On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with a patent on a good, innovative kitchen sink. I, personally, need to replace one in my kitchen some time soon, and I will buy the one that I like, regardless of patents.
Large databases usually don't use files, they use raw partitions, with a weird combination of striped and RAIDed volumes for speed and reliability. So it may well be difficult to copy the database - and then to recreate it at home.
Such a problem would not occur in USSR because private ownership of a shop would be illegal, not even speaking of a -printing- facility, which would be doubly verboten.
Besides, I did live there, and speak about what I saw.
If a cop wants to see my driver's license he's welcome to, and you know what? I'll smile...
Sure. But what a normal cop would do next with your driver's license? Do you think he will simply enjoy the quality of printing, or how your photo is really nice? Not at all. He will "run" your name against the database. And if your name is a common one, or if you just happen to share name with a known criminal, guess what - you will be asked to pay a short visit, voluntarily of course, to the station... where the police is reasonably expected to take your fingerprints and otherwise ensure that you are not the criminal. At best, you are home free after some delay and with dirty fingers (which are now state property). At worst, you need to talk to a lawyer, because that young detective is really inspired to prove that you are that very criminal (and help his career too.)
That is simply a fantasy. I don't know what Soviet Union, in what Universe, you are talking about, but on this planet a soviet citizen didn't need to get any permission to travel - not at least after Stalin's death (and before that you often needed a permission to live.) There were no such permissions, as there were no offices that would be issuing those, and noone to check them upon arrival. You just went to a railway station or an airport, paid cash and got the ticket. Any photo ID was sufficient to board the plane, IIRC. And you could travel on any ground vehicle, incl. trains, without any ID at all.
A soviet citizen got his passport on his 16th birthday, exactly for the same purposes an american gets his SSN. The passport was a universally accepted (and the best) personal ID, since hardly anyone had a driver's license; however some state-issued IDs with photos were OK too.
Soviet Union had its problems, but police brutality was never one of them. Now it is, but not back then; people trusted the police, and for a good reason.
This article discusses the voltage; when the arc is lit, the voltage will be about 18V, and at 150A it will produce about 3 kW, which is sufficient for small parts (like a lawnmower.) More powerful systems go higher in both voltage and current, and are used to weld really massive parts (beams of buildings, ships, etc.)
By definition of terrorists, they don't attack military objects (tanks). They would be guerillas then.
But if you mean "resistance" of all sorts, then
one of the realities of the asymmetric warfare is that the attackers won't be aiming at tanks; and the occupying army won't have much use for tanks either.
The most visible damage is done to light armor, and by very definition of "light" it can't be made strong enough to withstand a mine blast or several RPG hits. The advancement of attackers can be seen in, for example, shift from attacking with machine guns to mining the roads and triggering the mines remotely. TNT is cheap and quite safe to melt and pour into plastic buckets.
No moving parts, please. As you already know, after an explosion the edges will be too rough. And since it is still armor, you can not "jam" the doors through it, the doors will be damaged - or more likely just wedged somewhere.
A current design (for last 100 years or so) is to have air-filled compartments that are sealed. These compartments actually absorb the energy of explosion, and since they are small they don't weigh too much when they are filled with water.
But given that in an [unlikely] major battle an anti-ship weapon will be nuclear-tipped, one hit will be enough to sink whatever pieces of the ship haven't vaporized yet. Modern ships are already sufficiently protected from the minor hits. So the current situation is kind of acceptable.
The arc welder uses about 50-100V, and several hundred amps. This is necessary to get a usable arc power. Your 2V, 500A only produce 1 kW, less than a burner of your electrical oven in the kitchen. You need much more than that to weld massive steel, something like 10 kW at very least.
With regard to the article.
It is very difficult to accumulate enough electrical power for a very high current discharge. I do not think the armor solution will be easy to make. The copper is practically already a jet of quite hot plasma, and feeding a current through it may only increase its energy...
