No No No. That Dell is awesome. It was a dimension 4200. Cost me 2800$ when I bought the thing back in 2000 I think it was. Still runs today. I actually dusted it off a few months ago to save some photos off some corrupted HD's of a friend, as they were on serial IDE drives. No fancy SATA cables allowed! Has a P3 800Mhz and something like 256MB of RAM. Using a Live version of Ubuntu I transferred all his photos to an external USB HD. It took about 48 hours to move something like a 160GB and a 40GB! Though I expect running the LiveCD probably made it even slower. Hmm now that I think about it, it was probably the old USB standard which wouldn't help either.
In addition to ME, I have had Win2K, XP, and about a dozen different distributions of linux on it. The thing is a tank (and weighs about as much as one too). Back then the tech support was also NA even for non-business clients (not that I ever used it). Anyway I have no doubt things have gone downhill since then, but say what you will, it is still kicking today, they built those 4200's like beasts. Of course they did originally install Windows ME on it which was kinda a dick thing to do...
Ya. That's like saying, well they only need to be 98%+ efficient and the only technology out there that meets that criteria is nuclear, so all light bulbs must now be nuclear.
So by saying they have to be X efficient you are basically saying that Y technology is banned, if it is unable to be that efficient.
Personally I think the ban is stupid, not from an economic perspective, but from a life cycle approach. I bet if we looked at the whole energy co-efficient from a manufacturing, usage, and disposal perspective, CFL's wouldn't be as sexy anymore.
I mean if anyone actually reads the box of these things, they are full of mercury, and require special disposal, but I bet 99.9% of them go to the landfill. Not to mention classic bulbs are basically glass, some tungsten, and a bit of metal. I couldn't even tell you what all is in a CFL. But I bet it takes a lot more energy to make one.
I'll add Win3.1 OMFG this is way better than DOS! Win95 OMFG this is way better than 3.1! Win98 Hmmm... well it doesn't crash quite as often as 95...
Also I run Vista right now. It is perfectly fine and I have no problems with it. Was it holy god hell when I first installed it? Yes. This was because A) it was released a bit too early, and B) too many 3rd parties relied too heavily on XP. So what happened was all the drivers were borked. Now that 3rd parties have all created drivers that work with Vista, and Vista has had a few (ok alot) of patches, it works just fine.
I have used 7 and it is good also, but I don't see the huge divide you allude to. Do I wish I waited the few months it was before 7 came out? Yes, it would have saved me a few head aches. However in the end it doesn't matter all that much.
That said, I have used all the Windows OS.
Windows ME was by far the worst, most horrible, excuse for an OS that ever was. I had a Dell that was pre-installed with it. I don't think it lasted 3 months before I get rid of it. It was slow, bloated, and basically didn't work. I know at one point I was at my parents place over Christmas, and they needed some help with their computer (which was my sisters old one apparently), and it was running Windows ME. I nearly died.
So it's 121x faster, in reality, not in some theoretical limit.
Either that was some shitty software they were running, or they were trying to do the processing on that spare 286 they had collecting dust in the corner. Seriously, I'd like to know what they were using for comparison.
Wasn't there a case in NY where a guy was getting a divorce and refused to give over his account numbers where he stashed all his loot as he didn't want his wife to have any of it.
The judge basically said he was in contempt of court and could stay in jail until he felt like sharing that information.
He stayed in jail in protest in contempt of court for like 12 years before I think they finally released him (or is he still in jail, I have no idea).
Or radios, or cd players, or mp3 players, or any music playing device, or smoking, or drinking, or pretty much anything not included in either the definition of "driving" or "paying attention"...
Where the Rich are dragging around a heavy suitcase full of pretty paper, and the rest of us are zombies.
Wealth is only wealth if you have some means of which to protect it, like rule of law and an ideal that what you have is worth anything. Even little dictators need a way to pay off their goons, and if your money is worthless, well don't bet on a lot of help.
