The depressing part of all this is the smug attitude of officials reporting on this great success of finding a potential terrorist before they could cause harm.
All they found was a misguided, fashion-clueless, MIT Course VI gnurd, who probably shouldn't have wandered off campus dressed in her proud creation.
But, someone who actually intended to cause harm wouldn't be so foolish as to so obviously display some device.
So, does the TSA actually have the means to identify the 0.0000000000000001% of travelers who intend to blow something up?
I'm not convinced.
Right. The FCC gets to sell the analog TV bandwidth, which will fund the converter coupon program. Not a bad deal.
The government could instead use the revenue to fund wars instead. At least Americans get a coupon so they can continue to
sit in front of the tube.
Could you imagine might happen if Joe six-pack TV stopped working all of a sudden? What would he do with his free time?
He might notice that he's pissed off at his diminishing importance in the world and start a revolution.
TV is still the soporific for the masses. Digital TV (with the coupon deal) increases the number channels, at a lower cost, to be sure
that Joe has no time or motivation to realize his sorry state.
NAGP is accepting donations for semen & embryos from the following:
Cattle
Sheep
Goats
Swine
Chickens
Aquatics
We will usually accept up to 100 units of semen for any individual animal.
We can provide a shipper to collect the material and we will pay for all shipping costs.
Apparently, they aren't yet interested in Slashdot semen, so this doesn't appear to be a tax deductible donation opportunity for you...
The U.S. has the "National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation" in Fort Collins, Colorado, located on the campus of Colorado State University. It has croygenic storage for agricultural seeds and semen. http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecod e=54020500
The National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) conserves genetic resources of crops and animals important to US agriculture and landscapes. Preservation of genetic diversity in ex situ genebanks such as NCGRP is important for conservation of biological diversity and utilization of genetic resources for economic and environmental sustainability. Formerly called the National Seed Storage Laboratory (NSSL), our facility changed its name in 2001 to reflect an expanded mission beyond seed storage. In addition to being a seed bank, NCGRP is a repository for animal genetic resources in the form of semen and plant genetic resources in the form of graftable buds or in vitro plantlets. Genetic resources are preserved using state-of-the-art technology that often involves cryogenics. A research team with cryobiology expertise works to develop cryopreservation technologies.
One of the problems of a so-called desktop-replacement notebook is fan noise.
IMHO, a notebook sitting on my wheezing high-pitched hot air at me is annoying. I'd rather
have a deskside CPU box, with a larger, quieter fan.
I wonder if there are any desktop replacement notebooks that don't have fans? (Or, if they do, have
very quiet fans...)
As far as I know, all the Dell notebooks have fans. Sure, when the machine is idle,
the fans don't run. But, once you start doing some amount of work, expect the "wheeeeeeeee".
Will SkypeFree KO Vonage IPO?
By Andy Kessler
This is a classic high stakes Wall Street sucker punch.
The buzz on the Street is that the Vonage IPO is on the rocks. They HAVE to raise money or they are in a world of hurt. Their investors don't want to put another penny in and the company seems to still be bleeding cash, $75 million in the first quarter of 2006. Geez, Vonage is begging customers to buy 20% of the deal - not a great sign.
Ebay knows this, why not toy with the mouse before you kill it. What better way to do away with the Vonage IPO and raise their cost of capital then scare investors even more. Every prospective buyer on this deal asking the same questions: what about pricing, why will anyone pay a flat fee per month when skype connects in the US for 2 cents a minute. $25 per month to Vonage is the equivalent of 1250 minutes.
At Skypeout = zero, its infinite minutes. The value of what Vonage provides has just gone from $25 per month to somewhere close to $0, goose egg, nada. Tough to get a return on equity with those kind of numbers.
F-ing brilliant. I'd like to shake the hands of the person that thought this out. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and UBS now have to work a lot harder to sell this deal. Boo-hoo.
...
When my Birkenstocks sandals finally wore out, I bought a pair of Crocs [http://www.crocs.com/].
They're even uglier than Birkenstocks, and would be sure to annoy the "suits" if I ever wore them to work.
Exactly. If auto users had to pay the real cost of pollution and environmental impact, they would choose to purchase vehicles with better mileage and lower pollution. These taxes should specifically subsidize publicly-funded energy research, such as the National Research Energy Laboratory http://nrel.gov/ .
I use my Treo as an MP3 player, too.
