Sorry, can't quite follow you about the 10V thing. Yes, first generation flash chips had a Vpp of 12V, but that was about 15 years ago. The later chips all have integrated charge pumps to generate whatever voltages they need internally, so it's completely transparent to the circuit designer.
It's not about remapping the sectors, it's about distributing the wear so that all sectors get worn out equally. Once you get an error, the flash chip is probably already breathing its last. The point is that it takes so long for all sectors to wear out that it doesn't really matter.
The card I used had my calendar, contacts and database files on it, which got modified (i.e. written) a lot during a business day.
Flash isn't really suited for replacing HDDs in PCs, as I said, but this thread was about USB keys vs. hard disks for carrying around storage, and my point was just that flash cards or sticks or whatever are better suited for that than hard disks, and of course that the flash memories wearing out quickly is a bit of an urban legend.
This would be really great material for a new episode. Of course it would have to include the line "Bite my shiny iron-eating-bug-infested metal ass!".:o)
Your points are invalid. First, where did you get the idea that flash uses more power than a hard disk? Probably not even if you compare the power consumption on a byte per byte basis. I think it's plain wrong, and the burden of proof for such an outrageous statement is on you. As to your second point, I quote:
NAND - Flash based media uses a complex low level sector virtualization called "wear leveling algorithm" to distribute the wear evenly across the memory array and maximize the number of write cycles it can sustain.
What this means is, your flash gizmo will beign to fail only once all sectors have been worn out. Even with heavy usage, this could take a long time, probably a decade or more, e.g. for a typical CompactFlash card. I had a 4MB CF card that I used on a daily basis for about 5 years in my Psion handheld, and I had no problems with it until I sold the Psion last year. Another factor is, the bigger the flash device, the longer it will take to wear it out. 4GB CF cards are already on the market.
The actual point is, when carrying stuff around, there's a very high probability that it will experience some sort of impact, and you probably know what happens when you drop your hard drive. OTOH, there's no real replacement yet for HDDs in your vanilla PC or laptop. Continuous writing, i.e. having a swap file on flash memory, would probably really wear it out pretty quickly.
Actually, ice ages are themselves subdivided into colder and warmer periods. As this article explains, the earth was completely ice-free for a large part of its history. Our current ice age only started some 60 million years ago.
The interesting bit here is that the normal state of the earth is to be completely ice-free, which means that the sea level would be some 250 feet higher than it currently is. We're presently still in an ice age, which was probably caused by the American continents blocking off equatorial sea currents, and the transfer of heat to the colder parts of the globe. One exception is the Gulf Stream, which is responsible for the very mild climate in much of northern Europe.
This technology would be very useful for extremely realistic firearms training. Think FPS with real guns. The bullets would create holes in the fog screen which could be recognized by video sensors and this information could in turn be used as an input to the simulation.
What documentation, exactly? Panasonic's docs for one, mention no such thing as a memory effect, neither do Sanyo's, both of which are incidentally the leading manufacturers of NiCd cells. I came across this article on EDN, which doesn't give many details, though, but this this usenet thread sums the issue up pretty well, particularly the last sentence of the last post.
Rechargeable alkalines are pointless. As you said, you can only recharge them 30 times max., vs. 500-1000 times for NiMHs. Furthermore, they have a high internal resistance, so for anything power hungry, such as a digicam, you will get much less usable time - only a quarter to a third of what a good set of NiMHs would give you. There are non-rechargeable alkalines with lower resistance - Duracell Ultra, etc., but those are expensive and still worse than NiMHs.
Furthermore, I don't see a way how a device that uses normal AAs would not work with NiMHs. Yes, NiMHs are only 1.2V nominal, but the voltage stays about the same for 90% of the discharge cycle, whereas an alkaline's voltage drops steadily. Both NiMH and alkaline are completely discharged at roughly 0.9V An alkaline that has 1.2 Volts is only discharged to about one third its capacity, so if you have a gadget that doesn't work with 1.2V batteries (I have yet to see one), it's very badly designed, because it wastes 1/3rd of the battery's capacity.
It still makes sense. As Attorney General, he is responsible for prosecuting horrible things committed by U.S. citizens, such as crimethink and sexcrime, and obviously crow976 is guilty of the former. As for the latter, Slashdot readers probably don't have much to fear about that one.
