Have you actually driven a modern European diesel? I can assure you that our current, new 1.9 JTD/TDi engined car accelerates far faster than any Prius, has a higher top speed, and still gets better real world fuel economy. Much cheaper to build than a Prius too.
Standing start acceleration is very good, but where it really shines (and counts for real world driving) is in-gear acceleration.
The big German makers all have 155mph speed-limited diesels, which all have in-gear acceleration times that put all but the very fastest cars to shame.
I could be wrong (it has been known;-), but of the "alternate" pedal layouts on some pre-war cars had the clutch on the left, accelerator in the middle and the brake on the right. I'm not aware of any with a centre clutch (on a three pedal car at least)
I'd agree with learning in a low powered car - it really does force you to think about your driving, reading the road conditions, cornering, driving defensively and more than anything PATIENCE;-). You find as well that when you get into a more "normal" vehicle, you drive a lot smoother and more economically.
The 0-60 time is rubbish due to the semi-automatic transmission. The rolling, in-gear acceleration figures are much better.
I had no problems driving mine on the motorways here in Europe, even in Germany, and the traffic moves a darn site faster there than in the US. I could easily do a 500km round trip down to Belgium and back, and it took the same time as if I took the more normal car.
Mind you, if you find it not fast enough, there is the evil twin (IIRC) - a company in the UK will gladly fit an 1100cc bike engine in it. This changes the performance characteristics somehwat;-)
Take a look at some of the info on the native New Zealand mountain parrots, the Kea.
There have been numerous studies, plus some fascinating documentaries on how intelligent these wild birds are.
Kea proofing things is an art, usually something that doesn't take long for a kea to "un-kea-proof". Wheelie bins with blocks of wood across the lids, arranged so that removing one block is not enough, doesn't slow the kea down long - they will remove a block and test, then remove the next until they get the lid open.
More complex puzzles were devised, with crossed stings opening flaps - the birds check the contraption out and immediately grab the right pull string. Where it is impossible for one bird to work to get the food, such as having to hold the string or the (remote) flap will close, two or more birds will work together. It is remarkable how these birds work.
The other thing keas are famous for is trashing your car - they will try and remove anything rubber, shiny or just plain interesting, just for kicks it seems. Never leave ski boots outside, or you'll need new inners.
This is the reason why we changed the voting system in New Zealand from the UK style FPP system to a proportional system based on the German model. We had a couple of elections where a party got 25% or so of the vote and got no seats, while one party took 5% or so and got two seats. The party that got 25% of the vote kept coming second in many electorates, while the one with 5% only really got votes in the two electorates it won.
It was decided by two referenda, constructed and worded in such a way as to try an maintain the status quo. Big business spent millions trying to persuade people the world would end if we changed the system. Seeing the pressure by the pollies and business leaders to retain FPP, the majority voted for the proportional (mixed member proportional, MMP) system;-)
Even though voting is not compulsory, turnout is usually pretty high (often around 90%).
I think it depends to a degree on how much you use the other languages, and how good you are with them. I speak two well, 1 reasonably well, and one passable. If I am using the passable one, I can use 1 other language in that situation. If it is the two good ones, I can incorporate the third, but not the fourth.
Seems to be you can only load 1 beta version at a time;-)
Most people here in the low countries tend to speak at least four languages reasonably well.
Re:Why were MP ever such a big deal?
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Beyond Megapixels
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· Score: 1
True, they were good.
My little (ca. 1982) Minox 35GT (35mm/f2.8) would definitely better it in terms of absolute lens quality, and is smaller (it folds) & lighter. But it is also a manual "guess focus" so harder to focus in complete darkness:-). Fabulous camera to use - so good, I rarely bothered carrying my SLR. Brilliant for night shots too.
Fuji also simplified the film loading with their 35mm cameras (just drop the film in), and some even would the whole fill out of the cannister, then wound them back in as the photos were taken. That way if you opened the back, you didn't lose any shots.
Surely this wouldn't even get past first base with regulators in the US or EU??
This'd be tied up in courts for years. I mean, I know they're in different markets (excluding MSN), but given that Microsoft ARE convicted monopolists, this just wouldn't get approval.
Microsoft surely can't be that stupid........can they??