But, my teenager wouldn't buy a Treo instead of iPod, even if it were the same price and provided similar or even better music playing capabilities. Treos are uncool because people use them for work.
iPods are cool because they're just for fun. And, they are an instantly recognized status symbol.
Apple has done a great job turning a geek toy into a fashion statement. And, they've already demonstrated how quickly the latest model goes out of fashion. Just like clothes.
Well, maybe this could be useful at times.
Suppose you're chatting away with a friend about vacation plans, and after you've typed "How about Cancun this summer?", you both see ads for cheap Cancun hotels on the side of your chat windows. You could click and browse together, while still maintaining your IM conversation. Might be a nice collaborative tool.
Crops that can be used to produce ethanol are
highly likely to use fertilizer in their production.
Fertilizer is likely to be used in the production of these crops.
From: http://utfb.fb.org/Index/nitrogen.htm/
Natural gas is a primary feed stock in the production of anhydrous ammonia (82% nitrogen). Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) in turn can be applied directly to the soil or utilized as a feed stock for other nitrogen fertilizers such as urea (45% nitrogen) and ammonium nitrate (34% nitrogen). It takes an average of 33.5 MMBtus of natural gas to produce one ton of NH3. Consequently, the cost of producing NH3 has jumped from approximately $70 a ton a year ago to $295 a ton in December, 2000.
So, isn't the price of ethanol highly related to
the price of oil and gas? It's not clear to me that the cited study took this into account. (I didn't read it...)
A common misconception is that the Toyota Prius is designed to maximize gas mileage. In fact, the design is to minimize harmful emissions that cause smog and health problems.
From http://john1701a.com/ (lots of Prius info!):
SMOG, which consists of NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) and HC (Hydrocarbons) plus a little bit of CO (Carbon Monoxide), is the type of vehicle emission that is harder to quantify, since MPG makes no difference. This pollution contributes to that nasty orange haze floating above most all of the major metro areas throughout the United States, which leads to breathing complications for young children and the elderly.
The "SULEV" emission rating was created to identify vehicles that were specially designed to reduce SMOG related emissions. The classic Prius achieves that criteria. The 2004 Prius actually exceeds it (having earned the "AT-PZEV" rating). Some traditional vehicles actually are SULEV too, believe it or not; but unfortunately they are only available in California and their MPG is very disappointing (even lower than their polluting counterpart). Lastly, not to put down the other hybrids, but... not every type offers SULEV cleanness; some are only ULEV, which is 72% dirtier with respect to SMOG related emissions. So don't just assume the highest efficiency equates to the lowest emissions.
The Prius is designed to run the engine at
a point where it produces the least pollution, which is not always the best mileage. Sometimes, the engine will produce more power than is needed with the excess charging the batteries.
Me, too.
Anything less than a 75Hz refresh rate drives me nuts.
But, I haven't noticed that only new computer users can deal with it. There seem to be plenty of experience users that don't seem to mind. (They also don't notice when there CRT adjustments are so off that they effectively have a 13" display on a 17" tube.)
Maybe we're just picky? Or compulsive?
As the cost of an MIT degree continues to spiral
above inflation, does MIT continue to attract students that have the "Manus" part?
The article says:
Over the past four months, Lorenzo had flourished, learning a new set of acronyms and raising his math grade from an F to an A.
He had grown up rebuilding car engines with his brother and cousin. Now he was ready to build something of his own. The team had found its mechanics man.
I would argue that Lorenzo's hands-on experience was a key factor in his team's success.
I wonder how many of MIT's students arrive as freshman with hands-on skills? I would guess that this number has been declining over the years.
When I was a freshman at MIT, I remember fixing an old stereo on my desk. One of my eletrical engineering classmates, an absolute math genius, who had already aced the intro eletrical engineering class, asked, "Hey, what are those little things with stripes on them that you've got there?" I said, "You're kidding, right? Those are
resistors, you know, "R" in all the problems you've been doing." "Oh", he said, "I'd never seen a real one before."
Mens ET Manus -- Gotta have both to be a world-class engineer. Congratulations to the "La Vida Robot" team for having what it takes!
gmail could emulate IMAP folders using the label attribute. The combination of IMAP folders and labels
are actually quite useful.
I often save a message in several IMAP folders because it is related to more than one subject.
That's a waste of space. Using labels and "emulated"
folders would be an improvement for me.
