If you're nearsighted, and want to buy glasses in the US, you need a prescription, and your glasses will be expensive. If you're farsighted, you can go to any drug store, and pick up a pair of glasses for $5. (Naturally, getting the correct prescription, particularly if both eyes have different requirements will cost about the same as those nearsighted glasses.)
I suppose the difference is that nearsighted people are generally getting the sort of glasses they'll wear all day. But the cheap reading glasses you can buy at a drugstore are generally just for reading, and thus not worn full-time.
There is a workaround, though -- buy from China. There are many options where you can buy glasses online, with whatever strength you wish, without the need for an official prescription. I suggest hearing aids will do in a similar direction -- it will remain true that the ideal fit, and the best quality comes from visiting a doctor, getting a proper prescription, and having the product adjusted to fit you by a professional. But, for a significantly lower price, you can get a similar product that will do a good enough job, but leave you on your own to work out the details.
I live in an area with lots of apartments/condos. Most people here are young, perhaps recent graduates, making a decent living, but still working their way up the pay ladder. It's common here for neighbors to share an internet connection -- one person gets the physical connection, and in exchange for sharing their WiFi password, a few neighbors chip in on the bill. So on paper, maybe 2/3 of the residents have a broadband connection, but in reality, almost 100% are using one.
I'm not trying to argue the ethics of this -- just pointing out that it's probably a common enough practice to skew some of the statistics in areas of denser population.
Numerous studies have shown better retention and understanding when people "take notes," as opposed to simply transcribing large chunks of what they hear.
When I started college, I thought I must be super-fast at note-taking, because other students would complain when the professor erased something from the board, saying they weren't done taking notes yet. I later realized, I didn't write any faster than the other students - the difference is, I wrote what I thought was worth writing, and never just copied things down.
As such, my notes contained the information I thought was worth keeping. They were tailored to me, and might lack details other students thought important. But I also retained most of what I wrote, only having to look back for specific formulae, but rarely for overall concepts.
Just a single USB-C port. While I like the magsafe charging connection of older macboks, I can support charging via USB-C - the more devices that can charge via the same standard connector, the better. While I like having the USB-A plugs, I'm willing to bet peripherals will transition with time to USB-C, and I can even deal with needing a dongle until that happens. What I find unacceptable is the fact that there is only a single USB-C port.
This makes me think of the early days of USB -- it was assumed people would chin their devices, as was common with SCSI. But then, peripheral manufacturers stopped including the pass-through connector. At first, this was annoying, but the fact is, it would be annoying to have to disassemble a chain of devices because you want to remove one from the middle.
Aron believes that AMC needs "to reshape our product in some concrete ways so that millennials go to movie theaters with the same degree of intensity as baby boomers went to movie theaters throughout their lives."
The problem is he believes this is a reasonable goal. It isn't. Baby boomers went to the theaters because that was the only place you could watch the movie. Eventually, VCRs changed that, allowing you to watch at home, but at a lower resolution. Today, many living rooms can produce a better experience than the movie theaters - similar resolution, and without sticky floors and overpriced popcorn.
The only thing that theaters provide that my living room does not is a place for teenagers to make out.
I think a part of the problem with USB-C is that it can handle up to 100 watts of power delivery! If your cable is of questionable quality or has issues, messing up 100 watts of power can definitely break things or cause a fire. I think amazon decided to go the safer route instead of destroying equipment or causing fires.
Exactly! For just about any other type of digital cable, if I get a dud, the worst case scenario is, it simply won't work. That means it's pretty safe for me to buy the cheapest HDMI or micro USB cable I can find, knowing that if it doesn't work, I can always return it.
Or... you know... purchasers who aren't going for $.03 "USB3c 15ft MAXBESTDEALYOUBUYAWESOMESAUCE!" By and large, if you buy from reputable distributors, this is a non-issue.
I agree that ridiculously cheap cables are probably no good, but that by no means guarantees that a more expensive cable will be better. Amazon, with all its various marketplaces does a good job obfuscating exactly whom I'm buying from, so it's hard for me to even tell what choice seems the most reputable. So at this point, it's still feeling like an informed gamble.
