Currently FOX has: - Fringe - Decent SciFi replacement to the XFiles mechanic, only even better. - House - One of the better medical dramas on today, though I have to admit it's gotten stale. - Bones - A decent crime procedural drama following a forensic anthropologist. I still DVR it from time to time.
I couldn't care less about Simpsons / Family Guy / Cleveland Show. And a lot of their stuff is fluff.
But they have some decent primetime shows as well.
I hate the logos that TV stations put in the corner of the screen throughout shows.
The little NBC, CBS or TNT logos were never that annoying to me, but they started going a little over-board. A show would be on and they'd super-impose an animated advert banner at the bottom... with sound.
Excuse me, but I'm trying to both see and hear the show on TV now.
They tuned those down quite a bit, I imagine due to customer complaints. I don't see the animated banner often, but when I they're always silent.
I watch and enjoy TV, probably more than I should. But I also try to read novels to balance it out.
If you are writing a program that touches more than two persistent data stores, it is too complicated.
I disagree. Is a program too complicated if it has 1. input, 2. output, and 3. logging? Is a program to prepare images for an online store too complicated if it reads 1. raw source images and 2. an overlay image and writes 3. finished images?
If you program in the corporate world, 2+ data sources are common. Sometimes your program may need to access different centralized corporate data that isn't allowed to be replicated or you using database-links.
There's a difference between undoing the effects of a modification, and stopping the device from working at all.
But that wasn't the grandparent's (or great-grandparent's) question, which was: Wouldn't that kind of action be in violation of the recent ruling that made such actions as jailbreaking legal on personally owned devices?
So I was answering with my opinion on whether it's legal for Apple to fight back on jailbreaking even though it's legal to jailbreak (or whatever).
As to what this patent is truly for, it's a little iffy. - Read one way, it could be a security feature you activate yourself, so if it detects someone else using your phone or tampering with it, it locks down to prevent the data.
- Read another way, it could be to deactivate or brick a stolen phone.
- Of course read the most common way on Slashdot, it could be if it senses that it is jail broken that locks down all together.
Having all of the tubes be plain transparent plastic does present an issue. It's not a huge deal when a person just has one tube, such as an IV drip, but multiple tubes can get confusing. Think of the rat's nest of power plugs behind your computer desk or entertainment center, especially if all of the power cords are the same color 3-prong connections.
My first thought it to have pale shades of color for the different kinds of tubes. However that presents a problem because the color of a tube might obscure the compound a little since it's not as transparent. Plus there are only so many colors they could use without dealing with color-blindness or some other near-color issue (is this blue or purple). And lastly, since there are only so many colors they can use, then confusion can still occur and be worse if you're dealing with a pink fluid going through a pink tube... which is which.
The other thing I can think of is different kinds of connections/slots. However then you have an over-engineered tube instead of a plain cylinder-into-cylinder tube which is easier to maintain and doesn't need replacing as much.
So it's not a no-brainer fix, since the fixes themselves aren't perfect and introduce other issues.Though I agree, something more should be done since during emergency or stressful times even an experienced nurse can make a mistake if there are enough tubes around.
Wouldn't that kind of action be in violation of the recent ruling that made such actions as jailbreaking legal on personally owned devices? I understand its a warranty violation, but that shouldn't mean that it should allow apple to restrict usage, etc.
It may be legal for you to do something, but that doesn't automatically make it illegal for a company to try to stop you or slow you down if you want to use their services. Until the courts explicitly tell them to stop or tell them what they're doing is illegal, they can continue on. Since the iPhone is tied to services (cellphone, iTunes, etc) they probably have some wiggle room
To use the often-hated car analogy... It's perfectly legal for me to upgrade my car: throw a turbo-charger, or a super-charger in there, etc. So long as I keep everything street legal.
That doesn't stop my manufacturer from setting up the electronic and the software to prevent it. I can stick the part on, but the computer fights back and compensates for the extra HP. It's a rare thing, but my 2006 car does this and annoyed a few modders since the car has potential. I think the most performance add-on I can use is a cold air intake.