If you already have an VOIP system in place WiFi makes it really easy to leave your desk and take your phone with you
Any cordless phone can do that, and that's what I use at work. We do have VoIP and Asterisk, but WiFi phones are heavy and expensive, and they will stay heavy and expensive simply because of economics of WiFi - the 802.11 protocol is not very power-efficient on its own, and the protocol is too complex anyway.
Less, for sure - like ZERO. There are many flat rate plans that cover all of North America, and the cost only depends on number of minutes in the block that you purchase. Great for businesses.
Grandstream phones are really cheap inside, very shoddy manufacturing etc. etc. Most of them work, but you must buy extra 10% for spares. I have one phone here that just refuses to recognize network... sometimes:-) I opened it up and inspected soldering, seems to be OK but still the phone is defective. And they also love to ARP-flood your network, you need to check the configuration with a sniffer to be sure they behave.
However a working SIP phone with Asterisk is great. I had more problems with two analog phones than with 10 SIP ones.
At some point I even had some of these phones bridged over 802.11b - no phone-related problems (but plenty 802.11-related ones:-) Now they are on 100 Mbps cable, though - more reliable.
Spare me the "Oh they made a monopoly out of nothing and then put a gun to millions of people's heads" theories
I'd use a different analogy: "MS gave users enough of their drugs so that the users are addicted now, and can't withdraw even when they are ravaged by some virus every other day."
There is nothing wrong in curing a drug addict (assuming that it is possible.) Similarly, there is nothing wrong in weaning the users from the MS alcohol, even though it tastes great.
Then they should go out and buy the CD. Normal people, however, not burdened with "golden ears", are quite happy with quality of Vorbis and MP3, if encoded correctly.
Older people remember vinyl and tape. *That* was painful to listen to - and guess what, everyone loved the thing!
IANAL, but if your friend borrows your car (or even your unique jacket!) and is seen doing something bad, the police will grab you first; with luck you will be able to explain your role in the affair, but even then you will have to show that you did not know beforehand that the guy is going to do what he did.
When the stakes are so high, the intruder will have to produce some real hands. He only needs to make sure they are properly defrosted before use.
Re:for actually using a computer (writing document
on
Is Caps Lock Dead?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
What if he types with only one finger?
Re:I'm surrounded by idiots...
on
OQO Examined
·
· Score: 1
For the business executive on the go, this makes the perfect all-in-one solution. Set up a docking station at home and at the office so you can use the device with comfort and efficiency at the places where you get the majority of your work done, and then use the device detached from its docking cable when you're on the move. You will always have your data with you without having to sync your data between PDA and laptop/desktop.
The above is something totally detached from life. Business executives don't know computers, and they don't want to know them. Rare a CEO would want to manage a network of devices and keep things synchronized. And they can't care less about efficiency.
A business executive uses a laptop - because he knows that the laptop is 100% compatible with anything he may receive or send, and the laptop is what he is used to, and there are laptops small and laptops large depending on what he wants.
This OQO thing is unlikely to be useful as a universal computer (as a laptop replacement.) It is too limited. And once you exceed the critical size and weight, you don't care any more - the thing goes into the luggage instead of your shirt pocket.
The device can work for only 2 hours, it has limited input (how productive can you be with *that* keyboard?), and has limited performance. It also costs a lot. So you use it when it makes sense. But when that would be?
Definitely, people have all kinds of opinions, and that's what the market is for - anyone who likes it can walk in and buy one. No need for globally enforced orders to buy or not to buy. But myself, I see no need for this thing. I will use a laptop when I want it, and at other times I need nothing at all. I don't want yet another device (even assuming that I waste $1500 on it) just to endlessly copy files back and forth; remember to keep it charged, and still carry the charger with me; hold a one-pound device in my hands for prolonged time; suffer the tiny and unfamiliar keyboard... Basically, this device does not address any of my needs.
Hmm... maybe then. But I really don't expect store owners (which are usually a multi-mega-corporation) to permit anyone to enter on a Segway, just because of insurance risks; for example:
A rider can crash into expensive merchandise
A rider can injure other customers or himself
Other customers will see Segway riders as a danger and go to a competing store where they are safe from the menace
A rider on a Segway can steal tons of stuff and get away.
