tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post116000513511209276..comments2024-03-29T06:22:47.638-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Cool Misc stuff! (...and a smidge of politics...)David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160498851356761622006-10-10T09:47:00.000-07:002006-10-10T09:47:00.000-07:00Caldera! The Canopy Group!Those were the names I w...Caldera! The Canopy Group!<BR/><BR/>Those were the names I was missing. <BR/><BR/>RIP Ray Noorda.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115249244056328076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160495551714076212006-10-10T08:52:00.000-07:002006-10-10T08:52:00.000-07:00On the SCO saga:The ownership story of SCO is a bi...On the SCO saga:<BR/><BR/>The ownership story of SCO is a bit complicated. I think it was first run by a bunch of ex-Novell guys and had funding from The Canopy Group. [Ray Noorda, the ex-head of Canopy and once CEO of Novell died today at 82.] SCO's Unix server business was purchased by Caldera in 2000 using Canopy funding. In 2003, after going back to the SCO name, SCO launched an attack against IBM, Redhat etc. with Microsoft (and Sun!) probably providing secret financial assistance. The rest is history or will be soon.<BR/><BR/>I found a good SCO timeline <A HREF="http://www.linux.org/news/sco/timeline.html" REL="nofollow">here.</A>NoOnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08685249095572192084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160449532958066432006-10-09T20:05:00.000-07:002006-10-09T20:05:00.000-07:00The guys running SCO, I think, are the same ones w...The guys running SCO, I think, are the same ones who earlier ran Novell with a distinctly anti-Microsoft stance, who went on to whichever company kept the DR-DOS IP and ran it with a distinctly anti-Microsoft stance, who then up and bought SCO and UnixWare and ran *that* with a distinctly anti-Microsoft stance, before deciding to sue IBM and whomever etc etc.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115249244056328076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160440480112362472006-10-09T17:34:00.000-07:002006-10-09T17:34:00.000-07:00Meantime, the plot thickens over at Groklaw, where...Meantime, the plot thickens over at <A HREF="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20061009152706664" REL="nofollow">Groklaw</A>, where the focus is currently on the IBM vs SCO case.<BR/><BR/>The story so far: SCO are the pleasant guys who wanted to own Linux. They tried suing IBM (and a few others) for use rights. IBM didn't play the game, and did a bit of suing of their own. As part of their campaign, SCO got $50m from a venture capital outfit called Baystar, who got it from the Royal Bank of Canada (who subsequently got bought out) and...Microsoft.<BR/><BR/>This is old news, but it seems, from a recent declaration, that Microsoft's role was a bit more involved than a 'rogue' VP, and could result in them getting another set of anti-competitive lawsuits pinned on them. A few whiffs appear to be coming from the Republican camp too, but it's too early to say that with any confidence. (I do recall that, apart from reducing border patrols, one of Bush's first acts as president was to withdraw from the Microsoft antitrust case.)<BR/><BR/>Worth keeping an eye on.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160371651472515332006-10-08T22:27:00.000-07:002006-10-08T22:27:00.000-07:00North Korea isn't a known terrorist state; the onl...North Korea isn't a known terrorist state; the only terrorism they seem to be doing is within their own borders. They are invoved in criminal activity, though; they've been caught counterfeiting US currency and have been accused of selling and smuggling illegal drugs. (Specifically, they were accused of producing methamphetamine for export.)<BR/><BR/>I think we can live with a nuclear North Korea as long as they DON'T SELL their bombs to terrorists. It's quite rational of them to be pursuing a deterrent against an attack by the United States, and as far as I can tell, they really don't want anything more than to be left alone. They seem to have no particular drive to change the rest of the world, only to hold it at arm's length.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160367039241431612006-10-08T21:10:00.000-07:002006-10-08T21:10:00.000-07:00I'm guessing that North Korea is reacting to the J...I'm guessing that North Korea is reacting to the Japanese Prime Minister's visit to China. They really can't stand being out of the spotlight.<BR/><BR/>The only thing that has really changed is now that we <I>really know for sure</I> that they're both crazy and armed.<BR/><BR/>So, why aren't we threatening to regime-change this known terrorist state?<BR/><BR/>Ah. No oil. "Duh!"<BR/><BR/>* * *<BR/><BR/>Interview with Wil Wright on his upcoming game <I>Spore</I>:<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08games.html" REL="nofollow">The Long Zoom.</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160365435779797782006-10-08T20:43:00.000-07:002006-10-08T20:43:00.000-07:00So.North Korea did it.What does it mean?So.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061009/ap_on_re_as/koreas_nuclear;_ylt=Ap4qeLJbfb5Qx1Nq.rFzISqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--" REL="nofollow">North Korea did it.