Re:we need to develope construction techniques
on
Surviving Tornadoes
·
· Score: 1
A few big differences between a airplane and a "normal" building. For one, an airplane can move.
An interesting thing about wind is that it creates pressure on all sides. For trailers, if there is a way for wind to get below the building there is no way to keep it from getting ripped off the foundation.
The other thing to understand is that any windborne dirt travelling at 150MPH poses quite an impact. Imagine what a 2x4 can do.
Sure, we can build something that can withstand an earthquake. But... would anybody want to live in it? People generally like windows, and plate steel is expensive.
It is a shame, though, that in some of these places a form of shelter isn't required. That is the real problem when it comes to fatalities...
Do you see people in the same building pooling internet connections as the norm? While saving money is nice, there is a bigger desire to maintain accountability. Having your in-house maintenance guy troubleshooting the network isn't an efficient use of resources.
Any potential savings go away when someone needs a service that isn't currently on the network, so they contract their own connection.
The same problem has existed for years with other building-level infrastructure... phone switches, UPS systems, security, even generators (where it not for physical size constraints). Everybody wants their own.
The failure with permanets is not "permanet" vs. "nearlynet", it is about creating a business strategy to bridge between the two.
Simple example: I can't get cell phone reception in the basement of the building I work in. The building has many wireless services, but the only one with antennas in the basement is the Facilities walkie-talkie system.
It will never be cost-effective for a wireless phone company to provide us with better cellular service in our little basement, but it is worthwhile for me to have phone access everywhere in the building. What are the alternatives?
Land-line phones at regular intervals throughout the building so it is easy to get to a phone.
A pager network to know when someone wants to reach you.
A private exchange telephone service (a la original PCS concept), with antennas distributed as required....but other people have different needs! Someone else needs their blackberry, and another person needs the iPaq and 802.11.
Ultimately, the only viable solution is software defined radio devices, which take advantage of whatever distribution mechanisms are available.
To put it in terms of the article, the best permanet is a loose network of nearlynets....
The one time I bought an extended warrantee, it was at Staples. Never even bothered to activated it. Turns out that within the manufacturer's warrantee, you have to go through the manufacturer... their warrantee only kicks in after that expires.
This particular item was a palm keyboard. I figured that the PDA would be obsolete within the life of the extended warrantee, so I could get a new one that would work with the newer model. I had a history of them breaking before, so... I figured I would use it.
Insurance is to manage risk. Ultimately, paying 10% "insurance" on things that have a high probability of breaking is a good idea... IFF you can't afford the risk. Knowing what risks to make makes you a good consumer.
Likewise, the retailer wouldn't be selling the policy themselves (not underwritten by another party), unless the risks were VERY low. Excluding neglect (read: kids), they don't have much exposure.
In my field, in CA if you make $78k or more you are considered to be in a "management" position, and are not eligible for overtime. I believe the requirement is that a skilled field in a "management" level.
There are two classifications of overtime-- there are "exempt" and "non-exempt" employees.
Before you try and sue someone, check your time cards! If you didn't indicate on the time card that you worked overtime (and signed it), then you have lied... good luck getting any money! If the time is documented, but not paid, you have a chance.
Why stop with encryption? Why not make it a crime to use a telephone, letter, car, mobile phone etc to commit a crime?
Because it is easy for them to intercept those communications. What they really need to do is make it a crime to plan a felony face-to-face in a secluded location without government supervision! Then America is Safe!
The flip-side to it is if the government finds out about a crime prior to it happening (because communication is not encrypted), what obligation do they have to prevent it from happening in the first place?!
If you want to do a class in current technology the best way is to go independant study. If there is an insstructor with relevant knowledge it shouldn't be that hard to get something set up.
Consider yourself ahead of the game when you look for a job. If the university wants to move ahead in the course outline, they have "supporting evidence" for next year.
For those out there that like to travel, go to Angkor (Siem Reap) in Cambodia to see just what nature can do to a building. I forget the name of the temple that they have decided to let Nature keep, but I have a couple pictures.
Basically, over time soil was deposited on the roofs of the temples, and seeds took root. The root systems of the trees went inside the buildings, down the columns, and tore everything apart.
Many of the temples have been restored... but it is interesting to see what the jungle can do to even the most massive structures of stone.
If you go with concrete or stone floors then go for radiant heat and cooling. (The cooling is a little tricky; you have to make sure you are above the dew point.) It also lends itself to solar heating and free-cooling.
Plexiglas discolors over time; glass doesn't. The best bet is layered glass; you can put plastic in the middle and glass on the outsides. So what if you break a window... that's life!
