I'm no engines expert, but I thought the good part of a stirling engine was that they often are just a few percentage points from theoretical maximum efficiency of a heat engine, about 50%???
I thought the downside is that they take a while to get up to speed. Ford in the 1970s tested a small vehicle with such an engine and they could get it up to speed after 13 seconds. So it should be a natural fit as a battery charger in an electrical car...
At least, that's what I thought when I looked into this a few years back (just as a curiosity, nothing professional mind you).
Yeah, I'm down to one software that doesn't have a Windows equivalent or can't run on wine like ebay Blackthorne. Unfortunately, it's not going to work anytime soon.
With e-Ink readers like the DR1000S (and the DR1000SW coming soon and Plastic Logics coming next year) - this may be the way to go without having dozens of printouts. Iliads products has a wacom screen you can write and annotate upon, which makes it almost as good as paper.
Personally, I will wait a few iterations until they perfect these products, but not carrying a bundle of papers and just pressing a button to get to the next page is precisely the advantage, amongs others (like search).
Damn, wanted to add to my own parent comment a note to slashdot - PLEASE LET US LOG IN like we used to. The username/password right when I type a comment, why has it become a jump through hoops where you lose where you were at by going to other pages and logging in takes you right back to the home page? This is stupid.
It's a little farfetched, I know, but it seems the way to go these days. I'd rather pay $50 upfront and then $10 per month for four years than pay $400 upfront at retail.
$400 for Windows is too much, the OEMs pay much less.
Also the last thing I need is another monthy bill. I have a Trac Phone to avoid that (could easily afford the iPhone but not justify the monthly rate). My used car is bought outright. Other necessary bills minimized, especially in this economy. Etcetera.
Once windows becomes subsciption: it will either be structured in such a way (updates as you describe) that most people don't bother thus lose money anyway, or many people start migrating away which is exactly what they don't want. It would be the beginning of Linux as a mainstream desktop OS.
We'll be at the terabyte USB stick within 5 years, if not sooner. 2 years ago, I got a Micro Cruzer for $40 at Walmart. Today, a 8GB cost $25 there and a 16GB $60 (43 at amazon). At that rate, in 2 years, it will be at 256GB and it's just a hop and skip to 1TB then.
You should disagree, high taxes are never good and are passed on in various ways. This one I'm not even sure yet makes sense - will gamers have to start paying tax on their hobbies? That would suck.
Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac were gov't entities, then were spun off into non-gov't corporations (though everyone thought they had some sort of special unspoken gov't back-up), then were placed back in gov't conservatorship recently. They are not the cause of the financial upheaval going on. They actually got into the sub-prime market late and in a lesser way due to legal restrictions that other companies did not have.
Following their mission to meet federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing goals (HUD government goals), GSE's such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) have strived to improve home ownership of low and middle income families, underserved areas, and generally through special affordable methods such as "the ability to obtain a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a low down payment... and the continuous availability of mortgage credit under a wide range of economic conditions." (HUD 2002 Annual Housing Activites Report)
Then in 2007, the subprime mortgage crisis began. An increasing number of borrowers, often with poor credit that were unable to pay their mortgages - particularly with adjustable rate mortgages (ARM), caused a precipitous increase in home foreclosures. As a result, home prices declined as increasing foreclosures added to the already large inventory of homes and stricter lending standards made it more and more difficult for borrowers to get mortgages. This depreciation in home prices led to growing losses for the GSEs, which back the majority of US mortgages. In July of 2008, the government attempted to ease market fears by reiterating their view that "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a central role in the US housing finance system". The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve took steps to bolster confidence in the corporations, including granting both corporations access to Federal Reserve low-interest loans (at similar rates as commercial banks) and removing the prohibition on the Treasury Department to purchase the GSEs' stock. Despite these efforts, by August 2008, shares of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had tumbled more than 90% from their one-year prior levels.
The CRA has been blamed by many on the right largely because it is about the only way to tie the financial shitstorm directly to Democrats. Unfortunately, the argument simple doesn't hold water. Are you really suggesting that a law passed 31 years ago caused no problems for 3 decades caused a sudden and dramatic panic? Do you have any evidence to offer to support that? Do you even know what the CRA really requires of lenders (and which ones)?
What does "getting amendment over time" mean to you?
The Fed was created in response to numerous crashes and bank failures that had preceded it. Here's a thought - look at the economic history of the US post Fed and then look at it pre-Fed. Which economy was the more stable?
