I remember years ago some were touting heuristic antivirus as the way of the future. Obviously, it didn't work. The idea was to look for certain patterns rather than the actual virus.
On the plus side, we can hope that if The Machines ever get away from us, we can get Jeff or Data or NEO or Ahhnold to load a virus and save us. On the minus side, one of these days someone is going to write something really nasty, and even those of us who don't use Windows will be affected, either through the drag in traffic, bringing down nodes, or the phone calls and other messages.
It would be great to have a system that looks for changes and reports them...oh wait, I already have that.
580 tons is a feather compared to some of the very Borg-looking modules sent to Alaskas North Slope. The 2000 Northstar sealift, one barge, included the three-story, 700-ton permanent living quarters and utility module, a 115-ton tank skid and nine pipe racks of 140 tons each. The 2001 Northstar sealift Northstar sealift included the largest modules ever built in the state and required two barges for the two process modules, compressor module, pump skid and warehouse and shop building. The process modules weighed in at 3,500 tons and 3,700 tons and the compressor module at 3,500 tons. I've heard about even heavier ones. And if you can sail something that big and unweildy from Cook Inlet, around the Aleutians, and to the North Slope, then 580 tons is doable.
I worked at a construction job like that once. Get to work at 7, spend an hour drinking coffee, rolling out the hoses and extension cords, and otherwise screw around, then its break time. After the break, pretend to work until a one-hour lunch. After lunch, we actually have to do some work, otherwise we'll fall asleep before break. After the afternoon break, we did a little more work, then spent an hour rolling up the hoses and extension cords, covering the lumber, and picking up the coffee cups and garbage.
When I worked for my dad's construction company as a teen, we got to work, and actually worked 10-12 hours/day. My first day, I made the mistake of asking "When do we take a break" and he said "You got a break when you got this job." And he was right.
A few years ago, I went into a Sears to buy a new microwave oven. They had a display model that was really cheap, so I decided to buy it. The sale associate says "Whats your name" and I say "Why do you need my name? I'm paying cash for this" and he replies "Because the computer tells me to".
I ask "Does the computer tell you other things?" He doesn't get it. So I say "Jackie Brown" (just watched the movie the night before). He says "Huh? But..." but types it in anyway. Then he asks for my address. I reply "I don't have an address, I'm homeless." Mind you, I'm wearing nice clothes, driving a new car, etc. He asks "If you're homeless, then why do you need a microwave?" I respond "Because I don't have one." Increasingly frustrated, he says "I have to put something in." So I pick up a card and read the stores address to him. By this time a couple of other bored sales associates have come round. He doesn't like my answer, but types it in anyway. Then I pull a fat wad out of my pocket and peel off a hundred. And walk out with my oven.
From the section about Jet Packs: "They will be handy for retrieving cats from trees, cleaning hard-to-reach windows and arriving in style at a party."
Think about it: have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree? They find their own way down. Firefighters around here don't even respond to one of those calls.
From a short article: Bacterial biomineralization, as it's known among the experts, has been observed in other places and for other minerals. In fact, bacterial abilities to precipitate metals from solution have been used in some very high-tech contemporary methods of treating polluted water. It's even been appreciated that some bacteria can precipitate gold. Watterson himself had found that the spore coats of another bacterial breed serve as nuclei for luring gold out of solution in broths of gold chloride.
Exactly what happened to cause Alaska's placer-building bugs to build up a gold molecule at a time isn't certain. Grossly oversimplified---and I certainly hope no chemist reads this---the metabolic products exuded by the bacteria interact with compounds in the environment virtually an electron at a time. So to speak, the bugs sweat solid gold. Others think the process may have had another purpose. British chemist Steven Mann speculates that the bacteria could be using "gold complexes...as terminal electron acceptors. If so, then this would be a novel form of energy transduction in anaerobic respiration"---that is, the gold buildup was an important part of the bacteria's life processes, not just a waste product like the crust of salt on an athlete's drying skin. And, here is more on the subject.
