I'm waiting for Google goggles...
on
Google's Next Steps
·
· Score: 4, Funny
I'd like a pair of virtual stereo glasses that could project a screen in front of my eyes, and which would activate keyword searches using silent pre-vocal muscle movements. Then google would be an integral part of my being.
Absolutely. I thought it was just me, but something really, really pisses me off with those cars that have those headlights that are bluish-purplish when they go up a hill and are extremely bluish-white when going straight ahead. I do wonder if they are installed incorrectly, or if the driver couldn't afford the officially recommended set.
I had a quick google search for "water purification" and "desalination plants". All your points are still valid. Many sites actually combine the power station with a desalination plant. The water superheated to pass through the turbines is also used to heat up the water entering the turbines, and then used to supply fresh-water. Filtering out large objects and bacteria is required for both systems.
It is interesting to read that it's cheaper to refine oil, than it is to purify water.
High house prices are caused by a shortage of housing on the market. This can be caused by a sudden influx of staff (companies recruiting), or high demand (people trading up). High salaries are caused by a demand for staff. And sometimes city government doesn't want to attract families and because they would require new schools to be built, so they build small apartment units instead of family homes. Go to wordspy.com and read about "vasectomy housing".
The amount of salt in sea-water is measured in terms of salinity (the number of grams of salt in a kilogram of sea-water). Normal sea-water has a salinity of 35%, or around 35 grams. Thus, one metric ton (1000kg) of sea-water would give you 35,000 grams or 35 Kilograms of salt (35 x 1 Kilogram bags of salt).
Now, the average adult human need 2 litres of fresh water to drink just to survive each day (2 litres = 2 kilograms at 4.0 C). Although some of this can come from food such as meat, vegetables and fruit. If a desalination plant is used, that's 70 grams of salt being produced per person/day. At most an individual is only going to require 1 gram of each mineral (Eg. sodium). So around 65 grams/day of salt is going to have to be placed somewhere. Multiply this by 1,000 people for a small town (65kg salt produced per day) and 1 million for a large city (65 tonnes salt produced per day).
And that's not including the requirements for washing machines, dish-washers, garden sprinklers, and toilets.
The main objection to desalination plants is that they are highly energy intensive. Purifying water from mountain spring water requires seven stages, most of which are chemical/physical:
Filtering of large solids (fish, leaves,twigs)
Removal of unpleasant odors and tastes using carbon filters
Chemical dosing with lime, ferrous sulfate and polymer to remove suspended particles.
Application of chlorine to kill off bacteria.
Application of fluoride to prevent tooth decay.
Filtering through anthracite coal and and sand to remove the last remaining suspended particles.
Desalination plants have the additional task of removing the salt from the water. There are two ways of achieving this. The first method is to boil the water until every last drop has been converted into steam and then recondensed again. Alternatively, membrane filtering can be used, which requires that the water is pumped at high pressure through a water but not salt permeable membrane. Both of these methods require large amounts of energy (Power stations are a good location for this).
More importantly, the areas that require desalination plants, are the same areas which are pouring/or have poured unprocessed sewage and toxic waste into ground water supplies. It would be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly to implement waste water purification, than to run a desalination plant in the first place.
Allowing patents on such would be like allowing someone to patent "sift 2 cups of flour with 1 tsp baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a bowl
All you need to do is define a programming language which has a syntax identical to a cooking recipe, then implement important algorithms (eg. DeCSS) in that language, then the law will be ridiculed.
Thus:
sift 2 cups of flour with 1 tsp baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a bowl
1) Consumer awareness
2) Ease of use
3) Compatibility
The last item is the biggest obstacle. Just about every newspaper has now published at least one article about "Linux" being of concern to Microsoft, and that it looks just like the Windows desktop. However, ask your average home user about switching over to Linux, and you will probably receive the following objections:
[1] We wouldn't be able to access our files
[2] We wouldn't be able to use our existing ISP.
Internet providers such as Telewest don't provide direct support for Linux. The best users have been able to do, is to use a dual boot system with Windows used to configure the account, and Linux used once everything has been set up. Sure, there are Linux friendly ISP's out there, but Telewest more or less have the monopoly on 2 Megabit Internet access.
For comparison, one of the latest digital cameras can record colour video with sound, but there usually is a maximum video clip limit size of 8 Mbytes (or around 60 seconds), and the resolution is limited to 320x200 during this time. And it takes around 30 seconds to compress the video. So maybe this video camera could store around 10 minutes of video with video at 320x200.
I was in Switzerland last year and I noticed that the stoplights there would show the yello signal in both directions.
