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Comment Re:Perfect place to finish my dissertation. (Score 1) 231

If you spot reading slashdot, you might find the time and focus to finish your dissertation. Seriously, reading Slashdot too much serves to create an Attention Defecit Disorder. Now if....whoo what's that! I found another open wifi network!...now where was I? Yea...Slashdot is like a bazaar of ideas, but you just went out for milk and bread.

Isn't that what MODERATION is for?

Comment Re:Increasing mortality is bad for business (Score 2, Informative) 300

The most-successful virus struck Europe in the mid-1200s, killed 40% of the people, and created a shortage of labor that allowed the serfs to free themselves and demand pay. Thus the middle class was born.

What did these viruses have in common? They were very virulent, killing the host quickly, but it didn't matter because their RNA code was spread via fleas.

A number of people doubt the bacterial bubonic plague/rats/fleas explanation due to the rapid manner of spread of the disease. A viral haemorrhagic fever, possibly airborne, is given as a more likely alternative.

Comment Re:Interesting! (Score 1) 139

I think you may be missing a little here.

What is amazing isn't that the flute doesn't make an annoying shrill, but that it's scale is similar to ours.

Beyond us having 12 tones in a scale, the temperament. Simply, the spacing in pitch between the tones.

Even in modern tones we have many examples of different tuning and different scales.

The most common scale and temperament people today recognize is the 12 tones in equal temperament (12-TET). That is the notes are divided equally into 12 steps between the fundamental frequency and its second harmonic. This isn't true for other temperaments. In Equal Temperament it A# and Bb are the same note. That isn't always true for other temperaments. There are pianos made with a split key there, because if you play the wrong one in the wrong musical key it sounds awful or even makes a wolf-tone (what you may call a shrill).

Add to that little bit in western music, modern eastern musical scales and tuning can be vastly different than what we use commonly.

Similar musical tuning and scales implies (doesn't prove) similar harmony and musical constructs.

The music played on that flute may have been more similar to modern western music than Japanese, Arab, Chinese, Aboriginal or Indian music based on its design.

Comment Timers make all the difference (Score 1) 541

Timers make all the difference.

Last year my home used 622 kWh for the June bill.

This year June was down to 392 kWh!

I haven't noticed a thing.

My computers are on timers... The OS shuts them off before the timer does... then I have to use a timer since the bios doesn't have a wake at time feature... But I set them to power on after power failure.

I put a lot of things on timers now. I just wonder if I am actually wasting electricity putting a CFLs and particularly LED lights on a timer, suspect on the lower wattage ones the timer and the light may be about the same. But with lighting I just want it on without thinking about it.

But basically it's a 37% difference in kWh.

I did this after switching to the 3 tier time-of-use plan and last year's bill was $80.69 and this years was $36.20 for a 45% savings.

And no I'm not an environmentalist, I'm just so cheap I squeeze a quarter 'til the eagle screams

House is 7200 cuft (200 M^3) main floor. Full basement, located between Chicago, IL and Milwaukee, WI USA (42.7` north lat)

Comment Re:sure it is (Score 1) 1079

In some parts of the United States, actual police officers can be hired privately in their off time to work as security guards. In many cases they are allowed to wear their official uniform. -Police officers in such places may never truly be considered "off-duty". In some municipalities, police officers may be required to carry their weapons in circumstances even when they aren't on the tax payers' clock.

Comment Re:a PC actually wrote this article (Score 1) 551

Standby power uses about 0.5-4 watts. Not ideal, but that's pretty small.

Not Ideal is right... Add the power supply for the monitor's soft power button, The Bricks for The Speakers, Printer, Router.. The fact I have more than one computer (3)... a few misc. things too and all of sudden it's close to 150 watts when not in use.

My motherboard does nothing to kill the phantom loads of peripherals.

That's the beauty of a 2 kW appliance timer. All that crap is really off.

Yes after doing this to not only the computer, but the LCD TV and other things in the house using appliance timers I did indeed save 70%, yeah **** 70%! Not exaggerating. This is the real deal. Shut the crap off and you do save a lot. Noticeable on the First bill after doing it. $75 electricity down to $20. It is indeed worth doing. Stand-by never gave me any noticeable savings on my bill. Shutting the stuff off off off saved me far beyond my expectations.

Comment Re:a PC actually wrote this article (Score 1) 551

In order to do that, the power supply is still running.

My computer does not have a BIOS option for power up. It does however have a power up after a power outage setting. So the wheels started turning. I set the shutdown to run on a schedule. The some time after the computer shuts down I have an appliance timer cut power to the outlet. This not only shuts off power to the computer (which has already shut down) it also kills power to all phantom loads associated with it. Then when the appliance timer comes back around to turn the power on, the computer turns on as if after a power failure.

This is the kind of thing you figure out when you pay different rates for on-peak and off-peak power at your home.

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