I'll make my investments in food and ammo, and wait for the coming storm, hope you have an umbrella!
As I recall the auto industry, was brought to its knees by 2 things:
1) Greed from Wall Street, Banks, and insurance companies basically ruining the economy and drying up credit 2) A situation where you have more retired employees than working ones, and a health care system being profiteered by insurance companies.
So they were not competitive because of #2, and needed loans to keep going, and when #1 dried up all credit, they where screwed (unless like Ford they got a huge loan just before the credit bust)...
So no, MBA's were not directly involved with the auto industry going to hell. Though you could probably make the argument that the MBA's on Wall Street, in the Banks, and in the insurance companies did a pretty fine job of fscking everything up.
I have zero sympathy for these tech companies. Apple, MS, Sony, all of them troll those waters, and sue each other as often as they can. The actually seem to want to protect this and continue this practice. So when one of the big guys that file 1000's of these things each and every YEAR, actually get boned by some little troll somewhere, I can't exactly get too worked up about it. They built the house, they get to live in it.
Well I guess it could have been that you just couldn't possibly (or it was much harder) to pull down those kinds of data bandwidth at the time. Still one could say then their infrastructure or other technology, or policy, or whatever hasn't kept pace with technology. It is kind of silly to have a MONTHLY cap of 25-60GB when you are operating at speeds of 15MB/s where you could theoretically bust your cap in just over an hour. (And at least with my provider, a system of bandwidth monitoring that updates every day or two).
Its like building a car with a 1 liter gas tank. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense (unless of course you sell gas by the thimbleful). Not to mention having a gas gauge that only updates at the end of the day, but if you happen to go over your liter, you pay by the thimbleful...
Laws have not kept up with changing technology. There was no such thing as bit torrent or throttling 5-10 years ago. Heck 10 years ago bandwidth caps didn't exist in Canada. What is happening is technology evolves and industry makes up rules to make money. It is the fault of the government for not creating laws keeping up with the pace, or even trying to. Of course until recently the population has been ambivalent which doesn't help motivate the politicians to actually do anything. That said the CRTC is nothing more than a shill for industry. They have never favored consumers, always Bell and Rogers. It is run by former industry execs. Having the CRTC defend the little guy would certainly help matters.
Anyway case in point is the one time the Conservative government intervened, was over Wind telecommunications a new cell phone player. Without getting too much into the details, Wind was trying to get around a law that currently exists to protect Canadian interests and jobs by limiting foreign ownership. Essentially they borrowed all their capital from a foreign telecommunications company (Egyptian I think, perhaps Indian, not sure). In any case, they argued they they were not foreign owned, they merely owned money to foreign interests. Of course when Bell and Rogers heard of this, not wanting to actually have to compete and perhaps lower profits, call up their buddy in the CRTC and raise holy hell. The CRTC rules on it, and basically says, nice try, but that's against the current law. The government then came in and reversed the decision, saying that it is within the law. My own opinion here is that they didn't want to change the law because its a pretty hard sell right now to kill a law that protects Canadian interests and jobs, to open up the industry to foreign investment (which might help consumers with increased competition). Doing it this way they get all the benefit of the "open market" that Conservatives love, but none of the political backlash about changing a law. Anyway then of course Bell and Rogers take it to court, and the judge says, nice try Wind, but its still illegal. Currently Wind has appealed and it is now in the supreme court waiting for a final decision.
All this really point to the fact that either a new regulator needs to regulate this stuff, or CRTC needs to be gutted, and the government needs to do a better job keeping our laws current with reality. Heck simply having a regulator that does a decent job and isn't in the pocket of industry would help a lot!
Bill should tell Harper... Canada is selling Candu
on
Bill Gates On Energy
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· Score: 1
The government of Canada, in its great wisdom are actually selling Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) the makers of its CANDU reactors.
The Conservative Government is retarded.
I bet they will get a great price so soon after the Japanese incident. It certainly makes logical sense to sell it now, particularly when Ontario has committed to building more nuclear.
