Because they won't sell anything else. If you want to play a Nintendo title, then you're going to BUY it.
I agree that there are other consoles to switch to, but that doesn't realy mean it'll effect Nintendo's sales.
You see, Nintendo is to Sony as kumquats are to watermelons. Just because watermelons are larger doesn't mean everyone is going to stop buying kumquats...
...unfortunately I've lost track of the point I was trying to make, but I hope you'll agree that both kumquats and watermelons have their seasons, and that either or both make a fine addition to any table. </DrScience> =Smidge=
I'm not saying we should set bait to lure the poor helpless Manatees to their doom. What I am saying is that these turbines are not going to be spinning at 2000RPM, churning the water into a froth and sucking up hapless sea life. It's a remarkable tame and harmless technology, and properly implemented poses no more threat to sea life than what you probably flush down the toilet every day.
So you obviously don't want to consider tidal power.
You're probably against wind power for the same reasons, (even though birds getting caught in windfarm turbines is exceedingly rare, and sealife getting chopped up would be likely be just as rare)
You're almost certaintly against coal, gas, oil and nuclear power generation... which except for nuclear I can agree with in most cases.
You might be in favor of solar power, but not if you're aware of the large quantities of toxic chemicals that are produced from their manufacture.
In other words, you should probably be living in the woods eating roots and berries, and most definately NOT using a computer or anything else that could only exist from the 'wholesale destruction of our ecosystem'.
Seriously, I'll all for not deliberately fucking up the planet, and I am a big proponent of resource conservation, recycling, and efficiency. But seriously, some of you environmentalists can be real hypocrites. If the way modern civilization operates really bothers you, then there's nothing to keep you from moving out to southwest rural bumblefuck Alabama and being at one with mother nature.
In fact, I encourage you to do so. After all, the simple act of reading this message is sending thousands of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. (Or do you not care because it's not "in your back yard"?) =Smidge=
Tidal power tubines spin rather slowly - About 25RPM. And they're not sharp like high-speed turbine blades.
A 10-meter turbine (5 meter radius - about 16 feet) spinning at a top speef of 20RPM (about 2 radians per second) would have a tip speed of about 11 meters per second (~33 feet per second).
That's pretty slow. 30MPH actually. But that's a conservative estimate.
Also, unlike hydroelectric dams, there's no strong current sucking everything into the blades - just tidal currents. =Smidge=
My father collects videos. And by collect I mean as a proper hobby... our library is pushing 5000+ titles.
It's true what you say about animation and the assumption that it's for kids: You'll find a copy of "Akira" in the children's section, right next to the old Hanna Barbara cartoons.
Oh well... not like anyone's actually going to watch it, it's on Betamax.:) =Smidge=
Bacteria will take no better attempts to survive than a forest fire. - How do you tell which one by your definition?
After decades of treating infections with antibiotics, we now have bacteria that are extremely resistant (and some completely immune) to the more common medications.
After centuries of fighting fires by dumping water on them, most fires can still be put out with water (certain chemical fires being the only exception). =Smidge=
Until you realize that the ATM uses the Outlook engine to send periodic reports back to the central systems via internet. The interface would probably end up being a over-fancy HTML frontend running through IE5/6.
I've seen store units set up exactly that way. Those Kodak photo centers and similar touch-screen interface self-serve consumer devices. It's somewhere between hilarious and frightening what else they might build out of that... I can easily see ATMs being built. =Smidge=
I'd design the new vehicle with a short range, directional cellphone jammer that would prevent cell phones being used from the driver's seat while the car is any gear other than 'park'!
I'd also consider some kind of IR based ranging device that would make sure the person's head is within a certain location to ensure, at least, they their head is above the level of the dashboard and roughly centered with the steering wheel. If not, a very loud and obnoxious tone will be emitted from the sound system and the cell phone jammer will block phone being used ANYWHERE in the vehicle.
Alternatively, I'd settle for a cell jammer that I can mount on my car and aim at other vehicles... just for the fun of it of nothing else.:) =Smidge=
I still think it was an alien race testing their disrupt-o ray on us. They are now confident they can wipe out the bulk of our communications system and drive the populous insane by broadcasting elevator music over whatever is left!