I'd like to agree with you, but the way it looks is this:
The more crap we send up using our current technology, i.e. painted surfaces, fragile ceramics, bolts and wires, etc, etc. = the more crap we have to deal with, which hits something else we sent up and makes more of the same, and so on. Consider that a chip the size of a grain of sand is a serious hazard, let alone a sphere 2 inches in diameter. I've seen firsthand what a lowly 12.7 mm round can do here on Earth.
We (The citizens of Earth) have very few people looking for or otherwise working on such problems, or should I say solutions, just as we have very few resources dedicated to the problem posed by catastrophic events such as asteroids (NEO not withstanding-a valiant effort). I guess the general populace is conditioned to accept their eventual demise, and in the meantine the drugs flowing freely from everywhere will make them docile as lambs.
Jack O'Neill and the SG1 Team ain't gonna save us. There ain't no tomorrow land. The pocyclypse got rid of that. If you want to live, you need to learn how to find shelter, food, water, barter, and medicines from your environment. And we will need some geeks to survive, else we truly will be sent back to bone knives and sticks. For all we know, that has happened before.
Not really so surprising. We use advanced techniques to maximize the efficiency of our operations, and in planning where to look. I am very aware of the increase of computing power, having used a roomful back in the '80s for what one box will do now.
Anyway, let's take this to email to avoid getting further offtopic. Use the link for our website, and since I maintain it I'll get your message.
In my thinking, this statement from the article suggests a very serious problem: ""We are on the threshold, if we have not already exceeded it, of reaching a 'critical density' of objects in low Earth orbit, where collisional fragmentation will cause the debris environment to slowly grow even if all other sources are eliminated.""
All our plans for regular space travel, not to mention all kinds of other space uses, will be in jeopardy. Paint chips, bolts, pieces of wire, etc. We need some really smart people thinking about a solution to this.
The cable company. No problem there-I don't subscribe. I had cable when I lived in the city, and found something like 120 channels of shit, and rehashed shit. I only watch a few shows each week on broadcast, since I get my news and other information from the net, and my movies on demand are from one of the many rental outlets hereabouts, but I have lived without either for more than a year at a time while working some jobs. One finds other activities.
The phone company. I belong to a member-Owned Cooperative. We all get a check at the end of the year, after the money is plowed back into improving infrastructure. We are all shareholders, and have the same share. And we can vote or raise hell whenever we want. I have excellent phone/FAX/DSL/Cell way out in here in rural Alaska because of it. Sure, I could choose one of the corporate-nonAlaskan-owned services, (assuming they offer DSL) but I'd be stupid to do so. They have proven time and again to be unresponsive to their customers.
The electric company. Same as above, except if I choose, I can generate my own electricity. We've done so at our mine forever.
Microsoft. I use Linux.
Viacom." I think I may have rented one of their videos once.
My point is that we have choices. I turned off my cell and dumped cable. Unfortunately for many people, change is too difficult. I have friends who are on all sorts of drugs for 'panic attacks' and other maladies. I can suggest one month that will cure such troubles.
Here is where I start in the rant about how America had such changes in the 1960's, and then came the 70's, and downhill to the 80's (anything made in 1980's except maybe some music in America was crap-especially cars, heavy equipment, and motorcycles), and then the 90's. Now, something like 45% of the 50% eligible to vote actually show up. Why? What happened?
Consider this: a) the location of the fridge is usually static, as are the locations of the sink, the stove, and other appliances. You (or your SO) will not be rearranging them as if they were a couch, wall art, or other similar item. b) long-term and resale value. If you can demonstrate that your smart home saves $1800/year in energy, then the small initial cost is irrelevant. In fact, my boxes are in roughly the same location they were 3 years ago, or their predecessors anyway.
I believe you may be on to something in that people just want to plug something in, but in my area, people are also interested in new ideas and progress. I think I give it a look.
I'm willing to bet that if advertisers put nudity and sex in their adverts, then no matter what the product, a good percentage of people will watch it. And record it. And watch it again.
Helen: "I'm so apalled, have you seen the latest Alexortus advertisement?"
Nancy: "Yes, simply shocking, watch this part, wait I'll slow-mo it, you can see yis penis!"
