What about the option of using an (albeit more expensive) (Volatile) DRAM-based SSD for your email servers?
If *someone* subpoenas it, kindly provide it (unplugged) with the any passwords and a full set of encryption keys...
(Assuming there are not already laws prohibiting a corporation from using a faster (700-1400MB/s @ 3s), more reliable (protected with both ECC and
RAID), higher I/O preforming (3 million random IOPS), volatile DRAM SSD array for their email storage?)
"Here is my untouched email server storage device all boxed up and sealed as required per your subpoena order..."
You are both right...
To add another factor to both of your points: "Teaching" is often a *Union* Job. (In my state and many others) and this fact DOES NOT = Better Teachers.
There is a terrible (and hopefully universally untrue) phrase: "Those Who Can't Do, Teach."
The "Risk Aversion" tendencies and failure (for current public school teaching jobs) to reward superior teachers with substantial capital increases (proportionate to their teaching abilities and students' performance), typically leaves most of the remaining 'great teachers' in our public schools only the idealistic-types. Often these 'idealistic' teachers can afford the minimal pay due to having money from their spouse's income or personal family monies, or they are content merely living with the ~30k starting pay teachers make (in my state). (NOTE: we still have the national/local teachers' unions...and the dues are automatically deducted from teachers' paychecks every month..)
Between my State's numerous political 'educational' mandates and the guarantee of a state job with retirement 'in 20' (that is, if you only 'meet' the paltry and generic union-approved guidelines), my state is certainly hurting for great teachers.
My state lost its teachers to the unions (NEA, et al) in the 60's due to having the LOWEST teacher pay of any state (and about all I have seen or heard in the news about the unions was how my state's teachers' pay went from the 49th (or 50th) lowest-teacher-pay in the US to the 47th lowest-teacher-pay in the US (and this 47th 'average' number Does Include counselors' pay and principals' pay (as some of them teach/coach also, etc..)).
The 'Good' new teachers in my state put in however many years worth of "OJT" (at terribly low pay) are required to 'meet' their minimum state contracts (and the state agrees to pay much of their college education degree student-loans). After this initial contract period is over, most teachers promptly jump the state ship and move to a certain (very large) neighboring state that has a +$10,000 higher base pay (for entry-level teachers) and an even higher base pay jump for experienced teachers (typically the move to this other very-large state for an experienced teacher gains them +$15,000).
I am not anti-union, per se, but as far as teachers pay in my state goes, going from the 50th to the 47th LOWEST teacher pay in the US in just over 40 years is NOT what I call a rousing success!
Still, I did have 4-5 *truly great* teachers in my all-public school education (pre-college) and they were all idealistic and inspiring.
And... in other News: My state now has the 30th HIGHEST teen pregnancy rate in the US! Down from a mere 10 years ago we were only ranked the 3rd HIGHEST! Hooray Us!
(Interestingly, U.S. teen pregnancy and teen birth rates are the second-highest among 46 countries in the developed world.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescent_sexuality_in_the_United_States
Mike Judge may just be on to something,...at least in this country. -Z
Dark Helmet: Careful you idiot! I said across her nose, not up it!
Laser Gunner: Sorry sir! I'm doing my best!
Dark Helmet: Who made that man a gunner?
Major Asshole: I did sir. He's my cousin.
Dark Helmet: Who is he?
Colonel Sandurz: He's an asshole sir.
Dark Helmet: I know that! What's his name?
Colonel Sandurz: That is his name sir. Asshole, Major Asshole!
Dark Helmet: And his cousin?
Colonel Sandurz: He's an asshole too sir. Gunner's mate First Class Philip Asshole!
Dark Helmet: How many asholes do we have on this ship, anyway?
[Entire bridge crew stands up and raises a hand]
Entire Bridge Crew: Yo!
Dark Helmet: I knew it. I'm surrounded by assholes!
[Dark Helmet pulls his face shield down]
Dark Helmet: Keep firing, assholes!
Loved to browse the local CompUSA store and make a detailed list of the stuff I really wanted to buy and then later but it at a better price on eBay, or at Best Buy, Fry's, etc... Prices were a bit high, but CompUSA seemed to sell at least 1 or 2 items at or below cost to bait bargain hunters... (if you could get to the store early enough).
Once worked in their Dallas, TX Call Center as an 9x/ME/2k/NT4/XP v1.0 Tech for CompUSA's (awful) TAP Program http://www.compusa.com/services/tap/default.asp...worst job I ever worked, but they were one of the few hiring (recently laid-off IT personnel) in that time (for LOW wages) following the 2000 dot-com bubble pop. Learned to really dislike Siebel there too...
Bye-Bye CompUSA!
(Now..., Could someone *please* forward this thread to CEO John Fry, Pres. William R. (Randy) Fry, CFO & CIO David (Dave) Fry, and/or EVP Kathryn Kolder.) HINT! HINT! -Z
Another Example: I keenly remember learning from a high-level old-guard "Network Administrator" (over a few pitchers of free beer) about how a DB containing 30 year's worth of a 'Student Information' was dumped onto a HDD (and 'given' to a third party) after being "merged" into the "_______ Alumni Association" database. This admin, whom I trust, was a 20-year veteran at the school and he was present when the 'orders' were given to merge the data into the Alumni Association's DB. Apparently, the Alumni Association previously had access to the student DB, but privacy rules were put in place (or suddenly enforced) to cease this access and they were forced to develop their own separate DB. Ironically, they pilled strings to "seed" their own DB with a merge of the old one before an access restrictions were put in place. (In actuality, the full DB was actually copied to HDD and renamed for the "merge" on the new server.) This 'Student Information' database contained: enrollment data, full legal names, DOB, Addresses (past, present, and current), declared majors, graduation dates, high school GPA and locations, and their student loan status (weather Grants, Loans, GI Bill, Trust Funds, or cash from parents, etc.. paid for their schooling).
The scary part was that the 'new' Alumni Association DB was now outside control (and liability) of the School's Board of Reagents (who had tacitly granted (ordered) the student data to be merged into the Alumni Association's DB (WITHOUT needed legal confidentiality caveats). The Alumni Association's data was subsequently "sold" to the "First USA Bank" for around 10 million dollars in "donations" (and I am sure pay-offs, kickbacks, whatever etc..). The "_______ Alumni Association" (in the following year) purchased (from the state) A BLOCK'S worth of very close off-campus (privately-owned, mainly older, but still in good shape) rental housing (through state eminent domain condemnations) and they leveled it, moving or destroying the houses. A big shiny-new Alumni Association building went up there along with a couple smaller Official Campus buildings. (Obviously I am leaving off the name of the State-Funded University here.)
