Of course we all enjoy eating, barring some sort of nasty illness.
But that doesn't mean food needs to be subsidized. Farmers should simply charge what it costs plus a little profit, just like everybody else in every other industry everywhere. And how would we afford these unbelieveable food price increases? Why, with the money we're no longer paying in taxes.
The film will not get worse if I wait. I'm not even expecting it to be all that good, and it certainly isn't going to improve if I see it later, either.
However, it will be a hell of a (geeky) fun time to go hang out with the loony star wars fans in their costumes cheering at the movie and having a 3-hour party in line outside. And THAT will not be there after opening day.
I'm not going to see the movie-- I'm going to see the nuts.
DVDs are not available in HDTV format. They are available in anamorphic widescreen, which is a squashed widescreen image that takes up the full 720x480 (interlaced) NTSC resolution, rather than wasting space actually encoding the "black bars".
Conveniently, because of the way film is encoded onto interlaced DVDs (telecining) and the difference in framerates, it is possible for a progressive-scan DVD player to reconstruct 480-line progressive picture from the 480-line interlaced picture. FOR FILM MOVIES. Doesn't work for things that were originally recorded in NTSC at 60 fields per second interlaced. So if you coung 480p as "HDTV," then yes. But I don't think you get the "H" until you get to 720p or 1080i. Which are not available on DVD.
I agree. It's trivial when dropping feathers and bricks on the earth. The difference is there, though, which is all I was trying to say. But for smacking planets into eachother, the difference is important.
I would like to apologize again for botching my initial post so horribly. I'm afraid the point I was trying to make got totally buried under the sheer stupidity of my misquoted equation.
I left out a step in my logic-- that F is acting on both the earth and the other mass. Both dropped objects are accelerating the same, but in the case of the heavier object (with the larger F) the earth is accelerating faster. So we hit the earth quicker.
ae1 = Fe1 * me ae2 = Fe2 * me
If m1 (and thus Fe1) is greater, ae1 is greater. So the earth comes up and smacks our object quicker, no? Or am I just further confusing myself here?
Sorry about the equation mishap. And I was considering dropping the objects as two independent tests. If you drop them together the results will be different, since there are three bodies in the problem.
I should have said "A more massive object will hit the earth faster than a less massive object, if the drop tests are carried out independently."
As in,
Fe1 = G*me*m1/r^2 Fe2 = G*me*m2/r^2
with Fe1 > Fe2 if m1 > m2. Unless the glue I was sniffing hasn't quite warn off yet.
But I didn't, and I used a goofy equation I got from a magical leprechaun, and I deserve to be grounded from physics for a month or two.
You're using a simplified form of that equation that assumes m1 + m2 ~= m1 (as in the earth+feather case-- one is so small compared to the other it makes almost no difference).
The whole equation is:
F = G * (m1 + m2) * m2 / r^2
Doing the work with F=m*a:
F = m2 * a plug (m2 * a) in for F in the gravity equation: m2 * a = G * (m1 + m2) * m2 / r^2 divide both sides by m2, and you get: a = G * (m1 + m2) / r^2
This is a very common misconception. And one of the worst kind, since it's ingrained into all of us as "the correct answer" to another "misconception".
Look at it this way: the bigger an object is, the stronger the force of gravity it exerts. For instance, the sun exerts a whole heck of a lot more gravitational force than the earth. And the moon exerts less, since it is smaller. Now, just because something the size of a golf ball or a feather is very, very, very small, doesn't mean it isn't producing it's own gravitational field.
Now, when compared to the gravitational force exerted by the earth, the force exerted by a golf ball is extremely tiny. Same with the feather. However, the golf ball's gravitational effect is bigger than that of the feather!! So, the total force acting between the golf ball and the earth is greater than that between the feather and the earth.
