I guess if the whole system is owned by the government or some vast private entity that could work. But I think you're underestimating the capital investment that would require. If I paid $10k+ for a new lithium battery pack, I'm sure as hell not going to let some battery service station swap it out for one that's potentially near the end of its usable life.
The real problem is long distance trips. Unless you have charging stations every 50 miles and can transfer 10-20KWH to the car in a few minutes at each of those stations, you still can't effectively make a long distance trip in an electric car, whether it's you driving or a robot.
Some people with electric cars who have spent upwards of $15,000 on lithium batteries (not practical for most people) can go a hundred miles or more before refueling. The best batteries (A123) are so expensive as to be almost impractical, but they can charge fast enough so your refuel time is probably limited by your cables or by how much current your charging station can provide.
Electric cars aren't out of practical reach, even without robotic drivers. Check out EVAlbum.com -- there are hundreds of electric commuter cars out there. It's just that they can't go long distances without recharging, and charging takes a few hours at least. I don't see how robotic drivers help with either of those problems.
Cars need to be lighter and more aerodynamic. The drag on a standard automobile is just ridiculous. Rear ends today are typically vertically flat! Who are these designers that aren't familiar with the teardrop shape?
Yeah, that vertically flat rear end is called a Kammback. Beyond a certain point, the full teardrop taper adds very little aerodynamically, and would be problematic anyway for safety and weight issues.
simple is a central PC and scanners at every doorway 4 per doorway should do it. to cover both sides and high/low carrying. then simply query the last doorway that tag 4855432 passed by, now you have what room it is in.
This is actually the way I would go (only one per doorway though). I think you could do it in a pretty cost effective way, too. Triangulation inside a house would be pretty difficult given range restrictions and all the different kinds of interference and reflection from various things in the house. I bet you could homebrew a doorway antenna that would hide in the trim and be pretty effective at catching anything going through the door. I'd suggest you put them on the windows, too. Then you can set the PC to page you when anything valuable leaves the house.
While you're at it, stick tags under the inserts in your kids shoes. They will never get away with sneaking out at 1am again.
...except for documents that have been marked up, stapled, or folded.
So, about 80% of the stuff I print wouldn't be reusable anyway.
That adds up to a big fat MEH.
For many men all they will have in the end is their means (money) when the shit hits the fan in their relationship lives. You can always count on money to be there, but the same cannot be said for human beings, tragically.... Money will speak when no one will speak for you, remember this.
Family, religion, friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business.
-Montgomery Burns
Nothing like a little hyperbole to put your ad hits through the roof. I think the last question proves that this was cynical and intentional:
"Debian will be 15 years old this August. Where would you like to see the project in another decade and a half?"
If they say they have a production process for making something in quantity, they probably do.
The OP wasn't arguing that GE doesn't have the production process. He/she just wasn't convinced that the process was "a breakthrough." The photo I saw looked like the LEDs were about 1 inch square each, and the attached article suggested that they were about twice as efficient per lumen as incandescent lighting. The efficiency of incandescent lighting isn't exactly hard to beat.
Would you consider a new process for manufacturing buggy whips to be a "breakthrough?" I'm not saying it's NOT a breakthrough, (obviously this could lead to amazing display technology) but I agree with the point the OP was trying to make: it would be nice to have more details.
I already have a firm policy of not buying from them because their products are crap and their technical support can be spectacularly unhelpful. They end-of-lifed a product that barely worked (the original Viruswall for Linux) and forced us to migrate by discontinuing virus signature updates. The product they replaced it with (VirusWall SMB for Linux) crashed on a daily-to-hourly basis, and over a period of weeks my repeated cries for help were basically ignored. We replaced their product with a Linux box running ClamAV and Postfix, which has run flawlessly ever since. No wonder they've turned to litigation.
If the rules are all obeyed, they are guaranteed that no competitor will be physically superior to them except by the virtue of better genes or even more intense training.
"More intense training" is not the path to elite performance. The goal of coaching is to find the level of intensity at which the athletes body responds and builds fitness most efficiently. When training is too intense, the body becomes less fit. Tissues are broken down faster than they can be rebuilt. Injury or even overtraining syndrome results.
Best Buy long ago alienated all customers who watch the news and refuse to shop at businesses which regularly practice sleazy business tactics. I doubt this bad PR will affect their business at all. Nobody who cares about stuff like this has shopped at Best Buy for years.
Slashdot Mirror
Is your vacuum/furnace/AC unit drawing its full rated power 24 hours a day? I sure hope not.
I guess if the whole system is owned by the government or some vast private entity that could work. But I think you're underestimating the capital investment that would require. If I paid $10k+ for a new lithium battery pack, I'm sure as hell not going to let some battery service station swap it out for one that's potentially near the end of its usable life.
