"But if you're actually trying to make another kind of craft, you should be experimenting on that, not a completely different kind and hoping that maybe by chance you'll find something useful."
So what you're saying is that the Wright Brothers should have started working on a F-22 Raptor. It's not like they really needed to experiment and improve materials, power plants, air frames, control systems, or avionics first.
"... make one wonder why the pinouts were not placed near the components..."
Because the same components are often used in different phones? Because the board is on one side of the phone and the components are on the other? Because adding more traces to route from a chip to a pinout on the edge can make the circuit board wider or require additional layers?
Apple employs some of the best designers and engineers in the business, but some AC here on/. thinks they know more.
"... just a matter of time before someone makes a modular phone..."
Which will work just as well as modular laptops and modular desktops. What you fail to get is that phones, like computers, are systems. Swapping out a "modular" camera just doesn't work, because on the iPhone the camera depends on advances in the CPU, GPU, and image processing chips. Just like swapping out a CPU in a 3-yro desktop rarely gives you a major performance gain, because that CPU isn't running on a system with a faster memory bus, faster interface bus, and better peripherals. Systems are just that, systems.
Further, every socket and connector you add increases costs, increases the size of the device (or decreases internal volume, e.g. battery space), and decreases reliability.
"Well, sorry. You'll just have to deal with it until the situation improves."
Improves? You mean, until the sheep switch and buy Galaxy Notes or some other "cool" Android phone?
Personally, I think the term "sheep" applies more to the people who walk into a phone store and walk out with whatever the salesperson was pushing that particular day, be it an iPhone or a HTC One.
"... photo development was cheap and common enough to fully automate at a kiosk in the mall."
And why, pray tell, would someone who cared about photographic quality process film and make prints at a kiosk in the mall? Crappy processing and crappy prints, and with automated printing and color correction you have no idea as to what the hell went wrong (or right) with your images.
Shoot pro-grade E100, or Velvia, and you paid $10-12 per roll of film plus $10/roll commercial processing, or at least $20/roll combined. Shoot a dozen rolls at an event, and you just blew through $250 in 1980's dollars.
You take a picture of the card and that information is used to confirm with the bank that you're the card holder. The phone then gets a digital certificate that stored in the encrypted enclave and the photo is zapped. No credit card data is stored on the phone, nor on Apple's servers.
When you go to buy something the phone uses the cert to generate a one-time token and security code that's given to the merchant terminal via NFC and unlocked via TouchID.
The merchant doesn't get a name, doesn't get a card number, doesn't get a security code, and doesn't get a pin number, and as such, the thing is about a million times more secure than the existing magnetic swipe card system.
If you go to a university in the US you're already expected to be able to read and write English. Now, some classes may be able to expand on those skills, but you should already have the fundamentals.
And all that's not the point. Again, all of that technology could be used in a hybrid in order to make the hybrid more efficient. Once developed, it can be copied or licensed and put into a hybrid that gets 100 MPG instead of the 50 you get now, or the 50 mpg a "SkyActiv" ICE-only car produces. Or even 150-200 mpg, once you factor in PHEV systems and conponents.
As to wheel bearings, drag, transmissions, power take-off components (A/C, Alternator), and so on, that's part and parcel of hybrid technology, and for that matter, electric vehicles in general. (Go look up how GM talked about having to make new low-power windshield-wiper motors for the Volt.)
You could also take all of the wonderful high-compression ICE l technology that Mazda is doing and put THAT into a Prius, giving us higher efficiency when in gas mode and still getting the benefits of electric power drive, assist, and regenerative braking in stop-and-go traffic.
"...2002 UltraPortable, 3600 mAh in 330 grams. In 2014 the extended battery [amazon.com] for the Sony Vaio Pro 11 is 4690 mAh in 290 grams, that's about a 75% increase in power/gram in 12 years."
Most of the difference is that older batteries were pretty much just a set of AA-sized batteries wrapped into a plastic shell. Modern computers often use pressed and formed LiPo batteries that allow for more "battery" in the same amount of space.
Others, like Apple, carry it a step further and completely eliminate the plastic shell used in removable batteries. I'll leave the math as an exercise for the reader, but you'd be surprised at just how much volume you gain by simply extending your battery size by 4mm in every dimension.
