Posts by 45RPM
52 posts • joined Tuesday 26th October 2010 12:15 GMT
Isn't everyone?
3" flaccid? Isn't everyone?
Posted in The ten SEXIEST computers of ALL TIME
Ten is not enough
The problem with this article is that ten just isn't enough to celebrate good design. The original ThinkPad really deserves recognition, arguably even more than the MacBook Air does (and I think that the Air is one of the finest laptops available today). The Apple II, original Mac and the first iMac are more deserving of a place than the Cube. The C128 certainly doesn't deserve plaudits - just another beige wedge (and I'd have given the Beige Wedge prize to the Atari ST) - and leaving it out would have made space for the Psion Organiser or the original Palm Pilot. What about the AgendA? No room? Of course there was no room! The PlayStation got an undeserving mention. Mention that might better have been given to the NES, or the Atari VCS. And what about the Grid Compass? Far better in terms of design than the Spectrum…
Ah well, it's a divisive subject I suppose.
Re: Who cares?
…Until you update to an OS newer than Snow Leopard. Then it won't run at all, except in a virtual machine.
OneNote, Access and Publisher?
Publisher is rubbish, definitely the worst DTP program ever to be foisted upon the world. And if low end DTP is your bag then Pages does a far better job, as does Swift.
Access is the nastiest database the world has ever seen. Its cross platform sibling, Filemaker, is far superior (and it's amazing that the two programs were ever related). Personally, though, I'd be going for MySQL or something similar for true cross platform portability.
And OneNote is ably replicated in the Word for Mac Notebook view.
Honestly though, Office is not a joy to use - and, if it weren't for the issue of compatibility with PC users, I'd use iWork exclusively.
I'll support Mr. Fry on this one
From a point of view backed-up with no evidence whatsoever, I'm going to call it for Mr. Fry. Why? Well, ElReg used to be my first port of call in the morning - it was erudite, well informed, entertaining and (fairly) balanced. Just what I wanted.
Sadly nowadays, like Viz, it just isn't as funny as it used to be. This would be forgivable if it was still well informed - but it's now yer barely informed, link-baitin', troll-attracting* Currant Bun of an IT site. Out of it's remit, out of it's depth and, sadly, out of charm.
Stephen Fry, on the other hand, never fails to entertain (even when he is ill-informed, he's still funny). All the Reg has going for it now is the Special Projects (yes, I still like the spaceplanes).
* and yes, I am aware that after this post I probably count as one of the trolls. So be it.
The Internet search could be really sweet
I like Ubuntu, but I have privacy turned on. Not because I'm tin foil hat, but because I don't want shopping results mixed with everything else. The search could be greatly improved if it was categorised - search for a term and a list of your documents and applications appears (default). A row of icons also appears - Applications, Documents, Shopping (containing Amazon, eBay and so forth) and Internet. If they did that I'd turn off privacy and praise the innovation of Ubuntu.
Re: Obvious troll is obvious.
I think that there can be more than merely compliance and non compliance. Starting entirely new projects and open sourcing them goes above and beyond - launchd, for example, from Apple or TypeScript from Microsoft. That said, I take your point (but I still don't think that I'm being too hard)
Well said…
But this is just another case of ElReg pulling our legs on a Saturday morning by allowing newbies to write articles for them.
Please stop, Vulture Central, it's too early for your teasing!
Obvious troll is obvious.
Apple is a big-time user of open source, but contributes comparatively little back, webkit and a few other projects excepted.
I got to this point and realised that you don't actually know what you're talking about. Comparatively little? CUPS? LLVM/Clang? launchd? Darwin? Zeroconf? All major contributions. Truth is that even 'ultra closed' iOS isn't particularly ultra closed. As with so many systems these days, it's a pretty good mix of open and closed - and you can even download the source for large parts of it from Apple. What iOS really is is locked down, but locked down and closed are two entirely different things.
If you'd picked on Apple for being patent hoarding bell ends then I'd have agreed. But name one big business that isn't? We were given a talk by a troll, sorry, lawyer at work this week (on patent law) and I could hear Vikings in a cafe.
