A 12,000 BTU air conditioner (Good for about 400sq.ft. of your typical home) with a SEER of 10 (Minimum efficiency rating for sale in the USA) will consume 1 watt per 10 BTUs of cooling. That works out to about 1200 watts. Figure 100 watts per square foot of sunlight and a panel efficiency of 10%, and you're looking at about 120 square feet of solar panel to cool 400 square feet of living space.
In other words, take the total square footage of the area you want to cool and divide it by 3. That's a rough estimate of the square footage of solar panel you'll need. (Of course, the math WILL change depending on your installation: more efficient panels, better sunlight, more efficient AC unit, etc). This estimate is a worst-case scenario, and I can easily see getting a factor of 5 or better.
As for excess energy... if you anticipate needing a LOT of cooling, one option may be to "store" some of that cool. Use the extra juice to run refrigeration units to chill tanks filled with brine or antifreeze solution. Help cool off/dehumidify your house by running this chilled solution through some radiator coils. (Add small fans for better results!) The pump and fans can also be powered from the "extra juice" if there is any.
The added benefit here is that you can use energy collected in early morning/late evening hours to help reduce cooling load during the really hot parts of the day, allowing you to get away with smaller AC units and less solar panels.
...might wanna check with local building codes, though. Some places get pretty anal about liquid storage! =Smidge=
I agree with your deifinition of "engineering", even though that has little to do with my point. Engineering requires science, and essentially engineers are "applied scientists". Technicians generally do not have scientific backgrounds and so are neither scientists nor engineers.
As a mechanical engineer, I can assure you that I don't do every single calculation by hand. So use of reference tables is completely irrelevant, and I frequently use all sorts of equations I can't even begin to understand. I really don't care to, since lacking that knowledge doesn't effect my ability to do the job. However, I have to be familiar with the basic principles at work, because that does effect my work. The understanding and application of those principles is what makes it science.
From Dictionary.com: Science is "The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena". That's not what most technicians do. More often than not it's a cookbook of experience and common procedure to correct a problem. No actual knowledge of the underlying principles of operation are required and typically the guy is only vaugely familiar with their existance, let alone content.
A car mechanic will probably not know much about thermodynamics or kinematics, even though he'll recharge your AC sytem and balance your tires.
A serviceman working on your home heating system probably doesn't know much about fluid mechanics or electronics, even though he may replace the pump and install a new digital controller.
A steelworker probably doesn't know much about structural design and stress analysis, even though he welds and bolts the frame of a building together.
Again, this is not to say they can't understand it, only that it isn't what they were trained to do. It's not required to do the job. =Smidge=
Having dealt with many "Service technicians" and "maintenance workers", I can assure you it's rare they apply any kind of scientific process... unless maybe we're not using the same definition?
The process is a lot more like a premade flowchart. "Does it work?" (Y/N), "Is it turning over?" {Y/N), "Is there fuel?" (Y/N)... each step is usually followed by routine inspections of various components t make sure everything is where it should be. It's all very robotic. Sometimes an experienced person can take a shortcut because he recognizes the problem, but it's still not scientific. It's rhetoric.
Even the most highly qualified and experienced technician will not be able to tell you how to build an engine. That's a surprisingly big leap in skill. This is because they don't fully understand the underlying principles of it's operation: Kinematics, Thermodynamics, Chemistry, Fluid Dynamics, Material science, etc. Knowledge and use of those principles would constitute science.
Good example: ask a technician what it means when an engine is "running rich". They'll probably tell you it means there's too much fuel and not enough air, which is true, but you'll be lucky if they can actually explain why that hurts the engine's performance.
Chances are, when you go to fix your network, you have some knowledge of the underlying principles: Protocol abstraction, networking theory, maybe even basic electronics. Using those principles is pretty much required because so few of the problems with computer networks are physical. That would consitute science.
Now, about being held accountable: I definitely agree! I was only suggesting that maybe they didn't fully understand the repercussions of their actions. =Smidge=
"Maintenance workers" aren't scientists. Scientists have Master's and PhD's from accredited universities, Maintenance workers have certification from DeVry Institute of Technology (sometimes...)
