Actually, table salt will cause cooling when poured into water. It's still thermodynamically favored because deltaG = deltaH - TdeltaS, so the large increase in entropy overcomes the positive enthalpic change.
The cops come questioning you just to find out if you really live there? What the hell business of theirs is it where you live?
Yeah, I'm a little more typically American - a cop shows up at my door, he's not coming in, and he'd better have a damned good reason to be trespassing on my lawn.
Thank you. When I saw all the "but iTunes rearranges my music!" posts I knew we were headed the wrong way. The only thing I know of that does something a lot better than iTunes is MediaMonkey for tagging files - it has a very sophisticated setup for tagging based on the filename, which I occasionally use on files that were not tagged at birth.
I understand that this is, in theory, an advantage. But unless the answer required is simply yes or no, with no elaboration, it takes longer to text than to talk. (And it's cheaper to talk than to text!)
Again, this is something I do with my wife - we don't have to spend time exchanging pleasantries, we can just say "hey, you want to go to the movies with X and Y this weekend?" If the answer is yes, we can go right ahead and start discussing what to see - no additional time to compose replies, wait for the text to get sent, etc. I think people tend to overestimate just how efficient texting is, because it's really convenient if you have a phone with a keyboard, and in any case you have the option to ignore it if you're busy and return it later. But once you get into a text conversation - which almost all of these end up as - it really is quicker to call. (Of course, you can't do that in a meeting.)
I had this argument with my wife before. She has a Blackberry. I have a... phone. Just a phone. I've finally gotten her to understand that just calling me is easier and faster than trying to have a conversation over text, especially since it will take more time than the entire conversation for me to send a single text using that damned keypad.
Well... my original comment wasn't really clear, but what's wrong is the interface, not the processing speed - e.g., cutscenes are fine, but the whole swing-your-mouse-to-strike just doesn't seem to work well, and while it can rotate pretty effectively, moving forward is tediously slow.
However, that's a really informative post. Thanks for the tip. I've had a hankering to drag up Wing Commander lately...
I didn't play it when it came out, but I tried it today... and the interface is so sluggish as to be painful. My computer isn't totally up-to-date, but I'm pretty sure it can handle 486-level material pretty easily. It's very distracting, much less responsive than Ultima Underworld on a 386 (yes, I'm speaking from experience here). Don't think I'll be doing any more of it.
I killed a Focus FK-2001 in college and picked up a used Model M. That was 1996; I'm still typing on it.
I'd still be using the trackball that I bought in 1994 if it had a scroll wheel; instead I replaced it in 1999. I paid about $80 for it, but it's worth it to have something that works well.
Like the others are saying, when a thing is going to cost $4000, an extra $200 for quality construction is a worthwhile investment. When the whole thing costs $200, not so much. Keyboards are really emblematic of this - they used to be a selling point for computers, while now people think it's strange if you'll pay $70 for a Unicomp keyboard. (I've never understood this idea; why would you cheap out on mouse and keyboard when they're the primary interface with the computer? You use them ALL THE TIME.)
If you're in the middle of flat, roadless, waterless terrain, what good is a compass going to do you? I have a good sense of direction, and yes, I could read a topo map (if I knew my approximate position) and compass to define it much more accurately - if you put me somewhere with well-marked spottable items.
They're great to have when you're in an unfamiliar city. I haven't bothered to buy one because I don't really drive around in unfamiliar cities very often, and I usually prefer read maps to fix a layout in my head before driving somewhere, but they are nice when you're on vacation and get a rental car that has one.
Pure myopia, no astigmatism. Contacts have to be special-ordered, but are otherwise easily available. Technically LASIK is not out of the picture, if I have thick enough corneas, but why take a risk on something with no long-term data (my family is long-lived and I can reasonably expect to live into my late 80s) when I have total vision correction with contacts?
Mainly, though, the problem is that after surgery there's still a good chance that I'd have to wear some sort of corrective lens. I'm accustomed to being either totally blind or having excellent vision, so why take the risks of surgery when I'll still be wearing lenses?
Uh, not around age 40. Early 30s, actually. Most people don't need to treat it with glasses until their early 40s, but I can quite clearly notice that I have presbyopia at age 34 - and have seen it for a year or more. It's just that it's only apparent when things get closer than 4 inches from my face.
I'm a severe myopic - got my first glasses at age 6, first contacts at 8, currently running a -11 diopter - so I'm really, really used to being able to see things UP CLOSE. Furthermore, young myopics have a tendency to get lenses that are "too strong" for them - because they are very young, they can accomodate to extraordinarily close focal points, and because they're myopic they can choose just how close that point can be by sacrificing a bit of far-point focus. Most people may not notice it until 40, but it was astonishing to me when I could no longer clearly resolve objects held 2-3 cm from my eye.
Try it a bit more, maybe, and try an easier bit of reading - I've noticed that really challenging books are more difficult with Kindle because you do a lot more back-and-forth than you think you do. OTOH stuff that's a bit more predictable - i.e., you'll get it the first time you read it - works great, because there isn't any delay at the end of the page - you hit "next page" when you're a line or two from the end, and when it changes, you've just finished the page.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, table salt will cause cooling when poured into water. It's still thermodynamically favored because deltaG = deltaH - TdeltaS, so the large increase in entropy overcomes the positive enthalpic change.
They're pretty piss-poor lawyers if you can startle them with matters that are essentially public records. Does it work?
Oh, and just read your sig. Nice. Been a long time, but wouldn't the subjunctive be called for here? And wouldn't that be agnoscat?
I would never let a police officer - on duty or off - into my home unless they had a warrant or it was a crime scene. Ever. Why on earth would you?