Within about a year following this database 'merge' (and sale), my parents, the tenants at my former addresses (as I discovered through forwarding my US Mail), and my unlisted phone numbers (this was pre do-not-call) began to get solicitations for "donations" and other "Alumni Association" beg-for-money-through-student-pride-style correspondence...
Interestingly, I ONLY gave these addresses to the School's Bursar's Office and the School's Enrollment Office. I also had new pre-approved offers for "First USA Bank" Credit Cards (and untold other unsolicited financial junk mail) and so did many of my peers... Coincidence?
I bet this happens all too often... there's just too much money involved for the unethical greedy side (of some people's) human nature to not profit by it. -Z
Gmail currently does not restrict *.rar files (nor does Gmail scream at you for what file types your compressed RAR volume might contain).
Use WinRAR for free. http://www.rarsoft.com/download.htm
It works in: Pocket PC, Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, and MS DOS. I love it so much I *GLADLY* PURCHASED IT! ($29) So call me a WinRAR fanboy.
It is a superior replacement to WinZIP (and other zip clones) with better compression algorithms (and you can also encrypt your compressed files AND their filenames WITH authenticity verification plus it handles everything WinZIP does).
Having previously worked for the US Postal Service DELIVERING ACTUAL MAIL, I can tell everyone here that the flimsy (though protective) tyvek Netflix-style DVD-sleeves are not a favorite with USPS workers.
They can be rather slippery and are often difficult to keep a good grip on within a large stack of sorted mail.
I have no doubt that similar US Postal Workers have had identical frustrations not to mention that the thicknesses of the disks really add up and complicate the holding the 2 to 3 piles of hand-held mail when preforming dismount-delivery (on foot).
As a postal worker, you come realize this 5" square (and thick for its area) Netflix-style DVD envelope is being delivered by you many dozens of times per day (or more) and the disks *are* slipping out of the letter stack more easily than other types of mail when delivering mail 'in the field'.
You also realize that this Netflix-style mailer is NOT bringing the First-Class postage rate (but you spend MORE of your time handling it than the premium First-Class letters).. They do not even pay second-class or media-mail rates but a pre-sorted postage rate. Also, in all likelihood, the Netflix-style DVD mailer is causing just as much trouble for the automated sorting machines in the postal distribution centers. It also is not difficult to imagine that these odd-shaped and slippery (for mail) DVD mailers therefore must be handled by 3 to 4 more sets of human hands to get accurately delivered compared to the handling and delivery for standard premium first-class postage envelopes. Netflix, et al are probably paying at least half-as much to have them delivered as they would cost if delivered first-class (if even that). Even my credit card-statement comes First-Class!
If the profitable business models for these DVD rental/mailing companies is dependent on US Government (USPS) mailing subsidies, I suggest shareholders beware.
Individuals in the US, mailing their personal letters are *required* (most of the time) to use First-Class postage stamps (or equivalent). These same individuals are experiencing increasingly HIGHER POSTAGE RATES because, in large part, they too are subsidizing the added expenses of delivering Netflix-style mailers and other bulk non First-Class mail.)
Ask your postal worker what they deliver more of, First-Class mail, or "bulk mail"... you will see in their expressions the real answer to why we see the frequent postage rate hikes.
Shape and size of mail DOES have much to do with the *costs* and efficiencies in the delivering of the US Mail. I only wish the prices for mailing were adjusted accordingly (as we would all have MUCH LESS junk mail). -Z
I agree with your sentiment, however, the automobile transmission analogy is not necessarily the best one... This is a tough sell for the manufacturer's marketing departments because the situation seems to require some snake oil marketing tactics.
That is, unless you mention that the 'Engines' (CPU/Video/RAM) for these cars which use the 'Automatic Transmissions' (Windows Vista) would have to be much more powerful (and expensive) to achieve the same performance levels as a car which uses the 'Manual Transmission' (Windows XP).
We all know that *real* cars with automatic transmissions do cost slightly more to purchase (vs. a manual transmission) and there are slight efficiency decreases with automatic transmissions (vs. manual transmissions), but this cost/efficiency difference is NOT anywhere in the same order of magnitude as the case with 'Windows XP performance' vs. 'Windows Vista performance' all other things being equal.
The car analogy implies that the ONLY difference is the transmission.
A Windows Vista installation requires a heavier V8 engine (CPU/RAM/GPU) with a larger fuel tank and a greater hardware purchase purchase point (price tag) to appear to operate as fast as...
A Windows XP installation which requires a less powerful V6 engine (CPU/RAM/GPU) with a more modest fuel tank and a less costly hardware purchase point (not counting that over 5 years worth of CHEAP XP-compatible 'parts' are readily available).
For the record, I use 2 hard drives in removable OEM caddies (one with XP and the other with Vista) for my Laptop as well as a dual-boot XP/Vista on my desktop (moving a LVD-SCSI cable between two U320 Drives).
Vista certainly *appears to me* to NOT BE faster than Windows XP (with all hardware being equal). I could spend more money on *new bleeding-edge* hardware to make my Vista performance approach my XP performance, but, why? For DX10? Bahh..
Disclaimer: Yes, just about any recent build of Linux will blow both of my XP and Vista 'experiences' right out of the water with speed, efficiency, and boot times (but I am a FPS gamer). -Z
Thank you for the information and clarification. My post subject and attitude seem to now make me the ass today and I apologize. I was under the assumption that JPL was a US Government controlled entity under NASA and not a civilian research facility.
While finishing my undergraduate, I worked-studied in a university campus complex where 'secret' (laser) research was conducted in the basement floors (which we jokingly called 'the bunker'). They were strictly off-limits requiring card/code access and I believe there were guards inside watching all the cameras. NASA had additional research labs in a different physical building dedicated to that purpose and it too was off-limits but with no fence, just door security. I recall formal requests and campus political rumblings for either very expensive upgrades to be conducted on existing building security and to make said buildings fenced-off from public access OR to provide equivalent buildings in a more isolated and secure setting (not the middle of campus). Soon after, research teams and key tenured professors transfered to other universities and all of their neat 'toys' left over a long Thanksgiving weekend aboard several tractor trailers. (they securely crated their 'stuff' before forklifts left the building with it for loading... I stood there so disappointed.) Apparently, my university was willing to lose the research programs rather the spend tens of millions on new facilities or to wall-off part of campus... (then again, we did just get a huge brand-new football stadium.)
Perhaps there are some similar security reassessments underway at JPL and the backgrounds are part of the new 'upgrade' in security? Maybe the decision to conduct the full background checks on everyone at JPL was a concession to allow existing research programs to continue at Caltech without relocating to a more secure facility?
Had the same Gmail address since 08-2004...give it time. (I think maybe 5 or 6 real actual spam messages made it into my inbox since them, rest in the spam folder. I Wonder how many malicious spam messages Gmail never forwards to either folder?)
