dacut - Slashdot User

Submission + - Playing a DVD: Harder Than Rocket Science? (myway.com)

Submitted by dacut on Tuesday May 26, 2009 @07:31PM

dacut writes: After successfully repairing the Hubble Space Telescope, astronauts aboard the shuttle Atlantis found themselves with a free day due to thunderstorms which delayed their return. They attempted to pass the time by watching movies, only to find that their laptops did not have the proper software, and Houston was unable to help. No word, alas, on what software was involved, though we can assume that software/codec updates are a tad difficult when you're orbiting the planet at 17,200MPH.

Submission + - CFLs causing utility woes (edn.com)

Submitted by

dacut

on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @05:01PM

dacut writes: "We've seen compact fluorescent lamps start to take over shelf space at the local hardware store. Replacing a 60 watt incandescent with a 13 watt CFL seems like a great savings, though many consumers are disappointed with the slow warm-up times, lower-than-advertised lifetimes, and hassles of disposing the mercury-containing bulbs. Now EDN reports they may use more energy than claimed due to their poor power factor. Mike Grather, of Lumenaire Testing Laboratory, "checked the power factor for the CFLs and found they ranged from .45 to .50. Their 'real' load was about twice that implied by their wattage."

The good news: you're only billed for the 13 watts of real power used. The bad news: the utilities have to generate the equivalent of 28 watts (that is, 28 VA of apparent power for you EEs out there) to light that bulb.

Until they fix these issues, I'll hold on to my incandescents and carbon arc lamps, thanks."

Submission + - Charter accidentally wipes out 14k e-mail accounts (myway.com)

Submitted by dacut on Thursday January 24, 2008 @07:10PM

dacut writes: Charter Communications, which provides cable and internet access to 2.6 million customers, accidentally and irretrievably wiped out 14,000 active e-mail accounts while trying to clear out unused accounts. From the article:

There is no way to retrieve the messages, photos and other attachments that were erased from inboxes and archive folders across the country on Monday, said Anita Lamont, a spokeswoman for the suburban St. Louis-based company. "We really are sincerely sorry for having had this happen and do apologize to all those folks who were affected by the error," Lamont said Thursday when the company announced the gaff.
They're providing a $50 credit to each affected customer, which seems a paltry sum for anyone who was less than diligent about backing up their e-mail.

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