Or are you implying there's nothing there you'll care to listen to in a decade?
An interesting point, but it would seem likely (to me, at any rate) that the ethereal repository for the music (films, books, newspapers, magazines, plays, musicals, mimes, art, sculpture, whatever) will provide a system that would preclude the accidental removal or deletion of the content. This is, after all, what Content Management Systems are for.
I would suggest that the Recording Industry change tack somewhat to safeguard themselves, and rather than spending money trying to retain the status quo, realise that times, they are a changin' and invest in the future.
If one copy (of whatever) is purchased and illegally copied many times, lower the price to a point where most of the copiers would rather buy the item. I for one would far rather have an original copy of the CD, with it's artwork etc, than some burnt or ripped copy, but it seems only sensible for the Recording Industry to utilise the internet and all it offers rather than fighting tooth and nail against it like a bunch of medieval luddites.
Have you ever had experience with albums that get more expensive over time in stores?
Well not as you probably mean, no, but I do remember when the wonderful record companies re-released all the old back-numbers (esp. The Beatles) at 15 or 20 pounds a pop. This for music they had already made their monies on when it was originally released on vinyl.
Now when they re-release old classical stuff, and other stuff no one likes:-), it's in the bargain bin for 3, 4, or 5 pounds. Obviously, it's their product and they can charge what they want for it, but it smacks of profiteering to me!
intensity of the beam will only be ~20% of noontime sunlight
Indeed. However the intensity of some microwave data links is somewhat higher than that, and whilst the bird-roasting may well be apocryphal in this instance, it has nothing to do with the proposed intensity of this microwave power link.
If it's too expensive, don't buy it! If everyone thinks it's too expensive, no one will by it and the price will come down to something more reasonable and everyone wins!
In the UK chart CDs are around 15 Pounds Sterling and I just don't buy 'em until they get cheaper, unless I have a very good tip that it's a good album! If they sold them at a fiver a piece, I'd more than likely buy 3 or more at a time just to see what they were like. They're just greedy!
Pile 'em high - Sell 'em cheap!
how would you stop birds and insects etc flying through the beam and becoming incinerated ?
I'm thinking probably we can't. A mate of mine used to work for ITN (Independent Television News - UK Broadcaster) and he said you'd regularly get birds falling out of the sky if they flew to close to (ie through) the microwave links.
That's not what I meant (although I'd be the first to admit that's what I wrote:-) )
I was suggesting a way to allow the inclusion of Black Box technology into cars (vans/etc) that would be acceptable to the general public whilst still providing useful safety info for the manufacturers.
I was thinking along the lines of it not being legal to be forced to incriminate yourself, but obviously the current law would allow the 'box to be taken against consent.
If your unlawful, reckless speeding contributes to an accident, you deserve to be held responsible.
I agree wholeheartedly. But I do think there is something a bit suspect about discovering after the fact that there's a device in your car that can tell tales on you. In this case, where there was a fatality (or serious injuries) then it does seem like a great idea, but there is a grey area where its use may not be so clear cut.
Sorry, but the speed limits are just laws like any other, and as a reasonably informed adult it is your right to decide whether to obey the laws or not.
Of course, having chosen to break a law, if you are caught you shouldn't grip about the consequences.
Further, the box has an equal ability to prove that someone is not at fault. It is there as a neutral observer.
The box is mine, as it is part of the vehicle I purchased and so it's contents should also be under my control, and I can chose to use the evidence for my own benefit, or select not to produce it.
This would be what we in the UK call the right to remain silent - The Fourth Amendment I believe in the US.
Now if the car is written off and the insurance company pays you off, the wreck becomes the property of the insurance company, and they may well be interested in suing you for the return of the money if they discover you'd been a bit of a twat in the going too fast department!
So my advice might be that if you caused the accident that writes off your car, don't claim on the insurance!
Ethnic problems and a large population of poor, undereducated people raised in a culture of thuggish violence accounts for a lot in the UK.
... and the fact that the criminals aren't likely to be caught because the Police are too busy out catching speeding motorists. ... and if they are caught, they're just told not to do it again by the bleeding heart liberals who are masquerading as our Government and legal system, rather than being strung up by the thumbs so passers by can poke them with stucks.
I think the reason the car accelerates at a reasonable rate is because of the amount of torque the engine produces, and the fact that electric motors have a flat torque curve with maximum torque available from zero revs.
I remember a road test of an electric Ford Escort van a few years ago. The vehicle had to be fitted with special electronics to stop the heavy footed driver from lighting up the tyres!