My car company can continue this practice until public opinion wins out (doubtful in my case) or the courts explicitly say "auto manufacturers cannot do anything to prevent the modifying of cars, even if they feel it may cause problems."
Well, that quote would be fine if it weren't so...sensationalist, in a way (sure, might be understandable fora TV series). It won't happen "in a in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years" - the Sun will start giving the Earth real problems in around one billion years (not exactly "grow cold"...).
I strongly suspect that, in such timescale, "Marilyn Monroe and Lao-Tzu, Einstein, Morobuto, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes.. and all of this.." will be at least mostly gone, in any meaningful manner, anyway.
I take the timelines suggested to coincide with the "ten different scientists." That whether it's environment (hundred), population control (thousand), genetics (millions), etc...
That it all comes down to the fact that even if none of those things happen, eventually the sun will swallow the Earth (and later fade).
True, the term "billions" probably should've been thrown in there (or whatever) that coincides with the Sun being the limiting factor in the Earth's expiration date.
It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million.
Right, because space and non-earthlike planets are so much less prone to disaster.
Think of it like data: yes that backup HD, tape, DVD, etc is also prone to disaster. But at least if 1 gets nailed the others have a chance, even if it's not all of your most current data.
Spread the human race around a large enough area in space, and you increase the chances of "some" of us getting wiped out but you drastically reduce the chance of ALL of us getting wiped out.
Eventually the sun will expand and encompass the earth itself, I doubt even bunkers buried VERY deep will suffice. Granted this will occur in a VERY VERY long time from now, but it will eventually happen. Then eventually the sun itself will die.
My favorite quote about this is from Babylon 5, a Sci Fi show from some years back.
...Ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics and you'll get ten different answers, but there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on. Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years, eventually our Sun will grow cold and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us. It'll take Marilyn Monroe and Lao-Tzu, Einstein, Morobuto, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes.. and all of this.. all of this was for nothing unless we go to the stars.
The top had been spinning WAY too long at that point for reality to be in effect.
Towards the beginning of the Inception, before he explains the significance of the top, he does a test where the top seemed to take unnaturally slow to stop. So even then I was thinking "Wow, cool top." But when I noticed the gun I realized what he was doing.
Weighted correctly and spun properly, a top can go on for a while. Not minutes/hours, but for what appears unnaturally long.
The fact that it started to wobble at the end was just a nice "it's whatever you want it to be." Maybe it was going to stop a second later, maybe it wasn't.
In the end, I can't say whether the final scene was a dream. Heck, I've heard good arguments that the whole thing was a dream since his interactions with everyone at the end could've been those of complete strangers: a glance, a nod, etc.
I found it very "Total Recall," specifically the white light at the end of that film.
Say what you will about the mindless action and "Ah-nold" factor in "Total Recall," it did make you think. Everything the "bad guys" said would happen, happened. The story he wanted to download "Blue Skies of Mars" matched the movie's plot quite well. Not a single thing really proved one way or the other if he was awake or in a dream.
And at the end, as hinted earlier, there's a bright light. The camera cutting away? Or Ah-nold waking up from the experience?
However with Recall, the whole movie was questioning whether the main character was awake. Inception only made you truly question it at the end.
Back when I was a young kid I stayed overnight at a science museum a couple of times. I think it was for Cub Scouts, and a couple of troops went.
It was cool, we got to see the exhibits and stuff after it was closed to the public and such. Though there were a lot of proctors and parents making sure that we weren't sneaking off in the middle of the night. With fewer people around and more freedom I felt more inclined to see more of the exhibits... even things that I might not think twice about if I was just there for 1-2 hours.
The coolest though, staying overnight at an old (WW2?) battleship which was retrofitted into a museum, I think it was the SS Massachusetts. At this point I was a Boy Scout. What made that first time so spectacular was the area got hit by a massive snow storm so all of the other groups canceled except us but they didn't close the ship / museum. So it was just our troop and some light staff (since they thought nobody was going to be there). We slept in the period-specific cots and got to see the various rooms.
