I'm drawing on some distant memories here. When I was in high school, the NY State Police paid us a visit to give a presentation on DWI/DUI to scare us into compliance, so I'm drawing on my memory of that presentation fifteen years ago.
I don't know about Florida, but here in New York State, IIRC, you have the right to demand a blood test if you blow above the legal limit on a breathalyser. Of course, you have to demand it immediately (otherwise it won't be valid), but if the blood test shows differently than the breathalyser, you can use that in evidence.
Now, this doesn't really address the issue of how the breathalyser and the blood analyser actually work, but it does allow the possibility that two different machines, using two different methods, and possibly made by two different manufacturers would both indicate that you are tipsy, and if they are in disagreement, you can throw doubt on the case.
I want to say that I recall the blood test trumping the breathalyser if the blood test says you're sober, as long as the tests are performed within 30 minutes of each other, but don't hold me to that.
Well... A real morse code app would only rely on 1 button, wouldn't it?
One or two, actually. You can key Morse on a "straight key," which is one single key, or on a "Paddle" or set of "paddles" which is either one horizontal key that can be pushed left or right, or two keys arranged to behave as a single paddle. Pushing the key in one direction causes a string of properly timed dashes, pushing it the other way produces a stream of properly timed dots. This is the set up that was used by the ham operators in the video.
Still, I would have to say that I would feel completely unsatisfied by the Nokia phone app. It should rely on timing, and timing alone, to identify the spaces. It can be done in the electronic realm, even if it is not known in advance if the bit being sent is a dot or a dash. With the machine knowing whether the operator is sending a dot or a dash should make it a total cakewalk. Further, it should properly recognise the "error" character (........) and use that to undo the last word, rather than using the "C" key to undo the last letter. That would be proper use of Morse code.
I sympathize with your thought proccess, but I don't think very many people would consider 128kbps MP3s to be above and beyond the quality of a brand new factory cassette tape.
It really depends on the record label and their handling of the medium.
Very few labels, it seems, used any advanced tape formulations; they were mostly using ferrous material. A few labels, on a few releases, went the step of using CrO2, and I have never seen a factory casette in evaporated metal.
That said, it was possible (and easy, even) for me to borrow a CD from a friend back in the day, copy the CD to a good-quality casette (Usually a Maxell or TDK CrO2 cassette) and end up with a better recording than what I would have had I bought the casette.
As for 128kbit MP3, assuming that a decent encoder was used (LAME comes to mind; BladeEnc, OTOH, is not even under consideration), has a better noise floor and S/N ratio than casette, with either type of tape. It has a better frequency response (~14-16kHz) than ferrous tape (~12kHz) but not as good as CrO2 tape (~18-19kHz).
As such, I have to disagree. I think that a 128kbit MP3 can, and indeed most often does, sound better than a factory cassette.
Ok, so if the iPod explodes as-is with the current battery, what happens with a nuclear cell...
Tritium is flammable (it is an isotope of hydrogen), but it is not pyrophoric like lithium, sodium, uranium and a handful of other elements. As such, the puncturing of the battery will result in a short-term fire hazard, and a possible low-level inhalation hazard (not directly toxic, but the radiation isn't good for you) but it won't catch fire or blow up of its own accord.
On the whole, it would seem to be safer than other existing technologies.
The line that starts: "One other point worth noting is actually a re-labeled Toyota Corrola" should actually read: "One other point worth noting is that the Chevy Prizm is actually a re-labeled Toyota Corrola" Sorry for the confusion.
One thing that does make a difference is how fast you drive on the highway. I know I get much worse mileage driving at 80-90 than I do at 60-70.
I have a couple of empirical observations. These observations were made in a 1998 Subaru Impreza OS, 2.2L 4 cyl. boxer engine, 4-speed automatic, AWD. Some of the observations I have also made with a 1999 Chevy Prizm, 1.8L straight-4, 3-speed automatic, FWD.
Normal driving on my commute, a six mile trip involving about one mile of 65MPH on a freeway, but mostly 30-45MPH, but not many stoplights, I got typically 18MPG in the Subaru, 24-25 in the Chevy.