Like a few others, I can't see where the win is with electronic voting.
Keep it simple: paper and marker pen. Used in many countries, simple to understand, no real hardware required, biggest equipment failure is a pen not working, no hanging chads.
In the New Zealand elections I've voted in it's really easy - a check mark next to the local candidate and another next to the party use. Simple. Results are known a few hours after polling closes. Easy to do recounts, even without any fancy technology, scales easily too.
If speed is the real issue, then vote using the paper and pen, then count them electronically. Count them twice using two different machines, and if the amounts are out by some pre-determined margin, then hand-count. That way you get quick results, while having no reliance on any complicated, error prone bit of technology. You can still recount manually if required.
I haven't tried the R6 versions of iNotes, but previous versions only worked on IE, and didn't work well (iirc - may have been that it didn't work at all) on the Mac. Hardly platform independant.
However, browser access using Domino servers to serve up web-based applications was quite good, providing the app was written with the browser client in mind. It is easy enough to have the code work well for native clients and browsers.
Actually, I think Oz is mighty close to telling GWB where he can stick his "free trade" deal, as it's beginning to look rather one sided, in favour (favor?!) of guess who?
Seems free trade wouldn't apply to agriculture and several other industries in which Australia is more competitive.
One thing I do find curious is that despite lower % unemployment figures from the US, I know more IT people in the US who are out of work or "underemployed" than I know here in Europe (with unemployment rates of ~5 to 10 % depending on country).
Are the measurements of unemployment directly comparable on both sides of the ditch? Over here, the unemployment benefits are decent, which does encourage people to register. Do people in the US just not bother reporting as unemployed?
Way back when I started technical training (telecoms), we covered different programming languages and "levels". I hated (still hate!) just about all programming, but for some reason I really enjoyed (and understood at the time) assembly.
because it failed initial crash tests Absolute rubbish
The car (MK V version) gets a 3 star NCAP crash test result, remarkable considering the size and front only airbags. Later versions have side curtains too. The Aussie insurance industry has also crash tested them and were very surprised by the results - they were one of the cheapest cars to repair. In fact, the safety performance is one of the reasons they are not cheap.
They don't react like normal cars, since the crumple zone is almost non-existant, but they pass European, Japanese and Australian crash test requirements without any special dispensation.
IIRC one reason they were not allowed into the US straight away was due to fuel vapour regulations (I don't understand what the exact problem is)
Most people who have never driven them reckon they're crap. Those that have them love them.
The only thing hard about getting into New Zealand is the 27 hour flight from Europe! It's at least three hours flying from Sydney to Wellington. If you're from Europe or North America you'll get a tourist visa at point of entry.
No, not all agree, but a significant majority do support the continuing ban on nuclear armed or powered vessels. It is not a ban on conventional vessels, or anything else. We still send peace-keepers, the SAS are/were involved in Afghanistan, so it's not as if we shirk our responsibilities.
The US is still putting pressure on NZ about this, and about parallel imports, etc. etc, plus using tarrifs to block or inhibit a lot of goods which we can produce far more efficiently.
By the way where do I download SUSE I realise you're trying a wind-up, but for those who are still in the dark, try going to either www.suse.de/en or ftp.suse.com, or one of the many mirrors, and like me and loads others, you'll be able to download the very latest. You can install via ftp/http or download the entire distribution and install from local sources.
No, they don't have ISOs, except for the live trials.
Actually, a good deal of the improvements, particularly with diesels, are coming from Europe. (Witness the new large diesls from BMW/VAG/Mercedes and the small ones from Renault/Peugeot)
Can't for the life of me remember where the link is, but there was a study done on the "effective" rate of taxation between the US and Finland. To do this, they incorporated things like health insurance, etc. etc. to try and compare similar levels of services.
The study found that if you were young and healthy, you would end up being slightly better off in the US. If you were a family, or had some illness (not necessarily chronic) that required regular treatment, you were quite a bit better off in Finland.
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Have you actually driven a modern European diesel? I can assure you that our current, new 1.9 JTD/TDi engined car accelerates far faster than any Prius, has a higher top speed, and still gets better real world fuel economy. Much cheaper to build than a Prius too.
