"Lastly, it would take a lot more than a computer crash to take down a reactor in such a waythat it would go critical, somehow ignore the multitude of safeguards, etc."
Kind of off the point but that is one of the great TV/Movie 'Junk Science' pieces of missinformation about reactors.
Reactors operate critical at steady state. Critical is the term used for when a reaction is self-sustaining, not out of control. Think of it as idle, but producing power (kind of like cruise control) Even super-critical is not a problem to a point(think of it as accelerating the reaction to reach a higher thermal power output level). The problem is when the reaction is SO super critical that it is accelerating out of the control rod's ability to dampen the reaction. Think of a car where you stomp on the gas and the tranny breaks free so the engine revs out until something blows.
I shake my head everytime I see some movie where the engineer runs out screaming "My god, the reactor is critical!"
Not only do they not give way, I was in a cab that deliberately cut off an ambulance to get better position on a stoplight. We drove in front of it for 3 blocks, sirens lights and horn going the entire time.
When we arrived, we asked the company we were visiting about it, and they agreed that if you are injured, you should drive yourself or take a cab.
You should see the traffic in Asia. Was recently in Taiwan and the traffic there can only be described as chaotic. Rules are arbitrarily followed, lane markers are taken as a suggestion. Add the thousands of scooters weaving in and out of traffic (travelling either with or against the flow of traffic, it doesn't matter) and ANY US city seems sane.
The most interesting part is, while almost every vehicle has a few rub marks, I only saw 1 accident in a week's time.
FYI, larger T# = Larger bit. The T-6 I use to remove harddrives from the laptops we work on is significantly smaller than the T15 and T20 I use to remove docking stations from Police Cruisers.
far more practical idea is to have a regular fuel tank holding Hydrogen, and then have your home covered with solar cells to convert water to hydrogen (and oxygen). Even BETTER is to have gas stations that provide Hydrogen, and use electrical sources like wind to provide energy for electolysis. (This is the idea that most engineers are following. Photovoltaic->Hydrogen generation is simply too inefficient, and MUCH more expensive.)
That is why the project plan for next year includes setting up the school with PV for a 'fueling station'. They can get 70 miles with high compression on the tanks.
I agree that this does not seem a path to a viable final form.
It is a proof of concept for the general idea (and a cool class project--we never did anything that cool in high school). This is the kind of imaginative thinking we need to promote in our kids. Even they said it not practical, but there are lessons learned and imaginations are brewing.
Even if the 'Scientist from RAND' build such a 'model', there is no rational reason they would use those particular banks of machinery and say that it was a reasonable prediction of a computer in any time frame.
Nothing in those panels can be reasonably construed as a computer. Even their purpose does not align. What does a series of pressure and temperature gauges have to do with 'the home computer of tomorrow'? The picture might as well be a photo of a drill press for all the relevance the panels have to computing.
As another poster puts it, this is likely a photoshop-job.
It has to be a mock up. The 3 panels are from a submarine reactor control plant. From left to right, Throttleman, Reactor Operator, Electrical operator.
The 2 wheels control the valves that release steam to the turbines for forward and reverse.
Yes we could create a drive with USB on the controller, that USB would still have to interface to a controller (even if it is on-die)
USB is simply a comm protocol, granted a relatively intelligent and flexible one, but in it's core it is still just a way to get data from device A to device B. It is designed for a different abstraction layer than the drive controller.
Adding Drive control to the protocol will Bloat the spec and possibly render it too complicated for simple devices to use effeciently. Why does the interface to your keyboard have to understand drive geometry? Not to mention the cost in speed with the additional command overhead.
Now, a drive that had a USB type interface on die with a drive controller so I could have an embedded device without the need for ANY drive controller attached to the PCI bus would be nice for SOME applications.
The interfaces that exist are already standardized, already in silicon, the required bridges already exist, and the consumer already has an installed base of compatible gear. So, any current hardware will have an advantage over any new stuff that will arguably have fewer features and less flexibility than that which is currently available and it will cost more.
The issue here is not the connection to the PC. You can still use USB/Firewire/etc.
This technology is black box to the end user. Unless you look up the design specs, all you will know is that works.
The issue is the internal connection between the device hardware and the storage medium. If I am designing a device that is supposed to be small, what do I design for? Remember that the storage interface control IC for embedded device will not vary much in price unless the standard is proprietary. It costs the same to imbed a chip with SATA control protocols as ATA. Probably cheaper since you need less I/O lines and smaller board footprint is possible...
If I have a space constraint in the device on the MB, which am I going to go with? A total of 12 or less pins (assuming power embedded--IDE 44 is just IDE 40 with embedded power lines) or 44 pins? Particularly if the 12 pin connector is faster?