I am sure this will help us meet all those carbon targets that we never met, etc...
Not to mention the fact that coal burning actually releases more radioactivity into our atmosphere than is ever produced by nuclear.
One greeny put it right (but was criticized by his hippy colleges): "I don't like nuclear, but I like coal a whole lot less, and it is really the only alternative"
Ya you say that now. At least up in Canada electricity is very subsidized. Green alternatives even more so. Solar is the worst.
Current prices is something like 3 cents a kilowatt hour for conventional. Solar contracts are like 80 cents.
So when you pay the true cost of power, your bill will go from 100$ a month to about 2700$ a month.
This is a super over simplification, but you get the general idea.
So you say well just keep subsidizing it! Well guess what, someone has to pay, and government gets its money through taxes. You will pay one way or another. So by all means put more solar out there.
I am all for government to provide incentives for say homeowners to install panels on their houses, and individuals selling power back to the grid (at a reasonable rate). However promoting a technology that is not yet ready efficiency wise to make solar farms and subsidizing it to make it economically viable is a terrible idea. A year doesn't go by that I don't hear about the "next" big break through in solar efficiency technology, yet every year it has not improved sufficiently to make it even close to worthwhile.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually now I remember, the HD were fine (other than being IDE), is was his PC that was dead an no other way to access the drives.
No No No. That Dell is awesome. It was a dimension 4200. Cost me 2800$ when I bought the thing back in 2000 I think it was. Still runs today. I actually dusted it off a few months ago to save some photos off some corrupted HD's of a friend, as they were on serial IDE drives. No fancy SATA cables allowed! Has a P3 800Mhz and something like 256MB of RAM. Using a Live version of Ubuntu I transferred all his photos to an external USB HD. It took about 48 hours to move something like a 160GB and a 40GB! Though I expect running the LiveCD probably made it even slower. Hmm now that I think about it, it was probably the old USB standard which wouldn't help either.
In addition to ME, I have had Win2K, XP, and about a dozen different distributions of linux on it. The thing is a tank (and weighs about as much as one too). Back then the tech support was also NA even for non-business clients (not that I ever used it). Anyway I have no doubt things have gone downhill since then, but say what you will, it is still kicking today, they built those 4200's like beasts. Of course they did originally install Windows ME on it which was kinda a dick thing to do...
I seem to recall one of the richest men in the world ever of all time was a roman by the name of Marcus Licinius Crassus.
Ya. That's like saying, well they only need to be 98%+ efficient and the only technology out there that meets that criteria is nuclear, so all light bulbs must now be nuclear.
So by saying they have to be X efficient you are basically saying that Y technology is banned, if it is unable to be that efficient.
Personally I think the ban is stupid, not from an economic perspective, but from a life cycle approach. I bet if we looked at the whole energy co-efficient from a manufacturing, usage, and disposal perspective, CFL's wouldn't be as sexy anymore.
I mean if anyone actually reads the box of these things, they are full of mercury, and require special disposal, but I bet 99.9% of them go to the landfill. Not to mention classic bulbs are basically glass, some tungsten, and a bit of metal. I couldn't even tell you what all is in a CFL. But I bet it takes a lot more energy to make one.
#1. No didn't RTFA.
I can just see a 500g serrated chunk of copper spinning at 2500 RPM inside a framework of delicate electronics!
I hope you mount it exactly right, be a shame if that thing got the speed wobbles and physically destroys everything in your PC case!
LOL. I was going to say that a spinning computer would give you the same effect, but you more or less got it.
Have you SEEN the kind of ladies that work for the TSA?
I bet their would be a lot less complaints if they all looked like super models...
I'll add
Win3.1 OMFG this is way better than DOS!
Win95 OMFG this is way better than 3.1!
Win98 Hmmm... well it doesn't crash quite as often as 95...
