Whoa, looking at that paperclip demo gave me serious =:CueCat flashbacks. "Everyone will scan our barcodes, because, well, it's, y'know, barcodes, and techno, and it'll be... umm... cool, n' stuff. Y'know."
At least people won't be inclined to modify their free Radio Shack cell phones to just take pictures without sending the barcodes to paperclip. I think.
Of course now that I hit submit, I read more of the patent itself. It was submitted two years ago, but was issued yesterday.
Using an "imaging device" on a handheld PDA to comparison shop for prices is sooooo last millenia. We tested several of them for a "comparison shopping" project (going into a competitor's stores with handhelds and comparing their prices against ours.) We found that the other stores tended to kick out people who were running around scanning merchandise.
Also, plenty of stores have a "no cameras" policy posted right at the entrance. Forethought... or defense against PRIOR ART?
No, they used an imaging barcode scanner. Not that you'd see a device like this hanging on a post at your local grocery store or anything, oh, no, they wouldn't have been doing that, violating this patent for the LAST FIFTEEN YEARS!!!
Oh, wait. The patent is only two years old? Never mind, I must be confused.
If you're going to call it a theory, one ought to teach it as such.
This statement is typically a sign that someone doesn't understand the difference between a theory and a hypothesis, or a theory and a law.
Try Googling for an example of a theory you might understand, like Shannon's Mathematical Theory of Communication, which explains why compression has a lower limit. If at some point you begin to understand that all of today's slashdot traffic can indeed be compressed into a single bit, but that it's kind of hard to reinflate that bit back into slashdot, you'll gain some insight as to how strong calling something a "theory" can be.
A scientific theory is something generally accepted as true due to the overwhelming preponderance of corroborating evidence (and with no solid evidence to the contrary,) but is impossible to completely prove to be true because it cannot be duplicated. In this case, it's impossible to prove the theory of evolution true because because we can't repeat the experiment by creating another earth exactly as it existed 4.5 billion years ago. We can, however, perform tests on a much smaller scale, such as hybridizing new species, genetic splicing, causing environmental stresses in reproducing populations, and any other number of approaches. And we have. And the vast majority of these experiments strongly support the theory of evolution. Plus, the occasional experiments that don't are typically shown to be flawed in a meaningful way.
A TV cop show having some bald detective saying "My theory is that the guy with spike hair killed the guy with no shirt for the drug money" is not using the scientific definition of the term "theory". Don't be confused by the popular use of the term.
these bots in fact suck, they only take money from the weakest tiers of players
Maybe you should look at these bots from a different viewpoint. Think of them as Darwin's Agents. They're out there guarding the front gates of the poker sites, ensuring that any noobs that join the game are drained utterly before they progress to the next round. It's like a very expensive filter: one that strains newbie cash, instilling futility in them.
The only real problem I see is that the bots may become so good at keeping the rookies from entering the bigger money games that the real poker players will end up with no victims to milk.
Anyway, the bots are amoral. They're just programs talking to other programs. Whether or not people can be convinced to stick cash out there on the basis of someone else's random number generator is a different question, and is based more on intelligence and greed than good vs. evil. (Attending Oral U is definitely a strong indication of being infected with Evil(TM), however...)
In Minnesota, the winning tickets are validated by a barcode scanner hooked up to the lottery commission's network. When the lottery first began, we had several stores where employees tried scanning the back of all the tickets, looking for the winners. They were caught almost immediately, and I believe they have implemented some technology now that locks them out if they try it.
Well, you should continue to feel bad about missing Batman Begins, but you can be eternally grateful that you missed War of the Worlds. Here's the plot: Have Tom Cruise run away from the CG alien tripods. Have someone next to him die. Have Tom keep running. Kill some more people who are not Tom Cruise. Repeat as necessary until end credits roll.
Oh, sorry, maybe I should have marked this message a "spoiler".
