Technical writers know that page layout and writing are two different disciplines. They know that writers needn't worry about the fine details of page layout because that's been taken care of by the template designer.
Not that this stops people asking the tech writer to change the layout ("but almost half the page is empty! If you decreased paragraph spacing by 1pt, you could fit that large graphic on this page!"). No, when writing a 400-page manual you can't lay out every page manually. Well, you could, but we're trying to spare you the sticker shock.
OpenOffice faithfully replicates the MS Office way of doing things, even if it is the wrong way. Text styles for instance. Every sensible program assigns a style to a paragraph, and a style update will change all paragraphs that have this style assigned. Same for character styles. MS Word messed this up royally. Half the documents I open have all paragraphs use the Normal style with different customisations on every paragraph. Cleaning this up is a nightmare. And the list goes on.
Problems with the Ribbon: - the change was done with no regard for longtime users who lose ALL of their knowledge of where to find what feature, with no option to revert to the old ways. - Worse, Microsoft threw out conventions like the menu order (File, Edit) that have been the same in all Windows programs since W3.1. Again, loss of knowledge. - it takes much longer to go through all the Ribbons to find a feature than to drag through the menus. You could drag through all of the menus with a single click-and-drag action. You have to click on each of the Ribbon tabs. - minimizing the UI has its own cost in annoyance when the Ribbon deploys when you don't want it. - The Ribbon relies on icons more than text. I find that it takes me longer to find the correct icon than it took me to find the correct menu. Not everyone thinks visually.
All of this for the sake of being more newbie-friendly and ooh-shiny.
Except that you then clutter up your address book with a bunch of addresses of people who you don't/barely know and won't contact again.
Then what's the point of them giving you a business card? I'd much rather have that info somewhere useful i.e. in my phone and computer, where I can then call/email them by looking up a contact rather than having to enter the info from the business card manually. I can always throw it away. Digital clutter is easier to get rid of than paper.
Palm had a good idea: you could send an address book entry to another Palm device using its IR interface. Dead simple, too.
Unfortunately it was Palm-only, making it useless in most circumstances. I'm not aware of a replacement in today's phones. You could email someone a vCard, but that requires knowing their phone number. Is Bluetooth ubiquitous enough to be usable for this?
you would get extreme scrutiny for having foreign plates in the UK
Bullshit. Yes, the UK is not as awash with foreign cars as say, Belgium, but there are plenty of them. If you find the Chunnel fees exorbitant, use a ferry (E 80 for a return last time I took the trip, and that's not even the cheapest option).
ANPR can recognize foreign cars. I came across a hotel which used ANPR on their parking lot, it was a bit unnerving to see the terminal correctly match the registration number I entered with a photo of my car.
Also, this would be a blacklist. Unlisted numbers would get a pass.
There's no 'per hour' in this figure. At peak power, an area that will produce 1W costs 40 cents. Install this area, then yes it will produce up to 1 Wh in 1 hour. To compare to a grid-tied system you'll need to split its price into panels and electronics. As a shortcut, you can usually find the price per Watt of the panels since that's the easiest way to compare different panels. It bypasses the need to calculate the panel's efficiency vs. cost and gives a single metric to gauge the panel's economic feasibility.
In two years, the price of solar panels has dropped by 50%, meaning that quite a few of the stories we've seen in the past years have made it into production. If you don't want to read about the fundamental research that inevitably predates commercial improvements, go read a marketing magazine.
Lego is fantastic for cobbling something together quickly. I've used Lego scaffolding when building scale models, e.g. to hold a wing in the correct position when gluing it to the fuselage.
It has its limitations (Technic hole-and-pin structures tend not to be rigid, lots of play in geartrains), but still.
Current 3D printers have a resolution limit on the order of 0.2 mm. If this can be improved by even one order of magnitude, you're getting to the point where objects look perfect to the naked eye.
But there is. A light switch is a passive element, it consumes no power on its own. Any remote controller including the one in TFA will expend power 24/7 doing nothing but wait for your commands.
What's the point of e.g. a YouTube channel if all you have to navigate with is the minimalist Apple Remote? And no Bluetooth or USB so you can't connect a keyboard for doing text searches.
Basically, you need an iPad for this to be useful, and then why bother with the AppleTV Youtube channel at all? Just find what you want on the iPad and use AirPlay.
50 years ago the U.S. was at the forefront of particle physics. Today it isn't.
Today, being at the forefront of particle physics is beyond the means of any one country. Particle physicists left the nationalistic dickwaving behind and decided to collaborate on the biggest and most complicated piece of measuring equipment ever devised. This is progress.
Stretching makes everything look horrible. Actors look like they've put on 20 kg, objects are distorted. When I see a TV that's set to the incorrect aspect ratio, I want to punch the owner.
Back then the general feeling was that Asian cars were better quality but based on this I always wondered how much was reality and how much unconscious bias.
The general feeling was backed up by statistics from e.g. roadside repair organisations (the German ADAC publishes their stats every year).
Slashdot Mirror
Technical writers know that page layout and writing are two different disciplines. They know that writers needn't worry about the fine details of page layout because that's been taken care of by the template designer.
Not that this stops people asking the tech writer to change the layout ("but almost half the page is empty! If you decreased paragraph spacing by 1pt, you could fit that large graphic on this page!").
No, when writing a 400-page manual you can't lay out every page manually. Well, you could, but we're trying to spare you the sticker shock.
OpenOffice faithfully replicates the MS Office way of doing things, even if it is the wrong way.
