It was obvious to me why Honda supposedly "dropped the ball" as the original article wonders about, each Insight they sold was at a loss, and they weren't likely to ever recoup the costs. Better for their competition to have more demand for such a product.
Sure their investment paid off in other ways, and they were still the first with a production hybrid (which was more efficient than the Prius) and now have the most hybrid available models I believe.
I only wish they'd make more of them as plug-ins or fully electric instead of requiring all that gas.
Of course, I also wish they'd bring the diesel Honda's to the US market, which would be much nicer than a hybrid and better mileage than a Prius at least.
You joke, but I think the best solution would be a macro scale physical recording medium.
Definitely, and we know such things can be recovered after thousands of years, with many great minds dedicated to the problems of discovering their meanings.
I'd suggest some stones, perhaps of the monolithic proportions, preferably quarried from an unfathomable distance so transport via today's high-priced-gasoline vehicles would be baffling in 9,125 days.
And may I suggest aligning the beginning of the data with something more apparent, that won't require any instruction? Perhaps the summer solstice?
That way the only read device necessary will be a shovel. Of course, don't be surprised if the site becomes a place of pilgrimage for neo-neopagans, or N30PAG4N5, as they'll probably be known.
I sold a sewer easement to my city, so obviously can't charge them rent, nor can I build a permanent structure or fence obstructing maintenance access (a compost pile would be fine, but they'd obviously bulldoze it onto my yard space were maintenance needed).
Actually, maintenance is required to keep it clear and functioning, so I can't bill them for mowing, and I'd probably be responsible for removing a tree that magically appeared.
Now obviously I agreed to this, just as I did when I examined the covenants on the deed prohibiting me from building an outhouse, or housing farm animals, when I purchased the property.
People have forgotten they were already essentially paid for the privilege (probably through lower property cost), or are now dismayed with themselves, that their choice (and gamble/hope) that it wouldn't someday be used was foolish.
Can someone please explain the technical reasons why so many space photos are "false color" based on X-Ray or infrared spectrum, even from modern spacecraft? Is there no color spectrum in outer space?
Of for a great visual comparison, see this flower in both visual spectrum (ho hum) and false color UV (bull's-eye!).
The answer? To get information that our limited eyes can't perceive, into a range we can perceive, and therefore, learn from.
"In visible-light, a single photon can produce a single electron of charge in a pixel, and an image is built up by accumulating many such charges from many photons during the exposure time. When an X-ray photon hits a CCD, it produces enough charge (hundreds to thousands of electrons, proportional to its energy) that the individual X-rays have their energies measured on read-out." (per X-ray astronomy on Wikipedia) So it's also seems easier to capture these high energy wavelengths.
Sadly we can't make subtle IR observations from Earth, as the water vapor in our atmosphere absorbs a significant amount of that radiation. (per Infrared astronomy)
Hmm, around here that's what we put on the roads in the winter, well, we put the salt part, nature puts the water part. Above 0 Fahrenheit the roads are safe to travel, in the negatives, icy... Ice melt products work above 0 on the sidewalk, below 0 you are just wasting time.
I've never really had use for the freezing point of water. I mean, below 50 I need a sweatshirt, below 40 I need a jacket.
Oh, and for the most abundant substance on Earth, have you tasted the oceans recently? Try freezing it!;-)
And I apologize for going back to the earlier post about what falls from the sky, 32 degrees (or 0 as the case may be) doesn't affect what is falling from the sky. It was 90 degrees here the other day when ice fell. The upper atmosphere circulation conditions in no way relate to down on the ground. I have been in liquid rain below 30 degrees (which froze in my hair) and had snow up to 36, which promptly melts.
Lastly a friend in Canada has a stereotypical joke for any differences in language, clothing, culture, "double it and add 32"--might save a trip to google's calculator! Heh...
In Celsius 0 is also very cold, but at the same time more meaningfull ("what will happen to water today?" or "what can fall from the sky today?"). Same with 100, also very hot, and usefull even in the kitchen. (and both 0 and 100 can be easily calibrated on Earth). And no, 100 Fahrenheit isn't very usefull medically - it's a temperature of somebody with severe fewer; if it would be "normal"/"border one" - I would agree with that one.
