> And football supposedly had a much lower incidence of injuries before the introduction of "pads".
(for non-Americans) I was confused at first by this statement, till I realised it referred to that franken-sport "American Football" and not the one-true-football that Americans refer to as "Soccer";-)
> That act simply guarantees that people won't get the asinine rewards that are common in the courts today. It's more of a "You can't sue, but we will insure you against any injuries" thing.
I think it depends on how the numbers pan out: the Wikipedia page says it caps payments from industry at $10 billion. But what does it cover following an accident: people affected now, site cleanup costs and/or future generations costs... ? $10 billion divided by a few thousand people could be enough that the tax-payer is not involved, but a major accident resulting in a major leak, huge containment and clean-up and storage costs the $10 billion would not go far.
> So it's not quite like the public is being hung out to dry, as your post implies. That is not what I intended to imply: I intending to point out that it is a subsidy to an industry that tries to justify itself, at least partly, on cost.
>> including life time waste storage, > Paid for via a per kwh fee, mandated by the government. OK: I had not heard of that. (I am not sure whether or not that applies in other countries.)
>> all the concrete etc required, >Uh, included in the building costs? Yes, that is what I mean. And yes they could be insignificant. I just want to know whether or not they get included in the figures people throw around !!
>>Uranium strip mining, reprocessing etc >Operational Expenses? The fueling costs for most nuclear plants are considered 'insignificant'. Could be: I am just wondering
>Huh, I've never come across a site that mentions Uranium is strip mined. I am not sure how reliable Wikipedia is (!!) but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium#Production_and_mining mentions it as one method of mining, but with no figures as to what percentage. And I have read it elsewhere.
>>and as for the insurance costs they essential get under-written by the state (i.e. a huge hidden subsidy from the taxpayer). >Just how 'huge' is it when it's never been used? And wouldn't be used until the nuclear plants themselves end up on the hook for over a billion? Correct: we do not know how much it is except that if you look for a quote for the insurance either you do not find one, or it will be huge. Which leads to my Number One complaint about the Energy debate: how can anyone say that nuclear is cheaper or more expensive than other forms of power ? The timescales, costs and risks are huge, and much larger than other forms of energy production.
(For the record my key policy would energy conservation, which could make huge differences even *before* you change the standard of living.)
> It continually amazes me how the greenies consistently fail to account for the manufacturing byproducts and evaluate based on CO2 alone.
Not that it makes it OK, but nuclear power advocates usually do the same thing: estimates usually do not include *complete* life-cycle costings, including life time waste storage, all the concrete etc required, Uranium strip mining, reprocessing etc and as for the insurance costs they essential get under-written by the state (i.e. a huge hidden subsidy from the taxpayer).
> The Iron Curtain was lifted by the Russians. IIRC the iron curtain was established by the USSR to keep it's people in. The collapse start in the late 80s in Hungary, and cascaded as other states saw people travelling behind the curtain then leaving to the west through the nearest "hole". I.e. it collapsed state by state, like a dam burst growing from a small hole.
> German unification is just a process that all involved parties agreed to. True neither within German, nor outside of Germany.
> The Euro was a matter of mutual benefit. Mutual to whom ? The states, the people, multinationals ? The Euro is not universally popular by any means, and has been refused by some countries.
> And standing up to a weak, foreign company (namely Microsoft)? I don't see any signs of bravery here. OK, I confess: that was a Slashdot-pleasing throw-away comment from a European to the US readers:-)
> No offense, but nobody in Europe has done anything that bold since France abandoned its colonies in the 50's.
So the opening of the iron curtain, German unification, replacement of several currencies with the Euro, standing up to a certain US OS producer is not ?
> As the only group willing to insure the nuclear industry is the nuclear industry
I am pretty sure the nuclear industry does not need the most significant insurance required: they are specifically limited in liability related to accidents, otherwise no private company would build one !!
> Theoretically, with such cheap electricity, all those could be performed by electric-powered vehicles.
To an extent this could be true, but in "building", for example, I would include the waste produced by creating the building materials: for example I understand that a lot of concrete is used in building a nuclear power station, and that is a major producer of waste CO2. Also electric powered heavy plant would require some serious batteries, which have their own waste problems.