This shit is sick [...] whiny bullshit think of the kids crap [...] little fuckfart
Umm... do you have a personal issue with this guy? Did he pork your girlfriend, or mail you feces or something? Or is that some kind of Canadian inferiority complex, which manifests itself in uncontrolled bouts of profanity?
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I guess that would be a successor to the Monkey Boy, then?
Yeah, I like to fry hummingbird eggs on my Athlon's die, too ....
That would be an explanation for the article's horrible Pigeon German.
New-fangled nonsense. Y'know, there's a technology with a long American tradition that could be of use here. It's called the branding iron.
On second thought, you're right, the CIA does seem to have problems with the accuracy of their information.
Yeah, I'm sure the freaking CIA have all reason to gloss over figures in favor of Russia.
So you've seen Rashomon then? :o)
Sorry, can't quite follow you about the 10V thing. Yes, first generation flash chips had a Vpp of 12V, but that was about 15 years ago. The later chips all have integrated charge pumps to generate whatever voltages they need internally, so it's completely transparent to the circuit designer.
It's not about remapping the sectors, it's about distributing the wear so that all sectors get worn out equally. Once you get an error, the flash chip is probably already breathing its last. The point is that it takes so long for all sectors to wear out that it doesn't really matter.
The card I used had my calendar, contacts and database files on it, which got modified (i.e. written) a lot during a business day.
Flash isn't really suited for replacing HDDs in PCs, as I said, but this thread was about USB keys vs. hard disks for carrying around storage, and my point was just that flash cards or sticks or whatever are better suited for that than hard disks, and of course that the flash memories wearing out quickly is a bit of an urban legend.
This would be really great material for a new episode. Of course it would have to include the line "Bite my shiny iron-eating-bug-infested metal ass!". :o)
The actual point is, when carrying stuff around, there's a very high probability that it will experience some sort of impact, and you probably know what happens when you drop your hard drive. OTOH, there's no real replacement yet for HDDs in your vanilla PC or laptop. Continuous writing, i.e. having a swap file on flash memory, would probably really wear it out pretty quickly.
Cool stuff, but I think these would be much more intimidating to potential attackers (check out the videos). :)
That is completely ridiculous.
Actually, ice ages are themselves subdivided into colder and warmer periods. As this article explains, the earth was completely ice-free for a large part of its history. Our current ice age only started some 60 million years ago.
The interesting bit here is that the normal state of the earth is to be completely ice-free, which means that the sea level would be some 250 feet higher than it currently is. We're presently still in an ice age, which was probably caused by the American continents blocking off equatorial sea currents, and the transfer of heat to the colder parts of the globe. One exception is the Gulf Stream, which is responsible for the very mild climate in much of northern Europe.
It was me. I did it.
This technology would be very useful for extremely realistic firearms training. Think FPS with real guns. The bullets would create holes in the fog screen which could be recognized by video sensors and this information could in turn be used as an input to the simulation.
What documentation, exactly? Panasonic's docs for one, mention no such thing as a memory effect, neither do Sanyo's, both of which are incidentally the leading manufacturers of NiCd cells. I came across this article on EDN, which doesn't give many details, though, but this this usenet thread sums the issue up pretty well, particularly the last sentence of the last post.
NiCds don't have a memory effect, either. It's an urban legend.
Dude, you don't wanna look pretty when you're in prison.
Too bad he wasn't as knowledgeable about cars, or he wouldn't have bought the SUV that killed him.
Oh, and it's IR, not UV.
Yeah, I'm a smartass.
Furthermore, I don't see a way how a device that uses normal AAs would not work with NiMHs. Yes, NiMHs are only 1.2V nominal, but the voltage stays about the same for 90% of the discharge cycle, whereas an alkaline's voltage drops steadily. Both NiMH and alkaline are completely discharged at roughly 0.9V An alkaline that has 1.2 Volts is only discharged to about one third its capacity, so if you have a gadget that doesn't work with 1.2V batteries (I have yet to see one), it's very badly designed, because it wastes 1/3rd of the battery's capacity.
Highest cap currently available are the Ansmann 2200mAh.
It still makes sense. As Attorney General, he is responsible for prosecuting horrible things committed by U.S. citizens, such as crimethink and sexcrime, and obviously crow976 is guilty of the former. As for the latter, Slashdot readers probably don't have much to fear about that one.
Umm ... do you have a personal issue with this guy? Did he pork your girlfriend, or mail you feces or something? Or is that some kind of Canadian inferiority complex, which manifests itself in uncontrolled bouts of profanity?
Seriously, I wanna know.