As for precision - BS, even Celsius scale has way more precision than we need in day-to-day life...
Actually, Fahrenheit makes even more sense imo, 0 is the freezing point of a brine, 32, the freezing point of water is 1/3rd of the way to body temperature. The boiling point of water is just over six times.
Imagine the dial of a clock, freezing of saline is at the top, water at 2:00, body temp at the bottom (6:00) and boiling water all the way around at 12:00. (Room temp would be around 4:00.) How elegant?
Human habitable nicely scales between 0 and 100, with the logical average of 50 having a certain balance to it. (It's about 10 in Celsius, with the range from -20 to 40...)
Even the sun's surface is just under a round 10,000 Fahrenheit, how much nicer can you get? (It's 5526 in Celsius.)
Metric is so much nicer for other measurements, especially when scaling, but that just doesn't seem to apply to centigrade for temperatures.
PS: I totally agree in terms of precision, people generally can't discern a different of four degrees Fahrenheit, whereas Fahrenheit multiplied Romer's original scale times four.
According to this Slashdot article, women get less spam than men, maybe you should check for internal changes rather than external changes? Or was there a bad side effect from an enlargement offer you responded to?
You can also use reCaptcha for your own email address, and be more willing to provide it "publicly" since they'd have to answer the reCaptcha to get to the mailto... reCaptcha mailhide
Aside from the cost savings, efficiencies and other benefits already mentioned, the electric car I rode in back around 1990 was wonderful for more reasons.
- silent, no noise pollution, just wind noise - no shifting, the better torque allowed it to be driven in one gear - no idling, it only is "on" using power when accelerating, otherwise completely off - regenerative braking, actually GAIN power instead of wasting energy slowing - less maintenance/cost, no oil changes, no cooling system, fuel injection, ignition system, clutch, timing belts - never stop at a refilling station again or ever "run low" between fill ups, basically have a "full tank" at the start of every day
As I watched the video, especially describing "orbits" from where most photographs are taken of a subject, it occurred to me that were those points made available to the user, photographers could then opt to find a more unique and artistic viewpoint beyond the norm!
Regarding the "child lost on a ship" thought to find her. I can also see this really intruding on privacy, particularly via paparazzi and the like.
Could you imagine being Tom Cruise or Paris Hilton (depending on your demographic), now the photos taken of you at random points through the day could be stitched together into essentially a video of your complete activities?
Now imagine the government doing the same, especially with all the images available via video surveillance.
My father has alzheimers--his decline began years ago. Sadly, he would have passed your questionnaire handily (back when an early diagnosis might have helped certain legal and medical issues) as his lucidity would be "up" for any appointment. But go out for lunch afterward, and he wouldn't remember his food preferences, or know which way to go to get home, in his community of half a century.
It was fascinating how apparent his change of behavior and faculties was to any close to him, for such an extended time, while professional assessments couldn't discern such, or validate what was obvious to us.
Now obviously an insightful application of your questionnaire might help, especially if asked when he isn't "prepared", in the evening, at home instead of visiting an office, or perhaps with results compared to another instance of questioning, since his performance would be markedly different for the same questions on a different day.
That being said, I appreciate all the research, efforts, and hope we are on the cusp of medications to alleviate this dramatic condition.
I think this goes beyond the "well I own it!". Guess what? When you rent out a house to other people, you don't have the right to snoop on your renter's. You can't just access their house whenever you please. There's an expectation of privacy and I think the same applies here.
Actually, you MAY have that right and CAN access unless your state has a statute preventing such (and all do afaik). My state does, defining exactly when I may enter, with how much notice, depending on circumstances (no notice for emergencies, twenty-four hours for my whim). At the other extreme, emergency personnel have the right to enter to an even greater degree...
So this house renting analogy is rather moot for the question, as I would imagine it would come down to professional integrity, the standards of the industry, and the policies of the company, which seems to be what was asked actually--if the expectations were beyond industry standards.
