OTOH, I've seen the result of 'non contractor built houses'. It' was pretty much the norm in Alaska until recently. Most towns didn't have building codes. When we moved into our current house, I knew I had to do a significant amount of renovation (1970's epilepsy inducing kitchen designs for starters) but it would have never occurred to me than anyone would but flashing between the upper and lower stories upside down so they collected water. Nice.
A couple of removed structural joists later I moved on to new and other things. The roof. Which, as one might of guess, had it's flashing installed backwards.
Sigh. Renovations are always entertaining. Restores faith in mankind, it does.
The spirit of the Samurai still lives. This is good. I'd thought MacArthur had bled that out of the Japanese.
Samurai were conservative engineers? Who knew? I thought they were a warrior race. Did they wear the Medieval Japanese equivalent of a pocket protector?
But you could never really do that. Energy use is easy - basically plug the machine into a Kill-a-watt and type up a sticker.
To ensure that a complex electromechanical device does not do something is nearly impossible. Sure, the default configuration might allow you to shut the camera down and you could see that nothing from the camera is being transmitted, but you could always put the machine into a 'nasty' mode which surreptitiously turns the evil eye back on.
Hard to do on a router. Hard to do on a TV. NOT having the physical capability is the only way to make sure it doesn't do something (other than nuking it from orbit, of course).
Come on, world. Shaky, unedited cell phone cam 'videos' are only slightly worse than slick, over prepared 'tuts' with dippy techo music in the background and pointless transitions (yeah, the ones on the very bottom of the picklist that nobody has used since 1981).
Just write it down. Show a static picture if you need to. Video is for things that move, not talking heads, not pointing fingers.
Now, if you don't mind. I shall take a nap. That was exhausting.
I use a slug gun. Mostly the shotgun is for bear defense (although I'm using it less and less for that these days, firearms are not very good against bear attacks). For home defense, I'm going to use 00 buck at about 6 feet. A non choked shotgun should dissolve the perp and spray just a few pellets around. Actually, the first round in the shotgun is a seal bomb - basically a loud blank. That's likely to have the perp shit his pants and run. The next round gets serious.
Not to imply that you can shoot a shotgun in a residence without some forethought about what's behind the target (as uncqual points out). That's always an enormous problem using a firearm for self defense.
Ah, another "superior" European. Meanwhile, in the real world, the US ranks #1 in wind power generation, #1 in biomass generation, and #2 in solar generation in the world.
I know it's been hyped as a sort of a miracle drug, good for bones, heart, head, skin and sex drive, but I've never heard of it recommended to keep burglars away.
IANAL, but I have been told by multiple sources that a shotgun, being primarily a fowling piece and not a weapon, is more likely to get you off in court.
I don't know where you live, but in my neck of the woods, we don't have 'fowls' - only targets. The advantages of a shotgun for home defense are essentially three fold - they're much more permissive of poor aim than a pistol, they're much less likely to go through a window / door / wall and injure an innocent bystander and finally, if used at appropriate self defense distances are very often fatal. That means the perp can't go and sue you for not killing him outright.
I don't think you need to run 5000 rounds a year through a shotgun to be able to blow somebody away from six feet, but you do need to be able to use the weapon quickly and safely. Basically, if you don't shoot for business or recreation you shouldn't use a gun for self defense. You're much more liable to injure yourself or some other innocent person than actually prevent some malfeasance.
Seriously. For simple unattended-property burglary, a gun is just an attractive target. And most dogs will just wag their tails all friendly-like at the burglar as they come and go.
Hopefully, one doesn't leave the gun in plain sight.
And even the friendliest, dumbest Labrador Retriever really is a deterrent for the garden variety low end thief. You don't know if the waggy critter wants you to pet him or if he's sizing you up because the owner is afraid of men and that vibe has been transmitted to the dog.
I've lived in rural environments for much of my adult life and people with dogs get burglarized much less than those with an empty house. Hardly the sole reason to have a dog, but it's what I tell my wife after "my dog" has jumped on the sofa after running home from his daily romp in the tidal flats.
If you wanted to strip my house, all you would have to do is drive up in a UPS truck and give the dog a treat. He thinks the the big brown truck is a giant, mobile snack machine. He'd help you drag stuff out in a second.
The downside to that being, in Texas, if you actually were insane enough to shoot the guy hassling you, a dozen other guys who were packing heat in hopes of being some sort of twisted hero some day would start firing at you without a further thought.