Gmail's email filtering is amazing.
I respect your opinion and you raise important points. Thank you for your reply, this type of discussion can be stirring to the emotions. But this specific scenario under discussion is about employees of "NASA's JPL" and it is no way the typical employer-employee rights argument (in my opinion).
I have do very different opinions about employment privacy rights in other places of employment that do not involve real Nation Security concerns. I believe that JPL is NOT one of these 'other places'.
When I say "Your rights to privacy CANNOT be more important than National Security." I wrote it IN THE CONTEXT of the discussion of NASA's JPL employees protesting their now mandatory (and soon to be routine) background clearance evaluations. This is not meant to be a free standing globally universal statement. It is about WORKING AT THE 'JPL'.
These employees have access to buildings containing National Security Secrets and Technologies (even if they do not have actual clearances for them specifically they WORK THERE and are in the building).
This is NOT a political discussion, nor does it have anything to do with President Bush. (although several threads have tried to make it political)
This is about scientists with access to advanced and export-restricted missile technologies being miffed because they must reveal standard invasive personal information background questions and the requirements to submit very personal data for the clearance battery of psychological assessment tests.
For the record, I HAVE worked for the US Postal Service, and I have been in the US Military.
I can say that what "psychometric tests" I have taken do suck and are not fun (and are probably not anywhere as in-depth as what JPL is likely to have).
I believe JPL employees will lose their arguments for their privacy 'rights' because they work for the government and they work with stuff that our enemies would pay top dollar for. This is NOT about being homosexual, or about race, or about gender, or smoking pot in college, or having sexual preferences that are not the average, whatever... Truthfully, I do not believe that those particular items matter to clearance that much nor would they likely cause you to lose your job (unless they are illegal), but what DOES MATTER is the failure to disclose the information to the security reviewers. The WILLINGNESS to be deceptive about the disclosure of these personal bits of information IS THE POINT. These procedures are likely aimed to ferret out possible foreign agents and any Americans and/or Legal Foreign Nationals who work for JPL and might fit the well-known profiles of those who engage in espionage (or are statistically likely to engage in it).
Look into basic guidelines of getting clearances: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/l/blsecmenu.htmhttp://www.army.com/articles/june_clearance_guidelines.html
If the wiretaps were on EVERYONE in the US, I tend to agree. BUT we are talking about ROCKET SCIENTISTS employed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory!
These are not your 'garden variety' employees at any given company.
JPL is involved with (among other things): Missie technologies (easily modified into ICBMs), precise guidance systems, the future of the US space program, nuclear reactor technologies, bleeding edge telescopes, and remote sensing technologies, etc..
Also, I would be shocked if current JPL Employees were not ALREADY under employment-conditional security agreements. Reads like they are exercising them now and some are angry.
How can Americans really be concerned about this?
-Try getting a job for the US Postal Service or even try to enlist into the US Military; -There are significant background checks, waivers, and forms required.
Waiving certain 4th (and probably 5th) Amendment privacy rights are part of said employment for the government. If you do not like it, leave the job.
Much of what JPL does is subject to espionage and/or industrial espionage not to mention they certainly need access to classified information and technologies (for example: the positions/orbits & maneuverabilities of US Spy satellites and other 'stuff' in orbit), consider JPL's missions and its history: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/jpl.pdf
If you can't pass the background checks, get a job elsewhere. It should be a privilege to work for the JPL and the cutting edge research and technological achievements it creates. Besides, this is a US Government entity, not a civilian corporation.
Your rights to privacy CANNOT be more important than National Security. Even IF said employees can't see why.
I'd wager that the Janitors and Maids in the White House MUST PASS a thorough security clearance to perform their 'non-classified' work as well. And someone at a higher pay grade likely has very good reasons for the security requirements as they are, and rocket scientists need background checks too.
I had 14 'spam' emails in my Gmail 'spam' folder this morning having cleared it last night. Of course, definitions are subjective on what is alot or a little spam..
You are correct. Human development is not so simplistic as a Black & White comparison as 'violent-pacifistic'. Nurture does alter Nature and humans are more altruistic within organized and cooperative societies with agriculture, education, stable relatively-functional governments, legal systems, and strong beliefs in marriage and religion, etc... Humans are indeed adaptable and have adapted well (and it is likely that we are evolving toward altruism but we did not start out there).
Something within our brains is rewarded by violent entertainment activities despite our cultural and behavioral advancements. Whether through endorphins, adrenaline, heightened emotional states, or other rewarding body/brain chemistries, there are still active and functional components in the human brain that are responsive to and/or adapted for dealing with violence.
The story of the 'Krell' from the 1956 film, "Forbidden Planet", is similar to the point I was attempting and somewhat in line with yours. The Krell had evolved from their violent ancestors into altruistic and peaceful geniuses only to invent an machine that transforms pure thoughts both conscious and subconscious into real physical form. Ironically, the entire race, despite their extremely evolved and non-violent natures, rendered themselves extinct within a single night by manifesting their violent subconscious "monsters from their Id". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet (A similar plot device can be found in the 1998 movie, "Sphere".)
Rubber-padding the world might make us all safer, but who would want to live there?
The premise that humans somehow are more violent if they use 'violent entertainment' could be contrasted in assuming those who use 'pornography entertainment' engage in more sex. Both are rewarding to various parts of the human brain, but that does not unnecessarily translate into increases of that type of behavior by the same individuals. It is generally not such a permissive practice and it remains mostly in the entertainment realm.
CONCEPT:
People are naturally violent and aggressive. It is built in.
or
People are naturally non-violent and non-aggressive. It is built in.
I credit evolutionary development as the REAL Cause and take notice that violent and aggressive creatures (humans) tend to live (to fight another day) AND REPRODUCE following an encounter with non-violent and non-aggressive creatures (humans) on a level playing field. Repeat this cycle for THOUSANDS OF YEARS and we have today the evolutionary results.
I do not believe humans are genetically, emotionally, instinctual, or otherwise evolved to be pacifists. Those poor creatures died out eons ago from all our ancestors killing them and taking their stuff. (land, food, resources, etc..)
Some believe that violence and aggression are LEARNED. These people are entitled to their opinions but they probably have not really looked the real history of human evolution. Warfare, violence, aggression, etc.. ARE Selected-For traits.
It is no surprise the human brain takes so much pleasure playing violent video games... Now back to playing my VIOLENT new FPS!
I agree. They have started with a false premise. I have a problem with the wording of that portion of item (3): "The Internet has aided in..." The language of Bill Proposal H.R. 1955 appears to me to be irresponsible on this point.
