Something Random

[Bozo]

I don't get OT. I'm a salaried employee.
My time in the office is technically flexible, so I kind of come and go as I please, but I stay late a lot because the things I need to do can't always be done when there are other people around.

Deploying a dual boot XP/Vista setup is an utter nightmare. That is all I'm going to say.

IIRC:
Make sure you shut off System Restore on both systems. They over write each other and are not compatable with each other. Makes a mess.
You will find that even though you installed Vista in the 'D' partition, that when running Vista and opening Windows Explorer, Vista will be in the 'C' partition. It automatically assigns itself to 'C' no matter where it is installed. Very confusing.

Bozo :joker:

 

[paugie]

hmmm, just discovered "freerice"
got to 41 but quickly fell to 39 due to a series of bad guesses. heh-heh
then got lucky and reached 43 before I thought to myself, that's enough luck.

maybe I'll try again later when my wife isn't looking over my shoulder.

 

[Will Rickards]

That freerice is hard.
Either I know it or I have no idea.
Quickly got to 40 but then couldn't get past 39 again.

 

[time]

Paugie,

Doctors are a necessary evil - that's the best I can say about them (apologies to our resident doctor).

If they can't explain it, it must be in your head. That appears to be the extent of modern medical knowledge. :evil:

Actually, I'm being unfair; my current doctor doesn't say that - she simply admits that she doesn't know and that further investigation is unlikely to be successful.

 

[Mercutio]

I have come to the realization that the true purpose of 802.11 wireless networks is not, in fact, to facilitate communication between computers without the aid of lengths of copper.

In fact, the main function of wireless networks is to provide techies with a lifelong stream of income.

 

[ddrueding]

In fact, the main function of wireless networks is to provide techies with a lifelong stream of income.

Wireless, and OS upgrades

 

[Will Rickards]

Wireless, and OS upgrades

And more recently downgrades (vista -> XP) though that may be considered and upgrade to some.

 

[ddrueding]

I was thinking specifically of the endless chain.

1. OS upgrade
2. Hardware upgrade due to chunkier OS
3. New functionality from new OS/Hardware increases users capability
4. New hardware required to optimize users increased capability
5. repeat

This way you get 2 hardware upgrades for each OS cycle.

 

[paugie]

I think my nephew has got the sickness, too.
There's not a week when he absents himself from school. Says he's feeling weak. Been doing it for months now.
Or maybe I got it from him.

 

[ddrueding]

I did that all through elementary school. I just considered myself a fast learner

 

[ddrueding]

Gibbon vs. Tiger (YouTube video)

 

[ddrueding]

Olga bought Polarity for me for new years, and I guilted her into giving it to me tonight. She refuses to play, but I've been playing around with the pieces and it looks awesome. Anyone else tried it?

 

[Howell]

Olga bought Polarity for me for new years, and I guilted her into giving it to me tonight. She refuses to play, but I've been playing around with the pieces and it looks awesome. Anyone else tried it?

Refuses? I'd play, that looks like fun.

 

[ddrueding]

She's the highly competitive sort. If she looks at a game and determines that I would be inherently better, she'd rather not play. Unfortunately, this ruled out poker last week as well. I'll consider it a project for the relationship at some future date.

 

[Gilbo]

That does look pretty fun.

 

[Pradeep]

South Korean Scientists Clone Glowing Cat

http://www.dailytech.com/South+Korean+Scientists+Clone+Glowing+Cat/article10042.htm

 

[.Nut]

.NUT, haven't you heard? You are not allowed to be on Mars!

Tea, I'm not on Mars, I'm on .MARS -- not much difference between the two planets, but, I doubt anyone cares.

By the way, Tea, it seems those golden stanzas of my superb original poetry -- which I posted a couple of weeks ago here in this thread -- were enough of an inspiration to someone in Hollywood to produce a first class music video set to my poetry!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGO2hVA3P58


It's best to scroll up to the poetry in this thread and read along with the music video. The musical action starts about 2 minutes into the video. Poetry link:


http://www.storageforum.net/forum/showpost.php?p=103375&postcount=3102

 

[Handruin]

Micro Nuclear reactors

Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor. Neat, it produces 200 kilowatt for about 40 years and is self sustaining and won't overheat. I would have hoped for more than 200 KW, but maybe that's enough for a small business? I'd like to know how much one of these units cost.

 

[jtr1962]

Going by their figures of 5 cents per kilowatt-hour over the reactor's 40-year lifetime the cost would be about $3.5 million (200kW x 8766 hours per year x 40 years x $0.05 per kilowatt-hour). Something like this might be interesting for a group of maybe 100 homeowners to share also. Interesting, but I'll wait until they have a home-sized Mr. Fusion™©® which can supply heat, hot water, and power for under $10K

 

[timwhit]

Builds 100x Smaller Micro Nuclear Reactor. Neat, it produces 200 kilowatt for about 40 years and is self sustaining and won't overheat. I would have hoped for more than 200 KW, but maybe that's enough for a small business? I'd like to know how much one of these units cost.

