Comment Re:Straight to the top in an hour (Score 1) 276
You misspelled misspell.
Comment Re:why coffee? (Score 3, Informative) 174
If I had to guess as to why use coffee beans as fuel, I understand that when roasted, they are actually subjected to a process called torrefaction. In this way, moisture and other undesirable compounds in the raw biomass are boiled off. What remains has a Btu content just under that of coal, burns more consistently, and is resistant to moisture. Even if the coffee was first used to make the tasty beverage, I'm sure the used grounds would still have plenty of use as a gasification fuel.
The costs of processing the 'fuel' is actually paid for by the first use of coffee: drinking. To get a ready-to-use gasification fuel as a by-product sounds like a great way to extend its uses.
p.s., sorry, I think I duped this reply
The costs of processing the 'fuel' is actually paid for by the first use of coffee: drinking. To get a ready-to-use gasification fuel as a by-product sounds like a great way to extend its uses.
p.s., sorry, I think I duped this reply
Comment Why coffee beans? (Score 1) 2
If I had to guess as to why use coffee beans as fuel, I understand that when roasted, they are actually subjected to a process called torrefaction. In this way, moisture and other undesirable compounds in the raw biomass are boiled off. What remains has a Btu content just under that of coal, burns more consistently, and is resistant to moisture. Even if the coffee was first used to make the tasty beverage, I'm sure the used grounds would still have plenty of use as a gasification fuel.
The costs of processing the 'fuel' is actually paid for by the first use of coffee: drinking. To get a ready-to-use gasification fuel as a by-product sounds like a great way to extend its uses.
The costs of processing the 'fuel' is actually paid for by the first use of coffee: drinking. To get a ready-to-use gasification fuel as a by-product sounds like a great way to extend its uses.
Comment Re:Apples to Oranges Plus Fear Mongering (Score 2) 429
How does this guy post such a well thought out, cogent rebuttal -- with good grammar and spelling -- and done quickly enough to get first post?
He must have an app for that.
He must have an app for that.
Ocean-Crossing Dragonflies Discovered 95
grrlscientist writes "While living and working as a marine biologist in Maldives, Charles Anderson noticed sudden explosions of dragonflies at certain times of year. He explains how he carefully tracked the path of a plain, little dragonfly called the Globe Skimmer, Pantala flavescens, only to discover that it had the longest migratory journey of any insect in the world."
Submission + - Two convicted in for refusal to decrypt data
jm007 writes: There's a story in The Register dated 11th August 2009 about the first convictions in Britain for 'refusing to provide authorities with their encryption keys.'
This has interesting implications in the USA considering the right against self-incrimination.
Comment Re:I'm guessing (Score 1, Insightful) 213
You're right... correct grammar and spelling are overrated with respect to effective communication.
Just a bit of friendly sarcasm there, but really, you seem to make the reader's inability to decipher poor writing/typing as the reason the message was lost. I myself had to read over it multiple times with some trial and error as to what was intended and eventually I figured it out. God help anyone who doesn't speak English natively.
More than a few sentences of that and screw it, I won't bother trying. That's unfortunate since the post was relevant and added to the conversation; but let's not downplay the GP's culpability in this mis-communication.
Just a bit of friendly sarcasm there, but really, you seem to make the reader's inability to decipher poor writing/typing as the reason the message was lost. I myself had to read over it multiple times with some trial and error as to what was intended and eventually I figured it out. God help anyone who doesn't speak English natively.
More than a few sentences of that and screw it, I won't bother trying. That's unfortunate since the post was relevant and added to the conversation; but let's not downplay the GP's culpability in this mis-communication.
Spammers Say the Darndest Things 115
The Narrative Fallacy writes "Bill Sweetman has a tongue-in-cheek post about how a few years ago he started collecting some of the more outlandish and amusing email subject lines from the many thousands of spam emails he received promoting various 'solutions' related to his private parts. Sweetman, a Canadian internet marketeer now working for Tucows gets a guilty pleasure from the copywriting 'skills' of the spammers. 'Sometimes the writing is clever. Sometimes it is accidentally funny. And sometimes it's just plain bizarre.' Sweetman writes that it takes a certain twisted creative genius to make your spam message stand out from the rest. and gives us ten of his favorite spam subject lines as well as his would-be replies to the messages. Favorites spam subject lines include 'Small friend is for hiding, big friend is for showing off' and Sweetman's reply: 'Even if the product they are pitching works as promised, I still don't think I would be walking around the neighborhood showing off the results.'"
Distributed.net Finds Optimal 25-Mark Golomb Ruler 265
kpearson writes "Distributed.net's 8-year-old OGR-25 distributed computing project has just proven conclusively that the predicted shortest 25-mark Golomb ruler is optimal. 'The total length of the ruler is 480, with marks at positions: 0 12 29 39 72 91 146 157 160 161 166 191 207 214 258 290 316 354 372 394 396 431 459 467 480. (This ruler may alternatively be expressed in terms of the distance between those positions, which is how dnetc displays them: 12-17-10-33-19-...).' 124,387 people participated in the project and two people found the shortest ruler, one on October 10, 2007 and the other on March 24, 2008."
The Walking House 304
What is 10' tall, has six hydraulic legs, and is powered by the wind and solar panels? The prototype pod house built by art collective N55 in Copenhagen, Denmark. With the help of MIT, N55 built the pod over a two-year period at a cost of £30,000. Designers say it provides a solution to the problem of rising water levels as the house can simply walk away from floods. One of the designers says, "This house is not just for travellers but also for anyone interested in a more general way of nomadic living." It won't be long now until the Japanese make Howl's Moving Castle.
Researchers Discover The Most Creative Time of Day 154
Creativity is least likely to strike in the afternoon, according to a survey that suggests office workers have little chance of solving problems after lunch. A poll of 1,426 people showed that a quarter of us stay up late when seeking inspiration. Taking a shower or just sitting in the bathroom proved to be a popular way of getting the creative juices flowing. The survey found that 10:04pm was the most creative time, while 4:33pm was the least. I'll think of something funny to write here later.
Comment yawn... (Score -1, Offtopic) 157
.... borrrrrring
Submission + - New Star Trek pics (aol.com)
jm007 writes: Here we go.... Matt Damon is out!