Driving to Saratoga, to my wife's workplace, a 28 mile trip involving 20 miles of 70MPH on a freeway, typically 22 in the Subaru, 29 in the Chevy.
Cross-state trip to Rochester, about 250 miles, via the New York Thruway (I-90), mostly at about 70MPH, 27MPG in the Subaru. I don't know yet what it is in the Chevy.
Same trip, using U.S. 20 instead of I-90, mostly at 45-55MPH, over beuautiful rolling hills (worth it if you have the time!), 34MPG in the Subaru (surprised the hell out of me!), don't yet know for the Chevy.
So, yes, speed is an element, but also the length of the trip is relevant, because shorter trips are closer to done by the time the engine is warmed up and ready to operate at its best.
BTW, despite this, I don't advocate letting your car sit and warm up (exceptions for very cold winter days) because you end up using more fuel that way than just going.
One other point worth noting is actually a re-labeled Toyota Corrola. As such, it is mostly influenced by Japanese engineering more so than American engineering. That is not a knock against American engineers, but the Japanese engineers never really had an environment involving cheap oil like we have historically had here.... thus they were the ones willing to risk putting hybrids on the market.
Apparently, we have collectively b0rked their SQL server, so we can't send a fax through it.
If you would still like to take action, consider writing a well-argued, personal fax to your senators. You can get your senators' contact info at Project Vote-Smart by just supplying them with your 9-digit ZIP® code, and they will list off your other elected officials, too.
Alas, I feel that the solution to this problem is to take matters into our own hands, taking a page from the book of the dominionists.
There are three things parents can do individually.
First, they should spend time with their children. Find out what is being taught in the school, teach them what the schools are leaving out, unteach what the schools have taught wrong, and prepare to go to bat for the kids when a dominionist teacher grades them an F for speaking the truth.
Second, where possible (and I recognize that not everyone has time for this), home-school. This is kind of an extension to the first idea. It is also taking a page straight from the dominionist playbook.
Third, (and I recognize that not everyone can afford this), send children to private schools that teach students the truth. I am the product of such an education. My parents sacrificed a great deal to put me through high school, but I got a first-rate education.
Here in Europe the primary resolution for normal digital broadcast is 720x576, 25Hz (or 50Hz interlaced). 704*576 and 768*576 seems to be common as well.
And that's just the standard resolution digital content.
While a valid point, we were primarily, originally, discussing a problem that affects American TV's. Since you are here, though, let me ask you what the European version of HDTV looks like. Are you seeing a similar problem to the one being described of downconverting a higher mode to a lower one incorrectly?
An observation I have is that digital PAL video looks blurry when viewed on an NTSC screen, due to the resampling that takes place. The resolution is off just enough to require most of the pixels to be computed. Most of the time, you don't notice it, but the news ticker at the bottom of the screen on the BBC news is difficult to read and causes the problem to stand out.
I said, "There are 18 recognized MPEG stream formats for HDTV." That should have read "for digital TV" not "for HDTV." Only the last six of the 18 modes I listed are HDTV. The others are SDTV, or, arguably, EDTV.
The proper way to do it is to deinterlace the 1920x540 image into a 1920x1080 image by interpolating the missing pixels based on what surrounds the empty spaces, and based on previous fields.
Sometimes.
As I mentioned in a previous post, 24fps progressive and 30fps progressive are valid formats for the MPEG stream in 1080 mode. As such, if you were receiving a stream of one of these two formats, and trying to present it on a high-end 1080p monitor, you could do so by showing each frame twice for 30 or alternating between two and three times for 24.
As for material that was actually encoded 30 interlaced (why?!?), there are four algorithms to fix this (valid for 1080i->1080p and 480i->480p equally):
1. Bob. To bob, you take the 540 lines you do have, and interpolate the intervening 539, then copy the topmost/bottommost (depending on which field) to the leftover line. Good choice for high-motion material.
2. Inverse telecine. This basically looks to un-do the 3-field, 2-field, 3-field, 2-field format that results from converting film material (24fps) to 30i. Best choice for film material, only works on film material, and demands to know why the material was encoded at 30i and not 24p.
