about "passing ideological requirements" is also dead on the money.
Tradeoffs. Yes, "fixing" a shared lib can correct a problem for all... and also can break applications who, rightly or wrongly, depended upon the old behavior. And does nothing for those apps who chose to embed them rather than share them.
Just as MS "fixing" a Windows system DLL may do so for all, may break older apps, and has no affect on those that installed their own version to avoid dependency issues.
"I call you on your bullshit FUD joke. I use Mepis/Linux the video plays very well in Firefox."
Well if it's that easy, then joe_155 shouldn't have had any problems... but he did, so it's not, but you didn't so it is, but he did, so it's not, but you didn't so it is....
"Tell me again why a DVD is less than a CD? Is a film set less expensive than a Mackie?"
I must have missed the part where the CD's production costs are amortized by playing it in thousands of theaters nationwide and charging people $10 a head to listen, before the CD is released and in stores...
Translation: Most of the costs of the average movie have been amortized prior to the DVD release.
"Multiple forms of ID mean multiple databases, many of which duplicate sensitive data."
Do you honestly think that the companies who issue credit cards, insurance, loans, maintain medical records, and so on are going to give up those databases full of purchasing data and billing records? States are going to drop tax records and driver's license data? No. So a national ID database simply means that a) my personal information is in yet another database, and b) all of those other databases are more much likely to be tied together with a single number designed to be used for that purpose, and one without the limitations imposed on the SSN by the SSA.
Without such a number, the goverment or who ever is interested can't be positive that the John Smith in database A is the same as the one in B. With it, they can.
"If anybody tries to use that data against me in any fashion whatsoever, I'll do what I can to make sure that person or group hangs from the highest tree possible."
I'm sure that when that group is the government, your bank, your insurance company, and your employer, that you will do all that you can. Which, by that point, will be nothing at all.
"Well Fred, I'm sorry your rates have skyrocketed. Well, yes, you can try going to another company, but they're all tied into NID, and one look at your lifestyle expenditures and past medical history and..."
Passports are used by nations primarily to control and regulate the passage of people through their borders. Inside the US, however, we have a Constitutional right to free and unrestriced travel.
"There's no more information out there about me than there is right now."
No, but now all of it is easily tagged, referenced, and searchable. Or do you think that your government and all of the companies you deal with forever and always have your personal best interests at heart?
If so, we need to talk, because I have some nice dry (for the moment) land down in New Orleans I'm sure you'll absolutely love, sight unseen...
"At night, they reverse the turbines and turn the surplus grid energy into stored potential energy."
Not quite. You can't just "reverse" a power station turbine and have it suddenly start acting like a pump. In such systems the turbines still go round and round powering generators, which in turn power a separate series of pumps which pump stored water back up the hill. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroe lectricity
"...and put an end to the policy we have of all sending tax dollars to the Fed's, and then having them turn right around and hold them over the state's heads in order to control policy..."
"So basically we have 50 different national ID cards."
The U.S. Congress recently passed the REAL ID Act of 2005 (by attaching it to a military spending bill), which mandates federal requirements for driver's licenses. Fundamentally, it makes driver's licenses into de facto national IDs.
So basically, you'll have 50 all-but-identical national ID cards, with the only real difference being the name of the state across the top and inconsequential things like the color of the card.
"However, the idea you're so hot to get rid of has some merit..."
Never said it didn't. In my original post, however, I made the statement that solar would have a larger impact if we could develop a safe, cost-effective mechanism for storing the power produced so we have can have power at night and during non-optimal periods (cloudy, rainy days).
"If you want to go all-renewable, wind could provide the left over power needed at night."
Another source that works well only under limited conditions (when the wind is blowing) and only practical in specific locations (where there tends to be a lot of wind). Like solar, both can help, but neither can be depended upon to provide and maintain constant baseline loads.
"The relatively low energy density of pumped storage systems requires either a very large body of water or a large variation in height. For example, 1000 kilograms of water (1 cubic meter) at the top of a 100 meter tower has a potential energy of about 0.272 kWh. The only way to store a significant amount of energy is by having a large body of water located on a hill relatively near, but as high as possible above, a second body of water. In some places this occurs naturally, in others one or both bodies of water have been man-made."
IOW, it's a technology that needs very specific circumstances and locations to be practical.
"Because computers input/output information just like they did decades ago."