Let us NOT personify and blame a useful TOOL (the Internet and all of its 'tubes').
Placing blame onto inanimate objects (the Internet) for actions which PEOPLE DO is a major fallacy if your proposed purpose is to prevent what some PEOPLE DO (terrorism).
-A similar argument has been made involving 'gun control' legislation... I once read a summary of this 'tool vs. operator' argument on a bumper sticker: "Guns Don't Kill People, I DO."
It has the "potential to detect through various types of shielding" and "through more shielding" (FTA) but what types of shielding and at what thicknesses? Soil, Rock, Water, Lead, Etc?...
This Reads: 'fancy new-fangled oceanic Shipping Container Nuke Detector' all over it, and maybe something new for surveillance aircraft too.
But...How long are those "volume" licenses good for, and what about any/all allowed uses or limitations? The devil in in the EULA details.
The OS and Office volume licenses are probably good however long they are being used on a per system basis. But the other items you list probably are not.
For Example: MS SQL Server licenses are NOT necessarily permanent licenses and there are Vast price differences between "development" MS SQL Server licenses and deployed "production" MS SQL Server licenses... (often the difference is between hundreds of dollars and many thousands of dollars).
Case and point for many to move to MySQL and/or other open-source SQL Server Applications for this rea$on...
As far as CALs go, it is another way they stick it in and break it off. Here is a reply to a CAL question post from MSDN Forums: http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=357905&SiteID=1
"Generally speaking, a license (a CAL) is good for as long as you use the product, but will only cover future releases when accompanied by Software Assurance, which is a subscription expense that covers a certain term (1 year, 2 years, etc.).
For more information, see: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing. "
Great! Pay for the CAL, pay for it AGAIN if the Server side gets upgraded, unless you pay for a "Software Assurance" subscription...
-All good reasons to deploy open-source in the first place and develop any custom network client/server software to work within documented open source standards.
What is MOST CONCERNING: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_hydride_bomb
"Even with these apparent problems, the great physicist Edward Teller pursued the work and detonated two of these bombs, giving off only a power of 200 tons of TNT. This was a great disappointment and discouraged further work."
(Suppose any terrorist group would be content with 200 tons of (radioactive) explosive potential and they would likely engage into research of this bomb type.
NOTE: The 1995 Oklahoma City, OK Federal Building bombing was caused by roughly 2.5 tons of explosives.)
The link FTA and two quoted paragraphs: http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/
"Safer and Self Contained
Often referred to as a "cartridge" reactor or "nuclear battery," the Hyperion hydride reactor is self- regulating with no moving parts to break down or corrode. The inherent properties of uranium hydride serve as both fuel and moderator providing unparalleled safety among nuclear reactors.
Sealed at the factory, the module is not opened until it is time for the unit to be "refueled," approximately every five years or so by the manufacturer. This containment, along with the strategy of completely burying the module at the operating site, protects against the possibility of human incompetence, or hostile tampering and proliferation...
Hyperion is Cleaner
Because of the inherent properties of uranium hydride, Hyperion is "cleaner," producing only a tiny fraction of the waste produced by other types of reactors. Water is not used in the process, so there is no danger of pollution to local water bodies. And certainly, operation of the Hyperion reactor does not produce any greenhouse gases and allows for a cleaner atmosphere. The energy per module generated is 27 MW."
IF Water is NOT used, what is this "Steam Generation" thing mentioned?.... even heat exchangers can do eventually leak...
This device appears to be a "Sealed" 'Uranium Hydride' Nuclear Reactor with a 'Deuterium Hydrogen Isotope' moderator or partial 'Nuclear Poison' to control the spontaneous fission reaction rate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_poison
It is possible that Hyperion Power Generation's PR "Spin" of its 'sealed portable 27 Million-Watt Nuclear Reactor' as being as safe as a common 'sealed AA battery' is incorrect.
Also, the suggestion that these devices SHOULD be used in third world countries is of great concern.
As suggested on Hyperion's web page, the use of these reactors for remote steam and electrical generation for oil extraction from Bitumen Sands IS cost-effective and DOES reduce greenhouse gases emissions for that process.
(It's a good thing that most of the Tar Sands are located in Canada and not the Middle East or Africa.) http://en.wikipedia.org/
Come on! Someone else admit it.
I can't be the ONLY geek and "WarGames" fan to have once used "CPE1704TKS" or "CPE-1704-TKS" as a password. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/goofs
PowerMizer7.0 Power Management Techniques:
Use of leading edge chip process
CPU load balancing
Intelligent GPU utilization management
Revolutionary performance-per-watt design
PCI Express power management
Aggressive clock scaling
Dedicated power management circuits
Display brightness management
Adaptive performance algorithms
CPU Offload Example (from NVIDIA's Technical Brief)
Figures 3 and 4 (see PDF) show CPU utilization when running a Blu-ray H.264 HD movie
using the CPU and GPU, respectively. You can see that under the GPU video
playback, 30% less CPU cycles are being used. This dramatic reduction in CPU
usage means less power is being consumed by the processor, therefore system
power consumption is reduced. resulting in longer battery life.
Note: Testing was conducted on an Intel Centrino based platform with 2 GHz Core2
Duo processor, and a GeForce 8600M GS, running Intervideo WinDVD8 playing a
Casino Royale H.264 Blu-ray disc.
FTA:
"...The Intel X48 chipset is a refresh of the X38 chipset aimed at the high end desktop market. It will be the first chipset to support 1600 MHz FSB parts (though current boards do as well in some cases) and will have unlocked bus ratios for improved overclocking ability.
So there really isn't much change from the X38 chipset -- and in fact most X38 motherboards aimed at the enthusiast will probably support 1600 MHz FSB processors anyway. For my testing I used the Asus P5E3 Deluxe motherboard based on the X38 chipset to run the QX9770 and it ran without an issue.... http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=484
Slashdot Mirror
What about the option of using an (albeit more expensive) (Volatile) DRAM-based SSD for your email servers?
If *someone* subpoenas it, kindly provide it (unplugged) with the any passwords and a full set of encryption keys...
(Assuming there are not already laws prohibiting a corporation from using a faster (700-1400MB/s @ 3s), more reliable (protected with both ECC and RAID), higher I/O preforming (3 million random IOPS), volatile DRAM SSD array for their email storage?)
"Here is my untouched email server storage device all boxed up and sealed as required per your subpoena order..."
504GB of DRAM would make a *nice* email storage device... (Violin 1010) http://www.violin-memory.com/products/violin1010.html
You are both right...
...and the dues are automatically deducted from teachers' paychecks every month..)
...at least in this country. -Z
To add another factor to both of your points: "Teaching" is often a *Union* Job. (In my state and many others) and this fact DOES NOT = Better Teachers.