Just because the police are a necessary evil does not mean they are not evil. Just better than the alternative.
Wait...
The cops come questioning you just to find out if you really live there? What the hell business of theirs is it where you live?
Yeah, I'm a little more typically American - a cop shows up at my door, he's not coming in, and he'd better have a damned good reason to be trespassing on my lawn.
Unlocked doors are not a violation of the law, and thus not a valid reason to search. So no, they can't open my car door without my permission.
For the youths in the crowd - the Mozilla it's claiming to be is Netscape 0.9, ca. 1994.
Thank you. When I saw all the "but iTunes rearranges my music!" posts I knew we were headed the wrong way. The only thing I know of that does something a lot better than iTunes is MediaMonkey for tagging files - it has a very sophisticated setup for tagging based on the filename, which I occasionally use on files that were not tagged at birth.
I understand that this is, in theory, an advantage. But unless the answer required is simply yes or no, with no elaboration, it takes longer to text than to talk. (And it's cheaper to talk than to text!)
Again, this is something I do with my wife - we don't have to spend time exchanging pleasantries, we can just say "hey, you want to go to the movies with X and Y this weekend?" If the answer is yes, we can go right ahead and start discussing what to see - no additional time to compose replies, wait for the text to get sent, etc. I think people tend to overestimate just how efficient texting is, because it's really convenient if you have a phone with a keyboard, and in any case you have the option to ignore it if you're busy and return it later. But once you get into a text conversation - which almost all of these end up as - it really is quicker to call. (Of course, you can't do that in a meeting.)
A cousin of mine lived there in the early 90s. He said that the speeding buzzer was there to remind the locals to turn up the radio ;)
No, no, no, you stupid American. Txt >>> voice.
... phone. Just a phone. I've finally gotten her to understand that just calling me is easier and faster than trying to have a conversation over text, especially since it will take more time than the entire conversation for me to send a single text using that damned keypad.
I had this argument with my wife before. She has a Blackberry. I have a
Well... my original comment wasn't really clear, but what's wrong is the interface, not the processing speed - e.g., cutscenes are fine, but the whole swing-your-mouse-to-strike just doesn't seem to work well, and while it can rotate pretty effectively, moving forward is tediously slow.
However, that's a really informative post. Thanks for the tip. I've had a hankering to drag up Wing Commander lately...
I didn't play it when it came out, but I tried it today... and the interface is so sluggish as to be painful. My computer isn't totally up-to-date, but I'm pretty sure it can handle 486-level material pretty easily. It's very distracting, much less responsive than Ultima Underworld on a 386 (yes, I'm speaking from experience here). Don't think I'll be doing any more of it.
I killed a Focus FK-2001 in college and picked up a used Model M. That was 1996; I'm still typing on it.
I'd still be using the trackball that I bought in 1994 if it had a scroll wheel; instead I replaced it in 1999. I paid about $80 for it, but it's worth it to have something that works well.
Like the others are saying, when a thing is going to cost $4000, an extra $200 for quality construction is a worthwhile investment. When the whole thing costs $200, not so much. Keyboards are really emblematic of this - they used to be a selling point for computers, while now people think it's strange if you'll pay $70 for a Unicomp keyboard. (I've never understood this idea; why would you cheap out on mouse and keyboard when they're the primary interface with the computer? You use them ALL THE TIME.)
you had feet?
If you're in the middle of flat, roadless, waterless terrain, what good is a compass going to do you? I have a good sense of direction, and yes, I could read a topo map (if I knew my approximate position) and compass to define it much more accurately - if you put me somewhere with well-marked spottable items.
And that choice would be... ?
They're great to have when you're in an unfamiliar city. I haven't bothered to buy one because I don't really drive around in unfamiliar cities very often, and I usually prefer read maps to fix a layout in my head before driving somewhere, but they are nice when you're on vacation and get a rental car that has one.
What, hard S&M?
You go there for FUN?
Pure myopia, no astigmatism. Contacts have to be special-ordered, but are otherwise easily available. Technically LASIK is not out of the picture, if I have thick enough corneas, but why take a risk on something with no long-term data (my family is long-lived and I can reasonably expect to live into my late 80s) when I have total vision correction with contacts?
Mainly, though, the problem is that after surgery there's still a good chance that I'd have to wear some sort of corrective lens. I'm accustomed to being either totally blind or having excellent vision, so why take the risks of surgery when I'll still be wearing lenses?
Uh, not around age 40. Early 30s, actually. Most people don't need to treat it with glasses until their early 40s, but I can quite clearly notice that I have presbyopia at age 34 - and have seen it for a year or more. It's just that it's only apparent when things get closer than 4 inches from my face.
I'm a severe myopic - got my first glasses at age 6, first contacts at 8, currently running a -11 diopter - so I'm really, really used to being able to see things UP CLOSE. Furthermore, young myopics have a tendency to get lenses that are "too strong" for them - because they are very young, they can accomodate to extraordinarily close focal points, and because they're myopic they can choose just how close that point can be by sacrificing a bit of far-point focus. Most people may not notice it until 40, but it was astonishing to me when I could no longer clearly resolve objects held 2-3 cm from my eye.
Heh. Getting old sucks, but it's better than the alternative.
Try it a bit more, maybe, and try an easier bit of reading - I've noticed that really challenging books are more difficult with Kindle because you do a lot more back-and-forth than you think you do. OTOH stuff that's a bit more predictable - i.e., you'll get it the first time you read it - works great, because there isn't any delay at the end of the page - you hit "next page" when you're a line or two from the end, and when it changes, you've just finished the page.
Please mod parent up. It's one of the things about Stephenson I've never been able to nail down, but that I knew bothered me.