Something similar happens in the UK as well. The sequence for a basic intersection is:
North/South East/West . Pedestrians Red . . . . Green . . . Red Red/Yellow. Yellow. . . Red Green . . . Red . . . . Red Yellow. . . Red/Yellow. Red Red . . . . Green . . . Red Red . . . . Yellow. . . Red Red . . . . Red . . . . Green(*)
Needless to say, waiting time really sucks if you're wanting to cross, and the sequence is at the very start.
Having lived in the Canada/US, I've noticed that traffic is also allowed to make right turns even when the walk sign is at green.
Don't tell me that more than 10% of the population is doing more than browsing the web (oops, browsing p0rn), using email to send grandma snapshots of the newly born worm, and, and, and, and
I remember when Sun introduced the JavaStation. It allowed E-mail, word processing, and image viewing. However, because the language was easy to use, users were pushing the system beyond its intended use. For example, medical students were using the Java image library to view MRI images. They would attempt to load an entire image volume (something like a cube of 128/256/512 pixels) which would be displayed as a single cross-section image. People were trying to use the audio capability to implement conference calls.
With low budget PC's, the system must be able to download and play mpeg/divx/wmv video and audio files. With the freeware/beta Voip applications, a system needs at least 128 Mbytes of memory. People also want to be able to use the latest flash players (they'll get annoyed if they download anything and it doesn't work or needs more than a 1- minute update). Some web sites allow users to view texture 3D models of inventory. All of this requires a computer with at least a decent CPU, a decent screen resolution, if not some rudimentary 3D graphics accerlation.
Deep-discount computers S U C K. They *must* know this
They do. Profit margins on deep discount PC's were so small that Sun was not able to provide the level of customer support that they would like to provide. That's why customer support is being handled by a third party. However, it does act as another front of attack. Previously Microsoft only had to keep pushing the price/performance upwards to compete against workstations and servers. Now, they (or the PC makers) are sandwiched between high-end servers, thin client systems, and now deep discount PC's. Every PC sold is one less Microsoft Windows Tax paid.
For writing applications, I've taken to following a coding standard. Class names begin with an uppercase C (eg. CString, CList). Members of a class are prefixed with 'm_'. Base list classes end with List (similarly for trees). Nearly every class has an Init function, along with either an Allocate or Deallocate functions, so an object can be reused without being completely destroyed. Pointers are prefixed with 'p' Functions are prefixed with the class name, so that there isn't confusion when using inheritance or base clases.
. For lists, I have the standard, Add, Delete, Append, Duplicate functions.
After doing all of this, practically every application wherever I've worked will look identical. How do you go about proving that this code is original, apart from using file logging, a personal log, or some other technique.
Man, you sound like you one cheesed off chimp. You must have fallen out of the wrong side of the tree this morning, and missed your banana rations. You're not any relation to this chimp by any chance?
That reminds me of a story one of my previous team leaders told me. While he working as a contractor at a large company, he found himself being asked to train up a new graduate. He didn't need a consultation with Mystic Meg to see what was going to happen in the near future. Since the trainee's first language wasn't English, he provided some additional lessons in corporate-executive-speak. These included phrases such as "luvely-jubbly" for when things are going really well, "tickety-tock" when everything is completed on time, and "running bootifully" when a system booted up without a hitch. He also suggested putting "whiteboard rafting" under the Interests section of the resume.
Reading this article reminds me of an urban legend I heard about. Apparently one time, there was a complaint made by someone about a cinema which was playing porn movies or at least one porn movie. For some reason or another, the FBI were called in to investigate. In order to carry out their investigation, the two agents had to enter the cinema, buy some tickets and write detailed notes about one or more movies. After hearing about this, the owner filed a FOI request, and got the transcripts; which amounted to a reversed engineered script of each movie.
232 virus warnings doesn't say to me that there is a problem with viruses, it tells me that there is a problem with whomever is issueing them.
232 virus doesn't say to me that there is a problem with viruses, it tells me that there is a problem with whoever is developing operating systems and applications that allow them to propagate.
IBM knew since the early 1980's that including the ability to execute scripts/programs from E-mail applications could create the opportunity for viruses to exist/propagate (Source: The Computer Virus Crisis).
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There was a similar question asked about the PC with the smallest footprint. Maybe there are some suggestions there.
I'd like a pair of virtual stereo glasses that could project a screen in front of my eyes, and which would activate keyword searches using silent pre-vocal muscle movements. Then google would be an integral part of my being.
Yes, purified mountain water is cheap close to mountains and valleys. But desalinated water isn't so cheap in third-world countries.