> IF the USA built that many, it would cut power plant greenhouse gas emissions by 30%,
Any references for that ? Does that figure include emissions related to uranium mining, enrichment, plant building/decommissioning and long term storage of waste ?
Does anyone know how the appeals procedure works in Sweden ? How long can a case drag on (I assume there will be no jail-time / fines enforced until the procedures are exhausted ?)
> Also, like all linux distros, in order to do any real damage on a mac, you need to enter an admin password.. simply opening a virus infected app wont do it.
I keep reading this, but isn't it trivial to capture that password once you have infected a user account ? (e.g. alias sudo='my-program-that-stores-root-password-and-then-runs-sudo').
> Many of my files in/etc have a.conf extension! It must be conficker to blame!
If you have a/etc directory that means you have a UNIX type system. These are much easier to disinfect than those Windows boxes. No special tool required. Start an Xterm and type:
find/etc -name '*.conf' -exec rm {} \;
And you are sorted:-)
Note to children: do not try this at home without a responsible adult present (i.e. one who understand *NIXes:-)
> Since time immemorial people in rural areas have had to deal with power cuts and blackouts, sometimes lasting days.
I think you need to retake you history class !! If you are talking about "time immemorial" then for most of human history there was no electric grid to blackout !! And no generators, or flash lights, or batteries !!
> Of course not. But it's a sad cycle -- people in very poor countries like this see cars as being status symbols, a sign of wealth. Society (and the government) often treat increase car ownership the same way, as some indicator that they've "made it," and try to emphasize car-oriented development.
I have lived in both England and Germany: what you state is true, but it also applies to "wealthy" countries (how often have I heard that you-poor-cyclist refrain ? or for-the-price-of-that-bike-you-could-buy-a-car ?) (FWIW I could easily afford a shine new car, but choose not to)
> GOCE is a gravity measuring satellite -- the spiritual successor to the amazing GRACE pair of satellites from a few years ago.
Technically it is not measuring gravity: it measures *variations* in the gravitational field: basically from it's known orbit it detects incredibly small delta-Vs in it's path.
> Running a red light is not like speeding. People concisouly decide to speed - because they are in a hurry. No one wants to run a red light. People are not stupid, they know it is dangerous.
So what about those people who floor it when they see a yellow light ? I see it everyday on my cross town cycle commute. And those who drive blindly through red lights a second or two after it goes red ?
It makes me sad: but people *are* stupid. They will happily drive dangerously: jumping lights, speeding, overtaking cyclist to closely, overtaking on blind corners (I see that about once a week). And round town it brings nothing: just quicker to the next red light or traffic jam. Or often I, the cyclist, just sail up past them on the cycle lane and they have gained *nothing*.
As I normally do I wrote a comment to the BBC on the article pointing out that they omitted to mention that only Windows PCs have this problem: but as yet no reply and no update:-(
(I always used point this out when they report on the latest malware problem: but recently (last year or so) they seem to have got the message and do refer to Windows PCs, not PCs in general (I imagine I am not the only one who points this out to them !)).
> that makes me wonder: how hard is it to hack a piece of paper and a pen?
Very hard: IIRC the paper-based process is designed to be *always* open to inspection: observers can watch the ballot papers going into boxes, the boxes being transported, opened and counted. Just last week a UK by-election check observed that a particular counting table was out of visual line from the observers platform.
There is no way to translate the above to an electronic system (even if the machines GUIs can be made perfect and unconfusing).
Slashdot Mirror
> have always preferred running shoes that are light and broken in.
Is it the shoes that break in, or your feet ? I.e. do not your feet adapt to the new shoe shape: muscles/tendons strengthening, stretching etc ?
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zola_Budd
In spite of the GP's comments this page is in fact Safe For Work.
> And football supposedly had a much lower incidence of injuries before the introduction of "pads".
(for non-Americans) I was confused at first by this statement, till I realised it referred to that franken-sport "American Football" and not the one-true-football that Americans refer to as "Soccer" ;-)
> That act simply guarantees that people won't get the asinine rewards that are common in the courts today. It's more of a "You can't sue, but we will insure you against any injuries" thing.