And they'll replay it til its worn out...and I'll leave it to the readers imagination what transpired in the meantime.
If only FireFox would take a page from these slimebags and make it as easy to install the better browser as it is to install Hotbar. We could get way more people converted that way.
That's actually a pretty good idea, at first glance anyway:
Promote Fire/Moz~ the way gator, or Monkey, or wondertoolbar, whatever that crap is people install. Don't look at from the tech view that most of us here share, look at it from grandmas view, and take a page from the marketers. Don't make them feel foolish for not switching already, either, and check any exasperation. Change is hard for many people.
Where I used to live, I would agree, but I am now part of a member-owner co-op (yeah, commie), so any profits gets put back in for infrastructure, capital credits, and refunds. Yes, I actually get a check from my member-owner telephone co-op, also (and very cheap, fast DSL!). I urge everyone to shrug off the corporate yoke of energy oppression and form a member-owned co-operative!
We aren't talking about just the Northern Tier states of the U.S. but also Canada, Northern Europe, and lots of other places. I know that many villages have very high power rates, due in part to the fact that the entire Village is powered from a diesel generator farm. I currently (no pun intended) enjoy relatively cheap energy rates, but I see the day when I shall either pay for infrastructure, on way or another, to deliver more coal, natural gas, or nuclear power, or cut down. Hey, I lived in a Tipi for a year, and can say from experience that there are sacrifices to be made in choosing that route.
I'm curious, why is there no work on cooling things using outside air? Where I live (Alaska) it is generally cool for 8 months of the year. I wonder why we don't have fridges that exchange cool air from outside, and with some polishing, use cool air to cool our computers. In some parts of Alaska, they get -40 (40 degrees below zero) for weeks. Seems like it would be an energy saver. Can anyone correct me or point to some info?
I invest in gold mining, but my situation is unique.
My family owns mines here in Alaska, and we produce gold ourselves. We usually sell the finer fractions (20 mesh and 'smaller') to refiners, and take either check, bullion, or items such as American Eagles in exchange. We keep the larger sizes (nuggets) for ourselves or for higher value sales, since gold nuggets are far rarer than diamonds. Diamonds, however, have Debeers pumping their artificial value up, at least for now.
As you recognized, there is really no substitute for physical possession of precious metals. It is very simple to test for the content of a bar or coin using primitive methods. I've traded gold dust, nuggets, and bars for all kinds of stuff, because the seller recognized the value. Never once was I questioned about it. "Good as gold" really means something, and it is not a phrase you would use to describe paper money. If you've ever held a bar of gold or a big nugget you know what I mean in the intrinsic view.
You can find lots of places to purchase gold coins such as American Eagles, Canadian Mapleleaves, etc. in most cities. I live in the Bush and could buy them in person with just a couple hours of travel, if necessary. I've noticed with the rise in the price of gold lately lots of new places seem to be sprouting up. The one to be most leery of are the leverage deals. Say you have $20,000 leveraged for $2,000 (say 50 ounces of gold @ $400/ounce). Gold goes up $3.00, you made $150; if it drops $10 you owe $500 by close of business. Not recommended for the casual investor, indeed.
Perhaps, but any 'evidence' thus obtained, including any leads resulting from it, would likely be inadmissable under fruit of the poisonous tree
"n. in criminal law, the doctrine that evidence discovered due to information found through illegal search or other unconstitutional means (such as a forced confession) may not be introduced by a prosecutor. The theory is that the tree (original illegal evidence) is poisoned and thus taints what grows from it. For example, as part of a coerced admission made without giving a prime suspect the so-called "Miranda warnings" (statement of rights, including the right to remain silent and what he/she says will be used against them), the suspect tells the police the location of stolen property. Since the admission cannot be introduced as evidence in trial, neither can the stolen property." I had to be very careful of this when I was a detective.