Re: Article is spot on
At the risk of bringing a whole ton of wrath down on my head, Ubuntu is beautiful. I don't like the Amazon integration, so I turned that off (it could have been done elegantly too - I don't know why canonical didn't). There are a few little other nits I could pick - but no more so than with any other OS. So no, Linux desktop is not necessarily a dog. There are beautiful distros out there.
Re: I still don't get…
An interesting point. Personally, I've heard about these barriers - but I've never seen them myself. Perhaps they melt away when they see me coming. iOS certainly enjoys getting in the way of the user, which is fine on a phone (well it suits me, anyway) and a perfect bloody pain in the geek arse on a tablet. Thankfully, jail breaking isn't an onerous task and then iOS is as malleable as any other operating system. Mac OS X is nothing if not flexible - I can do everything on my OS X machine that I can do on Linux (and more than I can on Windows, at least as far as my non gamer needs are concerned), but not everything I can do on OS X can be achieved as easily on Linux. So why do I have Linux? Two reasons. 1. I like it, and as a geek I see it as in my interest to be as informed as possible on the OS's that are currently available. 2. I can run Linux on relatively cheap, commodity hardware. The Porsche is nice, but sometimes the VW makes more sense.
Also, because Mac OS X is Unix (it really is, I promise you), its relatively easy to port between it and Linux (depending, of course, on the APIs that one chooses to develop with). That's very valuable to me.
I don't get the OPs point about Windows updating at the worst possible time, but I do prefer being able to defer updates as I can on Linux or Mac OS.
Posted in Russian iTunes offers smut video links
Why is it that…
…Russia gets a superior iTunes servicing?
Absolute rip off, but not a toy
"The Amiga and ST made the Mac look like an overpriced toy"? Please. Do your research. Overpriced? Yes. Toy? No.
The Amiga came closest to delivering on that claim, the ST not even close. The only area that the ST could best the Mac in was in support for colour - in terms of storage and memory, the Mac had it licked. The Amiga added pre-emptive multi-tasking but, without memory protection, that isn't much of an advantage. It just means that you crash sooner, and lose more work when you do.
In 1987, Apple released the Mac II - and whupped the competition with much faster CPUs, more colour with support for higher resolution screens, far more memory and better support for hard disks. When A/UX came out (in 1988) it also delivered on pre-emptive multitasking with memory protection.
How am I so certain of these facts? Well, back in the day, when I was a student and the world, Mac, Amiga, ST and all were all fresh and new, and the 286 seemed like a hot processor, I needed to get a 68000 packing machine for assembly coding. Besides, some of my friends had 286s and my 8086 powered Compaq Deskpro was looking a little tired. So I considered the ST, and I considered the Amiga, and decided that I wanted something with more power and an internal hard drive. So I sacrified colour on the altar of the 68030 powered SE/30 (very few Amigas were made with more power than that, and no Atari STs as far as I know).
True, the Mac cost an absolute bloody fortune - but its power was undeniable. I still have it. It's got 32M RAM, and it runs the aforementioned A/UX. It still worked too, last time I tried it a couple of years ago.
Re: Nice
No apps for iOS. I've never developed for iOS. And why would I want you to give me bad publicity? Not everyone is as stupid as you are. If you're really interested though, I've been working on network analysis software for Linux and Windows. No, I won't tell you what it's called.
My point was, and I'll try to keep the words short, that they should be able to switch easily - but that its the software that creates the lock in - not the hardware. Whether a user uses Samsung or HTC matters not a jot because, ultimately, they're on the same platform (Android). It's when they switch to iOS, Blackberry or Windows that they'll have the problem.
Re: Nice
Of course it's symbiotic, but the hardware is the shiny shiny thing that all the newbs can cream themselves over. The software is just the intangible thing that the world and his wife seeks to rip off or pirate. Truth is though that it is software that turns a computer from being a paperweight into the ultimate Swiss Army knife. And it is the software that is the most expensive part of the set up (and therefore the part who's portability should be valued)
Taking my setup, the software cost is more many thousands of pounds more than the hardware - even ignoring the stuff that I wrote. So I'm more likely to be pissed off if I have to change software platform than hardware platform.