I also had an Odyssey when I was a teen. After taking the cover off I acquired the spec sheet for the chip inside (I can't remember if it was General Instruments or National Semiconductor.) Using the sheet, I soldered in extra wires and ran a new switch to the case so it could play "one-player handball," freeing me from having to beg my sister to play video games. That was a game that the chip supported but was not normally available from the console game selector switch. I also wired it to turn on the "skeet shoot" game, but I was never able to figure out how to make a light-activated "gun" device work.
I also made an etch-a-sketch type road-racing game on my oscilloscope by tracing a "road" onto a clear piece of cellophane and taping it to the screen. Then, by adjusting the horizontal and vertical offset knobs, I could "drive" the point around the track.
But try telling that to kids these days and they just don't believe you.
So install the Book Burro extension for Firefox. Alternately, if you're already running Greasemonkey (which I highly recommend), there's a user scripted version of Book Burro available, too.
What is Book Burro? It knows about many popular book sites on the web, and does a comparison shop between all of them, offering you a tiny on-screen pop-down way to find the cheapest price.
But that's if you're cheap, and don't want to support slashdot with your referral dollars. Personally, I like giving referrer dollars to whoever actually deserves them. Perhaps not at double the cost, but I like shopping through sites I frequent whenever possible.
I'm pretty sure it's the gaming support that causes the leaks and crashes. Each "in game" popup has to be custom developed for that game, and there's no telling whether or not the developers of the game wished to cooperate with XFire at all.
I have no problem with in-game XFire, but then again the only game I play on a regular basis is America's Army. And that game has so many bugs of its own that I'm not sure if I could tell the difference between an XFire bug and an AA bug.
There is a company trying to sell some kind of bluetooth "meeting" program that does exactly what you're saying. I don't remember the program's name right now, but the idea is that you leave your device powered on and constantly "pinging" for other participants. You are supposed to use it to "notice" friends within range, or if you join the "public" channel you can hook up with random like-minded people. Kind of like a formalized way to do "toothing". And I don't think it requires you to be discoverable, only running their program, but I could certainly be wrong about that.
I think it's stupid to sell an app like this, because almost nobody is going to just buy it cold. However, it could catch on if the protocol they use is licensed and starts getting shipped with phones by default (my guess is that's their business plan.) Anyway, you asked, and it's out there. And to answer your other question: no, if you participate in this "public anonymous groupthink" exercise, you'll likely be subjected to the full force of Madison Avenue.
Bluetooth is way useful and almost magical for many applications. The ones I use include: totally hands-free car operation (my car's bluetooth module connects to my phone when I turn on the ignition, and mutes the car stereo and uses the stereo speakers for phone audio;) instant palmtop network access (no hunting for free wifi nodes;) exchanging business cards / appointments / contacts / pictures / ringtones with other people; installing games, etc. I have also been a very happy user of floAt's Mobile Agent's proximity feature: when I walk away from my desk, it locks itself. Bluetooth is so useful to me that I wouldn't even consider Verizon, who sell phones with crippled Bluetooth in order to charge their victims into MMSing pictures over their network for an extra charge.
Did you uninstall your browser because of advertisements? Did you stop riding the bus because they have posters inside advertising stuff? Did you give up all email because you got a spam? Did you throw your phone in disgust when AT&T sent you an SMS ad? Did you stop watching television because of commercials? (OK, bad example:-) No, you probably installed Adblock, or a filtering proxy like the proxomitron. You may have installed a spam filter on your email. You might have bought a TiVo or ReplayTV to avoid the commercials. And who knows, maybe you did give up public transit because of advertising.
Avoiding Bluespam is easier than any of the above. If you simply don't turn discovery "on" your machine won't answer their spamspitter. Period. And there really isn't a valid technical reason to turn discovery on and leave it on unless you're 'toothing' (looking for anonymous MOTAS.) As a matter of fact, Motorola doesn't even allow the option of leaving discovery on for more than 60 seconds, it's that unneeded. Saying "no Bluetooth because I might get an ad if I ever travel to London" is a completely over the top over-reaction.
As an aside, if you're looking for the best bluetooth functionality in a phone, go Sony-Ericsson. Motorola's bluetooth stack is very buggy and their functionality incomplete. I'm way unhappy with my new Razr.