Absolutely. I thought it was just me, but something really, really pisses me off with those cars that have those headlights that are bluish-purplish when they go up a hill and are extremely bluish-white when going straight ahead. I do wonder if they are installed incorrectly, or if the driver couldn't afford the officially recommended set.
I had a quick google search for "water purification" and "desalination plants". All your points are still valid. Many sites actually combine the power station with a desalination plant. The water superheated to pass through the turbines is also used to heat up the water entering the turbines, and then used to supply fresh-water. Filtering out large objects and bacteria is required for both systems.
It is interesting to read that it's cheaper to refine oil, than it is to purify water.
Yes, that should read: 35 o/oo(parts per thousand), not % (parts per hundred).
The Russian Lunar explorer has discovered a crater with a pod labelled "Jimmy Hoffa" on the side.
High house prices are caused by a shortage of housing on the market. This can be caused by a sudden influx of staff (companies recruiting), or high demand (people trading up). High salaries are caused by a demand for staff. And sometimes city government doesn't want to attract families and because they would require new schools to be built, so they build small apartment units instead of family homes. Go to wordspy.com and read about "vasectomy housing".
From Geology 101 - Seawater chemistry
The amount of salt in sea-water is measured in terms of salinity (the number of grams of salt in a kilogram of sea-water). Normal sea-water has a salinity of 35%, or around 35 grams. Thus, one metric ton (1000kg) of sea-water would give you 35,000 grams or 35 Kilograms of salt (35 x 1 Kilogram bags of salt).
Of this, the distribution is as follows:
Chloride: 55.04%
Sodium: 30.61%
Sulphate: 7.64%
Magnesium: 3.69%
Calcium: 1.16%
Potassium: 1.10%
Now, the average adult human need 2 litres of fresh water to drink just to survive each day (2 litres = 2 kilograms at 4.0 C). Although some of this can come from food such as meat, vegetables and fruit.
If a desalination plant is used, that's 70 grams of salt being produced per person/day.
At most an individual is only going to require 1 gram of each mineral (Eg. sodium).
So around 65 grams/day of salt is going to have to be placed somewhere.
Multiply this by 1,000 people for a small town (65kg salt produced per day) and
1 million for a large city (65 tonnes salt produced per day).
And that's not including the requirements for washing machines, dish-washers, garden sprinklers, and toilets.
The main objection to desalination plants is that they are highly energy intensive. Purifying water from mountain spring water requires seven stages, most of which are chemical/physical:
Filtering of large solids (fish, leaves,twigs)
Removal of unpleasant odors and tastes using carbon filters
Chemical dosing with lime, ferrous sulfate and polymer to remove suspended particles.
Application of chlorine to kill off bacteria.
Application of fluoride to prevent tooth decay.
Filtering through anthracite coal and and sand to remove the last remaining suspended particles.
Desalination plants have the additional task of removing the salt from the water. There are two ways of achieving this. The first method is to boil the water until every last drop has been converted into steam and then recondensed again. Alternatively, membrane filtering can be used, which requires that the water is pumped at high pressure through a water but not salt permeable membrane. Both of these methods require large amounts of energy (Power stations are a good location for this).
More importantly, the areas that require desalination plants, are the same areas which are pouring/or have poured unprocessed sewage and toxic waste into ground water supplies. It would be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly to implement waste water purification, than to run a desalination plant in the first place.
You mean here
Another story is here, which explains things a bit more clearly.
Allowing patents on such would be like allowing someone to patent "sift 2 cups of flour with 1 tsp baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a bowl
All you need to do is define a programming language which has a syntax identical to a cooking recipe, then implement important algorithms (eg. DeCSS) in that language, then the law will be ridiculed.
Thus:
sift 2 cups of flour with 1 tsp baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt into a bowl
is actually
bowl = 2000.0f * flour + 1.0f * bakingsoda + 0.25f * salt;
I think the problems facing Linux are:
1) Consumer awareness
2) Ease of use
3) Compatibility
The last item is the biggest obstacle. Just about every newspaper has now published at least one article about "Linux" being of concern to Microsoft, and that it looks just like the Windows desktop. However, ask your average home user about switching over to Linux, and you will probably receive the following objections:
[1] We wouldn't be able to access our files
[2] We wouldn't be able to use our existing ISP.
Internet providers such as Telewest don't provide direct support for Linux. The best users have been able to do, is to use a dual boot system with Windows used to configure the account, and Linux used once everything has been set up. Sure, there are Linux friendly ISP's out there, but Telewest more or less have the monopoly on 2 Megabit Internet access.