Do you think developing a robotic system capable of replacing human drivers is more cost effective than buying two cars?
The real problem is long distance trips. Unless you have charging stations every 50 miles and can transfer 10-20KWH to the car in a few minutes at each of those stations, you still can't effectively make a long distance trip in an electric car, whether it's you driving or a robot.
Some people with electric cars who have spent upwards of $15,000 on lithium batteries (not practical for most people) can go a hundred miles or more before refueling. The best batteries (A123) are so expensive as to be almost impractical, but they can charge fast enough so your refuel time is probably limited by your cables or by how much current your charging station can provide.
Electric cars aren't out of practical reach, even without robotic drivers. Check out EVAlbum.com -- there are hundreds of electric commuter cars out there. It's just that they can't go long distances without recharging, and charging takes a few hours at least. I don't see how robotic drivers help with either of those problems.
Now, if you can get the power usage down, then long distance trips in electric vehicles become practical. Even with a human driver.
It was a joke.
It's the wave of the future.
First they have to figure out how they're being tracked.
simple is a central PC and scanners at every doorway 4 per doorway should do it. to cover both sides and high/low carrying. then simply query the last doorway that tag 4855432 passed by, now you have what room it is in. This is actually the way I would go (only one per doorway though). I think you could do it in a pretty cost effective way, too. Triangulation inside a house would be pretty difficult given range restrictions and all the different kinds of interference and reflection from various things in the house. I bet you could homebrew a doorway antenna that would hide in the trim and be pretty effective at catching anything going through the door. I'd suggest you put them on the windows, too. Then you can set the PC to page you when anything valuable leaves the house. While you're at it, stick tags under the inserts in your kids shoes. They will never get away with sneaking out at 1am again.
I'm strictly het, to the point that the thought of homosexual sex is not repulsive to me. I feel only utter indifference about the idea.
So, thinking about a couple of hottie lesbians in a passionate embrace provokes no reaction at all? Allow me to register my skepticism.
Don't make me laugh. /ducks
...except for documents that have been marked up, stapled, or folded. So, about 80% of the stuff I print wouldn't be reusable anyway. That adds up to a big fat MEH.
Nothing like a little hyperbole to put your ad hits through the roof. I think the last question proves that this was cynical and intentional: "Debian will be 15 years old this August. Where would you like to see the project in another decade and a half?"
This is GPL'd software. Bill Gates told me nobody could improve it. These Linux developers are truly renegades!
Well, excuse me. Maybe I should have included a link to an analysis of bicycle fuel efficiency in order to catch the average Slashdot reader's attention.
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like
But my paycheck depends on the companie's bottom line and as a production worker, I create that.
When you're not reading Slashdot, that is...
If they say they have a production process for making something in quantity, they probably do.
The OP wasn't arguing that GE doesn't have the production process. He/she just wasn't convinced that the process was "a breakthrough." The photo I saw looked like the LEDs were about 1 inch square each, and the attached article suggested that they were about twice as efficient per lumen as incandescent lighting. The efficiency of incandescent lighting isn't exactly hard to beat.
Would you consider a new process for manufacturing buggy whips to be a "breakthrough?" I'm not saying it's NOT a breakthrough, (obviously this could lead to amazing display technology) but I agree with the point the OP was trying to make: it would be nice to have more details.
Did you create an account just to respond to my post? Gosh, I wonder who you work for.
I already have a firm policy of not buying from them because their products are crap and their technical support can be spectacularly unhelpful. They end-of-lifed a product that barely worked (the original Viruswall for Linux) and forced us to migrate by discontinuing virus signature updates. The product they replaced it with (VirusWall SMB for Linux) crashed on a daily-to-hourly basis, and over a period of weeks my repeated cries for help were basically ignored. We replaced their product with a Linux box running ClamAV and Postfix, which has run flawlessly ever since. No wonder they've turned to litigation.
If the rules are all obeyed, they are guaranteed that no competitor will be physically superior to them except by the virtue of better genes or even more intense training.
"More intense training" is not the path to elite performance. The goal of coaching is to find the level of intensity at which the athletes body responds and builds fitness most efficiently. When training is too intense, the body becomes less fit. Tissues are broken down faster than they can be rebuilt. Injury or even overtraining syndrome results.
call up Ron Paul and ask him what he'd do
Now that's leadership.
Best Buy long ago alienated all customers who watch the news and refuse to shop at businesses which regularly practice sleazy business tactics. I doubt this bad PR will affect their business at all. Nobody who cares about stuff like this has shopped at Best Buy for years.
Now all those people getting abortions in the name of science can finally stop.