3. Weave. Simply present the two most recently received fields together. Good choice for low-motion, high-detail imagery, but can tear on high-motion scenes.
4. Motion compensation. Essentially, you weave, and then analyse either the more-recent or less-recent field (doesn't matter which, as long as it is consistent) to see how you can best align it with the other field. If you can't find a good match for some particluar area of the screen, you might toss out some of the data and replace it with interpolated data. Horizontal-only versions are very simple and very effective; biaxial versions should yield near-flawless result. Good on all non-film material.
Mfgrs usually tout their amps with having "200 watts of pulsing music power" which usually means 100 watts per channel peak.
I call this the Radio Shack method of describing the system, because it was originally used only by Radio Shack, but now is used by everyone -- the system power is described as the sum of all channels, not the value of one channel.
As such, I have a 420W sound system in my living room that, 15 years ago, would have been described as 70W. More likely, it would have been described as 70/70/70--70W main, 70W surround, 70W subwoofer (yes, it is a small system, but fully appropriate to the room).
On the peak/RMS issue, good amps give RMS and have peak listed on the specs page. Sometimes the peak exceeds the typical sine-wave ratio of RMS=.707*peak because not all sounds are sine waves. My previous amp was a good example. It was listed as a 60W (per channel) amp at 8 ohms (15W surround, no sub, no center) but could, according to the specs page, deliver 120W on a peak to the main channels. This system was replaced last Decmber after 15 years of service. Coupled with a set of Harmon-Kardon speakers, it rocked pretty hard.
There are 18 recognized MPEG stream formats for HDTV.
640x480 24 fps progressive narrow
640x480 30 fps progressive narrow
640x480 30 fps interlaced narrow
640x480 60 fps progressive narrow
704x480 24 fps progressive narrow
704x480 30 fps progressive narrow
704x480 30 fps interlaced narrow
704x480 60 fps progressive narrow
704x480 24 fps progressive wide
704x480 30 fps progressive wide
704x480 30 fps interlaced wide
704x480 60 fps progressive wide
1280x720 24 fps progressive wide
1280x720 30 fps progressive wide
1280x720 60 fps progressive wide
1920x1080 24 fps progressive wide
1920x1080 30 fps progressive wide
1920x1080 30 fps interlaced wide
In presenting these on a monitor, your receiver/settop box/whatever is supposed to turn them to a format that your monitor can handle. This will typically be one of these four:
480 row 60Hz interlaced
480 row 60Hz progressive
720 row 60Hz progressive
1080 row 60Hz interlaced
It is noteworthy, though, that some videophile monitors can handle, and set-top boxes deliver, 1080 row 60Hz progressive.
As for the presence/absence of interlacing, I agree that it is very bad to use interlacing at the strem level. This should be eliminated. I would make an exception for the 480 modes, because the material may have been originally captured on NTSC videotape, in which case some sort of conversion would have to take place to get a progressive image, and I feel very strongly that conversions should never be done for broadcast unless absolutely necessary (as when showing PAL/SECAM native material).
On the other hand, at the monitor level, if you have an interlaced monitor, I don't think that is a major issue. In 1080 mode, the best picture that can be sent is the 30fps progressive stream. This can be interlaced for presentation on a cRT.
Now, someone commented that CRT's are dead. Not if you have a budget, they're not! I've owned an HD set for over three years now, and it only ran me $700. It is a CRT. It has a beautiful picture.
Further, I would put forth that CRT's, in addition to being significantly cheaper than the alternatives, also put out a better picture than LCD (view from any angle; accurate color rendition; no lag), are less susceptible to burn-in than plasma (which will be killed by network bugs) and do not exhibit the rainbow effect of DLP (which, in fariness is not really all that bad). Their major failings are their physical size and power consumption.
The french (quite rightly) believe in the seperation of church and state.
You are correct about this only applying to schools. I, too, feel separation of church and state is the right thing, but I come to the decidedly different conclusion that therefore the schools should not have any such regulation. For them to do so attaches church to state, rather than separating them. (And yes, I agree that it is not anti-muslim, it is just the example that I happened to have)
Of course they don't have freedom of speech or religious expression or political view. Naziism, for example, is banned, and so is wearing a muslim headscarf. Freedom is a prerequisite for a free society.
