Not only that, but prize funds taken to extreme would create a shortsighted research industry (assuming they created any kind of industry). Want to pursue that wonderful idea that might make a drug that can cure the common cold? Sorry, but there's no prize money in it, nobody will fund the research, and we all have to suffer.
A scientist needs to be able to go where the data points, not where the money points. Prize funds don't cure that problem, they'd only exacerbate it (when taken to extremes. Prize funds used to supplement existing systems can be very effective in achieving short-term milestones on longer-term goals).
Forgot? Maybe he didn't comment on it as the most realistic ui portrayal? I use my computer as my alarm clock, which means at least once a day my wife goes to some website that makes a noise in speakers and a mxier that are cranked. It's always funny, too.:)
Errr, no. Teachers are exhausted after a full day's teaching for a reason. I used to work in the pit at an oil change place and I can tell you, keeping your hands up in the air ain't no picnic. In fact, after awhile on a busy day, you just want to go up top so you can let your arms hang slack.
Ah, right, I was confused.:) It's biodiesel that requires changing the seals, and the problem with vegetable oil is temperature. I also remember that mixing the vegetable oil with (bio)diesel solves the temperature problem.
The problem here that I see is that we are theoretically close enough to fuel cells and electric cars powered by them that it doesn't seem worthwhile to pursue biodiesel or other renewable/eco-friendly carbon variants. This creates a problem for adoption, why should I adopt a fuel that's not widely circulated when the base tech is going to be obsolete Real Soon Now?
Had we switched out for biodiesel in 1920, it would be a different story, and we could have done so. I don't know if the chemical process was known at the time, but I suspect it was. In any case, the infrastructure needed to support it isn't as dramatic as people put it. What it winds up being is that algae farms (using a species that gives the most of its body weight as oil, and there are several to choose from) would supply the vegetable oil, and the energy that's introduced into the system comes from the sun (that's the energy that is stored when you take the carbon atom out of the CO2 molecule and store it in vegetable oils, the process is photosynthesis. This minor fact seems to get ignored by most/all of the detractors to veggie fuels). I don't see corn farmers or soybean farmers as being the main source of vegetable oil, although they would certainly take part in bootstrapping. Then someone figures out (which is already known today) that algae farming requires less energy and less land area for the same total output of oil. That would probably get even more advanced over time, especially with bioengineering kicking in. Maybe we could wind up with a bacteria whose entire life cycle is a matter of converting itself to oil.:)
But it seems like its too late. So what I'm seeing instead is that pursuing veggie-based fuel alternatives and gearing up to provide the infrastructure is more useful in applying pressure to big oil companies and politicians. If we have alternatives that don't require big oil companies and politicians, then we won't have the companies and politicians (a good goal in and of itself). And they can see that and would like to keep their power. I'm willing to let them keep their power if they put their money and time into fuel cells and electric cars. So we threaten to come up with our own alternative, and if they want to prevent us from doing so, they need to build the alternative we really want that we might not be able to do on our own. Veggie fuels can be done by home mechanics, but building a fuel cell car is a lot trickier. Besides certain legal hurdles (like being allowed to transport explosive hydrogen tanks), there's a lot more money required in research to produce a viable technology.
And it seems to be working.:) We're starting to see more mainstream politicians taking a look at fuel cells, wind plants, solar plants, etc. Maybe they're still thinking biodiesel is a crackpot idea, but it is gaining in ways that requires the more mainstream folks to look at these other alternatives which are (virtually inarguably) superior long-term solutions to veggie fuels.
You should read your signature.:) This development is important not because it provides a solution to the problem you want solved, but because it adds to our tech base something that can be used as part of the solution to the problem you want solved. It has the added benefit of making good PR for alternative solutions and getting people thinking about the problem in the context that it can be solved.
The modification is changing all the rubber seals in the fuel lines to metal seals. It's not terribly difficult, but it can be expensive. The reason is because vegetable oil is harder on the rubber and will do something to it (I forget what) that makes it crack and leak. No internal engine modifications are needed, only fuel system modifications.
Where can you get vegetable oil for free? You mean the worthless used stuff that these people had to process on-the-fly? Last I checked, vegetable oil you could actually put in your car costed more per gallon than gasoline...
but I wouldn't risk my life on one of their trips to Mars - their track record isn't stellar.