Of course, this page leads to more objective info Category:Google services (including things not released yet) or there's the list of Google products which includes summaries and even deprecated services.
Even easier, on clay courts they look at how the paint line is disturbed, it would be simple enough to paint the lines with an additive that reacts to the friction of the ball heating up the surface momentarily, or pressure contact, for a visual indicator as effective as clay courts. K.I.S.S. (Of course, there's rarely profit to be made in the simple effective solutions.)
...and racecars use tape for body fixes during a race.
However lots of fabric can still be heavy. Keeping the convertible top clean (and cleaning out things in the fibers) can be a pain. I know some convertible drivers who intentionally don't lock them. I've heard of a top getting slashed despite the doors being unlocked to steal things (because thieves are not smart after all). I've driven fiberglass cars (Saab Sonnett III) and plastic (Pontiac Fiero) which were wonderful.
I would sure hate to see the dry cleaning bill for my car though! -Randy
I've used GPS receivers since 2001 almost daily (I was even featured on CBS news geocaching). A LOT has changed in that time, but WAAS is a brilliant feature all GPSrs now incorporate, that totally adjusts for ionospheric disturbances, by broadcasting corrections from ground stations.
In geocaching, the greater the accuracy the better. For car navigation, you don't even need it, as the accuracy is better than the width of a road regardless!
This article seems to be a decade behind... -Randy
Sure Dad's workbench had tools, but more importantly, there was scrap wood of all varieties and sizes, fasteners, ropes...
My first go-kart grew out of lawn mower wheels and stuff around, no adults involved.
Mom had cupboards filled with craft supplies. Want to make a birthday card for them or gift? There was sparkle, glue, wax for melting into candles. Need a parachute? Fabric scraps...
Another great thing my parents did was NOT give us "age appropriate" gifts but some gives we'd grow in to over the year. That "kit" that baffled us when we unrapped it might become a favorite ten months later.
Want a 10-speed bike? I couldn't have it until I disassembled and reassembled it.
(Thankfully I didn't have to do that with my first car, but my brother did.)
Lastly, there's also things like BBC radio show: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/ which offers kitchen experiments each week you can do in ten minutes to foster curiosity and a nugget of knowledge.
Subscribing to a magazine like that can do wonders.
hth! -Randy
PS: I loved reading, to not get caught reading after bedtime, I ran a train transformer's wire over to a thumbtack stuck in my bedroom door's jamb, back to a car's parking light bulb, so when my door was opened to check on me (from seeing the light spillage under the door), the light went off automatically and all I had to do was hide the book and pretend to be asleep.
I used Sprint EVDO as my only broadband (with SecondLife), streaming a few gigs each day from mid 2006-2007 on their unlimited plan. Always listened to music, and sometimes watched movies too... Now seeing what other services offer (rather, limit) I love Sprint even more! -Randy
Heh, dot, explosion, expansion... (Parent's still aren't going to give you the money...)
But seriously, one of the nice things growing up in an learned family, was not having things "dumbed down". Add to that a more sophisticated video can be watched again in the future with a greater understanding of the more advanced concepts.
What I love about GC is checking my email ALSO gets me my voicemail. No more checking a cell's vm, home machine, email all separately.
The time savings is great. Add that I get messages sooner that way too.
Finally, unlike the article's comment, it was just a few hours from when I reserved a number (in a more useful calling area for me) to when I was included in the beta (how sweet is that?)
It will be interesting to see what their revenue model is after beta...
Slashdot Mirror
It was obvious to me why Honda supposedly "dropped the ball" as the original article wonders about, each Insight they sold was at a loss, and they weren't likely to ever recoup the costs. Better for their competition to have more demand for such a product.
Sure their investment paid off in other ways, and they were still the first with a production hybrid (which was more efficient than the Prius) and now have the most hybrid available models I believe.
I only wish they'd make more of them as plug-ins or fully electric instead of requiring all that gas.