...we can estimate the total weight of the cable at 18,311 x 380,800,000kg = 6.97 x 10^12. Seven gigatons...
Except that the GGB is make of steel and concrete, and the space elevator ribbon would be made out of a nanotube/epoxy material. Which, according to ISR, would weigh only about 7.5 kg per km.
If the space elevator is 36,000km - which is kinda short if I'm not mistaken, so let's be conservative and say it's 100,000km - would weigh only 750,000 kg... (about 850 emperial tons).
Following your math: 750000 x 0.5 x 50 x 50 = 937,500,000 Joules.
So you're only off by a factor of 4.5 million.
And not only is the TOTAL energy about 0.0000002 times what you thought it was, but such a relatively light (7.5 grams per meter! That's practically tissue paper...) and FLAT, THIN ribbon would have horrible aerodynamics and dissipate much of it's energy in churning the air. I'd say a conservative terminal velocity for this stuff would be no more than 5 m/s. So now it's kinetic energy drops by another factor of 100!
Here's an experiment, with Halloween not too far away... throw a roll of toilet paper so that it unwinds and watch how fast the ribbon of paper falls even with a heavy weight (remaining roll) on one end of it. Now imagine something that has about the same density but is at least five or six times wider (not thicker)...
Given that, whatever was out in space (no air resistance) will probably reach a speed fast enough to burn up, but the majority of it will probably make it to the ground. And when it does, I think the damage would be pretty minimal......you don't work for NASA, do you? =Smidge=
which would be about as sharp and dangerous as a piece of clothesline.
While I agree that the ribbon failing poses a relatively minor threat, especially compared to a failing rocket, I'm willing to bet that if I tried I cold cut off your head with a clothesline:)
A more interesting issue is what about anything climbing on the ribbon when it breaks. That has a much better chance of causing damage (depending on where the car is and where the break is, of course). The car might still have to be built like the original capsules, with parachutes and heat shielding to survive an emergency re-entry.
Fortunately there's a lot of ocean near the equator to safely land a manned craft in. =Smidge=
Nanotubes aren't all that stable. In fact, one of the design issues the engineers face is how to protect the ribbon from oxidizing.
The cable will need a protective coating of some kind, which itself probably won't survive re-entry. Also bear in mind that the cable is supposed to be very light and strong - more like a ribbon. What doesn't burn up from being dragged through the air will flutter like sheets of paper and won't accumulate enough energy to do any real damage.
For dust to become a problem, it would have to shatter or be ground up or something, but I don't see how that would happen outside of normal wear and tear. =Smidge=
From the article, the point of seperating crew and cargo improves safety because they both have different requirements, and seperate vehicles can be tailored to their specific needs rather than trying to be an "all in one" solution.
In short, you can build a passenger craft and focus on making it safe, then make a seperate cargo craft and focus on making is cost effective. Since there stands to be much more cargo than crew going into space at any given time, seperating the two would improve crew safety and likely decrease operating costs. =Smidge=
Internal combustion engine - Invented by Rudolf Diesel, born in Paris in 1858 to Bavarian immigrant parents and educated at Munich Polytechnic (Germany).
Television - The original television was a british invention, but it was Philo T. Farnsworth (American) who invented the television picture tube that made it affordable and practical for everyone to own.
Disk Brakes - Patented in England, 1902, by Dr. F.W. Lanchester. These brakes were not as effective at stopping as the contemporary drum brakes of that time and was soon forgotten. The design was reinvented by American manufacturers during WWII for use on aircraft landing gear. (I suppose the British could be credited with it's invention though, even if the design was flawed)
Fax Machine - Patented by Scottish mechanic Alexander Bain in 1843.
Lightbulb - First successful electric lightbulb invented by Thomas Edison and first demonstrated in Menlo Park, New Jersey in 1882.
World Wide Web - Evolved from a communications network developed under DARPA funding. (ARPANET anyone?) What eventually became the "World Wide Web" was developed by CERN (Based in Geneva, Switzerland.)