Why is "pumping" a good thing? It means that for every pump, you are necessarily under braking and over braking at some point. Why not just brake at the correct level?
I'm guessing you live someplace that doesn't see a lot of snow or ice on the roads. Here in Minnesota there is no single correct level of braking. Winter road conditions are very dynamic -- a thin layer of snow can be covering asphalt one second, frost the next, dry pavement for a stretch and pure ice after that. Or the left side of the vehicle can be riding a layer of packed ice while the right is getting some traction on a cleared rut in the pavement. When the temperature dips below -10 F, water from exhaust gases will cause a nearly invisible layer of ice to form on freeways (especially on bridge decks and exit ramps), a phenomenon we call 'black ice'. And it's common to encounter slick compacted snow right before a stop sign or traffic light where hundreds of previous drivers have locked up their brakes, polishing the snow to a skating rink quality ice.
Most of the time, braking in these low traction situations is accomplished by feathering the brakes -- applying them as lightly as possible in an attempt to not lock the wheels. But sometimes they lock anyway, and when they do, the remedy is to release the brakes completely and then reapply them. Pumping is a true last-ditch effort when feathering fails.
ABS greatly improves winter braking in three ways: the sensors can detect locked wheels and respond almost as quickly as a professional human driver trained on low-traction surfaces (we have some really cool winter driving schools up here!); ABS systems don't panic; and with advanced ABS systems, if only one or two wheels have locked up the brakes on those wheels will be pumped while the others continue to slow the vehicle.
ABS systems aren't an absolute cure-all, and I'm sure they encounter certain situations where they don't help much (or even hinder control, as you mentioned.) But ABS systems are ready 100% of the time. They don't require "retraining" every year when winter rolls around. And ABS systems also help our visitors from Texas to not slide through Minnesota stop signs or red lights.
Finally, given that only 50% of the people on the road are above average drivers anyway, putting ABS on the rest of their cars means fewer of them are likely to hit me:-)
Do you have any estimates for the cost of getting FTTP installed? A friend of mine just moved to rural Wisconsin and he's fallen completely off the high speed grid. He was told by his phone company that if he can get 31 other customers to sign up for DSL, they'll hang a DSLAM somewhere near his house. Otherwise, installation was going to run to some obscene amount, like five digits obscene.
He's going to get a dish and get his high speed fix that way, but latency is going to keep him from online gaming or even VOIP.
Why is "pumping" a good thing? It means that for every pump, you are necessarily under braking and over braking at some point. Why not just brake at the correct level?
I'm guessing you live someplace that doesn't see a lot of snow or ice on the roads. Here in Minnesota there is no single correct level of braking. Winter road conditions are very dynamic -- a thin layer of snow can be covering asphalt one second, frost the next, dry pavement for a stretch and pure ice after that. Or the left side of the vehicle can be riding a layer of packed ice while the right is getting some traction on a cleared rut in the pavement. When the temperature dips below -10 F, water from exhaust gases will cause a nearly invisible layer of ice to form on freeways (especially on bridge decks and exit ramps), a phenomenon we call 'black ice'. And it's common to encounter slick compacted snow right before a stop sign or traffic light where hundreds of previous drivers have locked up their brakes, polishing the snow to a skating rink quality ice.
Most of the time, braking in these low traction situations is accomplished by feathering the brakes -- applying them as lightly as possible in an attempt to not lock the wheels. But sometimes they lock anyway, and when they do, the remedy is to release the brakes completely and then reapply them. Pumping is a true last-ditch effort when feathering fails.
ABS greatly improves winter braking in three ways: the sensors can detect locked wheels and respond almost as quickly as a professional human driver trained on low-traction surfaces (we have some really cool winter driving schools up here!); ABS systems don't panic; and with advanced ABS systems, if only one or two wheels have locked up the brakes on those wheels will be pumped while the others continue to slow the vehicle.