I think it depends on how the numbers pan out: the Wikipedia page says it caps payments from industry at $10 billion. But what does it cover following an accident: people affected now, site cleanup costs and/or future generations costs ... ? $10 billion divided by a few thousand people could be enough that the tax-payer is not involved, but a major accident resulting in a major leak, huge containment and clean-up and storage costs the $10 billion would not go far.
> So it's not quite like the public is being hung out to dry, as your post implies.
That is not what I intended to imply: I intending to point out that it is a subsidy to an industry that tries to justify itself, at least partly, on cost.
>> including life time waste storage,
> Paid for via a per kwh fee, mandated by the government.
OK: I had not heard of that. (I am not sure whether or not that applies in other countries.)
>> all the concrete etc required,
>Uh, included in the building costs?
Yes, that is what I mean. And yes they could be insignificant. I just want to know whether or not they get included in the figures people throw around !!
>>Uranium strip mining, reprocessing etc
>Operational Expenses? The fueling costs for most nuclear plants are considered 'insignificant'.
Could be: I am just wondering
>Huh, I've never come across a site that mentions Uranium is strip mined.
I am not sure how reliable Wikipedia is (!!) but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium#Production_and_mining mentions it as one method of mining, but with no figures as to what percentage. And I have read it elsewhere.
>>and as for the insurance costs they essential get under-written by the state (i.e. a huge hidden subsidy from the taxpayer).
>Just how 'huge' is it when it's never been used? And wouldn't be used until the nuclear plants themselves end up on the hook for over a billion?
Correct: we do not know how much it is except that if you look for a quote for the insurance either you do not find one, or it will be huge. Which leads to my Number One complaint about the Energy debate: how can anyone say that nuclear is cheaper or more expensive than other forms of power ? The timescales, costs and risks are huge, and much larger than other forms of energy production.
(For the record my key policy would energy conservation, which could make huge differences even *before* you change the standard of living.)
> It continually amazes me how the greenies consistently fail to account for the manufacturing byproducts and evaluate based on CO2 alone.
Not that it makes it OK, but nuclear power advocates usually do the same thing: estimates usually do not include *complete* life-cycle costings, including life time waste storage, all the concrete etc required, Uranium strip mining, reprocessing etc and as for the insurance costs they essential get under-written by the state (i.e. a huge hidden subsidy from the taxpayer).
> The Iron Curtain was lifted by the Russians.
IIRC the iron curtain was established by the USSR to keep it's people in. The collapse start in the late 80s in Hungary, and cascaded as other states saw people travelling behind the curtain then leaving to the west through the nearest "hole". I.e. it collapsed state by state, like a dam burst growing from a small hole.
> German unification is just a process that all involved parties agreed to.
True neither within German, nor outside of Germany.
> The Euro was a matter of mutual benefit.
Mutual to whom ? The states, the people, multinationals ? The Euro is not universally popular by any means, and has been refused by some countries.
> And standing up to a weak, foreign company (namely Microsoft)? I don't see any signs of bravery here. :-)
OK, I confess: that was a Slashdot-pleasing throw-away comment from a European to the US readers
> This thread sums up the usual Slashdot inaccurate myths about solar panels in one set of replies.
Other threads sum up the nuclear myths :-)
> No offense, but nobody in Europe has done anything that bold since France abandoned its colonies in the 50's.
So the opening of the iron curtain, German unification, replacement of several currencies with the Euro, standing up to a certain US OS producer is not ?
> As the only group willing to insure the nuclear industry is the nuclear industry
I am pretty sure the nuclear industry does not need the most significant insurance required: they are specifically limited in liability related to accidents, otherwise no private company would build one !!
> Theoretically, with such cheap electricity, all those could be performed by electric-powered vehicles.
To an extent this could be true, but in "building", for example, I would include the waste produced by creating the building materials: for example I understand that a lot of concrete is used in building a nuclear power station, and that is a major producer of waste CO2. Also electric powered heavy plant would require some serious batteries, which have their own waste problems.
