"Win XP, all updated to SP3"

That new?

I work for a chemistry department at a major state university. We still are using a fair number of analytical machines with controllers running DOS on 486s, let alone the large numbers running XP.

The only upgrade path is whichever company bought out the original manufacturer telling you they'd be happy to sell you a new one. But the machine would be half a million to replace (X-ray diffraction system).

Not everybody has uber grants from Howard Hughes Medical, or the like to pay that. So, you keep on working with what you've got.

I chuckle when these "It's XP. Running a system that old is immoral" posts come up on Slashdot. The choice is often running the old system, or not being able to do your job.

Oh, and if you choose not doing your job, the state's in a budget crisis and they've been eliminating positions.

That's a pretty big game of roulette to play with being able to support your family just because the OS is too old to suit you. ;)

They quite possibly are part of the problem. If not as a main cause, then as an exacerbating factor. And, though the neonicotinoids are currently under suspicion, it could be other chemicals, or combinations of them that are contributing. Nearly anything that reduces the overall health of a hive is going to make it just that much worse whether it's the main cause or not.

And, it could be that varroa mites and diseases have hurt the colonies enough that chemicals in amounts that wouldn't have had a major impact now do.

The restrictions in the EU make for an interesting experiment with the US and other areas as a control. But, it'll take a bit of time to get good data.
 

I work for a university in central Illinois that does a large amount of bee related research. (Full disclosure: I'm not one of the researchers. I do the repair work on their instruments from vacuum pumps to mass specs. The guy in the shop across the street does even more work for those groups. We get to talk to them a lot about their work, and bees are an interest of mine. see below for the reasons.)

Though there is thought that the neonicotinoids may be related, it's probably not the whole story. (see: http://illinois.edu/lb/article/72/3231/page=1/list=list and http://illinois.edu/lb/article/72/73513/page=1/list=list for some insight by two of our researchers). Most of the ones I've talked to think it's a combination of factors.

Agriculture here uses large amounts of the neonicotinoids, and the bee declines started before they were being used.

Just from my own observations (I kept bees along with my dad when I was a kid), the declines in bee population were happening here in Illinois long before the neonicotinoids were fielded. I was amazed at the drop in the numbers of wild bees here in the early nineties. The stress of varroa mites was likely a big part of that. Some other diseases are thought to have been involved as well.

The EU has largely restricted the neonicotinoids so we should have some comparison data in a few years.

"like live organs or components of the Technetium99 supply chain"

Oh heavens, just think of all the conspiracy theories about that one.

"It was bad enough when it was just chem trails from jets. Now they're doing close air support with HIV infected livers and radioactives!"

They found I-401 in 2005 off of Oahu.

This is what was left after Takao and Hyuuga got their vengeance on I-400 for what happened in that extra scene after the credits in this weeks episode. ;)

Now they just have to hunt down her twin sister, I-402.

"Honest officer. It just fell off a drone that flew by!"

Indeed!

Now, come closer so I can whack you with my cane. ;)

I-401?

They've found Iona! (If she was on the bottom, this doesn't bode well for the ending of the latest episode.)

But I thought she was still closer to Iwo Jima.

Let em try it with my 1982 diesel Suburban.

It should survive the EMP and radiation from a nearby nuke without even stalling let alone some HERF gun wannabe.

I'd probably not survive that though it might take a couple weeks to die.

It's difficult to set up that kind of large scale destruction facility safely in the middle of a war zone.

Add to that: There are people on the various sides who would be sorely tempted to shoot up the place and release the chemicals while wearing the uniforms etc of the other side.

The alternative is putting in a large and well armed security force (read that as some nation's troops) to stop the war.

The whole course of the past two years of UN and other negotiations have revolved around not being able to do that. At some points due to people not being willing to provide troops. At others because no agreement could be reached in the security council as to who the troops should shoot at.

So, packing them up and removing them from the country may well be the least bad option.

Tracfone that I keep fully charged and in my pocket, but nearly always turned off.

I make 1-2 outbound calls a month on it, it's there for 911 if I need it and it's not a distraction that way.

No, no. You engineer one to spread like flu, but have the lethal effects triggered only by the challenger and his family's DNA.

But, you better make sure you're a much better biochemist than he is.

The take away message is that Yahoo itself admits that at least 25% of their employees eat dog food.

I can't believe that's by choice. Even the most of the furries I know don't do that just for fun. (Well, maybe the occasional Milkbone with Gnutella)

Is their pay really that poor?

I vote for the anarcho-monarchist.

(He's just as safely dead as Generalissimo Francisco Franco.)

You challenged, thus I have choice of weapons.

I choose 5 megaton thermonuclear weapons at 10 paces.

Ah, so you've decided your honor is satisfied? Thought so.