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Comment Re:Dear Australian Government, (Score 4, Insightful) 114

"then I have to break the law to do so."

I don't pirate because the people who created media have expressed their wishes quite clearly;
If I value it, then I'll pay the price they ask.

However, suggesting that you are forced to break the law is absurd. There is no real threat to your well-being by having the latest music/TV/movies/software. Even if you argued that your quality of life would suffer without your favourite show or game (a BIG stretch), there's plenty of other crap to choose from.

Do I think the typical media owner is driving people away with DRM measures? Absolutely.
Do I think there's a happy medium where everyone could be happy? Yep.
Do I feel entitled to anything? No.

This argument gets very heated, and from my armchair it makes both sides look like spoiled brats! You can continue for my [free] entertainment as long as you like. :)

Matt out.

Comment Re:WTF? (Score 1) 223

Luxury!
We had to mine our own silicon using a rubber mallet and the office was 400 kilometres from the mine, uphill!
When we eventually got down to programming, binary was not allowed; we had to use roman numerals in italics!

P.S The funniest bit about the parent was that it was modded "Insightful". Crazy slashdotters!

Comment Re:Did whoever wrote the summary read the article? (Score 1) 95

This is true, assuming you don't have a limit as to the area of panels you can deploy (rooftop solar installations are slightly limited by the area of the roof).

I agree. If I gave them the benefit of the doubt (deservedly or not), I'd say that they are at least hoping to provide a cheap and environmentally friendly choice when space is not the issue.

In context I think they are working from this starting point: "the Gratzel cell is a great concept, but it leaks, so let's see if we can improve on it so it's viable for the mass-market."
If they succeed, at worst we'll have an "green" alternative to current Silicon-based PV arrays, and at best we'll have a system that's cheaper to make, is more efficient, is more rugged, etc.
If they land in the middle, it'll be a great outcome!

Comment Re:Did whoever wrote the summary read the article? (Score 4, Interesting) 95

It's important to note though, that if you can make twice as much panel area for less money, then you are being more efficient.
At the end of the day they are aiming for two different efficiencies:
1. A lower $cost/output
2. A higher output/environmental-footprint ratio.

I've heard that currently the rule-of-thumb for Photo-Voltaic arrays is 4 years operation before they pay for themselves. Maybe this new technology will lower that significantly

Technology

Submission + - Nanotech Solar Cell Minimizes Cost, Toxic Impact (phys.org)

bonch writes: Researches at Northwestern University have developed an inexpensive solar cell intended to solve the problems of current solar cell designs, such as high cost, low efficiency, and toxic production materials. Based on the Grätzel cell, the new cell uses millions of light-absorbing nanoparticles and delivers the highest conversion efficiency reported for a dye-sensitized solar cell.

Comment Top ./ story fights for Poll compliance (Score 1) 542

http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/05/22/2326206/inventor-of-the-tv-remote-control-dies

The TV remote control designer passed away a few days ago, and was obviously gunning for the top rated "Currently Dead Inventor".

We will take a moment's silence to remember his passing, and luckily, by using the Mute button, we can start the silence without getting up!

Comment Re:A week? (Score 1) 1004

"Which is when the see it if they pirate it, so it appears to work for some folks. Also, they have these things called DVRs now."

Firstly, all I was saying is that no network can be held responsible for the show not being simulcast to all regions at once. It's just a logistical nightmare. Maybe it would be possible to do for 1 show with a less-than-24-hour delay, but not the 100s of shows on all around the world.

Secondly, are you seriously suggesting that a TV station would willingly put a series on TV at a time when they could expect to get a large proportion of viewers via DVR? I'm sure the advertisers (those paying to let you watch the show) would think that was a great idea!

Comment Re:A week? (Score 3, Interesting) 1004

A serious problem that cannot be sorted by the "antiquated methodology" is that the US primetime slot is far removed from the Australian and European primetime slot. A network is not to going to the air the episode when HBO do, just to get it "live". It would be on at 10:30am over here if they did.

Comment Re:A week? (Score 5, Funny) 1004

"fans of the show have to wait a week before they can see the latest episode. So it's hardly a surprise that some people are turning to BitTorrent instead"

I live in Australia as well, and it's intolerable that we have to wait for our entertainment. I mean, those lazy American's are always a few days more entertained than we are!
Some fool tried to tell me that entertainment wasn't measured by the latency between a show airing and my viewing of it - how ridiculous!?!!? What a notion?

And don't get me started on the olympics - I'm considering suing the IOC everytime the Olympics are held abroad. I, and countless others Aussies, will have to wait til the evening to get any live action, whilst the English can watch it in the morning and afternoon as it happens. Outrageous!

sincerely, Balzi

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