The engine is running most of the time. Hybrids excel in slow traffic, but the added weight (which is not negligible) cuts into efficiency on a highway because you end up having no way to charge the battery (little to no braking) but still have to carry the extra weight around.
Not to mention that a Metro is smaller and has less equipment than your average hybrid.
You have to compare similar cars, not vastly different cars.
Cars are much heavier these days, for several reasons. This is tangential to the discussion, which is engine efficiency, which has absolutely improved.
Engine performance has increased with time, with fuel consumption going down. It's mostly heavier cars that account for the difference.
The amount of Helium that is naturally produced is not nearly enough to allow for sustainability at current consumption levels. Helium is essentially a limited resource. It won't dry up tomorrow, but it will, eventually.
The main issue isn't money. Yes, money is good and I have nothing against money. However, there are vital uses for Helium that have no forseeable alternative. I'm not preaching the end of abundant Helium to make a quick buck, I'm worried about our future if Helium runs out.
However you want to put it, Helium is not limitless or nearly limitless (it has the nasty habit of leaving the atmosphere) and it sure as hell plays no important role as balloon filler. It boils down to Science, Medicine, Balloons at parties and parades competing for a limited supply. I do not think the latter has any valid reason to warrant the use of Helium. It's not like stopping the use Helium for unimportant stuff is an inconvenience to anyone.
Are you seriously suggesting that your personal freedom (let's not forget no freedom is absolute) is worth more than the future of science and medicine?
Would you be saying the same if I suggested that it should be illegal to carry around a bucket full of Radium and walk with it in a crowd?
If all you can say is "Why should I do what you say?" after I present my arguments, you bring nothing to the discussion. It's perfectly alright to disagree, but doing so without presenting facts or arguments is lame at best and the hallmark of an idiot at worst.
So let's try this again: Why do you believe your right to fill a balloon with Helium is more important than Humanity's right to medicine and scientific advancement? Do you believe in limitless Helium? Do you feel it's everyone for themselves? Do you believe the whole issue is overblown and the supposed scarcity will never happen? Do you have any facts to add?
What the hell does this have to do with money? Yes, it's theoretically possible to gouge future generations when Helium starts running out, but it's just as bad for everyone as running out of Helium.
The solution is obvious: Do not sell Helium to idiots who want to fill balloons. Hint: It's something the US government, as the world's largest Helium supplier, has to do.
We're talking about small quantities. Think of how many drives you could fill with one balloon's worth of Helium.
But yes, I get seriously pissed off when I see precious helium that could've been used as a coolant for superconductive magnets (and HDD filler, it seems) being used to fill balloons. If you must absolutely have a stupid floating balloon or massive balloon parade, use hydrogen. When something happens, people will be so scared (even though a large hydrogen fire in an open space or a small one indoors aren't particularly dangerous by fire standards) they'll never want a balloon again unless it's filled with air.
Sure, it might ruin little Jimmy's birthday party, but a spectacular hydrogen fire is mostly spectacular and is not a waste of Helium.
If you ever participate in the usage of Helium you will probably be partly responsible for the day when:
a) An MRI cannot operate because its superconductive electromagnet is not superconductive because it's not cool enough - liquid Helium cools it. (Yes, there are permanent magnet MRIs, but from what I've heard, most powerful MRIs use superconductive electromagnets).
b) A particle accelerator cannot operate because its superconductive electromagnets aren't being cooled by liquid helium.
Compared to those, lower capacity HDDs are a nuisance and not having floating balloons is a miniscule price to pay.
a) The digitizer stylus replaces the mouse in nearly all win32 applications that are hard to work with using touch.
b) OneNote. It's the killer app - handwriting directly into OneNote without a seperate drawing tablet is a surprisingly good experience. For those who are into such stuff, the same applies to graphics software like Photoshop.Compatibility with most 32 and 64 bit Win32 applications ever made is an added bonus, as is compatibility with hardware.
c) Replacing a full laptop in situations where one isn't absolutely needed - we are talking about Ultrabook performance, so the keyboard and a bluetooth mouse turn it into a laptop when it's not being used as a tablet.
d) You can install any x86 OS you want on it. Sick of Windows? Try some Linux distro, it should have drivers for everything.
Clearly, if you believe an iPad or equivalent device is enough for you, you are clearly not the target audience. This isn't a stupid fashion statement/gimmick like an iPad - it has real uses and those who have a use for it knew it the moment they saw it. No single product is ideal for anyone - it's a matter of choosing what you need.
Windows 8 Pro can run as many VMs as the hardware will support (4 sounds reasonable for a modern OS, assuming the 8GB version). Touch + digitizer probablywouldn't work inside a VM, but since the digitizer is a standard wacom digitizer, driver support isn't problematic when used natively.
