I'm sorry, explain to me how the iPod isn't crippled?
It requires you to sync with a bloated media application that chokes on large media libraries and only supports DRM'd content from a single music store. I'm not saying that the Zune doesn't suffer from similar issues, but claiming that the Zune is the only crippled player is hardly fair.
I prefer to throw my money at more open media players that support UMS and don't use DRM to strip you of your fair use rights. Not everyone is willing to do this and many people like that which makes those players what you or I would call crippled. Because of this, players like the iPod and the Zune are still both quite popular. Still, its hardly fair to try to slam the Zune for being 'crippled' when the iPod shares all the same disabilities (if not more).
A summary from the NEI Nuclear Notes blog:
"The study finds that at a 5% discount rate, levelized costs for nuclear range between $21 and $31 per MWh (2.1 to 3.1 cents per KWh), with investment costs representing 50% of total cost on average, while O&M and fuel represent around 30% and 20%, respectively. For gas-fired plants, the study finds levelized costs ranging from $37 to $60 per MWh (3.7 to 6 cents per KWh), with investment costs accounting for less than 15% of total costs, O&M accounting for less than 10%, and fuel costs accounting for nearly 80% of total costs, on average. The study finds levelized costs for coal-fired plants ranging between $25 and $50 per MWh (2.5 to 5 cents per KWh). Investment costs for coal plants account for just over a third of total costs, while O&M and fuel account for around 20% and 45%, respectively."
I think the departure from Windows to Linux you saw in Mechanical Engr students (despite their reliance on Windows-only software such as Solidworks) might have occurred in tandem with the rise in remote desktop services provided by Universities. My school (North Carolina State University) provides and entire Virtual Computing Lab service to its engineering students and I frequently RD in to run MATLAB and Solidworks remotely myself.
"Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too." -Isaac Asimov
Oh, I remember when that happened... and it still does. Just not in most American airliners. If you're ever in India, take a flight with Jet Airways, Air Sahara or Kingfisher. The level of service is astonishing. The 45 minute flight on Jet from Bombay to Ahmedabad comes with a full meal. No matter what time of night or day they fly. And when I say full meal, it could definitely be compared to the quality of food one would get at an Indian restaurant in Europe or the States: only semi-authentic, but still quite tasty. The memory of it makes me drool even now.
I wonder how adding fiber optic links will affect size and power requirements of USB3 devices. Granted, small LED's use minuscule amounts of energy, but wouldn't having to squeeze in power supplies and photodiodes at each end of the cable make it more difficult to squeeze it all into the micro-USB-sized interfaces used on most phones and mp3 players?
In my experience, taking notes for humanities on a laptop is significantly easier (I type much faster than I can write) and allows me to focus better than if I were hastily scribbling as much as possible since its easier to type without looking at your computer than it is to write without looking at your paper.
For science/math/engineering courses you're absolutely right. I've never tried taking notes with a tablet as I dont own one, but you lose the advantage of being able to type quickly and efficiently even if you gain the ability to sketch diagrams. And text only notes for any of those courses would be completely useless.
In terms of "saving the planet" or solving any kind of energy problem, these kinds of bottom-up approaches simply wont do much in most industrialized countries. Its simply much more efficient (energy efficient, cost efficient etc) to centralize power generation- even considering losses through distribution. Even if we expand our power generation capabilities through the consumption of oil or coal, using electric cars that charge off of that infrastructure will be more efficient than placing small ICE in cars they way things are currently done. In industrial-scale facilities its also easier / cheaper to install highly effective scrubbers than it would be to install similar technology in every single vehicle / generator currently in use. Replace those oil/coal/gas burning generators with nuclear and your overall positive impact on the environment goes through the roof. The point is, putting a few small and expensive solar panels on your house to run a computer isnt going to make a difference well, not as much of a difference anyways, as centralized industrial-scale efforts for alternate technologies. Its cheaper, its easier, its more painless and it doesnt really require people to change their lifestyles. Stop asking people to drive less, pressure your local government to phase in more and better public transportation systems. Enforce more rigorous controls on vehicle efficiency and put in place requirements for the implementation of transitional technologies such as hybrid and LPG powered systems. Build more nuclear and wind power plants, start a reprocessing program to reduce the amount of hazardous waste coming out of the nuclear plants. Expand power distribution infrastructure in anticipation of a greater demand as centralized power is utilized more for plug-in type vehicles and public transportation systems. Phase out oil and coal fired plants, keep expanding nuclear generation capabilities, increase funding in power storage research and invest heavily in battery recycling programs. With aggressive governmental and corporate backing of such policies I dont think it would be unreasonable to ban the ICE within the next 50-75 years, and either have significantly reduced or completely ceased the production of electricity through the consumption of coal and oil. It wouldnt matter if oil is going to run out in 50 years or 150 if we're prepared for it. It doesnt matter if we've caused the globe to heat up yet or not, it will never be something we have to worry about. All this bickering over whether its a problem now or not is completely irrelevant, even if it isnt yet, it will be. Maybe not in the next century, maybe so. It doesnt matter. The problem with democracies is that most are almost universally incapable of planning for the future. It doesnt fucking matter if its a problem today or not if its going to be a problem in the future. Expand our fiber networks today, phase out environmentally harmful technologies today, push the envelope of human technology and progress. FUCKING DO SOMETHING PEOPLE. We have the technology, we have the resources. It will cost a lot yes, but nowhere near as much as enacting hasty fixes to save our asses once its crunch time.
