This isn't very impressive. If it isn't mobile, then it is like any other cutting solution. Of course, if you want to see something really impressive for cutting metals, Petrogen is the way to go. It is an oxy-gasoline cutting torch and can cut up to 14 inches of steel at once. Be sure to check out their videos. Super impressive.
With a little global warming one of the world's greatest landmarks could be recovered, the sag in central Greenland would be fixed and a new source of income for Greenland could be tapped as tourists flock to this new "Grand Canyon" to go hiking, fishing, and camping.
I just gave up and switched to Windows 8 -- just like you suggested. I did find it easier to not install the programs you suggested as I'll just become dependant on them. Instead, I have grown to love the beautiful orange tinge that Windows 8 gives to the screen. I figure if I ever want to switch the screen back, I can switch from Cheetoes to Chicken in a Biscuit.
The more they try to make college "affordable" via loans, scholarships, etc. the more the colleges and universities will raise their prices until it is just barely affordable by all participants. They want to maximize their income -- as any business does. On the other hand, if we were to cut off student loans and scholarships you can bet that the prices would plummet and they'd stop building fancy buildings named after themselves. (Some universities have exercise areas that are reminiscent of spas and exclusive health resorts than a university.) It is amazing that our parents and grandparents were able to do things like send men to the moon without plush padded seating and nicely carpeted hallways at their universities. Even so, they could still afford to get an education.
What they will find is that if they take the patterns created by the gravity waves and decode them as if they were sound waves, they would find it translates to: "Let there be light." (BTW: Just in case, anybody wonders, that will be in English.)
Interesting idea. The problem I'd see with something like this is that the sender expects mail to arrive within a predictable time schedule. (Since many times they are waiting for a response.). Your solution would require the sender to have some idea how far the recipient lives from a post office in order to have a way to set their expectations.
With a MWF and TTHSat schedule, 1/2 the mail would arrive as scheduled. The other half would be delayed by only a single day.
I agree that there are certainly some things which can't be delayed. But doesn't it make sense that these be shipped Priority Mail where tracking information is available instead of first class mail? For everything else, a MWF and T/Th/Sat delivery schedule would cut the labor costs for mail delivery significantly. Admittedly, no solution will work for everyone.
Face it, we don't get any mail anymore that can't wait a day. Bills and junk mail are the norm. It makes a huge amount of sense to deliver non-priority packages every other day. It would cut the manpower needed for delivery almost in half. Combine that with community / street mailboxes and then that makes some real savings.
It is always a bit humorous for me when I think about the arguments that we need copyrights that are 70 years plus the life of the author but for patents, 20 years is adequate. What's more, that Congress can make copyrights retroactive. Just imagine the chaos that would ensue if they gave patents a similar term as copyrights and re-instituted patents retroactively as they did copyrights. While and enormous headache and make our economy come to a screeching halt, it would be a lot of fun to watch.
It boggles my mind that the Government expects that software developers will do patent searches as they write their code rather than simply implementing what is obvious at the time to implement. Software patents are written in such a way as to make them difficult to interpret and appear broad even when they aren't. It simply isn't practical for software developers were to do their "due diligence" as they write their code, and if they did no appreciable amount of code would be written.
It is quite likely that most if not all software written violates at least a small handful of patents (remember the XOR patent?) -- creating an unfair advantage for the companies who have enormous in-house legal councils who can pursue purported patent violations.
The Egyptians used hand written papyrus and we still have copies to look at. The laser printed paper copies of the Book of the Dead simply didn't survive.
Raw files allow you to adjust the exposure easily by two stops either direction and sometimes more. Additionally, it is easier to adjust the white balance with RAW files. Both of these can be necessary for rescuing an improperly exposed photo of a once in a lifetime event.
What the judges need to understand is that fundamentally, people are general purpose machines. Without any training at all, people are not capable of solving many problems. However, people can solve all sorts of problems based on what you teach them. Sure, you aren't going to be able to get a bushman in the Serengeti to be able to build the Apollo but, the potential is there given enough training. If that same bushman were to go to school and eventually graduate from college, they would be just as capable as anybody else. So how is receiving training through college or a technical school any different than a computer receiving a new set of instructions on how to solve a particular problem?