Also I run Vista right now. It is perfectly fine and I have no problems with it. Was it holy god hell when I first installed it? Yes. This was because A) it was released a bit too early, and B) too many 3rd parties relied too heavily on XP. So what happened was all the drivers were borked. Now that 3rd parties have all created drivers that work with Vista, and Vista has had a few (ok alot) of patches, it works just fine.
I have used 7 and it is good also, but I don't see the huge divide you allude to. Do I wish I waited the few months it was before 7 came out? Yes, it would have saved me a few head aches. However in the end it doesn't matter all that much.
That said, I have used all the Windows OS.
Windows ME was by far the worst, most horrible, excuse for an OS that ever was. I had a Dell that was pre-installed with it. I don't think it lasted 3 months before I get rid of it. It was slow, bloated, and basically didn't work. I know at one point I was at my parents place over Christmas, and they needed some help with their computer (which was my sisters old one apparently), and it was running Windows ME. I nearly died.
8 hours (or 28,800 seconds) to 238 seconds!
So it's 121x faster, in reality, not in some theoretical limit.
Either that was some shitty software they were running, or they were trying to do the processing on that spare 286 they had collecting dust in the corner. Seriously, I'd like to know what they were using for comparison.
Is it just me or is the Nuclear industry using exactly the wrong time to push this?
You might want to wait for Fukushima to cool down. Literately.
Yeah that's the one. Seems a massive breach of rights to me. Also seems like the same situation as the password.
Give me your password or go to jail indefinitely. What, you don't remember? Well I don't believe you, tell me or jail.
Though the guy is 73 now, so maybe he doesn't want to, but I am pretty sure I would be suing the court for all my retirement money.
Wasn't there a case in NY where a guy was getting a divorce and refused to give over his account numbers where he stashed all his loot as he didn't want his wife to have any of it.
The judge basically said he was in contempt of court and could stay in jail until he felt like sharing that information.
He stayed in jail in protest in contempt of court for like 12 years before I think they finally released him (or is he still in jail, I have no idea).
This seems like a very similar issue.
Or radios, or cd players, or mp3 players, or any music playing device, or smoking, or drinking, or pretty much anything not included in either the definition of "driving" or "paying attention"...
Where the Rich are dragging around a heavy suitcase full of pretty paper, and the rest of us are zombies.
Wealth is only wealth if you have some means of which to protect it, like rule of law and an ideal that what you have is worth anything. Even little dictators need a way to pay off their goons, and if your money is worthless, well don't bet on a lot of help.
I'll make my investments in food and ammo, and wait for the coming storm, hope you have an umbrella!
Innovation at work!
As I recall the auto industry, was brought to its knees by 2 things:
1) Greed from Wall Street, Banks, and insurance companies basically ruining the economy and drying up credit
2) A situation where you have more retired employees than working ones, and a health care system being profiteered by insurance companies.
So they were not competitive because of #2, and needed loans to keep going, and when #1 dried up all credit, they where screwed (unless like Ford they got a huge loan just before the credit bust)...
So no, MBA's were not directly involved with the auto industry going to hell. Though you could probably make the argument that the MBA's on Wall Street, in the Banks, and in the insurance companies did a pretty fine job of fscking everything up.
It's that Zuckerberg can fix this by the weekend...
Well the snow had to come from somewhere right?
Someplace there are some pissed off penguins!
Worst snowfall in 20 years! There were humans on the planet 20 years ago. Therefore this is all to do with climate change, its scientifically proven!
I have zero sympathy for these tech companies. Apple, MS, Sony, all of them troll those waters, and sue each other as often as they can. The actually seem to want to protect this and continue this practice. So when one of the big guys that file 1000's of these things each and every YEAR, actually get boned by some little troll somewhere, I can't exactly get too worked up about it. They built the house, they get to live in it.