Modern wood is actually not nearly as strong as old wood. It is fast-growth wood; look at a section of wood from 50-year old whatever and compare it to a modern 2x4. The growth rings are what give you strength (over simplification); a 2x4 only has a few rings!
A better generalization is to use materials that are suitable for the local environment. Brick works well where you don't have earthquakes... wood works well where you do! Concrete works well where fires are a risk...
If someone can smuggle themselves into your building, install a piece of hardware onto your network, and smuggle themselves out, then back in and out again to remove the device, why not just install a keylogger onto the back of someone's keyboard and get admin priviledges?
Well, in the real world, you never have complete control over a large facility. There are janitors, building engineers, contractors, etc. which all have physical access to sensitive areas. If you have enough tools at your disposal, all of which are difficult to detect, it is trivial to attack network security.
Generally speaking, though, I would be more worried about someone with an iPAQ than this "jack". Combining the two though could be interesting...
I agree with what you are saying, but there is a caveat: once a product has reached critical mass, you have to go along with everyone else.
I remember problems with AutoCAD back 7 years ago or so, going from release 12 to release 13. 13 was a dog. It had an incompatible file format, forcing upgrades for everyone that shared the same document. Since 13 didn't offer enough incentive for them to reach critical mass, it died with most people sticking with 12 until the next release came out... which solved a lot of problems. Autodesk got a humility pill and realized that forcing the upgrades is bad policy, although you can do thing to encourage it (default format save).
The trouble with MSFT's approach is that it breaks too many things at once; you have to get critical mass not only on the office application, but also the operating system and servers. A company that is not posed for this migration will not do it. If a single client requires it, then they will hire a secretary to do a saveas down to a more manageable format. If half the clients require it, it is difficult to avoid the upgrade.
You can't know in advance what the noise is, but with an array of antennae you can determine the nature/direction of different signals. By increasing the number of dimensions that are being analyzed you have an order of magnitude "more spectrum."
After having to deal with OWA for two weeks being off site, I have to say that hyping that system is a losing battle. In the course of two weeks, I easily lost 6 hours of productivity. I also spent an hour with the IT people trying to figure out a way around the firewall that let me just use Outlook and the VPN client.
The objectives are productivity first, while maintaining security. People need to remember this first!
That said, the concept of web access for remote resources is a good idea. You just can't loose ANY of the functionality that you rely on for the normal product. Just for starters, we have spell check, signatures, reminders, and accurate rendering of attachments (no more "This file type is not yet supported" HTML files when you save an attachment!!!). If you really want to get fancy, you need to have a means for offline access too!
Until the product lets you at least do as much as Pine 1.0, give me a hole in the firewall!
The parent post does a great job of looking at how the system operates today. What I think is a reasonable privacy threat is what happens in ten years, when the system better manages s/n ratio, and when data is stored for "much longer." Scanning present data is one thing, but when you can go back years to find everything you ever said on the phone... it becomes a little more scary.
One of the fundemental safegaurds in democracy is the inefficiency of the government. When the government can respond to a potential problem in real time, the other consequences - human rights, civil liberties, etc. - are threatened.
It isn't new; if you look at a landfill, try to find some 12" or so pipes above the ground that collect the gas. It is methane, not "natural gas."
One thing to note, though-- the "venting" of the gas is not good. It is a green-house gas. That's why they usually try and burn it in flares wherever there is a concentration.
Interesting thing about using biogas at feed lots is that it actually reduces the cow's environmental impact. If only they could capture the flatulent as well... imagine what the animal rights activists would say!
Not all work will ever be outsourced. Dealing with different time zones creates scheduling issues; different currency creates project risk; different countries creates political risk.
Not all companies can manage that risk to the point where paying someone 80% less is actually an overall less expensive proposition.
For employees, stability requires that you can do more than just the minimum requirements of your job. The same thing goes for McDonald's and Engineering.
DRM is very bad when you are purchasing a phone from a company that also happens to be in the content business. Good luck accessing competitor's content on that phone...
In a more general sense, there is nothing wrong with an "appliance" having restrictions on how you use the content it serves you. The problem is that it cannot be a "general-purpose" appliance like a phone or PC. People have uses for content that go beyond what the author may envisoin. If this use actually expands the author's audience (and sources of revenue), why should they object?
Content providers are interested in Pay-Per-Play more than concerned about piracy. Do you want to purchase a product that has restrictions on how you use it in your daily life?
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A few big differences between a airplane and a "normal" building. For one, an airplane can move.
An interesting thing about wind is that it creates pressure on all sides. For trailers, if there is a way for wind to get below the building there is no way to keep it from getting ripped off the foundation.