...and yeah, I know we aren't doing so hot on this side of the pond, either.
On freedom fries: I always thought it would be cool to have a concession stand at a county fair or other major event, with a sign that reads:
French Fries......$1.00
Freedom fries......$2.00
That way, if anyone is insistent on wanting Freedom Fries, they can have 'em, and I get to do the Capitalist thing of making an extra buck.
Of course, if I wanted to take it a step further, I could make the difference between the two be that the Freedom Fries include a $1.00 donation to the ACLU.
From my reading of the article, it makes me wonder if the body mass index (BMI) thresholds we use are wrong.
The body mass index (for those who have been living undar a rock) is a composite measure that relates body weight to height. It is your weight in kg divided by the square of your height. As an example, I weigh 64kg, and stand 1m64, making my body mass index 24.0kg/m^2.
Medicine has used the body mass index as a means of classifying people, by setting thresholds that mark the boundary between ideal weight, healthy weight, overweight and obese. Presumably they have worked it in the other direction too, but I expect they must deal with more overweight and obese people than underweight. As I used to be overweight, I don't have any info on the underweight side.
Anyway, at present, the thresholds are that 20-22 is ideal weight, 20-25 is healthy, 25-35 is overweight and 35+ is obese.
Around this time last year, I started following the Hacker's Diet with the goal of getting my weight down to the ideal (which, for my height, would be in the 54-59kg range). As I started to get close to 60kg, though, my wife complained that I was starting to look "skin and bones" and asked me to stop. I put some weight back on and have stayed more or less static at my current weight.
But between my empirical experience that I just related to you, and the reading of this article, I am led to wonder if perhaps this set of thresholds that are used to classify BMI are off and that a re-adjustment may solve the problem.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm drawing on some distant memories here. When I was in high school, the NY State Police paid us a visit to give a presentation on DWI/DUI to scare us into compliance, so I'm drawing on my memory of that presentation fifteen years ago.
I don't know about Florida, but here in New York State, IIRC, you have the right to demand a blood test if you blow above the legal limit on a breathalyser. Of course, you have to demand it immediately (otherwise it won't be valid), but if the blood test shows differently than the breathalyser, you can use that in evidence.
Now, this doesn't really address the issue of how the breathalyser and the blood analyser actually work, but it does allow the possibility that two different machines, using two different methods, and possibly made by two different manufacturers would both indicate that you are tipsy, and if they are in disagreement, you can throw doubt on the case.
I want to say that I recall the blood test trumping the breathalyser if the blood test says you're sober, as long as the tests are performed within 30 minutes of each other, but don't hold me to that.
Well... A real morse code app would only rely on 1 button, wouldn't it?
One or two, actually. You can key Morse on a "straight key," which is one single key, or on a "Paddle" or set of "paddles" which is either one horizontal key that can be pushed left or right, or two keys arranged to behave as a single paddle. Pushing the key in one direction causes a string of properly timed dashes, pushing it the other way produces a stream of properly timed dots. This is the set up that was used by the ham operators in the video.
Still, I would have to say that I would feel completely unsatisfied by the Nokia phone app. It should rely on timing, and timing alone, to identify the spaces. It can be done in the electronic realm, even if it is not known in advance if the bit being sent is a dot or a dash. With the machine knowing whether the operator is sending a dot or a dash should make it a total cakewalk. Further, it should properly recognise the "error" character (........) and use that to undo the last word, rather than using the "C" key to undo the last letter. That would be proper use of Morse code.
73 DE KC2IDF
I sympathize with your thought proccess, but I don't think very many people would consider 128kbps MP3s to be above and beyond the quality of a brand new factory cassette tape.
It really depends on the record label and their handling of the medium.
Very few labels, it seems, used any advanced tape formulations; they were mostly using ferrous material. A few labels, on a few releases, went the step of using CrO2, and I have never seen a factory casette in evaporated metal.
That said, it was possible (and easy, even) for me to borrow a CD from a friend back in the day, copy the CD to a good-quality casette (Usually a Maxell or TDK CrO2 cassette) and end up with a better recording than what I would have had I bought the casette.
