Just a quick post, but you do know that you can be both religiously guided *and* democratic, right?
'Democracy with laws based on islamic law' isn't an oxymoron, you know, however badly it does to civil/human rights (which, while important to human rights is no imediment to democracy, see ancient greece for details)
I meant in the original article.. Anyways, the advantage of bio is that it's a solar generated fuel source that's high density and portable.. but if you're going to be running a power plant off of it, you might as well skip that step and go straight solar since even something like a solar boiler-type power will be more efficient (no processing steps, etc) than biodiesel running a turbine.
Methane recapture, on the other hand... (from landfills, not people.. *grin*)
Re:It will be economically viable, one day
on
Filling Up On Algae
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· Score: 2, Informative
Seeing that I pay (at the pump) about $2.80/gal in Olympia, WA for biodiesel.. and run it in a vehicle that gets 50 mpg (VW Jetta Wagon TDI), I'd say it's pretty darned economically viable. *grin*
I've calculated, though, that if I homebrewed it, I'd be paying $1.30 a gallon (bulk veggie oil is ~$1/gal, the amount of methanol required would be about $.30/gal...) plus I'll have more glycerine than I'll know what to do with. *grin*
I think that they're looking at this as a carbon mitigation strategy with biodiesel production as a side benefit (at least initially)... Though, it sorta takes away from the point of 'closed cycle biodiesel', doesn't it? *grin* (The carbon gets released anyways, it just gets released at a later point after it gets burned in a motor vehicle)
I don't know about you. My favorite 'mainstream' game recently has been Morrowind, a game which has no expensive voiceovers, etc.. just all plot and a very immersive, detailed world.
Apparently I'm not the only one, considering how popular that game has been. So I think there *IS* a market for it, and one that is being filled.
Also look at things like civ, etc, which aren't graphics/effects heavy but still very popular.
Graphics quality isn't everything, same as how in hollywood, FX aren't everything. A movie / game can be awesome in appearance without being 'intresting' in plot at all.
IMHO, plot and world matter MUCH more than the FX or graphics, so....:P Think about how, say, Napoleon Dynamite or Blair Witch got immensely popular without mass amounts of money spent in their production. The same applies to games.
Exactly.. I neither believe that GM foods are cure all OR inherently evil, but that it's another tool. However, like all tools, there are appropiate times and places, and as responsible scientists and decisionmakers we should go by a default of 'proven reasonably safe' instead of the more dangerous 'safe until proven otherwise' route that current public policy takes.
And as for the third world? Yes, they need to grow their own food. And they *have* for generations, for the most part. The history of that and the local knowledge and varieties that ensued need presevation not for its own sake, but because that represents generations of farm knowledge that has relevance to thei local conditions. There *is* no one size fits all solution.
Sorry, ran out of time, working and all. I *did* mean to include more:P Anyways, current studies tend to show that it takes 2-3 years of non-rotation for resistance to take hold, so yes, you could rotate through strains with different properties.
On the other hand, classic crop rotation, WITHOUT the engineered traits, would also reduce crop losses. So there's really no benefit in including those properties while rotating crops, and several drawbacks, including the IP costs.
Okay, other comments - a lot of them are linked with the first point as well....
Hardiness traits tend to unnecessary/irrevelant if you raise crops that are seasonal more enviromentally appropiate. Local varieties would be a better fit for the conditions and tend not to freeze/die/wilt as often as exotic and introduced crops....
Eliminating the shipping of crops for huge distances, and eating food grown more locally would mean that adding shipping resistant traits would be less neccessary. Look up CSAs and other local consumption initiatives for details. Ditto for shelf life....
You can ship things that are dry and easy to ship. Rice/Grains/Cereals are very shippable and don't need additional modifications.
I'm fairly tech inclined, but IMHO it is best to err on the side of caution, as you can't exactly reverse the process if a side effect grows out of control.
Here's some of your points
>Introducing natural pesticides that eliminate or >reduce the use of man-made chemicals that injure >both the environment and the health of the people >consuming the food while lowering the cost of the >food
Inducing natural pesticides into foods encourages those pests to gain immunity to those pesticides. Look, for example, at the 'BT' natural pesticide. It's basically something produced by certain soil bacteria which makes it resistant to insects. It is also used by organic farmes in small amounts as well to control insect infestations.
