That has probably less to do with the length of school vacations than it has to do with culture. The ancestors of many Americans were colonists who settled in a hostile environment. You can't play by the rules if there aren't any, and if you are not creative as a colonist you probably end up dead. China on the other hand has a history of over 1000 years of strictly hierarchically managed society - where thinking 'outside the box' - thinking something different than the emperor - could get you killed.
That will be the first big opportunity for autonomous cars - taxi. Imagine taking a taxi for your morning commute, a taxi that _does_ take you via the fastest route and lets you do whatever you want to do while underway. And once at your destination, it just goes to the next customer. No need to search for free parking spots. That sounds like a future to me. But please exclude the Googles and NSA's of this world recording every ride.
and, who knows, in a couple of decennia the very concept of possessing your own personal car will appear strange...
According to the company, the scanner is designed to be able to create a 3D model without the user having any knowledge of 3D modeling. The target audience includes... architects, designers, creative hobbyists. Aren't these the type of people you'd expect DO have actual knowledge of 3D modeling? In fact, I'd expect this audience to, well, design something new - instead of scan-and-replicate something already existing.
A landmark moment in history? Make that an american landmark in american history. In Europe, electrical trains are the norm, not the exception. And have been for quite a while. As has high speed rail, BTW. Admitted, if the hyperloop gets implemented, even half as good as it looks on paper, you might leapfrog Europe, and that might be 'a beacon of hope'. But electrified rail grid? Come on!
Not sure if that is the kind of technology that this toilet offers, but indeed that could be a good reason for a networked toilet. But even then - that is a reason for an _outgoing_ internet connection, not a reason to allow any remote command. In this case, you can indeed control flushing your toilet via your smartphone - tell me again why I would want that?
Sure, you list the top two -possibly the only two- rational reasons to wage war against any other species. Would you be so kind to tell us which of those two reasons rationally explain the killing of native Americans / the killing of Jews, Gays, Gipsy's in Nazi-Germany / the killing of Hutu's in Rwanda / the killing of whales by Japan / hunting in general?
I sure do hope that whatever other civilization is out there, it is more rational than we are. If not, we're screwed.
Actually if you read the article (but hey, this is slashdot, who does that...), the author does make a valid point:
"If legislators truly wish to reduce fossil-fuel dependence, they could prioritize the transition to pedestrian- and bike-friendly neighborhoods. That won’t be easy everywhere—even less so where the focus is on electric cars. Studies from the National Academies point to better land-use planning to reduce suburban sprawl and, most important, fuel taxes to reduce petroleum dependence. "
So you are saying that US citizens will regard Snowden now as a threat to national security? You do realize that there are about 5,7 billion people on this planet that are not US citizens, don't appreciate being spied upon, and are more than happy that someone made this public?
Yes, moving heavy containers by sea is very efficient. However, looking at the design of this vessel, about the _only_ thing it moves is its batteries. The full article even writes that living space is very limited, and there doesn't seem to be any cargo except for the bare necessities needed for the crew.... which makes this boat comparable to an average (albeit ocean-worthy) sailingboat, not to a container ship. And in that comparison, I think the sailingboat easily wins, on environmental impact, price and speed. Hell, probably even on comfort.
You have to use the right approach for your project. Agile works great when applied in the right way in the right projects. But if your customer expects a big design, and has his lawyers on standby just in case you don't deliver exactly what was promised, then don't be agile. Do waterfall - make this big design as good as humanly possible, get to an agreement, then start implementing, testing and deploying it. No point in being open for change - every change will cost you more in contract discussions than in developer time.
for hours with forced airflow under temperature and humidity conditions that favor viral transmission, she says. I don't think this is what happens in real life.
Sure? Ever been in an office building with ill-maintained airco?
Military or FBI snipers probably wouldn't use this, I agree. For 'sports' shooting it takes away the 'sport' element. For situations where you need to kill an animal for your own survival it is too cumbersome.
But maffia and terrorist organisations will be quite glad to know that they don't need to give their staff expensive and time-consuming sniper-training. A bit of money is all that is needed to take away their targets.
If this is about a doctor in the US or Western Europe - then what is she complaining about? Ask her what she spend last year on the medical equipment in her lab. I bet it is a multitude of the software cost that she "can't afford". Most of these doctors pay more for the equipment in their lab than most of us for our house. In fact, if she really can't afford to shell out once in a decade 10.000 $ - then I'd suggest she chooses a different profession, and you better choose a different doctor.
It seems you are saying that those people really, really NEED to have all the best and latest features (cloud integration, remote support, Saas,..., yet they can't be bothered to pay for a recent software version? I highly doubt that their current XP-based application integrates cloud technology.
After all, 10.000 $ seems like a substantial amount of money, but this is an expense that they should have seen coming for many years - and as you say, it offers a whole range of new possibilities to ease their live. Surely all those doctors are driving sub-10.000 $ cars, because they can't afford anything else?
