How about a factory-sized de-fabricator? Place your city's garbage in, obtain raw purified matter on the other side. Example: Toss in an old printer. Obtain carbon, Silicon, various metals, and O2, ready for manufacturing again. Same with home waste.
So instead of filling landfills, we can generate raw materials for use in manufacturing. No need to mine for them. It's recycling at an atomic level.
Now we need a machine that can handle all that waste really quickly, and be able to distinguish between different atoms to sort them properly... Piece of cake!;)
Another good reason, too, is that some areas (even in the same city) cannot get some channels. For example:
I live about 15 minutes from a friend of mine who gets the Space channel (canadian version of Sci-fi) for free with his basic cable service. Me? I can't get it at all, not even if I wanted to pay for it. Why? Because my neighbourhood is considered a french neighbourhood by the cable company, and thus we don't want any sci-fi in English. Let's forget the fact that most of the people I cross on my street speak english.
So there is no way for me to watch sci-fi on tv, even if I wanted to pay for it. What I used to do is to get my friend to record shows for me, and then swap video tapes with him, but that was troublesome for him, and also unreliable ("oops, I forgot"). So instead, I cut the middleman, and download my weekly sci-fi fix.
Finally, another reason to download shows is that TV is 4x3, and I have a 16:9 TV. HDTV isn't available here yet, and the image quality from my cable provider is piss-poor (fuzzy, grainy, washed out). So while I do watch a show live when it airs, when I'm away I no longer bother recording a show, because I can get a widescreen image, and better quality (than broadcast) by downloading it later.
Now what I would truly dig is an iTunes Music Store for buying single episodes of a tv show. Then I could ditch the cable company entirely. Because seriously, 30 bucks a month for about 20 channels, all airing reality tv shows? I could really live without.
Local laws notwithstanding (because I'm sure you were talking about a stationary bike, right?), why don't you try to build one yourself? There are already plenty of plans on how to build iPod charger using batteries. So it's not so much of a stretch to imagine a generator charging the battery pack, charging the iPod...
"I can see the paralell, but I'd be opposed to a public cigarrette ban too. I can understand banning smoking inside public (government) buildings. But in the open air, and in private (including places of business) buildings I see no possible justification. What could be less harmful to society than me lying by the river on a sunny day puffing a joint and reading a book?"
I don't think the grandparent meant it as such. Let's take an example: I get some severe reactions from cigarette smoke. It is VERY unpleasant. Now I'm waiting in line for the bus, and the person in front of me, and behind me are both blowing their smoke in my face, with no respect whatsoever for my well-being (airway seizure, turning blue, for example). That could be considered justification. Now on the other hand, some people are considerate enough to blow their smoke UPWARDS, so it doesn't have to be that bad. But in general, smokers seem to believe that since they smoke, EVERYONE should. After all, why should they be the only ones dying from lung cancer? </RANT>
Well, I have to admit that I am most definitely not a chemist! My post was meant to be a joke... Oh well...
On the other hand, there's got to be an evolutionary reason why HCl made it into our stomachs, as opposed to H2SO4...
Rotten eggs?
on
Hacking Vodka
·
· Score: 3, Informative
"I could have sworn sulfuric acid was what is in your stomach, not hydrochloric."
Well, if it was, you'd probably burp a smell of rotten eggs. I think natural selection took care of eliminating the species that developed sulfuric-acid-based gastric fluids;)
"I finally told them to get f*cked and I took a pair of bolt cutters and a screw driver to my lines. I physically cut the wire at the boxes and removed the boxes from the walls, then standing on a milk crate, I cut the dangling wires at the poles as high up as I could reach. They now dangle cut, swinging in the wind, at my home and at my place of business."
Please, by all means, let me know when you install solar panels on your roof, and decide to dump your local electrical co. I'll bring a camcorder.
"As this is GPL, there is nothing stopping ports to other platforms:)"
Since OSX already has most of this functionality built into the OS thanks to the CoreAudio framework, the majority of the source would be akin to reinventing the wheel.
What we need for OSX is a comprehensive interface to tap into the power that's already there.
As a child, I always wondered why on earth men would fight men in wars... Having seen Robocop, I always imagined (remote-controlled) robots would replace soldiers eventually. In the end, it still all boils down to military budget vs. military budget. Why waste the human lives in the process?
Ever heard of Desk Accessories in MacOS systems 6 and earlier? Back when the OS could only run one program at a time, they created DAs that could run concurrently to another app. You could then have access to a calculator, note pad, etc.. without having to interrupt your work on the other program.
Dashboard seems like a remake of that. Push a button and get all your accessories to pop up.