So many problems, and where are the benefits to the store owners? I just can't see it happening. You can't take pets into most of the stores right now (except guide dogs marked as such), so the prohibition of Segways will not be anything special.
95050 (so it's not far from the scene of the story); yes; $327.80, I just checked; good record goes back at least 10 years (that I was able to prove with papers that I could find.)
The country is full of people who are raised and educated into belief that everyone else is responsible for their well-being. Ok, you are not one of them, and if you fall it's your pain. But there are plenty of other people who will not even think twice about suing everyone in sight for everything they did or did not do. And you can bet there will be plenty of [ambulance-chasing] lawyers to help them. It's free money, after all, and the Almighty Dollar rules here.
This is not unique to Segway, by the way. The same thing happens with cars, and people do get slapped with huge penalties for a momentary lack of attention. I see no difference between breaking a leg in a traffic accident and breaking a leg on a Segway tour. It's just on Segway you have more people to sue. And often you have to do that, because the treatment of the injuries will cost you a lot of money.
Slashdot Mirror
Not long, because it has happened already (and there are more).
On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with a patent on a good, innovative kitchen sink. I, personally, need to replace one in my kitchen some time soon, and I will buy the one that I like, regardless of patents.
Large databases usually don't use files, they use raw partitions, with a weird combination of striped and RAIDed volumes for speed and reliability. So it may well be difficult to copy the database - and then to recreate it at home.
Besides, I did live there, and speak about what I saw.
Sure. But what a normal cop would do next with your driver's license? Do you think he will simply enjoy the quality of printing, or how your photo is really nice? Not at all. He will "run" your name against the database. And if your name is a common one, or if you just happen to share name with a known criminal, guess what - you will be asked to pay a short visit, voluntarily of course, to the station... where the police is reasonably expected to take your fingerprints and otherwise ensure that you are not the criminal. At best, you are home free after some delay and with dirty fingers (which are now state property). At worst, you need to talk to a lawyer, because that young detective is really inspired to prove that you are that very criminal (and help his career too.)
That is simply a fantasy. I don't know what Soviet Union, in what Universe, you are talking about, but on this planet a soviet citizen didn't need to get any permission to travel - not at least after Stalin's death (and before that you often needed a permission to live.) There were no such permissions, as there were no offices that would be issuing those, and noone to check them upon arrival. You just went to a railway station or an airport, paid cash and got the ticket. Any photo ID was sufficient to board the plane, IIRC. And you could travel on any ground vehicle, incl. trains, without any ID at all.
A soviet citizen got his passport on his 16th birthday, exactly for the same purposes an american gets his SSN. The passport was a universally accepted (and the best) personal ID, since hardly anyone had a driver's license; however some state-issued IDs with photos were OK too.
Soviet Union had its problems, but police brutality was never one of them. Now it is, but not back then; people trusted the police, and for a good reason.
This article discusses the voltage; when the arc is lit, the voltage will be about 18V, and at 150A it will produce about 3 kW, which is sufficient for small parts (like a lawnmower.) More powerful systems go higher in both voltage and current, and are used to weld really massive parts (beams of buildings, ships, etc.)
Then I guess Ohm's law is not valid any more.
But if you mean "resistance" of all sorts, then one of the realities of the asymmetric warfare is that the attackers won't be aiming at tanks; and the occupying army won't have much use for tanks either.
The most visible damage is done to light armor, and by very definition of "light" it can't be made strong enough to withstand a mine blast or several RPG hits. The advancement of attackers can be seen in, for example, shift from attacking with machine guns to mining the roads and triggering the mines remotely. TNT is cheap and quite safe to melt and pour into plastic buckets.
A current design (for last 100 years or so) is to have air-filled compartments that are sealed. These compartments actually absorb the energy of explosion, and since they are small they don't weigh too much when they are filled with water.
But given that in an [unlikely] major battle an anti-ship weapon will be nuclear-tipped, one hit will be enough to sink whatever pieces of the ship haven't vaporized yet. Modern ships are already sufficiently protected from the minor hits. So the current situation is kind of acceptable.
