Thank you very much for your analysis of this situation. I have not verified your math or assumptions, but it is heartening to see somebody at least trying to apply rational thought here.
Friction, though. I have heard that conventional auto tranny's are generally 90-95% efficient, no idea about the rest of the drivetrain. And at full power output, that engine's going to be horking down the fuel. But that won't happen that often, presumably.
> Also, the Roomba's serial interface communicates at plus and minus 5 volts, > while PCs talk at plus and minus 10 volts. This means that if you're going > to use a PC to control the Roomba, you're going to use a MAX232 chip.
Actually, the Roomba uses TTL levels for its' serial comms: 0V and +5V.
Also, I recommend the MAX233 chip. A little pricier than the 233, but it has the capacitors built in, so you only need one external power decoupling cap to make things go.
This is one of the most insightful things I've read on Slashdot, ever. I wish I had some mod points for it.
Fighting fire with fire just leads to a bigger blaze - if they break the rules (licence violations, etc.), you do not now have clear title to break them as well. That is the path to corruption.
The Long Now Foundation (http://www.longnow.org) is an org that concerned with the cultural memory of humans. Among other problems they face is the retention of data. One of their solutions for making sure something passes down throug hthe next 10,000 years (their timeframe) is to make many many copies in a near-indestructible format and distribute them across the world.
I sure hope that there are more than one set of the BBC discs!
> A good SLR lens, though, we cost you more a thousand dollars.
Wow, I thought _I_ had some good lenses for my camera - but none of _mine_ post to Slashdot. I guess that's the difference between consumer and pro grade!
RCA connectors are good? What? No other connector I know of does such a good job of throwing signal into the system BEFORE CONNECTING THE ASSOCIATED GROUND. These things should be shot at dawn, and again at noon.
One of the best places for all things mechanical - sheet metal, aluminum, brackets, fasteners - is McMaster-Carr. At mcmaster.com their entire catalog is online (don't even _try_ to get a paper copy) and the 'Raw Materials' section will let you sort in a myriad of different ways. Add to that incredible 1-DAY shipping, at STANDARD UPS COST, and you see why these guys are on every engineering firm's Christmas card list.
While e-beam technology is, as stated, extremely flexible and useful as a 'one-off' prototyping method, it is also SLOW AS HECK. With millions of transistors, drawing one by one is not a solution for mass-production. With a wafer holding perhaps thousands of dies, I have heard from those in the industry that it can take up to 10 hours (hours!) for one wafer to be 'drawn'.
Slashdot Mirror
Total protonic reversal.
Thank you very much for your analysis of this situation. I have not verified your math or assumptions, but it is heartening to see somebody at least trying to apply rational thought here.
Friction, though. I have heard that conventional auto tranny's are generally 90-95% efficient, no idea about the rest of the drivetrain. And at full power output, that engine's going to be horking down the fuel. But that won't happen that often, presumably.
> Also, the Roomba's serial interface communicates at plus and minus 5 volts,
> while PCs talk at plus and minus 10 volts. This means that if you're going
> to use a PC to control the Roomba, you're going to use a MAX232 chip.
Actually, the Roomba uses TTL levels for its' serial comms: 0V and +5V.
Also, I recommend the MAX233 chip. A little pricier than the 233, but it has
the capacitors built in, so you only need one external power decoupling cap
to make things go.
"Why should I change my name - he's the one that sucks!" - Michael Bolton
I remember it being there for as long as... well, as lonfg as I rmemeber anything at the Museum. Maybe since 1986-ish?
Yeah, it's about that big. Sadly, it doesn't work anymore - strings stretched out and all.
The tic-tac-toe computer is stilll in Boston, sitting in the entrance to the Museum of Science.
This is one of the most insightful things I've read on Slashdot, ever. I wish I had some mod points for it.
Fighting fire with fire just leads to a bigger blaze - if they break the rules (licence violations, etc.), you do not now have clear title to break them as well. That is the path to corruption.
>It is good to see that at least some U.S. politicians are trying to protect the right of the consumers.
Now all we need is to have some more protection for the rights of the _citizens_. I'd rather be a citizen than a consumer...
The Long Now Foundation (http://www.longnow.org) is an org that concerned with the cultural memory of humans. Among other problems they face is the retention of data. One of their solutions for making sure something passes down throug hthe next 10,000 years (their timeframe) is to make many many copies in a near-indestructible format and distribute them across the world.
I sure hope that there are more than one set of the BBC discs!
> A good SLR lens, though, we cost you more a thousand dollars.
Wow, I thought _I_ had some good lenses for my camera - but none of _mine_ post to Slashdot. I guess that's the difference between consumer and pro grade!
RCA connectors are good? What? No other connector I know of does such a good job of throwing signal into the system BEFORE CONNECTING THE ASSOCIATED GROUND. These things should be shot at dawn, and again at noon.
One of the best places for all things mechanical - sheet metal, aluminum, brackets, fasteners - is McMaster-Carr. At mcmaster.com their entire catalog is online (don't even _try_ to get a paper copy) and the 'Raw Materials' section will let you sort in a myriad of different ways. Add to that incredible 1-DAY shipping, at STANDARD UPS COST, and you see why these guys are on every engineering firm's Christmas card list.
While e-beam technology is, as stated, extremely flexible and useful as a 'one-off' prototyping method, it is also SLOW AS HECK. With millions of transistors, drawing one by one is not a solution for mass-production. With a wafer holding perhaps thousands of dies, I have heard from those in the industry that it can take up to 10 hours (hours!) for one wafer to be 'drawn'.
This Will Not Do.
Well, actually, they are. Sort of. Virtually all current LCDs have some sort of backlight, and many older ones are actually flourescent tubes.
BTW, I've heard that the backlight in an LCD uses up to 25% of he power budget on a laptop. Can anyone add to this?