Either these improvements are worth 10.000 $, or there is no need for them to complain about the limitations of an old airgapped software.
Yes. Therefore it makes all the more sense to avoid putting all your data into one basket. Google probably already has a lot of data on you, through their search engine and their countless other products. So in this case, I'd go with the non-Google offer.
It will depend on what you intend to make - but if you don't know anything about 3d design and want to build something with a regular form (i.e. composed of cubes, spheres, and the like) you may want to look at Tinkercad (tinkercad.com). I'm quite sure there are much better 3D modelers out there - but first you have to concentrate on learning how to design an object. Spending the learning curve required for most 'true' CAD systems is for later.
You may look at your evidence again, and read about cancer. Carcenogens don't kill quickly. If you smoke lots of cigarettes every day, it has been proven that the probability of lungcancer increases manyfold - but not before you've smoked about 40+ years. Likewise, carcenogens in your drinking water will not result in large-scale fatalities in 20s or 30s. Quite likely even that at this time very few people in the US or Western Europe have been exposed long enough to dioxins in drinking water to reach your obituary page.
There are a couple of problems that I see with this:
- price. With all LED-solutions that I've seen so far, you need quite a few of them just to light one room. At 50 a piece, that will turn into a quite expensive toy.
- usefullness. While there is quite a geek-factor if you can light up your room in blue or red, I very much doubt if it will be used for anything else but 'dimmer/brighter' after a few weeks. Which can be had with a single dimmer and a few standard spots as well.
- lifetime. Yes, LED-spots do have a very long lifetime. Now how about the router? Or the protocol itself? I can see in the not-so-far future a number of people with lots of smart LED-spots that can't be used any more because the router is broken and can't be replaced because the marked has moved on.
X10 is a REALLY old protocol. Which happens to be still around and still quite popular, but newer technologies such as z-wave or zigbee are probably taking over. And there are modules available which can be built-in, so your house looks just as nicely designed as any other - but smarter.
You find X10 expensive? Compared to the 50 dollar a piece LED bulbs we're talking about here? Look again then.
I guess that for 3D-printers the same goes as for about anything else - if nothing but the price matters, you probably end up paying a price for nothing. I do recommend reading the Make magazine, it gives you at least some background of what to expect for which price.
Slashdot Mirror
That has probably less to do with the length of school vacations than it has to do with culture. The ancestors of many Americans were colonists who settled in a hostile environment. You can't play by the rules if there aren't any, and if you are not creative as a colonist you probably end up dead. China on the other hand has a history of over 1000 years of strictly hierarchically managed society - where thinking 'outside the box' - thinking something different than the emperor - could get you killed.
That will be the first big opportunity for autonomous cars - taxi. Imagine taking a taxi for your morning commute, a taxi that _does_ take you via the fastest route and lets you do whatever you want to do while underway. And once at your destination, it just goes to the next customer. No need to search for free parking spots. That sounds like a future to me. But please exclude the Googles and NSA's of this world recording every ride. and, who knows, in a couple of decennia the very concept of possessing your own personal car will appear strange...
According to the company, the scanner is designed to be able to create a 3D model without the user having any knowledge of 3D modeling. The target audience includes ... architects, designers, creative hobbyists. Aren't these the type of people you'd expect DO have actual knowledge of 3D modeling? In fact, I'd expect this audience to, well, design something new - instead of scan-and-replicate something already existing.
A landmark moment in history? Make that an american landmark in american history. In Europe, electrical trains are the norm, not the exception. And have been for quite a while. As has high speed rail, BTW. Admitted, if the hyperloop gets implemented, even half as good as it looks on paper, you might leapfrog Europe, and that might be 'a beacon of hope'. But electrified rail grid? Come on!
Oh, this is about a diet book? Really? When I read the title, I was thinking it was some fairytale... Come on, a healthy programmer, really?
Not sure if that is the kind of technology that this toilet offers, but indeed that could be a good reason for a networked toilet. But even then - that is a reason for an _outgoing_ internet connection, not a reason to allow any remote command. In this case, you can indeed control flushing your toilet via your smartphone - tell me again why I would want that?
Sure, you list the top two -possibly the only two- rational reasons to wage war against any other species. Would you be so kind to tell us which of those two reasons rationally explain the killing of native Americans / the killing of Jews, Gays, Gipsy's in Nazi-Germany / the killing of Hutu's in Rwanda / the killing of whales by Japan / hunting in general? I sure do hope that whatever other civilization is out there, it is more rational than we are. If not, we're screwed.
Actually if you read the article (but hey, this is slashdot, who does that...), the author does make a valid point: "If legislators truly wish to reduce fossil-fuel dependence, they could prioritize the transition to pedestrian- and bike-friendly neighborhoods. That won’t be easy everywhere—even less so where the focus is on electric cars. Studies from the National Academies point to better land-use planning to reduce suburban sprawl and, most important, fuel taxes to reduce petroleum dependence. "
So you are saying that US citizens will regard Snowden now as a threat to national security? You do realize that there are about 5,7 billion people on this planet that are not US citizens, don't appreciate being spied upon, and are more than happy that someone made this public?