In many studies, engineering the pesticide into the plants encourages resistance to this tool because of overuse. Google it.:P In addition, read up on the study of 'resistance management', where these effects are anticpated and need to be mitigated.
In almost all cases, the old 'crop rotation' and non-monoculture techniqes are better to cope than the new GM type crops....
The list of rebuttals goes on as well. There's very good economic reasons why locally produced food even at slightly higher (labor) prices is more macro economically sound than cheaper food shipped from a distance, because of the lack of alternate jobs for those people displaced....
Don't get me wrong. New tech is great stuff. But please, how about ensuring it is safe and economically beneficial BEFORE we unleash the stuff onto the world?
I personally subscribe to the Quantum Santa Theory.
Something about having a possibility of being present at any location and the field strength being proportionate to the nice/naughty ratio in the area just makes all sorts of sense. Plus a bit of uncertainty theory regarding the actual santa location, of course.
Or even better yet, the 'many santas' theory... *GASP*
Funny me, but I thought that my cell phone worked because of ground based towers, which are tied into the land line system. Unless someone upgraded me to an iridium phone and didn't tell me.
And you know something? Satellites arent' the only tool used to predict weather. In fact, it's only one of an assortment, including things such as NOAA weather bouys, automated towers, and even old fashioned observations from ships.
As far as fusion with Helium isotopes?:P First build me a working reactor that is past the breakeven point, then we'll think about the sources for fueling it, m'kay?
Seriously, though.. as a californian, I can't disagree. Even though I'm stationed out of state, I still pay my CA taxes because I <3 CA. But the influx of refugees, well.. Don't worry, we'll outsource to your state eventually.
If you want altitude control, wny not use a parafoil? I mean, there *ARE* control surfaces besides static wings, y'know... some of which are much more lightweight.
You know what a better idea would be would be a retrofit that replaced the rear axle/rear tire hubs/brakes with a ~30-50HP RWD electrical motor unit, which would provide primary power in city cycles and regeneratively power itself. Then add some ultracapacitors into your body panels for energy storage. Maybe even replace the spare tire. Or a thin battery pack. Or make it options. (that way, you can say you have a megawatt energy storage system, etc. Basically just an 'energy sponge'. Perhaps have it tap in the 12V line to charge to, say 75%..
The front end could still be the same, which in my case is a VW Jetta Wagon Turbodiesel (~50mpg highway depending on my driving, faster driving reduces milage) running bio (B100 blend when possible) as well.
All you need would be to somehow add an extra inch of play to the brakes/accelerator, where the extra would be 'regeneratively brake' / 'electrically accelerate' or something, right?
Use of a 2.5" laptop drive instead of the mini-drive allows for PHYSICAL hacking of the archos, ie replacing the drive with, say, a 80GB unit. So yes, drive size has everything to do with that.:P
Unless someone can get a hold of the 40gb mini-drives and retrofit it into a 1st gen ipod or something.
Also, it appears that the open source firmware for the archos is much more further along and usable than the firmware for the ipod.
:P My Jetta Wagon TDI gets 46mpg (avg) on that not-earth-destrying BIOdiesel fuel:P And hey, it's still cheaper than premium for B100 (2.90 where I fill up here in Seattle)
Prolly do a diesel hybrid like the Mercedes Vision GST for my next car in a decade, though.
Slashdot Mirror
It's supported by lots of different routers, and I believe contains an openVPN implementation.
Just a quick post, but you do know that you can be both religiously guided *and* democratic, right?
'Democracy with laws based on islamic law' isn't an oxymoron, you know, however badly it does to civil/human rights (which, while important to human rights is no imediment to democracy, see ancient greece for details)
Is this where your penis size gets mentioned? :P :P
Anyways, to everyone else out there, this was during one of the Defcon presentations, by Vanna Vinyl. You just had to be there.
I meant in the original article.. Anyways, the advantage of bio is that it's a solar generated fuel source that's high density and portable.. but if you're going to be running a power plant off of it, you might as well skip that step and go straight solar since even something like a solar boiler-type power will be more efficient (no processing steps, etc) than biodiesel running a turbine.