I agree, and there is evidence to support that assertion. 1. Gern JE et al. Effects of dog ownership and genotype on immune development and atopy in infancy. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. jaci.2003.11.017. Abstract available online at: http://www2.us.elsevierhealth.com/ scripts/om.dll/serve?action=search
I grew up on a farm, and besides slopping the hogs, cleaning out the chicken coop, and tending to the cows, horses, dogs, fish, ducks, rabbits, and even a Peacock, I used to turn over cow patties looking for bugs and later mushrooms. I'm pretty sure this made a difference when I went to places where a scratch made some of my teammates very sick.
I laugh whenever one of those advertisements come on Tv trying to sell 'air sanitizers' and people spraying Lysol on everything. "OMG, there are GERMS in the air?!?"
Or, you can do it yourself. "One of the best things about Celestia is that it provides ways for you to add many astronomical objects that are not included in Celestia's distribution kit. Once you learn how they work, I'm sure you'll find creating Addons to be a lot of fun. They're a lot of fun to look at, too." I will make some add-ons when I am through exploring.
For a long time I have had this idea of reducing the single biggest cost to our production, labor. Don't get me wrong, it has been a tough row to hoe, between providing high-paying jobs and making the mine work by somehow cutting costs. Because in mining, that is the only option, since one can rarely charge more than the spot price of the product (gold nuggets and specimens are the exception). So, if it costs us $270 to produce and sell an ounce of gold, and it is selling for $390, we only make $120/ounce. Since we are a small, family-owned mine, our costs are significantly higher. Despite that, I have designed and built a very efficient operation, and have managed to increase the efficiency of our operation so that 2 people can effectively run it, but that is still a $120,000+ cost per season. And robots never have to spend a few days in town, or pee, or smoke a cig, or pocket a $2,000 gold nugget, etc.
If anyone reading this is serious about an opportunity to integrate automation into a new field (excuse the unintended pun) contact me. I also have a similar idea for the collection of geophysical data. This is truly a wide open area.
Ever try Celestia? This is one cool app. Download it for free, and park yourself wherever you want to see the view from 'there'.
On a related note, I'd love to see some details such as this (i.e. view from Spirit, etc) integrated into it. I wonder how much space (no pun intended) to integrate GIS data into it? I'd be kinda neat to fly from Alaska to the Spirit rover, and since it is unlikely I'll get to do that for real, this is the next best thing.
Slashdot Mirror
On the plus side, we can hope that if The Machines ever get away from us, we can get Jeff or Data or NEO or Ahhnold to load a virus and save us. On the minus side, one of these days someone is going to write something really nasty, and even those of us who don't use Windows will be affected, either through the drag in traffic, bringing down nodes, or the phone calls and other messages.
It would be great to have a system that looks for changes and reports them...oh wait, I already have that.
-cp-
Alaska Bugs Sweat Gold Nuggets
-cp-
Alaska Bugs Sweat Gold Nuggets
When I worked for my dad's construction company as a teen, we got to work, and actually worked 10-12 hours/day. My first day, I made the mistake of asking "When do we take a break" and he said "You got a break when you got this job." And he was right.
-cp-
-cp-
A few years ago, I went into a Sears to buy a new microwave oven. They had a display model that was really cheap, so I decided to buy it. The sale associate says "Whats your name" and I say "Why do you need my name? I'm paying cash for this" and he replies "Because the computer tells me to".
I ask "Does the computer tell you other things?" He doesn't get it. So I say "Jackie Brown" (just watched the movie the night before). He says "Huh? But..." but types it in anyway. Then he asks for my address. I reply "I don't have an address, I'm homeless." Mind you, I'm wearing nice clothes, driving a new car, etc. He asks "If you're homeless, then why do you need a microwave?" I respond "Because I don't have one." Increasingly frustrated, he says "I have to put something in." So I pick up a card and read the stores address to him. By this time a couple of other bored sales associates have come round. He doesn't like my answer, but types it in anyway. Then I pull a fat wad out of my pocket and peel off a hundred. And walk out with my oven.
-cp-
-cp-
Think about it: have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree? They find their own way down. Firefighters around here don't even respond to one of those calls.