The other thing to understand is that any windborne dirt travelling at 150MPH poses quite an impact. Imagine what a 2x4 can do.
Sure, we can build something that can withstand an earthquake. But... would anybody want to live in it? People generally like windows, and plate steel is expensive.
It is a shame, though, that in some of these places a form of shelter isn't required. That is the real problem when it comes to fatalities...
It isn't just cold weather; I've seen them in San Francisco and Thailand both. Don't know what the cause is...
Look at offices!
Do you see people in the same building pooling internet connections as the norm? While saving money is nice, there is a bigger desire to maintain accountability. Having your in-house maintenance guy troubleshooting the network isn't an efficient use of resources.
Any potential savings go away when someone needs a service that isn't currently on the network, so they contract their own connection.
The same problem has existed for years with other building-level infrastructure... phone switches, UPS systems, security, even generators (where it not for physical size constraints). Everybody wants their own.
Simple example: I can't get cell phone reception in the basement of the building I work in. The building has many wireless services, but the only one with antennas in the basement is the Facilities walkie-talkie system.
It will never be cost-effective for a wireless phone company to provide us with better cellular service in our little basement, but it is worthwhile for me to have phone access everywhere in the building. What are the alternatives?
Land-line phones at regular intervals throughout the building so it is easy to get to a phone.
A pager network to know when someone wants to reach you.
A private exchange telephone service (a la original PCS concept), with antennas distributed as required. ...but other people have different needs! Someone else needs their blackberry, and another person needs the iPaq and 802.11.
Ultimately, the only viable solution is software defined radio devices, which take advantage of whatever distribution mechanisms are available.
To put it in terms of the article, the best permanet is a loose network of nearlynets....
What about 2?
The one time I bought an extended warrantee, it was at Staples. Never even bothered to activated it. Turns out that within the manufacturer's warrantee, you have to go through the manufacturer... their warrantee only kicks in after that expires.
This particular item was a palm keyboard. I figured that the PDA would be obsolete within the life of the extended warrantee, so I could get a new one that would work with the newer model. I had a history of them breaking before, so... I figured I would use it.
Insurance is to manage risk. Ultimately, paying 10% "insurance" on things that have a high probability of breaking is a good idea... IFF you can't afford the risk. Knowing what risks to make makes you a good consumer.
Likewise, the retailer wouldn't be selling the policy themselves (not underwritten by another party), unless the risks were VERY low. Excluding neglect (read: kids), they don't have much exposure.
In my field, in CA if you make $78k or more you are considered to be in a "management" position, and are not eligible for overtime. I believe the requirement is that a skilled field in a "management" level.
There are two classifications of overtime-- there are "exempt" and "non-exempt" employees.
Before you try and sue someone, check your time cards! If you didn't indicate on the time card that you worked overtime (and signed it), then you have lied... good luck getting any money! If the time is documented, but not paid, you have a chance.
The only thing to be careful with if you go for diving lights is some of them don't like being used in air; not enough cooling.
My recommendation for the type of hiking they are doing is multiple sources of light so you get shadows... a petzel and a torch.
Tension is actually a reference to voltage in this case.
Why stop with encryption? Why not make it a crime to use a telephone, letter, car, mobile phone etc to commit a crime?
Because it is easy for them to intercept those communications. What they really need to do is make it a crime to plan a felony face-to-face in a secluded location without government supervision! Then America is Safe!
The flip-side to it is if the government finds out about a crime prior to it happening (because communication is not encrypted), what obligation do they have to prevent it from happening in the first place?!
They forget... ignorance is bliss!
If you want to do a class in current technology the best way is to go independant study. If there is an insstructor with relevant knowledge it shouldn't be that hard to get something set up.
Consider yourself ahead of the game when you look for a job. If the university wants to move ahead in the course outline, they have "supporting evidence" for next year.
For those out there that like to travel, go to Angkor (Siem Reap) in Cambodia to see just what nature can do to a building. I forget the name of the temple that they have decided to let Nature keep, but I have a couple pictures.
Basically, over time soil was deposited on the roofs of the temples, and seeds took root. The root systems of the trees went inside the buildings, down the columns, and tore everything apart.
Many of the temples have been restored... but it is interesting to see what the jungle can do to even the most massive structures of stone.
If you go with concrete or stone floors then go for radiant heat and cooling. (The cooling is a little tricky; you have to make sure you are above the dew point.) It also lends itself to solar heating and free-cooling.
Plexiglas discolors over time; glass doesn't. The best bet is layered glass; you can put plastic in the middle and glass on the outsides. So what if you break a window... that's life!
