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Comment Money Issued By Governments? Where? (Score 1) 537

Can anyone tell me where, in today's world, there is a government that issues its own money? I guess Valenzuela is one country that doesn't have a Central Bank. I can't think of any others. America sure doesn't issue its own money, it loans it (from the Federal Reserve). Just to be fancy I'll throw in a fancy word - Fiat. There you go! Which Bitcoins are also. /Stolzy

Comment Mythbusters (Score 1) 520

Apparently, Mythbusters' presenters Grant Imahara and Tory Belleci were inside LAX when this happened. From the Mythbusters FB page: "Grant and Tory were present in Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport at the time of today's shooting incident. Both were en route to Delaware for the filming of 'Punkin Chunkin'. Grant and Tory are safe and being rerouted." /Stolzy

Submission + - Smartphone sales: Apple squeezed, Blackberry squashed, Android 81.3%

mrspoonsi writes: Engadget reports: Smartphone market share for the third quarter...as you'd imagine, the world is still Android's oyster. Strategy Analytics estimates that the OS has crossed the symbolic 80 percent mark, reaching 81.3 percent of smartphone shipments by the end of September. Not that Google was the only company doing well — Nokia's strong US sales helped Windows Phone grow to 4.1 percent of the market, or nearly double what it had a year ago.

Submission + - World's First 1MW Wave Energy Power Plant (inhabitat.com)

Stolzy writes: According to this article by Inhabitat, the world's first ever 1MW wave energy power plant has been launched off the coast of South Australia. According to the article, "The wave energy converter was developed with support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), and it will undergo tests over the next 12 months to determine how well it feeds into the national power grid." The project's full cost came to around $8 million AUD (around US$7.6 million, or €5.55 million).

If all goes well they are planning on releasing a full 10MW device in the future.

Their design incorporates using high pressure air to flow through turbines which then generates the electricity. I personally wonder what the cost of energy to produce the device is compared to the cost of energy to be produced by this design.

Comment Flying cars, Jet fans (Score 1) 443

It's funny, I had a dream about flying cars, they were being manufactured in a secret factory that no one could locate, and at first they started out only being able to fly at around 2,000 feet, but then they kept getting higher and higher up as time went by, until they were flying above cloud level. It was an awesome dream. I've since thought of a way of making cars fly. Similar concept to the 4 bladed radio controlled helicopter, except with ducted jet fans. It would be controlled by joystick, and I personally would add a 5th jet fan for added manoeuvrability. I'd also position the first 4 on each corner of the vehicle and the 5th I would have sitting inside a sculpted area similarly shaped to a satellite dish, so that it can suck or blow to change the pressures coming into the sculpted area. If only I had a functioning brain, I could actually go to school and learn how to make these. /Stolzy

Comment Re:OT: Question about waveforms (Score 1) 242

Thanks for all the replies, I appreciate it very much. My question was derived from thoughts of the "missing universe" (dark matter+energy). I was thinking that waveforms that may have cancelled each other out would still exert gravitational energy.

I feel enlightened by all the replies! Tyvm!

/Stolzy

Comment OT: Question about waveforms (Score 2) 242

I know that this question is off topic, but I also know there will be many readers of this story who may be able to answer my question. It's something I'd desperately like an answer to, having posted it around to a few folks with no response. . .My understanding of electromagnetics is that there is a waveform. I'd like to know if it is possible for a directly inverse waveform could coincide with, say, a photon of red or blue light, in such a way that it cancels the waveform out, the same way that an inverse waveform in audio engineering will cancel out any sound when played in conjunction with it's natural state.

Is it possible that two directly inverted waveforms could coexist within universal space, by it photon energy, radio waves, or atomic vibrations?

Cheers; /-Ian/@minusian

Comment If you have nothing to hide? (Score 1) 576

"They" often say, "if you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to worry about."

My response to this is, "so using that argument, can you tell me if anyone has ever been jailed for a crime they did not commit?"

I'm so glad that I live in a world with Open Source, Creative Commons, and the GNU and also Linux projects exist.

I wonder if the Spooks could be sued for Copyright Infringement if they spy on people?

/Stolzy

Comment Alkaline Streams caused by Acid Rain (Score 1) 490

One of the effects of pollution has been to cause acid rain, and one of the knock-on effects of acid rain is that it's dissolving Limestone into streams and rivers. Generally speaking, plants like a soil level of 7-7.5 pH. Obviously there are endemic differences, but this is to say, if we do manage to clean up our pollution fairly soon, those Limestone creeks may end up proving to be benificial to their surroundings. The current thinking was that the alkaline levels were causing too much algae to grow, there-by using up the available Oxegen in the streams. In any case, at least we have enough money to pay qualified people to watch these things as they develop. Spend more on Science and less (or better still, none) on War. That's what I say. /Stolzy

Submission + - Is it up to us cure cancer? (youtube.com)

Stolzy writes: I've learned a lot from the Open Source and Creative Commons movements. I also approve of the message of the Libertarian movement teaching self reliance (do no harm to others, take care of yourself and those around you).

For those of us who believe in freedom of information, should we be asking ourselves if we are really the ones responsible for our own welfare?

There's evidence which shows that the drugs Cannabidiol (CBD) and Dichloroacetic Acid (DCA) "can" reduce some cancerous growths. And given that big pharma won't support either of these drugs due to issues with low profit, then isn't it up to us to take the next step?

Yesterday I learned that one of my friends has terminal cancer. It frustrated me no end that I couldn't tell her about CBD or DCA because of the fear of raising false hope. She's on Chemotherapy but only to prolong her life, and has no hope of being cured.

If tumorous growths can be controlled and consequently stopped from spreading by cheap drugs such as CBD or DCA, then should we be moving on to "anecdotally evidenced trials" for anyone who has terminal cancer and is willing to give these drugs a go? Patients could keep a diary, written, audial, or visual, and provide the rest of us with evidence of their results.

I'm not suggesting anyone ignore the advice of their Doctor(s), in any way. Either of these drugs can be taken in conjunction with any other treatment(s) being given. But if we continue to ignore the evidence being given to us by our scientific community, then who's the real loser in all of this?

Us, of course. .:DCA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftnNU70dSPs .:CBD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQc4iJedmfc

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