Konfabulator on the other hand is a whole javascript runtime engine, and _that's_ what they're charging for. They're not charging for the concept of widgets (which could arguably be the same as DAs in the first place).
So it's not so black and white about who took who's idea. Apple has the right to reanimate its DAs... They just happened to choose a way to handle the different gadgets that is vaguely similar to the way Konf does it (html/css/javascript).
I still think there's room for both. Dashboard isn't always on. When it is, it dims the rest of your screen. Konf can run next to other apps.
"People can buy plutonium rods from the local supermarket, or maybe gas station if there's an issue with safety storing them (as there is with oil), take them home, insert into reactor, and spend another few months with plenty of power."
Think more along the lines of "Have plutonium rods (or pebbles?) delivered (like oil currently is) to my home, insert in reactor, take waste away securely, and spend another few DECADES with plenty of power."
As I said, this was _last summer_. Prices have gone down a lot since then. And prices are in Canadian dollars, and include the 15% sales tax. There might also be the Canadian levy on recordable media on there... But I'm not sure about that... I also avoid the cheapest brands, because I've found them to be just that, cheap, and utterly unreliable for medium to long term storage. However, even at these inflated prices, I believe my original point to be valid: DVDs are less expensive:)
Here in Canada, CDR's cost about 45 cents apiece for 700 megs. DVD-Rs cost about 80-130 cents apiece.
- For a CD-R, you're paying 6.5 cents per 100 megs - For a DVD-R you're paying between 1.8 to 2.9 cents per 100 megs.
Any way you put it, DVD-Rs are WAY cheaper than CD-Rs. Since I got my DVD burner last summer, I've burned around 50 DVD-Rs. The spindle was around 75 dollars, taxes included. For the same capacity, I would've needed more than three 100-disc CDR spindles. Those generally go for 50$ each, taxes included. In all I've saved about 75$ right there. That's half of what I paid for my burner. Another spindle, and it'll have paid for itself...
I wanted to download the screensaver, but it asks for a birthdate. Entering ANY birthdate will give you a page telling you you're too young to visit that part of the site. I tried 1901 for a birth year and it STILL didn't work. And did you know there were only 13 days in the month of September of 1901? Is that an effect of slashdotting, or a really poorly designed site?
Most likely because of economies of scale. In the current state of affairs, a PPC board w/ CPU will cost you more than the equivalent x86 system, simply because there are more of them being sold. That, and it's hard for a manufacturer to get into building some Desktop PPC motherboards when the market is so small. People who want PPC either want it to run MacOSX, in which case they'll get a Mac, or they want to run Linux, in which case they might as well get a Mac or PC. Back in the day, there was the BeOS which ran on PPC hardware as well, but we all know how that ended:( As for Amiga, well, I haven't heard from them in a while... I wish them the best! We really need a new player here:)
PS: In theory, OSX will run on pretty much any PPC hardware with the proper hacks... It can currently be done using MacOnLinux, but it'd be nice to get around that:) Mind you, it's against the EULA... But that hasn't stopped anyone before;)
Well. Generally, the PPC architecture is a much cleaner design inside and out. Just ask an assembly programmer that programmed for both PPC and x86. The system is also much more powerful per MHz AND per watt than an intel-based system. Also, as it stands, hardware manufacturers HAVE to buy their hardware from either Intel or AMD (and a few other home-baked clones; not always 100% compatible). But each CPU is different. In the PPC world, not only is all the hardware open (IBM will let anyone use their cores: Power Everywhere I believe they call it; and the PPC specs are open for anyone to create their own CPU) but so is the firmware (OpenFirmware, an ieee standard), so no BIOS-vendor DRM lockout in the near future. Basically, the PPC platform is all about openness. Anybody can make a PPC motherboard. IBM even has a sample circuit diagram for one on their site. Problem is, to date, there hasn't been so much demand for such boards.
That said, the Windows on PPC question is pointless. They'd have to port everything PERFECTLY to get a system designed for an x86 (+asm tweaks) to work decently. And you'd still have to recompile all 3rd party software to get decent speed.
Just my 2 cents worth:)
If cars like these were made affordable (perhaps in the 5-8k range) I could see them becoming very popular with students, and people who really don't need a car except on rare occasions.
Here in Montreal, it's suicide to go downtown by car. For me it's a 20 minute ride, plus 10-15 minutes to find a parking spot. Then you have to pay the meters something ridiculous like 1 buck per hour, and have to go fill the meter every other hour. After that, you have to walk to where you were supposed to be. Comparatively, I can jump into the bus/subway, and be where I need to be in 25 minutes door-to-door. The monthly pass is 31$ for students/elderly and 59$ for anyone else.
