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Comment: Re:multiply (Score 2) 308

by dknight (#43535395) Attached to: Cause of LED Efficiency Droop Finally Revealed

while I mostly agree with you, I couldnt tell you how many kWh of electricity my home consumed last month. I could tell you what I paid for it, but no idea the actual consumption numbers - the cost is what is relevant to me, so I never feel any particular need to know the kWh. I'm sure plenty of other folks are the same way.

Data Storage

+ - How do you manage an overly large media collection?

Submitted by
dknight
dknight writes "I have an extremely large media collection. Probably 1500 DVDs and 400-500 Blu Ray discs. While I love having such a large collection, it is so big that its impossible for me to find anything. I've finally decided that it may be worth my time to invest in buying or building some sort of automated storage/retrieval system, much like those tape robots. I assume buying one may be prohibitively expensive, but I do have access to lots of electronics components and some expertise. Am I better off buying? Building? How would you do it? If at all possible, I'd like to keep the media in its case while in storage, and have the device retrieve the case rather than just the disc."
The Internet

+ - ISP Withdraws Week-Old Service That Skirted Video Geoblocks->

Submitted by aesoteric
aesoteric writes "A New Zealand internet service provider has withdrawn a controversial, week-old service that allowed users to circumvent geographic restrictions on US and British video services like Hulu, Netflix and BBC's iPlayer. The company said it was taking more advice on the legality of the service, but earlier seemed sure of its legal position."
Link to Original Source
Earth

+ - High School Students Take Global Warming to Court

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Katherine Ellison reports in the Atlantic that a group of high school students is suing the federal government in US District Court claiming the risks of climate change — dangerous storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, and food-supply disruptions — will threaten their generation absent a major turnabout in global energy policy. "I think a lot of young people realize that this is an urgent time, and that we're not going to solve this problem just by riding our bikes more," says 18-year-old Alec Loorz, one of the plaintiffs represented, pro bono, by the Burlingame, California, law firm of former US Republican congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey. While skeptics may view the case as little more than a publicity stunt, its implications have been serious enough to attract the time and resources of major industry leaders. Last month, Judge Wilkins granted a motion to intervene in the case by the National Association of Manufacturers who says the plaintiffs lack standing because their injuries are too speculative and not likely to be reduced by the relief sought. "At issue is whether a small group of individuals and environmental organizations can dictate through private tort litigation the economic, energy, and environmental policies of the entire nation," wrote NAM spokesman Jeff Ostermeyer. The plaintiffs contend that they have standing to sue under the "public trust doctrine," a legal theory that in past years has helped protect waterways and wildlife. While the adults continue their argument, Loorz says kids his age are much more worried about climate change than many of their parents might imagine. "I used to play a lot of video games, and goof off, and get sent to the office at school," says Loonz. "But once I realized it was my generation that was going to be the first to really be affected by climate change, I made up my mind to do something about it.""

Comment: Re:This just makes sense (Score 1) 1345

by dknight (#37552460) Attached to: Science and Religion Can and Do Mix, Mostly

somewhat OT, but I just wanted to say that your posts in this story have been extremely interesting.
I'm a Taoist myself, but was raised Christian and know a fair bit more about Christianity than the average Joe, however I've clearly got NOTHING on you - and some of the stuff you're bringing up is new information that I was previously unaware of, and I genuinely appreciate what I'm learning here.

So, I just wanted to extend a hearty thank-you for the good comments! I love history

Comment: Re:Pizza Tracking (Score 1) 267

by dknight (#37062592) Attached to: Google Patents Telling Time

I know you'll think I'm crazy, but I *love* dominos pizza.
Seriously. I probably have 3-4 pizzas from dominos per week, on the low side. The things most people hate about dominos are precisely the things I like. Though I will admit, they have taken a downturn recently with their "improved" pizza.

If I can taste the sauce, I'm not happy. Sauce is just there for the cheese to sit on. And the garlic/butter/whatever stuff that they're putting on their hand-tossed crust was good for the first week, but then just got nasty. Pro-tip: Brooklyn style pizza wasnt changed. So I go with that now.

From time to time I get pizza from other places, since my wife doesnt like them as much as I do, but I never find the local shops to be very good. They tend to be too greasy, and use the wrong (in my opinion) flavors in the wrong places.

Comment: Re:Easy solution: (Score 1) 585

by dknight (#37001746) Attached to: Saving Gas Via Underpowered Death Traps

as someone who drives one of the smallest/lightest cars on the road (a Lotus Elise, less than 2000lbs), even *I* feel like thats just dumb.
Accidents are accidents. Penalizing people for having a car that isnt exactly what they "need" (how exactly are you determining "the car they needed" anyway?) is infeasible and will just result in everyone who isnt in a smart car going to jail when the unfortunate happens. Not to mention the crazy amount of government interference in people's day-to-day lives that that would entail.

The Internet

Ask Slashdot: Living Without Internet At-Home Access? 462

Posted by timothy
from the you-thought-your-uncle-was-weird dept.
An anonymous reader writes "I've decided that the internet is no longer a positive influence on my life, and am interested in canceling my service. In the interest of not forgoing all digital conveniences, I plan to set up a small intranet, hosting a few resources that I think I'd like to have access to on a regular basis (e.g. a text dump of Wikipedia). I'll also still have access to the internet at my office, and have easy access to public Wi-Fi at libraries and coffee shops. My questions are thus: Does anybody have any experience living without the internet? What major nuisances did you encounter? What resources should I put on my intranet? Is there anything I'm overlooking?"
Education

Programming Is Heading Back To School 169

Posted by Soulskill
from the hook-'em-young dept.
the agent man writes "Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder are exploring what it takes to systematically get programming back to public schools. They have created a game-design-based curriculum, called Scalable Game Design, using the AgentSheets computational thinking tool. Annual summer institutes train middle school teachers from around the USA to teach their students computational thinking through game design and computational science simulations. What's truly unique about this is that it is not an after-school program; it takes place during regular school courses. Entire school districts are participating with measurable impacts, increasing the participation of women in high school CS courses from 2% six years ago to 38-59% now. Educators would like to be able to ask students, 'Now that you can make Space Invaders, can you also make a science simulation?' To explore this difficult question of transfer, the researchers devised new mechanisms to compute computational thinking. They analyze every game submitted by students to extract computational thinking patterns and to see if students can transfer these skills to creating science simulations."
Television

The Next Phase of Intelligent TVs Will Observe You 294

Posted by samzenpus
from the unseen-mechanized-eye dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Japan based NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories (STRL) is testing an interface which observes TV viewers, determines their interest and provides information related to the TV program in accordance with the way they are watching it. UTAN (user technology assisted navigation) TV viewing interface, as it is called, has a camera mounted on the TV which photographs the viewer and estimates the viewer's degrees of interest, concentration, etc. The information is processed by a tablet PC and recommended information is shown to the viewer. It is possible to show individual interests as well, in case there are multiple viewers."

Comment: Re:As a long-time vegan.. (Score 1) 544

by dknight (#36267942) Attached to: Zuckerberg Only Eating Animals He Personally Kills

my wife's a vegan, and I'll tell you the same thing I tell her:
vegan food tastes like crap (and believe me, I've been forced to eat a *lot* of it)

as long as meat keeps tasting so much better than any of your alternatives, I'm gonna keep eating it

food was meant to be enjoyed, and not suffered

I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert!

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