-cp-
Exactly what happened to cause Alaska's placer-building bugs to build up a gold molecule at a time isn't certain. Grossly oversimplified---and I certainly hope no chemist reads this---the metabolic products exuded by the bacteria interact with compounds in the environment virtually an electron at a time. So to speak, the bugs sweat solid gold. Others think the process may have had another purpose. British chemist Steven Mann speculates that the bacteria could be using "gold complexes...as terminal electron acceptors. If so, then this would be a novel form of energy transduction in anaerobic respiration"---that is, the gold buildup was an important part of the bacteria's life processes, not just a waste product like the crust of salt on an athlete's drying skin. And, here is more on the subject.
-cp-
The more crap we send up using our current technology, i.e. painted surfaces, fragile ceramics, bolts and wires, etc, etc. = the more crap we have to deal with, which hits something else we sent up and makes more of the same, and so on. Consider that a chip the size of a grain of sand is a serious hazard, let alone a sphere 2 inches in diameter. I've seen firsthand what a lowly 12.7 mm round can do here on Earth.
We (The citizens of Earth) have very few people looking for or otherwise working on such problems, or should I say solutions, just as we have very few resources dedicated to the problem posed by catastrophic events such as asteroids (NEO not withstanding-a valiant effort). I guess the general populace is conditioned to accept their eventual demise, and in the meantine the drugs flowing freely from everywhere will make them docile as lambs.
Jack O'Neill and the SG1 Team ain't gonna save us. There ain't no tomorrow land. The pocyclypse got rid of that. If you want to live, you need to learn how to find shelter, food, water, barter, and medicines from your environment. And we will need some geeks to survive, else we truly will be sent back to bone knives and sticks. For all we know, that has happened before.
-cp-
Not really so surprising. We use advanced techniques to maximize the efficiency of our operations, and in planning where to look. I am very aware of the increase of computing power, having used a roomful back in the '80s for what one box will do now.
Anyway, let's take this to email to avoid getting further offtopic. Use the link for our website, and since I maintain it I'll get your message.
-cp-
All our plans for regular space travel, not to mention all kinds of other space uses, will be in jeopardy. Paint chips, bolts, pieces of wire, etc. We need some really smart people thinking about a solution to this.
Alaska Village invited to test cheap, clean nuclear power
The phone company. I belong to a member-Owned Cooperative. We all get a check at the end of the year, after the money is plowed back into improving infrastructure. We are all shareholders, and have the same share. And we can vote or raise hell whenever we want. I have excellent phone/FAX/DSL/Cell way out in here in rural Alaska because of it. Sure, I could choose one of the corporate-nonAlaskan-owned services, (assuming they offer DSL) but I'd be stupid to do so. They have proven time and again to be unresponsive to their customers.
The electric company. Same as above, except if I choose, I can generate my own electricity. We've done so at our mine forever.
Microsoft. I use Linux.
Viacom." I think I may have rented one of their videos once.
My point is that we have choices. I turned off my cell and dumped cable. Unfortunately for many people, change is too difficult. I have friends who are on all sorts of drugs for 'panic attacks' and other maladies. I can suggest one month that will cure such troubles.
Here is where I start in the rant about how America had such changes in the 1960's, and then came the 70's, and downhill to the 80's (anything made in 1980's except maybe some music in America was crap-especially cars, heavy equipment, and motorcycles), and then the 90's. Now, something like 45% of the 50% eligible to vote actually show up. Why? What happened?
Maybe Tyler Durden was onto something.
-cp-
How To Change Laws and Regulations
Consider this: a) the location of the fridge is usually static, as are the locations of the sink, the stove, and other appliances. You (or your SO) will not be rearranging them as if they were a couch, wall art, or other similar item. b) long-term and resale value. If you can demonstrate that your smart home saves $1800/year in energy, then the small initial cost is irrelevant. In fact, my boxes are in roughly the same location they were 3 years ago, or their predecessors anyway.
I believe you may be on to something in that people just want to plug something in, but in my area, people are also interested in new ideas and progress. I think I give it a look.
-cp-
Helen: "I'm so apalled, have you seen the latest Alexortus advertisement?"