</A><BR/><BR/>What does it mean?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160354677721169622006-10-08T17:44:00.000-07:002006-10-08T17:44:00.000-07:00Well, this might be a little late for this thread,...Well, this might be a little late for this thread, but I've been hearing news lately about the movie <A HREF="http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15161123/" REL="nofollow"> "The Death of a President"</A>. I'm wondering if this could be the October Surprise for the Republicans. Or maybe they could make it one...Kelsey Gowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13285652800584374081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160354575167958602006-10-08T17:42:00.001-07:002006-10-08T17:42:00.001-07:00...and the smidge of politics.Since David has been......and the smidge of politics.<BR/><BR/>Since David has been so starkly comparing and contrasting the handling of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns, one has to wonder how the aftermath in both countries has been handled under Rumsfeld's sure authority, and what might happen in Afghanistan now that NATO have taken over. <BR/><BR/>Gen. David Richards <A HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6032249.stm" REL="nofollow">seems to be wondering</A> as well!Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160354542465355082006-10-08T17:42:00.000-07:002006-10-08T17:42:00.000-07:00The heat they absorb takes partial form as electri...The heat they absorb takes partial form as electricity, which is dissipated as heat elsewhere, either as network inefficiencies or consumed as electricity for whatever purpose. The net gain/loss from the cycle is just about zero, I think.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115249244056328076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160353823099173212006-10-08T17:30:00.000-07:002006-10-08T17:30:00.000-07:00Related to the effect of solar cell farms, and fol...Related to the effect of solar cell farms, and following on from a recent <A HREF="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/004985.html" REL="nofollow">WC piece</A>*, I've been wondering whether or not aircraft exhausts can be modified to alleviate the blanketting effect of con-trails, perhaps even make them net radiators?<BR/><BR/>It's not as monumental as a proof for Navier-Stokes, but more visceral: you can play <A HREF="http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/TRA/TRA_000873_1780/" REL="nofollow">'spot the rover'</A> in this recently released photograph. (via The Planetary Society <A HREF="http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00000719/" REL="nofollow">blog</A>)<BR/><BR/>Heck! You can just about make out the roadkill that's been gumming up one of the front wheel drives!<BR/><BR/>---<BR/>* Incidentally, <A HREF="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005020.html" REL="nofollow">the book's nearly out</A>!Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160351356794554842006-10-08T16:49:00.000-07:002006-10-08T16:49:00.000-07:00Random thoughts:Solar cell farms would cast a shad...Random thoughts:<BR/><BR/>Solar cell farms would cast a shadow, and the land underneath might be a bit cooler as a result . . . but remember that the actual panels are in the atmosphere, and considerably <I>darker</I> than most crop / soil / ground covers.<BR/><BR/>The heat they absorb while doing their light-to-electricity trick has to go somewhere.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160347419941298092006-10-08T15:43:00.000-07:002006-10-08T15:43:00.000-07:00Vernor Vinge gave it some casual thought. His "bob...Vernor Vinge gave it some casual thought. His "bobbles" doubled the amount of sunlight available for crops in their vicinity, since they were perfectly reflective. But that was just a story. <BR/><BR/>I have absolutely none of the skills required to judge those Navier-Stokes proofs. <BR/><BR/>Stefan, what you say with pessimism ought to be promoted using every advanced marketing skill our society has. The "It's CHEAPER!" message might do better seperated from all the stigmas associated with environmentalism in the minds of so many people.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115249244056328076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160341268369331292006-10-08T14:01:00.000-07:002006-10-08T14:01:00.000-07:00Very interesting post if you are looking for answe...Very interesting post if you are looking for <A HREF="http://www.answering-service-helper.com" REL="nofollow">answering service</A> information check out my website!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160289826052296862006-10-07T23:43:00.000-07:002006-10-07T23:43:00.000-07:00Don't call it "conservation."Call it "higher effic...Don't call it "conservation."<BR/><BR/>Call it "higher efficiency."<BR/><BR/>The word "conservation" powerfully stimulates the anterior ascending Resentful Sorehead gyrus of many American males. <BR/><BR/>Tell 'em they have to <I>cut back</I> and you may as well have offered to whack off their private parts so they have less to wash in the shower.