As to the ease of porting a fart app, yes - very easy. But I grew past the hello world phase about thirty years ago, so that's not really my bag anymore. Don't worry - if you work very hard, you might grow out of that too.
Still, I'm getting a clear sense of how many newbies are posting replies to this infantile article. I guess you fancy yourselves bofh, yes?
Re: Nice
That, of course, is irrelevant because what are you going to do if you get fed up with Google? Honestly, I'm sick to death with non-developers masquerading as computer geeks. You give yourselves away everytime by over emphasizing the hardware (which is largely irrelevant) and undervaluing the software (which is everything).
Frankly, I couldn't give a monkeys about the hardware - and not too much of a monkeys about the OS - as long as I can easily port my software from one platform (that means OS, newbies) to another.
Posted in Windows 8 and the ‘Dad test’ stunts
Re: Speaking as a Dad
Personally, one of my main objections to Windows (and pretty much my only objection to the many Linux UI's) is all the superfluous bloody decoration going on. Macs look pretty, but there's no decoration in the UI - every pretty icon, widget and gizmo has a function. This has always been the case.
So no painful !Metro (which is a usable UI on phones, and very nice it is too - but scales badly to desktop systems). No dumb as fuck 'Ooh, look, I'm copying a file' animation (which is, admittedly, less irritating on Windows 7 than it is on XP and earlier). No stupid 'Well done me, I'm delet…'. I could get on, but you get the point.
Google deserves kudos for not following Microsoft down the pointlessly decorated UI route.
Posted in Windows 8 and the ‘Dad test’ stunts
Speaking as a Dad
I've tried Windows 8 and it can definitely be improved on.
Windows 7 is a massive usability upgrade over Windows 8.
Ubuntu is also a massive usability upgrade over Windows 8.
Still, I'm very grateful to Microsoft for shovelling out more high quality entertainment. It's hilarious watching the Windows fanboyz justify this latest crock of shit. Now, wheres the popcorn?
Given how fragile the iPhone is…
…this can only be explained by magic. And believe in magic iPhones since I have one. My iPhone 4, bought in the first week after release, has been immersed in salt water twice (and in the sink twice more to get the damned salt out of it), smashed into rock while I've been climbing, dropped onto concrete and stone - and just about everything that would normally result in phone death. It's uncased too, so it gets the full brunt of my abuse. And it's still my daily phone - how could I be so disloyal to the little tough nuts as to replace it?
It's chipped and the lens cover is MIA - but there are no cracks in the glass, so everything else is merely a slight battle-scar.
Re: @45RPM - So what?
Given that Ubuntu is an OS, not a business, I very much doubt that Ubuntu paid anyone. Canonical may have paid money to the Debian Project - I have no idea. You'll need to check that yourself. I'm damned certain that Canonical has advanced Linux's cause and code base more than most though, which in turn benefits Debian.
Sheesh. All these noobs. I'm amazed that they know enough about computing to find this website, much less sign up and comment on its articles. <shakes head in mock despair>
Re: Queue the freetards....
A haha haha haha ha! WIndows 8, a proper Operating System? Not just Windows, a proper Operating System? Windows 8? Really? Are you a Microsoft shill or just a kiddie who has only ever seen one operating system, and that on his Mummy's PC, purchased from Comet with Tesco vouchers?
So what?
I like Ubuntu. I like what they're doing with Unity - it's brave, and God knows that the Linux GUI world needs some bravery. Sure, it's often a step back - but it will lead to a better desktop eventually, I'm certain of it. Mac OS X 10.0 was such a step back that it was actually unusable. Vista was, well, Vista - unfortunately. Progress sometimes means temporary sacrifice (sadly, it sometimes means permanent sacrifice too!)
As for the shopping lens, yes, it's tacky. Yes, I don't like it. But look at it this way, there's no such thing as a free lunch - and Ubuntu is a very tasty lunch indeed. Pay up, cheapskates - and by paying you'll either have to put up with Amazon (and maybe buy once in a while, ensuring the future of Ubuntu) or put in a little effort to disable this lens.