For comparison, one of the latest digital cameras can record colour video with sound, but there usually is a maximum video clip limit size of 8 Mbytes (or around 60 seconds), and the resolution is limited to 320x200 during this time. And it takes around 30 seconds to compress the video. So maybe this video camera could store around 10 minutes of video with video at 320x200.
4. Monitor: Keeps Track of What You're Doing Don't forget:
/windows/applog
which at this point in time is wasting approximately 8 Megabytes of my disk space.
Something similar happens in the UK as well. The sequence for a basic intersection is:
Needless to say, waiting time really sucks if you're wanting to cross, and the sequence is at the very start.
Having lived in the Canada/US, I've noticed that traffic is also allowed to make right turns even when the walk sign is at green.
Don't tell me that more than 10% of the population is doing more than browsing the web (oops, browsing p0rn), using email to send grandma snapshots of the newly born worm, and, and, and, and
I remember when Sun introduced the JavaStation. It allowed E-mail, word processing, and image viewing. However, because the language was easy to use, users were pushing the system beyond its intended use. For example, medical students were using the Java image library to view MRI images. They would attempt to load an entire image volume (something like a cube of 128/256/512 pixels) which would be displayed as a single cross-section image. People were trying to use the audio capability to implement conference calls.
With low budget PC's, the system must be able to download and play mpeg/divx/wmv video and audio files. With the freeware/beta Voip applications, a system needs at least 128 Mbytes of memory. People also want to be able to use the latest flash players (they'll get annoyed if they download anything and it doesn't work or needs more than a 1- minute update). Some web sites allow users to view texture 3D models of inventory. All of this requires a computer with at least a decent CPU, a decent screen resolution, if not some rudimentary 3D graphics accerlation.
Deep-discount computers S U C K. They *must* know this
They do. Profit margins on deep discount PC's were so small that Sun was not able to provide the level of customer support that they would like to provide. That's why customer support is being handled by a third party. However, it does act as another front of attack. Previously Microsoft only had to keep pushing the price/performance upwards to compete against workstations and servers. Now, they (or the PC makers) are sandwiched between high-end servers, thin client systems, and now deep discount PC's. Every PC sold is one less Microsoft Windows Tax paid.
For writing applications, I've taken to following a coding standard. Class names begin with an uppercase C (eg. CString, CList). Members of a class are prefixed with 'm_'. Base list classes end with List (similarly for trees). Nearly every class has an Init function, along with either an Allocate or Deallocate functions, so an object can be reused without being completely destroyed. Pointers are prefixed with 'p' Functions are prefixed with the class name, so that there isn't confusion when using inheritance or base clases.
. For lists, I have the standard, Add, Delete, Append, Duplicate functions. After doing all of this, practically every application wherever I've worked will look identical. How do you go about proving that this code is original, apart from using file logging, a personal log, or some other technique.
Man, you sound like you one cheesed off chimp. You must have fallen out of the wrong side of the tree this morning, and missed your banana rations. You're not any relation to this chimp by any chance?
That reminds me of a story one of my previous team leaders told me. While he working as a contractor at a large company, he found himself being asked to train up a new graduate. He didn't need a consultation with Mystic Meg to see what was going to happen in the near future. Since the trainee's first language wasn't English, he provided some additional lessons in corporate-executive-speak. These included phrases such as "luvely-jubbly" for when things are going really well, "tickety-tock" when everything is completed on time, and "running bootifully" when a system booted up without a hitch. He also suggested putting "whiteboard rafting" under the Interests section of the resume.
Getting the rocket to work is easy; it's the development of the armour which is holding things up.
Reading this article reminds me of an urban legend I heard about. Apparently one time, there was a complaint made by someone about a cinema which was playing porn movies or at least one porn movie. For some reason or another, the FBI were called in to investigate. In order to carry out their investigation, the two agents had to enter the cinema, buy some tickets and write detailed notes about one or more movies. After hearing about this, the owner filed a FOI request, and got the transcripts; which amounted to a reversed engineered script of each movie.
Our neighbor used to be department store designer, who moved into web page design. She had a bucketful of sayings. These included:
Red and Green should never be seen.
That phrase is googleable.
232 virus warnings doesn't say to me that there is a problem with viruses, it tells me that there is a problem with whomever is issueing them.
232 virus doesn't say to me that there is a problem with viruses, it tells me that there is a problem with whoever is developing operating systems and applications that allow them to propagate.
IBM knew since the early 1980's that including the ability to execute scripts/programs from E-mail applications could create the opportunity for viruses to exist/propagate (Source: The Computer Virus Crisis).