It would seem a bit difficult to target a power line with a bomb such as this.
Actually it would be quite easy to do (in theroy, I have no first hand knowledge of this). All you need is several hundred or thousand strands of carbon filamnet, and airborn dispersial mechanisim. The "bomb" will just explode over, or nearly over the power lines, preferably high voltage lines, since they are not covered with insulating material. Current technology allows for this type of bomb. The filiments, having been dispersed in the air will float down and land on the wires. The filiments will either short out between the wires or from wire to ground. With high voltage lines it not that difficult to get the current to flow to ground. Even if 99% of the carbon filiments do not hit the wires, the remaining 1% would probably be enough to quickly cause an overload on the line, and flip the big circuit breakers.
The real benifit of this it that the power grid is quickly overloaded, the saftey equipment trips to pretect the generators, and no real perminant damage happens to the over all system.
This takes out the enimies ability to distribute power for a short period of time without long term damage to the over all system. Perfect for an invading force.
Gee, let me see.. Where could you possibly find lots of bright, entrprising, "think out of the box" people, with some time on thier hands, who might be able to circumvent any measures taken to stop file sharing. Well I would have to say in dorm rooms.
It will be a major uphill battle for institutes of higher education.
If anything more creative and private means for file sharing will be born, accelerating the demise of the RIAA.
gave up DSL and got a T-1 a little over a year ago. $400/month and I share it (and the cost) with my neighbors (802.11b).
This is the way to go if you can get a few people to chip in and cover the costs. This is about the only option left for the majority of people. High Speed cable coverage in my area is very spotty. If you were lucky to get it before before Adelphia declared bankrupcy you are all set. The rest of us are hosed. You can get DSL, if you are near a CO, and there is room for colocation in said CO, and Verizon is in a good mood, you can get it.
Wouldn't it be more sensible to ban scissors than toy rockets?
How about BIC lighters? Each one containes enough butane to make a nice little bomb! Carry a few on board with you... Well I do not want to give anyone any ideas. The restrictions placed on airline travelers are moronic, because they will only catch morons. So now it seems that the moronic restrictions are going to expand to everyday life. I guess cigarettes should now be deemed a weapon of mass destruction too. Just think of the cancer/children/humanity/whatever...
The article says they used up almost all the ion fuel, but yet it will still have enough for 10 years of trim thrusting, was the original planned life much longer, or did it just have that much extra fuel?
Since the operational drift is so much longer then what was originaly antisipated, I would be that they are consuming much less propellent then originaly expected, so they are able to get "10 years" out of what is left.
GStar 3 or 4, put up by GTE in the late 80s, had a simmilar fate. It was lobbed into a bad orbit, written off (paid for), and then slowly (very slowly) moved into a "usable" orbit. The satellite had less propellent avaiable to it, so it was allowed to drift up and down, and side to side.
GTE sold cheap time on the satellite since you could only get 5 to 20 minutes at a time without re-aiming your uplink antenna. A friend of mine wrote the software (in basic) that people used to aim thier uplinks antennas. However, since the satellite was paid for already, any money coming in was gravy at that point.
At least Verizon had the balls to stand against the RIAA...
Verizon grows balls when it suits them.
The only reason they contested this is because they do not like to be told what to do. There is no way in hell that they care about the end users, at all! They care about their money, and thier autonomy. They are sticking pins in thier little voodoo user/client dolls with one hand they are fighting RIAA lawyers with the other.
Whah, I guess I strayed a little off topic... sorry, I just love them sooo much I can't help it
Sure, best tool for the job. That isn't linux. There are operating systems written specifically for medical use that are proven to be fundamentally correct.
I agree with you about the being proven correct, but that can be done with Linux as easly as with other embeded OSes. How much does the cost for the "proven correct OS" versus the cost proving your custom stripped down Linux kernel correct?
A point which I did not directly express before is the fact that the developers have total access to the source for the OS with Linux. This has some huge advantages when it comes to development, saving time, and preventing bugs.
Drawing on the knowledge I have from working on a n embedded system for an automated blood analysis, the working hardware will have some sort of intermediate processor system to drive it. The OS and programs running on the OS do not directly control the hardware, but "speak" to the hardware controllers with commands and are told of the hardware status back. I would expect that there would be some hardware level fail safe systems in place in case the high level control system becomes unstable.
Since the developers have total access to the controlling OS, they can remove all of the modules and parts that are not needed. (try that with Win2K) The OS can tested with a test harnes to try to break it, or prove its rugedness. The point is that you can customize the OS to your needs with a very tight configuration managment scheme. You do not have the option with comercial packages with out paying though the nose.
I tell you, I would feel safer with a Linux system driving the hardware then with Win2K, or other closed source OS, that is for damn sure!
Go ahead and Sue MS, but remember that thier EULA specificaly excludes using their product in matters of life and death. And for the most part so do most other EULAs. Check out Suns EULA for Java WRT exclusions.
These EULAs actualy give Linux a boost. Since the issue of liability is removed (there is not one to sue if said product fails due to EULAs) you might as well use the best tool for the job.
The big print givith, and the small print taketh away.
Fax the log file in? Better tell them to have someone standing by to replace paper and toner every hour for a few weeks.
If they supply an 800 number, I have 24pt font. Lets see that works out to about, hmmm, um about 25000 pages of logs per day. What the fax connection dropped? Damn, This crumby open source FAX software! It has to start all over from the begining. Shucks... Anyway here it comes again.
True, but the humidity dropps as the temperature is raised. When the temperature drops from coolling the humidity returns to what it was before. If you live in a humid climate then you will have himid air.