Of course, I also wish they'd bring the diesel Honda's to the US market, which would be much nicer than a hybrid and better mileage than a Prius at least.
You joke, but I think the best solution would be a macro scale physical recording medium.
Definitely, and we know such things can be recovered after thousands of years, with many great minds dedicated to the problems of discovering their meanings.
I'd suggest some stones, perhaps of the monolithic proportions, preferably quarried from an unfathomable distance so transport via today's high-priced-gasoline vehicles would be baffling in 9,125 days.
And may I suggest aligning the beginning of the data with something more apparent, that won't require any instruction? Perhaps the summer solstice?
That way the only read device necessary will be a shovel. Of course, don't be surprised if the site becomes a place of pilgrimage for neo-neopagans, or N30PAG4N5, as they'll probably be known.
I sold a sewer easement to my city, so obviously can't charge them rent, nor can I build a permanent structure or fence obstructing maintenance access (a compost pile would be fine, but they'd obviously bulldoze it onto my yard space were maintenance needed).
Actually, maintenance is required to keep it clear and functioning, so I can't bill them for mowing, and I'd probably be responsible for removing a tree that magically appeared.
Now obviously I agreed to this, just as I did when I examined the covenants on the deed prohibiting me from building an outhouse, or housing farm animals, when I purchased the property.
People have forgotten they were already essentially paid for the privilege (probably through lower property cost), or are now dismayed with themselves, that their choice (and gamble/hope) that it wouldn't someday be used was foolish.
Caveat emptor!
Can someone please explain the technical reasons why so many space photos are "false color" based on X-Ray or infrared spectrum, even from modern spacecraft? Is there no color spectrum in outer space?
Of for a great visual comparison, see this flower in both visual spectrum (ho hum) and false color UV (bull's-eye!).
Even more impressive is all the details in this otherwise monochromatic flower that insects see.
The answer? To get information that our limited eyes can't perceive, into a range we can perceive, and therefore, learn from.
"In visible-light, a single photon can produce a single electron of charge in a pixel, and an image is built up by accumulating many such charges from many photons during the exposure time. When an X-ray photon hits a CCD, it produces enough charge (hundreds to thousands of electrons, proportional to its energy) that the individual X-rays have their energies measured on read-out." (per X-ray astronomy on Wikipedia) So it's also seems easier to capture these high energy wavelengths.
Sadly we can't make subtle IR observations from Earth, as the water vapor in our atmosphere absorbs a significant amount of that radiation. (per Infrared astronomy)
Hmm, around here that's what we put on the roads in the winter, well, we put the salt part, nature puts the water part. Above 0 Fahrenheit the roads are safe to travel, in the negatives, icy... Ice melt products work above 0 on the sidewalk, below 0 you are just wasting time.
I've never really had use for the freezing point of water. I mean, below 50 I need a sweatshirt, below 40 I need a jacket.
Oh, and for the most abundant substance on Earth, have you tasted the oceans recently? Try freezing it! ;-)
And I apologize for going back to the earlier post about what falls from the sky, 32 degrees (or 0 as the case may be) doesn't affect what is falling from the sky. It was 90 degrees here the other day when ice fell. The upper atmosphere circulation conditions in no way relate to down on the ground. I have been in liquid rain below 30 degrees (which froze in my hair) and had snow up to 36, which promptly melts.
Lastly a friend in Canada has a stereotypical joke for any differences in language, clothing, culture, "double it and add 32"--might save a trip to google's calculator! Heh...
It only makes sense because you're used to it.
In Celsius 0 is also very cold, but at the same time more meaningfull ("what will happen to water today?" or "what can fall from the sky today?"). Same with 100, also very hot, and usefull even in the kitchen. (and both 0 and 100 can be easily calibrated on Earth). And no, 100 Fahrenheit isn't very usefull medically - it's a temperature of somebody with severe fewer; if it would be "normal"/"border one" - I would agree with that one.
As for precision - BS, even Celsius scale has way more precision than we need in day-to-day life...
