Asia

k babe

Because that is a 100% accurate source that is totally impartial and has nothing to gain from the entire nation adopting the product they own the rights to.

Well would you rather they send in one guy to use his own eyes and ears to gather evidence or install surveillance equipment in the bathhouse to conduct their investigation?

If anything they were just playing it extra safe... Can you imagine the headlines if it was discovered that the Department of Homeland Security secretly installed cameras and microphones in a bathhouse?

EDIT: I realize now you were probably questioning the whole point of them going into the bathhouse to investigate rather than how it was done. On that note, yes it was necessary... The guy was under investigation for months for enslaving people... They probably had him under surveillance/surrounded by under-cover officers everywhere he went.

@foxhound_fox said:

This is a thing? Holy ****. If they actually get this going, it could seriously lead to a technological and energy revolution. And no wonder it hasn't gone anywhere since 2006, we are talking about replacing oil-based asphalt and oil-based cars with electronics, recycled glass and all-electric vehicles (this is a situation where they would actually make sense, where the infrastructure itself could power the vehicles).

I'm excited. Very excited.

@Squeets said:

Because it already costs hundreds of billions of dollars just to throw normal roads down... Their own websites says that roads cover an area about the size of the entire state of Ohio in this country... How much do you think it would cost to cover that much area in freakin solar panels...? Especially when they are HIGHLY inefficient (thick surfaces, it has to support semi trucks driving over it son...) They can't angle the things (its a road, not a solar farm) meaning unless you are on the equator, they are even more inefficient...

Those are only a few of the problems I, a layman on the subject, can think of... I am sure there are a myriad of other issues government studies and engineers have come up with...

Talk about buzzkillington over here.

I just spoke with a friend about this and he said cost estimates are about 10 times that as a normal asphalt highway (apparently Japan is already moving in on this tech), with a life expectancy of over 100 years. The average asphalt road in my city gets repaved every 5 years. That's 50 years to match the cost, not accounting for the ELECTRICITY IT GENERATES.

Do you not understand how solar panels work? The surface is transparent. The photons used to power the cells pass through transparent material, regardless of it's thickness (and really, even if there is an energy loss, it would be negligible). And did you see the part in the video where each hexagonal panel can be switched out for a new one if it gets damaged? They don't have to repave anything. And I'm sure, US engineers of all people, would understand the necessity of supporting semi-truck level weights on roads that would potentially cover all those in the US, including interstates.

This could be the revolution in trucking the industry needs to become more cost-effective again. The biggest barrier to all-electric trucks isn't an electric motor's inability to produce torque (train locomotives use them to great effect), it's having the electric infrastructure in place to power the vehicles without having much down time. Those corridors at the side of the road could be equipped with charging stations or if that wireless energy transfer technology they are working on.

This shit isn't worth being cynical about. Everyone needs to get behind this. And prevent Big Oil from snuffing it out.

What about the rubber that wears off from tires on the roads? You see big black streaks of rubber wearing off on the roads everywhere... Dirt from tires... Mud... etc... Are we going to have people go out and clean off ALL of the roads every single day?

And you go on and on about the electricity it generates... Solar power is not a good source of energy insofar as we can harvest it... Yes, the Earth receives enough energy from the sun every day to power humanity for a billion years yadda yadda, but we are not capable of harvesting it very well... Solar power is incredibly inefficient as of now... And we are JUST NOW getting to the point of energy pay back taking only a few years (ie: it takes SEVERAL years just to recuperate the energy expended in producing the cell in the first place before it even gains net energy, which itself is then fairly low). And most of the inefficient solar energy we harvest right now is from giant solar farms with cells directly exposed to sunlight at the most optimal angle possible in the middle of deserts where the sky is clear 24/7... And even then the energy isn't a lot... Now put it in the upper northern hemisphere where there is cloud cover and poor weather all throughout the year, put a one inch thick sheet of their unbreakable glass over the cells, put it at a flat angle since it is a road, etc, etc...

Big oil is not preventing this from happening... If it was worth doing, self-sufficient, etc, etc as all the claims go on about, industry and private citizens would already be investing in it...

Yeah I have looked into a car which would solve almost all of my problems... But I just don't have the money... Even without the car being modified and using portable hand controls (just a series of rods that you can hook onto the gas and breaks with handles in your lap) is going to be upwards of $20k, even for the most modest of vehicles...

I just don't have it.

Because it already costs hundreds of billions of dollars just to throw normal roads down... Their own websites says that roads cover an area about the size of the entire state of Ohio in this country... How much do you think it would cost to cover that much area in freakin solar panels...? Especially when they are HIGHLY inefficient (thick surfaces, it has to support semi trucks driving over it son...) They can't angle the things (its a road, not a solar farm) meaning unless you are on the equator, they are even more inefficient...

Those are only a few of the problems I, a layman on the subject, can think of... I am sure there are a myriad of other issues government studies and engineers have come up with...

I just graduated in December and thoroughly enjoyed my college experience... I enjoyed almost all the classes with the faculty in both of my departments (double major) and even entered my university's honors program... I do, however, have about $35,000 in debt that goes into repayment in about two weeks.

One of my professors worked at both the University and at the legal center of a nearby military base... He recommended me to the staff there and I received an offer for a $45k per year position with them... I accepted and was thoroughly happy with my situation, but unfortunately I had to withdraw my acceptance because I was unable to make the move for financial reasons (lack of money).

I am in a wheelchair and I barely have any money saved up... So I ran into a whole heap of problems after accepting the position... First apartments near the base were fairly expensive given it was near an urban center and most base personnel that didn't live on base had stipends/subsidization that allowed them to live in the high priced places... I am not in the military so I wouldn't receive such help... On top of that most places require deposits, first and last month, etc; then if I would have moved utilities, etc., for that first few weeks/month of not being paid yet... Like I said I have very little money right now... So I would barely be able to afford the move by itself... Then on top of that, I needed some form of public transportation... I learned that the city's bus service could take me directly to the base, but only one line of buses was granted access to the base a specific time in the morning and afternoon (can't just have buses coming on and off a military base all day unchecked)... Not only that, but they told me that only two people in wheelchairs were allowed on any bus at any given time (they are required by law to strap you down, each bus only has two wheelchair spots, so if they are filled you simply aren't allowed on)... They told me they weren't allowed to release the information about how full the buses are the what not...

So I was faced with dropping several thousands of dollars on an apartment and everything that goes with it, then hoping that I could get a ride to and from work... As I pointed out... I wasn't financially secure enough to drop all of that money on an apartment without having guaranteed transportation to the base every single day... And my parents were unable to help either.

So now I am just playing video games and enjoying the remaining two weeks of my life, because after this I will owe about $600 a month for the next 10 years and I only have enough cash on hand for the first 3 or 4 months.

I prefer homemade.

If I MUST choose between those two, Kraft. I don't dislike Velveeta, but I prefer Kraft over it.

Dawn of War II and all of its subsequent releases, the most recent being Retribution, have minute RPG elements. A modest "stat" system, modest "loot" drops, skills, talent points, etc. And since you seem to take issue with turn-based in your opening post, it is all in real-time with an emphasis on using cover and flanking; especially on higher difficulties.

It is more Real-Time Tactics than anything, but as I said, it still has modest RPG elements and is a strategy game, so maybe you might enjoy it.

There was also Shadowrun Returns recently, I haven't played it myself, but it is described as an SRPG.