My point is that the PC does not _raise_ the humidity, it just adds heat.
This glorified hose that you hook to the back of your PC will not do anything unless it empties out on the other side of that wall, not inside the wall. Even then, the fan is not designed to move air though a hose, it is designed to push it just outside the back of the PC. This product is probably worthless, but I'm sure there is a patent in the works....
Slashdot Mirror
Actually it would be quite easy to do (in theroy, I have no first hand knowledge of this). All you need is several hundred or thousand strands of carbon filamnet, and airborn dispersial mechanisim. The "bomb" will just explode over, or nearly over the power lines, preferably high voltage lines, since they are not covered with insulating material. Current technology allows for this type of bomb. The filiments, having been dispersed in the air will float down and land on the wires. The filiments will either short out between the wires or from wire to ground. With high voltage lines it not that difficult to get the current to flow to ground. Even if 99% of the carbon filiments do not hit the wires, the remaining 1% would probably be enough to quickly cause an overload on the line, and flip the big circuit breakers.
The real benifit of this it that the power grid is quickly overloaded, the saftey equipment trips to pretect the generators, and no real perminant damage happens to the over all system.
This takes out the enimies ability to distribute power for a short period of time without long term damage to the over all system. Perfect for an invading force.
Whats up with that?
You are refering to the Record companies, right?
It will be a major uphill battle for institutes of higher education.
If anything more creative and private means for file sharing will be born, accelerating the demise of the RIAA.
Bring it on!
Perhaps we need to embed Perl on this Chip. That would surly get the best performance... "imagine a"... oh never mind
This is the way to go if you can get a few people to chip in and cover the costs. This is about the only option left for the majority of people. High Speed cable coverage in my area is very spotty. If you were lucky to get it before before Adelphia declared bankrupcy you are all set. The rest of us are hosed. You can get DSL, if you are near a CO, and there is room for colocation in said CO, and Verizon is in a good mood, you can get it.
How about BIC lighters? Each one containes enough butane to make a nice little bomb! Carry a few on board with you... Well I do not want to give anyone any ideas. The restrictions placed on airline travelers are moronic, because they will only catch morons. So now it seems that the moronic restrictions are going to expand to everyday life. I guess cigarettes should now be deemed a weapon of mass destruction too. Just think of the cancer/children/humanity/whatever...
Since the operational drift is so much longer then what was originaly antisipated, I would be that they are consuming much less propellent then originaly expected, so they are able to get "10 years" out of what is left.
GStar 3 or 4, put up by GTE in the late 80s, had a simmilar fate. It was lobbed into a bad orbit, written off (paid for), and then slowly (very slowly) moved into a "usable" orbit. The satellite had less propellent avaiable to it, so it was allowed to drift up and down, and side to side.
GTE sold cheap time on the satellite since you could only get 5 to 20 minutes at a time without re-aiming your uplink antenna. A friend of mine wrote the software (in basic) that people used to aim thier uplinks antennas. However, since the satellite was paid for already, any money coming in was gravy at that point.
What does Chevy Chase have to do with this?
Verizon grows balls when it suits them.
The only reason they contested this is because they do not like to be told what to do. There is no way in hell that they care about the end users, at all! They care about their money, and thier autonomy. They are sticking pins in thier little voodoo user/client dolls with one hand they are fighting RIAA lawyers with the other.
Whah, I guess I strayed a little off topic... sorry, I just love them sooo much I can't help it
Sure it is not as fast as the P2P clients, but it is slowly getting there. The more poeple use it the better it will get.
I agree with you about the being proven correct, but that can be done with Linux as easly as with other embeded OSes. How much does the cost for the "proven correct OS" versus the cost proving your custom stripped down Linux kernel correct?
A point which I did not directly express before is the fact that the developers have total access to the source for the OS with Linux. This has some huge advantages when it comes to development, saving time, and preventing bugs.
Drawing on the knowledge I have from working on a n embedded system for an automated blood analysis, the working hardware will have some sort of intermediate processor system to drive it. The OS and programs running on the OS do not directly control the hardware, but "speak" to the hardware controllers with commands and are told of the hardware status back. I would expect that there would be some hardware level fail safe systems in place in case the high level control system becomes unstable.
Since the developers have total access to the controlling OS, they can remove all of the modules and parts that are not needed. (try that with Win2K) The OS can tested with a test harnes to try to break it, or prove its rugedness. The point is that you can customize the OS to your needs with a very tight configuration managment scheme. You do not have the option with comercial packages with out paying though the nose.
I tell you, I would feel safer with a Linux system driving the hardware then with Win2K, or other closed source OS, that is for damn sure!
These EULAs actualy give Linux a boost. Since the issue of liability is removed (there is not one to sue if said product fails due to EULAs) you might as well use the best tool for the job.
The big print givith, and the small print taketh away.
Oh yeah! But when not drinking G&Ts I'll take a homebrew.
Can it handle a Big Gulp Gin and Tonic?
If they supply an 800 number, I have 24pt font. Lets see that works out to about, hmmm, um about 25000 pages of logs per day. What the fax connection dropped? Damn, This crumby open source FAX software! It has to start all over from the begining. Shucks... Anyway here it comes again.
My point is that the PC does not _raise_ the humidity, it just adds heat.
yeah, it could very well ruin your power supply, CPU and disk drives.
Say what? Venting _heated_ air into an enclosed space will cause dryness, not condensation....
No difference, like perl, there are many ways to do the same thing.