That's correct! Their track record is currently only interplanetary. We're still arguably at the dawn of space travel (assuming there's a whole day of space travel ahead of us, otherwise we're not even at the dawn of space travel). Therefore we have no stellar flight, only interplanetary. Perhaps you were just born into the wrong century?
Has it occured to anybody yet that the DOJ might be preparing to go after Intel, and they've subpoenaed AMD and Nvidia as the other two CPU-makers? If AMD + Nvidia have 25% of the GPU market and intel the other 75%, then it seems to me that AMD and NVidia have information that would be needed in an investigation of Intel. So whether or not it's about CPU or GPU, it could easily be about Intel. (Don't forget NVidia makes CPUs too)
I, too, am a self-employed programmer, in the state of Texas no less. My wife went looking around for health insurance and found several things to be true.
For claims over a certain amount, the insurance companies generally refuse to pay. The state picks up the tab.
For $250/month, we could insure our whole family (2 adults, 3 kids). That gets us a $50 copay.
Office visits to the doctor actually cost $70 when uninsured. Let's say we need to go twice a year for well visits and/or to pick up antibiotics for [some infection or other for one of the kids]. That's $500 in copays + $250*12, or a total of $3500. Compare that to $700.
For special situations, like accidents, serious diseases, and so forth, see the first bullet.
The insurance lobby in Texas is very powerful.
The real question is, why do you guys just assume you have to have health insurance? I've decided that since passing 30 I should start getting regular checkups, but that's not exactly the same as assuming health insurance. $70/year + misc OTC medication is my own personal health costs. You can't show me an insurance "plan" that can beat that, and it easily extends to my wife and kids. You don't have to get health insurance, unless you're scared. Fear seems to be the only reason people actually get health insurance, and if it didn't come free with the job, it's probably not worth it for most. There are a few for whom it is worth it, but even if we assume that the insurance business is honest and free of corruption (ha!), it's still the same. Most people with insurance pay $$too much for health care, and the people who actually save money are saving money thanks to the people paying too much.
I've already made two preemptory comments to the inevitable "But waht if you're in a car wreck or something!", but here goes. First, anything over your deductible, the insurance companies in Texas just plain refuse to pay. Period. That's one of the reasons the state health program has been gutted, the state guarantees the money one way or another. So if you're in a car wreck in particular, you really only have to pay out of pocket the ambulance charges (if you take a ride in one). The rest will either be picked up by the other guy's insurance, or the state, and if the damage is severe enough, the state will pick it up anyway! And afterwards you can claim social security for awhile. Other things, like cancer and stuff? Same deal. In fact, if you get cancer in Texas, chances are your insurance company is going to drop you like a rock anyway. Illegal? Maybe. What do you expect from an industry whose main income is generated by scaring you into paying up? The only they need to add to achieve their true form is to make biological attacks on individuals who don't sign.
Well, some of it also depends on where you're at. I lived in the Seattle area for a few years, and other than an isolated Popeye's and really nice place up north (whose name I've forgotten), KFC was all there was.
Now I"m back in Texas, and there *is* good fried chicken nearly all over the place. When I want "not bad tasting for a couple of bucks", it's Taco Cabana. Forget Taco Bell.:) There's a popeye's and a golden chick nearby, and KFC isn't cheap enough to warrant eating there.
Ok, I guess I missed it. Mind pointing it out?:) (Or maybe it's more like "I really felt warm reading his response precisely because I've spent too much time reading python docs")
I seem to remember elegant being used in relation to C, but for anything else there was different language. But I've been wondering why people don't use the word anymore and seeing a connection between that and all the shitty code I've been seeing lately.
VOltaire (response to your sig)
Other than that, I don't think I'm interested in separating the person's personality from his code. That would be like if you divide "life" out of "music" and end up with pop/rock. A better question to ask (even though it pisses off both the idiot left and the wacky right) is "How do his traits as an alleged murderer make my filesystem better/worse?" I.e. how do those things translate into code.
