If the filament is big enough, with low enough resistance, then sure. The point is that if the 8 AA batteries (12V, not 6) in series can provide enough power to run the bulb, you can safely switch to a car battery without burning up the bulb. (For a resistive load, the same voltage + more amperage = lasts a lot longer before the battery dies and/or lets you drive more bulbs.)

I intended that as tongue in cheek. As I said in a different thread, my (vaccinated) daughter was homeschooled through most of grade school, (due to a difference of opinion between her doctors, who diagnosed her as severely dyslexic, and her teachers, who diagnosed her as ADD and prescribed Ritalin) and she later interviewed and got accepted into a somewhat exclusive high school.

Other members of my family (who happen to live in California -- I live in a different state) were very vocal in their disapproval of my decision to homeschool, saying that "everyone knows homeschooled kids don't have any social skills or any education and they're a burden on society". (Apparently there's a pamphlet I didn't get.) To which I say, anything can be done badly. The trick is to do it well.

> You do know that thimerosal has been out of all vaccines used in the US and Canada since the early 1990's right? [emphasis mine]

Apparently not. If you have evidence to the contrary, here's your chance to update a wiki entry.

Europe has also done a much more thorough job of banning Thimerosal (a preservative containing mercury) in vaccines, an area where the US is still behind. Just sayin'.

It can work, if done intelligently. My daughter was educated in a homeschool consortium for most of grade school, and then applied and was accepted into a private high school. A consortium works by having each parent teach the subject they're qualified to teach. I'm pretty good at math and have teaching experience, but that job (math teacher) was already taken, by a retired nuclear engineer who also had teaching experience, so I ended up being IT for the classrooms instead.

Side note, you might be surprised by the number of teacher's children who are homeschooled.

The issue in my case was, the doctors (many doctors over many expensive months of diagnosis) concluded that daughter was severely dyslexic and would never read past a 5th grade level. On the other hand, the school had diagnosed her as ADD and insisted I put her on Ritalin. We could not come to an agreement, and I decided (exercising the parental prerogative that so many people in this thread revile) to believe the doctors rather than the teachers, (I'm funny that way) and pulled her out of school.

As far as vaccines go, I don't have much to contribute except that daughter got all her childhood shots including the (new at the time) chicken pox vaccine (because it didn't exist when I was growing up, and i got chicken pox in my 20's, and it was really messy) and she got chicken pox anyway.

I did turn down the gardasil vaccine, after much research. Which I won't bore you with here. Either you're familiar with the controversy, or you can read up on it yourself. Feel free to call me an anti-vaxxer.

Others have pointed out that vaccines are madated by law in Europe much more strictly than (most places) in the US. That's true. It's also true that Europe was much quicker at banning Thimerosal (a preservative containing mercury) in vaccines, an area where the US is still behind.

This has the same problem as any exclusively biometric technique -- the user can be compelled to give up their "password" merely by being physically present. "Something you have" can be taken, even if it's your still-living (for now) carcass. "Something you have" should always be supplemented with "something you know".

The summary rightly brings up privacy concerns but I'd also be concerned about the security of the transmitted data. Like RFID, the information can easily be snooped, and would have to be appropriately encrypted to be useful as credentials.