Unless you have some quanitifiable data. The Fed was created to address Bank runs. Perhaps that has more to do with fractional reserve banking than anything else.
Since 2002? Obviously you didn't read the numerous Ron Paul Newsletters when it was revealed what vile garbage the man spouted during the early nineties. 'cos he was predicting economic collapses then too.
Please quote somethig specific instead of vague argumentments.
Or is it to blame ethnic minorities by claiming a law against discrimination which only affected regulated banks, and which mandated credit checks anyway, had some kind of role in this?
You're the only one bring race into the argument all of a sudden.
I think that statement is very much open to debate after the last few months. A better statement would be people believe in regulated free markets. Completely free markets would just be handing all the worlds money to a bunch of wolves who are already using the global economy as a giant casino with all the tables rigged in their favor. The challenge is in figuring out the fine line between enough regulation, not enough and to much.
Do you realize the Fed was created in 1913, the big crash happened in the late 1920s. And now Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government entities - that with various acts starting with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 under Carter and getting amendments over time, encouraged lending to the risks a normal banker would see a mile away?
Please spout off on more regulation. Greenspan hasn't been for free markets since he headed the Fed, the exact opposite of a free market entity.
This financial downturn has been predicted by free marketeers since 2002 by the likes of Ron Paul and Peter Schiff:
Hell, I wish that Gmail's free storage grew at a sensible exponential rate. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it grows at a logarithmic rate...
I can understand that. The jump from having 10 GB to 100 GB was pretty fast. So was the jump to 500GB. But now, I think hard drive capacity is slowing, at least I percieve it that way...
Perhaps that will be the case until flash catches up and surpasses. Which I think will soon (like within 7 years): 2 years back I bought a 1GB USB flash at Walmart for $49.99. Now for $39.99 or $67.99 I get 8GB or 16GB respectively (at Walmart, yes Pricewatch is much cheaper). Both the same Micro Cruzer line. If that trend continues, flash will be 4TB for that money in about 5-6 years.
taking their work home with them. This is a consequence of such a thing. Companies are even more worried about projects being lost this way, with 64GB USB sticks out now and what not. Makes you think that they should put a move onto implementing all data systems that encrypts/decrypts data only upon it syncing with a central system via an authorized route PLUS a user password ahead of time. Because once there is a malicious user within the framework, encryption alone won't stop them from selling off massive amounts of info with the 1TB+ sticks they'll have in a few years time.
One way or the other we (the consumers of these wonderful products) are going to have to pay... and we shouldn't be apprehensive about it. I have no problem with paying let's say $50/year for Ubuntu, because it has worked great for me.
Personally, for myself, I would think with every release, $20 is warranted... Microsoft would love to fleece me of much more for the amount of computers I put it on.
I would say stay away from games if you retain some type of romantic notion and WAFFY feelings from your childhood/teenage years playing them. Because it's not like that.
OTOH, it can be rewarding but it's work. Although personally, if you're really smart, there could be more valuable work you could be doing and could feel unfulfilled not doing it...
(Although games may lead into simulations which are important).
IMO the state of software is decades behind hardware. Like seriously, the only real developments are from hardware. And I don't see this changing anytime soon, with programmers too pussy to suck it up and use the right tools for the job, even if it doesn't hold your hand (and clean up your garbage)
Yes, that is unpleasant, but is additional complexity in the file system really the best solution? I am honestly not sure how I feel about that.
I wish, with humonguous hard drives we have today, that the file systems would natively support and administrate tags. They'd be attached to the file but seperate from the content.
Every application or device (camera) could add tags to the files it works on (a jpeg file: image, gimp, etc) and users could also add tags (vaction, dec.2008, skiing, gps.coordinates....).
I'm really tired of folders, that force you to shoehorn into one category something that can fit in multiple categories (no, I don't want to mess with symbolic links) and also people trying to stuff the entire contents of a file into the folder name: billclintonfunnydemotivatorobamacampaign2008.jpg
It doesn't even work most of the time. The alternatives is to get people to tag their images individually, no matter if it's downloaded or their own. This just requires a duplication of effort on internet downloaded ones and is also stupid since it needs to specific apps and those apps are likely not cross compatible (+ probably extra files that contain the tagging database). In short, anything but file system tagging is doomed to failure.
8) Apple demands far too much - music at 99 cents, rather than "flexible pricing", other contract terms. (Apple insists on one contract for all labels)
I don't agree, but it's been years so forgive me if my details are wrong.
