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Comment Re:A BIG thumbs-up so far! (Score 1) 114

by hcs_$reboot (#49455883) Attached to: Daredevil TV Show Debuts; Early Reviews Positive
It's pretty good, and reminds me of the Daredevil comic books I read 30 years ago. Nostalgia. The story and characters depth and development is not Breaking Bad or The Shield grade, though. Entertaining, still, but they use (well, must agree) a lot of the known recipes to make something watchable nowadays. In other terms, the show is a good marketable product, not a piece of art.

Submission + - California Looks to the Sea for a Drink of Water

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Justin Gillis writes in the NYT that as drought strikes California, residents can't help noticing the substantial reservsoir of untapped water lapping at their shores — 187 quintillion gallons of it, more or less, shimmering invitingly in the sun. Once dismissed as too expensive and harmful to the environment desalination is getting a second look. A $1 billion desalination plant to supply booming San Diego County is under construction and due to open as early as November, providing a major test of whether California cities will be able to resort to the ocean to solve their water woes. “It was not an easy decision to build this plant,” says Mark Weston, chairman of the agency that supplies water to towns in San Diego County. “But it is turning out to be a spectacular choice. What we thought was on the expensive side 10 years ago is now affordable.”

Carlsbad’s product will sell for around $2,000 per acre-foot (the amount used by two five-person U.S. households per year), which is 80 percent more than the county pays for treated water from outside the area. Water bills already average about $75 a month and the new plant will drive them up by $5 or so to secure a new supply equal to about 7 or 8 percent of the county’s water consumption. Critics say the plant will use a huge amount of electricity, increasing the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming, which further strains water supplies. And local environmental groups, which fought the plant, fear a substantial impact on sea life. "There is just a lot more that can be done on both the conservation side and the water-recycling side before you get to [desalination]," says Rick Wilson, coastal management coordinator with the environmental group Surfrider Foundation. "We feel, in a lot of cases, that we haven't really explored all of those options."

Submission + - Google Battles for Better Batteries (wsj.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Wall Street Journal reports that Google's X research lab has joined the quest for better batteries. The company has at least 20 projects that depend on batteries, from Google Glass to self-driving cars and drones. Thus, it makes sense for them to try developing new battery technology. "At Google, Dr. Bhardwaj’s group is trying to advance current lithium-ion technology and the cutting-edge solid-state batteries for consumer devices. ... In a February presentation to an industry conference, Dr. Bhardwaj described how solid-state, thin-film batteries could be used in smartphones and other mobile devices that are thinner, bendable, wearable and even implantable in the human body. ... For the contact lens, the technology is safer because it doesn't use flammable electrolyte liquid, Dr. Bhardwaj's presentation explained."

Submission + - Microsoft: When My Baby Taxes Me I Go To Reno

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: After stressing how important the funding of Washington State education — particularly CS Ed — is to Microsoft, Microsoft General Counsel, Code.org Director, and FWD.us Major Contributor Brad Smith encountered one of those awkward interview moments (audio). GeekWire Radio: "So, would you ever consider ending that practice [ducking WA taxes by routing software licensing royalties through NV-based Microsoft Licensing, GP] in Nevada [to help improve WA education]?" Smith: "I think there are better ways for us to address the state's needs than that kind of step." Back in 2010, Smith, Steve Ballmer, and Microsoft Corporation joined forces to defeat Proposition I-1098, apparently deciding there were better ways to address the state's needs than a progressive income tax.

Submission + - Live Rocket Engine Test

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Copenhagen Suborbitals, the amateur manned space program, is conducting a rocket engine test today sunday. The event is streamed Live in HD on YouTube from 1 PM localtime (GMT+2). The rocket engine is named BPM 2 and is a prequel to a planned series of test of the BPM 5 rocket engine currently being build. The purpose of the BPM 2 test is primarily to test a newly constructed mobile test stand and to test various fuel additives before the BPM 5 test series are to begin later in the first half of 2015.

Submission + - China Builds Artificial Islands in South China Sea 1

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Matthew Fisher reports that to support part of its claim to about 85 per cent of the South China Sea, Beijing is building artificial islands on tiny outcroppings, atolls and reefs in hotly disputed waters in the Spratly Archipelago. Tons of sand, rocks, coral cuttings, and concrete are transforming miniscule Chinese-occupied outcroppings into sizeable islands with harbors, large multi-story buildings, airstrips, and other government facilities. Adm. Harry Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific fleet, dubbed Beijing’s island-building project in the South China Sea “a great wall of sand" and says China has created “over four square kilometers of artificial land mass,” adding there were serious questions about Beijing’s intentions. The scale of China's construction in the Spratly Islands is clear in new satellite images. "What's really stunning in these images, every time you see a new set of images come out, is just the speed and scale at which this work is occurring," says Mira Rapp-Hooper. A spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry insists the islands are being built to give ships a haven in the typhoon heavy region. “We are building shelters, aids for navigation, search and rescue as well as marine meteorological forecasting services, fishery services and other administrative services” for both China and its neighbors, the spokeswoman said, according to Reuters, though no one was buying that explanation.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Recommendations for Home Surveillance Systems?

Submitted by Chewbacon
Chewbacon writes: At the repeated recommendations of a friend and rise of theft in my area, I have been looking around for a home surveillance system. I have researched doing a DIY system with Zoneminder and POE cameras as I have a home server for backup and media storage that could get the job done, but that seems to be an expensive route compared to the packaged systems. Some of these packaged systems are linux based and would lead me to believe I could add my own touch to the configuration and add my own offsite redundancy. I at least need HD video, weather proof/very resistant cameras, infrared at night, and only about 4 cameras. We already have a monitored home security system, but I'm not interested in their products or increase in monitoring fees. What is the community's experience and recommendations for this?

Comment That's really great, but... (Score 1) 52

by hcs_$reboot (#49451705) Attached to: How Flight Tracking Works: a Global Network of Volunteers
But the problem is the user application, at least for flightradar24. Have the paid version on iOS and it shows sometimes inconsistent data, or clearly not updated areas (while WIFI is ON and fast). If there is one tangible argument to show that the app is not well written: when the app is updating the screen (takes about .5~1 second for a busy area) the user cannot move (drag) the map (user should have priority as (s)he doesn't care about the display since it's gonna change in 2 seconds after moving!).

Submission + - 150 dolphins stranded on beach in Japan

Submitted by hcs_$reboot
hcs_$reboot writes: About 150 melon-headed whales beached in Japan on Friday, April 10. The melon-headed is a member of the dolphin family usually found in the deep ocean. “We see one or two whales washing ashore a year, but this may be the first time we have found over 100 of them on a beach,” a coast guard said. In 2011, about 50 melon-headed whales beached themselves in a similar area, and a week later Japan was hit by a monster earthquake and tsunami. It seems the larger the number of whales that beach the bigger the earthquake. While the reason for the beaching is unclear a researcher at the National Museum of Nature and Science said the dolphins might have got lost. “Sonar waves the dolphins emit might have been absorbed in the shoals, which could cause them to lose their sense of direction”, he said.

Comment Re:No mention of sulfur (Score 5, Informative) 417

Volcanoes release quite a bit of sulfur(oxides) which contribute quite a bit to acidification. Why is this not mentioned?

Because acidification happens faster and faster, while there is no special volcanic activity. In other terms, the reason of this accelerated acidification does not come from volcanoes.

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