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User: xzvf

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  1. Next comes the blood. on Venezuela: Cheap Television Sets For All! · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yes and as stupid as it sounds. This will work for a short while. Every person of means is probably desperately trying to leave. Once the "bargains" are gone, there will be no more product. Price controls drive growth into the ground and set the stage to inflation when they are released. Next comes wage control, then shortages, rise in crime (fueled by black markets), persecution of the wealthy, then hollowing out the middle class, and finally riots and needless death.

  2. Romney too. on Bill Nye 'the Science Guy' Urges Letters To Obama To Restore NASA Budget Cuts · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Write them both, either could be president in January, and maybe they'll bring up NASA funding around job creation during the election.

  3. Or, ssh? on Ask Slashdot: Options For FOSS Remote Support Software? · · Score: 1

    OK, that's a stretch....

  4. Re:What's the hurry? on Boeing's X-51 WaveRider Jet Crashes In Mach 6 Attempt · · Score: 1

    Customs and baggage when flying internationally. Does take that long plus I said "and getting transportation". Many airports have lines for taxis, buses/trains to rental car lots, and even the walk to the mass transit. Some airports are better than others, but 1-2 hours to get "bags and transportation" is not excessive.

  5. What's the hurry? on Boeing's X-51 WaveRider Jet Crashes In Mach 6 Attempt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It takes 2-3 hours to get through security at the airport, and 1-2 hours to get bags and transportation at the other end, plus an hour commute time to the hotel. I'd rather have a big plane with a lay flat bed, and show up the next morning.

  6. Earth is seeking balance on Could a Category 5 Hurricane Take Down East Coast Data Centers? · · Score: 2

    Global warming is caused by man building huge coal powered data centers, Earth sends hurricanes to destroy data centers, life on planet is saved.

  7. Atari 800 rules!!! on Commodore 64 turns 30 · · Score: 1

    BBS wars, trolling in the 80's.

  8. Re:Cost is important! on Existing Solar Tech Could Power Entire US, Says NREL · · Score: 1

    This was older research before the glut on panels lowered the price. I also included banks of batteries, which have lower life expectancy than the panels. Plus I factored in financing. One thing many people don't factor in is solar panels don't add to the value of your house significantly, and may detract if it ugly's up the house. A grid tied plan is more cost effective and I could easily replace my bill. The problem is the upfront capital costs. Even with tax breaks, and great rates for green improvements from my credit union, costs are hard to justify. All I'm saying is a faster return on investment will increase uptake of individual solar installations.

  9. Re:Cost is important! on Existing Solar Tech Could Power Entire US, Says NREL · · Score: 1

    I'm obviously more concerned with my personal needs, but you are right, a solar power plant has different economies of scale to an individual deployment. The power company needs to make a capital investment in any type of power plant they create. I don't believe power companies are evil, so if the plants make sense financially they would be built. There has to be a projected demand for the energy, current plants have to be near retirement or cost too much to operate. Solar works, but you have to have a way to store the energy for nighttime hours or have non-renewable plants that run at night. And the individual has to feel the value, or they won't make the capital investment. This will come from either lowering the price of solar or increasing the price of fossil.

  10. Cost is important! on Existing Solar Tech Could Power Entire US, Says NREL · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've looked at putting solar panels on my house, and it will cost $30K after tax breaks and credits. The life span of a solar panel is 15-20 years with a denigration of efficiency of about 25% over that period. Then they will have to be replaced again. The payback period is roughly 10-12 years, so I'd come out ahead, but I have to make a significant capital purchase and live in the house for over a decade. What happens if I get a new job that requires me to move next year? The $30K investment in the house doesn't raise it's value that amount. For this to work, the payback period will have to drop to 5-6 years, and solar panels will have to be considered a viable option. Geo-thermal heat pumps, vertical wind turbines, efficient appliances, zone cooling and heating, tankless water heaters and (to channel Jimmy Carter) sweaters have more reasonable payback.

  11. Flexibility and life balance on Gadget Addiction or Work Intrusion? · · Score: 1

    I've had the opposite experience. Gadgets have allowed me to have more contact with friends and family. I'm able to work from home some days during the week, and take short breaks to help with homework, or fix a broken toy. I have conversations with friends all over the country and keep up with what they are doing. People I otherwise would have lost touch with. I travel a lot, so I get to take my library with me, so I read more. I can keep up with my favorite sports teams easier, and regardless of location. Sure, I'm interactive with work 24/7 and put in my hours, but I'm also interactive with my family and friends 24/7 and have more quality time with them. I'm old enough to remember the days you had to physically be present to work or to relax. Showing up to work on time, watching the clock to see when you can go home, getting in the car to drive in and solve problems at three in the morning. Having your team sit in the same block of cubes because you needed to be physically close, taking time off to meet with a teacher, or pay a bill, or do banking. Gadgets mean I see my family more, spend less time on useless chores, work more productively and have a better life. Stop whining.