It was interesting, and to be honest a little creepy since the whole battleship consisted of maybe a dozen scouts, a couple of troop leaders, and only a handful of staff.
... that the throttle and brake position logging was recording correct data. If there's a fault in the ECU or software, how can you guarantee the data logging is correct?
I posted something a while back.
Short version, on my Cadillac the throttle had a couple of messed up sensors that was reporting bad pedal positions to the system. So until my car's engine temp reached equilibrium my throttle was all over the place.
As long a the temp was still low, it was *very* easy to replicate. Yet it *still* took 4 visits to the dealer before it got fixed.
I would hope that they looked at the data closely, people here pointed out that it should be easy to determine if the sensor recorded poorly because the data would jump instead of show the gradual increase of pedal position.
And I expect there was a rather large switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent globes around the same time - which may have given greater savings than losses from those plasmas....
But what on earth kind of argument is that? Electric cars wont be a problem coz plasma TVs weren't.... How absurd.
Please note: I have a Plasma TV (a recent model that supposedly uses less power on average than the older Plasmas). I also don't know how the older Plasmas comapred to Tube TVs in terms of powerl
As far as I know, Plasmas weren't used THAT heavily. Sure, they were the only slim TVs around when HDTV was young but that eventually changed. Even so, HDTVs also included Tube and Digital Projection. And by the time HDTV really started to gain in popularity LCD was out and quickly started to pass Plasma for TVs that were under 42" or 60".
So I'd say the percentage of Plasma TVs compared to Tube TVs has always been quite low. So honestly, saying that "something used by a very small user base had a small impact" isn't really saying much.
Then again, the same thing can be said about electric cars. Even if a several models magically came out *today* we wouldn't be seeing HUGE numbers right away. With some exceptions (like San Francisco) they'd be spread out and quite low per-capita. So the load on the grid wouldn't be great.
And if the energy plants saw that it was becoming a growing trend then they would probably try to build up more facilities, or at least I'd hope so.
Why not use force powers not just for fighting but also for solving little puzzles ? Think of it as a mix of zelda puzzles and/or portal puzzles, and combine that with some epic battles and I think that would result in a very fun game!
I recall some force puzzles in some of the older Jedi Knight games. However I might just be thinking of the recent one where Kyle Katarn has retrain and prove he's still a master of the force; I don't know for sure how often they occured outside of that level.
There were some puzzles in the older games: some tile puzzles, some "force activate that and then speed-run-across" things, etc. Nothing stellar or mind-provoking but better than some of the other FPS or hack-n-slash games out there.
this will just lead to the escalator effect... Rather then continuing to walk up or down the stairs as they move, people just get on and stand still. The same will happen with these walkways, rather then getting on and adding their own walking pace to the 9km/h, they will stand still and get in everyone elses way.
When at the airport, I *always* walk on the moving platform. Heck, I even walk faster than normal, just so I can get to my destination super fast.
On the escalator it's a mixed bag. Usually nobody else is moving so that means I cannot either. If nobody is there I'll definitely walk up the thing. Walking down is another story, I still have a minor fear of heights and looking down at ground while perched upon metal teeth still isn't my favorite thing in the world.
While I think this is heavy handed of Lucasfilm Ltd, I looked up the actual product on their website. The pic in TFA is rather close up and doesn't truly show how close this laser resembles a lightsaber. Check out the other pics here: http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html
As much as I hate to admit it, it does look way too similar to a lightsaber.
Agreed, if that pic is legit then it does look a lot like one.
Part of me says "so what." Your options for something portable are somewhat limited...
Either go with a gun-shaped device, even something sci-fi where it's an isoceles triangle and you hold the short end.
Or you go with some sort of flash light device. But not TOO much like a flash light, else you pick up the wrong tool in a power outage and screw up someone's retina.
If a wand device, for anything expensive you probably want something with a good solid grip and construction so you don't drop/break the thing. Dropping a $50 laser pointer is no big deal, they're light and simple. Something more complex, you probably want that extra heft.
Really, all Lucas had was a cool looking hilt that shot a beam of light. A stylized flash light. Until the prequels, there were only 3 or 4 distinct models of handles. Who knows how many there are now (besides the BMF).