First, the "decades ago" comment was oriented more towards the guy who wanted to know why MS didn't implement BASH.
But yeah. We're still punching 80-column cards and typing on slow TTYs as we did decades ago back in the day. We have to minimize every character used, and to that end we need cryptic vowel-deficit incantations known only to the priesthood and their annointed ones.
"Even the drivers in/dev and operating system internals in/proc can both recieve and output data via text from the shell!"
The point remains that once generated it's either used or gone. The grid doesn't store it. Which was the point of the original post. If we had a cost effective way to do so solar would have the potential to make a larger impact, as opposed to only operating under limited and/or optimal conditions.
"Uh huh. So you can turn off some plants during the day. Wouldn't that be a not-awful idea?"
For a rocket scientist, you're... ah... never mind. Let's just say I'd suggest you do a little research and determine just how easy it is to "turn off some plants during the day". It's not quite like flipping a light switch, and many are designed to run most efficiently at a given constant load.
Slashdot Mirror
"..wave a dead chicken around.."
Back in the day we sold complete business systems based on Apple computers, and one of our developers was having mysterious problems with one program. While trying to track it down he implemented a joke error screen that would pop up and say, "Bad ju-ju error 456. Please wave chicken bones over computer." (456 was a trace number)
Anyway, about six months later we received a call from a customer in Louisiana who said he'd gotten the error message, had been waving said chicken bones for the last half hour, no joy, and what gives?
We explained the situation, but needless to say, the customer was not as amused as we were.
True story.
24,000 years is overkill. In about 1,000 years HLRW is about as dangerous as the original uranium ore from which it came.
"...but you can prevent them from red flagging you by your content."
Yeah, all that encrypted content doesn't raise any flags at all...
Are we talking about live performances? Try getting tickets to Phantom on Broadway at $80 to $120 a pop.
BTW, theater ticket prices, followed by DVD sales, apply directy to the costs of the movie production. The same, however, can't be said for concert ticket prices and CD/studio production costs.
Next time, if possible, put more than five seconds of thought into your glib response...
"I've got some tapes that aren't out on dvd that I'd like to use." Uh... VCR?
Go up two levels in this subthread and find the post that spawned it, namely joe_155, who is running Linux, and was complaining that he and his Linux box COULD NOT RUN the MOV files on Apple's site. If he says he can't, then I have no reason to disbelieve him. So it's not some misconception or FUD about Linux; it was, apparently, fact.
And given the level of rapid fanaticism we're experiencing, I have to feel that the one comment made about "passing ideological requirements" is also dead on the money.
Tradeoffs. Yes, "fixing" a shared lib can correct a problem for all... and also can break applications who, rightly or wrongly, depended upon the old behavior. And does nothing for those apps who chose to embed them rather than share them.
Just as MS "fixing" a Windows system DLL may do so for all, may break older apps, and has no affect on those that installed their own version to avoid dependency issues.
"I call you on your bullshit FUD joke. I use Mepis/Linux the video plays very well in Firefox."
Well if it's that easy, then joe_155 shouldn't have had any problems... but he did, so it's not, but you didn't so it is, but he did, so it's not, but you didn't so it is....
[smoke rises from logic-induced brain overload]
"Tell me again why a DVD is less than a CD? Is a film set less expensive than a Mackie?"
I must have missed the part where the CD's production costs are amortized by playing it in thousands of theaters nationwide and charging people $10 a head to listen, before the CD is released and in stores...
Translation: Most of the costs of the average movie have been amortized prior to the DVD release.
"I don't like Bush, but I still respect the power he holds..."
There's a major difference bewteen respecting the office of the president... and its occupant.
"Multiple forms of ID mean multiple databases, many of which duplicate sensitive data."
Do you honestly think that the companies who issue credit cards, insurance, loans, maintain medical records, and so on are going to give up those databases full of purchasing data and billing records? States are going to drop tax records and driver's license data? No. So a national ID database simply means that a) my personal information is in yet another database, and b) all of those other databases are more much likely to be tied together with a single number designed to be used for that purpose, and one without the limitations imposed on the SSN by the SSA.
Without such a number, the goverment or who ever is interested can't be positive that the John Smith in database A is the same as the one in B. With it, they can.
"If anybody tries to use that data against me in any fashion whatsoever, I'll do what I can to make sure that person or group hangs from the highest tree possible."