Computers only run algorithms (which aren't supposed to be patentable). They follow a set of instructions step by step and can't do anything that you and I can't do with a pencil and piece of paper. (They just can do it a lot faster.)
Of course, the beauty of computers is that they only do what you tell them. When they don't do what you want, it is still your fault since you didn't provide the instructions you thought you did.;-)
Actually, most snipers now carry around a ballistics computer that their spotter uses to calculate the hold offset. This is sold for example by the folks that sell the 408 Cheytac. (The CheyTac holds the -- non-published-or acknowledged -- record for the longest wartime kill in Afghanistan / Pakistan btw. at a distance of approximately 2 miles.) The military buys the 408 CheyTac and ballistics calculator as a complete "system".
I should also point out that despite what the article says, it will still take an experienced shooter to shoot this to its maximum potential. How you hold and handle the rifle will affect its recoil and its accuracy as the rifle recoils while the bullet is still in the barrel. The rifle will also need to compensate for mirage at longer distances. Hard to hit something at 1,000 yards when the target keeps dancing around in your sights.
I think there is an important distinction. Your background checks were required by a private organization and were in a sense voluntary (since you can join the organization or not). Would you be in favor of mandatory government background checks of all people as a condition of their employment if their job required them to come into contact with children?
You missed my point. The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution. (Yes, we are on agreement on that, I know.) However, any law which is used to curtail the right to keep and bear arms and is upheld by the courts can be used as a precedent for future courts to rule on similar laws applying to other constitutionally guaranteed rights. So for example laws that require a background check to keep and bear arms (that are upheld by the courts) can be used by later courts as precedent for ruling that background checks can be required to exercise other constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Sometimes people forget when they think a specific law would be "a good idea" how that will play into the larger legal framework. The courts today are ruled not by original intent (as they were up until the 1920's -- as I recall) but by precedent and laws which infringe on one right can be used to infringe on others. So in the case of firearms, background checks on firearms can be used to create similar laws for background checks elsewhere.
It is important to keep in mind that what politician say when they create laws is very different than what they do with them. They created RICO laws to combat organized crime -- which sounds great. However, RICO laws are now used for all sorts of crimes intentional and unintentional so that they can "get" whoever they want to "get". Someday, that may be you, me, or someone one of us cares about.
The gun issue not withstanding, the Government's attack on the Second Amendment is horrific and sets up really bad precidence for the Fourth Amendment, First Amendment, as well as others.
FOURTH AMENDMENT
Just think: In order to exercise your Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, the Government needs to perform a background check on you to ensure that you are an upstanding citizen.
FIRST AMENDMENT
In order to exercise your First Amendment rights, you are subject to a three day waiting period.
You may only use media types approved by the Government. Discourses conducted through media not sanctioned is a felony.
As I recall, someone crashed a train and/or subway while texting awhile back. Whether if caused the crash is really unknown other than texting got the blame.
I'd gladly buy a bus or train.... It's just that they are so much more expensive.
Wouldn't crashing a bus or train though while texting be so much more catastrophic than when driving a car?
True. But as it says, this fertilizer was primarily developed to prevent fertilizer from being used in IEDs. To this it is at least a partial failure as there are way too many household chemicals that can be turned into explosives or highly dangerous chemicals. (Bleach and ammonia make hydrazine for example. Ammonium nitrate is found in instant cold packs that can be purchased in any drug store.)
This fertilizer wasn't developed to stop fertilizer plants from blowing up. If it was, someone probably would have developed it a long time ago. Fertilizer plants rarely blow up -- unless you live in Texas in which case be sure to live far away from fertilizer plants and cargo ships.
This stuff was developed --- as it says in the article summary -- to prevent nitrate laden fertilizer from being used in IEDs.
Slashdot Mirror
This isn't very impressive. If it isn't mobile, then it is like any other cutting solution. Of course, if you want to see something really impressive for cutting metals, Petrogen is the way to go. It is an oxy-gasoline cutting torch and can cut up to 14 inches of steel at once. Be sure to check out their videos. Super impressive.
