The 6 page paper (http://arxiv.org/abs/0805.2429) was pure speculation. Entertaining, and with some physics/math that I didn't understand all of, but overall just some sci-fi ideas that they ran the numbers on.
Then the neutrinos from such a source have energies of exactly mZ/2, about 45 GeV, and are easily identifiable as due to Zo decay: there are no natural sources of s of this precise energy. In this case the neutrinos are emitted in a spherically symmetrical manner, and because of that the power requirements for galactic distances, reach the scale of total solar power (as estimated there) to obtain a significant counting rate. Of course one might argue that this is not "our" problem, but one to be solved by the postulated advanced civilization with technology we cannot yet imagine. But resorting to harnessing (Dyson) stars certainly moves the potentiality of such communication to the distant future, if indeed such is ever practical for a civilization. That's an example of their work, and they have several sections like that. Also, they couldn't seem to decide whether they wanted to discuss ETIs communicating with themselves/each other or with targetted communications at low-tech civilizations.
If they wrapped a plot around this it would work just as well as a short sci-fi story as a paper.
Also, while one piece of information accessable at a public website may be unclassified, the sum of the information that could be gained from that website's entire database could be classified. Often the only differenc between a classified document and an unclassified one is the number of details included.
...of course, I hadn't come across the PowerSquid Surge that another poster pointed to at ThinkGeek. That looks like it does the same thing better and cheaper so you can pretty much forget my previous comment.
I was a little skeptical about the price and capabilities of this thing, but a PDF from the manufacturer's website makes it look like a good deal, even at the price. The problem that I usually run into when looking for a surge strip/UPS with a lot of outlets is the total power the strip can handle. Many of the cheaper ones cap out around 1000VA or less, but it looks like this one will handle whatever you can draw without popping a standard residental 15A breaker:
Electrically, the T12 is rated at 1875 Watts, 125VAC/15A 60Hz. Its Surge Protector circuit covers all three "legs" of the AC line. With a voltage-spike protection of 6KV and a clamping voltage of 330V, the Surge Protector can dissipate 4320 joules of energy. Surge protection is also provided for the Telephone/Modem, Network and "F" connectors. To prevent unwanted EMI/RFI noise from entering connected equipment, the T12 is engineered with a wideband Line Filter that will reduce noise up to 58dB from 150KHz to 100MHz.
Comes with a $25k warranty for attached equipment too... I think I remember seeing APC strips with 100k coverage, but really- what do you plan on plugging into it that would make a difference?
Sure, but retroviruses don't (on average) kill us before we can reproduce, so there's no reason for us to have selected for a defense that works like that.
There's no point in writing security updates for new software once the next version is already released.
If they're your neighbors in a dorm, simply say hello and ask them what they're looking at. It doesn't take much talent to read someone in a situation like this, if they wave you over and show you the arabic page they're researching for their anthropology class then there's no harm done. If they become defensive and guarded- maybe there's an issue, or maybe they just don't like brash and suspicious people interrupting them.
If they're strangers, the same reles apply. A friendly smile and an introduction can take you a lot farther than a lynch mob in most social situations.
Sure, during the first two- or three- or 10 taking a sledge to the drives and ripping out the magnets for various amusements may be fun... but when you have a whole cabinet of them to destroy, and a 12lb sledge is your only tool, and it's the middle of summer in Louisiana you really start wishing your unit would just buy a degauser!
One of my favorite browser games is at http://worldofdungeons.net/. It plays like a classic dungeon crawl game where you make a hero, equipt them, then run them through adventures every 7 hours. It's very group oriented (group play is almost mandatory) and has a lot of depth. It's been translated into 4 languages (french/german/spanish/english) and has active communities in all of them. It's not completely free, you can only pick your hero from one of 3 classes (out of the game's 14) with a free account.
If you don't have any objections to following recruitment links, you could earn me a small in-game bonus if you click the link below and end up making an account. http://world-of-dungeons.net/?link_ea_4712
Another fun game is at http://sryth.com/. It's a completely text based adventure game- not like interactive fiction or MUDs, more like a choose your own adventure story.
