You can't just "add in a buck's worth of memory and an I/O chip", there's no external bus on a chip like that. It's a system-on-a-chip, and when they say that, they mean it. You get what's on the chip, and maybe some peripherals if you're lucky.
That is exactly the kind of chip that the project this story confusedly refers to targets.
That is a thought. The main question is, how much current would they need to operate? Cell phones like to go to sleep when not in use to preserve battery power, so if a radiation sensor were to use too much power, it would drain the batteries. But I like the idea, overall.
Radioactive materials are used far more widely than by "the nuke industry". One popular source of wayward radiation sources is medical equipment. There are various kinds of radioactive measurement devices used in the metal industry, too.
The only radiation levels that have been found anywhere in or around Tokyo that have been high enough to even bother thinking about seem to be the hotspots in Setagaya and Chiba. The first was unrelated to Fukushima, and the second also seems overwhelmingly likely to be unconnected. That implies that such hotspots can be found pretty much anywhere, as long as people start carrying around radiation detectors, so if you want to worry about them, it doesn't really matter where you live, Japan or elsewhere.
(Worrying about them is not really useful either, as you are unlikely to encounter one, and none have been strong enough to be an actual danger, but it would be useful if people would carry radiation detectors around more often to find these, and not just in Japan.)
I am not "telling the poster not to check into something". I am telling him not to waste many hundreds of dollars because he's worried about something which is well known to not be a problem.
as soon as you start feeling any unpleasantness associated with having your views challenged
I am not having any "view challenged". You are just being extremely rude and presumptuous. If you can not carry on a polite discussion, there is little reason to talk to you.
Since when was scientific observation inferior to political dogma!?
What he would be doing would not be scientific observation, and I what I was saying was not political dogma. Furthermore, your attitude has become unpleasant to the point where I am no longer interested in continuing this discussion.
Nice, so you consider yourself an "enthusiast" in this area,
No, not really.
but you were unaware of the first community of radiation monitoring enthusiasts? Care explaining why you considered yourself qualified to respond to his post then?
I was aware of them, but don't have specific information. However, contacting them would not help him, because he does not have a problem in the first place. He just has absolutely no need for a radiation detector.
Indeed. I am actually really curious about what would turn up if people all over the world started carrying around as many radiation meters as people in Tokyo are doing right now.
most scientists and regulatory agencies agree that even small doses of ionizing radiation increase cancer risk, although by a very small amount.
Actually, "most" is probably overstating the case. This is called the linear-no-threshold model, and it the model which has been in use so far, because it is the one that is the most cautious. However, there is not enough data to to support it. It was chose out of caution, not based on evidence.
As data slowly accumulates, people are starting to lean towards the view that it is, in fact, not correct. Small exposures to radiation do not seem to cause harm. This is likely due the body's repair systems, evolved while living in a world where even our own bodies are radioactive.
I do not have any information about place where you could borrow one, so I am unable to give any advice on that. What I said was, specifically, "Save your money".
I only just found out about the 57 microSv/h hotspot. That is indeed very interesting, but it is extremely unlikely to have anything to do with Fukushima, and sounds more like buried illegal radioactive waste, or maybe another forgotten stash of radioactive material that got buried by chance. That is something that could be found pretty much anywhere, and if you wouldn't worry about that living anywhere else, you shouldn't worry about it when living in Tokyo. The chances of encountering such a thing are quite minuscule.
Now, having citizens equipped with radiation monitors moving around measuring radiation is actually a very good idea, for exactly this reason: There is a lot of forgotten radioactive material around the world that it would be good to find, and lots of people moving doing lots of measurements helps with that. We saw this already with the Setagaya hotspot. However, this doesn't seem to be what the person asking the question is interested in. He just seems to want to measure radiation around his house, not over a larger area and not coordinated with others. This is basically useless.
If you LIKE the technology, then shouldn't you be trying to get more people involved?
"The technology" is, in this case, radiation detectors. Now, it is true that I like radiation detectors quite a bit. However, I also realize they are expensive, hard to use, and of little to no value to the person asking the question, and thus the only advice I can honestly give is to not bother, as he would be throwing his money away based on a misunderstanding.
Even the Setagaya hotspot, caused by a forgotten stash of highly radioactive radium, which was orders of magnitude worse than anything else found in Tokyo, was nowhere near the point where it would have posed any danger to the people in the vicinity.
This is just not something which is worth worrying about, much less spending money on. Save your money for the thing your kid actually needs.
You know who it will also stop cold? The many open-source programs that use Growl. They are not going to want to have anything to do with a closed-source commercial Growl, and will either dump it or fork it.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, you keep confirming my assumption here.
You can't just "add in a buck's worth of memory and an I/O chip", there's no external bus on a chip like that. It's a system-on-a-chip, and when they say that, they mean it. You get what's on the chip, and maybe some peripherals if you're lucky.
That is exactly the kind of chip that the project this story confusedly refers to targets.
So you are basically incapable of engaging in polite conversation.
So on the one hand the pro-nuclear guys were all claiming that TEPCO and the Japanese government were covering things up and were incompetent,
Feel free to point out where I have claimed anything like that.
...political dogma
your love affair with nuke power?
just spewing dogma
I think we can all see why your views on this subject are so narrow and rigid
Enjoy your usual routine of visits to the various echo chambers that make you feel unquestionably right . . .