Even without enough food and water, someone might find you in the Caribbean. You won't notice it, though...
Yes, moving heavy containers by sea is very efficient. However, looking at the design of this vessel, about the _only_ thing it moves is its batteries. The full article even writes that living space is very limited, and there doesn't seem to be any cargo except for the bare necessities needed for the crew. ... which makes this boat comparable to an average (albeit ocean-worthy) sailingboat, not to a container ship. And in that comparison, I think the sailingboat easily wins, on environmental impact, price and speed. Hell, probably even on comfort.
Speed up? If I go somewhere in that canyon where I shouldn't go, and that action gets me killed, I'd rather die quickly.
You have to use the right approach for your project. Agile works great when applied in the right way in the right projects. But if your customer expects a big design, and has his lawyers on standby just in case you don't deliver exactly what was promised, then don't be agile. Do waterfall - make this big design as good as humanly possible, get to an agreement, then start implementing, testing and deploying it. No point in being open for change - every change will cost you more in contract discussions than in developer time.
for hours with forced airflow under temperature and humidity conditions that favor viral transmission, she says. I don't think this is what happens in real life.
Sure? Ever been in an office building with ill-maintained airco?
Military or FBI snipers probably wouldn't use this, I agree. For 'sports' shooting it takes away the 'sport' element. For situations where you need to kill an animal for your own survival it is too cumbersome. But maffia and terrorist organisations will be quite glad to know that they don't need to give their staff expensive and time-consuming sniper-training. A bit of money is all that is needed to take away their targets.
If this is about a doctor in the US or Western Europe - then what is she complaining about? Ask her what she spend last year on the medical equipment in her lab. I bet it is a multitude of the software cost that she "can't afford". Most of these doctors pay more for the equipment in their lab than most of us for our house. In fact, if she really can't afford to shell out once in a decade 10.000 $ - then I'd suggest she chooses a different profession, and you better choose a different doctor.
It seems you are saying that those people really, really NEED to have all the best and latest features (cloud integration, remote support, Saas, ..., yet they can't be bothered to pay for a recent software version? I highly doubt that their current XP-based application integrates cloud technology.
After all, 10.000 $ seems like a substantial amount of money, but this is an expense that they should have seen coming for many years - and as you say, it offers a whole range of new possibilities to ease their live. Surely all those doctors are driving sub-10.000 $ cars, because they can't afford anything else?
Either these improvements are worth 10.000 $, or there is no need for them to complain about the limitations of an old airgapped software.
Yes. Therefore it makes all the more sense to avoid putting all your data into one basket. Google probably already has a lot of data on you, through their search engine and their countless other products. So in this case, I'd go with the non-Google offer.
It will depend on what you intend to make - but if you don't know anything about 3d design and want to build something with a regular form (i.e. composed of cubes, spheres, and the like) you may want to look at Tinkercad (tinkercad.com). I'm quite sure there are much better 3D modelers out there - but first you have to concentrate on learning how to design an object. Spending the learning curve required for most 'true' CAD systems is for later.
You may look at your evidence again, and read about cancer. Carcenogens don't kill quickly. If you smoke lots of cigarettes every day, it has been proven that the probability of lungcancer increases manyfold - but not before you've smoked about 40+ years. Likewise, carcenogens in your drinking water will not result in large-scale fatalities in 20s or 30s. Quite likely even that at this time very few people in the US or Western Europe have been exposed long enough to dioxins in drinking water to reach your obituary page.
There are a couple of problems that I see with this: - price. With all LED-solutions that I've seen so far, you need quite a few of them just to light one room. At 50 a piece, that will turn into a quite expensive toy. - usefullness. While there is quite a geek-factor if you can light up your room in blue or red, I very much doubt if it will be used for anything else but 'dimmer/brighter' after a few weeks. Which can be had with a single dimmer and a few standard spots as well. - lifetime. Yes, LED-spots do have a very long lifetime. Now how about the router? Or the protocol itself? I can see in the not-so-far future a number of people with lots of smart LED-spots that can't be used any more because the router is broken and can't be replaced because the marked has moved on.
X10 is a REALLY old protocol. Which happens to be still around and still quite popular, but newer technologies such as z-wave or zigbee are probably taking over. And there are modules available which can be built-in, so your house looks just as nicely designed as any other - but smarter. You find X10 expensive? Compared to the 50 dollar a piece LED bulbs we're talking about here? Look again then.
I guess that for 3D-printers the same goes as for about anything else - if nothing but the price matters, you probably end up paying a price for nothing. I do recommend reading the Make magazine, it gives you at least some background of what to expect for which price.