As for 128kbit MP3, assuming that a decent encoder was used (LAME comes to mind; BladeEnc, OTOH, is not even under consideration), has a better noise floor and S/N ratio than casette, with either type of tape. It has a better frequency response (~14-16kHz) than ferrous tape (~12kHz) but not as good as CrO2 tape (~18-19kHz).
As such, I have to disagree. I think that a 128kbit MP3 can, and indeed most often does, sound better than a factory cassette.
FM has limited bandwith (11kHz or so for a good reciever).
This is obviously some strange new definition of "good" of which I was previously unaware.
15kHz is what you should expect from a "good" receiver.
On the other hand, the stereo separation tends to collapse a bit above 11kHz. That may be what you are thinking of.
Let the market do its thing. If the vendor has burned you, find another one.
Solar Host does exactly that.
Ok, so if the iPod explodes as-is with the current battery, what happens with a nuclear cell...
Tritium is flammable (it is an isotope of hydrogen), but it is not pyrophoric like lithium, sodium, uranium and a handful of other elements. As such, the puncturing of the battery will result in a short-term fire hazard, and a possible low-level inhalation hazard (not directly toxic, but the radiation isn't good for you) but it won't catch fire or blow up of its own accord.
On the whole, it would seem to be safer than other existing technologies.
The line that starts: "One other point worth noting is actually a re-labeled Toyota Corrola" should actually read: "One other point worth noting is that the Chevy Prizm is actually a re-labeled Toyota Corrola" Sorry for the confusion.
One thing that does make a difference is how fast you drive on the highway. I know I get much worse mileage driving at 80-90 than I do at 60-70.
I have a couple of empirical observations. These observations were made in a 1998 Subaru Impreza OS, 2.2L 4 cyl. boxer engine, 4-speed automatic, AWD. Some of the observations I have also made with a 1999 Chevy Prizm, 1.8L straight-4, 3-speed automatic, FWD.
Normal driving on my commute, a six mile trip involving about one mile of 65MPH on a freeway, but mostly 30-45MPH, but not many stoplights, I got typically 18MPG in the Subaru, 24-25 in the Chevy.
Driving to Saratoga, to my wife's workplace, a 28 mile trip involving 20 miles of 70MPH on a freeway, typically 22 in the Subaru, 29 in the Chevy.
Cross-state trip to Rochester, about 250 miles, via the New York Thruway (I-90), mostly at about 70MPH, 27MPG in the Subaru. I don't know yet what it is in the Chevy.
Same trip, using U.S. 20 instead of I-90, mostly at 45-55MPH, over beuautiful rolling hills (worth it if you have the time!), 34MPG in the Subaru (surprised the hell out of me!), don't yet know for the Chevy.
So, yes, speed is an element, but also the length of the trip is relevant, because shorter trips are closer to done by the time the engine is warmed up and ready to operate at its best.
BTW, despite this, I don't advocate letting your car sit and warm up (exceptions for very cold winter days) because you end up using more fuel that way than just going.
One other point worth noting is actually a re-labeled Toyota Corrola. As such, it is mostly influenced by Japanese engineering more so than American engineering. That is not a knock against American engineers, but the Japanese engineers never really had an environment involving cheap oil like we have historically had here.... thus they were the ones willing to risk putting hybrids on the market.
Apparently, we have collectively b0rked their SQL server, so we can't send a fax through it.
If you would still like to take action, consider writing a well-argued, personal fax to your senators. You can get your senators' contact info at Project Vote-Smart by just supplying them with your 9-digit ZIP® code, and they will list off your other elected officials, too.
Alas, I feel that the solution to this problem is to take matters into our own hands, taking a page from the book of the dominionists.
There are three things parents can do individually.
First, they should spend time with their children. Find out what is being taught in the school, teach them what the schools are leaving out, unteach what the schools have taught wrong, and prepare to go to bat for the kids when a dominionist teacher grades them an F for speaking the truth.
Second, where possible (and I recognize that not everyone has time for this), home-school. This is kind of an extension to the first idea. It is also taking a page straight from the dominionist playbook.