Actually, Fahrenheit makes even more sense imo, 0 is the freezing point of a brine, 32, the freezing point of water is 1/3rd of the way to body temperature. The boiling point of water is just over six times.
Imagine the dial of a clock, freezing of saline is at the top, water at 2:00, body temp at the bottom (6:00) and boiling water all the way around at 12:00. (Room temp would be around 4:00.) How elegant?
Human habitable nicely scales between 0 and 100, with the logical average of 50 having a certain balance to it. (It's about 10 in Celsius, with the range from -20 to 40...)
Even the sun's surface is just under a round 10,000 Fahrenheit, how much nicer can you get? (It's 5526 in Celsius.)
Metric is so much nicer for other measurements, especially when scaling, but that just doesn't seem to apply to centigrade for temperatures.
PS: I totally agree in terms of precision, people generally can't discern a different of four degrees Fahrenheit, whereas Fahrenheit multiplied Romer's original scale times four.
According to this Slashdot article, women get less spam than men, maybe you should check for internal changes rather than external changes? Or was there a bad side effect from an enlargement offer you responded to?
You can also use reCaptcha for your own email address, and be more willing to provide it "publicly" since they'd have to answer the reCaptcha to get to the mailto... reCaptcha mailhide
Aside from the cost savings, efficiencies and other benefits already mentioned, the electric car I rode in back around 1990 was wonderful for more reasons.
- silent, no noise pollution, just wind noise
- no shifting, the better torque allowed it to be driven in one gear
- no idling, it only is "on" using power when accelerating, otherwise completely off
- regenerative braking, actually GAIN power instead of wasting energy slowing
- less maintenance/cost, no oil changes, no cooling system, fuel injection, ignition system, clutch, timing belts
- never stop at a refilling station again or ever "run low" between fill ups, basically have a "full tank" at the start of every day
As I watched the video, especially describing "orbits" from where most photographs are taken of a subject, it occurred to me that were those points made available to the user, photographers could then opt to find a more unique and artistic viewpoint beyond the norm!
Regarding the "child lost on a ship" thought to find her. I can also see this really intruding on privacy, particularly via paparazzi and the like.
Could you imagine being Tom Cruise or Paris Hilton (depending on your demographic), now the photos taken of you at random points through the day could be stitched together into essentially a video of your complete activities?
Now imagine the government doing the same, especially with all the images available via video surveillance.
If these solar cells are cheaper by square feet then this would totally be the case :(
Thankfully they aren't ridiculously priced "per sheet" or "per panel" or "by square feet", but per watt.
Per TFA, "...have a manufacturing cost of $1.14/W. This is way below the selling price of $2.45/W..."
They take a tenth of the time to make, using a hundredth of the thickness of it's active element compared to silicon.
My father has alzheimers--his decline began years ago. Sadly, he would have passed your questionnaire handily (back when an early diagnosis might have helped certain legal and medical issues) as his lucidity would be "up" for any appointment. But go out for lunch afterward, and he wouldn't remember his food preferences, or know which way to go to get home, in his community of half a century.
It was fascinating how apparent his change of behavior and faculties was to any close to him, for such an extended time, while professional assessments couldn't discern such, or validate what was obvious to us.
Now obviously an insightful application of your questionnaire might help, especially if asked when he isn't "prepared", in the evening, at home instead of visiting an office, or perhaps with results compared to another instance of questioning, since his performance would be markedly different for the same questions on a different day.
That being said, I appreciate all the research, efforts, and hope we are on the cusp of medications to alleviate this dramatic condition.
I think this goes beyond the "well I own it!". Guess what? When you rent out a house to other people, you don't have the right to snoop on your renter's. You can't just access their house whenever you please. There's an expectation of privacy and I think the same applies here.
Actually, you MAY have that right and CAN access unless your state has a statute preventing such (and all do afaik). My state does, defining exactly when I may enter, with how much notice, depending on circumstances (no notice for emergencies, twenty-four hours for my whim). At the other extreme, emergency personnel have the right to enter to an even greater degree...