More massive objects DO fall faster, since gravitational force DEPENDS EXCLUSIVELY ON MASS. Here's the scalar equation for gravitational force on two bodies:
F = G * (m1 + m2) * m2 / r^2
m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects. If you make either one of them bigger, the force gets bigger. If you keep one the same (the earth) and plug in two values for m2 (a golf ball and a feather) the more massive m2 gives you more force! And substituting in the old trusty F = m * a, we get:
F = m2 * a
m2 * a = G * (m1 + m2) * m2 / r^2 divide both sides by m2, and you get: a = G * (m1 + m2) / r^2
Which clearly depends on BOTH masses.
What your grade-school science book was trying to tell you (often poorly, hence the misconception-on-top-of-misconception) was that objects of the same mass but different densities would fall at the same rate without the effects of air resistance. (As in, "Which falls faster, a ton of rocks, or a ton of feathers?" NOT "Which falls faster, a cubic meter of rocks or a cubic meter of feathers?")
I have downloaded a chunk of the US census' free maps from ftp.census.gov, and started playing with stuff available from www.freegis.org, but I haven't been able to get the two to work together.
How the heck do I take the free maps (in particular, the layers with roads, borders, parks, forests, water, and other useful navigation stuff) and use them for realtime navigation with something like GPSDrive?
Is there any free nav software that will use shapefiles directly?
And what about the 2000 census data? It doesn't seem to be in a format I can even determine.
Any help is greatly appreciated. If I can ever get it working, I'll write a HOWTO.
Try there. I downloaded a ton of mapfiles from that site to begin trying to figure out how to convert them into something i can use for realtime navigation in my car.
I haven't gotten very far. But there are plenty 'o maps for download.
Any producer of digital content that is technologically protected in such a manner that does not allow license holders to exercise fair use rights must issue replacement or duplicate copies within 7 days of request by the license holder. Replacement or extra copies may not be witheld for any reason, and license holders may request up to 6 copies per year for the duration of the original owner's copyright. Users may request copies of the media in ANY format that the copyrighted material has been published in that is of equal or lesser quality to the format the content was licensed under.
In addition, all copyrighted material will, at the time of application for copyright, be placed in escrow in a high-quality unencrypted and unencumbered digital format (equivalent in quality to the highest-quality protected format the copyrighted material is released under) with the Library of Congress for immediate public domain release at the expiration of copyright. In the event that the original copyright holder ceases publication of the material prior to the expiration of the copyright, license holders may request up to 6 copies per year of the material from the Library of Congress' escrow copy.
I'll grant you that including it with DK64 helped get it out. But many other upgrades have had games that required the upgrade. (segaCD for example-- try playing one of those without the upgrade!)
Make it cheap. Make it provide a tangible benefit. (The powerbase converter was a bad idea. Who were they selling to? Most of the loyal sega fans already had an SMS.) Sell a bundle with it and a good game.
There's no reason they can't succeed, but so far, almost every upgrade has been ill-conceived. (N64DD anyone? A 100Mb disk that was delayed so long cartridges got that big!)
I don't think you can say that there are no successful upgrades anymore. I think the 4MB RAM expansion for the N64 was pretty much a wide success.
Re:early tivo adopters not adopting HDTV early
on
TiVo Series 2 Review
·
· Score: 1
DirectTivo would be great, but my apartment points the wrong way for a dish. If I didn't have to move to implement it, that would certainly be an easy solution.
As to digital cable, it's perfectly recordable but getting the tivo to control your cable box reliably via an IR dongle which can't be moved (and you have cats) is a near impossibility. Also, the tivo can't turn the cable box on, so if you lose power, the box stays off and you're stuck. Plus, the tivo sends three digits for every channel change, making channel up/down pretty stinking slow. I'm not saying it can't be done-- just that it sure isn't easy. I got the Tivo to save me time-- not to provide a thought-provoking installation puzzle.
early tivo adopters not adopting HDTV early
on
TiVo Series 2 Review
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I hadn't really thought about it that way, but lack of easy recordability is my biggest reason for not getting digital cable or an HDTV. My series 1 tivo is fantastic. I watch more shows I like but spend less total time doing it (TV is around 1/3 commercials, and I no longer watch "filler" shows between shows I like).
