Slashdot Mirror


User: Willard+B.+Trophy

Willard+B.+Trophy's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
143
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 143

  1. Re:Cue lawyers in five... four... on Internet Archive Posted 10,000 Browser-Playable Amiga Titles (techcrunch.com) · · Score: 1

    aaand it's down. A hollow voice says “Cloantoooo”

  2. Re:gentoo leads on Debian Sid Moves to X.Org · · Score: 1

    And x.org CVS under Gentoo has VIA Unichrome support, so my Mini-ITX box is happy. I guess Debian stable will get it in 2009, or so ...

  3. just another Wrong Big Figure error on A $251 Million Typo · · Score: 1

    This sort of thing happens quite often in currency trading. Since trading desks are real-time, prices entered manually, and the markets can move a lot, very quickly, there are very few checks that are applied. Traders aren't the sort who'd click on "Are you sure?", anyway.

  4. neat-o offshore windfarm on Google Adds Satellite Imagery for the World · · Score: 1

    Middelgrunden, København, Denmark -- it's the arc thing in the bay. I've found a bunch more windfarms from space, too.

  5. Re:reason for, reason not for on Blank Keyboard · · Score: 1

    Being able to type only means you can create more bugs more quickly. Us leisurely hunt-and-peck types can see bugs coming for miles, and can catch them before we've typed 'em ...

  6. Re:Roast your own (in Canada) on Popcorn-Popper -> Coffee Roaster Mod · · Score: 1
    I get mine from Merchants of Green Coffee in Toronto. I don't need fancy stuff to roast it, either -- 15 minutes in a 230degC oven on a baking tray does it for me.

    There's also Birds and Beans, too. I've never bought their wares, but they seem a little less expensive.

  7. Re:Bush and Kyoto on Kyoto Protocol Comes Into Force · · Score: 1
    You mean Pickering, Darlington and Bruce when they work, don't you? Take the Pickering Restart Contest, and win green power!

    Yes, Dexter was a bit off-base. Lakeshore and Nanticoke are environmental horrors. Toronto had a smog warning in February this year. The city has a brownish-purple haze over it in the summer from all the traffic. It can be a mess, but I still call it home.

  8. Re:Funny... on China to Pioneer Melt-Down Proof Reactors · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but who says we a) can, or b) should, sustain our current lifestyles? Since we've had always-on power for less than 100 years, and even that in quite a small part of the world, it's pretty paltry compared to the thousands of years of civilisation we've had without gross energy consumption.

  9. Re:Meltdown proof? Hah! on China to Pioneer Melt-Down Proof Reactors · · Score: 2, Informative

    The current crop of CANDUs are unreliable and expensive to maintain. Ask any Ontarian paying a whack of "stranded debt retirement" on their hydro bill, and they wouldn't wish CANDU on anyone.

  10. Yet another diversion on Energy from High-Altitude Kites · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Oh no, not another wacko diversion from useful wind turbine design. I bet it'll make PopSci, just like all the other dumb energy things.

    There was a similar idea to this about 20 years ago, called a "Lift Translator". It got goverment money. It made the cover of PopSci. It went precisely nowhere because it didn't work. This one's likely to work just as well/badly.

    No-one I know in the wind energy industry thinks this 'laddermill" is remotely credible.

  11. Re:and... on Astronaut: 'Single-Planet Species Don't Last' · · Score: 1

    Keynes said it first, and more eloquently: "In the long term, we are all dead."

  12. Re:Not really... on Green Energy Almost Cost-Competitive with Fossil Fuels · · Score: 1
    It's probably best to avoid building wind turbines and houses too close together. Wind turbines are machinery, and they do make some noise. People do have a right to peace and quiet in their homes, so there are strict (and necessary) guidelines on noise limits. Realistically, this turns out that the nearest a turbine can be to a house is about 400m. The distance is reduced if the turbine is on land owned by the homeowner; then they have a stake in the project.

    When we were designing Erie Shores Wind Farm, limiting noise levels at houses was the most complex problem.

    Offshore wind is still pretty expensive for North America. I do know of a couple of offshore projects planned for the Great Lakes, though.

  13. Re:Both are overhyped on Green Energy Almost Cost-Competitive with Fossil Fuels · · Score: 1

    Those are very old turbines, built in a rush for a tax break, and probably locked in litigation somewhere. This is probably what's preventing more reliable turbines being built there.

  14. Re:Green, not Green on Green Energy Almost Cost-Competitive with Fossil Fuels · · Score: 1

    If you read the study, they model a single windfarm covering 10% of the planet's land area. Doing anything to 10% of the planet's land area will have a measurable effect.

  15. Re:Viability does not imply scalability. on Green Energy Almost Cost-Competitive with Fossil Fuels · · Score: 1

    Or alternatively ... solving the problem means changing how we do things. We've been auto-loving electricity hogs for less than 1% of the history of civilization. We may have to consider that what we're doing now is a temporary phase.

  16. Re:What's my lat and alt? on Weather Data Available in XML · · Score: 1

    You mean you're admitting to be the only Slashdot user who hasn't stood outside their home with a GPS?!

  17. We've had one in Toronto for months ... on Combined Gasoline/Hydrogen Fuel Station Opens · · Score: 1
    Hydrogenics built one at ExPlace in Toronto back in August: Hydrogenics at the 2004 CNE.

    It's right next door to our wind turbine ...

  18. A very unlikely scenario on Will Wind Power Change Earth's Climate? · · Score: 1

    I design wind farms. Has no-one flagged that this simulation is about the unlikely scenario of building a single wind farm to cover 10% of the world's landmass, and generating more than three times (unless my sums are wrong) the world's energy needs?

  19. Canadian Immigration for Intelligent Americans on Kerry Concedes Election To Bush · · Score: 1
  20. Re:No chance... on Nuclear Rockets Moving Along · · Score: 1

    ... in a study prepared for the Nuclear Energy Institute, that is. I'm sure that Microsoft's studies show that everyone loves Microsoft too ...

  21. Re:Audio quality on iRiver Ships Linux Media Players · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've often wondered: was the rather unusual sampling frequency of 44.1kHz chosen to be an exact multiple of concert pitch, where A is 441Hz?

  22. A link that works on Would You Drink This Water? · · Score: 1
    The URL given in the story is very broken. You can find out more about the ZeeWeed® 1000 system here. They have some very cool tech, including Membrane Bioreactor technology.

    DISCLAIMER: The webmaster of Zenon Environmental is a good buddy of mine. He now owes me beer. Unrecycled, for preference, though you never can tell with Canadian beer ...

  23. Re:Did ANYONE rtfa? on Congress Plans Space Tourism Regulation · · Score: 2, Interesting
    There should also be legislation to minimise pollution. Air pollution doesn't just stay at home -- witness the state of New York suing Ontario for their power station emissions.

    I suspect that there may be basic safety standards, too. For instance, if you deliberately made a vehicle that would explode in the upper atmosphere, and made that information public, couldn't someone commit assisted suicide in such a device?

  24. Re:Can't be as good as Mill St Coffee Porter on Caffeinated Beer Becomes a Reality · · Score: 1
    Yeah, I'd heard they had it as far away as Hamilton, and even Oshawa ...

    If you're not here, you're nowhere.

  25. Can't be as good as Mill St Coffee Porter on Caffeinated Beer Becomes a Reality · · Score: 2, Informative

    Mill St Coffee Porter is brewed around here. It's great. It even comes in proper stubbies...