There is a terrible (and hopefully universally untrue) phrase: "Those Who Can't Do, Teach."
The "Risk Aversion" tendencies and failure (for current public school teaching jobs) to reward superior teachers with substantial capital increases (proportionate to their teaching abilities and students' performance), typically leaves most of the remaining 'great teachers' in our public schools only the idealistic-types. Often these 'idealistic' teachers can afford the minimal pay due to having money from their spouse's income or personal family monies, or they are content merely living with the ~30k starting pay teachers make (in my state). (NOTE: we still have the national/local teachers' unions
Between my State's numerous political 'educational' mandates and the guarantee of a state job with retirement 'in 20' (that is, if you only 'meet' the paltry and generic union-approved guidelines), my state is certainly hurting for great teachers.
My state lost its teachers to the unions (NEA, et al) in the 60's due to having the LOWEST teacher pay of any state (and about all I have seen or heard in the news about the unions was how my state's teachers' pay went from the 49th (or 50th) lowest-teacher-pay in the US to the 47th lowest-teacher-pay in the US (and this 47th 'average' number Does Include counselors' pay and principals' pay (as some of them teach/coach also, etc..)).
The 'Good' new teachers in my state put in however many years worth of "OJT" (at terribly low pay) are required to 'meet' their minimum state contracts (and the state agrees to pay much of their college education degree student-loans). After this initial contract period is over, most teachers promptly jump the state ship and move to a certain (very large) neighboring state that has a +$10,000 higher base pay (for entry-level teachers) and an even higher base pay jump for experienced teachers (typically the move to this other very-large state for an experienced teacher gains them +$15,000).
I am not anti-union, per se, but as far as teachers pay in my state goes, going from the 50th to the 47th LOWEST teacher pay in the US in just over 40 years is NOT what I call a rousing success!
Still, I did have 4-5 *truly great* teachers in my all-public school education (pre-college) and they were all idealistic and inspiring.
And... in other News: My state now has the 30th HIGHEST teen pregnancy rate in the US! Down from a mere 10 years ago we were only ranked the 3rd HIGHEST! Hooray Us!
(Interestingly, U.S. teen pregnancy and teen birth rates are the second-highest among 46 countries in the developed world.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolescent_sexuality_in_the_United_States
Mike Judge may just be on to something,
Already been done: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094012/
Dark Helmet: Careful you idiot! I said across her nose, not up it!
Laser Gunner: Sorry sir! I'm doing my best!
Dark Helmet: Who made that man a gunner?
Major Asshole: I did sir. He's my cousin.
Dark Helmet: Who is he?
Colonel Sandurz: He's an asshole sir.
Dark Helmet: I know that! What's his name?
Colonel Sandurz: That is his name sir. Asshole, Major Asshole!
Dark Helmet: And his cousin?
Colonel Sandurz: He's an asshole too sir. Gunner's mate First Class Philip Asshole!
Dark Helmet: How many asholes do we have on this ship, anyway?
[Entire bridge crew stands up and raises a hand]
Entire Bridge Crew: Yo!
Dark Helmet: I knew it. I'm surrounded by assholes!
[Dark Helmet pulls his face shield down]
Dark Helmet: Keep firing, assholes!
Loved to browse the local CompUSA store and make a detailed list of the stuff I really wanted to buy and then later but it at a better price on eBay, or at Best Buy, Fry's, etc... Prices were a bit high, but CompUSA seemed to sell at least 1 or 2 items at or below cost to bait bargain hunters... (if you could get to the store early enough).
...worst job I ever worked, but they were one of the few hiring (recently laid-off IT personnel) in that time (for LOW wages) following the 2000 dot-com bubble pop. Learned to really dislike Siebel there too...
Once worked in their Dallas, TX Call Center as an 9x/ME/2k/NT4/XP v1.0 Tech for CompUSA's (awful) TAP Program http://www.compusa.com/services/tap/default.asp
Bye-Bye CompUSA!
(Now..., Could someone *please* forward this thread to CEO John Fry, Pres. William R. (Randy) Fry, CFO & CIO David (Dave) Fry, and/or EVP Kathryn Kolder.) HINT! HINT! -Z
One example: The recent Duke University situation: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/05/hacker_may_have_stolen_duke_students_data/2789/
Another Example: I keenly remember learning from a high-level old-guard "Network Administrator" (over a few pitchers of free beer) about how a DB containing 30 year's worth of a 'Student Information' was dumped onto a HDD (and 'given' to a third party) after being "merged" into the "_______ Alumni Association" database. This admin, whom I trust, was a 20-year veteran at the school and he was present when the 'orders' were given to merge the data into the Alumni Association's DB. Apparently, the Alumni Association previously had access to the student DB, but privacy rules were put in place (or suddenly enforced) to cease this access and they were forced to develop their own separate DB. Ironically, they pilled strings to "seed" their own DB with a merge of the old one before an access restrictions were put in place. (In actuality, the full DB was actually copied to HDD and renamed for the "merge" on the new server.) This 'Student Information' database contained: enrollment data, full legal names, DOB, Addresses (past, present, and current), declared majors, graduation dates, high school GPA and locations, and their student loan status (weather Grants, Loans, GI Bill, Trust Funds, or cash from parents, etc.. paid for their schooling).
The scary part was that the 'new' Alumni Association DB was now outside control (and liability) of the School's Board of Reagents (who had tacitly granted (ordered) the student data to be merged into the Alumni Association's DB (WITHOUT needed legal confidentiality caveats). The Alumni Association's data was subsequently "sold" to the "First USA Bank" for around 10 million dollars in "donations" (and I am sure pay-offs, kickbacks, whatever etc..). The "_______ Alumni Association" (in the following year) purchased (from the state) A BLOCK'S worth of very close off-campus (privately-owned, mainly older, but still in good shape) rental housing (through state eminent domain condemnations) and they leveled it, moving or destroying the houses. A big shiny-new Alumni Association building went up there along with a couple smaller Official Campus buildings. (Obviously I am leaving off the name of the State-Funded University here.)
Within about a year following this database 'merge' (and sale), my parents, the tenants at my former addresses (as I discovered through forwarding my US Mail), and my unlisted phone numbers (this was pre do-not-call) began to get solicitations for "donations" and other "Alumni Association" beg-for-money-through-student-pride-style correspondence...
Interestingly, I ONLY gave these addresses to the School's Bursar's Office and the School's Enrollment Office. I also had new pre-approved offers for "First USA Bank" Credit Cards (and untold other unsolicited financial junk mail) and so did many of my peers... Coincidence?