As pointed out above, it's unlikely that the person who commits the crime is the one that is actually producing the weapons. Thus what the law actually does is make it illegal to own, produce, sell, or distribute guns that would violate the law. Which in turn restricts the supply and makes it harder for a criminal to obtain them.
Without it, you not only have to worry about 3D-print shops mass-producing weapons, but also the possibility of, say, Glock deciding to make and market a polymer/ceramic "undetectable" firearm. Something that, in both cases, would dramatically increase the supply of such weapons on the street and as such, increase the likelihood of them being used in a crime.
Finally, and by your own admission regarding ammunition (BTW, ever heard of ceramics?), even a plastic gun would be better off, not to mention more reliable, with a metal firing pin, metal springs, metal screws, and so on. So the net result is that the law would have no impact whatsoever on the "honest" hobbyist, while at the same time restricting the proliferation of weapons designed solely to defeat existing security systems.
As to the Third Reich, according to the census of June 16, 1933, the Jewish population of Germany was approximately 505,000 people out of a total population of 67 million, or somewhat less than 0.75 percent.
Further, by the time Germany invaded Poland, roughly half of the Jewish population had emigrated out of Germany. At the wars end, 142,000 German Jews were killed in the Holocaust. As such, a) a German weapons law didn't disarm Poland, b) Hitler liberalized gun laws for Germans who by and large supported the regime and c) the Polish army was run over from the East by the Germans and the West by the Soviets.
So, roughly 250,000 men, woman, and children? Outnumbered over 200-to-1 in a state that overwhelmingly supported the Nazi party, and by a military machine that took the combined might of over half the planet to stop and bring down?
Yep. A few more hunting rifles and shotguns would have made all the difference...
Got to love these carefully reasoned screeds... that completely miss the point.
See, the thing is that it's unlikely that the person who commits the crime is the one that is actually producing the weapons. Thus what the law actually does is make it illegal to own, produce, sell, or distribute guns that would violate the law. Which in turn restricts the supply and makes it harder for a criminal to obtain them.
Without it, you not only have to worry about 3D-print shops mass-producing weapons, but also the possibility of, say, Glock deciding to make and market a polymer/ceramic "undetectable" firearm. Something that, in both cases, would dramatically increase the supply of such weapons on the street and as such, increase the likelihood of them being used in a crime.
Finally, the law is itself in the public interest, as there's little to no public benefit in allowing people or companies to produce "plastic" weapons designed solely to circumvent security checkpoints.
I sort of see this as a way to read a bunch of "paperbacks" that you might not want to keep anyway. If you find something really good you can always buy it elsewhere.
The concept was for Anikin to be a classic tragic hero. The implementation, however, gave us a spoiled, whiney teenager. The original stories had heart and pretty good character interaction and humor. The later stories gave us stilted dialog, and Jar-Jar Binks doing slapstick sight gags.
Choices? Zimmerman chose to participate in the Neighborhood Watch Program. And Zimmerman choose to arm himself, despite the fact that the Watch Program discouraged its participants from doing so.
But at the time of the attack, Zimmerman wasn't on watch. He chose to follow Martin that night. He chose to disregard police instructions. He chose to get out of the car. As the one "trained" and armed with deadly force, it was his responsibility to see that the situation didn't escalate out of control. It did.
Personally, I'd characterize Zimmerman as a police officer wannabe. He'd wanted to be a cop and was rejected. So he armed himself and continually went out on "patrol", looking for trouble and a chance to be a hero.
That night he found it. And he allowed the situation to escalate totally out of control. Faced with an actual confrontation, he panicked and resorted to using deadly force. End result of Zimmerman's choices? One dead kid.
"Zimmerman had never been in trouble with the law."
In 2005, Zimmerman was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. The charges were reduced, then dropped when Zimmerman entered a pre-trial diversion program. Also in 2005, Zimmerman's ex-fiance filed a restraining order against him, alleging domestic violence.
In 2005, Zimmerman was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. The charges were reduced, then dropped when Zimmerman entered a pre-trial diversion program. Also in 2005, Zimmerman's ex-fiance filed a restraining order against him, alleging domestic violence.