  12. Use the stars....including our own. on Dr. Faragher Answers Your Questions About the Future of Navigation Technology · · Score: 1

    I'd like to have a navigation system in my hands that can use the stars, sun and a clock to navigate. I know how to use the tools of traditional celestial navigation, but having it as a portable backup for GPS would be nice.

  13. Like foreign aid on Obama Wants $1 Billion For "Master Teachers Corps" · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One billion to give 2500 teachers a $20K stipend. So it costs $400K per teacher to provide that $20K raise?!!!!

  14. Instead of relying on Google..... on Google Blockly — a Language With a Difference · · Score: 1

    Google can start something like this, but they should reach out to individuals, Universities and other corporations that may be interested, form a foundation, and let it be free as in freedom. If it is something interesting and people want to use it, more people will contribute effort to growing and maintaining the environment. If Google finds it useful, then Google can contribute money or time to the foundation and leverage the efforts of everyone else involved. In the long run it is better for Google and for people using it.

  15. Parents care, school systems don't on Ask Slashdot: Teaching Chemistry To Home-Schooled Kids? · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's blunt, but more often than not it is the truth. For the good of society, I don't like home school, because of its effect on universal education, but it is a response to a problem that nobody seem willing to correct. For Chemistry: http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Guide-Home-Chemistry-Experiments/dp/0596514921/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339100841&sr=1-1

  16. How did someone that old still have a job in IT? on America's Cybersecurity Czar, Howard Schmidt, Steps Down · · Score: 2, Funny

    I mean, really.... Grey hair, Fred Thompson look alike... They don't exist in IT. Is federal security locking up the punch cards?

  17. Wouldn't it be easier.... on Location Selected For $1 Billion Ghost Town · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wouldn't it be easier to just add sensors to Rock Hill, SC? Or better yet, play Sim City.

  18. Portable half-rack on Ask Slashdot: Building A Server Rack Into a New Home? · · Score: 2

    Assuming that you aren't installing raised floors and a HVAC unit, there are plenty of racks, both full and half hight available. Or you can look at portable rack systems for shows. You can hide it in a closet (well ventilated) and pull it out to work on it.

  19. Re:Tech Acadamy of FINLAND!!! on Linus Shares the Millennium Technology Prize · · Score: 2

    Wouldn't it be easier to recognize and appreciate you if you didn't post AC?

  20. Re:Tech Acadamy of FINLAND!!! on Linus Shares the Millennium Technology Prize · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And before I get jumped on, Linus deserves it. Linux and open source in general, created more opportunity and employment than all the politicians combined. While the wealth wasn't concentrated in his hands like the Ellison's and Gates' of the world, what he started created a lot of income for many others. Stallman deserves credit too, for the creation of the GPL and the GNU tools Linus used, but his ideology would have prevented the operating system's success and effected the ecosystem that grew around Linux. We're lucky that the balance of technical savvy and tame ego of Linus allowed this revolution to happen.

  21. Tech Acadamy of FINLAND!!! on Linus Shares the Millennium Technology Prize · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think the fix was on.

  22. Re:As an older male sys admin on The Ugly Underbelly of Coder Culture · · Score: 1

    I agree that it isn't a young male developer specific issue. The subject of the original article was young male developers and I was continuing the theme.

  23. As an older male sys admin on The Ugly Underbelly of Coder Culture · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I agree that there is little to no overt exclusion of any race or gender. Yet, I've observed young male groups of developers use language that is not polite in mixed company. Males and females are inherently different, and technology is a boys club. The women I've seen in the field are generally more tolerant of the normal behavior of a pack of young males. I think the solution is age and maturity, and if you want a diverse workforce, it has to be age diverse as well. Regardless of how silly the article is (probably written by academics that have never seen the real world), there is a lack of black, Hispanic and female representation in IT in general. The typical classroom/workplace where engineers and IT workers are groomed is male white/Asian. You have to question why black and Hispanic males and females of all genders avoid the technology field? Maybe they haven't embraced the Geek culture, because it isn't the companies. As a consultant, I've walked through hundreds of companies, large and small, and seen highly diverse workforces, until I get to the IT department.

  24. Something is happening on China Erases New Internet Rumors, Shuts Down Sites · · Score: 2

    The rumors may not be true, but there is a shakeup in the ruling class. Some has leaked out in official releases around the sacking of Bo and his wife, but the people in power are reacting to unexpected events. Some are falling out of favor and some are trying to consolidate power. All in an environment where the loser and their families don't just retire to a quiet life in the country. It is unlikely the government will change, or there will be a popular uprising, but something is happening in the halls of power.

  25. Re:They're on their way out anyways on Best Buy Scans Drivers License For Returns — No More Allowed For 90 Days · · Score: 2

    I live in Nashville. We have Radio Shack, and Best Buy.

    I don't understand why companies would rather beat each other senseless in fiercely competitive markets and completely ignore markets where they would *be* the market.

    Nashville doesn't have any bookstores either, unless they reopened the B&N in the flooded mall by the Opry.