Bingo. I've always wondered why MS doesnt do a total rewrite of the OS and sell virtualization packages to allow running legacy OS's. The only thing that could possibly break is accelerated 3d support, but with access to that legacy code Im sure they could easily implement that as well. A sleek, fast and light new OS would be a tremendous boon to MS' struggling new product lines.
Which, if the United States ever gets around to returning to building more uranium reactors and properly funding fusion ongoing work with fusion, would not be entirely inconceivable in the near (decade-range) future.
HOWEVER, it can only filter particles down to 200nm
No need to go down to 15nm. Use an iodized resin core filter and no more viruses. All this from a ~$100 hiking filter from REI. This one (http://www.rei.com/product/618208) is certified to kill/remove bacteria protozoans and viruses and can output 1.34 L/minute. The only disadvantage is that each filter cartridge can only clean ~473 gallons of water. For the average person this translates into roughly 250 days worth of water. Not (relatively) bad for a ~$100 unit. With larger-scale centralized and subsidized manufacturing this could be significantly reduced.
In the case of augmented human intelligence, I suggest that it's pretty likely that the task that the augmented L2 human turns its greater abilities on would not be creating L3. As a biomedical engineer I find this scenario the most likely and exciting. We are at a stage in our history at which we are just beginning to become able to directly control and alter (read: augment) ourselves. This is going to happen in 3 stages: replacement parts, augmented physical characteristics and finally augmented neurological function. This progression follows both the technical feasibility of each "step" and the sociological resistances to the idea of each. We've seen the ability to grow parts of replacement organs from stem cells directly harvested from the patient and as we learn more and more about the processes which govern differentiation in stem cells it is not science fiction at all that we will be able to grow entire organs in vitro within the near future. Once it becomes rather common practice to grow replacement kidneys and lungs for patients the "augmentation" will begin as a simple practice of removing detrimental characteristics which resulted in the failure of the organ to begin with, perhaps deleting a gene related to increased susceptibility to cancer from the new organ and move to introducing genes allowing for improved oxygen transport in lungs, more resilient filtration membranes and stronger cardiac tissue. The step between augmentation during a person's lifetime and the introduction of changes to their offspring is, I believe, a rather large one, and I dont forsee it becoming common practice for quite a while following the normalization of replacement and augmentation processes.
Neurological augmentation is by far the most technically challenging and interesting problem. We're still nowhere near completely understanding the component-level functionality of neurons, heck even our understanding of neural networks is still embryonic. Transitioning from maintenance and repair of neural structures to outright re-wiring and augmentation will be a formidable technical challenge, but not one that is wholly unlikely either. The information revolution changed the way we see and learn about the world and brought about revolutionary changes in mechanical and electrical technologies. We're at the cusp of the beginnings of a biological revolution which will do the same. Biobricks is already laying the groundwork for custom-made biological machinery that can function as sensors and factories. Every day we learn more and more about the finer details of the workings of cellular machinery and in turn how to direct and control it.
We're getting there.
one word: scrolling.
I have never seen an equal to the nipple for scrolling though long webpages / documents, which is something I do a great deal of. I mean seriously, it takes all of 2mm of finger movement to send your cursor to anywhere on the screen rapidly... and its pressure sensitive! I guess its just personal preference for most people but nowadays having to use trackpads on other peoples' laptops (macs or otherwise) just kind of kills the experience for me. not that i mind being "stuck." IBM/Lenovo has amazing support and their new hardware seems to be of pretty comparable quality to the old stuff, although i do miss the velvety feel of the plastic on the cover...
to sue Microsoft because Windows allowed the installation of software such as Kazaa and the manufacturer of her computer for allowing the installation of a Windows that allowed the installation of Kazaa and the local power company for permitting the operation of a computer which allowed the.... oh you get the point
I dont seem to see anything particularly novel or interesting about his remarks. Technologically speaking, I dont see any evidence in the recent (or distant) past that we've EVER had an idea about where we're headed. According to 1950's sci-fi, we should have multiple extra-solar colonies by now, hand-held laser based weaponry, AI, working jetpacks and the list goes on...
