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Comment: Re:too expensive (Score 5, Informative) 48

by Nidi62 (#48572617) Attached to: Army Building an Airport Just For Drones
You need shelter for the aircraft (hangars), storage for fuel and other consumables (ammunition, film/data storage, etc), repair facilities and their associated storage requirements, facilities for the personnel assigned to the base (at the very least breakrooms and bathrooms, not to mention workspaces and command/control facilities, and probably housing as well-which comes with its own needs), a control tower with both visual and equipment navigation, and of course security personnel and the related infrastructure needed to secure and patrol a secure-access facility. I don't think 10 grand and an old KMart would be able to supply all of those things.

Comment: Re:Are they really that scared? (Score 1) 461

by Nidi62 (#48532527) Attached to: Why Elon Musk's Batteries Frighten Electric Companies

won't need to be on the grid here

Don't worry, they'll almost certainly add being connected to the grid to be a mandatory part of the housing code or something.

The local trash monopoly did something similar. Trash service is about $60 a month,

That alone is ridiculous. Where I live, I pay about $9.50 a month, and that includes trash, recyclables, and lawn clippings within reason.

Comment: Re:In Reverse (Score 1) 75

by Nidi62 (#48441161) Attached to: Extreme Shrimp May Hold Clues To Alien Life On Europa

I actually suspect that the majority of life - and intelligent life - in the universe is probably ocean-based. If ever space aliens visit us, unlike the movies, I suspect their spaceships may be more likely to be like sealed aquariums than an air-breathing setup. I've never seen this idea reflected in science fiction though.

In the later books of the Lost Fleet series, they come across an alien race that is aquatic, with ships that are much more maneuverable than human ships. They theorized that the ships were in fact filled with water which allowed them to make more radical movements.

Comment: Re:My predictions (Score 1) 267

by Nidi62 (#48331741) Attached to: 'Star Wars: Episode VII' Gets a Name

When, exactly, did Vader ever see either of the droids in the original trilogy?

C3PO was in the bag on the back of Chewbacca while Vader and Boba Fett were having Solo frozen in carbonite in Cloud City. So Vader saw him there. And could possibly have seen him in A New Hope after Ben died. Seeing as how C3PO is apparently the only gold protocol droid in the galaxy, Vader would have recognized him easily.

Comment: Re:College admissions is not a life-value system (Score 4, Insightful) 389

by Nidi62 (#48072691) Attached to: Is It Time To Throw Out the College Application System?

You can go through life with just vocational training an certification with a nice paying job. Just keep in mind you will be the first to get axed and vs the low experienced degree'd person.

I work with people making over 50K a year, 40 hours a week, available overtime, 4-5 weeks paid vacation, annual profit sharing, and fairly regular raises, and best of all job security, all with only requiring a high school degree. To me that sounds a lot better than making 60-70k while working 50+ hours a week and not knowing when your job is going to be outsourced and finding yourself unemployed.

If you want job security, manual labor is exactly what you want. Plumbing, mechanic, welding, etc; all of these are jobs that require people on site, and require levels of competence and skill that preclude both offshoring and outsourcing. Managers with an MBA are a dime a dozen. A skilled mechanic with an A&P is a lot harder to replace.

Take an astronaut to launch.