When I was taking the math classes for my aerospace engr. degree, I frankly had a tough time. I don't have an intuitive grasp of mathematics the way some of my classmates did. When presented with a list of equations just sitting there, being equations, and I was supposed to do stuff to them...I simply didn't Get It. I could do the tasks by rote, but I didn't really understand.
What gave me understanding was tying those equations back to the physical world. When I understood that differential equations were used to analyze heat flow (and here's how, check this out!) I was in much better shape. I'd been working with matrices since eighth grade, but none of my teachers ever bothered to tell me WHY I was working with matrices...until I took a structural dynamics class.
I'm no math whiz. It took a lot of study and grind for me to get through the math part of my degree. I do, however, think I've got a knack for mechanical things.
Sometimes, I wonder if my life would have been different had I gotten into a vocational, rather than a professional, track in high school. The way I want my career to be, I want to be as close to the hardware as possible. The engineering knowledge is indeed useful and interesting, but there are too many engineers who can't actually build shit. Just as there are too many people who can build and repair things, but don't really understand them.
Churchill was a heartless cold-blooded bastard. So was FDR. They were willing to do unconscionable things in order to win. Worship them? Hardly.
The invasion of Normandy was a decisive operation. The US forces were the backbone of that operation. THe Lend-Lease Act kept Britain in the war until FDR could engineer the US entry into the European theater by drawing a foul in the Pacific. (I think he'd hoped it would be Midway, but the Japanese decided that if they were going to commit a foul, somebody was gonna get HURT.)
After all that, though, they won.
At the very least, US forces shortened the war by five years. If you don't think that's significant, well, I don't know what to tell you. Even if Russia were to have invaded Berlin, they wouldn't have bothered to liberate France. If anything, they'd have decided that Germany is a fine buffer zone, thank you, and stopped right there.
I sincerely doubt that Winston Churchill would agree with you.
Keep in mind also that Hitler took the fight to the Russians, not vice versa. I think Russia would have happily stayed out of WW2 had Hitler not broken the non-aggression treaty.
But, somehow, it's important for you to disparage America's contributions to WW2. If that makes you feel better, far be it from me to dissuade you.
Many state schools are $10k/semester including room and board. If you consider a five year degree plan (not at all unheard of if you want a technical degree) you're looking at pretty close to $100k.
Yes, and we can look back on a long history of governments following policy designed to preserve privacy. All governments are scrupulously honest with respect to the law.
It's almost like neither the republicans nor the democrats are going to preserve the best interests of The People. What an utterly shocking conclusion.
"and I'd have to think that keeping all the pixels on my 30" widescreen monitor black would be a small but measurable increase in power consumption."
And Aristotle thought that a feather tied to a hammer would measurably slow the fall of the hammer.
Unless displaying black web pages changes the brightness of the backlight (and, you know what? It doesn't.) the energy savings will, indeed, be immeasurably trivial.
I went through two configuration wizards, one of which pointed me to a different Opera web site (that wasn't hyperlinked, by the way). Then I had to jump through the ridiculousness that is Java on Palm (again, because the flavor I had wasn't the right flavor).
And then, after all that? A browser with big-ass red bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Tell me again...why is this a good browser?
It's good...because my PC doesn't fit in my pocket. Why is that hard to understand?
Look, the iPhone has numerous issues. I'm not going to buy the first one, that's for sure. However, according to every person who seems to have touched one, the browser is the best one on the market.
From our conversation, I've tried installing opera mini on my phone. It's a massive pain in the ass. I'm hoping that it's improved from the last time I've used it, but it's hard to envision that it's going to be better enough to justify the trouble.
Apple seems to ME to be trying to give you the impression that they've got the only phone that has an accelerometer to sense the orientation of the phone, and adjust the display accordingly. And, you know what? They are. That's a good piece of UI design, and I think Apple is rightfully proud of it.
You might have confused me with an iPhone fanboy. I'm not. It's a very nice piece of design, that has a few critical features missing, so I have to stick with my Treo. Which, although it pisses me off on a daily basis, is still the best fit for my requirements.
I used Opera Mini on my Treo. I got frustrated with its insistance on having a useless title bar that took up a fifth of my screen. What's so special about Opera Mini?
The flying wing concept is indeed interesting, but it's not without major challenges (particularly in the realm of flight control). Now, it's a well-understood problem to design control laws for "unorthodox" aircraft, and the flying wing design is indeed a good fit for some missions.
But a concept "deserves" only the attention that it garners due to its performance. It's not just a matter of being pretty. Sure, a well-designed aircraft is usually aesthetically pleasing, but aesthetics are neither necessary (A-10) nor sufficient (Concorde).
Slashdot Mirror
By way of extension, not contradiction:
When I was taking the math classes for my aerospace engr. degree, I frankly had a tough time. I don't have an intuitive grasp of mathematics the way some of my classmates did. When presented with a list of equations just sitting there, being equations, and I was supposed to do stuff to them...I simply didn't Get It. I could do the tasks by rote, but I didn't really understand.
What gave me understanding was tying those equations back to the physical world. When I understood that differential equations were used to analyze heat flow (and here's how, check this out!) I was in much better shape. I'd been working with matrices since eighth grade, but none of my teachers ever bothered to tell me WHY I was working with matrices...until I took a structural dynamics class.
I'm no math whiz. It took a lot of study and grind for me to get through the math part of my degree. I do, however, think I've got a knack for mechanical things.