Modern wood is actually not nearly as strong as old wood. It is fast-growth wood; look at a section of wood from 50-year old whatever and compare it to a modern 2x4. The growth rings are what give you strength (over simplification); a 2x4 only has a few rings!
A better generalization is to use materials that are suitable for the local environment. Brick works well where you don't have earthquakes... wood works well where you do! Concrete works well where fires are a risk...
If someone can smuggle themselves into your building, install a piece of hardware onto your network, and smuggle themselves out, then back in and out again to remove the device, why not just install a keylogger onto the back of someone's keyboard and get admin priviledges?
Well, in the real world, you never have complete control over a large facility. There are janitors, building engineers, contractors, etc. which all have physical access to sensitive areas. If you have enough tools at your disposal, all of which are difficult to detect, it is trivial to attack network security.
Generally speaking, though, I would be more worried about someone with an iPAQ than this "jack". Combining the two though could be interesting...
I agree with what you are saying, but there is a caveat: once a product has reached critical mass, you have to go along with everyone else.
I remember problems with AutoCAD back 7 years ago or so, going from release 12 to release 13. 13 was a dog. It had an incompatible file format, forcing upgrades for everyone that shared the same document. Since 13 didn't offer enough incentive for them to reach critical mass, it died with most people sticking with 12 until the next release came out... which solved a lot of problems. Autodesk got a humility pill and realized that forcing the upgrades is bad policy, although you can do thing to encourage it (default format save).
The trouble with MSFT's approach is that it breaks too many things at once; you have to get critical mass not only on the office application, but also the operating system and servers. A company that is not posed for this migration will not do it. If a single client requires it, then they will hire a secretary to do a saveas down to a more manageable format. If half the clients require it, it is difficult to avoid the upgrade.
You can't know in advance what the noise is, but with an array of antennae you can determine the nature/direction of different signals. By increasing the number of dimensions that are being analyzed you have an order of magnitude "more spectrum."
After having to deal with OWA for two weeks being off site, I have to say that hyping that system is a losing battle. In the course of two weeks, I easily lost 6 hours of productivity. I also spent an hour with the IT people trying to figure out a way around the firewall that let me just use Outlook and the VPN client.
The objectives are productivity first, while maintaining security. People need to remember this first!
That said, the concept of web access for remote resources is a good idea. You just can't loose ANY of the functionality that you rely on for the normal product. Just for starters, we have spell check, signatures, reminders, and accurate rendering of attachments (no more "This file type is not yet supported" HTML files when you save an attachment!!!). If you really want to get fancy, you need to have a means for offline access too!
Until the product lets you at least do as much as Pine 1.0, give me a hole in the firewall!
The parent post does a great job of looking at how the system operates today. What I think is a reasonable privacy threat is what happens in ten years, when the system better manages s/n ratio, and when data is stored for "much longer." Scanning present data is one thing, but when you can go back years to find everything you ever said on the phone... it becomes a little more scary.
One of the fundemental safegaurds in democracy is the inefficiency of the government. When the government can respond to a potential problem in real time, the other consequences - human rights, civil liberties, etc. - are threatened.
"plugging in" in most places still means dialup. While that will do for many minimalist issues, "getting work done" sometimes requries more.
Actually, hotels with wireless aren't as plentiful in many areas as you would expect.
Starved in Richmond, VA.
It isn't new; if you look at a landfill, try to find some 12" or so pipes above the ground that collect the gas. It is methane, not "natural gas."
One thing to note, though-- the "venting" of the gas is not good. It is a green-house gas. That's why they usually try and burn it in flares wherever there is a concentration.
Interesting thing about using biogas at feed lots is that it actually reduces the cow's environmental impact. If only they could capture the flatulent as well... imagine what the animal rights activists would say!
Not all work will ever be outsourced. Dealing with different time zones creates scheduling issues; different currency creates project risk; different countries creates political risk.
Not all companies can manage that risk to the point where paying someone 80% less is actually an overall less expensive proposition.
For employees, stability requires that you can do more than just the minimum requirements of your job. The same thing goes for McDonald's and Engineering.
DRM is very bad when you are purchasing a phone from a company that also happens to be in the content business. Good luck accessing competitor's content on that phone...
In a more general sense, there is nothing wrong with an "appliance" having restrictions on how you use the content it serves you. The problem is that it cannot be a "general-purpose" appliance like a phone or PC. People have uses for content that go beyond what the author may envisoin. If this use actually expands the author's audience (and sources of revenue), why should they object?
Content providers are interested in Pay-Per-Play more than concerned about piracy. Do you want to purchase a product that has restrictions on how you use it in your daily life?