
Re: Nice but...
NSA? Just store it on /dev/null ... just as likely to ever give you back your personal data.
30 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Aug 2012
Yes, I do remember that article - and until today, he hasn't been proven wrong. I do believe we will see 3D-printed guns - but most likely they'll be 3D-printed parts connected to a standard metal plumbing pipe from your local hardware store.
There is one thing I don't quite understand. You would think that after the Assange-story someone who is about to blow a whistle on something like this, should know that he needs asylum, that you can only apply for asylum in the country where you physically are (or at least in an embassy) - and that the two most likely countries to provide asylum are Iceland and Ecuador. So why not book a nice holiday to one of these very beautiful countries, make sure that you are there - and THEN go public?
Someone who is using simple data points like 'do you support the president' is NOT talking about big data - even if using a lot of these simple data points about a lot of people, you should be using a traditional relational database. Big Data is when you try to deduce from billions of unstructured tweets or facebook messages how many people do support the president, without asking it explicitly.
Exactly my idea. At the range shown in this video, a knife or even a sharp pencil would be lethal as well. Yes, you can kill someone, if you can get close enough and your first shot hits at the right place and you are lucky enough that your gun doesn't explode. In a public place it's probably also the last thing that you'll do, because you won't have the time to reload this single-shot gun.
Sure, it's right there in the article: they estimate the amount of extractable end-user energy to be 7000 petajoules. Translation: after having extracted that much, the rocks will have cooled too much to be of any use. Now how much is that? At 1 MW (1 million Joules per second), this will take about 200.000 years. I guess the plant won't last that long, however.
So, they base their calculations upon US homes (with electrical A/C), and take those results to gas- or oil-heated UK homes without A/C. Surely that math couldn't go wrong... And even based on those calculations, people would save anually 5 £ each. Now how much is that smart meter going to cost? Installed and maintained for 20 years? 100 £? 200 £? Somebody is going to have to pay for these meters - and at 5 £/year, I'd rather not.
I am a Ubuntu user for a long time. And I don't care if they shorten the support cycle for regular versions to 9 months. At home, I use the latest version of Kubuntu (no, no Unity for me). Upgrading every 6 months, but hey, it is just a desktop, and the upgrade process is (almost always) smooth and quick. At work, of course you should only use LTS versions. No need even to bother upgrading - after 5 years I install a new server and migrate the applications/data off the old one. Why would anyone run 18 months on a regular release anyway?
" This does of course take energy, but if it can be supplied from a renewable source, future CO2 release from fossil fuels would be reduced or eliminated. "
Is that really? Suppose we burn 1 ton of carbon in a power plant. As said by other, this releases about 34 MJ/kg, so in total we have almost 10MWh at the input side. Nice, however this power plant operates at 45% efficiency, so it only pumps 4,5 MWh in the grid. To reverse this reaction, and split the C off the O2, will require more energy than was produced by burning - say 12MWh. Of course, that could be provided by a renewable energy source. But if we have a renewable energy source producing 12MWh - why burn the carbon in the first place? Just use this renewable source to pump its 12MWh in the grid!
I highly doubt whether this is really the 'first' time a solar power station sells cheaper than coal. But far more important - price doesn't tell everything. In fact, in electricity, price doesn't tell much - the conditions do.
There is a HUGE difference between a contract specifying 'the seller guarantees to deliver up to x MW upon request within 15 minutes' and a contract specifying 'the buyer promises to buy whatever is available, when it is available'. Wake me up when the first solar-powered plant signs a contract of the first type, cheaper than coal.
Then again - a couple of years ago I was working as a subcontractor for a decent-sized company. They had some 20 racks in their server room, and installing 10 more obviously required physical access. So I went to security. Hmm. Server room... do you know someone who has access? We'll just copy ALL accesses of that person to your card ...
You do mention that the Stratasys is financially out of reach for most hobbyists. Yet you do also list the Objet Connex? And not some of the best-selling cheaper solutions such as Ultimaker and RepRap? Nice to see a list of 10 3D-printers - but I have to wonder what were the selection criteria.
Not sure what I have to believe here. If you start in Brussels on the E40 and just never change lanes and keep on driving, you end up in Zagreb. But a satnav system directing you there? Then what destination did she enter? BTW, can anyone explain how you can traverse the Alps, without noticing that is not your typical Belgian landscape?