Music labels would like flexible pricing, but only so they can jack up the songs that are hits at the moment (think of the "flexible" prices of ringtones) and cash out on the popularity. OTOH, I believe albums can be any prices, so if a labels wanted the music to be cheaper, they could offer entire albums for less than a single song!
I call bullshit. If you ever go to Digg, then you see Groupthink moderation. Reasoned or valid responses getting dug done to minus infinity for not fitting the mold.
At slashdot, it may be a problem here and there, but a reasoned out response is well recieved at a much higher rate.
(BTW, I like both sites for much different reasons. But I don't begin to take most of the threads there seriously.)
Slashdot Mirror
I'm no engines expert, but I thought the good part of a stirling engine was that they often are just a few percentage points from theoretical maximum efficiency of a heat engine, about 50%???
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine
I thought the downside is that they take a while to get up to speed. Ford in the 1970s tested a small vehicle with such an engine and they could get it up to speed after 13 seconds. So it should be a natural fit as a battery charger in an electrical car...
At least, that's what I thought when I looked into this a few years back (just as a curiosity, nothing professional mind you).
Okay, cool thanks.
I was told exactly because of .net 2.0 that it won't install. Didn't think of installing net by itself.
Yeah, I'm down to one software that doesn't have a Windows equivalent or can't run on wine like ebay Blackthorne. Unfortunately, it's not going to work anytime soon.
With e-Ink readers like the DR1000S (and the DR1000SW coming soon and Plastic Logics coming next year) - this may be the way to go without having dozens of printouts. Iliads products has a wacom screen you can write and annotate upon, which makes it almost as good as paper.
Personally, I will wait a few iterations until they perfect these products, but not carrying a bundle of papers and just pressing a button to get to the next page is precisely the advantage, amongs others (like search).
Damn, wanted to add to my own parent comment a note to slashdot - PLEASE LET US LOG IN like we used to. The username/password right when I type a comment, why has it become a jump through hoops where you lose where you were at by going to other pages and logging in takes you right back to the home page? This is stupid.
$400 for Windows is too much, the OEMs pay much less.
Also the last thing I need is another monthy bill. I have a Trac Phone to avoid that (could easily afford the iPhone but not justify the monthly rate). My used car is bought outright. Other necessary bills minimized, especially in this economy. Etcetera.
Once windows becomes subsciption: it will either be structured in such a way (updates as you describe) that most people don't bother thus lose money anyway, or many people start migrating away which is exactly what they don't want. It would be the beginning of Linux as a mainstream desktop OS.
We'll be at the terabyte USB stick within 5 years, if not sooner. 2 years ago, I got a Micro Cruzer for $40 at Walmart. Today, a 8GB cost $25 there and a 16GB $60 (43 at amazon). At that rate, in 2 years, it will be at 256GB and it's just a hop and skip to 1TB then.
You should disagree, high taxes are never good and are passed on in various ways. This one I'm not even sure yet makes sense - will gamers have to start paying tax on their hobbies? That would suck.
Oh, and I'm hawking this:
http://www.apttax.com/
I call it worthless.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Mae#The_mortgage_crisis_from_late_2007
Following their mission to meet federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing goals (HUD government goals), GSE's such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks) have strived to improve home ownership of low and middle income families, underserved areas, and generally through special affordable methods such as "the ability to obtain a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a low down payment... and the continuous availability of mortgage credit under a wide range of economic conditions." (HUD 2002 Annual Housing Activites Report)
Then in 2007, the subprime mortgage crisis began. An increasing number of borrowers, often with poor credit that were unable to pay their mortgages - particularly with adjustable rate mortgages (ARM), caused a precipitous increase in home foreclosures. As a result, home prices declined as increasing foreclosures added to the already large inventory of homes and stricter lending standards made it more and more difficult for borrowers to get mortgages. This depreciation in home prices led to growing losses for the GSEs, which back the majority of US mortgages. In July of 2008, the government attempted to ease market fears by reiterating their view that "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a central role in the US housing finance system". The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve took steps to bolster confidence in the corporations, including granting both corporations access to Federal Reserve low-interest loans (at similar rates as commercial banks) and removing the prohibition on the Treasury Department to purchase the GSEs' stock. Despite these efforts, by August 2008, shares of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had tumbled more than 90% from their one-year prior levels.
What does "getting amendment over time" mean to you?