On the other hand, yeh the whole picture does resemble one. If the thing was called a "photon sword" or something the lawyers would probably mess their pants.
That would really restrict innovation if they did that. And let's be honest they pretty much have standardized the parts you tend to upgrade the most. 1. Ram. 2. Hard drives. 3. wifi cards. What else do you want standardized?
To be honest, I find myself needing to use a rogue power brick for my laptop a LOT more than I need to worry about swapping out the ram / hdd / etc.
I borrow a power brick all the time if I'm hopping from building to building and a meeting goes from a scheduled 15 minutes to a long 2 hours.
For example: one place I worked in the past had a couple of different models of laptops around. If you were traveling (even to another building) and forgot your brick, finding someone with a compatible brick was a p-i-t-a.
Ram and HDD changes -- MAYBE once or twice during the life of the laptop.
Needs to involve checking with the school's IT department to see if they block SIP or Skype traffic, and whether that blocking is within campus or just on the boundary with the internet.
It'd be a shame to buy a nice new android phone and then be limited to the phone in your room because the traffic is blocked. (Or - have to tunnel your SIP traffic in violation of the TOS and get suspended from school)
Yeh. Back when I was in college they blocked a lot to prevent people from straining the network.
- Online gaming was out of the question, save for LAN. Period.
- Getting VOIP to work was a pain: some didn't work at all, others needed heavy tweaking, others had limited functionality, etc.
And I think the WiFi was even *more* restricted.
Granted, things are probably different now both culturally as well as VOIP tech. But it's definitely something you should look into first.
I don't see the appeal. It looks like it's over-engineering a solution to something that can be done with common sense.
Then again, I love tech and gadgets and I guess most of that is an over-engineered solution to something or another.
The only reason I would care about this is if I realized I left something *dangerous* on before I left for work and could turn it off remotely. I don't use a curling iron, but I know for some that would be a big deal. A stove / oven / toaster oven / etc would be dangerous as well, and while I never left one on before leaving the house I know that's a concern for some. Though I imagine only electric stoves and ovens would apply unless there was a way to electronically turn off the gas reliably.
As for the power draw, I would just care enough about it to know in the beginning "how much does X" use via one of those little gadgets you can temporarily plug between the device and outlet. Then decide for myself if I should monitor how much I use device X.
Personally, I'm in the mind-set of "turn if off when not in use." - Not watching or listening to the TV, turn it off. - Not in that room across the house, turn off the main light.
Google released another version of the NexusOne for AT&T's 3G network 1-2 months ago.
I didn't even know about it for a while because it didn't hit the news wires as hard as when it debuted.
I think it is/was about the same price as the T-Mobile, though AT&T doesn't offer a discount on the monthly fee if you use a non-subsidized phone. So the cost-to-own is higher on AT&T.
What is the number one complaint against the iPhone, Android's main competitor? The fact that it's only available on one network, AT&T, and it sucks.
So what network does Google decide to use for its flagship phone? The one carrier that is worse than AT&T: T-Mobile.
I mean seriously, what did you expect?
I'm late to the game, but thought I should point out.
Google/HTC released a NexusOne on AT&T's network a few months ago. It handles AT&T's frequencies and everything. Of course, it making it debut on T-Mobile was weak since T-Mobile's network is quite poor in comparison with AT&T. Fine, some cities might have great coverage but suburbia can really stink... and I don't even want to think about the mid-west.
Unfortunately it was too little, too late. Plus unlike T-Mobile, I don't believe AT&T has a cheaper plan if you are going to use your own cellphone. So the cost-to-own an AT&T NexusOne was on the high side.
It looks like Verizon's getting some decent Android phones, one of which looks like the NexusOne but with an optical trackpad.
Slashdot Mirror
And nothing of value was lost...
Currently FOX has:
- Fringe - Decent SciFi replacement to the XFiles mechanic, only even better.
- House - One of the better medical dramas on today, though I have to admit it's gotten stale.
- Bones - A decent crime procedural drama following a forensic anthropologist. I still DVR it from time to time.