Zimmerman's application to be a police officer had been rejected by a Virginia police department. Zimmerman wanted to do police ride alongs. He also chose to participate in the Neighborhood Watch Program. And Zimmerman choose to arm himself, despite the fact that the Watch Program discouraged its participants from doing so.
But at the time of the attack, Zimmerman wasn't on watch. He chose to follow Martin. He chose to disregard police instructions. He chose to get out of the car. As the one "trained" and armed with deadly force, it was his responsibility to see that the situation didn't escalate out of control. It did.
Personally, I'd characterize Zimmerman as a police officer wannabe. He wanted to be a cop and was rejected. So he armed himself and continually went out on "patrol", looking for trouble and a chance to be a hero.
That night he found it. And he allowed the situation to escalate totally out of control. Faced with an actual confrontation, he panicked and resorted to using deadly force. Result? One dead kid.
Zimmerman carries complete and total responsibility for the shooting.
"Apple's "market-changing" products seem to be fewer and farther in-between of late."
Please. Apple II released in 1976, Lisa in 1983. Macintosh in 1984. Powerbook in 1991. iPod is 2001. iPhone in 2007. Air in 2008. iPad in 2010. The iPad mini (yet another bestselling product) just last year.
Just how often is a single company supposed to create a "market-changing" product anyway?
They pay more taxes here than just about anyone else ($2 of every $40 collected from corporations). Which is more than you get from Exxon, GE, and a host of other major corporations.
Next, why should money made in France (and taxed in France) be taxed again here? Or in Japan? England? Germany?
The big issue is all of the money they've made overseas and would like to bring home and use and invest here in the US, except that doing so would cause it to be taxed again at 35%.
Slashdot Mirror
"But if you're actually trying to make another kind of craft, you should be experimenting on that, not a completely different kind and hoping that maybe by chance you'll find something useful."
So what you're saying is that the Wright Brothers should have started working on a F-22 Raptor. It's not like they really needed to experiment and improve materials, power plants, air frames, control systems, or avionics first.
"... make one wonder why the pinouts were not placed near the components..."
Because the same components are often used in different phones? Because the board is on one side of the phone and the components are on the other? Because adding more traces to route from a chip to a pinout on the edge can make the circuit board wider or require additional layers?
Apple employs some of the best designers and engineers in the business, but some AC here on /. thinks they know more.
"... just a matter of time before someone makes a modular phone..."
Which will work just as well as modular laptops and modular desktops. What you fail to get is that phones, like computers, are systems. Swapping out a "modular" camera just doesn't work, because on the iPhone the camera depends on advances in the CPU, GPU, and image processing chips. Just like swapping out a CPU in a 3-yro desktop rarely gives you a major performance gain, because that CPU isn't running on a system with a faster memory bus, faster interface bus, and better peripherals. Systems are just that, systems.
Further, every socket and connector you add increases costs, increases the size of the device (or decreases internal volume, e.g. battery space), and decreases reliability.
"Well, sorry. You'll just have to deal with it until the situation improves."
Improves? You mean, until the sheep switch and buy Galaxy Notes or some other "cool" Android phone?
Personally, I think the term "sheep" applies more to the people who walk into a phone store and walk out with whatever the salesperson was pushing that particular day, be it an iPhone or a HTC One.
"... photo development was cheap and common enough to fully automate at a kiosk in the mall."
And why, pray tell, would someone who cared about photographic quality process film and make prints at a kiosk in the mall? Crappy processing and crappy prints, and with automated printing and color correction you have no idea as to what the hell went wrong (or right) with your images.
Shoot pro-grade E100, or Velvia, and you paid $10-12 per roll of film plus $10/roll commercial processing, or at least $20/roll combined. Shoot a dozen rolls at an event, and you just blew through $250 in 1980's dollars.
So yeah, I'd call it "pricey".
You take a picture of the card and that information is used to confirm with the bank that you're the card holder. The phone then gets a digital certificate that stored in the encrypted enclave and the photo is zapped. No credit card data is stored on the phone, nor on Apple's servers.
When you go to buy something the phone uses the cert to generate a one-time token and security code that's given to the merchant terminal via NFC and unlocked via TouchID.