As for me, I shall install Quetzal. But I'm really looking forward to:
Randy Rhino
Sexy Squirrel
Tarty Toucan
…and so forth. Well, we've had Whorey Hedgehog, so why not?
Posted in Vote now for the ULTIMATE BACON SARNIE
Anti-Fraud Voting working too well!
I guess it must be an anti-fraud system, but my colleagues and I eagerly started voting for the sublime Ungilded Sourdough from Salvation Jane - and the number of votes registered actually dropped. So did the penny - I suspect that we all appear to be on the same IP. Fsck.
Never mind. Sod the vote. But do yourselves all a favour and get down to Salvation Jane - it's well worth it. As for most of the other sandwiches (well, some of them anyway) I shall try them out. They look delicious! But seeds, nuts and cheese will always be an abomination in my mind, at least as far as a good butty is concerned!
Good effort Lester, by the way. This is exactly what The Register should be all about!
iOS users don't need maps…
…they just blindly follow everyone else!
Re: What about iCloud?
O Rly? How can that be given that Apple no longer hosts other people's web sites (that functionality was dropped with MobileMe)
A scandalous invasion of privacy
If I want to enjoy a picture or two of beavers and pussies, frolicking in their natural habitat, enjoying the company of one eyed snakes and a hairy clam or two then I should be allowed to and without having to apply for a special exemption (whose details will doubtless be made public, if accidentally, along with my phone number and inside leg measurement).
It is the duty of every parent to ensure that their computer network is secure - and, if centralized controls must be provided, then surely the way to do it is to make it easy for people to opt out of, rather than opt in to, smut. Similarly, every parent must make sure that their alcohol, heroin and supply of washing liquitabs is out of reach of their dear little darlings. I ensure that my children are out of the room when I hide the sausage, but I don't want the government to strap a chastity belt on me just in case I lose any sense of propriety.
On this matter though, I confess I find it hard to care very much. I care in the intellectual sense that I object to any damn fool attempt to deprive me of my liberties, and I wonder how thick the wedge is going to get. I care because, whilst the children (oh, think of the poor dear little children) won't get to see images that show how they were made they'll still be able to watch guns being shot and get plastic weapons. Seriously, man, that's fucked up. Make love, not war. I don't really care in this instance though, because it's not going to affect my lifestyle - and the Man hasn't come for me. Yet.
Re: Okay, and now from someone who knows…
Okay. Now we're seriously off topic. In my experience, only SQL Server is faster on Windows than it is on Linux - and that's only because SQL Server doesn't run on Linux. If you've managed different, then that's great - I tip my hat to you.
Taking specific examples - which I admit are very esoteric, and of interest only to very few people, Windows time accuracy isn't worthy of the name. It's out by several orders of magnitude for what I require. Network performance is horrible. If I want to capture at 10Gbps line rate, without loss, on Windows then I can whistle. On Linux, it's eminently feasible. In fact, I can do 20Gbps (two 10Gbps networks), writing to RAID. Scheduler latency is ridiculous. Schedule and wait for a bloody long time (in CPU terms).
Add to all this the fact that the more clients I have the more I have to pay, and yes. I stand by my argument.
Yes, Microsoft has its own protocols. That's the problem. They're its own protocols. They aren't open. Batch file language is woeful and, whilst Powershell scripting is a huge improvement, it still isn't great. And again I say, it's Windows only. Microsoft has locked you in to its system. So we'll take Mac OS X as an example (because Apple is every Windows fanboy's poster child for the ultimate lock in system): If I use OS X to write a script (bash, perl, whatever) then guess what? Not only does it work perfectly on the Mac, it'll also likely work perfectly on every other damn system except Windows - and if changes are needed, they'll be minor in nature. So I can take my code and run on Haiku, Linux, Solaris etc etc. The same is true of compiled languages - provided that I steer clear of the GUI or restrict myself to X11.
