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Comment Re:No, that's not what it says (Score 1) 260

And that's the problem with green energy (other than hydro) - production is lowest when consumption is highest.

First of all when is production lowest when consumption is highest? I'm not sure where you get this. Peak hours is normally during 9-5 business day. For solar, that is also peak production. With wind, it is more more variable but the turbines are placed where there is some constant wind. Geothermal is pretty constant as well as hydro.

What are they going to do, use all those batteries to store electricity?

Maybe but the OP has specifically stated that the plant is likely grid-connected so it will produce power when it can and draw power from the grid when it cannot.

Does that mean if I buy an electric car I'm paying premium prices for a used battery with limited life?

Why would you even think this? Most car manufacturers make cars for their own internal use for factories like cargo vans and pickup trucks. These vehicles are sold to the general public as used after the manufacturer retires them. They are not sold to the public as new. The car manufacturer also sells brand new vehicles to the public of the same model.

Comment Re:Can we have a [credible] MS Access equivalent? (Score 0) 185

Yes there is nothing like MS Access in terms of GUI in Linux. Here's why: MS Access is a joke of a database when it comes to reliability, performance, scalability, etc. A quick comparison between MS Access and MariaDB.

VB, even with its quirks, does well. I would like a front-end, in which business logic can be programmed. Logic placed right there on the form...Logic and parameters that can be passed to the DB engine. Nothing friendly exists in Lunix, or should I say, "I haven't found one yet." Am I wrong?

The problem is not a "frontend" as you put it but that you have to rely on a GUI for a database. It's so much easier to use MS Access to throw something together; however, you are stuck with the limitations of VB and the frontend. There is more control and power if another language like Java or C++ is used.

Comment Re:Why do you participate? (Score 2) 226

And when the show makes fun of Penny's lack of knowledge, supposed promiscuity, and financial issues (due to her choice of the acting profession), are we laughing at nerds? The show makes fun of the characters more than anything else. Like when Penny was making fun of Leonard for being a cry baby during Toy Story 3. "The toys were holding hands in a furnace!" was his retort. When I went to see it in the theaters, there was audible sobbing during that scene.

Comment Re: Her work (Score 1) 1262

That's an apologist attitude: his conduct was why he got abuse, not his stand. Or is that not clear to you? It's the same reason people detest Rush Limbaugh because he's a bully. Again, the absolutely worst person you could have brought up was Jack Thompson when it comes to violence in video games.

Comment Re: Her work (Score 1) 1262

Whatever. His conduct and his statements were not that of a reasonable person. It's one thing to argue against violence in video games but his tirades includes personal attacks on everyone. For example when Thompson reneged on a $10,000 donation to charity, Penny Arcade emailed him about it and called him out on his hypocrisy. So they donated the money themselves as Thompson said he wouldn't do it. Thompson then sent a complaint to the Seattle police to arrest the members for "extortion".

Actually, Jack Thompson is the worst person that the movement could use as a spokesperson.

Comment Re: Her work (Score 4, Informative) 1262

When Jack Thompson brought up all the killing in video games and said they were bad he was run out of town. Slashdot and the whole of the gaming community rejoiced. But now that the focus is on women it is all of a sudden something worth considering.

That's some revisionist history there. Jack Thompson wasn't run out of town because he opposed violent games. He was run out of the legal profession because his conduct was unprofessional, uncivil, and harassing towards opposing counsel and judges. He made unsubstantiated claims against others, outright lies, and never responded to questions asked by courts.

For example, in Strickland v Sony, he was granted temporary permission to practice law (pro hac vice) in Alabama as his licensed state is Florida. Normally this is a procedural formality when a lawyer wants to take on a case in another state. Part of the pro hac vice application to the Alabama Bar specifically asks if the lawyer has had any disbarment proceedings (question 8) and any suspension proceedings (question 9) and to list them. Thompson responded "None, but please see the attached letter" to both. In the attached letter, Thompson described how he had been reprimanded 13 years earlier. Thompson however failed to mention that the case 13 years ago involved disbarment and suspension proceedings. Because of this and Thompson violated a gag order, Judge Moore revoked Thompson's pro hac vice status; he was no longer on the case. Despite being thrown off the case, Thompson continue to send emails and faxes to the court about the case for at least 2 years afterwards.

During that same case, Thompson harassed the lawyers of Blank Rome, the law firm representing Sony. Now it's one thing to oppose counsel in court but he attacked the lawyers including the gender of one of the attorneys. He also accused the law firm of participating in pornography and killing of police officers.

In an unrelated case, Thompson went after Al Cardenas, a partner in Tew Cardenas by accusing him of pornography, racketeering, and other criminal activity. What was the relationship between Cardenas and Thompson? As crazy as it sounds, almost none. Beasley Broadcasting Group owned a number of radio stations, and Thompson had issues with their programming. Normally their lawyer Norman Kent dealt with Thompson, and his dealings led to the point where Kent sued and won $50,000 from Thompson for defamation. Beasley also had Tew Cardenas on their retainer for other legal matters. Kent and Tew Cardenas had no relationship other than they represented the same company on different legal matters. Al Cardenas was a partner in Tew Cardenas but did not work the Beasley account. The attacks on Al Cardenas started one week when Norman Kent was out of town and did not respond to Thompson's letters and demands immediately.

These are the reason why Thompson was run out of the legal profession; not his stand, but his conduct.

Comment The real difference is commodity vs custom (Score 1) 161

These days the instruction set matters less than the underlying chip architecture than customization. With this, ARM has an advantage in that their business model allows for higher degree of customization. While some companies can work with Intel or AMD on their designs, for the most part, ARM allows them to change the design as much as they need depending on the licensing.

Comment Re:I'd love to be in his class (Score 1) 179

For me, I am hard to pressed to think of something that Ballmer actually brought that was new and not a hold over from Gates. Windows, Office, Windows Server, and SQL Server all existed before Ballmer took over. I think Xbox was also in the works too when Gates left. Sharepoint to me isn't exactly something to celebrate. Instead, I see Ballmer squander opportunities. Windows Mobile was the largest mobile platform at one point until iPhone and Android decimated it because it became stagnant. MS missed badly on the MP3 player and released one when the market was already shifting to smart phones. Windows Tablets existed long before the iPad but sold poorly. Vista was a poorly executed successor to Windows XP.

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