I'm particularly excited about Lenovo handling the OS support themselves, I've owned a thinkpad for several years now and have always had amazingly prompt and effective support from them... My optical drive's tray broke a couple weeks ago, and it took them exactly 4 days to get it fixed from picking up the phone to getting the laptop back in full working order.
not to mention the article contains blatant misinformation, Facebook provides you with URLs that can be accessed without an account. I send my parents links to photo albums all the time.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sorry, explain to me how the iPod isn't crippled?
It requires you to sync with a bloated media application that chokes on large media libraries and only supports DRM'd content from a single music store. I'm not saying that the Zune doesn't suffer from similar issues, but claiming that the Zune is the only crippled player is hardly fair.
I prefer to throw my money at more open media players that support UMS and don't use DRM to strip you of your fair use rights. Not everyone is willing to do this and many people like that which makes those players what you or I would call crippled. Because of this, players like the iPod and the Zune are still both quite popular. Still, its hardly fair to try to slam the Zune for being 'crippled' when the iPod shares all the same disabilities (if not more).
Refer to "Projected Costs of Generating Electricity: 2005 Update" by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency
I would recommend reading pages 46-52
A summary from the NEI Nuclear Notes blog:
"The study finds that at a 5% discount rate, levelized costs for nuclear range between $21 and $31 per MWh (2.1 to 3.1 cents per KWh), with investment costs representing 50% of total cost on average, while O&M and fuel represent around 30% and 20%, respectively. For gas-fired plants, the study finds levelized costs ranging from $37 to $60 per MWh (3.7 to 6 cents per KWh), with investment costs accounting for less than 15% of total costs, O&M accounting for less than 10%, and fuel costs accounting for nearly 80% of total costs, on average. The study finds levelized costs for coal-fired plants ranging between $25 and $50 per MWh (2.5 to 5 cents per KWh). Investment costs for coal plants account for just over a third of total costs, while O&M and fuel account for around 20% and 45%, respectively."
I think the departure from Windows to Linux you saw in Mechanical Engr students (despite their reliance on Windows-only software such as Solidworks) might have occurred in tandem with the rise in remote desktop services provided by Universities. My school (North Carolina State University) provides and entire Virtual Computing Lab service to its engineering students and I frequently RD in to run MATLAB and Solidworks remotely myself.
"Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too."
-Isaac Asimov
'nuff said.
Oh, I remember when that happened... and it still does. Just not in most American airliners. If you're ever in India, take a flight with Jet Airways, Air Sahara or Kingfisher. The level of service is astonishing. The 45 minute flight on Jet from Bombay to Ahmedabad comes with a full meal. No matter what time of night or day they fly. And when I say full meal, it could definitely be compared to the quality of food one would get at an Indian restaurant in Europe or the States: only semi-authentic, but still quite tasty. The memory of it makes me drool even now.
since urea nitrate is one of how many hundreds of possible explosive materials?
I wonder how adding fiber optic links will affect size and power requirements of USB3 devices. Granted, small LED's use minuscule amounts of energy, but wouldn't having to squeeze in power supplies and photodiodes at each end of the cable make it more difficult to squeeze it all into the micro-USB-sized interfaces used on most phones and mp3 players?
In my experience, taking notes for humanities on a laptop is significantly easier (I type much faster than I can write) and allows me to focus better than if I were hastily scribbling as much as possible since its easier to type without looking at your computer than it is to write without looking at your paper. For science/math/engineering courses you're absolutely right. I've never tried taking notes with a tablet as I dont own one, but you lose the advantage of being able to type quickly and efficiently even if you gain the ability to sketch diagrams. And text only notes for any of those courses would be completely useless.