I couldn't care less about Simpsons / Family Guy / Cleveland Show. And a lot of their stuff is fluff.
But they have some decent primetime shows as well.
This used to be the case. Now some networks are going digital, so the built-in tuners in even modern TVs do not work.
Case in point, Verizon FIOS used to work without a box. Now you need one.
The QAM tuner only gets the basic network broadcasts.
I hate the logos that TV stations put in the corner of the screen throughout shows.
The little NBC, CBS or TNT logos were never that annoying to me, but they started going a little over-board. A show would be on and they'd super-impose an animated advert banner at the bottom... with sound.
Excuse me, but I'm trying to both see and hear the show on TV now.
They tuned those down quite a bit, I imagine due to customer complaints. I don't see the animated banner often, but when I they're always silent.
I watch and enjoy TV, probably more than I should. But I also try to read novels to balance it out.
If you are writing a program that touches more than two persistent data stores, it is too complicated.
I disagree. Is a program too complicated if it has 1. input, 2. output, and 3. logging? Is a program to prepare images for an online store too complicated if it reads 1. raw source images and 2. an overlay image and writes 3. finished images?
If you program in the corporate world, 2+ data sources are common. Sometimes your program may need to access different centralized corporate data that isn't allowed to be replicated or you using database-links.
Your input/output/logging is also a good example.
There's a difference between undoing the effects of a modification, and stopping the device from working at all.
But that wasn't the grandparent's (or great-grandparent's) question, which was: Wouldn't that kind of action be in violation of the recent ruling that made such actions as jailbreaking legal on personally owned devices?
So I was answering with my opinion on whether it's legal for Apple to fight back on jailbreaking even though it's legal to jailbreak (or whatever).
As to what this patent is truly for, it's a little iffy.
- Read one way, it could be a security feature you activate yourself, so if it detects someone else using your phone or tampering with it, it locks down to prevent the data.
- Read another way, it could be to deactivate or brick a stolen phone.
- Of course read the most common way on Slashdot, it could be if it senses that it is jail broken that locks down all together.
Having all of the tubes be plain transparent plastic does present an issue. It's not a huge deal when a person just has one tube, such as an IV drip, but multiple tubes can get confusing. Think of the rat's nest of power plugs behind your computer desk or entertainment center, especially if all of the power cords are the same color 3-prong connections.
My first thought it to have pale shades of color for the different kinds of tubes. However that presents a problem because the color of a tube might obscure the compound a little since it's not as transparent. Plus there are only so many colors they could use without dealing with color-blindness or some other near-color issue (is this blue or purple). And lastly, since there are only so many colors they can use, then confusion can still occur and be worse if you're dealing with a pink fluid going through a pink tube... which is which.
The other thing I can think of is different kinds of connections/slots. However then you have an over-engineered tube instead of a plain cylinder-into-cylinder tube which is easier to maintain and doesn't need replacing as much.
So it's not a no-brainer fix, since the fixes themselves aren't perfect and introduce other issues.Though I agree, something more should be done since during emergency or stressful times even an experienced nurse can make a mistake if there are enough tubes around.
Wouldn't that kind of action be in violation of the recent ruling that made such actions as jailbreaking legal on personally owned devices? I understand its a warranty violation, but that shouldn't mean that it should allow apple to restrict usage, etc.
It may be legal for you to do something, but that doesn't automatically make it illegal for a company to try to stop you or slow you down if you want to use their services. Until the courts explicitly tell them to stop or tell them what they're doing is illegal, they can continue on. Since the iPhone is tied to services (cellphone, iTunes, etc) they probably have some wiggle room
To use the often-hated car analogy... It's perfectly legal for me to upgrade my car: throw a turbo-charger, or a super-charger in there, etc. So long as I keep everything street legal.
That doesn't stop my manufacturer from setting up the electronic and the software to prevent it. I can stick the part on, but the computer fights back and compensates for the extra HP. It's a rare thing, but my 2006 car does this and annoyed a few modders since the car has potential. I think the most performance add-on I can use is a cold air intake.