Third, (and I recognize that not everyone can afford this), send children to private schools that teach students the truth. I am the product of such an education. My parents sacrificed a great deal to put me through high school, but I got a first-rate education.
Here in Europe the primary resolution for normal digital broadcast is 720x576, 25Hz (or 50Hz interlaced). 704*576 and 768*576 seems to be common as well. And that's just the standard resolution digital content.
While a valid point, we were primarily, originally, discussing a problem that affects American TV's. Since you are here, though, let me ask you what the European version of HDTV looks like. Are you seeing a similar problem to the one being described of downconverting a higher mode to a lower one incorrectly?
An observation I have is that digital PAL video looks blurry when viewed on an NTSC screen, due to the resampling that takes place. The resolution is off just enough to require most of the pixels to be computed. Most of the time, you don't notice it, but the news ticker at the bottom of the screen on the BBC news is difficult to read and causes the problem to stand out.
I said, "There are 18 recognized MPEG stream formats for HDTV." That should have read "for digital TV" not "for HDTV." Only the last six of the 18 modes I listed are HDTV. The others are SDTV, or, arguably, EDTV.
Okay, I don't normally respond to AC's but this one got me. Sorry. Here goes....
That's stupid. Why not resize 1920x540 fields to 1280x720 frames.
HELLO?!? This is EXACTLY what the blogger was bitching ABOUT!!!
The proper way to do it is to deinterlace the 1920x540 image into a 1920x1080 image by interpolating the missing pixels based on what surrounds the empty spaces, and based on previous fields.
Sometimes.
As I mentioned in a previous post, 24fps progressive and 30fps progressive are valid formats for the MPEG stream in 1080 mode. As such, if you were receiving a stream of one of these two formats, and trying to present it on a high-end 1080p monitor, you could do so by showing each frame twice for 30 or alternating between two and three times for 24.
As for material that was actually encoded 30 interlaced (why?!?), there are four algorithms to fix this (valid for 1080i->1080p and 480i->480p equally):
1. Bob. To bob, you take the 540 lines you do have, and interpolate the intervening 539, then copy the topmost/bottommost (depending on which field) to the leftover line. Good choice for high-motion material.
2. Inverse telecine. This basically looks to un-do the 3-field, 2-field, 3-field, 2-field format that results from converting film material (24fps) to 30i. Best choice for film material, only works on film material, and demands to know why the material was encoded at 30i and not 24p.
3. Weave. Simply present the two most recently received fields together. Good choice for low-motion, high-detail imagery, but can tear on high-motion scenes.
4. Motion compensation. Essentially, you weave, and then analyse either the more-recent or less-recent field (doesn't matter which, as long as it is consistent) to see how you can best align it with the other field. If you can't find a good match for some particluar area of the screen, you might toss out some of the data and replace it with interpolated data. Horizontal-only versions are very simple and very effective; biaxial versions should yield near-flawless result. Good on all non-film material.
Mfgrs usually tout their amps with having "200 watts of pulsing music power" which usually means 100 watts per channel peak.
I call this the Radio Shack method of describing the system, because it was originally used only by Radio Shack, but now is used by everyone -- the system power is described as the sum of all channels, not the value of one channel.
As such, I have a 420W sound system in my living room that, 15 years ago, would have been described as 70W. More likely, it would have been described as 70/70/70--70W main, 70W surround, 70W subwoofer (yes, it is a small system, but fully appropriate to the room).
On the peak/RMS issue, good amps give RMS and have peak listed on the specs page. Sometimes the peak exceeds the typical sine-wave ratio of RMS=.707*peak because not all sounds are sine waves. My previous amp was a good example. It was listed as a 60W (per channel) amp at 8 ohms (15W surround, no sub, no center) but could, according to the specs page, deliver 120W on a peak to the main channels. This system was replaced last Decmber after 15 years of service. Coupled with a set of Harmon-Kardon speakers, it rocked pretty hard.
720p is 720 lines scanned at 30 times persecond.
Mostly incorrect.
There are 18 recognized MPEG stream formats for HDTV.