Slashdot Mirror
Not only that, but prize funds taken to extreme would create a shortsighted research industry (assuming they created any kind of industry). Want to pursue that wonderful idea that might make a drug that can cure the common cold? Sorry, but there's no prize money in it, nobody will fund the research, and we all have to suffer.
A scientist needs to be able to go where the data points, not where the money points. Prize funds don't cure that problem, they'd only exacerbate it (when taken to extremes. Prize funds used to supplement existing systems can be very effective in achieving short-term milestones on longer-term goals).
Forgot? Maybe he didn't comment on it as the most realistic ui portrayal? I use my computer as my alarm clock, which means at least once a day my wife goes to some website that makes a noise in speakers and a mxier that are cranked. It's always funny, too. :)
Errr, no. Teachers are exhausted after a full day's teaching for a reason. I used to work in the pit at an oil change place and I can tell you, keeping your hands up in the air ain't no picnic. In fact, after awhile on a busy day, you just want to go up top so you can let your arms hang slack.
My daughter told me today is opposite day, so he was right.
Ah, right, I was confused. :) It's biodiesel that requires changing the seals, and the problem with vegetable oil is temperature. I also remember that mixing the vegetable oil with (bio)diesel solves the temperature problem.
The problem here that I see is that we are theoretically close enough to fuel cells and electric cars powered by them that it doesn't seem worthwhile to pursue biodiesel or other renewable/eco-friendly carbon variants. This creates a problem for adoption, why should I adopt a fuel that's not widely circulated when the base tech is going to be obsolete Real Soon Now?
Had we switched out for biodiesel in 1920, it would be a different story, and we could have done so. I don't know if the chemical process was known at the time, but I suspect it was. In any case, the infrastructure needed to support it isn't as dramatic as people put it. What it winds up being is that algae farms (using a species that gives the most of its body weight as oil, and there are several to choose from) would supply the vegetable oil, and the energy that's introduced into the system comes from the sun (that's the energy that is stored when you take the carbon atom out of the CO2 molecule and store it in vegetable oils, the process is photosynthesis. This minor fact seems to get ignored by most/all of the detractors to veggie fuels). I don't see corn farmers or soybean farmers as being the main source of vegetable oil, although they would certainly take part in bootstrapping. Then someone figures out (which is already known today) that algae farming requires less energy and less land area for the same total output of oil. That would probably get even more advanced over time, especially with bioengineering kicking in. Maybe we could wind up with a bacteria whose entire life cycle is a matter of converting itself to oil. :)
But it seems like its too late. So what I'm seeing instead is that pursuing veggie-based fuel alternatives and gearing up to provide the infrastructure is more useful in applying pressure to big oil companies and politicians. If we have alternatives that don't require big oil companies and politicians, then we won't have the companies and politicians (a good goal in and of itself). And they can see that and would like to keep their power. I'm willing to let them keep their power if they put their money and time into fuel cells and electric cars. So we threaten to come up with our own alternative, and if they want to prevent us from doing so, they need to build the alternative we really want that we might not be able to do on our own. Veggie fuels can be done by home mechanics, but building a fuel cell car is a lot trickier. Besides certain legal hurdles (like being allowed to transport explosive hydrogen tanks), there's a lot more money required in research to produce a viable technology.
And it seems to be working. :) We're starting to see more mainstream politicians taking a look at fuel cells, wind plants, solar plants, etc. Maybe they're still thinking biodiesel is a crackpot idea, but it is gaining in ways that requires the more mainstream folks to look at these other alternatives which are (virtually inarguably) superior long-term solutions to veggie fuels.
You should read your signature. :) This development is important not because it provides a solution to the problem you want solved, but because it adds to our tech base something that can be used as part of the solution to the problem you want solved. It has the added benefit of making good PR for alternative solutions and getting people thinking about the problem in the context that it can be solved.
The modification is changing all the rubber seals in the fuel lines to metal seals. It's not terribly difficult, but it can be expensive. The reason is because vegetable oil is harder on the rubber and will do something to it (I forget what) that makes it crack and leak. No internal engine modifications are needed, only fuel system modifications.
Where can you get vegetable oil for free? You mean the worthless used stuff that these people had to process on-the-fly? Last I checked, vegetable oil you could actually put in your car costed more per gallon than gasoline...
