Comment Opportunity for me (not staying in the USA) (Score 0) 986
Watch this space
Comment Solar Power from the Road (Score 0) 72
All we need now is the tar to be converted to solar panels and we have a self-sustaining means af transport.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/solar-road-panels-offer-asphalt-alternative-a-901792.html
Comment Regulation dragging its feet to open up spectrum (Score 0) 43
The problem is that our government is too slow in switching to Digital TV in the lower section of the TV frequency band and opening up bandwidth for the cellular companies, which are well equipped to dish out bandwidth if they get the spectrum they require.
Google is not the right company to take hold of the spectrum, but I have to admit that they do take initiative. They just don't have the infrastructure that our cellular companies have. The cellular companies already have fiber in the ground, their towers are already transmitting. The only prohibition of the bandwidth to the public is spectrum available, which will hopefully become available soon as our national broadcasters are able to switch to Digital TV, but until that happens, I guess Google will have a chance at good publicity for the next few years.
Just google "icasa site:mybroadband.co.za" to get an idea of where our system can be improved.
Google is not the right company to take hold of the spectrum, but I have to admit that they do take initiative. They just don't have the infrastructure that our cellular companies have. The cellular companies already have fiber in the ground, their towers are already transmitting. The only prohibition of the bandwidth to the public is spectrum available, which will hopefully become available soon as our national broadcasters are able to switch to Digital TV, but until that happens, I guess Google will have a chance at good publicity for the next few years.
Just google "icasa site:mybroadband.co.za" to get an idea of where our system can be improved.
Submission + - Thousands of whistle blowers vulnerable after Anonymous hacks SAPS (enca.com)
fezzzz writes: Anonymous performed a data dump of hundreds of whistle blowers' private details in an attempt to show their unhappiness with the SAPS (South African Police Service) for the Marikana shooting. In so doing, the identities of nearly 16,000 South Africans, who lodged a complaint with police on their website, provided tip-offs or reported crimes, are now publicly available.
Comment Hope this comes to the rest of the world as well (Score 0) 189
To use Netflix, we need to pay $5 a month for a proxy redirection service, so I hope Youtube keeps the rest of the world in mind in their target market.
Comment Re:Apropos (Score 0) 122
Mod parent up!
Comment Re:Wasted money (Score 0) 181
1000 Developers @ $ 100 000 a year = $ 100 million
Hardware @ 2 PetaFlop supercomputer = $88 million
Yep, seems like someone got scammed. To quote Spaceball: "We're not only doing this for the money".
Hardware @ 2 PetaFlop supercomputer = $88 million
Yep, seems like someone got scammed. To quote Spaceball: "We're not only doing this for the money".
Comment 10x slower than the escape velocity needed (Score 0) 131
The problem we face is that the guns on earth with the highest muzzle velocity is still about 7x below the escape velocity needed to have a projectile stay in orbit.
The Paris gun, created by the Germans in WWII was able to reach a target 130 km away, but the muzzle velocity was only 1600 m/s and already they had to sort their bullets in increasing diameter as the inside of the barrel was worn out with each shot. The fastest gun muzzle velocity I know of is the kinetic penetrating sabot rounds shot from tanks, which reach a velocity of 1700 m/s. Escape velocity is 11200m/s, which is well above this speed.
Catching a projectile from orbit is also not an option as this will slow the satellite with the amount of momentum needed to bring the projectile up to speed, not even speaking about the problems created with something as sensitive as a satellite need to catch a projectile travelling at 7x the speed of current bullets in kinetic tank destroyers.
The Paris gun, created by the Germans in WWII was able to reach a target 130 km away, but the muzzle velocity was only 1600 m/s and already they had to sort their bullets in increasing diameter as the inside of the barrel was worn out with each shot. The fastest gun muzzle velocity I know of is the kinetic penetrating sabot rounds shot from tanks, which reach a velocity of 1700 m/s. Escape velocity is 11200m/s, which is well above this speed.
Catching a projectile from orbit is also not an option as this will slow the satellite with the amount of momentum needed to bring the projectile up to speed, not even speaking about the problems created with something as sensitive as a satellite need to catch a projectile travelling at 7x the speed of current bullets in kinetic tank destroyers.
Comment I don't get it (Score 0) 164
I looked at the video and I'm sure that turkey would taste just fine!
Submission + - Yale finds link between cell phone use during pregnancy and behavioral disorders (yale.edu)
fezzzz writes: Dr. Hugh S. Taylor performed a study on pregnant mice by placing a cell phone, with an active phone call on top of a cage and another cell phone, deactivated on top of the cage of the control group. He found that the mice exposed to cellphone radiation had reduced memory capacity and tended to be more hyperactive than the mice in the control group. This is not the first study to link cellphone radiation to a variety of problems, but the first I know of which were performed by Yale. Does anyone know if this study is remotely relevant to modern humans or not?
Comment No solar panels on top (Score 0) 150
I would have thought they'd at least add solar panels and electric engines to extend the time their unblinking eye stays on target indefinitely.
Comment Re:Political correctness ties with science (Score 0) 79
The two sites are not as good as it gets. The South African site is better by a large margin. It was the best in the scientific review and the best in the site review. Once you have the minimum radio silence required, you still need the infrastructure (roads and power to the stations - present in South Africa, but still needs to be built in Australia). Australian minimum wage is around 20x South African minimum wage and I would like to see Australia make 1 dish at the same price South Africa can make 10 dishes. The only reason Australia was included is because they started crying so badly when they lost, the panel felt too sorry for them to give them the back hand their proposal deserved.
Submission + - SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches (space.com) 1
MalHavoc writes: After an aborted launch attempt last week, SpaceX finally became the first commercial company to send a rocket towards the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 3:44 a.m. EDT and if everything checks out, it will attempt to dock with the ISS on May 25th.
Comment Difference in price of labour is a huge factor (Score 0) 78
It seems as if many people simply disregard the cost of labour is Australia vs the cost of labour in Africa.
In South Africa, the labour law states that the minimum salary per month is around R1000.
In Australia, their labour law states that the minimum salary per week is 570 Australian dollars, which translates to around R19 000 per month.
Perhaps many Australians are 20x more efficient than South Africans, but there is simply no way that it will be cost effective to build a massive radio telescope in Australia
In South Africa, the labour law states that the minimum salary per month is around R1000.
In Australia, their labour law states that the minimum salary per week is 570 Australian dollars, which translates to around R19 000 per month.
Perhaps many Australians are 20x more efficient than South Africans, but there is simply no way that it will be cost effective to build a massive radio telescope in Australia