Viagra - Because we all know the Brits have severe problems with erectile disfunction. (Sorry, couldn't resist the obvious joke!)
Toilet Paper - Invented by American Joseph Coyetty in 1857. (The British Perforated Paper Company marketed the first paper specifically to be used for wiping after using the toilet in 1880. This paper came in boxes of small pre-cut squares.) Toilet-paper in roll form became common in America by 1907.
It should also be clarified that the compressor-driven type jet is a British invention. There were other types of jet propulsion prior to it's development. =Smidge=
So spending 14+ hours a day basking in the warm glow of my computer monitor might be providing me with just the right amount of radiation to actually keep me healthy?
No kidding! If you want to proove that you love her and are willing to help take take of a family properly, take the $10k and use it as (part of) a down payment on a home or something, instead of a piece of rock and metal that she'll actually wear three or four times in her life.
And as it's been said before, there are many other very pretty stones available for the fraction of the cost.
I honestly don't know why people judge their opinion of someone by how much money they waste buying them crap. Especially for something that's essentially a useless trinket, and ESPECIALLY for something like forming a life-long relationship around.
If she makes a big deal over the cost of a ring, then I'm thinking her priorities might not be in building a lasting partnership. =Smidge=
Seal it, and toss it in the mail empty. That part is just my revolt against the corporate thieves that charge 24.99% APR - $0.34 scored against them.
I'm pretty sure they get bulk rate postage, which goes by weight if I'm not mistaken.
Why not stuff ALL your junk mail into that envelope? It's not like they don't know who it's coming from. At the very least stuff in the crap they sent you and let them throw their own shit out!
Slashdot Mirror
I use a stick anti-persperant. :)
=Smidge=
Given the description of how the stuff works, I think a Magnadoodle is a much better comparison...
=Smidge=
I agree that there are other consoles to switch to, but that doesn't realy mean it'll effect Nintendo's sales.
You see, Nintendo is to Sony as kumquats are to watermelons. Just because watermelons are larger doesn't mean everyone is going to stop buying kumquats...
...unfortunately I've lost track of the point I was trying to make, but I hope you'll agree that both kumquats and watermelons have their seasons, and that either or both make a fine addition to any table. </DrScience>
=Smidge=
I'm not saying we should set bait to lure the poor helpless Manatees to their doom. What I am saying is that these turbines are not going to be spinning at 2000RPM, churning the water into a froth and sucking up hapless sea life. It's a remarkable tame and harmless technology, and properly implemented poses no more threat to sea life than what you probably flush down the toilet every day.
So you obviously don't want to consider tidal power.
You're probably against wind power for the same reasons, (even though birds getting caught in windfarm turbines is exceedingly rare, and sealife getting chopped up would be likely be just as rare)
You're almost certaintly against coal, gas, oil and nuclear power generation... which except for nuclear I can agree with in most cases.
You might be in favor of solar power, but not if you're aware of the large quantities of toxic chemicals that are produced from their manufacture.
In other words, you should probably be living in the woods eating roots and berries, and most definately NOT using a computer or anything else that could only exist from the 'wholesale destruction of our ecosystem'.
Seriously, I'll all for not deliberately fucking up the planet, and I am a big proponent of resource conservation, recycling, and efficiency. But seriously, some of you environmentalists can be real hypocrites. If the way modern civilization operates really bothers you, then there's nothing to keep you from moving out to southwest rural bumblefuck Alabama and being at one with mother nature.
In fact, I encourage you to do so. After all, the simple act of reading this message is sending thousands of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. (Or do you not care because it's not "in your back yard"?)
=Smidge=
Tidal power tubines spin rather slowly - About 25RPM. And they're not sharp like high-speed turbine blades.
A 10-meter turbine (5 meter radius - about 16 feet) spinning at a top speef of 20RPM (about 2 radians per second) would have a tip speed of about 11 meters per second (~33 feet per second).
That's pretty slow. 30MPH actually. But that's a conservative estimate.
Also, unlike hydroelectric dams, there's no strong current sucking everything into the blades - just tidal currents.
=Smidge=
You'll be better off, or you'll be dead. And if you're dead, you won't care that you're not better off!
