How about mixing the two? Solar panels at the end of a Space Elevator. Send the power down via a very high voltage line instead of microwaves... Removes the "microwaves are bad" issue.
So one budget gets two projects going.... And once the project is built, it is self-sustainable (i.e. money from the electricity goes to operating and maintaining the whole rig). And well. Once the elevator is built, it's a LOT less expensive to send more panels up.
I remember reading about this EXACT technology in the early nineties. And that was in an archive of science magazines (the french Science & Vie). So the idea isn't new, and it certainly didn't originate from the game makers. What the game makers do, though, is help popularize such under-the-radar ideas that people would've otherwise ignored.
On a side note, I can't wait to see pre-cooked birds falling from the sky;)
IIRC, the cheaters would backup and distribute workunit files that were at 99% completed, so people only had to download them and compute the last 1% of the file, and submit. And even compute the same file twice or thrice... Problem with that was that since every workunit has to be double-checked or even triple-checked for accuracy, sending the same unit back multiple times negated those checks. I recall reading that this problem was solved some time ago...
You forget that in these 725 million CDs sold, most of them were probably bought for one or two tracks at most, the rest being filler that people were "forced" to buy anyways.
And considering the quality of the music being sold today, "one or two" sounds about right. Now being overly generous and assuming there are THREE good tracks per CD, on average, you've got about 14 million "CDs" sold, which is about 2% of CD sales of 2001.
Now. It would be fun to see the statistics on CDs for 2003, because I'm pretty sure people are buying less and less music these days, mostly due (in my case) to all the junk they're keeping on store shelves.
Still, for a one-year-old music store, I think it's doing great, and I wish them the best!
One think lacking in most all workspaces is a quiet place to get some shut-eye on your lunch break. A 30 minutes nap can do miracles in productivity and morale.
Mind you, private offices with a door you can shut, lights you can turn off, windows with blinds, a couch, and "do-not-disturb" sign could do as well:)
Slightly OT, but I've come to a realization recently. I just bought a spindle of 50 DVD-Rs for about 60 bucks CAD (about 40 USD). That is when I noticed I really don't need more than my 120GB drive. 220GB worth of DVD-Rs cost 40USD, whereas the same capacity in hard disks will cost several times that. I understand that some people might need this (intensive video editing, high-capacity serving, etc...) but the average Joe home-user has no use for it. And yet the people at Future Shop will shove a huge capacity HD down the throat of an unsuspecting buyer when that same buyer could save a few hundred bucks by simply getting some media. It's great to see advances in technology like this, but doesn't this eventually lead to bloated software? How many gigs will Office Longhorn take?
I'd rather have better reliability, better seek times, and faster transfer rates. When will drives include more than one set or R/W heads around the platter to accelerate the seek of multiple files? At least then, newer hard drives would give some tangible benefits. They would make your overall computer faster.
To learn more you could always go to your local library and get the book "Why We Nap: Evolution, Chronobiology, and Functions of Polyphasic and Ultrashort Sleep" by Claudio Stampi.
It's an interesting little book, with plenty of examples and experimental results.
As for the long term risks, I guess one has to use his noggin. You won't be physically more energetic, so don't start this to train 20 hours a day for a marathon. Your body still needs its rest. Since most geeks stick to their computers, that shouldn't be a problem:) Apparently Leonardo Da Vinci used this for most of his lifetime. So it can't be _that_ bad long-term
Alternatively, if you don't want to go completely polyphasic, you can sleep a 4-hour chunk at night, and then 30 minutes every 4 hours after that.
Actually, if you take enough 30 minute naps during a day (usually 30 minutes every 4 hours) you can get away with as little as 3 hours of sleep PER DAY.
It's known as polyphasic sleeping, and it tricks the mind into falling into REM sleep very quickly rather than waiting several hours (as when you only sleep in one 8-hour chunk).
You even end up getting MORE REM sleep this way.
Lots of mammals do it naturally, including us as babies, but we are raised by our parents to stay awake all day and sleep at night.
I tried this a few semesters ago to get through a rough finals week. Works great, you even feel more awake than usual. But you have to have a lot of stuff to do, otherwise you bore yourself to sleep;)
Anyways, I wish Universities and workplaces would have sleep-rooms and schedules separated in 3.5 hour chunks!!
I'd take a DUAL dual-core 2.5GHz G5 powermac over a dual single-core 3GHz anytime.
It would probably be less of a technical challenge as well, and would follow the "GHz doesn't matter" philosophy the POWER(tm) manager said a few days ago.
The 90nm process encounters problems at high clock speeds.
So, bring on more efficiency at lower clock speeds!
1. Find the best fax machine in the establishment. They usually have sheet-feeders and are fairly quick. Fax the document to your OSX-enabled powerbook. You should then have every page in individual.tiff files. Write an applescript to automate GraphicConverter to batch-process the images.
2. (This is a method I've used, and it works fairly well, although it requires some manual labor). Find a music stand, a tripod, and a digital camera. Aim the camera at the music stand, and take pictures of each side of the pages as needed. Depending on the writing, you can take the pictures at one megapixels. Again, Applescript, GraphicConverter to adjust the whites and convert the files...
Slashdot Mirror
How about mixing the two? Solar panels at the end of a Space Elevator. Send the power down via a very high voltage line instead of microwaves... Removes the "microwaves are bad" issue.
