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User: kenh

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  1. Re: Already denied on Engine Data Reveals That Flight 370 Flew On For Hours After It "Disappeared" · · Score: 1

    losing a 270-300 million dollar aircraft.

    Insurance covers the loss, I'd imagine...

  2. Re: Don't they have to fly that thing around? on What If the Next Presidential Limo Was a Tesla? · · Score: 1

    Solar panels on the roof of the White House? Jimmy Carter AND Barack Obama both put them on the roof, they were taken down when calmer heads prevailed and the symbolism was no longer needed after Carter left office.

  3. Re: Don't they have to fly that thing around? on What If the Next Presidential Limo Was a Tesla? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's a number of reasons why we don't have electric tanks, and those are the reasons the next 'Beast' will not be electric:

    Weight
    Time to recharge
    Life of charge
    Massive engine needed to move armored vehicle
    Massive batteries needed to power the massive engine

  4. One third, China on Environmentalists Propose $50 Billion Buyout of Coal Industry - To Shut It Down · · Score: 1

    Coal produces fully one-third of all electricity in the US, what exactly is the plan to make up for that lost generation capacity? In ten years?

    Also, eliminating the US consumption of coal does nothing about the ever-increasing use of coal in China where they are bringing new coal-fired generators online at a rate of one per week...

  5. Re: Crashplan on How Do You Backup 20TB of Data? · · Score: 1

    It arguably took him years to create test 20 TB collection, if he updated his cloud service backup as he added Giles, it would likely never be more than a day or so behind his main library...

  6. Re: Don't bother. on How Do You Backup 20TB of Data? · · Score: 1

    If he created backups incrementally as he grew his collection, the effort to back it up would be trivial, and while the restore would be boring, at least it would be possible.

    Someday people will learn that RAID is not a suitable replacement for backups.

    Seems to me that 5x four terabyte hard drives would have been a wise investment - heck, toss in a couple extra drives and a RAID option like RAID 5 or 6 and you should be sitting pretty, just copy updated files as they are added to the main array... Of course, it may take a while to rebuild a list 4 TB drive...

  7. Look at the bright side on How Do You Backup 20TB of Data? · · Score: 1

    It likely didn't cost him a dime to build up that collection...

  8. Paper tape on How Do You Backup 20TB of Data? · · Score: 1

    Sure the information density is pretty low, but it lasts forever!

  9. Who paid $2,400... on $2,400 'Introduction To Linux' Course Will Be Free and Online This Summer · · Score: 1

    For a course that is nothing more than an 'Introduction' to Linux?

    I remember a fellow years ago that offered an expensive 'study at home' course on Solaris, but his price was well under $2,400 and he actually included a complete Sun workstation with the course...

  10. Re: hmmm.... on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    Where is most electricity generated in the alternative methods you listed?

  11. Re: Add a range-extender engine, perhaps PV too on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    Capacity factor for the U.S. is about 0.145. That is, for every 1000 Watts of PV you have installed, it'll generate on average 145 Watts throughout the year after factoring in night, weather, angle of the sun, dirt on the panels between washings, etc. So those 28.8 m^2 will actually only generate 3888*0.145 = 536.8 Watts average through the day. 536.8 Watts * 1 day * 24 h/day * 3600 s/h = 36.38 MJ in a day. Or enough to move the bus 10.7 miles per day.

    Or you could just add 10% more batteries to the bus.

    Buses have their roofs painted white to keep from baking the kids on the (un-air conditioned) bus, cover the roof with black solar panels and you'll likely need to add AC to the bus, eliminating any increase in range with energy spent running the AC cooling the kids...

  12. Re: Add a range-extender engine, perhaps PV too on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    Unless you want to take kids on a field trip...

  13. Re: Cold on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    Most districts have bus garages where they store their buses overnight, you typically heat that area anyways for the maintenance crew.

    No, they don't - they really, really don't.

    I can't imagine a single school district that can justify the expense of such a structure - it is more cost-effective to leave them outside.