Does that sound like polite conversation to you?
That is a thought. The main question is, how much current would they need to operate? Cell phones like to go to sleep when not in use to preserve battery power, so if a radiation sensor were to use too much power, it would drain the batteries. But I like the idea, overall.
Radioactive materials are used far more widely than by "the nuke industry". One popular source of wayward radiation sources is medical equipment. There are various kinds of radioactive measurement devices used in the metal industry, too.
Thanks to panic buying like this guy was about to do, you can not actually get an old one on the cheap.
There are places in Tokyo where you get over 57 uSv/Hr
Places which are underground, and also most likely completely unrelated to Fukushima.
Tokyo is not safe. The government tries to make it look safe by not testing many problematic spots.
Fearmongering bullshit without any basis in reality.
Actually, independent measurements largely agree with reported figures. So no, you are just fearmongering without any basis in reality.
The only radiation levels that have been found anywhere in or around Tokyo that have been high enough to even bother thinking about seem to be the hotspots in Setagaya and Chiba. The first was unrelated to Fukushima, and the second also seems overwhelmingly likely to be unconnected. That implies that such hotspots can be found pretty much anywhere, as long as people start carrying around radiation detectors, so if you want to worry about them, it doesn't really matter where you live, Japan or elsewhere.
(Worrying about them is not really useful either, as you are unlikely to encounter one, and none have been strong enough to be an actual danger, but it would be useful if people would carry radiation detectors around more often to find these, and not just in Japan.)
I am not "telling the poster not to check into something". I am telling him not to waste many hundreds of dollars because he's worried about something which is well known to not be a problem.
as soon as you start feeling any unpleasantness associated with having your views challenged
I am not having any "view challenged". You are just being extremely rude and presumptuous. If you can not carry on a polite discussion, there is little reason to talk to you.
Since when was scientific observation inferior to political dogma!?
What he would be doing would not be scientific observation, and I what I was saying was not political dogma. Furthermore, your attitude has become unpleasant to the point where I am no longer interested in continuing this discussion.
Nice, so you consider yourself an "enthusiast" in this area,
No, not really.
but you were unaware of the first community of radiation monitoring enthusiasts? Care explaining why you considered yourself qualified to respond to his post then?
I was aware of them, but don't have specific information. However, contacting them would not help him, because he does not have a problem in the first place. He just has absolutely no need for a radiation detector.
Indeed. I am actually really curious about what would turn up if people all over the world started carrying around as many radiation meters as people in Tokyo are doing right now.
most scientists and regulatory agencies agree that even small doses of ionizing radiation increase cancer risk, although by a very small amount.
Actually, "most" is probably overstating the case. This is called the linear-no-threshold model, and it the model which has been in use so far, because it is the one that is the most cautious. However, there is not enough data to to support it. It was chose out of caution, not based on evidence.
As data slowly accumulates, people are starting to lean towards the view that it is, in fact, not correct. Small exposures to radiation do not seem to cause harm. This is likely due the body's repair systems, evolved while living in a world where even our own bodies are radioactive.
I do not have any information about place where you could borrow one, so I am unable to give any advice on that. What I said was, specifically, "Save your money".
I only just found out about the 57 microSv/h hotspot. That is indeed very interesting, but it is extremely unlikely to have anything to do with Fukushima, and sounds more like buried illegal radioactive waste, or maybe another forgotten stash of radioactive material that got buried by chance. That is something that could be found pretty much anywhere, and if you wouldn't worry about that living anywhere else, you shouldn't worry about it when living in Tokyo. The chances of encountering such a thing are quite minuscule.
Now, having citizens equipped with radiation monitors moving around measuring radiation is actually a very good idea, for exactly this reason: There is a lot of forgotten radioactive material around the world that it would be good to find, and lots of people moving doing lots of measurements helps with that. We saw this already with the Setagaya hotspot. However, this doesn't seem to be what the person asking the question is interested in. He just seems to want to measure radiation around his house, not over a larger area and not coordinated with others. This is basically useless.
And the comment I replied to wasn't?
If you LIKE the technology, then shouldn't you be trying to get more people involved?
"The technology" is, in this case, radiation detectors. Now, it is true that I like radiation detectors quite a bit. However, I also realize they are expensive, hard to use, and of little to no value to the person asking the question, and thus the only advice I can honestly give is to not bother, as he would be throwing his money away based on a misunderstanding.
Yes, obviously everybody who isn't rabidly anti-nuclear is a "pro-nuclear nut". And anti-nuclear people never lie or exaggerate.
Utter fearmongering nonsense. Neutrons occur naturally everywhere as secondary particles from cosmic rays.
Even the Setagaya hotspot, caused by a forgotten stash of highly radioactive radium, which was orders of magnitude worse than anything else found in Tokyo, was nowhere near the point where it would have posed any danger to the people in the vicinity.
This is just not something which is worth worrying about, much less spending money on. Save your money for the thing your kid actually needs.
You know who it will also stop cold? The many open-source programs that use Growl. They are not going to want to have anything to do with a closed-source commercial Growl, and will either dump it or fork it.
Oh, that's nice. I can give my money to speculators! Let me get right on that.