Sure I can. Here's 3 oranges: O O O
There's one more in the mail, if you give me your address.
That's correct! Their track record is currently only interplanetary. We're still arguably at the dawn of space travel (assuming there's a whole day of space travel ahead of us, otherwise we're not even at the dawn of space travel). Therefore we have no stellar flight, only interplanetary. Perhaps you were just born into the wrong century?
INdeed. And we could certainly spare Utah for a solar power plant...
Has it occured to anybody yet that the DOJ might be preparing to go after Intel, and they've subpoenaed AMD and Nvidia as the other two CPU-makers? If AMD + Nvidia have 25% of the GPU market and intel the other 75%, then it seems to me that AMD and NVidia have information that would be needed in an investigation of Intel. So whether or not it's about CPU or GPU, it could easily be about Intel. (Don't forget NVidia makes CPUs too)
More to the point, who actually pays for it?
I, too, am a self-employed programmer, in the state of Texas no less. My wife went looking around for health insurance and found several things to be true.
The real question is, why do you guys just assume you have to have health insurance? I've decided that since passing 30 I should start getting regular checkups, but that's not exactly the same as assuming health insurance. $70/year + misc OTC medication is my own personal health costs. You can't show me an insurance "plan" that can beat that, and it easily extends to my wife and kids. You don't have to get health insurance, unless you're scared. Fear seems to be the only reason people actually get health insurance, and if it didn't come free with the job, it's probably not worth it for most. There are a few for whom it is worth it, but even if we assume that the insurance business is honest and free of corruption (ha!), it's still the same. Most people with insurance pay $$too much for health care, and the people who actually save money are saving money thanks to the people paying too much.
I've already made two preemptory comments to the inevitable "But waht if you're in a car wreck or something!", but here goes. First, anything over your deductible, the insurance companies in Texas just plain refuse to pay. Period. That's one of the reasons the state health program has been gutted, the state guarantees the money one way or another. So if you're in a car wreck in particular, you really only have to pay out of pocket the ambulance charges (if you take a ride in one). The rest will either be picked up by the other guy's insurance, or the state, and if the damage is severe enough, the state will pick it up anyway! And afterwards you can claim social security for awhile. Other things, like cancer and stuff? Same deal. In fact, if you get cancer in Texas, chances are your insurance company is going to drop you like a rock anyway. Illegal? Maybe. What do you expect from an industry whose main income is generated by scaring you into paying up? The only they need to add to achieve their true form is to make biological attacks on individuals who don't sign.
Uhhh, they did secure it. They removed it. Can't get much more secure than that...
Well, some of it also depends on where you're at. I lived in the Seattle area for a few years, and other than an isolated Popeye's and really nice place up north (whose name I've forgotten), KFC was all there was.
Now I"m back in Texas, and there *is* good fried chicken nearly all over the place. When I want "not bad tasting for a couple of bucks", it's Taco Cabana. Forget Taco Bell. :) There's a popeye's and a golden chick nearby, and KFC isn't cheap enough to warrant eating there.
No, it's in Nevada. Roswell is in New Mexico...
Or it would have been conquered by Nazis when the agrarian US was unable to enter WWII and Germany could focus on defeating the Soviets.
Don't know that I'd call KFC delicious. More like meat spattered with shit and soaked in a fryer.
Yes, it's true, I prefer not to eat shit.
Something tells me it's a bad idea to put a big bullseye on a building near an airport.
That's because he makes his money on hardware, not software.
How's that stopping you from carving marble?
Ok, I guess I missed it. Mind pointing it out? :) (Or maybe it's more like "I really felt warm reading his response precisely because I've spent too much time reading python docs")
You, sir, are the greatest programmer who ever lived!!!!
ANd I need to watch less spongebob, apparently.
Maybe I should quite reading my own code? heh.
VOltaire (response to your sig) Other than that, I don't think I'm interested in separating the person's personality from his code. That would be like if you divide "life" out of "music" and end up with pop/rock. A better question to ask (even though it pisses off both the idiot left and the wacky right) is "How do his traits as an alleged murderer make my filesystem better/worse?" I.e. how do those things translate into code.