It only fixes a Wi-Fi bug, it seems. Effectively, a driver update.
The original Surface Pro probably uses a different Wi-Fi adapter (or simply a different revision) and thus has a different driver that wasn't affected.
When did computer batteries ever last 8 days? Never.
When I thought that comparing Apples to Oranges was annoying (puny iPad-like tablets vs. Surface Pro and similar), you decide on a Grapes to Oranges comparison (Phones vs. Surface Pro and similar).
Assuming this is more than a hoax, here's a bit of devil's advocate:
After the initial infection and subsequent cleaning (let's assume it survived somehow - hell, it might have been a compromised USB keyboard), the issue was forgotten for a while until the mentioned symptoms started appearing - since they seemed to be mostly inconveniences that often plague BIOS/UEFI (If I had a buck for each hour I've spent figuring out how to boot with drive X on system Y...) or could be atributed to more mundane causes, the investigation of these issues was considered not prioritary, as there were seemingly more important tasks to do.
More recently, a connection was established that suggested it might be more than just random bad luck - this then took a while to investigate, especially because ruining hardware (desoldering the BIOS chip to extract its firmware) is typically the last resort when investigating something.
Again, this is just speculation as to why this whole story took three years so far.
And regarding the power cable: Powerline networking is commercially available and well-understood, as is transmitting data along with low-voltage DC (PoE). If you come to the conclusion that information is being exchanged after removing all network interfaces, it makes perfect sense to try (it's not exactly hard...) to unplug the laptop, to eliminate a potential hardware backdoor. Honestly, what I considered paranoia not too long ago is starting to look more likely every day...
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, that definitely started in 2003. /s
Yeah*, but what's the point?
*Assuming the OS doesn't freak out - which will definitely happen. Let's just say there's no technical barrier to overcome.
In the unlikely event that you do hear one screaming, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice.
Everyone probably thought that it'd be statistically impossible to have two straight defense projects delivered successfully, early and under budget.
I can tell you one thing:
If a businessperson ever doubts an engineer, they are most certainly not highly successful.
Sure they are, if the decrease is offset by the revenue from additional customers. Same as any business.
Fewer repairs and fewer hospital bills.
The engine is running most of the time. Hybrids excel in slow traffic, but the added weight (which is not negligible) cuts into efficiency on a highway because you end up having no way to charge the battery (little to no braking) but still have to carry the extra weight around.
Not to mention that a Metro is smaller and has less equipment than your average hybrid.
You have to compare similar cars, not vastly different cars.
Cars are much heavier these days, for several reasons. This is tangential to the discussion, which is engine efficiency, which has absolutely improved.
Engine performance has increased with time, with fuel consumption going down. It's mostly heavier cars that account for the difference.
It's also typically buried under layers of menus (for good reason, too - think of the amount of people whose phones would "stop working" otherwise)
[Citation needed]
Last time I checked, engine efficiency has improved significantly since electronic engine control systems were introduced.
The amount of Helium that is naturally produced is not nearly enough to allow for sustainability at current consumption levels. Helium is essentially a limited resource. It won't dry up tomorrow, but it will, eventually.
The main issue isn't money. Yes, money is good and I have nothing against money. However, there are vital uses for Helium that have no forseeable alternative. I'm not preaching the end of abundant Helium to make a quick buck, I'm worried about our future if Helium runs out.
However you want to put it, Helium is not limitless or nearly limitless (it has the nasty habit of leaving the atmosphere) and it sure as hell plays no important role as balloon filler. It boils down to Science, Medicine, Balloons at parties and parades competing for a limited supply. I do not think the latter has any valid reason to warrant the use of Helium. It's not like stopping the use Helium for unimportant stuff is an inconvenience to anyone.
Are you seriously suggesting that your personal freedom (let's not forget no freedom is absolute) is worth more than the future of science and medicine?
Would you be saying the same if I suggested that it should be illegal to carry around a bucket full of Radium and walk with it in a crowd?
If all you can say is "Why should I do what you say?" after I present my arguments, you bring nothing to the discussion. It's perfectly alright to disagree, but doing so without presenting facts or arguments is lame at best and the hallmark of an idiot at worst.
So let's try this again: Why do you believe your right to fill a balloon with Helium is more important than Humanity's right to medicine and scientific advancement? Do you believe in limitless Helium? Do you feel it's everyone for themselves? Do you believe the whole issue is overblown and the supposed scarcity will never happen? Do you have any facts to add?
What the hell does this have to do with money? Yes, it's theoretically possible to gouge future generations when Helium starts running out, but it's just as bad for everyone as running out of Helium.
