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Power

Obama Budget To Triple Nuclear Power Loan Guarantees 373

Posted by Soulskill from the sky's-the-limit dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "When President Obama said in his State of the Union address on Wednesday that the country should build 'a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants,' it was one of the few times he got bipartisan applause. Now the NY Times reports that administration officials have confirmed their 2011 federal budget request next week will raise potential loan guarantees for nuclear projects to more than $54 billion, from $18.5 billion, and a new Energy Department panel will examine a vastly expanded list of options for nuclear waste, including a new kind of nuclear reactor that would use some of it. The Energy Department appears to be getting close to offering its first nuclear loan guarantee. Earlier this week, Southern Co. Chief Executive David Ratcliffe said the company expects to finalize an application for a loan guarantee 'within the next couple months,' while Scana Corp., which has also applied, is 'a couple months behind Southern' and is hopeful of receiving a conditional award 'sometime in the next months.'"
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Shaolin Monks to sue over tale of defeat by ninja (www.cbc.ca) 1

Submitted by
Socguy
Socguy writes: "China's Shaolin Temple has demanded a public apology from an Internet user who claimed a Japanese ninja beat its kung fu-practising monks in a showdown, a lawyer said Friday.

An open letter from the temple posted on the Internet on Thursday denied the fight ever took place and called on the person who posted the claim under the name "Five minutes every day" to apologize to the temple's martial arts masters.

Monks from the temple, nestled in the Songshan Mountains of central China's Henan province, said they will consider legal action if he or she doesn't make a public apology.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070831/K083106AU.htm l"
Quickies

Submission + - at&t's Class Arbitra. Waiver Ruled Unconsciona (consumerist.com)

Submitted by
Tech.Luver
Tech.Luver writes: "Consumerist reports, " Like many many companies, Cingular has a little thing in their contracts saying that if you use their service, you void your right to a class action lawsuit and instead have to go through "mandatory binding arbitration," which is basically an extra-judicial corporate court exempt from many of the basic rules and laws and procedures and rights of real court. Well, today, that clause was ruled "unconscionable" by the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals. Therefore, lawsuits can proceed against Cingular and go to real court, not monkey court. Hooray! ""
Role Playing (Games)

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, Latest News 350

Posted by kdawson from the eye-of-the-beholder dept.
Lord Aramil of Dreadwood writes "Blogger and Dragon magazine writer Jonathan Drain is tracking the latest developments on the new D&D edition. Highlights include: Thirty levels instead of twenty, no more XP costs for magic items creation, flexible talent trees replacing feats and prestige classes, a new racial bonuses system that obsoletes ECL, and an end to rubbish skills like Forgery and Use Rope. A quote from the blog: 'Unlike 3.5, all the changes this time around sound like they're definitely for the better... If nothing else, at least they have the opportunity to get rid of Mialee.'"
Power

Heat Wave Shuts Down Alabama Reactor 401

Posted by CowboyNeal from the weathering-the-heat dept.
mdsolar writes "In a first for the US, one of three nuclear reactors at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Alabama has been shut down because the Tennessee River is too hot to provide adequate cooling for the waste heat produced by the reactor. This is happening as the TVA faces its highest demand for power ever, reports the Houston Chronicle. This effect has been seen in Europe in the past, forcing reduced generation, but the US has until now been immune to the problem. The TVA will buy power elsewhere and impose higher rates, blaming reduced river flow as a result of drought."

Feed Science Daily: Cheap And Easy Technique To Produce Hydrogen From Visible Light Is Almost Ready (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
There is a revolution in solar hydrogen on the horizon. The prospect for the wide spread use of hydrogen as a portable energy carrier is dependent on finding a clean, renewable method of production. A research group headed by a professor of electrical engineering is "only a couple of problems away" from developing an inexpensive and easily scalable technique for water photoelectrolysis - the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen using light energy -- that could help power the proposed hydrogen economy.

Feed Science Daily: Brains Learn Better At Night (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
If you think that the idea of a morning person or an evening person is nonsense, then a postgraduate student has news for you. The young researchers have found that the time of day influences your brain's ability to learn--and the human brain learns more effectively in the evening. And by identifying at what point in the day the brain is best able to operate, rehabilitation therapy can be targeted to that time, when recovery is maximised.
The Internet

Submission + - Comcast Blocks BitTorrent (torrentfreak.com)

Submitted by FsG
FsG writes: Over the past few weeks, more and more Comcast users have reported that their BitTorrent traffic is severely throttled and they are totally unable to seed. Comcast doesn't seem to discriminate between legitimate and infringing torrent traffic, and most of the BitTorrent encryption techniques in use today aren't helping. If more ISPs adopt their strategy, could this mean the end of BitTorrent?
Data Storage

Backing Up Laptops In a Small Business? 293

Posted by kdawson from the against-disaster-the-gods-themselves dept.
Bithmus writes "I have been tasked with finding a way for our company to handle our laptop backups. We currently have nightly backups of our servers, but no backups of laptops. In our business we develop, implement, and sell another company's software; I guess that makes us a Valued Added Reseller. During development our consultants will create copies of a customer's database on MSDE on their laptops. If a hard drive crashes, all of the work done on that laptop is lost. There are other files that need to be saved, but the databases are really the important items. Ideally these databases would be stored on the SQL servers and the other files stored on the file server, but this is not happening. What do Slashdot readers do to protect data on laptops or computers outside of a local network?"

Comment Formula 409, a brush, and paper towels (Score 1) 534

by MagusAptus (#19528671) Attached to: Are Keyboards Dishwasher Safe?
I've done this for years, works great, no risk to the keyboard:

A couple of sprays (mist, not stream) of Formula 409 on the keyboard (I've found Formula 409 works the best). Let the cleaner sit for a 30 seconds to a minute or so. Then take a brush like you'd use to clean your fingernails (short, hard bristles) and use it to scrub the keys, being sure to get in-between them. Then wipe up the mess with paper towels, being sure to get as much of the cleaner out as possible. Repeat process as needed (I've had some keyboards take 3 or more tries to get really clean).

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Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. - Kahlil Gibran

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