So, you don't believe in any of that nuclear power nonsense I guess. Those nuclear physicists are just a bunch of "perpetual motion itiots", eh?
I'm not saying that the people at betavoltaic aren't con artists since I havn't looked at the level of decay required to provide a reasonable current and I'd guess they'd need to really get a good reaction going, but the principle they describe is a valid nuclear power source. You did realize they were talking about radioactive decay, right?:)
He's not talking about using a mathematical function to generate random series of bits. He's referring to using a random physical process (ie. radioactive decay) to generate the bits. There's a slight difference you know. (Hint: one of the process is deterministic and the other isn't).
Now if you want to claim that there are no truely random physical processes, that's another storry. ; )
Yes, the 1.4VM made HUGE advances for 2D and 3D performance. And is easily able to handle Quake type games. The demos at JavaOne were on 700MHz boxes with 256MB and they were generating a realtime flythough of the Grand Canyon 300+ MB data set at ~60FPS with full linear filtering, mapping, shading, etc!!! It was orders of magnitude faster than the 1.3VM.
For this to function at a minimum, all it has to do is have enough kinetic energy to provide enough velocity at the top of the loop so that the centripetal acceleration of the loop is entirely provided by gravity. ie. the rider feels zero-G at the top of the loop.
In this case: mg = mv^2 / r
The equations for centripetal acceleration and conservation of energy show that for a frictionless track, the initial height above the top of the loop must be exactly half the radius of the loop to achieve zero-G.
So for this track, with 20ft. drop and a 5ft. diameter loop, you have height = 2 * loop_radius, so you have 4 times the energy needed to achieve zero-G for a fricionless track.
Even if the coaster looses 75% of it's energy due to friction by the time it reaches the loop's apex, the rider will still feel zero-G and the coaster will work.
The amount of energy dissipated due to non-rigidity of the track is hard to calculate, but isn't of necessity that huge. If the wheels this is suspended on are well lubricated I don't see why this wouldn't work quite well.
That's exactly what happens with MOST items that are sold: It's called DISTRIBUTION.
There's a discount for quantity sales.
The buyer sells in smaller quantities for a PROFIT.
Too see how silly your arugment is... s/bundled/wholsale/g...
"What will end up happening if this takes off is that bulk wholesale software will no longer be cheaper than the individual packages. If you want Photoshop and Pagemaker, you will have to buy them individually, because there is no reason for Adobe to sell wholesale software in quantity that a reseller then buys, breaks up, and resells the individual pieces and takes sales away from Adobe. "
(ie. tide doesn't cause ocean currents, the water rises and falls with the tide, but doesn't move)
Bzzzt!... thanks for playing. It's physically IMPOSSIBLE for the tides to rise without a current flowing. HELLO??? Just where do you think all that water comes from anyway?
Even though tidal forces cause tides in the earth's crust, the oceans are LIQUID and can move around just a bit more easily. If the oceans only rose the same amount as the earth as you imply, then there would be no high tide or low tide. Since the water rises RELATIVE to the land, there is a volumetric increase in the water that has to come from a latteral current.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not saying that the people at betavoltaic aren't con artists since I havn't looked at the level of decay required to provide a reasonable current and I'd guess they'd need to really get a good reaction going, but the principle they describe is a valid nuclear power source. You did realize they were talking about radioactive decay, right? :)
He's not talking about using a mathematical function to generate random series of bits. He's referring to using a random physical process (ie. radioactive decay) to generate the bits. There's a slight difference you know. (Hint: one of the process is deterministic and the other isn't).
Now if you want to claim that there are no truely random physical processes, that's another storry. ; )
Yes, the 1.4VM made HUGE advances for 2D and 3D performance. And is easily able to handle Quake type games. The demos at JavaOne were on 700MHz boxes with 256MB and they were generating a realtime flythough of the Grand Canyon 300+ MB data set at ~60FPS with full linear filtering, mapping, shading, etc!!! It was orders of magnitude faster than the 1.3VM.
Don't knock it until you've seen it!
The Plasmoid IS a load on the microwave... just where did you think all that light and heat was coming from anyway? :)
In this case: mg = mv^2 / r
The equations for centripetal acceleration and conservation of energy show that for a frictionless track, the initial height above the top of the loop must be exactly half the radius of the loop to achieve zero-G.
So for this track, with 20ft. drop and a 5ft. diameter loop, you have height = 2 * loop_radius, so you have 4 times the energy needed to achieve zero-G for a fricionless track.
Even if the coaster looses 75% of it's energy due to friction by the time it reaches the loop's apex, the rider will still feel zero-G and the coaster will work.
The amount of energy dissipated due to non-rigidity of the track is hard to calculate, but isn't of necessity that huge. If the wheels this is suspended on are well lubricated I don't see why this wouldn't work quite well.
Just in case you want to do the math...
These tests were done upwind of a town; they died of cancer...
You have no idea what you're talking about. Please get a clue before posting this kind of drivel.
Too see how silly your arugment is... s/bundled/wholsale/g
"What will end up happening if this takes off is that bulk wholesale software will no longer be cheaper than the individual packages. If you want Photoshop and Pagemaker, you will have to buy them individually, because there is no reason for Adobe to sell wholesale software in quantity that a reseller then buys, breaks up, and resells the individual pieces and takes sales away from Adobe. "
Yes, I really miss Amiga ASSIGNs! They make for slick systems management.
Shouldn't be too hard to hack into bash though...
~/.assigns anyone?
(ie. tide doesn't cause ocean currents, the water rises and falls with the tide, but doesn't move)
... thanks for playing. It's physically IMPOSSIBLE for the tides to rise without a current flowing. HELLO??? Just where do you think all that water comes from anyway?
Bzzzt!
Even though tidal forces cause tides in the earth's crust, the oceans are LIQUID and can move around just a bit more easily. If the oceans only rose the same amount as the earth as you imply, then there would be no high tide or low tide. Since the water rises RELATIVE to the land, there is a volumetric increase in the water that has to come from a latteral current.
Please THINK! : )