Text styles for instance.
Every sensible program assigns a style to a paragraph, and a style update will change all paragraphs that have this style assigned. Same for character styles.
MS Word messed this up royally. Half the documents I open have all paragraphs use the Normal style with different customisations on every paragraph. Cleaning this up is a nightmare. And the list goes on.
Problems with the Ribbon:
- the change was done with no regard for longtime users who lose ALL of their knowledge of where to find what feature, with no option to revert to the old ways.
- Worse, Microsoft threw out conventions like the menu order (File, Edit) that have been the same in all Windows programs since W3.1. Again, loss of knowledge.
- it takes much longer to go through all the Ribbons to find a feature than to drag through the menus. You could drag through all of the menus with a single click-and-drag action. You have to click on each of the Ribbon tabs.
- minimizing the UI has its own cost in annoyance when the Ribbon deploys when you don't want it.
- The Ribbon relies on icons more than text. I find that it takes me longer to find the correct icon than it took me to find the correct menu. Not everyone thinks visually.
All of this for the sake of being more newbie-friendly and ooh-shiny.
Except that you then clutter up your address book with a bunch of addresses of people who you don't/barely know and won't contact again.
Then what's the point of them giving you a business card? I'd much rather have that info somewhere useful i.e. in my phone and computer, where I can then call/email them by looking up a contact rather than having to enter the info from the business card manually. I can always throw it away. Digital clutter is easier to get rid of than paper.
Palm had a good idea: you could send an address book entry to another Palm device using its IR interface. Dead simple, too.
Unfortunately it was Palm-only, making it useless in most circumstances. I'm not aware of a replacement in today's phones. You could email someone a vCard, but that requires knowing their phone number. Is Bluetooth ubiquitous enough to be usable for this?
The oil industry won't spend money researching depths they can't drill to.
Only the Ubermensch can build good rockets?
(/sarcasm)
you would get extreme scrutiny for having foreign plates in the UK
Bullshit. Yes, the UK is not as awash with foreign cars as say, Belgium, but there are plenty of them. If you find the Chunnel fees exorbitant, use a ferry (E 80 for a return last time I took the trip, and that's not even the cheapest option).
ANPR can recognize foreign cars. I came across a hotel which used ANPR on their parking lot, it was a bit unnerving to see the terminal correctly match the registration number I entered with a photo of my car.
Also, this would be a blacklist. Unlisted numbers would get a pass.
If this becomes operational, I wouldn't be surprised if unpaid fines were added to the list soon.
still looking at the 'spinning record player of Death' icon...
There's no 'per hour' in this figure. At peak power, an area that will produce 1W costs 40 cents.
Install this area, then yes it will produce up to 1 Wh in 1 hour.
To compare to a grid-tied system you'll need to split its price into panels and electronics. As a shortcut, you can usually find the price per Watt of the panels since that's the easiest way to compare different panels. It bypasses the need to calculate the panel's efficiency vs. cost and gives a single metric to gauge the panel's economic feasibility.
In two years, the price of solar panels has dropped by 50%, meaning that quite a few of the stories we've seen in the past years have made it into production.
If you don't want to read about the fundamental research that inevitably predates commercial improvements, go read a marketing magazine.
Lego is fantastic for cobbling something together quickly. I've used Lego scaffolding when building scale models, e.g. to hold a wing in the correct position when gluing it to the fuselage.
It has its limitations (Technic hole-and-pin structures tend not to be rigid, lots of play in geartrains), but still.
Current 3D printers have a resolution limit on the order of 0.2 mm. If this can be improved by even one order of magnitude, you're getting to the point where objects look perfect to the naked eye.
A recent /. story discussed the bookOpen Advice which is about finding ways to contribute. It's worth reading.
Ah, ok. I was hoping for an app that would grab the video and play it reliably. Getting tired of all those sucky FLV players.
The only Audacity I can find is an audio player. Can you elaborate?
Apple published a video about their 'knowledge navigator' concept in 1987, the same year they started development of the Newton.
There is no gain from flipping a light switch
But there is. A light switch is a passive element, it consumes no power on its own. Any remote controller including the one in TFA will expend power 24/7 doing nothing but wait for your commands.
What's the point of e.g. a YouTube channel if all you have to navigate with is the minimalist Apple Remote? And no Bluetooth or USB so you can't connect a keyboard for doing text searches.
Basically, you need an iPad for this to be useful, and then why bother with the AppleTV Youtube channel at all? Just find what you want on the iPad and use AirPlay.
50 years ago the U.S. was at the forefront of particle physics. Today it isn't.
Today, being at the forefront of particle physics is beyond the means of any one country. Particle physicists left the nationalistic dickwaving behind and decided to collaborate on the biggest and most complicated piece of measuring equipment ever devised. This is progress.
The first thing I thought of was this Calvin&Hobbes cartoon
Stretching??? Go wash your mouth out with soap.
Stretching makes everything look horrible. Actors look like they've put on 20 kg, objects are distorted. When I see a TV that's set to the incorrect aspect ratio, I want to punch the owner.
There was a story recently about a design for Apple's new HQ: a sleek, low, circular building that blends into the landscape.
This news suggests a different shape for the building: a cube. See if they're up to 3 cubic acres of money yet.
Back then the general feeling was that Asian cars were better quality but based on this I always wondered how much was reality and how much unconscious bias.
The general feeling was backed up by statistics from e.g. roadside repair organisations (the German ADAC publishes their stats every year).