In terms of "saving the planet" or solving any kind of energy problem, these kinds of bottom-up approaches simply wont do much in most industrialized countries. Its simply much more efficient (energy efficient, cost efficient etc) to centralize power generation- even considering losses through distribution. Even if we expand our power generation capabilities through the consumption of oil or coal, using electric cars that charge off of that infrastructure will be more efficient than placing small ICE in cars they way things are currently done. In industrial-scale facilities its also easier / cheaper to install highly effective scrubbers than it would be to install similar technology in every single vehicle / generator currently in use. Replace those oil/coal/gas burning generators with nuclear and your overall positive impact on the environment goes through the roof. The point is, putting a few small and expensive solar panels on your house to run a computer isnt going to make a difference well, not as much of a difference anyways, as centralized industrial-scale efforts for alternate technologies. Its cheaper, its easier, its more painless and it doesnt really require people to change their lifestyles. Stop asking people to drive less, pressure your local government to phase in more and better public transportation systems. Enforce more rigorous controls on vehicle efficiency and put in place requirements for the implementation of transitional technologies such as hybrid and LPG powered systems. Build more nuclear and wind power plants, start a reprocessing program to reduce the amount of hazardous waste coming out of the nuclear plants. Expand power distribution infrastructure in anticipation of a greater demand as centralized power is utilized more for plug-in type vehicles and public transportation systems. Phase out oil and coal fired plants, keep expanding nuclear generation capabilities, increase funding in power storage research and invest heavily in battery recycling programs. With aggressive governmental and corporate backing of such policies I dont think it would be unreasonable to ban the ICE within the next 50-75 years, and either have significantly reduced or completely ceased the production of electricity through the consumption of coal and oil. It wouldnt matter if oil is going to run out in 50 years or 150 if we're prepared for it. It doesnt matter if we've caused the globe to heat up yet or not, it will never be something we have to worry about. All this bickering over whether its a problem now or not is completely irrelevant, even if it isnt yet, it will be. Maybe not in the next century, maybe so. It doesnt matter. The problem with democracies is that most are almost universally incapable of planning for the future. It doesnt fucking matter if its a problem today or not if its going to be a problem in the future. Expand our fiber networks today, phase out environmentally harmful technologies today, push the envelope of human technology and progress. FUCKING DO SOMETHING PEOPLE. We have the technology, we have the resources. It will cost a lot yes, but nowhere near as much as enacting hasty fixes to save our asses once its crunch time.
Bingo. I've always wondered why MS doesnt do a total rewrite of the OS and sell virtualization packages to allow running legacy OS's. The only thing that could possibly break is accelerated 3d support, but with access to that legacy code Im sure they could easily implement that as well. A sleek, fast and light new OS would be a tremendous boon to MS' struggling new product lines.
Which, if the United States ever gets around to returning to building more uranium reactors and properly funding fusion ongoing work with fusion, would not be entirely inconceivable in the near (decade-range) future.
No need to go down to 15nm. Use an iodized resin core filter and no more viruses. All this from a ~$100 hiking filter from REI. This one (http://www.rei.com/product/618208) is certified to kill/remove bacteria protozoans and viruses and can output 1.34 L/minute. The only disadvantage is that each filter cartridge can only clean ~473 gallons of water. For the average person this translates into roughly 250 days worth of water. Not (relatively) bad for a ~$100 unit. With larger-scale centralized and subsidized manufacturing this could be significantly reduced.
one word: scrolling. I have never seen an equal to the nipple for scrolling though long webpages / documents, which is something I do a great deal of. I mean seriously, it takes all of 2mm of finger movement to send your cursor to anywhere on the screen rapidly... and its pressure sensitive! I guess its just personal preference for most people but nowadays having to use trackpads on other peoples' laptops (macs or otherwise) just kind of kills the experience for me. not that i mind being "stuck." IBM/Lenovo has amazing support and their new hardware seems to be of pretty comparable quality to the old stuff, although i do miss the velvety feel of the plastic on the cover...
to sue Microsoft because Windows allowed the installation of software such as Kazaa and the manufacturer of her computer for allowing the installation of a Windows that allowed the installation of Kazaa and the local power company for permitting the operation of a computer which allowed the.... oh you get the point
thats still a hell of a lot more spacious than my apartment...
I was under the impression that ports are only "open" if an application is actively listening on that port.
Er... the telecom industry represents completely unbridled market capitalism?
hopefully this could mean better support for ati cards...
I dont seem to see anything particularly novel or interesting about his remarks. Technologically speaking, I dont see any evidence in the recent (or distant) past that we've EVER had an idea about where we're headed. According to 1950's sci-fi, we should have multiple extra-solar colonies by now, hand-held laser based weaponry, AI, working jetpacks and the list goes on...
Ubuntu- from breezy till edgy all work out of the box (i have the intel built-in) FC4 & 5- worked out of the box Gentoo- dont even ask.
Correct my if Im mistaken, but I was under the impression that afaik all hradware drivers are distribution agnostic.
I'm particularly excited about Lenovo handling the OS support themselves, I've owned a thinkpad for several years now and have always had amazingly prompt and effective support from them... My optical drive's tray broke a couple weeks ago, and it took them exactly 4 days to get it fixed from picking up the phone to getting the laptop back in full working order.
not to mention the article contains blatant misinformation, Facebook provides you with URLs that can be accessed without an account. I send my parents links to photo albums all the time.