Hydraulic brakes don't need any power to work. It's a purely mechanical system with a piston under the pedal, pushing on the brake fluid in the lines, that in turn pushes on the piston inside the brake caliper.
If the engine turns off, you still have enough vaccuum reserve in the power brake system to stop the car once (if you repeateatly press on the brake pedal you will lose your reserve). Even without power assist you just have to press harder and it will brake. Last resort is the emergency/parking brake, to be used gently...
Electric power steering is also just there to assist you at low speeds. At any speed higher than walking pace you can steer the car without power.
All this I learned in driver's education class 20 years ago and I still remember it... we even had a video on how to do emergency braking by applying/disengaging in a rapid sequence the parking brake. Do they still teach that today?
Anyway I have a manual car so if the accelerator get stuck it takes a fraction of a second to push on the clutch and coast...
I'm in Canada, and I work 35 hours a week. From 35 to 40 we are paid at a single rate. After 40 hours, we're on 1.5x rate. It's the law, so companies have to follow it.
When your overtime is not compensated, your boss will ask you to do overtime because it will cost him less the more you work. His incentive is to overwork you.
When your overtime is compensated, and at a 1.5 or 2x rate, then suddenly your boss doesn't want you to work overtime, he much prefer hiring someone else and having everyone work regular and cheaper hours. Now his incentive is to hire more employee and ask them less work hours.
So legislating the maximum hours per week and the overtime compensating rules is the only way to ensure that companies don't abuse their employee.
No need for a union, I'm not in a union and I don't want one, because my employer is treating me right (he has no choice, it's the law!)
In Jean-Claude Van Damme lastest movie, there are 2 long takes. At the beginning there is a 3 minutes take with a lot of explosions, stunts, all choreographed perfectly (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI5W1YPJFBM).
And a the middle of the film there is a 6 minutes monologue all in one take.
I'm not a fan of Van Damme, but this movie is really original and blurs the frontier between fantasy with reality. And it's funny too (a lot of self derision!)
There are also washing machines and dish washers nowadays that can take warm water as "input" rather than cold water that is subsequently heated using electricity.
"nowadays"? I don't know where you live but here in Canada the dishwashers have always been connected only to the hot water pipe...
And heating is not only important for the passenger's comfort, but also for defrosting the windows. Having super insulated double pane glass is not very useful if you can't see trough it because drizzle is freezing on it.
I can't imagine having an electric car perform well on a cold night in winter, having to heat the cabin, fan at fast speed to defrost the windshield and side windows, defrost on for the rear window, wipers on, lights on, and spinning wheels in the snow...
Just to give an idea in winter if there is very cold weather (like -30C) for a couple of days and a lot of snow I do about 150km less on the same tank of gas (in my small Accent). That's a 25% drop in efficiency because of the cold weather and the snow. And that's in a conventional car, were the heat is free (waste heat from the engine).
I work on a datawarehouse for a big bank that still runs on one of those IBM F50... for 11 years now! Most of the HD are original, running 24/7 since 1997. Apart from a having to replace a couple of fan, and maybe 4 HD, this machine has been very reliable! (right now the database is about 500GB and is still used daily by about 10 users writing queries). We're on Oracle 8i...
The Smart you mention is called a "Diablo" but actually has a Suzuki Hayabusa engine. Here is the video showing how it was built: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPQIizRp9ck
There's no way a Diablo engine would fit in there...
they charge a fixed monthly rate just like a land line.
I don't have a cell phone and frankly I don't need one.
But if someone offer something like 25$ a month unlimited minutes 24-7 (however you can charge me long distance) I'll drop my land line and go grab a cell...
Most Plasma and LCD displays are only able to do 720p. They must convert 1080i.
Most tube hdtv are only able to do 1080i. They must convert 720p.
I wonder why they can't do what we have with a computer monitor, the same unit can do multiple different resolutions at different scan rates...
So be aware that if you buy a HDTV, you will have only one "native" resolution. And not all TV will upconvert or downconvert with the same quality.
So if the salesman tells you that it support 720p AND 1080i, go to the manufacturer's web site and verify it because for now only the most expensives displays support both resolution natively.
Clever solutions are not always the right ones
on
Life Interrupted
·
· Score: 1
I find that nowadays people at work are always trying to find a clever solution to a problem, and as soon as they find one they stop thinking about it. Our attention span is much too short.
When I work with older people, I'm amazed at how they can really think about something, a long time, and come up with a much more beautiful and robust solution to a problem.
I'm not that young (mid 30's), but working with programmers in their 50's is really different.
If you put lower profile tires on a bigger rim, you keep the same diameter and you don't raise your center of gravity.
But very low profile tires are only useful on a glass smooth track, on everyday roads they have a lot less traction because they don't follow the bumps on the road, so it gives you a very inneficient bumpy ride. Every inch more of contact patch you have with a wider tire is not useful if the tire is too rigid and bounces off the asphalt.
Slashdot Mirror
Extremely low? If you want extremely low come to Canada. My monthly cap with Videotron is 50GB...
Every motorcycle has an engine kill switch just millimeters from the right hand's thumb, completely exposed.
It's mandatory to put this switch on motorcycles, to be able to kill the engine in case the throttle grip/cables get stuck.
Why can't we have the same security feature on a car?
Hydraulic brakes don't need any power to work. It's a purely mechanical system with a piston under the pedal, pushing on the brake fluid in the lines, that in turn pushes on the piston inside the brake caliper.
If the engine turns off, you still have enough vaccuum reserve in the power brake system to stop the car once (if you repeateatly press on the brake pedal you will lose your reserve). Even without power assist you just have to press harder and it will brake. Last resort is the emergency/parking brake, to be used gently...