Here's the thing. I value difference. I really like what Canonical is doing with Unity. I like the !Metro UI (on Windows phone, at least). OS X is a joy to use. It's all great. But, much as I value difference, I love compatibility. I love being able to take the only things that have real value on my computer (the code that I write) and put them on any other OS with only minimal effort. Windows tries to lock me in. It uses its own standards, not open standards, and I do not appreciate that at all.
Re: possibly the first Apple product that I really want to try out
For this use case, you really can't do better than Synology I reckon. It's what I use at home, and if you don't need something to serve Apple client systems seamlessly then a Synology is about as good as you can get. Sure, for a pure Mac setup then a Mac OS X Server system is as good as it gets, but for a mixed ecosystem (I'm running Windows, Linux, RISC OS, Mac OS X and AU/X (because I like retro!)), Synology is perfect. It's cheaper too.
Re: Okay, and now from someone who knows…
1.) Nope. I assure you that I'm not. And compared with Linux, Windows Server really is a POS PITA. It's slow (databases are faster on Linux, kernel latency is bad, network performance isn't great). Uptime isn't as good as Linux - we have to restart every six months, or it gets seriously flaky. Stuff that should be standard has to be installed separately, and often from a third party (ssh, for one, perl for another - but I could go on). And so on.
2.) I totally agree that you need more than a month to understand an OS properly. No disagreement here. My point was that you can't really comment unless you've had a month of immersion. I've been 'doing' Windows on servers since NT4 (in 1997, and I know that plenty of people here will be able to go back to NT3.x - not me though), VMS since 1992, OS X since 2001, and Linux since 2005 (I came rather late to the party, but once I got there I liked what I saw).
Re: SMBs?
No. Not necessarily. In this case, only if your career includes extensive use of Mac OS X Server. If, on the other hand, you've never used Mac OS X Server in anger then you're no more qualified to discuss its merits than am I to discuss whether the Rocketdyne F1 is a better engine than the Kuznetsov NK-33.
Re: SMBs?
Hmm. Do you actually have any experience though (other than 'I read it somewhere')?
Re: SMBs?
Speaking from personal experience, and once you factor in support costs, nothing is cheaper than a Mac setup. The up front capital expenditure is higher - but that up-front expenditure is quickly recouped in lower support spend.
Okay, and now from someone who knows…
At my 'work' work, we use Windows Server (endless headaches, pain in the arse) and Linux (excellent, if not the easiest to configure) running on DL360, DL380 and BL460 hardware (which is very nice, except for the BL460 which only appears to be nice until you try to use it).
My sister runs her own business with about 40 employees, many of whom are jetting all over the world. I do their IT for them on a part time basis and so, given that I have a day job to contend with and I really don't want to be mucking around with support all the time, I set them up with Macs. Best idea I ever had - I haven't had a support call in about six months (that one took about 5 minutes to resolve, and turned out to the ISP at fault).
As her business grew, we decided that she really needed her own server to handle her company address books (with around 6,000 contacts at the current time), calendar, mail, software updates, FTP server / cloud storage and so forth. Xserve being rather out of budget, and a little too pricey, we settled on a pair on Minis and a UPS. Do you know what? They do the job perfectly. Because they're a pair, we've managed 100% uptime so far (which just goes to show what one person and no bureaucracy can achieve) - when one needs to be upgraded, the other takes the load and vice versa. They're running Leopard Server - no need to be state of the art with this, and they can't run anything much newer anyway (they're early 32bit Intel Core Duo - so SL is the best they can do) - they're getting rather long in the tooth now. Are they scheduled to be replaced? Nope. Not yet. We have a spare unit - and when one fails I'll replace it immediately (with the aforementioned spare) and buy new Mac Minis then. Reckon that'll be years yet though.
So yes, Macs do make sense - even for fairly large small businesses. I get to do my day job, and she gets to run her business without bothering me for support issues. I do understand the head-in-the-sand mentality that Macs can't hack it. A Mac is a little different, and one can never appreciate the benefits of a new system based on a cursory glance. I reckon a months immersion is the minimum requirement before one is qualified to comment on whether a system is worthwhile or not. On this basis, I can comment on Windows, various Linuxes (SLES, Ubuntu, Red Hat, Debian, Arch), OS X and VMS (yes, really - on VAX and Alpha, although the VAXes will be retired next year) - because those are the OSes I use on a daily basis. If you find me pontificating about anything else, please remind me to STFU and I'll eat my words.