Without a Tivo-like device, I won't move to HDTV.
Since the early-adopter market is the same type folks who have Tivos, I wonder how this is hurting HDTV adoption? I suspect more than a few early tivo purchasers who would otherwise have gone on to become early HDTV purchasers are now too happy with their tivos to give up their power just yet.
Best Buy Blows.
on
Worst Buy
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I have been screwed by these folks, but never as badly as this fellow. But just to add to the friendly Best-Buy bashing going on, here's the short version of my worst Best Buy experience:
1. Purchased open-box Viewsonic PF700 at a $150 savings. Lovely monitor, and there was a big sticker on the box that says Best Buy will uphold the manufacturer's warranty since the box was open.
3. Take monitor to Best Buy for warranty service/replacement-- am asked if I degaussed the monitor. I say "yes, several times" but am ignored. Monitor is degaussed in my presence once with degauss button (no help) and once with external degaussing tool. (also no help-- big surprise)
4. Best Buy tells me they don't service these monitors, and to go pick out a replacement.
5. I go to monitor section, but apparently BB does not carry this monitor anymore. In fact, they don't carry ANY MONITORS at this time that meet the PF790's dot pitch/resolution/refresh rate specs. NONE.
6. I ask for a refund.
7. Denied. Store credit only.
8. I email corporate and ask for a refund.
9. Denied.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 several times.
11. Took home KDS monitor that is best equivalent. Now I'm out the price of the monitor and have an inferior product thanks to the wonderful customer service of best buy.
At the time, I was in college and could not afford a lawsuit. I do not shop their anymore-- but I do hope that another person screwed by their awful service sues them and wins.
A friend of mine who is a big F1 fan told me that hybrids were actually tested by several teams, but have already been banned from the rules. The system was a little different from that of consumer cars-- a tiny battery and a beefed-up alternator that could provide a short boost to the car's power. A system like this would provide a fantastic way to convert braking power into a useable kick when accelerating out of a slow turn.
Actually, I watch the same shows I always wanted to watch, they're just 1/3 shorter without the commercials. And I don't ever watch the last 5 minutes of something that's on before what I want to see, or watch a show that's between two shows I enjoy just to kill the half-hour.
Plus, the TV fits *my* schedule now. For example, I'm usually out doing something on sundays now, rather than watching the simpsons or futurama (and the crap in between). I watch 10 minutes or so of the shows while i grab breakfast or with dinner (and finish the rest the next day, etc...), rather than watching whatever's on and then later also watching the shows i really want to see.
So, I watch slightly fewer shows, no extra "filler" i don't really want to see, and everything takes 30% less time to watch. All in all, I'm pretty damned happy with it.
Will users be able to download the mpeg files stored on their tivos via the new ethernet drivers? Or will Tivo making this "official" remove that particular abililty?
I used mine that way for a couple of years. It worked pretty well. The guide data will support the broadcast networks, and as long as your reception isn't terrible, the recorded picture quality is pretty good.
I signed up for 3 months at $15/month. Their selection may not be huge, but if you find 4 or 5 albums you like in three months, you come out even. It's been about a month, and I've found about a gigabyte of stuff I enjoy-- It's safe to say I got my money's worth.
It's a very good deal if you like punk (they have Epitaph and Lookout!'s catalogs).
Slashdot Mirror
Of course we all enjoy eating, barring some sort of nasty illness.
But that doesn't mean food needs to be subsidized. Farmers should simply charge what it costs plus a little profit, just like everybody else in every other industry everywhere. And how would we afford these unbelieveable food price increases? Why, with the money we're no longer paying in taxes.