I bet this happens all too often... there's just too much money involved for the unethical greedy side (of some people's) human nature to not profit by it. -Z
Gmail currently does not restrict *.rar files (nor does Gmail scream at you for what file types your compressed RAR volume might contain). Use WinRAR for free. http://www.rarsoft.com/download.htm
It works in: Pocket PC, Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, and MS DOS. I love it so much I *GLADLY* PURCHASED IT! ($29) So call me a WinRAR fanboy.
It is a superior replacement to WinZIP (and other zip clones) with better compression algorithms (and you can also encrypt your compressed files AND their filenames WITH authenticity verification plus it handles everything WinZIP does).
Having previously worked for the US Postal Service DELIVERING ACTUAL MAIL, I can tell everyone here that the flimsy (though protective) tyvek Netflix-style DVD-sleeves are not a favorite with USPS workers.
They can be rather slippery and are often difficult to keep a good grip on within a large stack of sorted mail.
I have no doubt that similar US Postal Workers have had identical frustrations not to mention that the thicknesses of the disks really add up and complicate the holding the 2 to 3 piles of hand-held mail when preforming dismount-delivery (on foot).
As a postal worker, you come realize this 5" square (and thick for its area) Netflix-style DVD envelope is being delivered by you many dozens of times per day (or more) and the disks *are* slipping out of the letter stack more easily than other types of mail when delivering mail 'in the field'.
You also realize that this Netflix-style mailer is NOT bringing the First-Class postage rate (but you spend MORE of your time handling it than the premium First-Class letters).. They do not even pay second-class or media-mail rates but a pre-sorted postage rate. Also, in all likelihood, the Netflix-style DVD mailer is causing just as much trouble for the automated sorting machines in the postal distribution centers. It also is not difficult to imagine that these odd-shaped and slippery (for mail) DVD mailers therefore must be handled by 3 to 4 more sets of human hands to get accurately delivered compared to the handling and delivery for standard premium first-class postage envelopes. Netflix, et al are probably paying at least half-as much to have them delivered as they would cost if delivered first-class (if even that). Even my credit card-statement comes First-Class!
If the profitable business models for these DVD rental/mailing companies is dependent on US Government (USPS) mailing subsidies, I suggest shareholders beware.
Individuals in the US, mailing their personal letters are *required* (most of the time) to use First-Class postage stamps (or equivalent). These same individuals are experiencing increasingly HIGHER POSTAGE RATES because, in large part, they too are subsidizing the added expenses of delivering Netflix-style mailers and other bulk non First-Class mail.)
Ask your postal worker what they deliver more of, First-Class mail, or "bulk mail"... you will see in their expressions the real answer to why we see the frequent postage rate hikes.
Shape and size of mail DOES have much to do with the *costs* and efficiencies in the delivering of the US Mail. I only wish the prices for mailing were adjusted accordingly (as we would all have MUCH LESS junk mail). -Z
I agree with your sentiment, however, the automobile transmission analogy is not necessarily the best one... This is a tough sell for the manufacturer's marketing departments because the situation seems to require some snake oil marketing tactics.
That is, unless you mention that the 'Engines' (CPU/Video/RAM) for these cars which use the 'Automatic Transmissions' (Windows Vista) would have to be much more powerful (and expensive) to achieve the same performance levels as a car which uses the 'Manual Transmission' (Windows XP).
We all know that *real* cars with automatic transmissions do cost slightly more to purchase (vs. a manual transmission) and there are slight efficiency decreases with automatic transmissions (vs. manual transmissions), but this cost/efficiency difference is NOT anywhere in the same order of magnitude as the case with 'Windows XP performance' vs. 'Windows Vista performance' all other things being equal.
The car analogy implies that the ONLY difference is the transmission.
A Windows Vista installation requires a heavier V8 engine (CPU/RAM/GPU) with a larger fuel tank and a greater hardware purchase purchase point (price tag) to appear to operate as fast as...
A Windows XP installation which requires a less powerful V6 engine (CPU/RAM/GPU) with a more modest fuel tank and a less costly hardware purchase point (not counting that over 5 years worth of CHEAP XP-compatible 'parts' are readily available).
For the record, I use 2 hard drives in removable OEM caddies (one with XP and the other with Vista) for my Laptop as well as a dual-boot XP/Vista on my desktop (moving a LVD-SCSI cable between two U320 Drives).
Vista certainly *appears to me* to NOT BE faster than Windows XP (with all hardware being equal). I could spend more money on *new bleeding-edge* hardware to make my Vista performance approach my XP performance, but, why? For DX10? Bahh..
Disclaimer: Yes, just about any recent build of Linux will blow both of my XP and Vista 'experiences' right out of the water with speed, efficiency, and boot times (but I am a FPS gamer). -Z
Was going to post a link of the original Onion Article through the original "Tha Shizzolator" Translator site, but apparently it is down... But there is the "Gizoogle" translator though:
http://sites.gizoogle.com/index2.php?url=http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33930
Thank you for the information and clarification. My post subject and attitude seem to now make me the ass today and I apologize. I was under the assumption that JPL was a US Government controlled entity under NASA and not a civilian research facility.
While finishing my undergraduate, I worked-studied in a university campus complex where 'secret' (laser) research was conducted in the basement floors (which we jokingly called 'the bunker'). They were strictly off-limits requiring card/code access and I believe there were guards inside watching all the cameras. NASA had additional research labs in a different physical building dedicated to that purpose and it too was off-limits but with no fence, just door security. I recall formal requests and campus political rumblings for either very expensive upgrades to be conducted on existing building security and to make said buildings fenced-off from public access OR to provide equivalent buildings in a more isolated and secure setting (not the middle of campus). Soon after, research teams and key tenured professors transfered to other universities and all of their neat 'toys' left over a long Thanksgiving weekend aboard several tractor trailers. (they securely crated their 'stuff' before forklifts left the building with it for loading... I stood there so disappointed.) Apparently, my university was willing to lose the research programs rather the spend tens of millions on new facilities or to wall-off part of campus... (then again, we did just get a huge brand-new football stadium.)
Perhaps there are some similar security reassessments underway at JPL and the backgrounds are part of the new 'upgrade' in security? Maybe the decision to conduct the full background checks on everyone at JPL was a concession to allow existing research programs to continue at Caltech without relocating to a more secure facility?
Had the same Gmail address since 08-2004...give it time. (I think maybe 5 or 6 real actual spam messages made it into my inbox since them, rest in the spam folder. I Wonder how many malicious spam messages Gmail never forwards to either folder?)
Gmail's email filtering is amazing.
I respect your opinion and you raise important points. Thank you for your reply, this type of discussion can be stirring to the emotions. But this specific scenario under discussion is about employees of "NASA's JPL" and it is no way the typical employer-employee rights argument (in my opinion).