Since I have to be downtown every day, I find it hard to justify the cost of a car. The bus pass will cover 5 days/week of my transportation costs. Much less than the equivalent fuel. However, it's damned inconvenient when I have to get to a place either late at night (slow/inexistent service) or where the transit system doesn't go. What I need is the equivalent of a scooter, but in car terms. Two people, some luggage space. I don't need in-dash bluetooth or any of the other fancy stuff. I want to get from point A to point B for less, yearly, than it would cost me to take a cab every time I need the ride.
Well, that's my two cents... So, where are those fuel efficient 2-people cars?
Have you any recommendations for 4-bit uCs for hobbyists? Some of the projects I work on sometimes require much less than even the lowliest of PICs... Which is why your comment piqued my interest:D Thanks!
I would gladly use a hybrid car that I can plug in at home (very clean and cheap hydro power in Quebec). For the daily commute, the charge would be more than enough. If I ever need more (long highway trips, high loads...), the gas motor would kick in until the next overnight charge. So the charge covers the 90% of eventualities, and the fuel covers the other 10%. What's wrong with that?
So you're telling me that a simple half-wave rectifier, as used in most wall-block power supplies, don't register on your meter? Somehow I have a hard time believing that one, although I will admit I haven't the faintest idea how the meters work internally. Have any links on that?
The other problem I see with that is finding a high enough power and capacity capacitor and diode to run at 120V, in the several amps range. That in itself might cost you more than than the savings you could ever hope to attain.
Buy all these PCs, and force them to run adaware/spybot weekly. Might be more constructive, mind you some 'victims' will never learn to be more careful.
Why are there no companies writing such 'vaccines', patching vulnerable systems? Some might complain and say some patches make people's systems behave strangely in some apps, but is the spyware any better or more trustworthy? Think of it as a voluntary virus. "Click OK to vaccinate your PC".
Considering these very same computers are probably overloaded with spyware/adware to a point of being nearly non-functional, the power available here is probably not worth the price... And let's not talk about dialup and downtime either, as most of these machines are probably off/disconnected at night, etc...
Slashdot Mirror
How about a factory-sized de-fabricator? Place your city's garbage in, obtain raw purified matter on the other side. Example: Toss in an old printer. Obtain carbon, Silicon, various metals, and O2, ready for manufacturing again. Same with home waste.
;)
So instead of filling landfills, we can generate raw materials for use in manufacturing. No need to mine for them. It's recycling at an atomic level.
Now we need a machine that can handle all that waste really quickly, and be able to distinguish between different atoms to sort them properly... Piece of cake!
Another good reason, too, is that some areas (even in the same city) cannot get some channels. For example:
;)
I live about 15 minutes from a friend of mine who gets the Space channel (canadian version of Sci-fi) for free with his basic cable service. Me? I can't get it at all, not even if I wanted to pay for it. Why? Because my neighbourhood is considered a french neighbourhood by the cable company, and thus we don't want any sci-fi in English. Let's forget the fact that most of the people I cross on my street speak english.
So there is no way for me to watch sci-fi on tv, even if I wanted to pay for it.
What I used to do is to get my friend to record shows for me, and then swap video tapes with him, but that was troublesome for him, and also unreliable ("oops, I forgot"). So instead, I cut the middleman, and download my weekly sci-fi fix.
Finally, another reason to download shows is that TV is 4x3, and I have a 16:9 TV. HDTV isn't available here yet, and the image quality from my cable provider is piss-poor (fuzzy, grainy, washed out). So while I do watch a show live when it airs, when I'm away I no longer bother recording a show, because I can get a widescreen image, and better quality (than broadcast) by downloading it later.
Now what I would truly dig is an iTunes Music Store for buying single episodes of a tv show. Then I could ditch the cable company entirely. Because seriously, 30 bucks a month for about 20 channels, all airing reality tv shows? I could really live without.
Anyways, that was my 2 cents worth
Local laws notwithstanding (because I'm sure you were talking about a stationary bike, right?), why don't you try to build one yourself? There are already plenty of plans on how to build iPod charger using batteries. So it's not so much of a stretch to imagine a generator charging the battery pack, charging the iPod...
"I can see the paralell, but I'd be opposed to a public cigarrette ban too. I can understand banning smoking inside public (government) buildings. But in the open air, and in private (including places of business) buildings I see no possible justification. What could be less harmful to society than me lying by the river on a sunny day puffing a joint and reading a book?"
I don't think the grandparent meant it as such. Let's take an example: I get some severe reactions from cigarette smoke. It is VERY unpleasant. Now I'm waiting in line for the bus, and the person in front of me, and behind me are both blowing their smoke in my face, with no respect whatsoever for my well-being (airway seizure, turning blue, for example). That could be considered justification.