In presenting these on a monitor, your receiver/settop box/whatever is supposed to turn them to a format that your monitor can handle. This will typically be one of these four:
It is noteworthy, though, that some videophile monitors can handle, and set-top boxes deliver, 1080 row 60Hz progressive.
As for the presence/absence of interlacing, I agree that it is very bad to use interlacing at the strem level. This should be eliminated. I would make an exception for the 480 modes, because the material may have been originally captured on NTSC videotape, in which case some sort of conversion would have to take place to get a progressive image, and I feel very strongly that conversions should never be done for broadcast unless absolutely necessary (as when showing PAL/SECAM native material).
On the other hand, at the monitor level, if you have an interlaced monitor, I don't think that is a major issue. In 1080 mode, the best picture that can be sent is the 30fps progressive stream. This can be interlaced for presentation on a cRT.
Now, someone commented that CRT's are dead. Not if you have a budget, they're not! I've owned an HD set for over three years now, and it only ran me $700. It is a CRT. It has a beautiful picture.
Further, I would put forth that CRT's, in addition to being significantly cheaper than the alternatives, also put out a better picture than LCD (view from any angle; accurate color rendition; no lag), are less susceptible to burn-in than plasma (which will be killed by network bugs) and do not exhibit the rainbow effect of DLP (which, in fariness is not really all that bad). Their major failings are their physical size and power consumption.
Now, this is interesting. When I made that very same comment about wind turbines being beautiful some time back, I got modded -1 Troll.
The palm-tree variety would be an amusing novelty here
It would be an even bigger novelty here in upstate New York! I'd almost be willing to pay the cellco to put one in just for the WTF factor!
Okay, red face here. I should have read the parent. Disregard my previous post.
USB Flash drives do, in fact, go up to 4GB. $600 for a 4GB HDD is called "Highway robbery."
[Naziism]
I think it's Nazi artifacts which are banned
Actually, I believe you may be right about that.
[Headscarf]
The french (quite rightly) believe in the seperation of church and state.
You are correct about this only applying to schools. I, too, feel separation of church and state is the right thing, but I come to the decidedly different conclusion that therefore the schools should not have any such regulation. For them to do so attaches church to state, rather than separating them. (And yes, I agree that it is not anti-muslim, it is just the example that I happened to have)
Je pense que je dois émigrer en France.
Of course they don't have freedom of speech or religious expression or political view. Naziism, for example, is banned, and so is wearing a muslim headscarf. Freedom is a prerequisite for a free society.
...and yeah, I know we aren't doing so hot on this side of the pond, either.
On freedom fries: I always thought it would be cool to have a concession stand at a county fair or other major event, with a sign that reads:
That way, if anyone is insistent on wanting Freedom Fries, they can have 'em, and I get to do the Capitalist thing of making an extra buck.
Of course, if I wanted to take it a step further, I could make the difference between the two be that the Freedom Fries include a $1.00 donation to the ACLU.
Need to mod myself "-1: Wrong, wrong, WRONG!".... The threshold for obseity is 30, not 35.
From my reading of the article, it makes me wonder if the body mass index (BMI) thresholds we use are wrong.
The body mass index (for those who have been living undar a rock) is a composite measure that relates body weight to height. It is your weight in kg divided by the square of your height. As an example, I weigh 64kg, and stand 1m64, making my body mass index 24.0kg/m^2.
Medicine has used the body mass index as a means of classifying people, by setting thresholds that mark the boundary between ideal weight, healthy weight, overweight and obese. Presumably they have worked it in the other direction too, but I expect they must deal with more overweight and obese people than underweight. As I used to be overweight, I don't have any info on the underweight side.
Anyway, at present, the thresholds are that 20-22 is ideal weight, 20-25 is healthy, 25-35 is overweight and 35+ is obese.
Around this time last year, I started following the Hacker's Diet with the goal of getting my weight down to the ideal (which, for my height, would be in the 54-59kg range). As I started to get close to 60kg, though, my wife complained that I was starting to look "skin and bones" and asked me to stop. I put some weight back on and have stayed more or less static at my current weight.
But between my empirical experience that I just related to you, and the reading of this article, I am led to wonder if perhaps this set of thresholds that are used to classify BMI are off and that a re-adjustment may solve the problem.