(That being said, I still thing storing all my
email on gmail is just creepy.)
TurboTax Deluxe (includes one free State) is $14.99 at Costco after various rebates.
Truly an amazing example of the economy of scale in
software and retail distribution.
On the other hand, Inuit's recent plan to
"sunset" Quicken 2002's ability to download transactions from financial instituions is annoying
and perhaps infuriating.
Perhaps it's time to give up the idea that
possesion of the media provides an unlimited right to play/listen/view/.
Suppose if the industry provided a mechanism such that there is a cost for each time a song is played.
What are the advantages?
- Musicians could get compensated for the popularity
of their intellectual property, as determined by the consumers.
- Consumers wouldn't get stuck with a $18 CD that
they don't actually enjoy and never listen to.
OK, before the flames start, suppose this were essentially cost-neutral to the consumer? How much do you spend on music now? $x/month? Wouldn't it be more interesting to spend that same $x/month and have access to much more music?
Challenges - would need to build something to measure music usage into every device that plays music. Not likely to happen anytime soon...
And, as many have pointed out, free will always win. (There will be mechnaisms to play for free.)
But, if it's cheap and convenient, the majority of
users won't defeat the metering, because they understand that the revenue more directly compensates the musicians, and keeps the music happening.
Slashdot Mirror
http://www.komar.org/cgi-bin/christmas_webcam
Maybe this is an opportunity for Netflix to develop a cost-effective, reusable envelope, that works well with the USPS's sorting/handling systems?
All they found was a misguided, fashion-clueless, MIT Course VI gnurd, who probably shouldn't have wandered off campus dressed in her proud creation.
But, someone who actually intended to cause harm wouldn't be so foolish as to so obviously display some device.
So, does the TSA actually have the means to identify the 0.0000000000000001% of travelers who intend to blow something up? I'm not convinced.
Digital TV can be used to squeeze more channels into to the same bandwidth. (Of course, it can also be used to deliver higher resolution content.)
The government could instead use the revenue to fund wars instead. At least Americans get a coupon so they can continue to sit in front of the tube.
Could you imagine might happen if Joe six-pack TV stopped working all of a sudden? What would he do with his free time? He might notice that he's pissed off at his diminishing importance in the world and start a revolution.
TV is still the soporific for the masses. Digital TV (with the coupon deal) increases the number channels, at a lower cost, to be sure that Joe has no time or motivation to realize his sorry state.
Apparently, they aren't yet interested in Slashdot semen, so this doesn't appear to be a tax deductible donation opportunity for you...
And "Sesame Kitten."
IMHO, a notebook sitting on my wheezing high-pitched hot air at me is annoying. I'd rather have a deskside CPU box, with a larger, quieter fan.
I wonder if there are any desktop replacement notebooks that don't have fans? (Or, if they do, have very quiet fans...)
As far as I know, all the Dell notebooks have fans. Sure, when the machine is idle, the fans don't run. But, once you start doing some amount of work, expect the "wheeeeeeeee".
When my Birkenstocks sandals finally wore out, I bought a pair of Crocs [http://www.crocs.com/]. They're even uglier than Birkenstocks, and would be sure to annoy the "suits" if I ever wore them to work.
Jesus saves.
but...
Moses invests!
Exactly. If auto users had to pay the real cost of pollution and environmental impact, they would choose to purchase vehicles with better mileage and lower pollution. These taxes should specifically subsidize publicly-funded energy research, such as the National Research Energy Laboratory http://nrel.gov/ .
I use my Treo as an MP3 player, too.
But, my teenager wouldn't buy a Treo instead of iPod, even if it were the same price and provided similar or even better music playing capabilities. Treos are uncool because people use them for work.
iPods are cool because they're just for fun. And, they are an instantly recognized status symbol.
Apple has done a great job turning a geek toy into a fashion statement. And, they've already demonstrated how quickly the latest model goes out of fashion. Just like clothes.
...next thing, there will be wireless television, supported by ads. :-)
Apparently, Radio Shack is already selling the hardware to do this.
Neither gmail nor Yahoo mail are useful to me until they support IMAP. The ability to use folders from any email client is essential.
Or maybe just another source of ad clutter...
Fertilizer is likely to be used in the production of these crops.