Come on now, Civ 3 wasn't THAT bad... I actually liked the culture mechanic they added, other than that it just felt like Civ 2 with updated graphics and a little bit of new content. MoO 3 was inexcusable and irredeemable, no argument there.
As far as my nomination for a game that shouldn't have been made: Temple of Elemental Evil
Parent writes about a big source of corruption in 'the system' that comes from the legal fiction of letting corporations negotiate as persons. Couldn't hurt to throw a +1 (something) his way...
This was my thought exactly; instead of some sort of tax or penalty on coal power, legislate requirements that these things need to run cleanly. Don't stop at coal (althought they're the messiest), make sure that nuclear, biomass, large and small hydro, wind, and other energy generation methods aren't making a mess. Do it at a high level (DoE?) and make sure that the proceedings are transparent and open to the public (I've heard too many anectodtal stories about corrupt local politics...)
Hmm... I'm not sure how to change the displayed text of a link with slashcode, the document is TM 31-210, Improvised Munitions Handbook. Lots of fun projects that will work even for the 'chemistry impared', as long as you stay paranoid about safety (as you should any time you're making explosives or acids!).
Perhaps it's not a full-fledged trolling, but it's close. Metal springs weren't commonly used in mattresses until the early 1900s, and were only invented in the mid 1800s. Even if there were springs that old that had somehow not fallen apart, they would probably be made of plain old iron or steel, and not something that could be 'highly' magnetized. Perhaps this was a documentary that was aired some time around April Fool's Day?
Can you cite a source or give us any more information about this?
I have this grand plan about being the cause for paranormal events in a house i'd like to buy but cannot quite pay the amount it's worth. What!? You have a house to sell? Mmmmhmmm BWHAHAHHAHAH:o 600K townhome for 400K? With a couple ghosts you say? I'm cool with that. Where do i sign?
I've heard of lots of people doing this- if you decide to go this route just be sure to watch out for Those Meddling Kids!
Are there any scientists/historians out there who can comment on whether the radioisotopes involved are the types that would work their way up the food chain? It seems this would make a big difference in which critters thrived and which ones couldn't make it...
Aargh! I accidentally clicked on the link without noticing the submitter- most of Roland's trash gets tagged very quickly, why the delay with this one?
Article links to what looks like a student newspaper, "The Beacon". It's nice to see articles of this quality in a student publication; the first link does a good job explaining the situation and reporting it without bias, while the second is a well written editorial style piece that criticizes the university response.
The only problem I can see with their site is that the poll "How did you spend most of your Easter Break?" is missing a Cowboy Neil option...
Slashdot Mirror
If they wrapped a plot around this it would work just as well as a short sci-fi story as a paper.
Also, while one piece of information accessable at a public website may be unclassified, the sum of the information that could be gained from that website's entire database could be classified. Often the only differenc between a classified document and an unclassified one is the number of details included.
Not anymore!
.su namespace doubled (or trippled) in size after the posting of this article...
Something tells me that the
I heard whispers of a rumor campaign- thanks, Slashdot for setting me straight!
...of course, I hadn't come across the PowerSquid Surge that another poster pointed to at ThinkGeek. That looks like it does the same thing better and cheaper so you can pretty much forget my previous comment.
Posting from an af.mil computer, I can assure you they aren't :)
Sure, but retroviruses don't (on average) kill us before we can reproduce, so there's no reason for us to have selected for a defense that works like that.
There's no point in writing security updates for new software once the next version is already released.
Or you could just... talk to them?
If they're your neighbors in a dorm, simply say hello and ask them what they're looking at. It doesn't take much talent to read someone in a situation like this, if they wave you over and show you the arabic page they're researching for their anthropology class then there's no harm done. If they become defensive and guarded- maybe there's an issue, or maybe they just don't like brash and suspicious people interrupting them.