Well I guess it could have been that you just couldn't possibly (or it was much harder) to pull down those kinds of data bandwidth at the time. Still one could say then their infrastructure or other technology, or policy, or whatever hasn't kept pace with technology. It is kind of silly to have a MONTHLY cap of 25-60GB when you are operating at speeds of 15MB/s where you could theoretically bust your cap in just over an hour. (And at least with my provider, a system of bandwidth monitoring that updates every day or two).
Its like building a car with a 1 liter gas tank. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense (unless of course you sell gas by the thimbleful). Not to mention having a gas gauge that only updates at the end of the day, but if you happen to go over your liter, you pay by the thimbleful...
I would actually say it is the opposite of that.
Laws have not kept up with changing technology. There was no such thing as bit torrent or throttling 5-10 years ago. Heck 10 years ago bandwidth caps didn't exist in Canada. What is happening is technology evolves and industry makes up rules to make money. It is the fault of the government for not creating laws keeping up with the pace, or even trying to. Of course until recently the population has been ambivalent which doesn't help motivate the politicians to actually do anything. That said the CRTC is nothing more than a shill for industry. They have never favored consumers, always Bell and Rogers. It is run by former industry execs. Having the CRTC defend the little guy would certainly help matters.
Anyway case in point is the one time the Conservative government intervened, was over Wind telecommunications a new cell phone player. Without getting too much into the details, Wind was trying to get around a law that currently exists to protect Canadian interests and jobs by limiting foreign ownership. Essentially they borrowed all their capital from a foreign telecommunications company (Egyptian I think, perhaps Indian, not sure). In any case, they argued they they were not foreign owned, they merely owned money to foreign interests. Of course when Bell and Rogers heard of this, not wanting to actually have to compete and perhaps lower profits, call up their buddy in the CRTC and raise holy hell. The CRTC rules on it, and basically says, nice try, but that's against the current law. The government then came in and reversed the decision, saying that it is within the law. My own opinion here is that they didn't want to change the law because its a pretty hard sell right now to kill a law that protects Canadian interests and jobs, to open up the industry to foreign investment (which might help consumers with increased competition). Doing it this way they get all the benefit of the "open market" that Conservatives love, but none of the political backlash about changing a law. Anyway then of course Bell and Rogers take it to court, and the judge says, nice try Wind, but its still illegal. Currently Wind has appealed and it is now in the supreme court waiting for a final decision.
All this really point to the fact that either a new regulator needs to regulate this stuff, or CRTC needs to be gutted, and the government needs to do a better job keeping our laws current with reality. Heck simply having a regulator that does a decent job and isn't in the pocket of industry would help a lot!
The government of Canada, in its great wisdom are actually selling Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) the makers of its CANDU reactors.
The Conservative Government is retarded.
I bet they will get a great price so soon after the Japanese incident. It certainly makes logical sense to sell it now, particularly when Ontario has committed to building more nuclear.
I am sure this will help us meet all those carbon targets that we never met, etc...
What a douche.
Not to mention the fact that coal burning actually releases more radioactivity into our atmosphere than is ever produced by nuclear.
One greeny put it right (but was criticized by his hippy colleges): "I don't like nuclear, but I like coal a whole lot less, and it is really the only alternative"
Ya you say that now. At least up in Canada electricity is very subsidized. Green alternatives even more so. Solar is the worst.
Current prices is something like 3 cents a kilowatt hour for conventional. Solar contracts are like 80 cents.
So when you pay the true cost of power, your bill will go from 100$ a month to about 2700$ a month.
This is a super over simplification, but you get the general idea.
So you say well just keep subsidizing it! Well guess what, someone has to pay, and government gets its money through taxes. You will pay one way or another. So by all means put more solar out there.
I am all for government to provide incentives for say homeowners to install panels on their houses, and individuals selling power back to the grid (at a reasonable rate). However promoting a technology that is not yet ready efficiency wise to make solar farms and subsidizing it to make it economically viable is a terrible idea. A year doesn't go by that I don't hear about the "next" big break through in solar efficiency technology, yet every year it has not improved sufficiently to make it even close to worthwhile.