> Western nuclear technology is safe, for if it were not safe, then anyone harmed by it can sue the manufacturer for restitution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price-Anderson_Nuclear_Industries_Indemnity_Act (the page name says it all really (but IANAL...)
> IF the USA built that many, it would cut power plant greenhouse gas emissions by 30%,
Any references for that ? Does that figure include emissions related to uranium mining, enrichment, plant building/decommissioning and long term storage of waste ?
Just wondering...
Does anyone know how the appeals procedure works in Sweden ? How long can a case drag on (I assume there will be no jail-time / fines enforced until the procedures are exhausted ?)
> Also, like all linux distros, in order to do any real damage on a mac, you need to enter an admin password.. simply opening a virus infected app wont do it.
I keep reading this, but isn't it trivial to capture that password once you have infected a user account ? (e.g. alias sudo='my-program-that-stores-root-password-and-then-runs-sudo').
> Many of my files in /etc have a .conf extension! It must be conficker to blame!
If you have a /etc directory that means you have a UNIX type system. These are much easier to disinfect than those Windows boxes. No special tool required. Start an Xterm and type:
find /etc -name '*.conf' -exec rm {} \;
And you are sorted :-)
Note to children: do not try this at home without a responsible adult present (i.e. one who understand *NIXes :-)
> There's big money in pushing global warming, too.
Where ? And is it bigger than oil, motoring, excessive consumption ?
> Since time immemorial people in rural areas have had to deal with power cuts and blackouts, sometimes lasting days.
I think you need to retake you history class !! If you are talking about "time immemorial" then for most of human history there was no electric grid to blackout !! And no generators, or flash lights, or batteries !!
> ...point out that horses are interesting, not because they are a successful design...
Horses were not "designed" : your Slashdot membership is hereby revoked :-)
> Of course not. But it's a sad cycle -- people in very poor countries like this see cars as being status symbols, a sign of wealth. Society (and the government) often treat increase car ownership the same way, as some indicator that they've "made it," and try to emphasize car-oriented development.
I have lived in both England and Germany: what you state is true, but it also applies to "wealthy" countries (how often have I heard that you-poor-cyclist refrain ? or for-the-price-of-that-bike-you-could-buy-a-car ?) (FWIW I could easily afford a shine new car, but choose not to)
> GOCE is a gravity measuring satellite -- the spiritual successor to the amazing GRACE pair of satellites from a few years ago.
Technically it is not measuring gravity: it measures *variations* in the gravitational field: basically from it's known orbit it detects incredibly small delta-Vs in it's path.
> Running a red light is not like speeding. People concisouly decide to speed - because they are in a hurry. No one wants to run a red light. People are not stupid, they know it is dangerous.
So what about those people who floor it when they see a yellow light ? I see it everyday on my cross town cycle commute. And those who drive blindly through red lights a second or two after it goes red ?
It makes me sad: but people *are* stupid. They will happily drive dangerously: jumping lights, speeding, overtaking cyclist to closely, overtaking on blind corners (I see that about once a week). And round town it brings nothing: just quicker to the next red light or traffic jam. Or often I, the cyclist, just sail up past them on the cycle lane and they have gained *nothing*.
As I normally do I wrote a comment to the BBC on the article pointing out that they omitted to mention that only Windows PCs have this problem: but as yet no reply and no update :-(
(I always used point this out when they report on the latest malware problem: but recently (last year or so) they seem to have got the message and do refer to Windows PCs, not PCs in general (I imagine I am not the only one who points this out to them !)).
> Swiftweasel just enables some of the i686 and -O2 optimizations and it's still Firefox,
Sounds like you need Gentoo Linux :-)
> that makes me wonder: how hard is it to hack a piece of paper and a pen?
Very hard: IIRC the paper-based process is designed to be *always* open to inspection: observers can watch the ballot papers going into boxes, the boxes being transported, opened and counted. Just last week a UK by-election check observed that a particular counting table was out of visual line from the observers platform.
There is no way to translate the above to an electronic system (even if the machines GUIs can be made perfect and unconfusing).