What happened to the second law of thermodynamics? As I read this, Windows is run in Wine which can then power the chip to run Windows.....
With a little global warming one of the world's greatest landmarks could be recovered, the sag in central Greenland would be fixed and a new source of income for Greenland could be tapped as tourists flock to this new "Grand Canyon" to go hiking, fishing, and camping.
I just gave up and switched to Windows 8 -- just like you suggested. I did find it easier to not install the programs you suggested as I'll just become dependant on them. Instead, I have grown to love the beautiful orange tinge that Windows 8 gives to the screen. I figure if I ever want to switch the screen back, I can switch from Cheetoes to Chicken in a Biscuit.
The more they try to make college "affordable" via loans, scholarships, etc. the more the colleges and universities will raise their prices until it is just barely affordable by all participants. They want to maximize their income -- as any business does. On the other hand, if we were to cut off student loans and scholarships you can bet that the prices would plummet and they'd stop building fancy buildings named after themselves. (Some universities have exercise areas that are reminiscent of spas and exclusive health resorts than a university.) It is amazing that our parents and grandparents were able to do things like send men to the moon without plush padded seating and nicely carpeted hallways at their universities. Even so, they could still afford to get an education.
Not really.
What they will find is that if they take the patterns created by the gravity waves and decode them as if they were sound waves, they would find it translates to: "Let there be light." (BTW: Just in case, anybody wonders, that will be in English.)
Interesting idea. The problem I'd see with something like this is that the sender expects mail to arrive within a predictable time schedule. (Since many times they are waiting for a response.). Your solution would require the sender to have some idea how far the recipient lives from a post office in order to have a way to set their expectations. With a MWF and TTHSat schedule, 1/2 the mail would arrive as scheduled. The other half would be delayed by only a single day.
I agree that there are certainly some things which can't be delayed. But doesn't it make sense that these be shipped Priority Mail where tracking information is available instead of first class mail? For everything else, a MWF and T/Th/Sat delivery schedule would cut the labor costs for mail delivery significantly. Admittedly, no solution will work for everyone.
Face it, we don't get any mail anymore that can't wait a day. Bills and junk mail are the norm. It makes a huge amount of sense to deliver non-priority packages every other day. It would cut the manpower needed for delivery almost in half. Combine that with community / street mailboxes and then that makes some real savings.
It is always a bit humorous for me when I think about the arguments that we need copyrights that are 70 years plus the life of the author but for patents, 20 years is adequate. What's more, that Congress can make copyrights retroactive. Just imagine the chaos that would ensue if they gave patents a similar term as copyrights and re-instituted patents retroactively as they did copyrights. While and enormous headache and make our economy come to a screeching halt, it would be a lot of fun to watch.
It boggles my mind that the Government expects that software developers will do patent searches as they write their code rather than simply implementing what is obvious at the time to implement. Software patents are written in such a way as to make them difficult to interpret and appear broad even when they aren't. It simply isn't practical for software developers were to do their "due diligence" as they write their code, and if they did no appreciable amount of code would be written.
It is quite likely that most if not all software written violates at least a small handful of patents (remember the XOR patent?) -- creating an unfair advantage for the companies who have enormous in-house legal councils who can pursue purported patent violations.
Why eat your vegetables when you can get a cow or a pig to eat them for you?
The Egyptians used hand written papyrus and we still have copies to look at. The laser printed paper copies of the Book of the Dead simply didn't survive.
Raw files allow you to adjust the exposure easily by two stops either direction and sometimes more. Additionally, it is easier to adjust the white balance with RAW files. Both of these can be necessary for rescuing an improperly exposed photo of a once in a lifetime event.
What the judges need to understand is that fundamentally, people are general purpose machines. Without any training at all, people are not capable of solving many problems. However, people can solve all sorts of problems based on what you teach them. Sure, you aren't going to be able to get a bushman in the Serengeti to be able to build the Apollo but, the potential is there given enough training. If that same bushman were to go to school and eventually graduate from college, they would be just as capable as anybody else. So how is receiving training through college or a technical school any different than a computer receiving a new set of instructions on how to solve a particular problem?