If they're strangers, the same reles apply. A friendly smile and an introduction can take you a lot farther than a lynch mob in most social situations.
Fun?!
Sure, during the first two- or three- or 10 taking a sledge to the drives and ripping out the magnets for various amusements may be fun... but when you have a whole cabinet of them to destroy, and a 12lb sledge is your only tool, and it's the middle of summer in Louisiana you really start wishing your unit would just buy a degauser!
One of my favorite browser games is at http://worldofdungeons.net/. It plays like a classic dungeon crawl game where you make a hero, equipt them, then run them through adventures every 7 hours. It's very group oriented (group play is almost mandatory) and has a lot of depth. It's been translated into 4 languages (french/german/spanish/english) and has active communities in all of them. It's not completely free, you can only pick your hero from one of 3 classes (out of the game's 14) with a free account.
If you don't have any objections to following recruitment links, you could earn me a small in-game bonus if you click the link below and end up making an account.
http://world-of-dungeons.net/?link_ea_4712
Another fun game is at http://sryth.com/. It's a completely text based adventure game- not like interactive fiction or MUDs, more like a choose your own adventure story.
Come on now, Civ 3 wasn't THAT bad... I actually liked the culture mechanic they added, other than that it just felt like Civ 2 with updated graphics and a little bit of new content. MoO 3 was inexcusable and irredeemable, no argument there.
As far as my nomination for a game that shouldn't have been made: Temple of Elemental Evil
Parent writes about a big source of corruption in 'the system' that comes from the legal fiction of letting corporations negotiate as persons. Couldn't hurt to throw a +1 (something) his way...
You beat me to the post!
This was my thought exactly; instead of some sort of tax or penalty on coal power, legislate requirements that these things need to run cleanly. Don't stop at coal (althought they're the messiest), make sure that nuclear, biomass, large and small hydro, wind, and other energy generation methods aren't making a mess. Do it at a high level (DoE?) and make sure that the proceedings are transparent and open to the public (I've heard too many anectodtal stories about corrupt local politics...)
I really would have liked to mod a few things in this discussion, but I figured most folks would like to see this link:
http://onlinebooks.110mb.com/tm%2031-210/31-210-contents.htm
Hmm... I'm not sure how to change the displayed text of a link with slashcode, the document is TM 31-210, Improvised Munitions Handbook. Lots of fun projects that will work even for the 'chemistry impared', as long as you stay paranoid about safety (as you should any time you're making explosives or acids!).
My thoughts exactly :D
Now, if only folks would tag this one with 'globalwarming'...
OK, now you have me wondering... I'll dig around on the internet and see what I can find :)
I think you're stringing us on :)
Perhaps it's not a full-fledged trolling, but it's close. Metal springs weren't commonly used in mattresses until the early 1900s, and were only invented in the mid 1800s. Even if there were springs that old that had somehow not fallen apart, they would probably be made of plain old iron or steel, and not something that could be 'highly' magnetized. Perhaps this was a documentary that was aired some time around April Fool's Day?
Can you cite a source or give us any more information about this?
Could this actually be bad news, in that it might be seen as strengthening/legitimizing clickwrap licenses as actual contracts?
Saw it in Nature magazine- the short answer is yes we can:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitic_computing
Are there any scientists/historians out there who can comment on whether the radioisotopes involved are the types that would work their way up the food chain? It seems this would make a big difference in which critters thrived and which ones couldn't make it...
Aargh! I accidentally clicked on the link without noticing the submitter- most of Roland's trash gets tagged very quickly, why the delay with this one?
I guess this article narrows it down a bit, but we've known for decades that the longevity gene was somewhere in the 12th chromosome pair.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_Long/
Article links to what looks like a student newspaper, "The Beacon". It's nice to see articles of this quality in a student publication; the first link does a good job explaining the situation and reporting it without bias, while the second is a well written editorial style piece that criticizes the university response.
The only problem I can see with their site is that the poll "How did you spend most of your Easter Break?" is missing a Cowboy Neil option...