My father collects videos. And by collect I mean as a proper hobby... our library is pushing 5000+ titles.
:)
It's true what you say about animation and the assumption that it's for kids: You'll find a copy of "Akira" in the children's section, right next to the old Hanna Barbara cartoons.
Oh well... not like anyone's actually going to watch it, it's on Betamax.
=Smidge=
Bacteria will take no better attempts to survive than a forest fire. - How do you tell which one by your definition?
After decades of treating infections with antibiotics, we now have bacteria that are extremely resistant (and some completely immune) to the more common medications.
After centuries of fighting fires by dumping water on them, most fires can still be put out with water (certain chemical fires being the only exception).
=Smidge=
Until you realize that the ATM uses the Outlook engine to send periodic reports back to the central systems via internet. The interface would probably end up being a over-fancy HTML frontend running through IE5/6.
I've seen store units set up exactly that way. Those Kodak photo centers and similar touch-screen interface self-serve consumer devices. It's somewhere between hilarious and frightening what else they might build out of that... I can easily see ATMs being built.
=Smidge=
... ...
Baking soda volcano.
=Smidge=
I'd design the new vehicle with a short range, directional cellphone jammer that would prevent cell phones being used from the driver's seat while the car is any gear other than 'park'!
:)
I'd also consider some kind of IR based ranging device that would make sure the person's head is within a certain location to ensure, at least, they their head is above the level of the dashboard and roughly centered with the steering wheel. If not, a very loud and obnoxious tone will be emitted from the sound system and the cell phone jammer will block phone being used ANYWHERE in the vehicle.
Alternatively, I'd settle for a cell jammer that I can mount on my car and aim at other vehicles... just for the fun of it of nothing else.
=Smidge=
I still think it was an alien race testing their disrupt-o ray on us. They are now confident they can wipe out the bulk of our communications system and drive the populous insane by broadcasting elevator music over whatever is left!
=Smidge=
...we can estimate the total weight of the cable at 18,311 x 380,800,000kg = 6.97 x 10^12. Seven gigatons...
...you don't work for NASA, do you?
Except that the GGB is make of steel and concrete, and the space elevator ribbon would be made out of a nanotube/epoxy material. Which, according to ISR, would weigh only about 7.5 kg per km.
If the space elevator is 36,000km - which is kinda short if I'm not mistaken, so let's be conservative and say it's 100,000km - would weigh only 750,000 kg... (about 850 emperial tons).
Following your math: 750000 x 0.5 x 50 x 50 = 937,500,000 Joules.
So you're only off by a factor of 4.5 million.
And not only is the TOTAL energy about 0.0000002 times what you thought it was, but such a relatively light (7.5 grams per meter! That's practically tissue paper...) and FLAT, THIN ribbon would have horrible aerodynamics and dissipate much of it's energy in churning the air. I'd say a conservative terminal velocity for this stuff would be no more than 5 m/s. So now it's kinetic energy drops by another factor of 100!
Here's an experiment, with Halloween not too far away... throw a roll of toilet paper so that it unwinds and watch how fast the ribbon of paper falls even with a heavy weight (remaining roll) on one end of it. Now imagine something that has about the same density but is at least five or six times wider (not thicker)...
Given that, whatever was out in space (no air resistance) will probably reach a speed fast enough to burn up, but the majority of it will probably make it to the ground. And when it does, I think the damage would be pretty minimal...
=Smidge=
which would be about as sharp and dangerous as a piece of clothesline.
:)
While I agree that the ribbon failing poses a relatively minor threat, especially compared to a failing rocket, I'm willing to bet that if I tried I cold cut off your head with a clothesline
A more interesting issue is what about anything climbing on the ribbon when it breaks. That has a much better chance of causing damage (depending on where the car is and where the break is, of course). The car might still have to be built like the original capsules, with parachutes and heat shielding to survive an emergency re-entry.
Fortunately there's a lot of ocean near the equator to safely land a manned craft in.
=Smidge=
Nanotubes aren't all that stable. In fact, one of the design issues the engineers face is how to protect the ribbon from oxidizing.