Computers only run algorithms (which aren't supposed to be patentable). They follow a set of instructions step by step and can't do anything that you and I can't do with a pencil and piece of paper. (They just can do it a lot faster.)
Of course, the beauty of computers is that they only do what you tell them. When they don't do what you want, it is still your fault since you didn't provide the instructions you thought you did. ;-)
Is Bruce Schneier quoted as much as XKCD or is XKCD quoted as much as Bruce Schneier?
You mean like this one?
http://www.cheytac.com/Products/components/Kestrel.pdf
(See my earlier reply regarding the 408 CheyTac sniper system. This is the associated linky.
Actually, most snipers now carry around a ballistics computer that their spotter uses to calculate the hold offset. This is sold for example by the folks that sell the 408 Cheytac. (The CheyTac holds the -- non-published-or acknowledged -- record for the longest wartime kill in Afghanistan / Pakistan btw. at a distance of approximately 2 miles.) The military buys the 408 CheyTac and ballistics calculator as a complete "system".
I should also point out that despite what the article says, it will still take an experienced shooter to shoot this to its maximum potential. How you hold and handle the rifle will affect its recoil and its accuracy as the rifle recoils while the bullet is still in the barrel. The rifle will also need to compensate for mirage at longer distances. Hard to hit something at 1,000 yards when the target keeps dancing around in your sights.
I think there is an important distinction. Your background checks were required by a private organization and were in a sense voluntary (since you can join the organization or not). Would you be in favor of mandatory government background checks of all people as a condition of their employment if their job required them to come into contact with children?
You missed my point. The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution. (Yes, we are on agreement on that, I know.) However, any law which is used to curtail the right to keep and bear arms and is upheld by the courts can be used as a precedent for future courts to rule on similar laws applying to other constitutionally guaranteed rights. So for example laws that require a background check to keep and bear arms (that are upheld by the courts) can be used by later courts as precedent for ruling that background checks can be required to exercise other constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Sometimes people forget when they think a specific law would be "a good idea" how that will play into the larger legal framework. The courts today are ruled not by original intent (as they were up until the 1920's -- as I recall) but by precedent and laws which infringe on one right can be used to infringe on others. So in the case of firearms, background checks on firearms can be used to create similar laws for background checks elsewhere.
It is important to keep in mind that what politician say when they create laws is very different than what they do with them. They created RICO laws to combat organized crime -- which sounds great. However, RICO laws are now used for all sorts of crimes intentional and unintentional so that they can "get" whoever they want to "get". Someday, that may be you, me, or someone one of us cares about.
The gun issue not withstanding, the Government's attack on the Second Amendment is horrific and sets up really bad precidence for the Fourth Amendment, First Amendment, as well as others.
FOURTH AMENDMENT
Just think: In order to exercise your Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, the Government needs to perform a background check on you to ensure that you are an upstanding citizen.
FIRST AMENDMENT
In order to exercise your First Amendment rights, you are subject to a three day waiting period. You may only use media types approved by the Government. Discourses conducted through media not sanctioned is a felony.
etc.
As I recall, someone crashed a train and/or subway while texting awhile back. Whether if caused the crash is really unknown other than texting got the blame.
I'd gladly buy a bus or train.... It's just that they are so much more expensive.
Wouldn't crashing a bus or train though while texting be so much more catastrophic than when driving a car?
True. But as it says, this fertilizer was primarily developed to prevent fertilizer from being used in IEDs. To this it is at least a partial failure as there are way too many household chemicals that can be turned into explosives or highly dangerous chemicals. (Bleach and ammonia make hydrazine for example. Ammonium nitrate is found in instant cold packs that can be purchased in any drug store.)
This fertilizer wasn't developed to stop fertilizer plants from blowing up. If it was, someone probably would have developed it a long time ago. Fertilizer plants rarely blow up -- unless you live in Texas in which case be sure to live far away from fertilizer plants and cargo ships.
This stuff was developed --- as it says in the article summary -- to prevent nitrate laden fertilizer from being used in IEDs.