Also consider that unless the header connects directly to the drive, you have to use a flat cable. Very prone to interference and complicates the internal geometry for assembly. Believe me, there is nothing worse than a small computer like device with a LOT of flat cables commecting the internal workings.
A large IDE connector on a USB/Firewire interface board connected to the large IDE connector on the storage metium.
They are great for communications between devices. They are also great for internal device mounting. Embedded and notebook platforms have already began to ditch internal COM (serial) devices and replace them with an on board USB2.0 bus(which rocks and makes service easier). A lot of platforms are also even replacing former PCI and Mini PCI devices (WLAN controllers for example) with USB2.0 mounted versions.
Every thing has it's place. USB/Firewire is NOT a drive interface.
It depends on the enviroment. Granted you should be able to trust the people writing your code, but most major tech companies keep the development enviroment for things like cellphone firmware on a physically isolated network, completely isolated from even the intranet resources.
In those enviroments, this is the next logical step.
Again, it shouldn't be needed, but hey if you are paranoid already, go for it.
I agree that RE in general is not a solve all for the nation's power problems. I am a clean nuclear advocate myself, if not so well informed and well spoken.
My problem is that most people seem to think that solar panels are trash because they are not anywhere near 100% effecient. Even at today's standards most panels will return their manufacturing energy investment and a users financial investment well before the end of their life.
In the right application, they are extremely useful. Running a remote pumphouse instead of running copper, backup systems for limited capacity during grid outages(enough to keep the refrigerator and water pump running if you are not on municipal water).
Granted covering Chicago's rooftops will have limited benefits, but they should not be limited to space or other small scale applications.
The real issue at hand is the number 3720 Billion kWh. I am not advocating sending us back to frontier days, but simple changes like using compact fluorescents instead of incandecents, and using more effecient appliances will help reduce that number. Again it will not be enough to solve all of our problems, but a combination of more efficient use of the energy we produce(how much are we wasting in transmitting it hundreds of miles across power lines?), intelligent management of the nuclear, fossil fuel, and RE resources available will go a long way.
If you combine this with the lack of need to add the leap second for the last few years, it would imply we are holding speed instead of slowing down. Almost counter-intuitive. That or our assumptions are wrong.
Well, we do pay them, but it is debatable whether they all work for the good of the 'people'
Seriously though, just because they are in the same organisation does not make it right. If I were to get caught snooping in Accounting(particularly payroll) or corporate strategy documentation without proper authorization, not only would my job be in jeopardy, but I could potentially be liable for corporate espionage if they wanted to push the issue.
Break out your screwdriver. Rip off the plastic 'pretty parts' and mount the drive in a drive bay. You may have to make a shelf to mount the firewire-ATA conversion board in.
Depending on the device internals, you may have to get creative for a PS as well.
I would be very suprised if it was an AI. Last time I looked (I will admit it has been while), the best AI out there was comparable to an average amateur player. There was even a $1M prize until Y2000 (donor died) for any AI that could beat a Taiwanese professional player. Of course, it could be a very clever way of performing a kind of 'turing test' for someone's next generation AI.
Slashdot Mirror
Kind of off the point but that is one of the great TV/Movie 'Junk Science' pieces of missinformation about reactors.
Reactors operate critical at steady state. Critical is the term used for when a reaction is self-sustaining, not out of control. Think of it as idle, but producing power (kind of like cruise control) Even super-critical is not a problem to a point(think of it as accelerating the reaction to reach a higher thermal power output level). The problem is when the reaction is SO super critical that it is accelerating out of the control rod's ability to dampen the reaction. Think of a car where you stomp on the gas and the tranny breaks free so the engine revs out until something blows.
I shake my head everytime I see some movie where the engineer runs out screaming "My god, the reactor is critical!"
Just need to get an old drive enclosure some where (ebay?)
It could even run the drive health scripts itself....
When we arrived, we asked the company we were visiting about it, and they agreed that if you are injured, you should drive yourself or take a cab.
The most interesting part is, while almost every vehicle has a few rub marks, I only saw 1 accident in a week's time.
It happens to all of us.
FYI, larger T# = Larger bit. The T-6 I use to remove harddrives from the laptops we work on is significantly smaller than the T15 and T20 I use to remove docking stations from Police Cruisers.
That is why the project plan for next year includes setting up the school with PV for a 'fueling station'. They can get 70 miles with high compression on the tanks.
I agree that this does not seem a path to a viable final form. It is a proof of concept for the general idea (and a cool class project--we never did anything that cool in high school). This is the kind of imaginative thinking we need to promote in our kids. Even they said it not practical, but there are lessons learned and imaginations are brewing.
http://ruggedpower.motorola.com/ Our local PD has them for detectives. Heavy, but nice feature set.
Even if the 'Scientist from RAND' build such a 'model', there is no rational reason they would use those particular banks of machinery and say that it was a reasonable prediction of a computer in any time frame.