I have do very different opinions about employment privacy rights in other places of employment that do not involve real Nation Security concerns. I believe that JPL is NOT one of these 'other places'.
When I say "Your rights to privacy CANNOT be more important than National Security." I wrote it IN THE CONTEXT of the discussion of NASA's JPL employees protesting their now mandatory (and soon to be routine) background clearance evaluations. This is not meant to be a free standing globally universal statement. It is about WORKING AT THE 'JPL'.
These employees have access to buildings containing National Security Secrets and Technologies (even if they do not have actual clearances for them specifically they WORK THERE and are in the building).
This is NOT a political discussion, nor does it have anything to do with President Bush. (although several threads have tried to make it political)
This is about scientists with access to advanced and export-restricted missile technologies being miffed because they must reveal standard invasive personal information background questions and the requirements to submit very personal data for the clearance battery of psychological assessment tests.
For the record, I HAVE worked for the US Postal Service, and I have been in the US Military. I can say that what "psychometric tests" I have taken do suck and are not fun (and are probably not anywhere as in-depth as what JPL is likely to have).
I believe JPL employees will lose their arguments for their privacy 'rights' because they work for the government and they work with stuff that our enemies would pay top dollar for. This is NOT about being homosexual, or about race, or about gender, or smoking pot in college, or having sexual preferences that are not the average, whatever... Truthfully, I do not believe that those particular items matter to clearance that much nor would they likely cause you to lose your job (unless they are illegal), but what DOES MATTER is the failure to disclose the information to the security reviewers. The WILLINGNESS to be deceptive about the disclosure of these personal bits of information IS THE POINT. These procedures are likely aimed to ferret out possible foreign agents and any Americans and/or Legal Foreign Nationals who work for JPL and might fit the well-known profiles of those who engage in espionage (or are statistically likely to engage in it).
Look into basic guidelines of getting clearances: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/l/blsecmenu.htm http://www.army.com/articles/june_clearance_guidelines.html
If the wiretaps were on EVERYONE in the US, I tend to agree. BUT we are talking about ROCKET SCIENTISTS employed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory! These are not your 'garden variety' employees at any given company.
JPL is involved with (among other things): Missie technologies (easily modified into ICBMs), precise guidance systems, the future of the US space program, nuclear reactor technologies, bleeding edge telescopes, and remote sensing technologies, etc..
Also, I would be shocked if current JPL Employees were not ALREADY under employment-conditional security agreements. Reads like they are exercising them now and some are angry.
How can Americans really be concerned about this?
-Try getting a job for the US Postal Service or even try to enlist into the US Military; -There are significant background checks, waivers, and forms required.
Waiving certain 4th (and probably 5th) Amendment privacy rights are part of said employment for the government. If you do not like it, leave the job.
Much of what JPL does is subject to espionage and/or industrial espionage not to mention they certainly need access to classified information and technologies (for example: the positions/orbits & maneuverabilities of US Spy satellites and other 'stuff' in orbit), consider JPL's missions and its history: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/jpl.pdf
If you can't pass the background checks, get a job elsewhere. It should be a privilege to work for the JPL and the cutting edge research and technological achievements it creates. Besides, this is a US Government entity, not a civilian corporation.
Your rights to privacy CANNOT be more important than National Security. Even IF said employees can't see why.
I'd wager that the Janitors and Maids in the White House MUST PASS a thorough security clearance to perform their 'non-classified' work as well. And someone at a higher pay grade likely has very good reasons for the security requirements as they are, and rocket scientists need background checks too.
I had 14 'spam' emails in my Gmail 'spam' folder this morning having cleared it last night. Of course, definitions are subjective on what is alot or a little spam..
You are correct. Human development is not so simplistic as a Black & White comparison as 'violent-pacifistic'. Nurture does alter Nature and humans are more altruistic within organized and cooperative societies with agriculture, education, stable relatively-functional governments, legal systems, and strong beliefs in marriage and religion, etc... Humans are indeed adaptable and have adapted well (and it is likely that we are evolving toward altruism but we did not start out there).
Something within our brains is rewarded by violent entertainment activities despite our cultural and behavioral advancements. Whether through endorphins, adrenaline, heightened emotional states, or other rewarding body/brain chemistries, there are still active and functional components in the human brain that are responsive to and/or adapted for dealing with violence.
The story of the 'Krell' from the 1956 film, "Forbidden Planet", is similar to the point I was attempting and somewhat in line with yours. The Krell had evolved from their violent ancestors into altruistic and peaceful geniuses only to invent an machine that transforms pure thoughts both conscious and subconscious into real physical form. Ironically, the entire race, despite their extremely evolved and non-violent natures, rendered themselves extinct within a single night by manifesting their violent subconscious "monsters from their Id". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet (A similar plot device can be found in the 1998 movie, "Sphere".)
Rubber-padding the world might make us all safer, but who would want to live there?
The premise that humans somehow are more violent if they use 'violent entertainment' could be contrasted in assuming those who use 'pornography entertainment' engage in more sex. Both are rewarding to various parts of the human brain, but that does not unnecessarily translate into increases of that type of behavior by the same individuals. It is generally not such a permissive practice and it remains mostly in the entertainment realm.
CONCEPT:
People are naturally violent and aggressive. It is built in.
or
People are naturally non-violent and non-aggressive. It is built in.
I credit evolutionary development as the REAL Cause and take notice that violent and aggressive creatures (humans) tend to live (to fight another day) AND REPRODUCE following an encounter with non-violent and non-aggressive creatures (humans) on a level playing field. Repeat this cycle for THOUSANDS OF YEARS and we have today the evolutionary results.
I do not believe humans are genetically, emotionally, instinctual, or otherwise evolved to be pacifists. Those poor creatures died out eons ago from all our ancestors killing them and taking their stuff. (land, food, resources, etc..)
Some believe that violence and aggression are LEARNED. These people are entitled to their opinions but they probably have not really looked the real history of human evolution. Warfare, violence, aggression, etc.. ARE Selected-For traits.
It is no surprise the human brain takes so much pleasure playing violent video games... Now back to playing my VIOLENT new FPS!
I agree. They have started with a false premise. I have a problem with the wording of that portion of item (3): "The Internet has aided in..." The language of Bill Proposal H.R. 1955 appears to me to be irresponsible on this point.
Let us NOT personify and blame a useful TOOL (the Internet and all of its 'tubes').
Placing blame onto inanimate objects (the Internet) for actions which PEOPLE DO is a major fallacy if your proposed purpose is to prevent what some PEOPLE DO (terrorism).
-A similar argument has been made involving 'gun control' legislation... I once read a summary of this 'tool vs. operator' argument on a bumper sticker: "Guns Don't Kill People, I DO."