Indeed, and if some forward thinking Government decided to let the Punter charge his car as a tax perk whilst at work it might drive the market.
Hey free commuting and local, short range, journeys for free if they're electric - where do I sign up? Oh yes, we need the forward thinking government first... Harumph!
Your point would have held so much more wieght if you hadn't post anonymously.
FWIW (which is probably not very much!) I also disagree with national ID cards (and have used the excellent stand.org.uk website to express myself).
I do not think it adds any value to my life, and by extension, to everyone's life, for people to have ID cards. The only people who will be able to profit from this are the Government who will be able to excercise a greater and closer control over the populace.
All the benefit fraud, criminals, et al, will obtain false ID, probably before the public get their real IDs!
I do not trust this government to use the power this would give them in a reasonable fashion, and as for future governments, who knows. And, in general, it's the future governments we have to worry about.
I think you'll find that two pieces of information where every bit is the same are, technically, similar unless they are the same instance of that data, in which case they can then be said to be the same.
A lot of people don't realise it, but "same" actually means something specific and is (scientifically, at least) not some woolly playground approximation. If Disk A is the same as Disk B (or whatever we are comparing), then Disk A IS Disk B.
A copy of something is just that, a copy, and may well be similar if your copy is good enough!
Also I think a carrier was sunk in the falklands, but I don't have time atm to research it.
Nope. We lost Sheffield (a Type 42 Frigate if memory serves) and Galahad (some sort of landing craft thingy I think), and Atlantic Conveyor (RN Auxiliary supply ship with all but one of our bastard Chinooks!), and I think that was it?
It was at about this time that a new word appeared in everyone's vocabulary. Excocet.
A few others were hit (and I think there may have been another lost?), but defo didn't lose either of our carriers (I think the Atlantic Conveyor was hit in error, as it was with the fleet and about the size of our pocket Carriers).
This side of the pond (UK) one traditionally talks about an Ant Nest, and of course a Bee Hive, but I could easily be convinced that the Ant Nest was also a Hive, esp if money changed hands.
OK... hands up to that one! But I'd swear that China drove on the left? With China on not on the Dark Side, that'd make it kinda even then. Not so very wrong after all.
Satelites have to orbit the Earth (or any body) over a Great Circle, and it just so happens that if that Great Circle is the Equator, then the satelite can appear to be stationary to an Earth observer.
You could put a few satelites in a Polar Orbit so that at any one time one or more of them would be visible. You would have to be able to switch the signal between the satelites as they came into and left LoS with the Pole (whichever one you were at), but isn't that just like Mobile Phones when your are driving (with hands-free of course) and it switches you between cells?
So, are the yanks going to enforce their minority ideas about driving on the wrong side of the road, or are they going to bow to the majority and drive on the left?
Like most Government legislation, some Gov. bigwig thought it would be a good idea and suggested it. Some people winged, but most said it seemed OK (like the fcukwits in the UK at the moment who seem OK about national ID cards - "Well, if you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to hide!" - Arsewipes!), then the law got passed.
Most people don't see the wider picture when seemingly harmless legislation is proposed. The Gov. count on this.
Government. It just goes to show, you really can fool most of the people most of the time!
Slashdot Mirror
An interesting point, but it would seem likely (to me, at any rate) that the ethereal repository for the music (films, books, newspapers, magazines, plays, musicals, mimes, art, sculpture, whatever) will provide a system that would preclude the accidental removal or deletion of the content. This is, after all, what Content Management Systems are for.
I would suggest that the Recording Industry change tack somewhat to safeguard themselves, and rather than spending money trying to retain the status quo, realise that times, they are a changin' and invest in the future.
If one copy (of whatever) is purchased and illegally copied many times, lower the price to a point where most of the copiers would rather buy the item. I for one would far rather have an original copy of the CD, with it's artwork etc, than some burnt or ripped copy, but it seems only sensible for the Recording Industry to utilise the internet and all it offers rather than fighting tooth and nail against it like a bunch of medieval luddites.
Well not as you probably mean, no, but I do remember when the wonderful record companies re-released all the old back-numbers (esp. The Beatles) at 15 or 20 pounds a pop. This for music they had already made their monies on when it was originally released on vinyl.
Now when they re-release old classical stuff, and other stuff no one likes :-), it's in the bargain bin for 3, 4, or 5 pounds. Obviously, it's their product and they can charge what they want for it, but it smacks of profiteering to me!
Indeed. However the intensity of some microwave data links is somewhat higher than that, and whilst the bird-roasting may well be apocryphal in this instance, it has nothing to do with the proposed intensity of this microwave power link.