Methane recapture, on the other hand... (from landfills, not people.. *grin*)
Seeing that I pay (at the pump) about $2.80/gal in Olympia, WA for biodiesel .. and run it in a vehicle that gets 50 mpg (VW Jetta Wagon TDI), I'd say it's pretty darned economically viable. *grin*
I've calculated, though, that if I homebrewed it, I'd be paying $1.30 a gallon (bulk veggie oil is ~$1/gal, the amount of methanol required would be about $.30/gal...) plus I'll have more glycerine than I'll know what to do with. *grin*
I think that they're looking at this as a carbon mitigation strategy with biodiesel production as a side benefit (at least initially)... Though, it sorta takes away from the point of 'closed cycle biodiesel', doesn't it? *grin* (The carbon gets released anyways, it just gets released at a later point after it gets burned in a motor vehicle)
I don't know about you. My favorite 'mainstream' game recently has been Morrowind, a game which has no expensive voiceovers, etc .. just all plot and a very immersive, detailed world.
Apparently I'm not the only one, considering how popular that game has been. So I think there *IS* a market for it, and one that is being filled.
Also look at things like civ, etc, which aren't graphics/effects heavy but still very popular.
Graphics quality isn't everything, same as how in hollywood, FX aren't everything. A movie / game can be awesome in appearance without being 'intresting' in plot at all.
.... :P Think about how, say, Napoleon Dynamite or Blair Witch got immensely popular without mass amounts of money spent in their production. The same applies to games.
IMHO, plot and world matter MUCH more than the FX or graphics, so
Exactly .. I neither believe that GM foods are cure all OR inherently evil, but that it's another tool. However, like all tools, there are appropiate times and places, and as responsible scientists and decisionmakers we should go by a default of 'proven reasonably safe' instead of the more dangerous 'safe until proven otherwise' route that current public policy takes.
And as for the third world? Yes, they need to grow their own food. And they *have* for generations, for the most part. The history of that and the local knowledge and varieties that ensued need presevation not for its own sake, but because that represents generations of farm knowledge that has relevance to thei local conditions. There *is* no one size fits all solution.
Sorry, ran out of time, working and all. I *did* mean to include more :P Anyways, current studies tend to show that it takes 2-3 years of non-rotation for resistance to take hold, so yes, you could rotate through strains with different properties.
...
...
...
On the other hand, classic crop rotation, WITHOUT the engineered traits, would also reduce crop losses. So there's really no benefit in including those properties while rotating crops, and several drawbacks, including the IP costs.
Okay, other comments - a lot of them are linked with the first point as well.
Hardiness traits tend to unnecessary/irrevelant if you raise crops that are seasonal more enviromentally appropiate. Local varieties would be a better fit for the conditions and tend not to freeze/die/wilt as often as exotic and introduced crops.
Eliminating the shipping of crops for huge distances, and eating food grown more locally would mean that adding shipping resistant traits would be less neccessary. Look up CSAs and other local consumption initiatives for details. Ditto for shelf life.
You can ship things that are dry and easy to ship. Rice/Grains/Cereals are very shippable and don't need additional modifications.
I'm fairly tech inclined, but IMHO it is best to err on the side of caution, as you can't exactly reverse the process if a side effect grows out of control.
:P In addition, read up on the study of 'resistance management', where these effects are anticpated and need to be mitigated.
...
...
Here's some of your points
>Introducing natural pesticides that eliminate or >reduce the use of man-made chemicals that injure >both the environment and the health of the people >consuming the food while lowering the cost of the >food
Inducing natural pesticides into foods encourages those pests to gain immunity to those pesticides. Look, for example, at the 'BT' natural pesticide. It's basically something produced by certain soil bacteria which makes it resistant to insects. It is also used by organic farmes in small amounts as well to control insect infestations.
In many studies, engineering the pesticide into the plants encourages resistance to this tool because of overuse. Google it.
In almost all cases, the old 'crop rotation' and non-monoculture techniqes are better to cope than the new GM type crops.
The list of rebuttals goes on as well. There's very good economic reasons why locally produced food even at slightly higher (labor) prices is more macro economically sound than cheaper food shipped from a distance, because of the lack of alternate jobs for those people displaced.