Now on the other hand, some people are considerate enough to blow their smoke UPWARDS, so it doesn't have to be that bad. But in general, smokers seem to believe that since they smoke, EVERYONE should. After all, why should they be the only ones dying from lung cancer? </RANT>
Well, I have to admit that I am most definitely not a chemist! My post was meant to be a joke... Oh well...
On the other hand, there's got to be an evolutionary reason why HCl made it into our stomachs, as opposed to H2SO4...
"I could have sworn sulfuric acid was what is in your stomach, not hydrochloric."
;)
Well, if it was, you'd probably burp a smell of rotten eggs.
I think natural selection took care of eliminating the species that developed sulfuric-acid-based gastric fluids
"I finally told them to get f*cked and I took a pair of bolt cutters and a screw driver to my lines. I physically cut the wire at the boxes and removed the boxes from the walls, then standing on a milk crate, I cut the dangling wires at the poles as high up as I could reach. They now dangle cut, swinging in the wind, at my home and at my place of business."
Please, by all means, let me know when you install solar panels on your roof, and decide to dump your local electrical co.
I'll bring a camcorder.
"As this is GPL, there is nothing stopping ports to other platforms :)"
Since OSX already has most of this functionality built into the OS thanks to the CoreAudio framework, the majority of the source would be akin to reinventing the wheel. What we need for OSX is a comprehensive interface to tap into the power that's already there.
As a child, I always wondered why on earth men would fight men in wars... Having seen Robocop, I always imagined (remote-controlled) robots would replace soldiers eventually. In the end, it still all boils down to military budget vs. military budget. Why waste the human lives in the process?
At least those were my thoughts as a 7 year old.
Ever heard of Desk Accessories in MacOS systems 6 and earlier? Back when the OS could only run one program at a time, they created DAs that could run concurrently to another app. You could then have access to a calculator, note pad, etc.. without having to interrupt your work on the other program.
Dashboard seems like a remake of that. Push a button and get all your accessories to pop up.
Konfabulator on the other hand is a whole javascript runtime engine, and _that's_ what they're charging for. They're not charging for the concept of widgets (which could arguably be the same as DAs in the first place).
So it's not so black and white about who took who's idea. Apple has the right to reanimate its DAs... They just happened to choose a way to handle the different gadgets that is vaguely similar to the way Konf does it (html/css/javascript).
I still think there's room for both. Dashboard isn't always on. When it is, it dims the rest of your screen. Konf can run next to other apps.
"People can buy plutonium rods from the local supermarket, or maybe gas station if there's an issue with safety storing them (as there is with oil), take them home, insert into reactor, and spend another few months with plenty of power."
Think more along the lines of "Have plutonium rods (or pebbles?) delivered (like oil currently is) to my home, insert in reactor, take waste away securely, and spend another few DECADES with plenty of power."
As I said, this was _last summer_. Prices have gone down a lot since then. And prices are in Canadian dollars, and include the 15% sales tax. There might also be the Canadian levy on recordable media on there... But I'm not sure about that... :)
I also avoid the cheapest brands, because I've found them to be just that, cheap, and utterly unreliable for medium to long term storage.
However, even at these inflated prices, I believe my original point to be valid: DVDs are less expensive
Here in Canada, CDR's cost about 45 cents apiece for 700 megs.
DVD-Rs cost about 80-130 cents apiece.
- For a CD-R, you're paying 6.5 cents per 100 megs
- For a DVD-R you're paying between 1.8 to 2.9 cents per 100 megs.
Any way you put it, DVD-Rs are WAY cheaper than CD-Rs. Since I got my DVD burner last summer, I've burned around 50 DVD-Rs. The spindle was around 75 dollars, taxes included. For the same capacity, I would've needed more than three 100-disc CDR spindles. Those generally go for 50$ each, taxes included. In all I've saved about 75$ right there. That's half of what I paid for my burner. Another spindle, and it'll have paid for itself...
Hmm. The system seems limited at the moment to only red, and what seems to be 1-bit color. I sense a comeback of ASCII porn!
It does, though, bring a whole new meaning to "do it too often and you'll go blind"...
Didn't we see this already?
I wanted to download the screensaver, but it asks for a birthdate. Entering ANY birthdate will give you a page telling you you're too young to visit that part of the site. I tried 1901 for a birth year and it STILL didn't work. And did you know there were only 13 days in the month of September of 1901?
Is that an effect of slashdotting, or a really poorly designed site?