From: http://utfb.fb.org/Index/nitrogen.htm/
Natural gas is a primary feed stock in the production of anhydrous ammonia (82% nitrogen). Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) in turn can be applied directly to the soil or utilized as a feed stock for other nitrogen fertilizers such as urea (45% nitrogen) and ammonium nitrate (34% nitrogen). It takes an average of 33.5 MMBtus of natural gas to produce one ton of NH3. Consequently, the cost of producing NH3 has jumped from approximately $70 a ton a year ago to $295 a ton in December, 2000.
So, isn't the price of ethanol highly related to the price of oil and gas? It's not clear to me that the cited study took this into account. (I didn't read it...)
From http://john1701a.com/ (lots of Prius info!):
SMOG, which consists of NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) and HC (Hydrocarbons) plus a little bit of CO (Carbon Monoxide), is the type of vehicle emission that is harder to quantify, since MPG makes no difference. This pollution contributes to that nasty orange haze floating above most all of the major metro areas throughout the United States, which leads to breathing complications for young children and the elderly.
The "SULEV" emission rating was created to identify vehicles that were specially designed to reduce SMOG related emissions. The classic Prius achieves that criteria. The 2004 Prius actually exceeds it (having earned the "AT-PZEV" rating). Some traditional vehicles actually are SULEV too, believe it or not; but unfortunately they are only available in California and their MPG is very disappointing (even lower than their polluting counterpart). Lastly, not to put down the other hybrids, but... not every type offers SULEV cleanness; some are only ULEV, which is 72% dirtier with respect to SMOG related emissions. So don't just assume the highest efficiency equates to the lowest emissions.
The Prius is designed to run the engine at a point where it produces the least pollution, which is not always the best mileage. Sometimes, the engine will produce more power than is needed with the excess charging the batteries.
Me, too.
Anything less than a 75Hz refresh rate drives me nuts.
But, I haven't noticed that only new computer users can deal with it. There seem to be plenty of experience users that don't seem to mind. (They also don't notice when there CRT adjustments are so off that they effectively have a 13" display on a 17" tube.)
Maybe we're just picky? Or compulsive?
As the cost of an MIT degree continues to spiral above inflation, does MIT continue to attract students that have the "Manus" part?
The article says:
I would argue that Lorenzo's hands-on experience was a key factor in his team's success.
I wonder how many of MIT's students arrive as freshman with hands-on skills? I would guess that this number has been declining over the years.
When I was a freshman at MIT, I remember fixing an old stereo on my desk. One of my eletrical engineering classmates, an absolute math genius, who had already aced the intro eletrical engineering class, asked, "Hey, what are those little things with stripes on them that you've got there?" I said, "You're kidding, right? Those are resistors, you know, "R" in all the problems you've been doing." "Oh", he said, "I'd never seen a real one before."
Mens ET Manus -- Gotta have both to be a world-class engineer. Congratulations to the "La Vida Robot" team for having what it takes!
gmail could emulate IMAP folders using the label attribute. The combination of IMAP folders and labels are actually quite useful. I often save a message in several IMAP folders because it is related to more than one subject. That's a waste of space. Using labels and "emulated" folders would be an improvement for me. (That being said, I still thing storing all my email on gmail is just creepy.)
Truly an amazing example of the economy of scale in software and retail distribution.
On the other hand, Inuit's recent plan to "sunset" Quicken 2002's ability to download transactions from financial instituions is annoying and perhaps infuriating.
(Already discussed: Intuit Disables Features in Quicken To Force Upgrades http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/29/221 5223&tid=164&tid=187)
Perhaps it's time to give up the idea that possesion of the media provides an unlimited right to play/listen/view/. Suppose if the industry provided a mechanism such that there is a cost for each time a song is played. What are the advantages? - Musicians could get compensated for the popularity of their intellectual property, as determined by the consumers. - Consumers wouldn't get stuck with a $18 CD that they don't actually enjoy and never listen to. OK, before the flames start, suppose this were essentially cost-neutral to the consumer? How much do you spend on music now? $x/month? Wouldn't it be more interesting to spend that same $x/month and have access to much more music? Challenges - would need to build something to measure music usage into every device that plays music. Not likely to happen anytime soon... And, as many have pointed out, free will always win. (There will be mechnaisms to play for free.) But, if it's cheap and convenient, the majority of users won't defeat the metering, because they understand that the revenue more directly compensates the musicians, and keeps the music happening.
It's an old Cray supercomputer. http://cray.com/about_cray/history.html/