  14. Re: depends how you define school bus on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    How many kids could you get in such a bus?

  15. Re: Cool on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    What do you imagine a replacement battery pack will cost for a school bus? And remember, you'll be going through batteries like no one's business because school buses are run for (typically) two runs in the morning and two runs in the afternoon, requiring probably two complete charges in a 24 hour period, five days a week, 40 weeks a year...

    That's a lot of batteries.

  16. Re: Cool on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    Are we including battery replacement in this imaginary 'reduced maintenance cost' scenario?

  17. Re: Cool on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    You really think there are 40 year-old busses on the road carrying school children?

    Trust me, that is not the case.

  18. Anyone calculate the MPG of the bus? on California District Launches Country's First All-Electric School Bus · · Score: 1

    If the bus has a useful range of 80-100 miles and would otherwise consume 16 gallons to cover those 80-100 miles, that puts the MPG of the bus at between 5-6 MPG...

    Seriously? They drive school buses that are THAT inefficient?

  19. An OEM charging customers to deliver a custom suite of software on a mass-market retail computer - shocking!

    I can't believe Dell is charging money to install a third-party application on a brand-new computer! I can't believe Dell is charging customers more if they they want something other than the standard product they offer... Where will this all end? /sarcasm

    Who would even think to request Dell install a trivial third-party app like Firefox on their new computer, and who, upon making that request, would be surprised/upset that Dell wanted to be compensated for that requested additional effort?

  20. Your point? on Microsoft's Attempt To Convert Users From Windows XP Backfires · · Score: 1

    What Microsoft calls an upgrade involves completely wiping the PC and reinstalling a fresh OS copy on it â" or ideally, buying a new device.

    And...

    These people are running a 14 year-old operating system, they skipped Vista and Windows 7...

    What is Apple's plan to accommodate users of 14 year-old OS X?

    Which Linux distribution has a plan to update a 14 year-old distribution?

    I have a MacBook Pro from a few years ago, it won't support Mavericks - Apple is telling me that I either need to keep running soon to be unsupported OS X OR buy a new device.

  21. Re:thats funny on Android Beats iOS As the Top Tablet OS · · Score: 1

    Can you replace your iPhone with it's paid apps with your android device and it's free apps? Doing more doesn't mean it can do the same thing. Also, just because your employer choose to with paid apps on the iOS device, doesn't mean there aren't suitable free apps for your iOS device.

    Do you use your iOS devices in front of clients? Your employer may have spent money on your iPhone to improve your image in front of clients.

  22. Wow, way to dismiss Windows... on Android Beats iOS As the Top Tablet OS · · Score: 1

    Microsoft still only has 2% of the tablet market.

    In 2012 MS had 1% of the market, in 2013 MS doubled market share to 2%, but that hides the fact that MS went from 1.1M units in 2012 to 4M units in 2013.

    Microsoft doubled market share in a growing market, nearly quadrupling the number of units sold between 2012 and 2013...

  23. Re: Tell me again... on U.S. Students/Grads Carrying Over $1 Trillion In Debt · · Score: 1

    ...one of them must be right! ;^)

  24. Unprecedented on Free (Gratis) Version of Windows Could Be a Reality Soon · · Score: 2

    A search engine company giving away an OS with close ties to it's own search engine and applications... UNHEARD OF! A game changer!

  25. Difference between "college degree" and education on Do We Really Have a Shortage of STEM Workers? · · Score: 2

    The National Science Board's biennial book, Science and Engineering Indicators , consistently finds that the U.S. produces many more STEM graduates than the workforce can absorb. Meanwhile, employers say managers are struggling to find qualified workers in STEM fields. What explains these apparently contradictory trends?

    Notice that word "qualified"?

    Merely possessing a STEM degree does not automatically mean one is prepared to step into a STEM job.

    In an effort to win federal and state money, colleges and universities (as well as public schools) are racing to implement ANYTHING that looks like STEM programs, lowering the criteria to participate, and building false hopes in these students that despite their remedial math and science classes, they were going to be "Engineers" when they graduate...