The film will not get worse if I wait. I'm not even expecting it to be all that good, and it certainly isn't going to improve if I see it later, either.
However, it will be a hell of a (geeky) fun time to go hang out with the loony star wars fans in their costumes cheering at the movie and having a 3-hour party in line outside. And THAT will not be there after opening day.
I'm not going to see the movie-- I'm going to see the nuts.
DVDs are not available in HDTV format. They are available in anamorphic widescreen, which is a squashed widescreen image that takes up the full 720x480 (interlaced) NTSC resolution, rather than wasting space actually encoding the "black bars".
Conveniently, because of the way film is encoded onto interlaced DVDs (telecining) and the difference in framerates, it is possible for a progressive-scan DVD player to reconstruct 480-line progressive picture from the 480-line interlaced picture. FOR FILM MOVIES. Doesn't work for things that were originally recorded in NTSC at 60 fields per second interlaced. So if you coung 480p as "HDTV," then yes. But I don't think you get the "H" until you get to 720p or 1080i. Which are not available on DVD.
I agree. It's trivial when dropping feathers and bricks on the earth. The difference is there, though, which is all I was trying to say. But for smacking planets into eachother, the difference is important.
I would like to apologize again for botching my initial post so horribly. I'm afraid the point I was trying to make got totally buried under the sheer stupidity of my misquoted equation.
Again, you're right, and I'm a shmuck.
I left out a step in my logic-- that F is acting on both the earth and the other mass. Both dropped objects are accelerating the same, but in the case of the heavier object (with the larger F) the earth is accelerating faster. So we hit the earth quicker.
ae1 = Fe1 * me
ae2 = Fe2 * me
If m1 (and thus Fe1) is greater, ae1 is greater. So the earth comes up and smacks our object quicker, no? Or am I just further confusing myself here?
Sorry about the equation mishap. And I was considering dropping the objects as two independent tests. If you drop them together the results will be different, since there are three bodies in the problem.
I should have said "A more massive object will hit the earth faster than a less massive object, if the drop tests are carried out independently."
As in,
Fe1 = G*me*m1/r^2
Fe2 = G*me*m2/r^2
with Fe1 > Fe2 if m1 > m2. Unless the glue I was sniffing hasn't quite warn off yet.
But I didn't, and I used a goofy equation I got from a magical leprechaun, and I deserve to be grounded from physics for a month or two.
If I had a physics exam.
That's the last time I trust the invisible man in my computer who types messages to me all day.
I started with the right equation, and was "corrected" by a friend.(who is usually far better at this stuff than me)
:) Thanks, Chris!
What he handed me was the equation for the total acceleration of the system. I should have eyeballed it a bit more closely.
So now I'm a chump.
Next time, I'll wait until I have time to check stuff out myself.
You're using a simplified form of that equation that assumes m1 + m2 ~= m1 (as in the earth+feather case-- one is so small compared to the other it makes almost no difference).
The whole equation is:
F = G * (m1 + m2) * m2 / r^2
Doing the work with F=m*a:
F = m2 * a
plug (m2 * a) in for F in the gravity equation:
m2 * a = G * (m1 + m2) * m2 / r^2
divide both sides by m2, and you get:
a = G * (m1 + m2) / r^2
This is a very common misconception. And one of the worst kind, since it's ingrained into all of us as "the correct answer" to another "misconception".
Look at it this way: the bigger an object is, the stronger the force of gravity it exerts. For instance, the sun exerts a whole heck of a lot more gravitational force than the earth. And the moon exerts less, since it is smaller. Now, just because something the size of a golf ball or a feather is very, very, very small, doesn't mean it isn't producing it's own gravitational field.
Now, when compared to the gravitational force exerted by the earth, the force exerted by a golf ball is extremely tiny. Same with the feather. However, the golf ball's gravitational effect is bigger than that of the feather!! So, the total force acting between the golf ball and the earth is greater than that between the feather and the earth.