The solution is obvious: Do not sell Helium to idiots who want to fill balloons. Hint: It's something the US government, as the world's largest Helium supplier, has to do.
We're talking about small quantities. Think of how many drives you could fill with one balloon's worth of Helium.
But yes, I get seriously pissed off when I see precious helium that could've been used as a coolant for superconductive magnets (and HDD filler, it seems) being used to fill balloons. If you must absolutely have a stupid floating balloon or massive balloon parade, use hydrogen. When something happens, people will be so scared (even though a large hydrogen fire in an open space or a small one indoors aren't particularly dangerous by fire standards) they'll never want a balloon again unless it's filled with air.
Sure, it might ruin little Jimmy's birthday party, but a spectacular hydrogen fire is mostly spectacular and is not a waste of Helium.
If you ever participate in the usage of Helium you will probably be partly responsible for the day when:
a) An MRI cannot operate because its superconductive electromagnet is not superconductive because it's not cool enough - liquid Helium cools it. (Yes, there are permanent magnet MRIs, but from what I've heard, most powerful MRIs use superconductive electromagnets).
b) A particle accelerator cannot operate because its superconductive electromagnets aren't being cooled by liquid helium.
Compared to those, lower capacity HDDs are a nuisance and not having floating balloons is a miniscule price to pay.
a) The digitizer stylus replaces the mouse in nearly all win32 applications that are hard to work with using touch.
b) OneNote. It's the killer app - handwriting directly into OneNote without a seperate drawing tablet is a surprisingly good experience. For those who are into such stuff, the same applies to graphics software like Photoshop.Compatibility with most 32 and 64 bit Win32 applications ever made is an added bonus, as is compatibility with hardware.
c) Replacing a full laptop in situations where one isn't absolutely needed - we are talking about Ultrabook performance, so the keyboard and a bluetooth mouse turn it into a laptop when it's not being used as a tablet.
d) You can install any x86 OS you want on it. Sick of Windows? Try some Linux distro, it should have drivers for everything.
Clearly, if you believe an iPad or equivalent device is enough for you, you are clearly not the target audience. This isn't a stupid fashion statement/gimmick like an iPad - it has real uses and those who have a use for it knew it the moment they saw it. No single product is ideal for anyone - it's a matter of choosing what you need.
Surface Pro is asunlocked as any other x86 machine. Boot into UEFI and tweak secure boot to your liking.
Only Windows RT devices are locked.
Windows 8 Pro can run as many VMs as the hardware will support (4 sounds reasonable for a modern OS, assuming the 8GB version). Touch + digitizer probablywouldn't work inside a VM, but since the digitizer is a standard wacom digitizer, driver support isn't problematic when used natively.
It only fixes a Wi-Fi bug, it seems. Effectively, a driver update.
The original Surface Pro probably uses a different Wi-Fi adapter (or simply a different revision) and thus has a different driver that wasn't affected.
What the hell are you ranting on about? What's stopping you from installing whatever x86 OS you wish?
It's more than possible. Just reboot into UEFI and disable secure boot (or add your shiny new OS) - and you might want to keep a keyboard handy.
When did computer batteries ever last 8 days? Never.
When I thought that comparing Apples to Oranges was annoying (puny iPad-like tablets vs. Surface Pro and similar), you decide on a Grapes to Oranges comparison (Phones vs. Surface Pro and similar).
Wi-Fi improvements, supposedly.
There is most likely no downside, only optimizations.
Why the hell would you install Android on x86 hardware? Are you that blinded by fanboyism?
Assuming this is more than a hoax, here's a bit of devil's advocate:
After the initial infection and subsequent cleaning (let's assume it survived somehow - hell, it might have been a compromised USB keyboard), the issue was forgotten for a while until the mentioned symptoms started appearing - since they seemed to be mostly inconveniences that often plague BIOS/UEFI (If I had a buck for each hour I've spent figuring out how to boot with drive X on system Y...) or could be atributed to more mundane causes, the investigation of these issues was considered not prioritary, as there were seemingly more important tasks to do.
More recently, a connection was established that suggested it might be more than just random bad luck - this then took a while to investigate, especially because ruining hardware (desoldering the BIOS chip to extract its firmware) is typically the last resort when investigating something.
Again, this is just speculation as to why this whole story took three years so far.
And regarding the power cable: Powerline networking is commercially available and well-understood, as is transmitting data along with low-voltage DC (PoE). If you come to the conclusion that information is being exchanged after removing all network interfaces, it makes perfect sense to try (it's not exactly hard...) to unplug the laptop, to eliminate a potential hardware backdoor. Honestly, what I considered paranoia not too long ago is starting to look more likely every day...