Ugh! Horrible
I used CDE on Solaris and on VMS many years ago, and I'd kind of hoped that many years ago would be where it stayed. I concede that some talented developer might pick it up and turn it from an ugly piece of crap into a beautiful swan of a user interface - it's possible. But why? There are beautiful UIs in existence already, and then there are halfway decent UIs that wouldn't take too much effort to beautify further. CDE isn't worth the effort.
The only thing that CDE has going for it over Windows is that it's sitting on a Posix compliant OS (usually - not always, admittedly). It has nothing to commend it over Gnome, KDE, Unity, Mac OS X…
Posted in Ten freeware gems for new Macs
Dont be so down on GateKeeper
GateKeeper is awesome. It's not too restrictive - it doesn't get in my way at all, but it'll be a huge help in ensuring that my mother doesn't fill her Mac up with crapware. And we should all be thanking Apple (and any software company for that matter) for any technologies which make malware harder to spread, whilst not restricting the end user.
News to me
I've been using Apple kit in the enterprise for ten years now, starting with a G4 tower and now using a MacBook Air and an iPad. The Air is used to write Windows and Linux software (I like to keep my hand in), and manage my teams etc. the iPad is unbeatable for presentations, notes and convenient working on the train.
Of course, if we're talking SQL databases and the like then the iPad is unsuitable. For server tasks I recommend HP servers with Linux. Experience tells me that Windows is the weakest link, I'm afraid, and it really has nothing to commend it. It's expensive, inelegant and slow.
Posted in Jolly rogered
Dick recognition wouldn't work
If you were to use dick recognition software then the only people who'd be able to browse for porn would be people who vote Tory and readers of the Daily Express and Daily Mail. Oh, and people called Richard.
The irony, of course, is that these people not only don't view porn (or, at least, they vehemently deny viewing porn), but they only 'make love' through a carefully cut hole in a sheet. Except people called Richard of course - they're usually quite well adjusted and normal.
Not guaranteed
It's theoretically possible, although admittedly bloody difficult, to create a malware infested disk image with the same checksum as the uninfested image. I don't know if anyone has been clever enough to pull off the stunt though.
Perhaps I'm paranoid, but the only use I can see for the checksum is to show me that something has definitely gone wrong - not to guarantee that it's gone right.
No Recovery Media?
If your computer comes with no recovery media, and especially if the recovery media is an extra cost option, then you bought the wrong computer. Apple tried this stunt in the past - you had to provide your own floppy disks and write your own recovery set. It was a crap idea then, not helped by the fact that (in Apple's case) Mac OS 7.5.x was less pleasant than treading in dog shit. With bare feet.
It's not as if it's all that difficult to get a computer with free recovery media either - Recovery media that's unencumbered with license number or activation rubbish. The answer, people, is Linux. Or Mac OS X - take your pick. Macs come with recovery media. Linux makes it even easier by providing any number of flavours, gratis, from any number of providers.
Your 2012 resolution should be to place Windows where it belongs. In the bin.
ID10T Error
How are Microsoft acting like Apple? If they were acting like Apple they would:
* Provide recovery media
* Sell upgrades to the OS at a reasonable price…
* …in one version, rather than a crippled 'home' version and a bloody expensive 'ultimate' version
* Give a complete IDE away for free, rather than a crippled IDE for free
* Have no license number to enter on install
* Have no activation either
* Provide a complete, posix environment…
* …that is a joy to use.
* Make the greater part of the OS source code available for download, open source.
So no. In all fairness, Microsoft are acting like Microsoft. You may not like what Apple provides - but if you intended to be fair you'd have to conclude that the only company that acts like Apple is Apple.
Run aground
Size of an aircraft carrier? Let's just hope that Andy Coles isn't captain!