Given the fact they would be shooting.38 specials with 2 inch barrels you'd probably never get touched but in a crowded mall they're likely to hit somebody.
If you think the crazies on this website are a little off, just try and talk to somebody who thinks it appropriate to carry a loaded weapon in a shopping mall.
Gradients. Really, look at the big picture thermodynamics of a heating planet. Especially if you're increasing heat rapidly, you will increase gradients. Bigger winds, bigger storms.
Actually we can get pretty close. A major anoxic event in the oceans could disprupt the food chain such that a very significant number of apex species (mankind being one) will get hammered.
Will everyone die? Unlikely. Even in a full blown nuclear war there are likely to be a couple million survivors.
However, most people rather like the planet in something resembling it's current form. They'd be fine if the human population dropped a bit, as long as they are not personally in the 'causalities' column. When you have enormous, rapid changes in food and water supply coupled with a population that's pushing the carrying capacity of the environment on a good day, well, you've got problems, chucko.
And all of those untold billions of people who live in the current equatorial belt whose ability to obtain food and water and shelter drop to near zero are just going to sit there and calmly give up as their local environments are rendered markedly less habitable?
Slashdot Mirror
OTOH, I've seen the result of 'non contractor built houses'. It' was pretty much the norm in Alaska until recently. Most towns didn't have building codes. When we moved into our current house, I knew I had to do a significant amount of renovation (1970's epilepsy inducing kitchen designs for starters) but it would have never occurred to me than anyone would but flashing between the upper and lower stories upside down so they collected water. Nice.
A couple of removed structural joists later I moved on to new and other things. The roof. Which, as one might of guess, had it's flashing installed backwards.
Sigh. Renovations are always entertaining. Restores faith in mankind, it does.
The spirit of the Samurai still lives. This is good. I'd thought MacArthur had bled that out of the Japanese.
Samurai were conservative engineers? Who knew? I thought they were a warrior race. Did they wear the Medieval Japanese equivalent of a pocket protector?
This is either an April fool's joke or an act of war against Cuba, Canada, Mexico and the UK.
-jcr
We're pulling out of Afghanistan, we're losing the war on drugs. The war on cancer is on hold until we pay off the other wars.
This is the USA. We've got to be at war with somebody. My guess is that this is meant to be a backup plan in case we don't go to war with Iran.
I don't believe you for a second. Do you realize how much extra Pixie Dust you could cram into 54 mm3 ?
Just that much more awesomeness!
And some people think that Apple doesn't innovate.
But you could never really do that. Energy use is easy - basically plug the machine into a Kill-a-watt and type up a sticker.
To ensure that a complex electromechanical device does not do something is nearly impossible. Sure, the default configuration might allow you to shut the camera down and you could see that nothing from the camera is being transmitted, but you could always put the machine into a 'nasty' mode which surreptitiously turns the evil eye back on.
Hard to do on a router. Hard to do on a TV. NOT having the physical capability is the only way to make sure it doesn't do something (other than nuking it from orbit, of course).
I agree and feel like complaining this morning.
Come on, world. Shaky, unedited cell phone cam 'videos' are only slightly worse than slick, over prepared 'tuts' with dippy techo music in the background and pointless transitions (yeah, the ones on the very bottom of the picklist that nobody has used since 1981).
Just write it down. Show a static picture if you need to. Video is for things that move, not talking heads, not pointing fingers.
Now, if you don't mind. I shall take a nap. That was exhausting.
Maybe we can try 'right position and right momentum' with Timothy'. A good swift kick in the kiester would do him some good....
Anorexic hamsters, possibly. Even Kate Moss weighed more than a kilogram.
(You must be American and unfamiliar with SI units.)
I use a slug gun. Mostly the shotgun is for bear defense (although I'm using it less and less for that these days, firearms are not very good against bear attacks). For home defense, I'm going to use 00 buck at about 6 feet. A non choked shotgun should dissolve the perp and spray just a few pellets around. Actually, the first round in the shotgun is a seal bomb - basically a loud blank. That's likely to have the perp shit his pants and run. The next round gets serious.
Not to imply that you can shoot a shotgun in a residence without some forethought about what's behind the target (as uncqual points out). That's always an enormous problem using a firearm for self defense.
Hello Kitty USB flash drives.