Sometimes, I wonder if my life would have been different had I gotten into a vocational, rather than a professional, track in high school. The way I want my career to be, I want to be as close to the hardware as possible. The engineering knowledge is indeed useful and interesting, but there are too many engineers who can't actually build shit. Just as there are too many people who can build and repair things, but don't really understand them.
I want both.
It's worth exactly as much as somebody is willing to pay.
Churchill was a heartless cold-blooded bastard. So was FDR. They were willing to do unconscionable things in order to win. Worship them? Hardly.
The invasion of Normandy was a decisive operation. The US forces were the backbone of that operation. THe Lend-Lease Act kept Britain in the war until FDR could engineer the US entry into the European theater by drawing a foul in the Pacific. (I think he'd hoped it would be Midway, but the Japanese decided that if they were going to commit a foul, somebody was gonna get HURT.)
After all that, though, they won.
At the very least, US forces shortened the war by five years. If you don't think that's significant, well, I don't know what to tell you. Even if Russia were to have invaded Berlin, they wouldn't have bothered to liberate France. If anything, they'd have decided that Germany is a fine buffer zone, thank you, and stopped right there.
I sincerely doubt that Winston Churchill would agree with you.
Keep in mind also that Hitler took the fight to the Russians, not vice versa. I think Russia would have happily stayed out of WW2 had Hitler not broken the non-aggression treaty.
But, somehow, it's important for you to disparage America's contributions to WW2. If that makes you feel better, far be it from me to dissuade you.
It's so simple! Thanks so much for clearing that up for me.
Wait...which side is Freeman Dyson on? Because I think he's probably a bit smarter than, say, everybody. (to a pretty good approximation anyhow.)
Many state schools are $10k/semester including room and board. If you consider a five year degree plan (not at all unheard of if you want a technical degree) you're looking at pretty close to $100k.
Yes, and we can look back on a long history of governments following policy designed to preserve privacy. All governments are scrupulously honest with respect to the law.
Um, I'm trying to do up up down down left right left right ABAB select start, but I can't find any of those buttons.
If it were, in fact, cost effective, that would be badass.
But it's not, so it isn't.
So you can choose not to buy it. It's easy! If I can do it, anybody can!
I suggest you invest heavily in the development of this technology.
If it's producing a noticeable amount of energy, it's going to be noticeable.
Any time somebody tells you they've come up with a scheme to produce free energy, they're probably lying.
It's almost like neither the republicans nor the democrats are going to preserve the best interests of The People. What an utterly shocking conclusion.
Right, because that strategy has worked so well in the past.
"and I'd have to think that keeping all the pixels on my 30" widescreen monitor black would be a small but measurable increase in power consumption."
And Aristotle thought that a feather tied to a hammer would measurably slow the fall of the hammer.
Unless displaying black web pages changes the brightness of the backlight (and, you know what? It doesn't.) the energy savings will, indeed, be immeasurably trivial.
Just like the writers of the article found.
""We" just need to make sure they don't do anything rash."
Are you high? Seriously.
I went through two configuration wizards, one of which pointed me to a different Opera web site (that wasn't hyperlinked, by the way). Then I had to jump through the ridiculousness that is Java on Palm (again, because the flavor I had wasn't the right flavor).
And then, after all that? A browser with big-ass red bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Tell me again...why is this a good browser?
It's good...because my PC doesn't fit in my pocket. Why is that hard to understand?
Look, the iPhone has numerous issues. I'm not going to buy the first one, that's for sure. However, according to every person who seems to have touched one, the browser is the best one on the market.
From our conversation, I've tried installing opera mini on my phone. It's a massive pain in the ass. I'm hoping that it's improved from the last time I've used it, but it's hard to envision that it's going to be better enough to justify the trouble.
Apple seems to ME to be trying to give you the impression that they've got the only phone that has an accelerometer to sense the orientation of the phone, and adjust the display accordingly. And, you know what? They are. That's a good piece of UI design, and I think Apple is rightfully proud of it.
You might have confused me with an iPhone fanboy. I'm not. It's a very nice piece of design, that has a few critical features missing, so I have to stick with my Treo. Which, although it pisses me off on a daily basis, is still the best fit for my requirements.
Uh, OK. But Opera Mini still has a huge title bar that I couldn't get rid of, and the Treo's screen is smaller than the iPhone's.
So...again. Opera Mini is good...why?
Do you have even a vague idea of how many aircraft Rutan has built, not just designed? There's not a more prolific aircraft designer on Earth.
I used Opera Mini on my Treo. I got frustrated with its insistance on having a useless title bar that took up a fifth of my screen. What's so special about Opera Mini?
The YF-23? B-2 Spirit? F-14 Tomcat? Innumerable rugged, powerful combat aircraft back to at least 1937? The LEM?
Is this a trick question?
Why did you think it was junk?
What attention does a concept "deserve"?
The flying wing concept is indeed interesting, but it's not without major challenges (particularly in the realm of flight control). Now, it's a well-understood problem to design control laws for "unorthodox" aircraft, and the flying wing design is indeed a good fit for some missions.
But a concept "deserves" only the attention that it garners due to its performance. It's not just a matter of being pretty. Sure, a well-designed aircraft is usually aesthetically pleasing, but aesthetics are neither necessary (A-10) nor sufficient (Concorde).
You have a carbon fiber engine block, do you?