The merchant doesn't get a name, doesn't get a card number, doesn't get a security code, and doesn't get a pin number, and as such, the thing is about a million times more secure than the existing magnetic swipe card system.
The primary reason business attire is much more casual today is that other people began pushing against the same very envelope years ago.
Seems to me that most of the rants for or against college education tell us more about the personal biases of those doing the ranting...
If you go to a university in the US you're already expected to be able to read and write English. Now, some classes may be able to expand on those skills, but you should already have the fundamentals.
You're right, it's much better to avoid being exposed to new ideas and experiences that might conflict with your own built-in biases and prejudices.
And all that's not the point. Again, all of that technology could be used in a hybrid in order to make the hybrid more efficient. Once developed, it can be copied or licensed and put into a hybrid that gets 100 MPG instead of the 50 you get now, or the 50 mpg a "SkyActiv" ICE-only car produces. Or even 150-200 mpg, once you factor in PHEV systems and conponents.
As to wheel bearings, drag, transmissions, power take-off components (A/C, Alternator), and so on, that's part and parcel of hybrid technology, and for that matter, electric vehicles in general. (Go look up how GM talked about having to make new low-power windshield-wiper motors for the Volt.)
You could also take all of the wonderful high-compression ICE l technology that Mazda is doing and put THAT into a Prius, giving us higher efficiency when in gas mode and still getting the benefits of electric power drive, assist, and regenerative braking in stop-and-go traffic.
"...2002 UltraPortable, 3600 mAh in 330 grams. In 2014 the extended battery [amazon.com] for the Sony Vaio Pro 11 is 4690 mAh in 290 grams, that's about a 75% increase in power/gram in 12 years."
Most of the difference is that older batteries were pretty much just a set of AA-sized batteries wrapped into a plastic shell. Modern computers often use pressed and formed LiPo batteries that allow for more "battery" in the same amount of space.
Others, like Apple, carry it a step further and completely eliminate the plastic shell used in removable batteries. I'll leave the math as an exercise for the reader, but you'd be surprised at just how much volume you gain by simply extending your battery size by 4mm in every dimension.
As pointed out above, it's unlikely that the person who commits the crime is the one that is actually producing the weapons. Thus what the law actually does is make it illegal to own, produce, sell, or distribute guns that would violate the law. Which in turn restricts the supply and makes it harder for a criminal to obtain them.
Without it, you not only have to worry about 3D-print shops mass-producing weapons, but also the possibility of, say, Glock deciding to make and market a polymer/ceramic "undetectable" firearm. Something that, in both cases, would dramatically increase the supply of such weapons on the street and as such, increase the likelihood of them being used in a crime.
Finally, and by your own admission regarding ammunition (BTW, ever heard of ceramics?), even a plastic gun would be better off, not to mention more reliable, with a metal firing pin, metal springs, metal screws, and so on. So the net result is that the law would have no impact whatsoever on the "honest" hobbyist, while at the same time restricting the proliferation of weapons designed solely to defeat existing security systems.
Actually, there are simple majority (51%) and supermajority (60%) rules.
Austrailia? Sorry, been reading too many NRA talking-point bulletins. Try: http://www.gunfaq.org/2013/03/the-misuse-of-our-gun-crime-stats/
As to the Third Reich, according to the census of June 16, 1933, the Jewish population of Germany was approximately 505,000 people out of a total population of 67 million, or somewhat less than 0.75 percent.
Further, by the time Germany invaded Poland, roughly half of the Jewish population had emigrated out of Germany. At the wars end, 142,000 German Jews were killed in the Holocaust. As such, a) a German weapons law didn't disarm Poland, b) Hitler liberalized gun laws for Germans who by and large supported the regime and c) the Polish army was run over from the East by the Germans and the West by the Soviets.
So, roughly 250,000 men, woman, and children? Outnumbered over 200-to-1 in a state that overwhelmingly supported the Nazi party, and by a military machine that took the combined might of over half the planet to stop and bring down?
Yep. A few more hunting rifles and shotguns would have made all the difference...
Got to love these carefully reasoned screeds... that completely miss the point.