ABS systems aren't an absolute cure-all, and I'm sure they encounter certain situations where they don't help much (or even hinder control, as you mentioned.) But ABS systems are ready 100% of the time. They don't require "retraining" every year when winter rolls around. And ABS systems also help our visitors from Texas to not slide through Minnesota stop signs or red lights.
Finally, given that only 50% of the people on the road are above average drivers anyway, putting ABS on the rest of their cars means fewer of them are likely to hit me:-)
Ever actually used ABS? Ever been in a situation where it made the difference between frightening someone and ramming them? Don't be too quick to dismiss it. Unless you're on the oval in a car you've set up for racing, ABS is a huge win.
It's not even close to the difference between a "good driver" and a "bad driver". ABS pumps the brakes roughly 4-5 times per second, far faster than the spring in my brake pedal is capable of even returning the pedal. Yes, it reduces steering ability during heavy braking maneuvers, preferring to stop the car in a straight line, but the trade off is a 40%+ shorter stopping distance.
And it fails safe. If your ABS goes out, you still have full manual authority over your brakes.
I have a TON of cords already. One less would simply leave me with 999kg of cords.
I'll be wireless when these access points start emitting enough energy to power the printers without a wall wart. And I'm pretty sure I don't want to sit within effective range of a transmitter like that.
I'm not sure how it is different from the fiber optic lines available from the phone company. Maybe the power company has more lines available?
Think of BPL in terms of "universal access". It's not so much for people in cities, who typically already have broadband and DSL to choose from. It's for the rural populous who don't have cable, and who live way too far from their CO to get DSL. (Last time I checked DSL is still limited to about 18,000 feet from the phone company's switch.) DSL in rural areas will require a significant investment in fiber from current network hubs to new remotely located DSLAM boxes mounted less than three miles from their customers. BPL can travel many, many miles further (radiating harmful interference the whole way.) And BPL solves the "last mile" problem -- the wires already exist all the way up to the customer's electrical outlet.
Keeping network service up in case of an emergency is not yet a high priority. The internet is still not the "primary" means of communication for the majority of people. Phones are far more ubiquitous. That the reliability of BPL gets to 'piggyback' on the reliability of electrical power (probably considered the highest priority) is just a happy side effect of BPL. But you can bet the repair crews working to repair storm damage aren't going to have network restoration as their primary goal -- electrical service restoration will always be first.
It's so simple. All I have to do is divine it from what I know of you. Are you the sort of man who would phish his own employees or his enemies? Now, a clever man would phish in his own company because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool so I can clearly not click on the spam in front of you... But you must have known I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not click on the spam in front of me.
You've made your decision then?
Not remotely! Because spam comes from Russia. As everyone knows, Russia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me. So, I can clearly not click the spam in front of you.
Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.
Wait 'til I get going!!... Where was I?
Russia.
Yes! Russia! And you must have suspected I would have known the spam's origin, so I can clearly not click on the spam in front of me.
You're just stalling now.
You'd like to think that, wouldn't you! You've beaten my trojans, which means you're exceptionally well protected against viruses... so you could have put the spam in your own email trusting on Norton AV to save you, so I can clearly not choose the spam in front of you. But, you've also bested my spyware, which means you must have studied... and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal so you would have put the spam as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the spam in front of me!
You're trying to trick me into giving away something. It won't work.
It has worked! You've given everything away! I know which email the phishing attack is!
Then make your choice.
I will, and I choose... what in the world can that be?
What? Where? I don't see anything.
Oh, well, I... I could have sworn I saw something. No matter. [laughing]
What's so funny?
I... I'll tell you in a minute. First, let's click, me on my email and you on yours.
You guessed wrong.
You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched emails when your back was turned! Ha ha! YOU FOOL! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is: Never get involved in a land war in Asia!, and only slightly less well known is this: Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!
Slashdot Mirror
At least people won't be inclined to modify their free Radio Shack cell phones to just take pictures without sending the barcodes to paperclip. I think.
You might be able to say "hey, they got the idea from my /. post" but if you don't have a working device to show them, well, I don't know.