So one budget gets two projects going.... And once the project is built, it is self-sustainable (i.e. money from the electricity goes to operating and maintaining the whole rig). And well. Once the elevator is built, it's a LOT less expensive to send more panels up.
I remember reading about this EXACT technology in the early nineties. And that was in an archive of science magazines (the french Science & Vie). So the idea isn't new, and it certainly didn't originate from the game makers. What the game makers do, though, is help popularize such under-the-radar ideas that people would've otherwise ignored.
;)
On a side note, I can't wait to see pre-cooked birds falling from the sky
IIRC, the cheaters would backup and distribute workunit files that were at 99% completed, so people only had to download them and compute the last 1% of the file, and submit. And even compute the same file twice or thrice...
Problem with that was that since every workunit has to be double-checked or even triple-checked for accuracy, sending the same unit back multiple times negated those checks. I recall reading that this problem was solved some time ago...
You forget that in these 725 million CDs sold, most of them were probably bought for one or two tracks at most, the rest being filler that people were "forced" to buy anyways.
And considering the quality of the music being sold today, "one or two" sounds about right. Now being overly generous and assuming there are THREE good tracks per CD, on average, you've got about 14 million "CDs" sold, which is about 2% of CD sales of 2001.
Now. It would be fun to see the statistics on CDs for 2003, because I'm pretty sure people are buying less and less music these days, mostly due (in my case) to all the junk they're keeping on store shelves.
Still, for a one-year-old music store, I think it's doing great, and I wish them the best!
One think lacking in most all workspaces is a quiet place to get some shut-eye on your lunch break. A 30 minutes nap can do miracles in productivity and morale.
:)
Mind you, private offices with a door you can shut, lights you can turn off, windows with blinds, a couch, and "do-not-disturb" sign could do as well
Slightly OT, but I've come to a realization recently.
I just bought a spindle of 50 DVD-Rs for about 60 bucks CAD (about 40 USD). That is when I noticed I really don't need more than my 120GB drive. 220GB worth of DVD-Rs cost 40USD, whereas the same capacity in hard disks will cost several times that.
I understand that some people might need this (intensive video editing, high-capacity serving, etc...) but the average Joe home-user has no use for it. And yet the people at Future Shop will shove a huge capacity HD down the throat of an unsuspecting buyer when that same buyer could save a few hundred bucks by simply getting some media.
It's great to see advances in technology like this, but doesn't this eventually lead to bloated software? How many gigs will Office Longhorn take?
I'd rather have better reliability, better seek times, and faster transfer rates. When will drives include more than one set or R/W heads around the platter to accelerate the seek of multiple files? At least then, newer hard drives would give some tangible benefits. They would make your overall computer faster.
Welp, that was my 0.02$...
To learn more you could always go to your local library and get the book "Why We Nap: Evolution, Chronobiology, and Functions of Polyphasic and Ultrashort Sleep" by Claudio Stampi.
:)
It's an interesting little book, with plenty of examples and experimental results.
As for the long term risks, I guess one has to use his noggin. You won't be physically more energetic, so don't start this to train 20 hours a day for a marathon. Your body still needs its rest. Since most geeks stick to their computers, that shouldn't be a problem
Apparently Leonardo Da Vinci used this for most of his lifetime. So it can't be _that_ bad long-term
Alternatively, if you don't want to go completely polyphasic, you can sleep a 4-hour chunk at night, and then 30 minutes every 4 hours after that.
HTH!
Actually, if you take enough 30 minute naps during a day (usually 30 minutes every 4 hours) you can get away with as little as 3 hours of sleep PER DAY. It's known as polyphasic sleeping, and it tricks the mind into falling into REM sleep very quickly rather than waiting several hours (as when you only sleep in one 8-hour chunk). You even end up getting MORE REM sleep this way.
;)
0
Lots of mammals do it naturally, including us as babies, but we are raised by our parents to stay awake all day and sleep at night.
I tried this a few semesters ago to get through a rough finals week. Works great, you even feel more awake than usual. But you have to have a lot of stuff to do, otherwise you bore yourself to sleep
Anyways, I wish Universities and workplaces would have sleep-rooms and schedules separated in 3.5 hour chunks!!
Link: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/15/103358/72
I'd take a DUAL dual-core 2.5GHz G5 powermac over a dual single-core 3GHz anytime.
It would probably be less of a technical challenge as well, and would follow the "GHz doesn't matter" philosophy the POWER(tm) manager said a few days ago.
The 90nm process encounters problems at high clock speeds. So, bring on more efficiency at lower clock speeds!
Nah. I think your nephew was just tired of seeing that flashing "12:00" and was in the process of setting the right time.
Two inexpensive ideas that come to mind:
.tiff files. Write an applescript to automate GraphicConverter to batch-process the images.
1. Find the best fax machine in the establishment. They usually have sheet-feeders and are fairly quick.
Fax the document to your OSX-enabled powerbook. You should then have every page in individual
2. (This is a method I've used, and it works fairly well, although it requires some manual labor).
Find a music stand, a tripod, and a digital camera. Aim the camera at the music stand, and take pictures of each side of the pages as needed. Depending on the writing, you can take the pictures at one megapixels.
Again, Applescript, GraphicConverter to adjust the whites and convert the files...
HTH