Drop a bunch in the parking lot.
Use Google to get the data in a couple of days. Latency is a bit low, but hell, it's a backup.
Man, that's obvious. Guys like to get touched in one place. Hint: Foot massages are out.
Ah, another "superior" European. Meanwhile, in the real world, the US ranks #1 in wind power generation, #1 in biomass generation, and #2 in solar generation in the world.
Per what?
Per Library of Congress, what else?
Vitamin D?
I know it's been hyped as a sort of a miracle drug, good for bones, heart, head, skin and sex drive, but I've never heard of it recommended to keep burglars away.
Does it make you smell really bad or something?
Nah, Lasers.
Sharks for the koi pond. Lasers for the roof.
IANAL, but I have been told by multiple sources that a shotgun, being primarily a fowling piece and not a weapon, is more likely to get you off in court.
I don't know where you live, but in my neck of the woods, we don't have 'fowls' - only targets. The advantages of a shotgun for home defense are essentially three fold - they're much more permissive of poor aim than a pistol, they're much less likely to go through a window / door / wall and injure an innocent bystander and finally, if used at appropriate self defense distances are very often fatal. That means the perp can't go and sue you for not killing him outright.
I don't think you need to run 5000 rounds a year through a shotgun to be able to blow somebody away from six feet, but you do need to be able to use the weapon quickly and safely. Basically, if you don't shoot for business or recreation you shouldn't use a gun for self defense. You're much more liable to injure yourself or some other innocent person than actually prevent some malfeasance.
Seriously. For simple unattended-property burglary, a gun is just an attractive target. And most dogs will just wag their tails all friendly-like at the burglar as they come and go.
Hopefully, one doesn't leave the gun in plain sight.
And even the friendliest, dumbest Labrador Retriever really is a deterrent for the garden variety low end thief. You don't know if the waggy critter wants you to pet him or if he's sizing you up because the owner is afraid of men and that vibe has been transmitted to the dog.
I've lived in rural environments for much of my adult life and people with dogs get burglarized much less than those with an empty house. Hardly the sole reason to have a dog, but it's what I tell my wife after "my dog" has jumped on the sofa after running home from his daily romp in the tidal flats.
If you wanted to strip my house, all you would have to do is drive up in a UPS truck and give the dog a treat. He thinks the the big brown truck is a giant, mobile snack machine. He'd help you drag stuff out in a second.
The downside to that being, in Texas, if you actually were insane enough to shoot the guy hassling you, a dozen other guys who were packing heat in hopes of being some sort of twisted hero some day would start firing at you without a further thought.
Given the fact they would be shooting .38 specials with 2 inch barrels you'd probably never get touched but in a crowded mall they're likely to hit somebody.
If you think the crazies on this website are a little off, just try and talk to somebody who thinks it appropriate to carry a loaded weapon in a shopping mall.
It's not an algae. It's a bacterium!
Prokaryotes rule!
(Who do you think will be around after silly humans trash the planet back to the Proterozoic?)
It's 'easy' for a plant. For humans, not so much.
Star Trek New Voyages is art?
Only for distressingly small values of the term.
And nothing of value was lost.
(At least in this instance. Come on, this stuff is almost as bad as another Star Wars prequel / sequel / plastic figurine.)
Gradients. Really, look at the big picture thermodynamics of a heating planet. Especially if you're increasing heat rapidly, you will increase gradients. Bigger winds, bigger storms.
Physics can be a world class bitch at times.
Actually we can get pretty close. A major anoxic event in the oceans could disprupt the food chain such that a very significant number of apex species (mankind being one) will get hammered.
Will everyone die? Unlikely. Even in a full blown nuclear war there are likely to be a couple million survivors.
However, most people rather like the planet in something resembling it's current form. They'd be fine if the human population dropped a bit, as long as they are not personally in the 'causalities' column. When you have enormous, rapid changes in food and water supply coupled with a population that's pushing the carrying capacity of the environment on a good day, well, you've got problems, chucko.
And all of those untold billions of people who live in the current equatorial belt whose ability to obtain food and water and shelter drop to near zero are just going to sit there and calmly give up as their local environments are rendered markedly less habitable?
You should look up the idea of a 'resource war'.
You're expecting all of those folks in the slow lane to understand 'acceleration'?
A quick trip down any four lane highway in the US should give you some idea of what we're up against.