I'm sure that when that group is the government, your bank, your insurance company, and your employer, that you will do all that you can. Which, by that point, will be nothing at all.
"Well Fred, I'm sorry your rates have skyrocketed. Well, yes, you can try going to another company, but they're all tied into NID, and one look at your lifestyle expenditures and past medical history and..."
Passports are used by nations primarily to control and regulate the passage of people through their borders. Inside the US, however, we have a Constitutional right to free and unrestriced travel.
"There's no more information out there about me than there is right now."
No, but now all of it is easily tagged, referenced, and searchable. Or do you think that your government and all of the companies you deal with forever and always have your personal best interests at heart?
If so, we need to talk, because I have some nice dry (for the moment) land down in New Orleans I'm sure you'll absolutely love, sight unseen...
"I haven't looked at the new legislation..."
But you're going to give your opinion anyway. 'Nuff said.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_id
"At night, they reverse the turbines and turn the surplus grid energy into stored potential energy."
e lectricity
Not quite. You can't just "reverse" a power station turbine and have it suddenly start acting like a pump. In such systems the turbines still go round and round powering generators, which in turn power a separate series of pumps which pump stored water back up the hill. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydro
"...and put an end to the policy we have of all sending tax dollars to the Fed's, and then having them turn right around and hold them over the state's heads in order to control policy..."
Mod this man up.
I'm a registered Republican and I voted for Kerry not because I knew I wanted Kerry, but because I knew I absolutely, positively, DID NOT WANT BUSH.
Some people will vote party lines no matter what. It's the swing votes in the middle that count.
"So basically we have 50 different national ID cards."
The U.S. Congress recently passed the REAL ID Act of 2005 (by attaching it to a military spending bill), which mandates federal requirements for driver's licenses. Fundamentally, it makes driver's licenses into de facto national IDs.
So basically, you'll have 50 all-but-identical national ID cards, with the only real difference being the name of the state across the top and inconsequential things like the color of the card.
Coming soon to a state near you...
Now the real question: Is the patent for a future technology... or is it already implemented?
"hardwired to the video transmission so that no software could bypass it?"
We did. It's off now. Really.
And stop looking at me like that!
"However, the idea you're so hot to get rid of has some merit..."
Never said it didn't. In my original post, however, I made the statement that solar would have a larger impact if we could develop a safe, cost-effective mechanism for storing the power produced so we have can have power at night and during non-optimal periods (cloudy, rainy days).
"If you want to go all-renewable, wind could provide the left over power needed at night."
Another source that works well only under limited conditions (when the wind is blowing) and only practical in specific locations (where there tends to be a lot of wind). Like solar, both can help, but neither can be depended upon to provide and maintain constant baseline loads.
As you this...
"The relatively low energy density of pumped storage systems requires either a very large body of water or a large variation in height. For example, 1000 kilograms of water (1 cubic meter) at the top of a 100 meter tower has a potential energy of about 0.272 kWh. The only way to store a significant amount of energy is by having a large body of water located on a hill relatively near, but as high as possible above, a second body of water. In some places this occurs naturally, in others one or both bodies of water have been man-made."
IOW, it's a technology that needs very specific circumstances and locations to be practical.
"Because computers input/output information just like they did decades ago."
/dev and operating system internals in /proc can both recieve and output data via text from the shell!"
;)
First, the "decades ago" comment was oriented more towards the guy who wanted to know why MS didn't implement BASH.
But yeah. We're still punching 80-column cards and typing on slow TTYs as we did decades ago back in the day. We have to minimize every character used, and to that end we need cryptic vowel-deficit incantations known only to the priesthood and their annointed ones.
"Even the drivers in
Sounds like a security hole to me...
"Why would you want "your" power back?"
The point remains that once generated it's either used or gone. The grid doesn't store it. Which was the point of the original post. If we had a cost effective way to do so solar would have the potential to make a larger impact, as opposed to only operating under limited and/or optimal conditions.
"Uh huh. So you can turn off some plants during the day. Wouldn't that be a not-awful idea?"
For a rocket scientist, you're... ah... never mind. Let's just say I'd suggest you do a little research and determine just how easy it is to "turn off some plants during the day". It's not quite like flipping a light switch, and many are designed to run most efficiently at a given constant load.