It has the "potential to detect through various types of shielding" and "through more shielding" (FTA) but what types of shielding and at what thicknesses? Soil, Rock, Water, Lead, Etc?...
This Reads: 'fancy new-fangled oceanic Shipping Container Nuke Detector' all over it, and maybe something new for surveillance aircraft too.
But...How long are those "volume" licenses good for, and what about any/all allowed uses or limitations? The devil in in the EULA details.
The OS and Office volume licenses are probably good however long they are being used on a per system basis. But the other items you list probably are not.
For Example: MS SQL Server licenses are NOT necessarily permanent licenses and there are Vast price differences between "development" MS SQL Server licenses and deployed "production" MS SQL Server licenses... (often the difference is between hundreds of dollars and many thousands of dollars).
Case and point for many to move to MySQL and/or other open-source SQL Server Applications for this rea$on...
As far as CALs go, it is another way they stick it in and break it off. Here is a reply to a CAL question post from MSDN Forums: http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=357905&SiteID=1
"Generally speaking, a license (a CAL) is good for as long as you use the product, but will only cover future releases when accompanied by Software Assurance, which is a subscription expense that covers a certain term (1 year, 2 years, etc.). For more information, see: http://www.microsoft.com/licensing. "
Great! Pay for the CAL, pay for it AGAIN if the Server side gets upgraded, unless you pay for a "Software Assurance" subscription...
-All good reasons to deploy open-source in the first place and develop any custom network client/server software to work within documented open source standards.
What is MOST CONCERNING: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_hydride_bomb
.... even heat exchangers can do eventually leak...
"Even with these apparent problems, the great physicist Edward Teller pursued the work and detonated two of these bombs, giving off only a power of 200 tons of TNT. This was a great disappointment and discouraged further work."
(Suppose any terrorist group would be content with 200 tons of (radioactive) explosive potential and they would likely engage into research of this bomb type.
NOTE: The 1995 Oklahoma City, OK Federal Building bombing was caused by roughly 2.5 tons of explosives.)
The link FTA and two quoted paragraphs: http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/
"Safer and Self Contained
Often referred to as a "cartridge" reactor or "nuclear battery," the Hyperion hydride reactor is self- regulating with no moving parts to break down or corrode. The inherent properties of uranium hydride serve as both fuel and moderator providing unparalleled safety among nuclear reactors.
Sealed at the factory, the module is not opened until it is time for the unit to be "refueled," approximately every five years or so by the manufacturer. This containment, along with the strategy of completely burying the module at the operating site, protects against the possibility of human incompetence, or hostile tampering and proliferation...
Hyperion is Cleaner
Because of the inherent properties of uranium hydride, Hyperion is "cleaner," producing only a tiny fraction of the waste produced by other types of reactors. Water is not used in the process, so there is no danger of pollution to local water bodies. And certainly, operation of the Hyperion reactor does not produce any greenhouse gases and allows for a cleaner atmosphere. The energy per module generated is 27 MW."
IF Water is NOT used, what is this "Steam Generation" thing mentioned?
This device appears to be a "Sealed" 'Uranium Hydride' Nuclear Reactor with a 'Deuterium Hydrogen Isotope' moderator or partial 'Nuclear Poison' to control the spontaneous fission reaction rate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_poison
The stoichiometric chemical equation for Uranium Hydride is noteworthy: (2)UH3 = U + (3)H2
Hydrogen is Extremely Flammable in our atmosphere (Deuterium is isotopic form of Hydrogen) and so is Uranium Hydride (UH3):
"Uranium hydride is a brownish-black or brownish-gray, pyrophoric powder." http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/uraniuminsolublecompounds/recognition.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrophoric
The flammability of UH3 and fuel-air detonation potential of chemically-decomposing UH3 and the Hydrogen generated was enough of a concern that the US Department Of Energy (Oak Ridge, TN) published a detailed study of the handling of UH3 in "glove box" conditions: http://www1.y12.doe.gov/search/library/documents/pdf/ydz-2351.pdf
It is possible that Hyperion Power Generation's PR "Spin" of its 'sealed portable 27 Million-Watt Nuclear Reactor' as being as safe as a common 'sealed AA battery' is incorrect.
Also, the suggestion that these devices SHOULD be used in third world countries is of great concern.
As suggested on Hyperion's web page, the use of these reactors for remote steam and electrical generation for oil extraction from Bitumen Sands IS cost-effective and DOES reduce greenhouse gases emissions for that process.
(It's a good thing that most of the Tar Sands are located in Canada and not the Middle East or Africa.) http://en.wikipedia.org/
Come on! Someone else admit it.
I can't be the ONLY geek and "WarGames" fan to have once used "CPE1704TKS" or "CPE-1704-TKS" as a password. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/goofs
PowerMizer Mobile Technology page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/feature_powermizer.html
Maybe the NVIDIA Technical Brief will yield some answers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_26269.html (Warning, spawns a PDF)
PowerMizer7.0 Power Management Techniques:
Use of leading edge chip process
CPU load balancing
Intelligent GPU utilization management
Revolutionary performance-per-watt design
PCI Express power management
Aggressive clock scaling
Dedicated power management circuits
Display brightness management
Adaptive performance algorithms
CPU Offload Example (from NVIDIA's Technical Brief)
Figures 3 and 4 (see PDF) show CPU utilization when running a Blu-ray H.264 HD movie using the CPU and GPU, respectively. You can see that under the GPU video playback, 30% less CPU cycles are being used. This dramatic reduction in CPU usage means less power is being consumed by the processor, therefore system power consumption is reduced. resulting in longer battery life.
Note: Testing was conducted on an Intel Centrino based platform with 2 GHz Core2 Duo processor, and a GeForce 8600M GS, running Intervideo WinDVD8 playing a Casino Royale H.264 Blu-ray disc.
It appears Alienware will be using the GeForce 8800M GTX in their "m15x" and "m17x" models:
http://www.alienware.com/intro_pages/m17x_m15x.aspx
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M Link: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8M.html
FTA:
"...The Intel X48 chipset is a refresh of the X38 chipset aimed at the high end desktop market. It will be the first chipset to support 1600 MHz FSB parts (though current boards do as well in some cases) and will have unlocked bus ratios for improved overclocking ability. So there really isn't much change from the X38 chipset -- and in fact most X38 motherboards aimed at the enthusiast will probably support 1600 MHz FSB processors anyway. For my testing I used the Asus P5E3 Deluxe motherboard based on the X38 chipset to run the QX9770 and it ran without an issue.... http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=484
Sounds like many existing Intel X38 chipset mainboards will work with the QX9770, and I'd bet Intel's DX38BT can run it, (but probably at FSB 1,333MHz) http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DX38BT/index.htm