<BR/><BR/>Tell them they can do the same job for less money, and they'll blink suspiciously but grudgingly accept the notion.<BR/><BR/>Now if you tell them it's part of the War on Terror and you're helping starve terrists...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160289114751337022006-10-07T23:31:00.000-07:002006-10-07T23:31:00.000-07:00October is VERY busy. Little time for blogging. ...October is VERY busy. Little time for blogging. But here's a few small bones... Thrive all...<BR/><BR/>AND go after those wavering voters.<BR/><BR/> "Everybody kind of wishes he was still president." -- British Labour <BR/>delegate Christopher Wellbelove, describing his party's repeated <BR/>standing ovations for Bill Clinton's speech at their annual gathering last <BR/>week.<BR/><BR/> "Everyone agrees that the Orinoco Belt has the biggest reserves in <BR/>the world. What Chavez will do with them is another question, but <BR/>there's no doubt that Venezuela will take Saudi Arabia's place as No. 1." -- <BR/>Alberto Quiros, Chavez critic and past president of Royal Dutch Shell <BR/>Venezuela.<BR/><BR/> "I think what those people [the Bush administration] have done is <BR/>protected themselves from learning by counterpunching every time anyone <BR/>lands a blow and turning what should be very difficult strategic policy <BR/>questions into, essentially, part of a permanent campaign at home to <BR/>win a political argument." -- George Packer, ibid.<BR/><BR/>Last week, for the first time in modern history, China's global <BR/>exports of goods outpaced the U.S., as July figures for the former <BR/>settled in at $80.313B, vs. $80.337B for China. China's exports have grown <BR/>at 19.5% for ten years, vs. 4.8% for the U.S., 7.0% for Germany, 5.6% <BR/>for Britain, and 4.0% for Japan.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160284238750289532006-10-07T22:10:00.000-07:002006-10-07T22:10:00.000-07:00The only additional answers I can give to Monkyboy...The only additional answers I can give to Monkyboy's questions are:<BR/><BR/>1)while technically fossil originates with solar energy, it is not viewed that way in the common venacular, so I prefer to discuss it separately. Many folks don't seem to make the connection that wind power is solar power - which is much more direct. <BR/><BR/>2) the one strong potential downside I've read with respect to wind power is its effect on bird life. A big installation chews up quite a few of our feathered friends, and there's concern that placing large groups of windmills along major flyways could make it worse. (Often these flyways are along the windy coasts. The birds typically fly higher than the windmills but will switch to lower altitude in some weather conditions.) Beyond siting changes, I know companies are working on other methods to prevent this, including slower blade rotation. One could argue many of our other sources are already not wildlife-friendly. A lesser secondary problem reported is that some folks find the sound unpleasant.<BR/><BR/>3) Beyond the need for developing a large workforce to operate and fix solar and wind power equipment (why not?) it's possible there could be some resource issues with large scale solar cell production(rare element availabiity) and toxic waste issues, but again there's a lot of activity in this field (and it's not like our current energy sources don't have problems.) <BR/><BR/>I'm not the expert on these energy types, so I mention only possibiities. On last thought: I always try to make the point that the first, second, and third priority in any energy plan should be conservation since the best and cheapest energy is that which isn't used.James Aachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08762006792617588325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160282010909150442006-10-07T21:33:00.000-07:002006-10-07T21:33:00.000-07:00Monkeyboy wonders:"Could we actually alter weather...Monkeyboy wonders:<BR/><BR/>"Could we actually alter weather patterns by taking energy out of our atmosphere this way?"<BR/><BR/>Spitting in the wind would effect weather patterns to <I>some</I> extent. Really extensive use of wind and tidal power would have more of an effect . . . but really, we're not talking about tapping all that much in the big picture.<BR/><BR/>SF reference:<BR/><BR/>In Olaf Stapledon's <I>Last and First Men</I>, the far-future race of "third men" makes extensive use of tidal power.* So much so that <I>the orbit of the moon is effected.</I><BR/><BR/>Stapledon didn't think small . . .<BR/><BR/>Stefan<BR/><BR/>* Oh! Another cutesy: The civilization of the "first men," descended from a power-mad America obsessed with joy-riding in personal aircraft, falls into ruin when the coal and oil runs out. Scientists who warn about the shortage are dismissed as loons; the public instead listens to crackpots who claim that the coal beds are being replenished from below.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160278532462467092006-10-07T20:35:00.000-07:002006-10-07T20:35:00.000-07:00Actually, there are a few energy sources, besides ...Actually, there are a few energy sources, besides man-made nuclear reactors, that don't originally come from the sun. One such source is the rotation of the Earth (and Moon); the energy in ocean tides comes from this source. Geothermal energy, which comes from the heat in the Earth's core, is another source that is independent of the sun. (One could argue, though, that geothermal energy is actually a kind of nuclear energy because the Earth maintains its temperature because of radioactive decay.