The earth being filled with nuclear material is not news, to me either. (Although the article about the core was interesting, and a red herring.) Do you check your basement for radon gas? That happens a lot where I live, there's a lot of radium in the soil. Nuclear material may not have legs, but it can be in groundwater, and water tends to move around.
You're also leaving out the time frame in your example.
I'm not anti-nuclear, but there are very valid concerns about what to do with the materials both before, and after it is used in a reactor. Your oversimplification and whitewashing of the significance of radioactive material contamination of our habitats are part of why there are many rabid anti-nuke people who would melt your face right off for saying what you did.
Well get moving then, there are plenty of opportunities to move next door to a reactor at cutthroat prices. Of course, that's not what I was talking about, because it's not the beginning, or end, of the story. There are pools of nuclear waste that have no long term storage site, or method to move it to one anyway, in Canada alone. And in my provincial back yard there are open pit mines where otherwise dirt-bound radium and uranium are disturbed by mining, so they can end up in yellowcake, and blowing in the wind and flowing in our northern rivers/lakes. Mmmm, drink up!
After watching a fictional killer virus on "I Am Legend", I am feeling nervous about new germs in labs. Fortunately, Slashdotters are seeing the lighter side of it all - Star Trek jokes!
Nonsense! If anyone asks what you're doing, just tell them that you're holding your 3 year old's etch-a-sketch Fisherprice toy for them until they get back from the liquor store, and show them Tam Tam or Memory which you've quickly switched to on the display. Or turn it off silently, hold down the right game key when turning it back on, and it's just a Pong machine.;-)
I own an XO, and have briefly used some Eees. The screen on an XO is so much better. What problem did you encounter exactly? The XO screen works in direct sunlight, even if you don't turn the backlight off by pressing the brightness down button a bunch.
What's amazing too, is that I heard this same combination on a movie 20 years ago! It's almost as if someone went back in time, and put your code into a movie, just so this moment would be hilarious!
Those sound better than what I was using up until March of this year - a Compaq Armada 1500 series. Pentium MMX 233 with 48MB RAM, and a 1GB hard disk. I upgraded to a more usable OLPC XO with a 1GB flash, 256MB RAM, and comparable resolution on a smaller screen. Add a roll-up keyboard, and presto, modern computing, and a slick VNC viewer.
"if prices at the supermarket didn't reflect the extra cost to get it to where I live"
It doesn't reflect the "true" cost, and that's what you're implying should be paid by rural people. If there was an appropriate carbon tax to compensate for the pollution, for one example. You're only paying the market price, not the true cost of moving the food to you. Now, let's talk about all those other resources you rely on, yet don't come from where you live...
Or, just admit that there's some give and take, and begrudging someone their high speed in the country, is akin to a farmer begrudging you food.
That's a good tip. Install the Adblock Addon for Firefox, disable Flash from loading, and you have a pretty good way to surf quickly over lower bandwidth. Still, some sites like YouTube will be a waste of time, but it's possible to do a lot over dialup.
And that reminds me, I wish there were a plugin for WordPress, so someone could easily convert their blog into a mobile version too. Otherwise I guess hooking up to just the Feed is the way to go.
Getting politicians (and the crown corporation SaskTel) involved is why most small communities in my province have broadband connections available, if not in homes, then at least in schools and libraries. Internet is infrastructure based. Governments traditionally build infrastructure for moving information/people/goods around on a massive scale.
"Here's my take: you want to live in the middle of nowhere, then either get technology as if you live in the middle of nowhere, or you pay for it your own damn self."
Here's my take on that attitude. If you want to live in the middle of "somewhere" you can bloody well grow your own food, cut your own lumber, and mine your own ore. There is give and take in living in any place, and we all contribute to the economy, and well being of people in other places if we do our fair share.
Could it be because you had them enclosed? Just asking? I've had non-enclosed die early too. Some have lasted over 2 years so far though. I think the electronics in them is shoddy.
Not much pisses me off more than a fool with a laser pointer thinking it's a toy. If blindness were a game, would the game end when someone gained an eye?
Slashdot Mirror
The earth being filled with nuclear material is not news, to me either. (Although the article about the core was interesting, and a red herring.) Do you check your basement for radon gas? That happens a lot where I live, there's a lot of radium in the soil. Nuclear material may not have legs, but it can be in groundwater, and water tends to move around.
You're also leaving out the time frame in your example.
I'm not anti-nuclear, but there are very valid concerns about what to do with the materials both before, and after it is used in a reactor. Your oversimplification and whitewashing of the significance of radioactive material contamination of our habitats are part of why there are many rabid anti-nuke people who would melt your face right off for saying what you did.