My car company can continue this practice until public opinion wins out (doubtful in my case) or the courts explicitly say "auto manufacturers cannot do anything to prevent the modifying of cars, even if they feel it may cause problems."
Well, that quote would be fine if it weren't so...sensationalist, in a way (sure, might be understandable fora TV series). It won't happen "in a in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years" - the Sun will start giving the Earth real problems in around one billion years (not exactly "grow cold"...).
I strongly suspect that, in such timescale, "Marilyn Monroe and Lao-Tzu, Einstein, Morobuto, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes .. and all of this .." will be at least mostly gone, in any meaningful manner, anyway.
I take the timelines suggested to coincide with the "ten different scientists." That whether it's environment (hundred), population control (thousand), genetics (millions), etc...
That it all comes down to the fact that even if none of those things happen, eventually the sun will swallow the Earth (and later fade).
True, the term "billions" probably should've been thrown in there (or whatever) that coincides with the Sun being the limiting factor in the Earth's expiration date.
It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million.
Right, because space and non-earthlike planets are so much less prone to disaster.
Think of it like data: yes that backup HD, tape, DVD, etc is also prone to disaster. But at least if 1 gets nailed the others have a chance, even if it's not all of your most current data.
Spread the human race around a large enough area in space, and you increase the chances of "some" of us getting wiped out but you drastically reduce the chance of ALL of us getting wiped out.
There is an expiration date, one way or another.
Eventually the sun will expand and encompass the earth itself, I doubt even bunkers buried VERY deep will suffice. Granted this will occur in a VERY VERY long time from now, but it will eventually happen. Then eventually the sun itself will die.
My favorite quote about this is from Babylon 5, a Sci Fi show from some years back.
No - the top was wobbling and about to fall.
The top had been spinning WAY too long at that point for reality to be in effect.
Towards the beginning of the Inception, before he explains the significance of the top, he does a test where the top seemed to take unnaturally slow to stop. So even then I was thinking "Wow, cool top." But when I noticed the gun I realized what he was doing.
Weighted correctly and spun properly, a top can go on for a while. Not minutes/hours, but for what appears unnaturally long.
The fact that it started to wobble at the end was just a nice "it's whatever you want it to be." Maybe it was going to stop a second later, maybe it wasn't.
In the end, I can't say whether the final scene was a dream. Heck, I've heard good arguments that the whole thing was a dream since his interactions with everyone at the end could've been those of complete strangers: a glance, a nod, etc.
I found it very "Total Recall," specifically the white light at the end of that film.
Say what you will about the mindless action and "Ah-nold" factor in "Total Recall," it did make you think. Everything the "bad guys" said would happen, happened. The story he wanted to download "Blue Skies of Mars" matched the movie's plot quite well. Not a single thing really proved one way or the other if he was awake or in a dream.
And at the end, as hinted earlier, there's a bright light. The camera cutting away? Or Ah-nold waking up from the experience?
However with Recall, the whole movie was questioning whether the main character was awake. Inception only made you truly question it at the end.
Back when I was a young kid I stayed overnight at a science museum a couple of times. I think it was for Cub Scouts, and a couple of troops went.
It was cool, we got to see the exhibits and stuff after it was closed to the public and such. Though there were a lot of proctors and parents making sure that we weren't sneaking off in the middle of the night. With fewer people around and more freedom I felt more inclined to see more of the exhibits... even things that I might not think twice about if I was just there for 1-2 hours.
The coolest though, staying overnight at an old (WW2?) battleship which was retrofitted into a museum, I think it was the SS Massachusetts. At this point I was a Boy Scout. What made that first time so spectacular was the area got hit by a massive snow storm so all of the other groups canceled except us but they didn't close the ship / museum. So it was just our troop and some light staff (since they thought nobody was going to be there). We slept in the period-specific cots and got to see the various rooms.
It was interesting, and to be honest a little creepy since the whole battleship consisted of maybe a dozen scouts, a couple of troop leaders, and only a handful of staff.
... that the throttle and brake position logging was recording correct data. If there's a fault in the ECU or software, how can you guarantee the data logging is correct?