IANAPA, IANAL, IAJAF/.R
Using an "imaging device" on a handheld PDA to comparison shop for prices is sooooo last millenia. We tested several of them for a "comparison shopping" project (going into a competitor's stores with handhelds and comparing their prices against ours.) We found that the other stores tended to kick out people who were running around scanning merchandise.
Also, plenty of stores have a "no cameras" policy posted right at the entrance. Forethought ... or defense against PRIOR ART?
No, they used an imaging barcode scanner. Not that you'd see a device like this hanging on a post at your local grocery store or anything, oh, no, they wouldn't have been doing that, violating this patent for the LAST FIFTEEN YEARS!!!
Oh, wait. The patent is only two years old? Never mind, I must be confused.
This statement is typically a sign that someone doesn't understand the difference between a theory and a hypothesis, or a theory and a law.
Try Googling for an example of a theory you might understand, like Shannon's Mathematical Theory of Communication, which explains why compression has a lower limit. If at some point you begin to understand that all of today's slashdot traffic can indeed be compressed into a single bit, but that it's kind of hard to reinflate that bit back into slashdot, you'll gain some insight as to how strong calling something a "theory" can be.
A scientific theory is something generally accepted as true due to the overwhelming preponderance of corroborating evidence (and with no solid evidence to the contrary,) but is impossible to completely prove to be true because it cannot be duplicated. In this case, it's impossible to prove the theory of evolution true because because we can't repeat the experiment by creating another earth exactly as it existed 4.5 billion years ago. We can, however, perform tests on a much smaller scale, such as hybridizing new species, genetic splicing, causing environmental stresses in reproducing populations, and any other number of approaches. And we have. And the vast majority of these experiments strongly support the theory of evolution. Plus, the occasional experiments that don't are typically shown to be flawed in a meaningful way.
A TV cop show having some bald detective saying "My theory is that the guy with spike hair killed the guy with no shirt for the drug money" is not using the scientific definition of the term "theory". Don't be confused by the popular use of the term.
Maybe you should look at these bots from a different viewpoint. Think of them as Darwin's Agents. They're out there guarding the front gates of the poker sites, ensuring that any noobs that join the game are drained utterly before they progress to the next round. It's like a very expensive filter: one that strains newbie cash, instilling futility in them.
The only real problem I see is that the bots may become so good at keeping the rookies from entering the bigger money games that the real poker players will end up with no victims to milk.
Anyway, the bots are amoral. They're just programs talking to other programs. Whether or not people can be convinced to stick cash out there on the basis of someone else's random number generator is a different question, and is based more on intelligence and greed than good vs. evil. (Attending Oral U is definitely a strong indication of being infected with Evil(TM), however ...)
In Minnesota, the winning tickets are validated by a barcode scanner hooked up to the lottery commission's network. When the lottery first began, we had several stores where employees tried scanning the back of all the tickets, looking for the winners. They were caught almost immediately, and I believe they have implemented some technology now that locks them out if they try it.
Oh, sorry, maybe I should have marked this message a "spoiler".
I also made an etch-a-sketch type road-racing game on my oscilloscope by tracing a "road" onto a clear piece of cellophane and taping it to the screen. Then, by adjusting the horizontal and vertical offset knobs, I could "drive" the point around the track.
But try telling that to kids these days and they just don't believe you.
What is Book Burro? It knows about many popular book sites on the web, and does a comparison shop between all of them, offering you a tiny on-screen pop-down way to find the cheapest price.
But that's if you're cheap, and don't want to support slashdot with your referral dollars. Personally, I like giving referrer dollars to whoever actually deserves them. Perhaps not at double the cost, but I like shopping through sites I frequent whenever possible.
I have no problem with in-game XFire, but then again the only game I play on a regular basis is America's Army. And that game has so many bugs of its own that I'm not sure if I could tell the difference between an XFire bug and an AA bug.
You're right. Bill Gates said 640W should be enough for anybody.
(/me ducks and heads for the nearest exit!)