With regard to the article. It is very difficult to accumulate enough electrical power for a very high current discharge. I do not think the armor solution will be easy to make. The copper is practically already a jet of quite hot plasma, and feeding a current through it may only increase its energy...
It is not easy to interfere with a spread spectrum signal such as 802.11b is. You need more than just a microwave oven.
Any cordless phone can do that, and that's what I use at work. We do have VoIP and Asterisk, but WiFi phones are heavy and expensive, and they will stay heavy and expensive simply because of economics of WiFi - the 802.11 protocol is not very power-efficient on its own, and the protocol is too complex anyway.
Less, for sure - like ZERO. There are many flat rate plans that cover all of North America, and the cost only depends on number of minutes in the block that you purchase. Great for businesses.
However a working SIP phone with Asterisk is great. I had more problems with two analog phones than with 10 SIP ones.
At some point I even had some of these phones bridged over 802.11b - no phone-related problems (but plenty 802.11-related ones :-) Now they are on 100 Mbps cable, though - more reliable.
I'd use a different analogy: "MS gave users enough of their drugs so that the users are addicted now, and can't withdraw even when they are ravaged by some virus every other day."
There is nothing wrong in curing a drug addict (assuming that it is possible.) Similarly, there is nothing wrong in weaning the users from the MS alcohol, even though it tastes great.
To revamp is to remove the old, worn vamp from a shoe and to install a new one. The meaning of the verb is obvious - "to freshen up", "to upgrade".
Then they should go out and buy the CD. Normal people, however, not burdened with "golden ears", are quite happy with quality of Vorbis and MP3, if encoded correctly.
Older people remember vinyl and tape. *That* was painful to listen to - and guess what, everyone loved the thing!
IANAL, but if your friend borrows your car (or even your unique jacket!) and is seen doing something bad, the police will grab you first; with luck you will be able to explain your role in the affair, but even then you will have to show that you did not know beforehand that the guy is going to do what he did.
You can do it digitally:
When the stakes are so high, the intruder will have to produce some real hands. He only needs to make sure they are properly defrosted before use.
What if he types with only one finger?
The above is something totally detached from life. Business executives don't know computers, and they don't want to know them. Rare a CEO would want to manage a network of devices and keep things synchronized. And they can't care less about efficiency.
A business executive uses a laptop - because he knows that the laptop is 100% compatible with anything he may receive or send, and the laptop is what he is used to, and there are laptops small and laptops large depending on what he wants.
This OQO thing is unlikely to be useful as a universal computer (as a laptop replacement.) It is too limited. And once you exceed the critical size and weight, you don't care any more - the thing goes into the luggage instead of your shirt pocket.
The device can work for only 2 hours, it has limited input (how productive can you be with *that* keyboard?), and has limited performance. It also costs a lot. So you use it when it makes sense. But when that would be?
Definitely, people have all kinds of opinions, and that's what the market is for - anyone who likes it can walk in and buy one. No need for globally enforced orders to buy or not to buy. But myself, I see no need for this thing. I will use a laptop when I want it, and at other times I need nothing at all. I don't want yet another device (even assuming that I waste $1500 on it) just to endlessly copy files back and forth; remember to keep it charged, and still carry the charger with me; hold a one-pound device in my hands for prolonged time; suffer the tiny and unfamiliar keyboard... Basically, this device does not address any of my needs.
So many problems, and where are the benefits to the store owners? I just can't see it happening. You can't take pets into most of the stores right now (except guide dogs marked as such), so the prohibition of Segways will not be anything special.
95050 (so it's not far from the scene of the story); yes; $327.80, I just checked; good record goes back at least 10 years (that I was able to prove with papers that I could find.)
This is not unique to Segway, by the way. The same thing happens with cars, and people do get slapped with huge penalties for a momentary lack of attention. I see no difference between breaking a leg in a traffic accident and breaking a leg on a Segway tour. It's just on Segway you have more people to sue. And often you have to do that, because the treatment of the injuries will cost you a lot of money.