I think this will naturally change as USB-C becomes more popular. The good cables will be well-rated, and show up more prominently in search results. But that hasn't happened yet, and probably won't for a while. Until then, like with most things, it's the early-adopters who will deal with these challenges.
but it is clear that an electric vehicle can meet the needs of some drivers
Not the same range or price.
Perhaps you missed the word "some". Some drivers are willing to spend a lot of money to purchase a car. Some drivers have been known to travel fewer than 200 miles before refueling.
I was under the impression Tesla's goal was to begin delivery of the Model 3 at the end of 2017. The key word there is "begin". Musk never said that all pre-orders will be delivered by such-and-such date. The reason people waited hours in line is so they could be earlier on the delivery list - nobody is expecting car number 300,000 to be delivered on the same day as car number 1.
I've had a pebble since their initial kickstarter. It was a fantastic idea, and a great product.
I also had a Garmin GPS watch that I'd wear while running. It was too big to wear as a daily watch, and it couldn't connect to my phone. Now Garmin has watches that do the GPS thing and the smartwatch thing, and aren't much larger than a Pebble. I'm really happy Pebble got the smartwatch ball rolling, but thanks to my new Garmin GPS/smart watch, I haven't worn my Pebble in months.
I think this is frequently the way innovation works. You may be the first to market with a great idea, but that doesn't mean you'll last longest. Someone who's got bigger resources will see that there's money to be made in your area, and try to out-do you.
The corporate equivalent of conservative politicians offering 'Thoughts and Prayers' after every mass shooting (instead of doing anything to stop recurrences).
Indeed, and because 2 years is the standard length of time, many identity thieves are holding onto the stolen data for that long before they start using it.
As a European, I continue to be utterly bemused/scared by America's obsession with owning guns. I know all the arguments that usually get trotted out, they just sound like crazy talk to me.
As an American, I continue to be utterly bemused/scared by some Americans' obsession with owning guns. I know all the arguments that usually get trotted out, they just sound like crazy talk to me.
Every time I see a bug like this I can't help but think - the engineers that built this don't actually use this.
Actually, I think the case is that the engineers don't use it in the same way as the average person. Nest has a unique design, in that it can pull power without the need for the 24V common line that isn't present in all homes (especially older ones). But I'm sure the engineers are well aware that it is more reliable if they use the 24V line, and I'll bet their homes are already wired with a 24V line, or if not, they are fully capable of running one themselves. As such, they would be much less reliant on the Nest's battery than a customer who doesn't have their Nest connected to 24V.
I don't always get home at the same time, either. If I decide to leave early now I just kick the nest on and it'll have the house cooled a few degrees before I get home.
I think a lot depends on how stingy you are. With a programmable thermostat, I'd set it to turn on slightly later than I usually get home from work. With an internet thermostat, I turn it on just as I'm leaving work, thus spending a little more money. Were I less stingy in my original programming, I'd have the heat/AC kick on slightly before the time I usually arrive at home, insuring the temperature is comfortable.
Honestly, though, I find that I only ever control the heat remotely. If AC is appropriate, I only turn it on when I'm actually home. (Though I'll admit I might have a different opinion if I lived somewhere like Florida or Arizona)
And, really, how much benefit does internet connectivity really add to a thermostat anyway?
There are two benefits I can see: 1. auto-clock set - useful for daylight saving time, and avoids any drift 2. it's cool
But you have a valid point -- compared to my previous non-internet programmable thermostat, I'm probably using just a little more heat thanks to that internet connectivity. For example: I'm usually home by 6pm, so that's when the heat is programmed to be on. Generally, though, I get home at 5:45. Thanks to the internet, I just turn on the heat at whatever time I happen to leave work in order to come home to a warm house. When I travel, I keep the heat just high enough to prevent frozen pipes. Without an internet thermostat, this means I'd come home to a cold house, and just keep my coat on until it warms up. Now, I can turn the heat on from the airport, meaning I come home to a comfortable house, at the expense of having the heat running a little longer.
So yeah, I use my internet thermostat for convenience, comfort and coolness factor. I realize it doesn't save me any more money than a programmable thermostat does, but for me, it's still worth it.
I do. But then again, after evaluating my choices, I did not buy a nest. I bought a much uglier, less smart RadioThermostat that had a published API when Nest didn't.