Standing start acceleration is very good, but where it really shines (and counts for real world driving) is in-gear acceleration.
The big German makers all have 155mph speed-limited diesels, which all have in-gear acceleration times that put all but the very fastest cars to shame.
Many new diesels in Europe come with filters that eliminate the particulate problem.
They do require low sulphur diesel though, which has been a problem in the US till fairly recently.
It does now - you can point to an external directory, or use its in-built directory.
I could be wrong (it has been known ;-), but of the "alternate" pedal layouts on some pre-war cars had the clutch on the left, accelerator in the middle and the brake on the right. I'm not aware of any with a centre clutch (on a three pedal car at least)
I'd agree with learning in a low powered car - it really does force you to think about your driving, reading the road conditions, cornering, driving defensively and more than anything PATIENCE ;-). You find as well that when you get into a more "normal" vehicle, you drive a lot smoother and more economically.
The 0-60 time is rubbish due to the semi-automatic transmission. The rolling, in-gear acceleration figures are much better.
;-)
I had no problems driving mine on the motorways here in Europe, even in Germany, and the traffic moves a darn site faster there than in the US. I could easily do a 500km round trip down to Belgium and back, and it took the same time as if I took the more normal car.
Mind you, if you find it not fast enough, there is the evil twin (IIRC) - a company in the UK will gladly fit an 1100cc bike engine in it. This changes the performance characteristics somehwat
Take a look at some of the info on the native New Zealand mountain parrots, the Kea.
There have been numerous studies, plus some fascinating documentaries on how intelligent these wild birds are.
Kea proofing things is an art, usually something that doesn't take long for a kea to "un-kea-proof". Wheelie bins with blocks of wood across the lids, arranged so that removing one block is not enough, doesn't slow the kea down long - they will remove a block and test, then remove the next until they get the lid open.
More complex puzzles were devised, with crossed stings opening flaps - the birds check the contraption out and immediately grab the right pull string. Where it is impossible for one bird to work to get the food, such as having to hold the string or the (remote) flap will close, two or more birds will work together. It is remarkable how these birds work.
The other thing keas are famous for is trashing your car - they will try and remove anything rubber, shiny or just plain interesting, just for kicks it seems. Never leave ski boots outside, or you'll need new inners.
This is the reason why we changed the voting system in New Zealand from the UK style FPP system to a proportional system based on the German model. We had a couple of elections where a party got 25% or so of the vote and got no seats, while one party took 5% or so and got two seats. The party that got 25% of the vote kept coming second in many electorates, while the one with 5% only really got votes in the two electorates it won.
;-)
It was decided by two referenda, constructed and worded in such a way as to try an maintain the status quo. Big business spent millions trying to persuade people the world would end if we changed the system. Seeing the pressure by the pollies and business leaders to retain FPP, the majority voted for the proportional (mixed member proportional, MMP) system
Even though voting is not compulsory, turnout is usually pretty high (often around 90%).
Holland is only part of the Netherlands. It's actually North Holland and South Holland provinces. Amsterdam is in North Hollland.
:-)
The Netherlands is the whole country, what little there is of it
Dutch is a corruption, or so the story goes, of Deutsch. I've no idea as to the validity of this...
I think it depends to a degree on how much you use the other languages, and how good you are with them. I speak two well, 1 reasonably well, and one passable. If I am using the passable one, I can use 1 other language in that situation. If it is the two good ones, I can incorporate the third, but not the fourth.
;-)
Seems to be you can only load 1 beta version at a time
Most people here in the low countries tend to speak at least four languages reasonably well.
True, they were good.
:-). Fabulous camera to use - so good, I rarely bothered carrying my SLR. Brilliant for night shots too.
My little (ca. 1982) Minox 35GT (35mm/f2.8) would definitely better it in terms of absolute lens quality, and is smaller (it folds) & lighter. But it is also a manual "guess focus" so harder to focus in complete darkness
Fuji also simplified the film loading with their 35mm cameras (just drop the film in), and some even would the whole fill out of the cannister, then wound them back in as the photos were taken. That way if you opened the back, you didn't lose any shots.
Surely this wouldn't even get past first base with regulators in the US or EU??
This'd be tied up in courts for years. I mean, I know they're in different markets (excluding MSN), but given that Microsoft ARE convicted monopolists, this just wouldn't get approval.