I think it's stupid to sell an app like this, because almost nobody is going to just buy it cold. However, it could catch on if the protocol they use is licensed and starts getting shipped with phones by default (my guess is that's their business plan.) Anyway, you asked, and it's out there. And to answer your other question: no, if you participate in this "public anonymous groupthink" exercise, you'll likely be subjected to the full force of Madison Avenue.
At least until you need glasses.
Did you uninstall your browser because of advertisements? Did you stop riding the bus because they have posters inside advertising stuff? Did you give up all email because you got a spam? Did you throw your phone in disgust when AT&T sent you an SMS ad? Did you stop watching television because of commercials? (OK, bad example :-) No, you probably installed Adblock, or a filtering proxy like the proxomitron. You may have installed a spam filter on your email. You might have bought a TiVo or ReplayTV to avoid the commercials. And who knows, maybe you did give up public transit because of advertising.
Avoiding Bluespam is easier than any of the above. If you simply don't turn discovery "on" your machine won't answer their spamspitter. Period. And there really isn't a valid technical reason to turn discovery on and leave it on unless you're 'toothing' (looking for anonymous MOTAS.) As a matter of fact, Motorola doesn't even allow the option of leaving discovery on for more than 60 seconds, it's that unneeded. Saying "no Bluetooth because I might get an ad if I ever travel to London" is a completely over the top over-reaction.
As an aside, if you're looking for the best bluetooth functionality in a phone, go Sony-Ericsson. Motorola's bluetooth stack is very buggy and their functionality incomplete. I'm way unhappy with my new Razr.
I think podpulling could really catch on. Except in Duluth, where it's illegal to engage in public podpulling.
I'm guessing you live someplace that doesn't see a lot of snow or ice on the roads. Here in Minnesota there is no single correct level of braking. Winter road conditions are very dynamic -- a thin layer of snow can be covering asphalt one second, frost the next, dry pavement for a stretch and pure ice after that. Or the left side of the vehicle can be riding a layer of packed ice while the right is getting some traction on a cleared rut in the pavement. When the temperature dips below -10 F, water from exhaust gases will cause a nearly invisible layer of ice to form on freeways (especially on bridge decks and exit ramps), a phenomenon we call 'black ice'. And it's common to encounter slick compacted snow right before a stop sign or traffic light where hundreds of previous drivers have locked up their brakes, polishing the snow to a skating rink quality ice.
Most of the time, braking in these low traction situations is accomplished by feathering the brakes -- applying them as lightly as possible in an attempt to not lock the wheels. But sometimes they lock anyway, and when they do, the remedy is to release the brakes completely and then reapply them. Pumping is a true last-ditch effort when feathering fails.
ABS greatly improves winter braking in three ways: the sensors can detect locked wheels and respond almost as quickly as a professional human driver trained on low-traction surfaces (we have some really cool winter driving schools up here!); ABS systems don't panic; and with advanced ABS systems, if only one or two wheels have locked up the brakes on those wheels will be pumped while the others continue to slow the vehicle.
ABS systems aren't an absolute cure-all, and I'm sure they encounter certain situations where they don't help much (or even hinder control, as you mentioned.) But ABS systems are ready 100% of the time. They don't require "retraining" every year when winter rolls around. And ABS systems also help our visitors from Texas to not slide through Minnesota stop signs or red lights.
Finally, given that only 50% of the people on the road are above average drivers anyway, putting ABS on the rest of their cars means fewer of them are likely to hit me :-)
He's going to get a dish and get his high speed fix that way, but latency is going to keep him from online gaming or even VOIP.
I'm guessing you live someplace that doesn't see a lot of snow or ice on the roads. Here in Minnesota there is no single correct level of braking. Winter road conditions are very dynamic -- a thin layer of snow can be covering asphalt one second, frost the next, dry pavement for a stretch and pure ice after that. Or the left side of the vehicle can be riding a layer of packed ice while the right is getting some traction on a cleared rut in the pavement. When the temperature dips below -10 F, water from exhaust gases will cause a nearly invisible layer of ice to form on freeways (especially on bridge decks and exit ramps), a phenomenon we call 'black ice'. And it's common to encounter slick compacted snow right before a stop sign or traffic light where hundreds of previous drivers have locked up their brakes, polishing the snow to a skating rink quality ice.