Protip: Almost every home heating and cooling system operates on demand from a t-stat that runs on 24 volts ac low voltage.
Yes, but only if you're talking new construction. My condo was built in the 90s, and sadly, that particular wire was never run from my furnace to the thermostat. I chose to jumper the fan line at the furnace (such that if the heat/AC is on, so is the fan), and used the wire that used to carry the fan signal from the thermostat to instead carry 24V to the thermostat.
The reason Nest has a battery is because many people have wiring like mine, and they aren't comfortable re-wiring, or cheating like I did. (Plus by controlling the fan, Nest can squeeze out a little more cold from the AC after it's turned off, which I wouldn't be able to take advantage of.) In a home without the 24V common wire, the nest will trickle power out of the other lines -- this is not ideal, but the only other options would have made it less user-friendly, by requiring the user regularly replace a battery, or provide an external power source.
And emails and messaging is already cheaper and available in more locations. I can send an email for free, telephone service costs like 60 dollars a month minimum
Really? I've known people who live in very rural areas. In such areas, the options for internet access are generally limited to satellite and dial-up. However, as long as there's electricity, phone service is available too.
Also, I have no idea where you get your pricing figures. I pay $30/month for my cell phone service. I don't have a landline, but I imagine if I wanted to get one, it would be a similar price. $60/month sounds more on-par with what I pay for cable internet service.
Telephone service is a public utility, and as such has a variety of regulations, including on how pricing works, and where service is provided. If it is to be replaced, we need some other sort of public utility that can be used for communications.
Also, who the fuck uses a *pin* and owns a smartwatch? Aren't these early adopter types the ones using google wallet and apple pay?
I own a smartwatch, and I still occasionally need cash. I'm more likely to get cash by visiting an ATM than by walking inside the bank to talk to a teller.
Slashdot Mirror
President Carter visited the site after his presidential term was complete.
The headline and summary talks about a bus. The quote from Mr. Musk says it's not a bus.
If you're nearsighted, and want to buy glasses in the US, you need a prescription, and your glasses will be expensive. If you're farsighted, you can go to any drug store, and pick up a pair of glasses for $5. (Naturally, getting the correct prescription, particularly if both eyes have different requirements will cost about the same as those nearsighted glasses.)
I suppose the difference is that nearsighted people are generally getting the sort of glasses they'll wear all day. But the cheap reading glasses you can buy at a drugstore are generally just for reading, and thus not worn full-time.
There is a workaround, though -- buy from China. There are many options where you can buy glasses online, with whatever strength you wish, without the need for an official prescription. I suggest hearing aids will do in a similar direction -- it will remain true that the ideal fit, and the best quality comes from visiting a doctor, getting a proper prescription, and having the product adjusted to fit you by a professional. But, for a significantly lower price, you can get a similar product that will do a good enough job, but leave you on your own to work out the details.
I live in an area with lots of apartments/condos. Most people here are young, perhaps recent graduates, making a decent living, but still working their way up the pay ladder. It's common here for neighbors to share an internet connection -- one person gets the physical connection, and in exchange for sharing their WiFi password, a few neighbors chip in on the bill. So on paper, maybe 2/3 of the residents have a broadband connection, but in reality, almost 100% are using one.
I'm not trying to argue the ethics of this -- just pointing out that it's probably a common enough practice to skew some of the statistics in areas of denser population.
Numerous studies have shown better retention and understanding when people "take notes," as opposed to simply transcribing large chunks of what they hear.
When I started college, I thought I must be super-fast at note-taking, because other students would complain when the professor erased something from the board, saying they weren't done taking notes yet. I later realized, I didn't write any faster than the other students - the difference is, I wrote what I thought was worth writing, and never just copied things down.
As such, my notes contained the information I thought was worth keeping. They were tailored to me, and might lack details other students thought important. But I also retained most of what I wrote, only having to look back for specific formulae, but rarely for overall concepts.
Just a single USB-C port. While I like the magsafe charging connection of older macboks, I can support charging via USB-C - the more devices that can charge via the same standard connector, the better. While I like having the USB-A plugs, I'm willing to bet peripherals will transition with time to USB-C, and I can even deal with needing a dongle until that happens. What I find unacceptable is the fact that there is only a single USB-C port.