Don't get me wrong. New tech is great stuff. But please, how about ensuring it is safe and economically beneficial BEFORE we unleash the stuff onto the world?
You know, beta/bugtesting?
I personally subscribe to the Quantum Santa Theory.
Something about having a possibility of being present at any location and the field strength being proportionate to the nice/naughty ratio in the area just makes all sorts of sense. Plus a bit of uncertainty theory regarding the actual santa location, of course.
Or even better yet, the 'many santas' theory... *GASP*
So when can I use one to pilot my UN SPACY VF-1A? Huuuh?
Funny me, but I thought that my cell phone worked because of ground based towers, which are tied into the land line system. Unless someone upgraded me to an iridium phone and didn't tell me.
:P First build me a working reactor that is past the breakeven point, then we'll think about the sources for fueling it, m'kay?
And you know something? Satellites arent' the only tool used to predict weather. In fact, it's only one of an assortment, including things such as NOAA weather bouys, automated towers, and even old fashioned observations from ships.
As far as fusion with Helium isotopes?
I dunno about you, but nowadays 'scanning your own groceries' in supermarkets is becoming more and more common. :P
They're replacing every 4 grocery clerk with just 1 and a bunch of self-scan stands in a lot of places. So I'd call that jobs dissapearing.
<3 <3 <3
:P
Someone mod him up!
Seriously, though.. as a californian, I can't disagree. Even though I'm stationed out of state, I still pay my CA taxes because I <3 CA. But the influx of refugees, well.. Don't worry, we'll outsource to your state eventually.
Plants may be less efficient, but can be tasty and serve recycling functions as well. Multi-use versus single use.
PuTTY. Don't leave home without it.
Also, a VNC client and a X server works too.
Quick note on wings..
If you want altitude control, wny not use a parafoil? I mean, there *ARE* control surfaces besides static wings, y'know... some of which are much more lightweight.
You know what a better idea would be would be a retrofit that replaced the rear axle/rear tire hubs/brakes with a ~30-50HP RWD electrical motor unit, which would provide primary power in city cycles and regeneratively power itself. Then add some ultracapacitors into your body panels for energy storage. Maybe even replace the spare tire. Or a thin battery pack. Or make it options. (that way, you can say you have a megawatt energy storage system, etc. Basically just an 'energy sponge'. Perhaps have it tap in the 12V line to charge to, say 75% ..
The front end could still be the same, which in my case is a VW Jetta Wagon Turbodiesel (~50mpg highway depending on my driving, faster driving reduces milage) running bio (B100 blend when possible) as well.
All you need would be to somehow add an extra inch of play to the brakes/accelerator, where the extra would be 'regeneratively brake' / 'electrically accelerate' or something, right?
We'll have to agree to disagree. :P
The archos (while, yes, being ~2x ipod size) is still smaller than a CD player or a traditional tape playing walkman.
Going smaller just bumps up the costs. (~x2 when I purchased my archos, the 20gb USB2 recorder was at $200, when the 20gb apple ipod was ~$400)
Use of a 2.5" laptop drive instead of the mini-drive allows for PHYSICAL hacking of the archos, ie replacing the drive with, say, a 80GB unit. So yes, drive size has everything to do with that. :P
Unless someone can get a hold of the 40gb mini-drives and retrofit it into a 1st gen ipod or something.
Also, it appears that the open source firmware for the archos is much more further along and usable than the firmware for the ipod.
Well, the nicest thing about the Archos is the use of a 2.5" laptop drive instead of the mini-drives. Yes, I know the iPod is smaller.
:P
However, that means that you can a) upgrade drives (with some hacking) and b) run 3rd party firmware (a la rockbox)... not a bad thing by my book.
Are you going to try to hack your archos now that you've got an iPod?
:P My Jetta Wagon TDI gets 46mpg (avg) on that not-earth-destrying BIOdiesel fuel :P And hey, it's still cheaper than premium for B100 (2.90 where I fill up here in Seattle)
Prolly do a diesel hybrid like the Mercedes Vision GST for my next car in a decade, though.
Lensmoor.org. :P Characters can mate and have kid-characters. /mud pimping.