Electric power steering is also just there to assist you at low speeds. At any speed higher than walking pace you can steer the car without power.
All this I learned in driver's education class 20 years ago and I still remember it... we even had a video on how to do emergency braking by applying/disengaging in a rapid sequence the parking brake. Do they still teach that today?
Anyway I have a manual car so if the accelerator get stuck it takes a fraction of a second to push on the clutch and coast...
I'm in Canada, and I work 35 hours a week. From 35 to 40 we are paid at a single rate. After 40 hours, we're on 1.5x rate. It's the law, so companies have to follow it.
When your overtime is not compensated, your boss will ask you to do overtime because it will cost him less the more you work. His incentive is to overwork you.
When your overtime is compensated, and at a 1.5 or 2x rate, then suddenly your boss doesn't want you to work overtime, he much prefer hiring someone else and having everyone work regular and cheaper hours. Now his incentive is to hire more employee and ask them less work hours.
So legislating the maximum hours per week and the overtime compensating rules is the only way to ensure that companies don't abuse their employee.
No need for a union, I'm not in a union and I don't want one, because my employer is treating me right (he has no choice, it's the law!)
The first amiga was launched in 1985...
It's raison d'etre
What you wrote means literally "grape of being"
raisin=grape
Not a grammar nazi, but I thought it was funny... cheers!
Echelon, Facebook, and the next version will be named Google...
Looks an awful lot like the Android naming scheme to me!
I didn't RTFA but are they trying to reinvent IMS?
in internet explorer 6, wich is my only option at work... I had to type this on my android phone. So no more lunchtime slashdot browsing for me...
In Jean-Claude Van Damme lastest movie, there are 2 long takes. At the beginning there is a 3 minutes take with a lot of explosions, stunts, all choreographed perfectly (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI5W1YPJFBM).
And a the middle of the film there is a 6 minutes monologue all in one take.
I'm not a fan of Van Damme, but this movie is really original and blurs the frontier between fantasy with reality. And it's funny too (a lot of self derision!)
I would love to see this car in the snow... or trying to balance itself on ice...
And getting 40km of autonomy at -30C, with the heater on.
There are also washing machines and dish washers nowadays that can take warm water as "input" rather than cold water that is subsequently heated using electricity.
"nowadays"? I don't know where you live but here in Canada the dishwashers have always been connected only to the hot water pipe...
It even knows the meaning of life!
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=what+is+the+meaning+of+life%3F
And the location of god!
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=where+is+god%3F
And heating is not only important for the passenger's comfort, but also for defrosting the windows. Having super insulated double pane glass is not very useful if you can't see trough it because drizzle is freezing on it.
I can't imagine having an electric car perform well on a cold night in winter, having to heat the cabin, fan at fast speed to defrost the windshield and side windows, defrost on for the rear window, wipers on, lights on, and spinning wheels in the snow...
Just to give an idea in winter if there is very cold weather (like -30C) for a couple of days and a lot of snow I do about 150km less on the same tank of gas (in my small Accent). That's a 25% drop in efficiency because of the cold weather and the snow. And that's in a conventional car, were the heat is free (waste heat from the engine).
Hey kids, what about microcode?
We don't use some fancy high level language like machine code!
If every meat eater has to kill his own animals there would be a whole lot more vegetarians.
If every vegetable eater had to grow his own garden there would be a whole lot more meat eaters.
Is it April 1st again?
I too used a wood burner to solder when I was young... I tought that I was the only one!
I work on a datawarehouse for a big bank that still runs on one of those IBM F50... for 11 years now! Most of the HD are original, running 24/7 since 1997. Apart from a having to replace a couple of fan, and maybe 4 HD, this machine has been very reliable! (right now the database is about 500GB and is still used daily by about 10 users writing queries). We're on Oracle 8i...
The Smart you mention is called a "Diablo" but actually has a Suzuki Hayabusa engine. Here is the video showing how it was built: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPQIizRp9ck
There's no way a Diablo engine would fit in there...
they charge a fixed monthly rate just like a land line.
I don't have a cell phone and frankly I don't need one.
But if someone offer something like 25$ a month unlimited minutes 24-7 (however you can charge me long distance) I'll drop my land line and go grab a cell...
Most Plasma and LCD displays are only able to do 720p. They must convert 1080i.
Most tube hdtv are only able to do 1080i. They must convert 720p.
I wonder why they can't do what we have with a computer monitor, the same unit can do multiple different resolutions at different scan rates...
So be aware that if you buy a HDTV, you will have only one "native" resolution. And not all TV will upconvert or downconvert with the same quality.
So if the salesman tells you that it support 720p AND 1080i, go to the manufacturer's web site and verify it because for now only the most expensives displays support both resolution natively.
I find that nowadays people at work are always trying to find a clever solution to a problem, and as soon as they find one they stop thinking about it. Our attention span is much too short.
When I work with older people, I'm amazed at how they can really think about something, a long time, and come up with a much more beautiful and robust solution to a problem.
I'm not that young (mid 30's), but working with programmers in their 50's is really different.
If you put lower profile tires on a bigger rim, you keep the same diameter and you don't raise your center of gravity.
But very low profile tires are only useful on a glass smooth track, on everyday roads they have a lot less traction because they don't follow the bumps on the road, so it gives you a very inneficient bumpy ride. Every inch more of contact patch you have with a wider tire is not useful if the tire is too rigid and bounces off the asphalt.
In my days, you could not be considered a geek if you did any exercise...