Nothing in those panels can be reasonably construed as a computer. Even their purpose does not align. What does a series of pressure and temperature gauges have to do with 'the home computer of tomorrow'? The picture might as well be a photo of a drill press for all the relevance the panels have to computing.
As another poster puts it, this is likely a photoshop-job.
The 2 wheels control the valves that release steam to the turbines for forward and reverse.
An old plant based on the control configuration.
Yes we could create a drive with USB on the controller, that USB would still have to interface to a controller (even if it is on-die)
USB is simply a comm protocol, granted a relatively intelligent and flexible one, but in it's core it is still just a way to get data from device A to device B. It is designed for a different abstraction layer than the drive controller.
Adding Drive control to the protocol will Bloat the spec and possibly render it too complicated for simple devices to use effeciently. Why does the interface to your keyboard have to understand drive geometry? Not to mention the cost in speed with the additional command overhead.
Now, a drive that had a USB type interface on die with a drive controller so I could have an embedded device without the need for ANY drive controller attached to the PCI bus would be nice for SOME applications.
The issue here is not the connection to the PC. You can still use USB/Firewire/etc.
This technology is black box to the end user. Unless you look up the design specs, all you will know is that works.
The issue is the internal connection between the device hardware and the storage medium. If I am designing a device that is supposed to be small, what do I design for? Remember that the storage interface control IC for embedded device will not vary much in price unless the standard is proprietary. It costs the same to imbed a chip with SATA control protocols as ATA. Probably cheaper since you need less I/O lines and smaller board footprint is possible...
If I have a space constraint in the device on the MB, which am I going to go with? A total of 12 or less pins (assuming power embedded--IDE 44 is just IDE 40 with embedded power lines) or 44 pins? Particularly if the 12 pin connector is faster?
Also consider that unless the header connects directly to the drive, you have to use a flat cable. Very prone to interference and complicates the internal geometry for assembly. Believe me, there is nothing worse than a small computer like device with a LOT of flat cables commecting the internal workings.
A large IDE connector on a USB/Firewire interface board connected to the large IDE connector on the storage metium.
They are great for communications between devices. They are also great for internal device mounting. Embedded and notebook platforms have already began to ditch internal COM (serial) devices and replace them with an on board USB2.0 bus(which rocks and makes service easier). A lot of platforms are also even replacing former PCI and Mini PCI devices (WLAN controllers for example) with USB2.0 mounted versions.
Every thing has it's place. USB/Firewire is NOT a drive interface.
Again, it shouldn't be needed, but hey if you are paranoid already, go for it.
"Don't WinCE, Cringe!!!"
Isn't burying it under a liposuction clinic a little extreme?
My problem is that most people seem to think that solar panels are trash because they are not anywhere near 100% effecient. Even at today's standards most panels will return their manufacturing energy investment and a users financial investment well before the end of their life.
In the right application, they are extremely useful. Running a remote pumphouse instead of running copper, backup systems for limited capacity during grid outages(enough to keep the refrigerator and water pump running if you are not on municipal water).
Granted covering Chicago's rooftops will have limited benefits, but they should not be limited to space or other small scale applications.
The real issue at hand is the number 3720 Billion kWh. I am not advocating sending us back to frontier days, but simple changes like using compact fluorescents instead of incandecents, and using more effecient appliances will help reduce that number. Again it will not be enough to solve all of our problems, but a combination of more efficient use of the energy we produce(how much are we wasting in transmitting it hundreds of miles across power lines?), intelligent management of the nuclear, fossil fuel, and RE resources available will go a long way.
The ROI (for retail and manufacture cost) and the Enviromental impact of production is addressed.
Granted the source is an RE magazine, but they do list references on some of the studies if you want to follow up.
"..I shall come as a thief in the night..."
He is a high level thief with evasion, He saves and takes no damage!
"What is an 'out-gross tax'? I didn't remember that one from Economics."
If you combine this with the lack of need to add the leap second for the last few years, it would imply we are holding speed instead of slowing down. Almost counter-intuitive. That or our assumptions are wrong.
Seriously though, just because they are in the same organisation does not make it right. If I were to get caught snooping in Accounting(particularly payroll) or corporate strategy documentation without proper authorization, not only would my job be in jeopardy, but I could potentially be liable for corporate espionage if they wanted to push the issue.
That's what Dave and Buster's is for. Sports bar full of all the team/racing games.
Depending on the device internals, you may have to get creative for a PS as well.
I would be very suprised if it was an AI. Last time I looked (I will admit it has been while), the best AI out there was comparable to an average amateur player. There was even a $1M prize until Y2000 (donor died) for any AI that could beat a Taiwanese professional player. Of course, it could be a very clever way of performing a kind of 'turing test' for someone's next generation AI.