Er ... RTFP perhaps?
If it's too expensive, don't buy it! If everyone thinks it's too expensive, no one will by it and the price will come down to something more reasonable and everyone wins!
In the UK chart CDs are around 15 Pounds Sterling and I just don't buy 'em until they get cheaper, unless I have a very good tip that it's a good album! If they sold them at a fiver a piece, I'd more than likely buy 3 or more at a time just to see what they were like. They're just greedy!
Pile 'em high - Sell 'em cheap!
I'm thinking probably we can't. A mate of mine used to work for ITN (Independent Television News - UK Broadcaster) and he said you'd regularly get birds falling out of the sky if they flew to close to (ie through) the microwave links.
Nice
That's not what I meant (although I'd be the first to admit that's what I wrote :-) )
I was suggesting a way to allow the inclusion of Black Box technology into cars (vans/etc) that would be acceptable to the general public whilst still providing useful safety info for the manufacturers.
I was thinking along the lines of it not being legal to be forced to incriminate yourself, but obviously the current law would allow the 'box to be taken against consent.
Sorry for any confusion ...
I agree wholeheartedly. But I do think there is something a bit suspect about discovering after the fact that there's a device in your car that can tell tales on you. In this case, where there was a fatality (or serious injuries) then it does seem like a great idea, but there is a grey area where its use may not be so clear cut.
Sorry, but the speed limits are just laws like any other, and as a reasonably informed adult it is your right to decide whether to obey the laws or not.
Of course, having chosen to break a law, if you are caught you shouldn't grip about the consequences.
The box is mine, as it is part of the vehicle I purchased and so it's contents should also be under my control, and I can chose to use the evidence for my own benefit, or select not to produce it.
This would be what we in the UK call the right to remain silent - The Fourth Amendment I believe in the US.
Now if the car is written off and the insurance company pays you off, the wreck becomes the property of the insurance company, and they may well be interested in suing you for the return of the money if they discover you'd been a bit of a twat in the going too fast department!
So my advice might be that if you caused the accident that writes off your car, don't claim on the insurance!
I remember a road test of an electric Ford Escort van a few years ago. The vehicle had to be fitted with special electronics to stop the heavy footed driver from lighting up the tyres!
Indeed, and if some forward thinking Government decided to let the Punter charge his car as a tax perk whilst at work it might drive the market.
Hey free commuting and local, short range, journeys for free if they're electric - where do I sign up? Oh yes, we need the forward thinking government first ... Harumph!
FWIW (which is probably not very much!) I also disagree with national ID cards (and have used the excellent stand.org.uk website to express myself).
I do not think it adds any value to my life, and by extension, to everyone's life, for people to have ID cards. The only people who will be able to profit from this are the Government who will be able to excercise a greater and closer control over the populace.
All the benefit fraud, criminals, et al, will obtain false ID, probably before the public get their real IDs!
I do not trust this government to use the power this would give them in a reasonable fashion, and as for future governments, who knows. And, in general, it's the future governments we have to worry about.
A lot of people don't realise it, but "same" actually means something specific and is (scientifically, at least) not some woolly playground approximation. If Disk A is the same as Disk B (or whatever we are comparing), then Disk A IS Disk B.
A copy of something is just that, a copy, and may well be similar if your copy is good enough!
Let's call the whole thing off!
Er ... Dobby dude!
Nope. We lost Sheffield (a Type 42 Frigate if memory serves) and Galahad (some sort of landing craft thingy I think), and Atlantic Conveyor (RN Auxiliary supply ship with all but one of our bastard Chinooks!), and I think that was it?
It was at about this time that a new word appeared in everyone's vocabulary. Excocet.
A few others were hit (and I think there may have been another lost?), but defo didn't lose either of our carriers (I think the Atlantic Conveyor was hit in error, as it was with the fleet and about the size of our pocket Carriers).
Read a lot of Wilde do you?
Blimey!
OK ... hands up to that one! But I'd swear that China drove on the left? With China on not on the Dark Side, that'd make it kinda even then. Not so very wrong after all.
Obviously not though I guess!
If you feeling H H H Horny, P P P Pick up a Penguin.
You could put a few satelites in a Polar Orbit so that at any one time one or more of them would be visible. You would have to be able to switch the signal between the satelites as they came into and left LoS with the Pole (whichever one you were at), but isn't that just like Mobile Phones when your are driving (with hands-free of course) and it switches you between cells?
Most people don't see the wider picture when seemingly harmless legislation is proposed. The Gov. count on this.
Government. It just goes to show, you really can fool most of the people most of the time!