Nancy: "Yes, simply shocking, watch this part, wait I'll slow-mo it, you can see yis penis!"
And they'll replay it til its worn out...and I'll leave it to the readers imagination what transpired in the meantime.
-cp-
President Bush to Liberate Alaska
That's actually a pretty good idea, at first glance anyway:
Promote Fire/Moz~ the way gator, or Monkey, or wondertoolbar, whatever that crap is people install. Don't look at from the tech view that most of us here share, look at it from grandmas view, and take a page from the marketers. Don't make them feel foolish for not switching already, either, and check any exasperation. Change is hard for many people.
-cp-
-cp-
President Bush to Liberate Alaska
-cp-
Alaska Village invited to test cheap, clean nuclear power
-cp-
Alaska Village invited to test cheap, clean nuclear power
My family owns mines here in Alaska, and we produce gold ourselves. We usually sell the finer fractions (20 mesh and 'smaller') to refiners, and take either check, bullion, or items such as American Eagles in exchange. We keep the larger sizes (nuggets) for ourselves or for higher value sales, since gold nuggets are far rarer than diamonds. Diamonds, however, have Debeers pumping their artificial value up, at least for now.
As you recognized, there is really no substitute for physical possession of precious metals. It is very simple to test for the content of a bar or coin using primitive methods. I've traded gold dust, nuggets, and bars for all kinds of stuff, because the seller recognized the value. Never once was I questioned about it. "Good as gold" really means something, and it is not a phrase you would use to describe paper money. If you've ever held a bar of gold or a big nugget you know what I mean in the intrinsic view.
You can find lots of places to purchase gold coins such as American Eagles, Canadian Mapleleaves, etc. in most cities. I live in the Bush and could buy them in person with just a couple hours of travel, if necessary. I've noticed with the rise in the price of gold lately lots of new places seem to be sprouting up. The one to be most leery of are the leverage deals. Say you have $20,000 leveraged for $2,000 (say 50 ounces of gold @ $400/ounce). Gold goes up $3.00, you made $150; if it drops $10 you owe $500 by close of business. Not recommended for the casual investor, indeed.
-cp-
"n. in criminal law, the doctrine that evidence discovered due to information found through illegal search or other unconstitutional means (such as a forced confession) may not be introduced by a prosecutor. The theory is that the tree (original illegal evidence) is poisoned and thus taints what grows from it. For example, as part of a coerced admission made without giving a prime suspect the so-called "Miranda warnings" (statement of rights, including the right to remain silent and what he/she says will be used against them), the suspect tells the police the location of stolen property. Since the admission cannot be introduced as evidence in trial, neither can the stolen property." I had to be very careful of this when I was a detective.
-cp-
President Bush to Liberate Alaska
-cp-
2. Pets Boost Children's Health. BBC News. June 14, 2002. Available online at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ 1/hi/health/2045704.stm.
I grew up on a farm, and besides slopping the hogs, cleaning out the chicken coop, and tending to the cows, horses, dogs, fish, ducks, rabbits, and even a Peacock, I used to turn over cow patties looking for bugs and later mushrooms. I'm pretty sure this made a difference when I went to places where a scratch made some of my teammates very sick.
I laugh whenever one of those advertisements come on Tv trying to sell 'air sanitizers' and people spraying Lysol on everything. "OMG, there are GERMS in the air?!?"
-cp-
Alaska Bugs Sweat Gold Nuggets
-cp-
Alaska Bugs Sweat Gold Nuggets
If anyone reading this is serious about an opportunity to integrate automation into a new field (excuse the unintended pun) contact me. I also have a similar idea for the collection of geophysical data. This is truly a wide open area.
-cp-
Alaska Bugs Sweat Gold Nuggets
On a related note, I'd love to see some details such as this (i.e. view from Spirit, etc) integrated into it. I wonder how much space (no pun intended) to integrate GIS data into it? I'd be kinda neat to fly from Alaska to the Spirit rover, and since it is unlikely I'll get to do that for real, this is the next best thing.
-cp-
Alaska Bugs Sweat Gold Nuggets!