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Comment: Re:I actually believe Rossi (Score 1) 314

by bhlowe (#43807875) Attached to: A Cold Look at Cold Fusion Claims: Why E-Cat Looks Like a Hoax
Yes, I got the glow wrong.. but 480C is still impressive and impossible to do chemically-- especially without a loss in mass. There was a dummy run that showed completely different results than the "active" run, including different heat up and decay graphs. The IR camera was not Rossi's and was calibrated on boiling water and the temperature was backed up with a K thermocouple. High frequency AC would be discovered with a light bulb or any delicate equipment plugged in to it. 100 hours is a long time to leave 7 trained scientists complete run of the lab to try to detect something fake.

Comment: Re:I actually believe Rossi (Score 1) 314

by bhlowe (#43806157) Attached to: A Cold Look at Cold Fusion Claims: Why E-Cat Looks Like a Hoax
Read the actual report and see if you really think a few chemicals could really do what you suggest -- keep the temperature steady and glowing hot for 100 hours. If so, that would be amazing.. especially since the weight of the reactor did not change!

The people doing the test were not untrained. They are experts in the field who have put their professional reputations on the line. Being too good to be true is a red flag rule of thumb, but it isn't a scientifically reliable to refute a claim.

Generally you can take any claim of free energy and bet against it and come out looking like an expert... But consider this would be the second time the release of unexpected nuclear power surprised the world. I've been following this for two years and no one has found a hidden battery, a stash of chemicals, extra wires, bogus measurement equipment... But plenty of tests have been unconvincing. This one was the best -- a black box test done by university level professors and experts.

Rossi has filed a number of patents and many could argue that they're not detailed enough to let a lay person recreate the technology.. however, the fact is that the technology remains unproven AND there is NO evidence of a scam.

When Rossi heats a 1 meter cube of water N degrees in X minutes using P power that is less than any other known way to heat water, what then? Eventually, I hope, the blubbering from the peanut gallery will subside..

Comment: Re:I actually believe Rossi (Score 2) 314

by bhlowe (#43805473) Attached to: A Cold Look at Cold Fusion Claims: Why E-Cat Looks Like a Hoax
Another company, Defkalion, uses the same technology. They have plans for a public demonstration of their work at NIWeek 2013 this August at National Instruments in Austin, Texas. link. Proof might start getting harder and harder to deny... Don't take it to the bank, but if you're heavily invested in oil stocks, you should be watching the saga.

Comment: I actually believe Rossi (Score 1) 314

by bhlowe (#43804549) Attached to: A Cold Look at Cold Fusion Claims: Why E-Cat Looks Like a Hoax
Of all the tests Rossi has demonstrated, this one is by far the most convincing. Just look at the input of 360 watts, and tell me how you can heat up the reactor to the glow that you see using conventional means. Since it can't be done conventionally, you have to assume there is a hidden extra energy input of at least 500 watts-- but the experiment is so clean that there is essentially no way to add extra power to the system (the most creative ideas is an IR laser, another suggests an altered high frequency added to the normal 50hz 240VAC. Both are can be ruled out by looking at the report and using common sense.)

At some point in the very near future, we will see an even more convincing demo using flow calorimetry-- essentially heating water-- with an even more isolated electrical input (for instance, a UPS outputting a perfectly clean sine wave AC.) And then what? Eventually the skeptics are going to have to come around and admit that they were wrong. I'm looking forward to that day.

Comment: Re:I want one (Score 1) 125

by bhlowe (#43757777) Attached to: How BlackBerry Is Riding iOS and Android To Power Its Comeback
I often misplace my iPhone, and when I do, I use "Find my Phone" to locate it and I can see it's exact location on a map, and I can have it play a sound to help me locate it. I've never been without my phone for more than a few hours, let alone days. Even if I wipe my whole phone, it can be fully restored over the cloud. BlackBerry can't make a comeback without apps. Apple is loving all of the corporate, security conscious clients that are now satisfied with Apple's devices, and Apple will keep making inroads.. while BlackBerry will never have a chance against the apps available on IOS and Android.

Comment: Combined with population growth... (Score 1) 807

by bhlowe (#43745709) Attached to: Rice Professor Predicts Humans Out of Work In 30 Years
Exponential population growth will exacerbate the problem of the unemployable. Most large companies have been downsizing for years.. this trend will continue as automation replaces workers in every field. Governments will need to go into the business of full-time welfare state management. Add in a mix of genetically engineered super-humans and the disposable masses, it will be an interesting next century.

Comment: The crime should be for _impaired_ driving (Score 2, Insightful) 985

by bhlowe (#43724305) Attached to: NTSB Recommends Lower Drunk Driving Threshold Nationwide: 0.05 BAC
Horrible. Drunk driving laws should be based on how a person is driving, not an arbitrary level on a meter that isn't tied to an individuals ability to drive. With video cameras in just about every police car, there is no reason that a little video evidence could be used to demonstrate impaired driving... Switching to a system like this would: bust people incapacitated by other drugs, and bust people who are distracted by devices--- a worse distraction that driving drunk in many cases. (Why is it that if you get in an accident while texting its a slap on the wrist, but if you're driving perfectly well but get stopped at a DUI checkpoint with a .08, its thousands of dollars and a trip to jail?) The DUI laws, while well intentioned, are a huge source of revenue for the criminal "justice" system-- where often, not always, the crime is victimless.

Comment: Re:Not paying sales tax is ILLEGAL in most states (Score 1) 317

by bhlowe (#43715117) Attached to: Did Internet Sales Tax Backers Bribe Congress? (Video)
Exactly. But just because everyone cheats shouldn't mean the businesses should advertise "no sales tax (except in state YY). The politicians are supporting this because its a tax that is already on the books that doesn't need voter approval.. just needs basic enforcement, which would be done by businesses. Not enforcing this tax puts a penalty on lower-income people who might not otherwise be savvy enough to shop online.

Comment: Not paying sales tax is ILLEGAL in most states (Score 1) 317

by bhlowe (#43714641) Attached to: Did Internet Sales Tax Backers Bribe Congress? (Video)
Unless your state doesn't have any sales taxes, you are breaking the law (almost always) by buying out of state and not paying "use tax", unless you self identify and pay the use tax. (Exceptions for purchases of goods for resale and some other exceptions exist.) I'm generally against any tax.. but if people are dumb enough to enact incredible high sales tax rates (like the 8.5% we have in CA) we should at least make sure people aren't given an easy way to avoid it.

The public is an old woman. Let her maunder and mumble. -- Thomas Carlyle

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