Lewis Page is a Troll
Lewis Page is Reg's equivalent of Clarkson or The Daily Mail. Despite unanimous (well, unanimous from informed climate scientists anyway) evidence to the contrary, he still craps on about how climate change really isn't all that bad, probably not man made and definitely nothing to worry about.
Please can we stop feeding it now?
Rampant self publicist talks bollocks
Nobody care about Pete Townshend any more. I doubt that most of da yoof even know who he is. He's been an irrelevance since the sixties. So, had he not invoked the spectre of Apple, this speech would have been ignored. Let's not give him the oxygen he's seeking. He's just trolling.
Posted in The real reason Google bought Motorola
Xander, don't speak Latin in front of the geeks…
Non esse malum
Posted in Ten... budget Android tablets
I just don't get it
Why would anybody buy cheap crap just to have something new? Come on! You can get a second hand, good quality tablet (either Android or iOS, take your pick) - with a capacitive glass screen and a decent amount of storage - for about the same price as one of these nasty plastic toys. Less probably, now that the looters are running scared and trying to offload their ill gotten gains!
So what's the point?
Which begs the question, 'what the hell are ofcom for?'
Are they merely a drain on taxpayers money?
Wow - Strong Nuclear Lobby
Wow, I had no idea that the Nuclear Lobby was so strong on el Reg. So let me explain.
There is no dispute that coal is a dirty fuel and also that coal generates radioactive byproducts too - radioactive byproducts which are largely vented into the atmosphere. But here's the thing - you can't actually make a bomb, dirty or 'clean' from coal ash. What's more, if you wanted to dispose of the ash you could just stuff it back down the mine or quarry that it came from - we have enough abandoned workings after all. We just don't have the political willpower to do so. Ash is largely safe - yes, I know about the heavy metals and other pollutants in the ash - but generations of Welsh communities have demonstrated that it's quite possible to live your life and raise your family in the shadow of the ash pile. Perhaps not nice and yes, fatal if it slips onto your head, but ultimately fairly safe. Besides, after years of plant growth (yes, plants can grow on an ash pile - some even like it), the ash pile stabilises - and many of the nastier waste products get locked up.
Good luck doing that with current, and even next generation, Nuclear reactors. I'd rather live in Aberfan than Pripyat. Even the most vocal adherent of Nuclear has to admit that ash is easier to deal with than nuclear waste.
I don't actually have a problem with building Nuclear - provided we know what we'll do with the waste. And we don't. We keep lobbing ideas around, none of which work so far, and the piles of toxic and radioactive waste continue to build. And the two Nuclear solutions which seem to be cleanest (Hybrid reactors - which would reduce the overall amount of high level waste - theoretically, they could 'burn' waste from other reactors, and burn old nuclear warheads, and Fusion) are either too expensive or too impossible with current technology or lack the political will to implement. So yes. Fuck new Nuclear until we do the job cleanly and properly.
But (whinge, whine, moan) we won't have enough power if we don't have nuclear! Boo Hoo. Turn your computer off at night. Buy less gadgets. Get rid of your energy hungry plasma TV. Recycle. Reuse. Use public transport. Problem solved. Sure, you'll have less toys - but you'll also have a cleaner world. You'll thank me for it one day.
Not actually Anti-Nuclear...
...Just anti current Nuclear. If we have a plan for what we do with the waste I have no problem with it at all (see my later post). My current objection is that we have no idea what to do with the waste we make.
Safe?
Okay, so which numbnuts is going to be first to justify nuclear power, and explain exactly why this expensive and dirty dinosaur deserves political backing for a new generation of reactors?
What a crock.
Posted in Apple MacBook Air 13in late 2010
In fairness...
2-3 seconds would be waking up from hibernate - deep, deep, deep sleep. Waking up from normal sleep is quicker than blinking. At any rate, it's quicker (by far) than opening the lid of the laptop.
Mine (a fully maxed 13") is on order (after extensive testing of a demo unit). I was deeply impressed - so much so that I decided not to buy a 'Pro after all. Mine will mostly be used for coding (Mac and Windows), Office, 'Net and Email, and (almost certainly) Civilization V.
Woot!
