Comment Interesting times (Score 2) 171
What a time to be alive.
Comment Surplus power (Score 1) 245
Relevant video, shows how the surplus power is dissipated, to make sure demand always matches production. Unfortunately only in Norwegian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Heroism Is Part of a Nuclear Worker's Job 349
Hugh Pickens writes "In 1988, Michael Friedlander was a newly minted shift technical adviser at a nuclear power plant near the Gulf Coast when Hurricane Gilbert, a Category 5 storm, was bearing down on the plant. They received word that all workers should leave except for critical plant personnel, and there was never a question: 'my team and I would stay, regardless of what happened.' 'The situation facing the 50 workers left at Fukushima is a nuclear operator's worst nightmare,' writes Friedlander. 'But the knowledge that a nuclear crisis could occur, and that we might be the only people standing in the way of a meltdown, defines every aspect of an operator's life.' The field attracts a very particular kind of person, says Friedlander, and the typical employee is more like a cross between a jet pilot and a firefighter: highly trained to keep a technically complex system running, but also prepared to be the first and usually only line of defense in an emergency. 'We will likely hear numerous stories of heroism over the next several days, of plant operators struggling to keep water flowing into the reactors, breathing hard against their respirators under the dim rays of a handheld flashlight in the cold, dark recesses of a critically damaged nuclear plant, knowing that at any moment another hydrogen explosion could occur.'"
The severity rating of the crisis has now been raised from 4 to 5 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, and Japan's Prime Minister called the situation "very grave."
Comment Something completely unlike any of these options. (Score 2, Funny) 489
Wedding anniversary!
A carefully chosen date makes it easier to remember. :-)
A carefully chosen date makes it easier to remember.
HP Confirms Slate To Run WebOS 178
Kilrah_il writes "After HP bought Palm a few weeks ago, many rumors emerged regarding the new parent company's plans to further expand the scope of devices running WebOS. Now it appears that at least one of the rumors is true: The Slate will be running WebOS. 'Today an HP exec has confirmed that the company is developing a WebOS tablet which should be available by October.'"
Comment $500k per year? (Score 1) 306
Where do I apply?
Microsoft Says It Never Meant To Knock Cryptome Offline 176
CWmike writes "Microsoft withdrew on Thursday its demand that Cryptome.org yank the 'Microsoft Global Criminal Spy Guide' document from the site, and said it had never intended for the whistleblower's domain to be knocked off the Web. 'In this case, we did not ask that this site be taken down, only that Microsoft copyrighted content be removed,' said a Microsoft spokeswoman. 'We are requesting to have the site restored and are no longer seeking the document's removal.' The document, a 17-page guide to law enforcement on how to obtain information about users of Microsoft's online services, including its Windows Live Hotmail, the Xbox Live gaming network and its Windows Live SkyDrive storage service, was published by John Young, who runs Cryptome.org, on Feb. 20. Earlier this week, Microsoft demanded that Young remove the document from his site, citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. When Young refused, his Internet provider shut down the site, and Network Solutions, the registrar of Young's domain, put a 'legal lock' on the domain name. The last prevented him from transferring the URL to another ISP. Computerworld blogger Preston Gralla dug into the document today in his 'Leaked Microsoft intelligence document: Here's what Microsoft will reveal to police about you' post."
Bing Gaining Market Share Faster 406
sopssa sends along a TechCrunch report on comScore qSearch numbers indicating that Bing is currently gaining market share faster than ever before. "In December, Microsoft's search engine gained another 0.4 percent to capture 10.7 percent of US search queries. That makes five straight months of steady share gains for Bing since it launched — Bing's share is up 2.7 percent in total since May, 2009. Google gained only 0.2 percent to end the month with 65.7 percent market share. What is even more interesting is if you look at year-over-year query growth rates for each search engine. Bing's growth is actually accelerating. Its growth rate in query volume was 49.4 percent in December."
Comment Not all that bad! (Score 5, Funny) 125
It could have been worse. It could have run Vista.
Otherwise, an interesting development.
Otherwise, an interesting development.
Comment In other news..... (Score 3, Interesting) 137
people are indeed different.
Comment I think you're correct. (Score 1) 10
This is indeed my own understanding of "nineteen eighty-four" and I do not much like the direction I see in politics these days. I'm not British though, I'm Norwegian.
Comment Re:Schuko AKA CEE 7/4 (Score 1) 711
Me too.
Although I prefer Neutrik PowerCon on the other end, instead of the IEC poop.
Although I prefer Neutrik PowerCon on the other end, instead of the IEC poop.
Comment Re:How do you explain this (Score 1) 604
I really don't mean this as flamebait, but I see it as a very good example of evolution.
Honestly now. One needs to differensiate between the various forms of evolution. Micro-evolution, or variations within a species, is common and well documented. Please don't use this to prove macro-evolution, meaning the idea that one species can breed offspring of a different species - offspring capable of reproduction, mind you.
Smart Robot Capable of Hunting For Its Own "Food" 191
coondoggie writes "Ok, maybe this is getting a little too close to bringing Terminator-like robots to life. For starters, eco-friendly engine builder Cyclone Power this week inked a contract from Robotic Technologies, Inc. (RTI) to develop what it calls a beta biomass engine system that will be the heart of RTI's Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR). The purpose of EATR is to develop and demonstrate an autonomous robotic platform able to perform long-range, long-endurance missions without the need for manual or conventional re-fueling — in other words it needs to 'eat.' According to researchers, the EATR system gets its energy by foraging, or what the firms describe as 'engaging in biologically-inspired, organism-like, energy-harvesting behavior which is the equivalent of eating. It can find, ingest, and extract energy from biomass in the environment as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, heavy fuel, kerosene, diesel, propane, coal, cooking oil, and solar) when suitable.'"
We can only hope they don't team up with the Multi-Robot Pursuit System project to "search for and detect a non-cooperative human."
Comment When was the last time I actually bought one? (Score 1) 375
I can't remember for sure.
There are so many T-shirts to be had for free around here. And although they usually has some silly graphic or text on them, they do the job. So why spend my precious coin on clothing? Especially if the old garments still hold together?