This is not to say they are immoral or stupid, but perhaps they don't quite understand how dangerous the stuff that goes on in the labs can be, and important those systems are. They don't design those systems, only fix them (which requires no knowledge of what it actually does) =Smidge=
You'ld like to think that, wouldn't you? Guess what... that stuff is all over your skin, hair and clothes 24/7. Doesn't matter how much soap you use. Unless you bathe in isopropyl alcohol in a biomedical clean room you're going to be crawling with millions and millions of microbes of every description.
This is a Good Thing(tm), since you're immune to all of them and they take up all the real estate so the really nasty ones have a problem surviving.
Sex brings you in to very intimate contact with someone else's germs. Filthy!;) =Smidge=
My thoughts exactly! I mean, look what happened to those poor people on Golgafrincham!
This is not to say that it's good to wallow in filth all day, but chances are the bugs on your desk and keyboard are 99.9% completely harmless, with the other 0.1% being a very mild hazard that you're probably more likely to get from something else (another posted mentioned warts as an example). Your best defense is to wash your hands before eating. Hopefully that's common sense.
Every time you breathe in you swallow about 60,000 bacteria. According to the linked article that's like licking your spacebar clean. Can you imagine how many germs you pick up drinking out of a bottle or cup that's been sitting out for even a few minutes? What about eating the rest of that sandwich you got yesterday? And only a few/.ers can probably related, just think of how many bacteria, mold and fungi you pick up during sex! =Smidge=
I happen to live in that state, as a consequence I know about the test since I took it myself (granted, a few years ago) and since it was all over the news. I'm sure if I looked around I could find more examples.
The Nashville schools were contemplating dropping the honor roll because of privacy concerns
Not according to the article I linked too. That might be the "reason" they've given it, but that sure doesn't sound like the true motivating factor. "Some schools since have put a stop to academic pep rallies. Others think they may have to cancel spelling bees." How the hell does an academic pep rally constitute a privacy concern?
I'd like to see someone in charge with enough balls to tell these crybabies off. Success comes from effort, not spoon feeding and consolation. That's the difference between success and mediocrity.
I would rather have the kid give up than give him a 50% for doing nothing and have him get the impression he actually deserves it. Moreover, it demotivates people who actually make the grade because now it's meaningless. Why try hard when you'll get decent grades with almost no effort?
Personal anecdote: In my High School they had just started an academic program. If you had a GPA above 3 or if you have improved your GPA for the past two semesters, you got to attend an annual event.
The event was basically a day off spend in the auditorium. Entertainment, music, games, and depending on your grade your GPA you got a certain number of raffle tickets for door prizes. (Everything from small cheesy drawing tool kits to CD boomboxes and $100 gift certificates). First year involved some 200 students. By the third year over half the school (~3000) qualified. They had to break it up as a day for each grade at that point.
My moral for this: Use a bigger carrot instead of a longer string. (FYI: The total cost of this was pretty low, too. Run by volunteers who solicited most of the prizes and materials from local businesses as donations - non profit, tax deductable!)
Parents complain about all kinds of crap. Th at doesn't mean the standards of schools are changing.
When the schools change their policies based on those complaints, yeah, it does mean the schools are changing. Remember that whole "evolution -> biological changes over time" crap that happened in Georgia not too long ago? Great example of the kind of crap going on all over the country. I wont even get started on the poor politics involved with textbooks...
This is just the specific stuff I'm familiar with off the top of my head. Even from my own experience I can tell you that the standards of education: the amount and quality of information provided, as well as the methods, is going from bad to worse. =Smidge=
June 2003, the failure rate for the New York State Math 'A' regents exam reached all time highs. Apparently the test was no more difficult than it ever was in the past. It's trig and algebra, people. Apparently some 65% of high school students didn't get it. read the report
"I think we have to be really careful about grading, that we don't do things that really devastate children and don't give an accurate reflection of their work." -Chief Instructional Officer Sandy Johnson (Tennessee), supporting a proposal to change the grading guidelines so that the lowest grade you can receive for anything is a 50/100. That's right! Don't even show up for class and get a 50%!
Nashville was also contemplating dropping the Honor Roll program because of fears of slipping student morale: story
(Haven't followed up on that. Did they actually do it?)
What about that story about 1337 speak in schools? That kind of functional illiteracy is barely accepable online, but it's okay for english papers?
I also remember reading somewhere about parents complaining about a school hanging other student's aorks in the hallways. Apparently it made their kids feel bad to not get their stuff hung up too. I'll see if I can track down that source.
