I do wonder why Slashdotters consider KK to be some kind of authority on the state of fusion research. It is obvious from his replies that he has a cursory knowledge of the field at best. As someone who has published research in the area, I can state a couple of misconceptions being offered by KK.
1) No one doing active research in the fusion community thinks that fusion power is "1 year away." At best, the National Ignition Facility is a few years away from demonstrating breakeven (energy into the laser = fusion neutron energy produced). A realistic plant scenario is 30 years (or more) from that point. ITER is the equivalent experiment on the magnetic fusion side of the house, and that timeline is closer to 2040 now.
2) No one seriously looking at fusion energy is talking about competing with coal or fission based electricity. At best, fusion (so far) can compete with other renewables on a cost per kWh basis - which is about a factor of 5 more expensive than coal or fission power.
Actually, it's more like this:
Suppose the guys at Evil Hat decided that they wanted to publish a 4E adventure and sell it under the GSL. Now they are faced with a choice: do I publish this 4E adventure or do I stop selling Fate, Spirit of the Century, and the Dresden Files? Now, none of these games have anything to do with the fantasy RPG genre, but they were published under the OGL, and therefore supposedly subject to the restrictions of the GSL if Evil Hat wanted to publish that 4E adventure.
I used to work for a consulting company that did tech support for McDonald's back office product. It was amusing to hear all of the craptastic ideas coming from their CTO.
You should have heard the owner of the franchise stores bitch 3 years ago were told by HQ to upgrade from 2400 baud to 56K modems.
If this ever comes to pass, it will only be at the franchise stores, but don't hold your breath.
Slashdot Mirror
I do wonder why Slashdotters consider KK to be some kind of authority on the state of fusion research. It is obvious from his replies that he has a cursory knowledge of the field at best. As someone who has published research in the area, I can state a couple of misconceptions being offered by KK. 1) No one doing active research in the fusion community thinks that fusion power is "1 year away." At best, the National Ignition Facility is a few years away from demonstrating breakeven (energy into the laser = fusion neutron energy produced). A realistic plant scenario is 30 years (or more) from that point. ITER is the equivalent experiment on the magnetic fusion side of the house, and that timeline is closer to 2040 now. 2) No one seriously looking at fusion energy is talking about competing with coal or fission based electricity. At best, fusion (so far) can compete with other renewables on a cost per kWh basis - which is about a factor of 5 more expensive than coal or fission power.
At least I hope it is when I go on mine in September.
Actually, it's more like this: Suppose the guys at Evil Hat decided that they wanted to publish a 4E adventure and sell it under the GSL. Now they are faced with a choice: do I publish this 4E adventure or do I stop selling Fate, Spirit of the Century, and the Dresden Files? Now, none of these games have anything to do with the fantasy RPG genre, but they were published under the OGL, and therefore supposedly subject to the restrictions of the GSL if Evil Hat wanted to publish that 4E adventure.
Gar, the wheels of Justice grind slowly, they do.
Correction - it will only be at the corporate stores. Most of the franchise owners wouldn't pull a dime out of their arse to save their own kids.
I used to work for a consulting company that did tech support for McDonald's back office product. It was amusing to hear all of the craptastic ideas coming from their CTO. You should have heard the owner of the franchise stores bitch 3 years ago were told by HQ to upgrade from 2400 baud to 56K modems. If this ever comes to pass, it will only be at the franchise stores, but don't hold your breath.