Most of the time, braking in these low traction situations is accomplished by feathering the brakes -- applying them as lightly as possible in an attempt to not lock the wheels. But sometimes they lock anyway, and when they do, the remedy is to release the brakes completely and then reapply them. Pumping is a true last-ditch effort when feathering fails.
ABS greatly improves winter braking in three ways: the sensors can detect locked wheels and respond almost as quickly as a professional human driver trained on low-traction surfaces (we have some really cool winter driving schools up here!); ABS systems don't panic; and with advanced ABS systems, if only one or two wheels have locked up the brakes on those wheels will be pumped while the others continue to slow the vehicle.
ABS systems aren't an absolute cure-all, and I'm sure they encounter certain situations where they don't help much (or even hinder control, as you mentioned.) But ABS systems are ready 100% of the time. They don't require "retraining" every year when winter rolls around. And ABS systems also help our visitors from Texas to not slide through Minnesota stop signs or red lights.
Finally, given that only 50% of the people on the road are above average drivers anyway, putting ABS on the rest of their cars means fewer of them are likely to hit me :-)
It's not even close to the difference between a "good driver" and a "bad driver". ABS pumps the brakes roughly 4-5 times per second, far faster than the spring in my brake pedal is capable of even returning the pedal. Yes, it reduces steering ability during heavy braking maneuvers, preferring to stop the car in a straight line, but the trade off is a 40%+ shorter stopping distance.
And it fails safe. If your ABS goes out, you still have full manual authority over your brakes.
YOU WIN!!! :-) Best joke in this whole thread!
I'll be wireless when these access points start emitting enough energy to power the printers without a wall wart. And I'm pretty sure I don't want to sit within effective range of a transmitter like that.
Even funnier when you consider that "TOD" is German for "DEATH"!
Think of BPL in terms of "universal access". It's not so much for people in cities, who typically already have broadband and DSL to choose from. It's for the rural populous who don't have cable, and who live way too far from their CO to get DSL. (Last time I checked DSL is still limited to about 18,000 feet from the phone company's switch.) DSL in rural areas will require a significant investment in fiber from current network hubs to new remotely located DSLAM boxes mounted less than three miles from their customers. BPL can travel many, many miles further (radiating harmful interference the whole way.) And BPL solves the "last mile" problem -- the wires already exist all the way up to the customer's electrical outlet.
Keeping network service up in case of an emergency is not yet a high priority. The internet is still not the "primary" means of communication for the majority of people. Phones are far more ubiquitous. That the reliability of BPL gets to 'piggyback' on the reliability of electrical power (probably considered the highest priority) is just a happy side effect of BPL. But you can bet the repair crews working to repair storm damage aren't going to have network restoration as their primary goal -- electrical service restoration will always be first.
You've made your decision then?
Not remotely! Because spam comes from Russia. As everyone knows, Russia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me. So, I can clearly not click the spam in front of you.
Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.
Wait 'til I get going!! ... Where was I?
Russia.
Yes! Russia! And you must have suspected I would have known the spam's origin, so I can clearly not click on the spam in front of me.
You're just stalling now.
You'd like to think that, wouldn't you! You've beaten my trojans, which means you're exceptionally well protected against viruses ... so you could have put the spam in your own email trusting on Norton AV to save you, so I can clearly not choose the spam in front of you. But, you've also bested my spyware, which means you must have studied ... and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal so you would have put the spam as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the spam in front of me!
You're trying to trick me into giving away something. It won't work.
It has worked! You've given everything away! I know which email the phishing attack is!
Then make your choice.
I will, and I choose ... what in the world can that be?
What? Where? I don't see anything.
Oh, well, I ... I could have sworn I saw something. No matter. [laughing]
What's so funny?
I ... I'll tell you in a minute. First, let's click, me on my email and you on yours.
You guessed wrong.
You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched emails when your back was turned! Ha ha! YOU FOOL! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is: Never get involved in a land war in Asia!, and only slightly less well known is this: Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!