This makes me think of the early days of USB -- it was assumed people would chin their devices, as was common with SCSI. But then, peripheral manufacturers stopped including the pass-through connector. At first, this was annoying, but the fact is, it would be annoying to have to disassemble a chain of devices because you want to remove one from the middle.
Aron believes that AMC needs "to reshape our product in some concrete ways so that millennials go to movie theaters with the same degree of intensity as baby boomers went to movie theaters throughout their lives."
The problem is he believes this is a reasonable goal. It isn't. Baby boomers went to the theaters because that was the only place you could watch the movie. Eventually, VCRs changed that, allowing you to watch at home, but at a lower resolution. Today, many living rooms can produce a better experience than the movie theaters - similar resolution, and without sticky floors and overpriced popcorn.
The only thing that theaters provide that my living room does not is a place for teenagers to make out.
I think a part of the problem with USB-C is that it can handle up to 100 watts of power delivery! If your cable is of questionable quality or has issues, messing up 100 watts of power can definitely break things or cause a fire. I think amazon decided to go the safer route instead of destroying equipment or causing fires.
Exactly! For just about any other type of digital cable, if I get a dud, the worst case scenario is, it simply won't work. That means it's pretty safe for me to buy the cheapest HDMI or micro USB cable I can find, knowing that if it doesn't work, I can always return it.
Or... you know... purchasers who aren't going for $.03 "USB3c 15ft MAXBESTDEALYOUBUYAWESOMESAUCE!" By and large, if you buy from reputable distributors, this is a non-issue.
I agree that ridiculously cheap cables are probably no good, but that by no means guarantees that a more expensive cable will be better. Amazon, with all its various marketplaces does a good job obfuscating exactly whom I'm buying from, so it's hard for me to even tell what choice seems the most reputable. So at this point, it's still feeling like an informed gamble.
I think this will naturally change as USB-C becomes more popular. The good cables will be well-rated, and show up more prominently in search results. But that hasn't happened yet, and probably won't for a while. Until then, like with most things, it's the early-adopters who will deal with these challenges.
but it is clear that an electric vehicle can meet the needs of some drivers
Not the same range or price.
Perhaps you missed the word "some". Some drivers are willing to spend a lot of money to purchase a car. Some drivers have been known to travel fewer than 200 miles before refueling.
I was under the impression Tesla's goal was to begin delivery of the Model 3 at the end of 2017. The key word there is "begin". Musk never said that all pre-orders will be delivered by such-and-such date. The reason people waited hours in line is so they could be earlier on the delivery list - nobody is expecting car number 300,000 to be delivered on the same day as car number 1.
I've had a pebble since their initial kickstarter. It was a fantastic idea, and a great product.
I also had a Garmin GPS watch that I'd wear while running. It was too big to wear as a daily watch, and it couldn't connect to my phone. Now Garmin has watches that do the GPS thing and the smartwatch thing, and aren't much larger than a Pebble. I'm really happy Pebble got the smartwatch ball rolling, but thanks to my new Garmin GPS/smart watch, I haven't worn my Pebble in months.
I think this is frequently the way innovation works. You may be the first to market with a great idea, but that doesn't mean you'll last longest. Someone who's got bigger resources will see that there's money to be made in your area, and try to out-do you.
The only thing that can protect you from a bad guy with backdoor access to your secured system is a good guy with backdoor access.
The corporate equivalent of conservative politicians offering 'Thoughts and Prayers' after every mass shooting (instead of doing anything to stop recurrences).
Indeed, and because 2 years is the standard length of time, many identity thieves are holding onto the stolen data for that long before they start using it.
As a European, I continue to be utterly bemused/scared by America's obsession with owning guns. I know all the arguments that usually get trotted out, they just sound like crazy talk to me.
As an American, I continue to be utterly bemused/scared by some Americans' obsession with owning guns. I know all the arguments that usually get trotted out, they just sound like crazy talk to me.
Just curious... Where did you find the published API? I've been looking and I must be blind or something...
https://radiothermostat.desk.c...
Every time I see a bug like this I can't help but think - the engineers that built this don't actually use this.