I posted something a while back.
Short version, on my Cadillac the throttle had a couple of messed up sensors that was reporting bad pedal positions to the system. So until my car's engine temp reached equilibrium my throttle was all over the place.
As long a the temp was still low, it was *very* easy to replicate. Yet it *still* took 4 visits to the dealer before it got fixed.
I would hope that they looked at the data closely, people here pointed out that it should be easy to determine if the sensor recorded poorly because the data would jump instead of show the gradual increase of pedal position.
Yes but plasma TVs replaced CRT TVs.
And I expect there was a rather large switch from incandescent to compact fluorescent globes around the same time - which may have given greater savings than losses from those plasmas....
But what on earth kind of argument is that? Electric cars wont be a problem coz plasma TVs weren't.... How absurd.
Please note: I have a Plasma TV (a recent model that supposedly uses less power on average than the older Plasmas). I also don't know how the older Plasmas comapred to Tube TVs in terms of powerl
As far as I know, Plasmas weren't used THAT heavily. Sure, they were the only slim TVs around when HDTV was young but that eventually changed. Even so, HDTVs also included Tube and Digital Projection. And by the time HDTV really started to gain in popularity LCD was out and quickly started to pass Plasma for TVs that were under 42" or 60".
So I'd say the percentage of Plasma TVs compared to Tube TVs has always been quite low. So honestly, saying that "something used by a very small user base had a small impact" isn't really saying much.
Then again, the same thing can be said about electric cars. Even if a several models magically came out *today* we wouldn't be seeing HUGE numbers right away. With some exceptions (like San Francisco) they'd be spread out and quite low per-capita. So the load on the grid wouldn't be great.
And if the energy plants saw that it was becoming a growing trend then they would probably try to build up more facilities, or at least I'd hope so.
Why not use force powers not just for fighting but also for solving little puzzles ?
Think of it as a mix of zelda puzzles and/or portal puzzles, and combine that with some epic battles and I think that would result in a very fun game!
I recall some force puzzles in some of the older Jedi Knight games. However I might just be thinking of the recent one where Kyle Katarn has retrain and prove he's still a master of the force; I don't know for sure how often they occured outside of that level.
There were some puzzles in the older games: some tile puzzles, some "force activate that and then speed-run-across" things, etc. Nothing stellar or mind-provoking but better than some of the other FPS or hack-n-slash games out there.
Then again, rose colored glasses.
But does it taste like despair.
Not perfectly related, but whenever I hear about advancements in meat I can't help but think of that episode.
Poor Better off Ted, you will be missed.
this will just lead to the escalator effect... Rather then continuing to walk up or down the stairs as they move, people just get on and stand still. The same will happen with these walkways, rather then getting on and adding their own walking pace to the 9km/h, they will stand still and get in everyone elses way.
When at the airport, I *always* walk on the moving platform. Heck, I even walk faster than normal, just so I can get to my destination super fast.
On the escalator it's a mixed bag. Usually nobody else is moving so that means I cannot either. If nobody is there I'll definitely walk up the thing. Walking down is another story, I still have a minor fear of heights and looking down at ground while perched upon metal teeth still isn't my favorite thing in the world.
While I think this is heavy handed of Lucasfilm Ltd, I looked up the actual product on their website. The pic in TFA is rather close up and doesn't truly show how close this laser resembles a lightsaber. Check out the other pics here: http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html
As much as I hate to admit it, it does look way too similar to a lightsaber.
Agreed, if that pic is legit then it does look a lot like one.
Part of me says "so what." Your options for something portable are somewhat limited...
If a wand device, for anything expensive you probably want something with a good solid grip and construction so you don't drop/break the thing. Dropping a $50 laser pointer is no big deal, they're light and simple. Something more complex, you probably want that extra heft.
Really, all Lucas had was a cool looking hilt that shot a beam of light. A stylized flash light. Until the prequels, there were only 3 or 4 distinct models of handles. Who knows how many there are now (besides the BMF).