I'm intrigued by this. I wonder what it will cost? Is the 5 cents per KW/h based on producing 200KW for 40 years continuously? If so, it will cost $3.5 million.

 

[timwhit]

Damn, JTR beat me.

 

[ddrueding]

I'm game. What exactly would stop me from putting one in the backyard of my suburban home? Zoning restrictions?

 

[Stereodude]

I'm game. What exactly would stop me from putting one in the backyard of my suburban home? Zoning restrictions?

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the EPA?

 

[Stereodude]

I'm intrigued by this. I wonder what it will cost? Is the 5 cents per KW/h based on producing 200KW for 40 years continuously? If so, it will cost $3.5 million.

Will they let you finance it with monthly payment for 40 years?

 

[Handruin]

I have little concept of what 200 KW can actually power. I might be doing this wrong, but I'm looking at my current electric bill and it says I used 747 KWH between OCT and NOV (keep in mind my heat is a heat pump through forced central air).

747 KWH / 30 days = 24.9 KWH per day average? I'm guessing there are peak times on days where I probably use more than others. So I guess this reactor would be enough for a few homes. jtr, is it really enough to power 100 homes, or would this just be a supplemental unit? I'd image that it could also feed the power grid during idle times. It might actually be a way to make back money, no? I mean, if it can run at 100% all the time and during those times when it isn't being fully used, why not feed the power grid and make back money.

I guess like you calculated the price will be way too much for individual owners unless in mass quantities. I wasn't expecting them to figure out the cost over 40 years, but I can see why they would if that is the life expectancy. Having it installed is likely another matter on its own.

 

[ddrueding]

I was thinking it would be great to go totally off-grid, using any remaining electricity to produce hydrogen for the car.

 

[ddrueding]

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the EPA?

That would be my point. This is a great breakthrough, but no-one will let you have a reactor of any size without an army to defend it. The only way to make an army cost-effective is to have a large reactor.

I think a hydrogen economy is where it's at. It's clean and easy to produce; all you need is a LOT of electricity. The kind of energy made at nuclear reactors. Two or three dozen big-ass reactors could produce enough to remove our dependence on fossil fuels, and this could be done during off-peak hours, so there would be no additional "base load" on the grid.

 

[Mercutio]

My father once had an employee who worked at the Nuclear Plant at Clinton, Illinois. He was caught trying to remove nuclear waste and it was eventually revealed that he was in the process of constructing a small reactor in his basement.

I am very much pro-nuclear power. Modern reactor designs are very, very safe and the plants themselves are cleaner than any industrial environment I've ever seen.

HOWEVER...
Apparently the cost, in terms of carbon, is still a net loss compared to coal. It's very hard to find Uranium, very hard to extract it, handle it and then there's the matter of what to do with all the dirt that was extracted to get the fissionable material. Coal is dirtier, yes (and, in fact, releases more radioactive matter in burning than a nuke plant ever will) but it's easier to get to it and easier to extract and handle it.
So that's the sad truth about Nuclear power.

 

[ddrueding]

So what is it? Pick 3 technologies that combined could provide double the current needs of the planet. Heck, even make all the "green" ones (solar, wind, hydro) count as one. Geothermal? Nuke? Coal? Tidal?

Is the carbon cost of Uranium high because of the gas burned to extract it? Why isn't that energy coming from nuclear? That would be a net-gain, no?

 

[Bozo]

So what is it? Pick 3 technologies that combined could provide double the current needs of the planet. Heck, even make all the "green" ones (solar, wind, hydro) count as one. Geothermal? Nuke? Coal? Tidal?

Is the carbon cost of Uranium high because of the gas burned to extract it? Why isn't that energy coming from nuclear? That would be a net-gain, no?

If I remember right, uranium can not be used right out of the ground. It has to be refined into some isotope. This adds to the cost.

Bozo :joker:

 

[Handruin]

To continue the trend of power-related discussions, I saw this article about $1 per watt solar panels mentioned on Digg today. This seems rather interesting... From what I read, they focused on manufacturing them less expensive rather than spending the money on making them more efficient. Does anyone know what solar currently costs per watt in today's market?

Even at $1/watt, I'd still need to know how big these are. If i can only fit enough to give me 10 watts on the roof of a house, I don't see the point. Their website does claim: "...makes it possible to produce 100x thinner solar cells 100x faster".

 

[ddrueding]

If I remember right, uranium can not be used right out of the ground. It has to be refined into some isotope. This adds to the cost.

Bozo :joker:

No doubt. Every fuel costs an amount in energy to get the energy out of the fuel. Best case is probably coal where all we need to do is dig it up, ship it to a coal plant, and build the coal plant. Worst case is probably uranium, that has to be found, dug out, refined, and nuke plants are (used to be?) big expensive resource-hungry things. They can be, however, a net gain of energy because all we are doing is extracting a pre-made source of energy.

A net loss would be hydrogen via electrolysis, or any other system where we are producing the fuel ourselves. The only reason that bio-fuels (algae, corn, etc) are a net gain is that we are getting the solar power for "free".