The cable will need a protective coating of some kind, which itself probably won't survive re-entry. Also bear in mind that the cable is supposed to be very light and strong - more like a ribbon. What doesn't burn up from being dragged through the air will flutter like sheets of paper and won't accumulate enough energy to do any real damage.
For dust to become a problem, it would have to shatter or be ground up or something, but I don't see how that would happen outside of normal wear and tear.
=Smidge=
I wasn't aware India and Asia were part of Europe. Maybe my education really is lacking!
(Not that I support what the parent of your post said either...)
=Smidge=
Safety is the ultimate goal, yes.
From the article, the point of seperating crew and cargo improves safety because they both have different requirements, and seperate vehicles can be tailored to their specific needs rather than trying to be an "all in one" solution.
In short, you can build a passenger craft and focus on making it safe, then make a seperate cargo craft and focus on making is cost effective. Since there stands to be much more cargo than crew going into space at any given time, seperating the two would improve crew safety and likely decrease operating costs.
=Smidge=
The ancient greeks were building mechanical "computers" long before Charles was around.
OTOH, the silicon transistor, which makes modern electronics possible, is an American invention.
=Smidge=
Internal combustion engine - Invented by Rudolf Diesel, born in Paris in 1858 to Bavarian immigrant parents and educated at Munich Polytechnic (Germany).
Television - The original television was a british invention, but it was Philo T. Farnsworth (American) who invented the television picture tube that made it affordable and practical for everyone to own.
Disk Brakes - Patented in England, 1902, by Dr. F.W. Lanchester. These brakes were not as effective at stopping as the contemporary drum brakes of that time and was soon forgotten. The design was reinvented by American manufacturers during WWII for use on aircraft landing gear. (I suppose the British could be credited with it's invention though, even if the design was flawed)
Fax Machine - Patented by Scottish mechanic Alexander Bain in 1843.
Lightbulb - First successful electric lightbulb invented by Thomas Edison and first demonstrated in Menlo Park, New Jersey in 1882.
World Wide Web - Evolved from a communications network developed under DARPA funding. (ARPANET anyone?) What eventually became the "World Wide Web" was developed by CERN (Based in Geneva, Switzerland.)
Viagra - Because we all know the Brits have severe problems with erectile disfunction. (Sorry, couldn't resist the obvious joke!)
Toilet Paper - Invented by American Joseph Coyetty in 1857. (The British Perforated Paper Company marketed the first paper specifically to be used for wiping after using the toilet in 1880. This paper came in boxes of small pre-cut squares.) Toilet-paper in roll form became common in America by 1907.
It should also be clarified that the compressor-driven type jet is a British invention. There were other types of jet propulsion prior to it's development.
=Smidge=
So spending 14+ hours a day basking in the warm glow of my computer monitor might be providing me with just the right amount of radiation to actually keep me healthy?
=Smidge=
No kidding! If you want to proove that you love her and are willing to help take take of a family properly, take the $10k and use it as (part of) a down payment on a home or something, instead of a piece of rock and metal that she'll actually wear three or four times in her life.
And as it's been said before, there are many other very pretty stones available for the fraction of the cost.
I honestly don't know why people judge their opinion of someone by how much money they waste buying them crap. Especially for something that's essentially a useless trinket, and ESPECIALLY for something like forming a life-long relationship around.
If she makes a big deal over the cost of a ring, then I'm thinking her priorities might not be in building a lasting partnership.
=Smidge=
I, for one, welcome our new cloned botanical overloards...
=Smidge=
Seal it, and toss it in the mail empty. That part is just my revolt against the corporate thieves that charge 24.99% APR - $0.34 scored against them.
I'm pretty sure they get bulk rate postage, which goes by weight if I'm not mistaken.
Why not stuff ALL your junk mail into that envelope? It's not like they don't know who it's coming from. At the very least stuff in the crap they sent you and let them throw their own shit out!
=Smidge=
bootlegged CD's...
It would be REALLY funny if the warlords got taken down because the RIAA takes them to court!
=Smidge=
...but what if you're like me, and use flavor, flavour, flavah and flayver all as seperate variable names in the same code?!
=Smidge=