More massive objects DO fall faster, since gravitational force DEPENDS EXCLUSIVELY ON MASS. Here's the scalar equation for gravitational force on two bodies:
F = G * (m1 + m2) * m2 / r^2
m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects. If you make either one of them bigger, the force gets bigger. If you keep one the same (the earth) and plug in two values for m2 (a golf ball and a feather) the more massive m2 gives you more force! And substituting in the old trusty F = m * a, we get:
F = m2 * a
m2 * a = G * (m1 + m2) * m2 / r^2
divide both sides by m2, and you get:
a = G * (m1 + m2) / r^2
Which clearly depends on BOTH masses.
What your grade-school science book was trying to tell you (often poorly, hence the misconception-on-top-of-misconception) was that objects of the same mass but different densities would fall at the same rate without the effects of air resistance. (As in, "Which falls faster, a ton of rocks, or a ton of feathers?" NOT "Which falls faster, a cubic meter of rocks or a cubic meter of feathers?")
I have downloaded a chunk of the US census' free maps from ftp.census.gov, and started playing with stuff available from www.freegis.org, but I haven't been able to get the two to work together.
How the heck do I take the free maps (in particular, the layers with roads, borders, parks, forests, water, and other useful navigation stuff) and use them for realtime navigation with something like GPSDrive?
Is there any free nav software that will use shapefiles directly?
And what about the 2000 census data? It doesn't seem to be in a format I can even determine.
Any help is greatly appreciated. If I can ever get it working, I'll write a HOWTO.
Try there. I downloaded a ton of mapfiles from that site to begin trying to figure out how to convert them into something i can use for realtime navigation in my car.
I haven't gotten very far. But there are plenty 'o maps for download.
Make the wording more specific:
Any producer of digital content that is technologically protected in such a manner that does not allow license holders to exercise fair use rights must issue replacement or duplicate copies within 7 days of request by the license holder. Replacement or extra copies may not be witheld for any reason, and license holders may request up to 6 copies per year for the duration of the original owner's copyright. Users may request copies of the media in ANY format that the copyrighted material has been published in that is of equal or lesser quality to the format the content was licensed under.
In addition, all copyrighted material will, at the time of application for copyright, be placed in escrow in a high-quality unencrypted and unencumbered digital format (equivalent in quality to the highest-quality protected format the copyrighted material is released under) with the Library of Congress for immediate public domain release at the expiration of copyright. In the event that the original copyright holder ceases publication of the material prior to the expiration of the copyright, license holders may request up to 6 copies per year of the material from the Library of Congress' escrow copy.
I'll grant you that including it with DK64 helped get it out. But many other upgrades have had games that required the upgrade. (segaCD for example-- try playing one of those without the upgrade!)
Make it cheap. Make it provide a tangible benefit. (The powerbase converter was a bad idea. Who were they selling to? Most of the loyal sega fans already had an SMS.) Sell a bundle with it and a good game.
There's no reason they can't succeed, but so far, almost every upgrade has been ill-conceived. (N64DD anyone? A 100Mb disk that was delayed so long cartridges got that big!)
I don't think you can say that there are no successful upgrades anymore. I think the 4MB RAM expansion for the N64 was pretty much a wide success.
DirectTivo would be great, but my apartment points the wrong way for a dish. If I didn't have to move to implement it, that would certainly be an easy solution.
As to digital cable, it's perfectly recordable but getting the tivo to control your cable box reliably via an IR dongle which can't be moved (and you have cats) is a near impossibility. Also, the tivo can't turn the cable box on, so if you lose power, the box stays off and you're stuck. Plus, the tivo sends three digits for every channel change, making channel up/down pretty stinking slow. I'm not saying it can't be done-- just that it sure isn't easy. I got the Tivo to save me time-- not to provide a thought-provoking installation puzzle.