Well get moving then, there are plenty of opportunities to move next door to a reactor at cutthroat prices. Of course, that's not what I was talking about, because it's not the beginning, or end, of the story. There are pools of nuclear waste that have no long term storage site, or method to move it to one anyway, in Canada alone. And in my provincial back yard there are open pit mines where otherwise dirt-bound radium and uranium are disturbed by mining, so they can end up in yellowcake, and blowing in the wind and flowing in our northern rivers/lakes. Mmmm, drink up!
A "safe location" You mean, where "I don't live", right?
Got news for you... You're on earth as well, and things that get airbourne or into water, have a way of ending up where you are too.
You obviously haven't looked under their fingernails, or at their huge bellies.
I'm looking forward to footpedal powered computers. We can use nervous foot tapping energy for good, instead of nothing.
After watching a fictional killer virus on "I Am Legend", I am feeling nervous about new germs in labs. Fortunately, Slashdotters are seeing the lighter side of it all - Star Trek jokes!
Or be even more of a smartass, and write a bot that links all Wikipedia articles to Kevin Bacon's!
Nonsense! If anyone asks what you're doing, just tell them that you're holding your 3 year old's etch-a-sketch Fisherprice toy for them until they get back from the liquor store, and show them Tam Tam or Memory which you've quickly switched to on the display. Or turn it off silently, hold down the right game key when turning it back on, and it's just a Pong machine. ;-)
I own an XO, and have briefly used some Eees. The screen on an XO is so much better. What problem did you encounter exactly? The XO screen works in direct sunlight, even if you don't turn the backlight off by pressing the brightness down button a bunch.
What's amazing too, is that I heard this same combination on a movie 20 years ago! It's almost as if someone went back in time, and put your code into a movie, just so this moment would be hilarious!
And keep in mind, at work they probably have a network intrusion system to nail your butt to the wall if you try port scanning or anything else.
Those sound better than what I was using up until March of this year - a Compaq Armada 1500 series. Pentium MMX 233 with 48MB RAM, and a 1GB hard disk. I upgraded to a more usable OLPC XO with a 1GB flash, 256MB RAM, and comparable resolution on a smaller screen. Add a roll-up keyboard, and presto, modern computing, and a slick VNC viewer.
"if prices at the supermarket didn't reflect the extra cost to get it to where I live"
It doesn't reflect the "true" cost, and that's what you're implying should be paid by rural people. If there was an appropriate carbon tax to compensate for the pollution, for one example. You're only paying the market price, not the true cost of moving the food to you. Now, let's talk about all those other resources you rely on, yet don't come from where you live...
Or, just admit that there's some give and take, and begrudging someone their high speed in the country, is akin to a farmer begrudging you food.
We had some engineers that thought of that already. Didn't work. Nice try though.
That's a good tip. Install the Adblock Addon for Firefox, disable Flash from loading, and you have a pretty good way to surf quickly over lower bandwidth. Still, some sites like YouTube will be a waste of time, but it's possible to do a lot over dialup.
:-)
Don't forget http://mobile.slashdot.org//
And that reminds me, I wish there were a plugin for WordPress, so someone could easily convert their blog into a mobile version too. Otherwise I guess hooking up to just the Feed is the way to go.
Getting politicians (and the crown corporation SaskTel) involved is why most small communities in my province have broadband connections available, if not in homes, then at least in schools and libraries. Internet is infrastructure based. Governments traditionally build infrastructure for moving information/people/goods around on a massive scale.
"Here's my take: you want to live in the middle of nowhere, then either get technology as if you live in the middle of nowhere, or you pay for it your own damn self."
Here's my take on that attitude. If you want to live in the middle of "somewhere" you can bloody well grow your own food, cut your own lumber, and mine your own ore. There is give and take in living in any place, and we all contribute to the economy, and well being of people in other places if we do our fair share.
Don't look gift horse [or Heron] advertising in the mouth [beak], either.
Is this the new "Godwins law"?
What will make us nearly extinct the next time will be a lack of breeding due to an overuse of the Internet in the general population.
At least the Borg analogy holds, because cutting off communication to a drone, tended to kill it in some episodes. Died of loneliness, essentially.
I guess Sandisk's next innovation will be lubed USB drives?
The IOC is a bunch of hypocrites. They ought to tell VANOC the same thing for the 2010 games in Vancouver.
Look what VANOC told me about the "openness" of the Internet:
http://www.abandonedstuff.com/2008/03/03/a-pre-emptive-no-from-vanoc/
They also aren't letting athletes blog openly about the Games, they can't talk about many things.
Careful eating that cake at the end of the day. Someone probably licked it as a turnaround April Fool's Day prank on the baker.
Could it be because you had them enclosed? Just asking? I've had non-enclosed die early too. Some have lasted over 2 years so far though. I think the electronics in them is shoddy.
http://www.abandonedstuff.com/2008/03/20/not-to-worry-you-too-much-but-about-those-knock-off-lights/
Not much pisses me off more than a fool with a laser pointer thinking it's a toy. If blindness were a game, would the game end when someone gained an eye?