 

[Gilbo]

If I remember right, uranium can not be used right out of the ground. It has to be refined into some isotope. This adds to the cost.

Bozo :joker:

Actually, Canadians can use un-refined Uranium for energy! We do have to package it into fuel rods of course, but our Candu reactors will produce a self-sustaining, moderatable fission reaction from Uranium ore with 0.72% U-235 (the good stuff) no problem. (That's the naturally occuring percentage at the present life of our solar system, with the vast majority being the U-238.)

This isn't economically feasible in other countries because they lack our fresh water reserves (which we are selling off to the U.S. as fast as humanly possible as I speak). The reactors use pure heavy water as the moderator which requires an enormous amount of processed, natural fresh water to obtain. The advantages being that:

1. Deuterated water is easier to separate from normal (light) water than U-235 is from Uranium, because the relative mass differential is so much greater (2:1 vs 235:238). Oh ya, water is liquid at room temperature and Uranium needs to be vapourized, which is even more annoying because Uranium is also flammable/explosive which means vapourizing it is not fun...

2. Deuterated water does not absorb neutrons (the hydrogen has already got an extra) easily so, in this medium, sufficient neutron density and therefore critical mass are achieved at the natural Uranium ore concentrations of the isotopes. Yay!

3. When deuterium does capture a neutron we get tritium which is useful for a wide variety of applications.

If there was one country in the world that should be making widespread use of Nuclear power, it's Canada, but we're either too stupid or we're big pussies...

 

[ddrueding]

Went to Olga's company christmas party last night, held at the Sr. Dr's new house. 3200sqft, 2bd 2ba, a 10' tall 19" equipment rack in the office (ceilings are 10-20ft). There is only one right-angle in the whole place, even the hallway expands from 5' to 12' wide as it enters the living room. Skylights with special coatings aligned to allow more light in winter and less in summer (don't know how they do that).

Very cool place, ~$4M in this soft market.

 

[timwhit]

Went to Olga's company christmas party last night, held at the Sr. Dr's new house. 3200sqft, 2bd 2ba, a 10' tall 19" equipment rack in the office (ceilings are 10-20ft). There is only one right-angle in the whole place, even the hallway expands from 5' to 12' wide as it enters the living room. Skylights with special coatings aligned to allow more light in winter and less in summer (don't know how they do that).

Very cool place, ~$4M in this soft market.

That's $1250/sq ft, which is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[ddrueding]

Well, it is on a whole 1/3rd of an acre in the most expensive neighborhood in the most expensive city in one of the most expensive areas of the US. That, and they went totally ballistic on everything, maximizing energy efficiency and recycled earth-friendly materials. R-35 worth of insulation made from recycled denim, poured concrete flooring with radiant heat powered by underground heat pump, windows that automatically open and close to manage internal temperature and airflow. The works.

 

[ddrueding]

Here is another house in the area, only $1126/ft, but 5000sq/ft on nearly an acre.

 

[ddrueding]

Doh, forgot the link. Theres hardly anything within 10 miles that is <$800/ft

 

[udaman]

This one's for supa dave

Swingers,lol

Jack in the Box TV commercial (since dd, does't watch TV)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKSB4AV740w

Also, still recovering from my cold virus, managed a long day, ending with CostCo @4:30PM (one hour before closing), parking lot was jammed!!! Got lucky, found a space quickly at the very far end of the lot. Sanyo Enloops back in stock, $25.99 for the kit/charger, not many left. Also new, 6AA & 2AAA alone, but @$18.99 not much of a bargain you'd expect from CostCo.

CostCo is open tomorrow for last minute shoppers from 9-5PM, K-Mart is open 64hrs continuously until tomorrow night @10PM, crazy! Then again, since I can't think straight with my cold, who am I to judge .

Leaving CostCo @5:25PM, one woman passes me as I lumber toward my car way out at the end of the lot, she's walking quickly with four boxes of larger pizzas!!! Oh, but wait, some squat, late 20/early 30's ish Asian guy also wizzes by me with not 4 but fekking FIVE boxes of large pizzas. And you have any idea why America is faced with a fatness health crisis?

Hmm, sometime this week I'll probably have a pizza and a cheap bottle of wine

 

[udaman]

Here is another house in the area, only $1126/ft, but 5000sq/ft on nearly an acre.

Damn that's cheap, I have a picture I took, 1/2-1 year ago I was going to post here, or was it SR, seeing how SC paid what ~400k for his NY condo; I saw a house for lease, on the westside, 3 blocks from Santa Monica airports, faces fairly busy 4 lane National Blvd (I guess I should provide Google link for West LA), mix of appts and some single family homes, This home was IIRC 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (I grabbed the flyer in the box out in front of the home). ~1800sq ft, I think it was $3k/mo. They say the real estate market in So. Cal is getting worse. Lol, considering the insanely over inflated gains of the past decade, they'd have to drop 500% to get back to normalcy.