Microsoft surely can't be that stupid........can they??
Like a few others, I can't see where the win is with electronic voting.
Keep it simple: paper and marker pen. Used in many countries, simple to understand, no real hardware required, biggest equipment failure is a pen not working, no hanging chads.
In the New Zealand elections I've voted in it's really easy - a check mark next to the local candidate and another next to the party use. Simple. Results are known a few hours after polling closes. Easy to do recounts, even without any fancy technology, scales easily too.
If speed is the real issue, then vote using the paper and pen, then count them electronically. Count them twice using two different machines, and if the amounts are out by some pre-determined margin, then hand-count. That way you get quick results, while having no reliance on any complicated, error prone bit of technology. You can still recount manually if required.
I haven't tried the R6 versions of iNotes, but previous versions only worked on IE, and didn't work well (iirc - may have been that it didn't work at all) on the Mac. Hardly platform independant.
However, browser access using Domino servers to serve up web-based applications was quite good, providing the app was written with the browser client in mind. It is easy enough to have the code work well for native clients and browsers.
Actually, I think Oz is mighty close to telling GWB where he can stick his "free trade" deal, as it's beginning to look rather one sided, in favour (favor?!) of guess who?
Seems free trade wouldn't apply to agriculture and several other industries in which Australia is more competitive.
One thing I do find curious is that despite lower % unemployment figures from the US, I know more IT people in the US who are out of work or "underemployed" than I know here in Europe (with unemployment rates of ~5 to 10 % depending on country).
Are the measurements of unemployment directly comparable on both sides of the ditch? Over here, the unemployment benefits are decent, which does encourage people to register. Do people in the US just not bother reporting as unemployed?
Way back when I started technical training (telecoms), we covered different programming languages and "levels". I hated (still hate!) just about all programming, but for some reason I really enjoyed (and understood at the time) assembly.
Might have to take a look at this book now.
because it failed initial crash tests
Absolute rubbish
The car (MK V version) gets a 3 star NCAP crash test result, remarkable considering the size and front only airbags. Later versions have side curtains too. The Aussie insurance industry has also crash tested them and were very surprised by the results - they were one of the cheapest cars to repair. In fact, the safety performance is one of the reasons they are not cheap.
They don't react like normal cars, since the crumple zone is almost non-existant, but they pass European, Japanese and Australian crash test requirements without any special dispensation.
IIRC one reason they were not allowed into the US straight away was due to fuel vapour regulations (I don't understand what the exact problem is)
Most people who have never driven them reckon they're crap. Those that have them love them.
Damn, I must've been away when The Netherlands conquered Belgium.....
The only thing hard about getting into New Zealand is the 27 hour flight from Europe! It's at least three hours flying from Sydney to Wellington.
If you're from Europe or North America you'll get a tourist visa at point of entry.
No, not all agree, but a significant majority do support the continuing ban on nuclear armed or powered vessels. It is not a ban on conventional vessels, or anything else. We still send peace-keepers, the SAS are/were involved in Afghanistan, so it's not as if we shirk our responsibilities.
The US is still putting pressure on NZ about this, and about parallel imports, etc. etc, plus using tarrifs to block or inhibit a lot of goods which we can produce far more efficiently.
By the way where do I download SUSE
I realise you're trying a wind-up, but for those who are still in the dark, try going to either www.suse.de/en or ftp.suse.com, or one of the many mirrors, and like me and loads others, you'll be able to download the very latest. You can install via ftp/http or download the entire distribution and install from local sources.
No, they don't have ISOs, except for the live trials.
Webmin does this (for all other "systems/modules" too)
Actually, a good deal of the improvements, particularly with diesels, are coming from Europe. (Witness the new large diesls from BMW/VAG/Mercedes and the small ones from Renault/Peugeot)
Can't for the life of me remember where the link is, but there was a study done on the "effective" rate of taxation between the US and Finland. To do this, they incorporated things like health insurance, etc. etc. to try and compare similar levels of services.
The study found that if you were young and healthy, you would end up being slightly better off in the US. If you were a family, or had some illness (not necessarily chronic) that required regular treatment, you were quite a bit better off in Finland.