So this house renting analogy is rather moot for the question, as I would imagine it would come down to professional integrity, the standards of the industry, and the policies of the company, which seems to be what was asked actually--if the expectations were beyond industry standards.
...be called "drunk", "on cellphone" or "putting on makeup"?
There'd be something ironic about plugging an EV into the road for power... -Randy
From the article, "...men receiving about 15 more per day than women."
And Randy changes his email profile to female.
I mean, "And Randi changes her email profile to female."
-Randi
So does this link, only it costs less and is faster.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/
Of course, this page leads to more objective info Category:Google services (including things not released yet) or there's the list of Google products which includes summaries and even deprecated services.
-Randy
Even easier, on clay courts they look at how the paint line is disturbed, it would be simple enough to paint the lines with an additive that reacts to the friction of the ball heating up the surface momentarily, or pressure contact, for a visual indicator as effective as clay courts. K.I.S.S. (Of course, there's rarely profit to be made in the simple effective solutions.)
...and racecars use tape for body fixes during a race.
However lots of fabric can still be heavy. Keeping the convertible top clean (and cleaning out things in the fibers) can be a pain. I know some convertible drivers who intentionally don't lock them. I've heard of a top getting slashed despite the doors being unlocked to steal things (because thieves are not smart after all). I've driven fiberglass cars (Saab Sonnett III) and plastic (Pontiac Fiero) which were wonderful.
I would sure hate to see the dry cleaning bill for my car though! -Randy
I've used GPS receivers since 2001 almost daily (I was even featured on CBS news geocaching). A LOT has changed in that time, but WAAS is a brilliant feature all GPSrs now incorporate, that totally adjusts for ionospheric disturbances, by broadcasting corrections from ground stations.
In geocaching, the greater the accuracy the better. For car navigation, you don't even need it, as the accuracy is better than the width of a road regardless!
This article seems to be a decade behind... -Randy
Sure Dad's workbench had tools, but more importantly, there was scrap wood of all varieties and sizes, fasteners, ropes...
My first go-kart grew out of lawn mower wheels and stuff around, no adults involved.
Mom had cupboards filled with craft supplies. Want to make a birthday card for them or gift? There was sparkle, glue, wax for melting into candles. Need a parachute? Fabric scraps...
Another great thing my parents did was NOT give us "age appropriate" gifts but some gives we'd grow in to over the year. That "kit" that baffled us when we unrapped it might become a favorite ten months later.
Want a 10-speed bike? I couldn't have it until I disassembled and reassembled it.
(Thankfully I didn't have to do that with my first car, but my brother did.)
Lastly, there's also things like BBC radio show: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/ which offers kitchen experiments each week you can do in ten minutes to foster curiosity and a nugget of knowledge.
Subscribing to a magazine like that can do wonders.
hth! -Randy
PS: I loved reading, to not get caught reading after bedtime, I ran a train transformer's wire over to a thumbtack stuck in my bedroom door's jamb, back to a car's parking light bulb, so when my door was opened to check on me (from seeing the light spillage under the door), the light went off automatically and all I had to do was hide the book and pretend to be asleep.
I used Sprint EVDO as my only broadband (with SecondLife), streaming a few gigs each day from mid 2006-2007 on their unlimited plan. Always listened to music, and sometimes watched movies too... Now seeing what other services offer (rather, limit) I love Sprint even more! -Randy
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/770611/big_bang_theory_for_dummies/
Heh, dot, explosion, expansion... (Parent's still aren't going to give you the money...)
But seriously, one of the nice things growing up in an learned family, was not having things "dumbed down". Add to that a more sophisticated video can be watched again in the future with a greater understanding of the more advanced concepts.
What I love about GC is checking my email ALSO gets me my voicemail. No more checking a cell's vm, home machine, email all separately.
The time savings is great. Add that I get messages sooner that way too.
Finally, unlike the article's comment, it was just a few hours from when I reserved a number (in a more useful calling area for me) to when I was included in the beta (how sweet is that?)
It will be interesting to see what their revenue model is after beta...
...yet
(Although it's amazing how many former coffee drinkers misspell coffee.)