The rest of your argument is disputable:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act#Relation_to_2008_financial_crisis
About the same.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States
Unless you have some quanitifiable data. The Fed was created to address Bank runs. Perhaps that has more to do with fractional reserve banking than anything else.
Please quote somethig specific instead of vague argumentments.
You're the only one bring race into the argument all of a sudden.
Do you realize the Fed was created in 1913, the big crash happened in the late 1920s. And now Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government entities - that with various acts starting with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 under Carter and getting amendments over time, encouraged lending to the risks a normal banker would see a mile away?
Please spout off on more regulation. Greenspan hasn't been for free markets since he headed the Fed, the exact opposite of a free market entity.
This financial downturn has been predicted by free marketeers since 2002 by the likes of Ron Paul and Peter Schiff:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul128.html
http://www.amazon.com/Crash-Proof-Economic-Collapse-Sonberg/dp/0470043601
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/
I can understand that. The jump from having 10 GB to 100 GB was pretty fast. So was the jump to 500GB. But now, I think hard drive capacity is slowing, at least I percieve it that way...
Perhaps that will be the case until flash catches up and surpasses. Which I think will soon (like within 7 years): 2 years back I bought a 1GB USB flash at Walmart for $49.99. Now for $39.99 or $67.99 I get 8GB or 16GB respectively (at Walmart, yes Pricewatch is much cheaper). Both the same Micro Cruzer line. If that trend continues, flash will be 4TB for that money in about 5-6 years.
I wonder how far hard drives will progress?
taking their work home with them. This is a consequence of such a thing. Companies are even more worried about projects being lost this way, with 64GB USB sticks out now and what not. Makes you think that they should put a move onto implementing all data systems that encrypts/decrypts data only upon it syncing with a central system via an authorized route PLUS a user password ahead of time. Because once there is a malicious user within the framework, encryption alone won't stop them from selling off massive amounts of info with the 1TB+ sticks they'll have in a few years time.
Might as well hawk this while we're talking about taxes:
http://www.apttax.com/
of Ubuntu could outperform Vista in speed?
Your son will rebel against your authoritarian ways in his teenage years by being a book nerd;)
And here you go:
http://www.ubuntu.com/community/donations
Personally, for myself, I would think with every release, $20 is warranted... Microsoft would love to fleece me of much more for the amount of computers I put it on.
I think MIT's opencourseware is a major step in the right direction.
The way you become a programmer is by programming.
Do it for fun, have a problem to solve, etcetera.
You don't learn it in the classroom. Classroom theory is nice, but that experience is akin to pouring water into a leaky glass.
I would say stay away from games if you retain some type of romantic notion and WAFFY feelings from your childhood/teenage years playing them. Because it's not like that.
OTOH, it can be rewarding but it's work. Although personally, if you're really smart, there could be more valuable work you could be doing and could feel unfulfilled not doing it...
(Although games may lead into simulations which are important).
What do you have in mind?
I wish, with humonguous hard drives we have today, that the file systems would natively support and administrate tags. They'd be attached to the file but seperate from the content.
Every application or device (camera) could add tags to the files it works on (a jpeg file: image, gimp, etc) and users could also add tags (vaction, dec.2008, skiing, gps.coordinates....).
I'm really tired of folders, that force you to shoehorn into one category something that can fit in multiple categories (no, I don't want to mess with symbolic links) and also people trying to stuff the entire contents of a file into the folder name:
billclintonfunnydemotivatorobamacampaign2008.jpg
It doesn't even work most of the time. The alternatives is to get people to tag their images individually, no matter if it's downloaded or their own. This just requires a duplication of effort on internet downloaded ones and is also stupid since it needs to specific apps and those apps are likely not cross compatible (+ probably extra files that contain the tagging database). In short, anything but file system tagging is doomed to failure.
I don't agree, but it's been years so forgive me if my details are wrong.
Music labels would like flexible pricing, but only so they can jack up the songs that are hits at the moment (think of the "flexible" prices of ringtones) and cash out on the popularity. OTOH, I believe albums can be any prices, so if a labels wanted the music to be cheaper, they could offer entire albums for less than a single song!
I call bullshit. If you ever go to Digg, then you see Groupthink moderation. Reasoned or valid responses getting dug done to minus infinity for not fitting the mold.
At slashdot, it may be a problem here and there, but a reasoned out response is well recieved at a much higher rate.
(BTW, I like both sites for much different reasons. But I don't begin to take most of the threads there seriously.)
Rating programmers on Lines of Code in a commercial environment seems like a way to promote bloat and slow, inefficient code.