See, the thing is that it's unlikely that the person who commits the crime is the one that is actually producing the weapons. Thus what the law actually does is make it illegal to own, produce, sell, or distribute guns that would violate the law. Which in turn restricts the supply and makes it harder for a criminal to obtain them.
Without it, you not only have to worry about 3D-print shops mass-producing weapons, but also the possibility of, say, Glock deciding to make and market a polymer/ceramic "undetectable" firearm. Something that, in both cases, would dramatically increase the supply of such weapons on the street and as such, increase the likelihood of them being used in a crime.
Finally, the law is itself in the public interest, as there's little to no public benefit in allowing people or companies to produce "plastic" weapons designed solely to circumvent security checkpoints.
At my gas station the mid-grade is also 10% Ethanol. I don't think you can get there just by mixing regular and premium...
Kinetic Armored Projectile Ordinance Weapon. KAPOW!!!
I sort of see this as a way to read a bunch of "paperbacks" that you might not want to keep anyway. If you find something really good you can always buy it elsewhere.
The concept was for Anikin to be a classic tragic hero. The implementation, however, gave us a spoiled, whiney teenager. The original stories had heart and pretty good character interaction and humor. The later stories gave us stilted dialog, and Jar-Jar Binks doing slapstick sight gags.
"He had all sorts of choices."
Choices? Zimmerman chose to participate in the Neighborhood Watch Program. And Zimmerman choose to arm himself, despite the fact that the Watch Program discouraged its participants from doing so.
But at the time of the attack, Zimmerman wasn't on watch. He chose to follow Martin that night. He chose to disregard police instructions. He chose to get out of the car. As the one "trained" and armed with deadly force, it was his responsibility to see that the situation didn't escalate out of control. It did.
Personally, I'd characterize Zimmerman as a police officer wannabe. He'd wanted to be a cop and was rejected. So he armed himself and continually went out on "patrol", looking for trouble and a chance to be a hero.
That night he found it. And he allowed the situation to escalate totally out of control. Faced with an actual confrontation, he panicked and resorted to using deadly force. End result of Zimmerman's choices? One dead kid.
"Zimmerman had never been in trouble with the law."
In 2005, Zimmerman was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. The charges were reduced, then dropped when Zimmerman entered a pre-trial diversion program. Also in 2005, Zimmerman's ex-fiance filed a restraining order against him, alleging domestic violence.
In 2005, Zimmerman was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. The charges were reduced, then dropped when Zimmerman entered a pre-trial diversion program. Also in 2005, Zimmerman's ex-fiance filed a restraining order against him, alleging domestic violence.
Zimmerman's application to be a police officer had been rejected by a Virginia police department. Zimmerman wanted to do police ride alongs. He also chose to participate in the Neighborhood Watch Program. And Zimmerman choose to arm himself, despite the fact that the Watch Program discouraged its participants from doing so.
But at the time of the attack, Zimmerman wasn't on watch. He chose to follow Martin. He chose to disregard police instructions. He chose to get out of the car. As the one "trained" and armed with deadly force, it was his responsibility to see that the situation didn't escalate out of control. It did.
Personally, I'd characterize Zimmerman as a police officer wannabe. He wanted to be a cop and was rejected. So he armed himself and continually went out on "patrol", looking for trouble and a chance to be a hero.
That night he found it. And he allowed the situation to escalate totally out of control. Faced with an actual confrontation, he panicked and resorted to using deadly force. Result? One dead kid.
Zimmerman carries complete and total responsibility for the shooting.
"Apple's "market-changing" products seem to be fewer and farther in-between of late."
Please. Apple II released in 1976, Lisa in 1983. Macintosh in 1984. Powerbook in 1991. iPod is 2001. iPhone in 2007. Air in 2008. iPad in 2010. The iPad mini (yet another bestselling product) just last year.
Just how often is a single company supposed to create a "market-changing" product anyway?
They pay more taxes here than just about anyone else ($2 of every $40 collected from corporations). Which is more than you get from Exxon, GE, and a host of other major corporations.
Next, why should money made in France (and taxed in France) be taxed again here? Or in Japan? England? Germany?
The big issue is all of the money they've made overseas and would like to bring home and use and invest here in the US, except that doing so would cause it to be taxed again at 35%.