At first I thought this was a garbage comment but it's actually a fairly clever reference. The article is about harvesting methane gas hydrates (which can be thought of as methane gas trapped in ice).
But I question the use of methane gas hydrates. There is no denying methane gas is one of the worse gas responsible for the green house effect. The article makes it seem like methane gas hydrates is a solution but in the end it's not a renewable source of energy. It would still be harvested and drilled for like oil and even though there's the trillions of cubic feet of gas to be had, one day it could run out.
I agree. He starts off making some good points outlining the vulnerabilities of our economy due to our capitalistic ways. Then he talks about the most ridiculous predictions for the future of the economy, workforce and government regulations. I don’t believe we’re going to be seeing the type of restrictions Scott Adams claims, it would kill America. The only valid prediction he makes is the stronger credit requirements banks might impose but he backs it up as if it was because we were spending too much.
What stood out to me as completely ridiculous:
“Depending on how bad the economy gets, you could also see rules banning single passengers in cars.”
The lack of syntax highlighting in books don't bother me too much, it's the size of the book. I've gotten used to a wide screen monitor for code so it's nice when that long if statement is on one line.
For the purpose of learning from a book the bold and italics in print is often good enough for me. Have def in bold and comments in italics and i'm generally pleased. Then again it could just me a bias I have since i prefer to reading books than pdfs on a computer.
You can get a springy finger strengthener for $10 or so, by the way. I found that after using Emacs for long periods of time I'd get a lot of tension built-up in my pinkie. (No RSI problems in my wrists, but my pinkie was really bothering it me.) Stretching it with one has helped a lot, as has using a typing timer (such as xwrits or workrave).
So San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland and Seattle/Tacoma is on the at risk list because:
"relatively high numbers of residents who watch analog over-the-air television broadcasts and relatively low participation in the NTIA's TV Converter Box Coupon Program."
but how many of them don't need the converter box coupon? The Bay Area is home to Silicon Valley, would it be safe to say that a large number of them have purchased HDTVs and don't require a converter box?
I have a Sony Bravia HDTV plugged into my house antennae. No cable. The reception is better than cable, and I get an array of HD-only channels I never even knew existed.
For example, in the Bay Area, I can get a weather-only channel from ABC (7.3), a weird traffic channel that shows 4 camera views poised at different highways, and a multitude of PBS channels (9.1, 9.2, 9.3, etc.) all with a picture better than you would believe possible.
I don't need all the infomercial channels cable provides, nor the sensationalist "news" channels. Sure, I miss ESPN from time to time, but thanks to my father-in-law's Slingbox, I can get my fix when I need it.
You'd be surprised how easily it is to ween yourself off of cable TV. As long as I have my cable Internet connection, and my FREE HD channels - sorry, and Netflix - I'm good to go.
I actually have a new HDTV with rabbit ears. My parents also have a new HDTV, but with their old cable box. We get HD with a cheap antenna, but they don't because they have not upgraded their cable box. I believe it's a pretty common scenario.
Another benefit to the rabbit ears: There are more channels offered via DTV than with the old analog system. We get 16 now, compared to 9 before (see http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/12/15/over-air-digital-...). Cable owners might get a chuckle out of this, but free TV plus netflix is really all we need.
The source of the information -- the press release mentioned in the story -- did not address this question. I called them back to ask for specifics on the seven markets, but haven't received a reply. I'll update the story if and when more data is provided.
Here I thought it was a poorly titled article, perhaps for something like a super lower power microcontroller running linux powered by a potato. Instead I find totally senseless satire (which I do appreciate, just not on HN) mocking the linux community and slowly turning this site in another reddit/digg.
To summarize:
She was a substitute teacher.
She lost her teaching credentials instead of 40 years in prison.
It was a windows 98 computer.
She didn't have the sense to turn off the monitor, she tried to fight the battle of endless spyware pop ups.
The "expert" they had to explain the computers knew nothing.
"She lost her teaching credentials instead of 40 years in prison."
It stuns me that 40 years was even a possibility. And it makes me wonder: have there been cases like this that we've never heard of, with similar vengeful prosecutors and similar ignorant, bewildered, defendants, who now cry themselves to sleep every night over what happened to their life?