Actually, I think the case is that the engineers don't use it in the same way as the average person. Nest has a unique design, in that it can pull power without the need for the 24V common line that isn't present in all homes (especially older ones). But I'm sure the engineers are well aware that it is more reliable if they use the 24V line, and I'll bet their homes are already wired with a 24V line, or if not, they are fully capable of running one themselves. As such, they would be much less reliant on the Nest's battery than a customer who doesn't have their Nest connected to 24V.
I don't always get home at the same time, either. If I decide to leave early now I just kick the nest on and it'll have the house cooled a few degrees before I get home.
I think a lot depends on how stingy you are. With a programmable thermostat, I'd set it to turn on slightly later than I usually get home from work. With an internet thermostat, I turn it on just as I'm leaving work, thus spending a little more money. Were I less stingy in my original programming, I'd have the heat/AC kick on slightly before the time I usually arrive at home, insuring the temperature is comfortable.
Honestly, though, I find that I only ever control the heat remotely. If AC is appropriate, I only turn it on when I'm actually home. (Though I'll admit I might have a different opinion if I lived somewhere like Florida or Arizona)
And, really, how much benefit does internet connectivity really add to a thermostat anyway?
There are two benefits I can see:
1. auto-clock set - useful for daylight saving time, and avoids any drift
2. it's cool
But you have a valid point -- compared to my previous non-internet programmable thermostat, I'm probably using just a little more heat thanks to that internet connectivity. For example: I'm usually home by 6pm, so that's when the heat is programmed to be on. Generally, though, I get home at 5:45. Thanks to the internet, I just turn on the heat at whatever time I happen to leave work in order to come home to a warm house. When I travel, I keep the heat just high enough to prevent frozen pipes. Without an internet thermostat, this means I'd come home to a cold house, and just keep my coat on until it warms up. Now, I can turn the heat on from the airport, meaning I come home to a comfortable house, at the expense of having the heat running a little longer.
So yeah, I use my internet thermostat for convenience, comfort and coolness factor. I realize it doesn't save me any more money than a programmable thermostat does, but for me, it's still worth it.
Who keeps that junk laying around?
I do. But then again, after evaluating my choices, I did not buy a nest. I bought a much uglier, less smart RadioThermostat that had a published API when Nest didn't.
Protip: Almost every home heating and cooling system operates on demand from a t-stat that runs on 24 volts ac low voltage.
Yes, but only if you're talking new construction. My condo was built in the 90s, and sadly, that particular wire was never run from my furnace to the thermostat. I chose to jumper the fan line at the furnace (such that if the heat/AC is on, so is the fan), and used the wire that used to carry the fan signal from the thermostat to instead carry 24V to the thermostat.
The reason Nest has a battery is because many people have wiring like mine, and they aren't comfortable re-wiring, or cheating like I did. (Plus by controlling the fan, Nest can squeeze out a little more cold from the AC after it's turned off, which I wouldn't be able to take advantage of.) In a home without the 24V common wire, the nest will trickle power out of the other lines -- this is not ideal, but the only other options would have made it less user-friendly, by requiring the user regularly replace a battery, or provide an external power source.
My high school had a bunch of Apple IIgs and IIe computers in the "computer lab" around 1996. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they're still there.
And emails and messaging is already cheaper and available in more locations. I can send an email for free, telephone service costs like 60 dollars a month minimum
Really? I've known people who live in very rural areas. In such areas, the options for internet access are generally limited to satellite and dial-up. However, as long as there's electricity, phone service is available too.
Also, I have no idea where you get your pricing figures. I pay $30/month for my cell phone service. I don't have a landline, but I imagine if I wanted to get one, it would be a similar price. $60/month sounds more on-par with what I pay for cable internet service.
Telephone service is a public utility, and as such has a variety of regulations, including on how pricing works, and where service is provided. If it is to be replaced, we need some other sort of public utility that can be used for communications.
Came here to say this.
Also, who the fuck uses a *pin* and owns a smartwatch? Aren't these early adopter types the ones using google wallet and apple pay?
I own a smartwatch, and I still occasionally need cash. I'm more likely to get cash by visiting an ATM than by walking inside the bank to talk to a teller.