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160273946376605572006-10-07T19:19:00.000-07:002006-10-07T19:19:00.000-07:00I don't have the impression that Pelosi knows how ...I don't have the impression that Pelosi knows how to be clear, and agressive, at the same time. <BR/><BR/>Even so, every single last one of those 100 hour proposals sounds really, really good to me, with the possible exception of the stem cell research one, which could probably be tackled with a little more care and be accomplished in the second 100 hours. <BR/><BR/>If that's really what she'll plan to do, I'll throw my weight behind it. She should make it a public statement and get Dem candidates (and maybe even not a few Republicans) to sign their names to it.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115249244056328076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160270775677280132006-10-07T18:26:00.000-07:002006-10-07T18:26:00.000-07:00James,With the possible exception of nuclear power...James,<BR/><BR/>With the possible exception of nuclear power, doesn't all our energy come from the sun?<BR/><BR/>What is oil and coal but stored solar power? Bio-diesel, hydro, wind and, yes, solar power all come from the sun.<BR/><BR/>I see two questions:<BR/><BR/>1. What's the most cost-efficient way to extract solar power.<BR/><BR/>2. Will extracting that solar power cause any problem? <BR/><BR/><I>Is</I> there any downside to wind power? <BR/><BR/>Could we actually alter weather patterns by taking energy out of our atmosphere this way?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160247708278263672006-10-07T12:01:00.000-07:002006-10-07T12:01:00.000-07:00That link wasclimateprotectioncampaign.typepad.com...That link was<BR/><BR/>climateprotectioncampaign.typepad.com/<BR/><BR/>then: cpc/2006/01/long_now_nuclea.html#moreJames Aachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08762006792617588325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160247605150757842006-10-07T12:00:00.000-07:002006-10-07T12:00:00.000-07:00Regarding windmills as a new power source (Don Qui...Regarding windmills as a new power source (Don Quijote provides a link above), they are a nice adjunct to the grid and I'd like to see a lot more of them. (Personally I think they are rather attractive too.) They do not generate all that much power individually, however, and this generation is often over-reported as well, because maximum theoretical capacity is used vs. the actual amount generated considering maintenance time, wind conditions, etc. Adding these corrections in can drop the generation number down by 75%. (For the average US nucear plant the average drop would be 10% BTW.)A quick calculation shows if the correctionss are taken into account, one of the two Indian Point reactors outside NY would need 2500 1 MW windmills to replace it. (Less if you go with the giant 5 MW models in use in Europe.) Also, one still needs either baseload capacity or energy storage for the times the wind isn't blowing, etc. A lot of folks might feel 2500 windmills is a good replacement for a nuclear reactor, and they may be right. It just needs to be realized that the number is 2500 and not 250. As to costs - I don't know. <BR/><BR/>As I may have mentioned before, one of the biggest problems with moving toward our energy future is that the vast majority of the population has no real grasp of the energy present. I did have a nice discussion with a windmill advocate awhile back and I think we came to some common ground on the facts if not the ability to actually make the change.<BR/> http://climateprotectioncampaign.typepad.com/cpc/2006/01/long_now_nuclea.html#moreJames Aachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08762006792617588325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160247444460183612006-10-07T11:57:00.000-07:002006-10-07T11:57:00.000-07:00The Cal Academy article on Mary Schweitzer's resea...The Cal Academy article on Mary Schweitzer's research was surprisingly poor, and the sort that feeds creationists some quotes. <BR/><BR/>My articles on the Schweitzer research and the creationist (and popular media) misrepresentations are hosted on the <A HREF="http://www.talkorigins.org" REL="nofollow">TalkOrigins website</A>.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dinosaur/blood.html" REL="nofollow">Dino Blood and the Young Earth</A><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/dinosaur/flesh.html" REL="nofollow">Dino Blood Redux</A>Gary S. Hurdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08296691454238708856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1160229178988135732006-10-07T06:52:00.000-07:002006-10-07T06:52:00.000-07:00Very interesting post if you are looking forsatell...Very interesting post if you are looking for<A HREF="http://www.best-in-free-satellite-tv.com" REL="nofollow">satellite TV</A> information check out my website!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com