Most likely because of economies of scale. In the current state of affairs, a PPC board w/ CPU will cost you more than the equivalent x86 system, simply because there are more of them being sold. :( :)
:) Mind you, it's against the EULA... But that hasn't stopped anyone before ;)
That, and it's hard for a manufacturer to get into building some Desktop PPC motherboards when the market is so small. People who want PPC either want it to run MacOSX, in which case they'll get a Mac, or they want to run Linux, in which case they might as well get a Mac or PC. Back in the day, there was the BeOS which ran on PPC hardware as well, but we all know how that ended
As for Amiga, well, I haven't heard from them in a while... I wish them the best! We really need a new player here
PS: In theory, OSX will run on pretty much any PPC hardware with the proper hacks... It can currently be done using MacOnLinux, but it'd be nice to get around that
Well. Generally, the PPC architecture is a much cleaner design inside and out. Just ask an assembly programmer that programmed for both PPC and x86. The system is also much more powerful per MHz AND per watt than an intel-based system.
:)
Also, as it stands, hardware manufacturers HAVE to buy their hardware from either Intel or AMD (and a few other home-baked clones; not always 100% compatible). But each CPU is different.
In the PPC world, not only is all the hardware open (IBM will let anyone use their cores: Power Everywhere I believe they call it; and the PPC specs are open for anyone to create their own CPU) but so is the firmware (OpenFirmware, an ieee standard), so no BIOS-vendor DRM lockout in the near future. Basically, the PPC platform is all about openness. Anybody can make a PPC motherboard. IBM even has a sample circuit diagram for one on their site. Problem is, to date, there hasn't been so much demand for such boards.
That said, the Windows on PPC question is pointless. They'd have to port everything PERFECTLY to get a system designed for an x86 (+asm tweaks) to work decently. And you'd still have to recompile all 3rd party software to get decent speed. Just my 2 cents worth
If cars like these were made affordable (perhaps in the 5-8k range) I could see them becoming very popular with students, and people who really don't need a car except on rare occasions.
Here in Montreal, it's suicide to go downtown by car. For me it's a 20 minute ride, plus 10-15 minutes to find a parking spot. Then you have to pay the meters something ridiculous like 1 buck per hour, and have to go fill the meter every other hour. After that, you have to walk to where you were supposed to be. Comparatively, I can jump into the bus/subway, and be where I need to be in 25 minutes door-to-door. The monthly pass is 31$ for students/elderly and 59$ for anyone else.
Since I have to be downtown every day, I find it hard to justify the cost of a car. The bus pass will cover 5 days/week of my transportation costs. Much less than the equivalent fuel. However, it's damned inconvenient when I have to get to a place either late at night (slow/inexistent service) or where the transit system doesn't go. What I need is the equivalent of a scooter, but in car terms. Two people, some luggage space. I don't need in-dash bluetooth or any of the other fancy stuff. I want to get from point A to point B for less, yearly, than it would cost me to take a cab every time I need the ride.
Well, that's my two cents... So, where are those fuel efficient 2-people cars?
PS: all prices in Canadian dollars; 1CDN=0.78USD
Have you any recommendations for 4-bit uCs for hobbyists? Some of the projects I work on sometimes require much less than even the lowliest of PICs... Which is why your comment piqued my interest :D
Thanks!
Due to the new technology, the accidental run-over rate for cute young ladies wearing mini-skirts and tube tops will rise dramatically.
I would gladly use a hybrid car that I can plug in at home (very clean and cheap hydro power in Quebec). For the daily commute, the charge would be more than enough. If I ever need more (long highway trips, high loads...), the gas motor would kick in until the next overnight charge. So the charge covers the 90% of eventualities, and the fuel covers the other 10%. What's wrong with that?
So you're telling me that a simple half-wave rectifier, as used in most wall-block power supplies, don't register on your meter? Somehow I have a hard time believing that one, although I will admit I haven't the faintest idea how the meters work internally. Have any links on that?
The other problem I see with that is finding a high enough power and capacity capacitor and diode to run at 120V, in the several amps range. That in itself might cost you more than than the savings you could ever hope to attain.
Buy all these PCs, and force them to run adaware/spybot weekly. Might be more constructive, mind you some 'victims' will never learn to be more careful.
Why are there no companies writing such 'vaccines', patching vulnerable systems? Some might complain and say some patches make people's systems behave strangely in some apps, but is the spyware any better or more trustworthy? Think of it as a voluntary virus. "Click OK to vaccinate your PC".
Considering these very same computers are probably overloaded with spyware/adware to a point of being nearly non-functional, the power available here is probably not worth the price...
And let's not talk about dialup and downtime either, as most of these machines are probably off/disconnected at night, etc...