I hadn't really thought about it that way, but lack of easy recordability is my biggest reason for not getting digital cable or an HDTV. My series 1 tivo is fantastic. I watch more shows I like but spend less total time doing it (TV is around 1/3 commercials, and I no longer watch "filler" shows between shows I like).
Without a Tivo-like device, I won't move to HDTV.
Since the early-adopter market is the same type folks who have Tivos, I wonder how this is hurting HDTV adoption? I suspect more than a few early tivo purchasers who would otherwise have gone on to become early HDTV purchasers are now too happy with their tivos to give up their power just yet.
I have been screwed by these folks, but never as badly as this fellow. But just to add to the friendly Best-Buy bashing going on, here's the short version of my worst Best Buy experience:
1. Purchased open-box Viewsonic PF700 at a $150 savings. Lovely monitor, and there was a big sticker on the box that says Best Buy will uphold the manufacturer's warranty since the box was open.
2. 3 months later, monitor fails. Looks really awful-- blurry, hand-sized dark splotches, distortion.
3. Take monitor to Best Buy for warranty service/replacement-- am asked if I degaussed the monitor. I say "yes, several times" but am ignored. Monitor is degaussed in my presence once with degauss button (no help) and once with external degaussing tool. (also no help-- big surprise)
4. Best Buy tells me they don't service these monitors, and to go pick out a replacement.
5. I go to monitor section, but apparently BB does not carry this monitor anymore. In fact, they don't carry ANY MONITORS at this time that meet the PF790's dot pitch/resolution/refresh rate specs. NONE.
6. I ask for a refund.
7. Denied. Store credit only.
8. I email corporate and ask for a refund.
9. Denied.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 several times.
11. Took home KDS monitor that is best equivalent. Now I'm out the price of the monitor and have an inferior product thanks to the wonderful customer service of best buy.
At the time, I was in college and could not afford a lawsuit. I do not shop their anymore-- but I do hope that another person screwed by their awful service sues them and wins.
A friend of mine who is a big F1 fan told me that hybrids were actually tested by several teams, but have already been banned from the rules. The system was a little different from that of consumer cars-- a tiny battery and a beefed-up alternator that could provide a short boost to the car's power. A system like this would provide a fantastic way to convert braking power into a useable kick when accelerating out of a slow turn.
Anybody know if there's any truth to this?
http://www.edmunds.com/news/conceptcarspotlight/ar ticles/48694/article.html
Is what I think you're looking for. I saw the same article-- now THAT is a hybrid that would sell in the states. 400hp at 42mpg!!!
:)
Now, cut it in half and make me one that gets 200hp at 84mpg and I'm sold.
Actually, I watch the same shows I always wanted to watch, they're just 1/3 shorter without the commercials. And I don't ever watch the last 5 minutes of something that's on before what I want to see, or watch a show that's between two shows I enjoy just to kill the half-hour.
Plus, the TV fits *my* schedule now. For example, I'm usually out doing something on sundays now, rather than watching the simpsons or futurama (and the crap in between). I watch 10 minutes or so of the shows while i grab breakfast or with dinner (and finish the rest the next day, etc...), rather than watching whatever's on and then later also watching the shows i really want to see.
So, I watch slightly fewer shows, no extra "filler" i don't really want to see, and everything takes 30% less time to watch. All in all, I'm pretty damned happy with it.
Will users be able to download the mpeg files stored on their tivos via the new ethernet drivers? Or will Tivo making this "official" remove that particular abililty?
I used mine that way for a couple of years. It worked pretty well. The guide data will support the broadcast networks, and as long as your reception isn't terrible, the recorded picture quality is pretty good.
I signed up for 3 months at $15/month. Their selection may not be huge, but if you find 4 or 5 albums you like in three months, you come out even. It's been about a month, and I've found about a gigabyte of stuff I enjoy-- It's safe to say I got my money's worth.
It's a very good deal if you like punk (they have Epitaph and Lookout!'s catalogs).