On the other hand, yeh the whole picture does resemble one. If the thing was called a "photon sword" or something the lawyers would probably mess their pants.
Oh I am all with you about the power brick. I was just wondering just what else one could make swapable on a notebook besides the ...
Yeh, I realized after I posted.
Had I expanded the grandparent stuff I would've seen that.
That would really restrict innovation if they did that.
And let's be honest they pretty much have standardized the parts you tend to upgrade the most.
1. Ram.
2. Hard drives.
3. wifi cards.
What else do you want standardized?
To be honest, I find myself needing to use a rogue power brick for my laptop a LOT more than I need to worry about swapping out the ram / hdd / etc.
I borrow a power brick all the time if I'm hopping from building to building and a meeting goes from a scheduled 15 minutes to a long 2 hours.
For example: one place I worked in the past had a couple of different models of laptops around. If you were traveling (even to another building) and forgot your brick, finding someone with a compatible brick was a p-i-t-a.
Ram and HDD changes -- MAYBE once or twice during the life of the laptop.
Needs to involve checking with the school's IT department to see if they block SIP or Skype traffic, and whether that blocking is within campus or just on the boundary with the internet.
It'd be a shame to buy a nice new android phone and then be limited to the phone in your room because the traffic is blocked. (Or - have to tunnel your SIP traffic in violation of the TOS and get suspended from school)
Yeh. Back when I was in college they blocked a lot to prevent people from straining the network.
- Online gaming was out of the question, save for LAN. Period.
- Getting VOIP to work was a pain: some didn't work at all, others needed heavy tweaking, others had limited functionality, etc.
And I think the WiFi was even *more* restricted.
Granted, things are probably different now both culturally as well as VOIP tech. But it's definitely something you should look into first.
I don't see the appeal. It looks like it's over-engineering a solution to something that can be done with common sense.
Then again, I love tech and gadgets and I guess most of that is an over-engineered solution to something or another.
The only reason I would care about this is if I realized I left something *dangerous* on before I left for work and could turn it off remotely. I don't use a curling iron, but I know for some that would be a big deal. A stove / oven / toaster oven / etc would be dangerous as well, and while I never left one on before leaving the house I know that's a concern for some. Though I imagine only electric stoves and ovens would apply unless there was a way to electronically turn off the gas reliably.
As for the power draw, I would just care enough about it to know in the beginning "how much does X" use via one of those little gadgets you can temporarily plug between the device and outlet. Then decide for myself if I should monitor how much I use device X.
Personally, I'm in the mind-set of "turn if off when not in use."
- Not watching or listening to the TV, turn it off.
- Not in that room across the house, turn off the main light.
I shouldn't need a device to remind me.
The Nexus one is needed for AT&T.
Google released another version of the NexusOne for AT&T's 3G network 1-2 months ago.
I didn't even know about it for a while because it didn't hit the news wires as hard as when it debuted.
I think it is/was about the same price as the T-Mobile, though AT&T doesn't offer a discount on the monthly fee if you use a non-subsidized phone. So the cost-to-own is higher on AT&T.
Verizon now has the HTC Incredible, which looks to be very similar to the NexusOne. It has a few changes, in my opinion for the better.
What is the number one complaint against the iPhone, Android's main competitor? The fact that it's only available on one network, AT&T, and it sucks.
So what network does Google decide to use for its flagship phone? The one carrier that is worse than AT&T: T-Mobile.
I mean seriously, what did you expect?
I'm late to the game, but thought I should point out.
Google/HTC released a NexusOne on AT&T's network a few months ago. It handles AT&T's frequencies and everything. Of course, it making it debut on T-Mobile was weak since T-Mobile's network is quite poor in comparison with AT&T. Fine, some cities might have great coverage but suburbia can really stink... and I don't even want to think about the mid-west.
Unfortunately it was too little, too late. Plus unlike T-Mobile, I don't believe AT&T has a cheaper plan if you are going to use your own cellphone. So the cost-to-own an AT&T NexusOne was on the high side.
It looks like Verizon's getting some decent Android phones, one of which looks like the NexusOne but with an optical trackpad.