That's just what I can think of off the top of my head. I haven't had breakfast yet... =Smidge=
Unless I've been misinformed, the goal of this competition is to develop an autonomous vehicle.
To facilitate this, DARPA set certain requirements that the vehicle has to meet. Consider the qualification as the first of two hurdles (the second one being the actual challange)
Now, this isn't Battlebots. The teams are not competing directly with each other except for a piece of cheese (prize money) and bragging rights. You don't need more than one contestant at a time. It's like any other race. You have to do a pre-race trial that determines your rank in the final race. If you don't qualify, you don't get to race at all. The only difference, really, is that it doesn't matter who crosses the line first, but fastest (if at all). Each team's run is completely independent.
The teams are already competing by entering the qualification runs. If they fail the qualification runs, then they can come back and try harder next year.
Funding is about the only valid point you've made, but I'm sure you can get sponsors. The rules say you're allowed to turn your entry into a mobile billboard as long as they get to approve the ads first. (I think digging up sponsor money would count as "trying harder", too, since raising money is a very valuable skill in private R&D) =Smidge=
When at first you don't succeed - lower your standards!
I'm sure if every project follows this model of diminishing goals, morale will be at all time high and productivity will skyrocket! I mean, failure is a terrible thing and nobody should be forced to cope with it and try to do better. Trying is hard!
Hey, it works for the public education system, right?
...right?
Screw it. If one team qualifies, one team takes the challenge. Chances are they're a shoe-in anyway considering they've already proven themselves more capable.
To all those that failed: Better luck next year, guys! =Smidge=
A valid point. Unless they can proove that BobVila.com knew or explicitly ordered advertising in this form, then shouldn't the company that actually DID the spamming take most of the heat?
Although, in the long run, this might work out if BobVila.com loses. If hiring non-compliant spammers for advertizing becomes a liability, maybe they'll go out of business! =Smidge=
If a "Volvo Technician" is like any other manufacturer's "Technician", that means a car mechanic that has a piece of paper saying if he works on the car it won't void any warrantees.
That also means you'd need take out a few bolts instead of pulling a lever to get at the engine compartment. Any homeowner who would have (legitimate) interest in getting under the hood will probably have a wrench.
What I mean was, it's not like you'll have to ship it back to the factory for service. It's not hermetically sealed or anything stupid like that - it's just not a simple spring lever. =Smidge=
Why would they need to hack the cars? By design, the owner/driver has absolutely no knowledge anything is wrong until the repair shop calls them.
Even the "idiot lights" they use now (so called because they usually don't tell you there's a problem until the damage is already done) are better, because at least you know about it first hand.
Or you can just be a responsible car owner and stick to a scheduled maintenance program...
(Re-reads original post, notices typos... goes to get more coffee) =Smidge=
My thoughts exactly. In fact, it's completely misleading.
The "Hood" is one peice, so there is no "hatch" like a traditional car. But it's still removable for access. The headline suggests the engine is completely sealed off to prevent anyone but the manufacturer from touching the insides.
Also, you make an interesting point about the type of people that would buy this car for the same rasons it was designed this way ("wold never oen the hood anyway"). From the article:
"So we shifted the filling station for washer fluid to the side of the car, next to where you fill up fuel, and we closed the bonnet for good."
Now taking bets on how often gasoline ends up in the washer fuild or vice versa!
The car should be programmed to discover any problems under the bonnet, then send a message to the garage to let them know.
Well that's something I don't particularly care for...
The mechanics would then contact the women directly to invite them over....too easy...:)
"If the car says nothing, then everything is fine," said Ms Temm optimistically....said Ms Temm optimistically, while sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck...
So they have implemented a body scanning system...
The results of which are also sent to the mechanics so they can decide if they need to contact the driver directly and invite them to their shop! =Smidge=
If you get modded down into the dirt on a consistent basis, you quite possibly deserve it.
I occasionally browse at -1 just to see all the action going on beneath the surface. I've seen a lot, and for the most part it's either way off topic, flamebait or trolling. Go figure! I also get mod points on a fairly regular basis, and when I do I actually browse at -1 more often. I do this because that's how the system works, and I do my part when I'm able. (This is probably why I've had "Excellent" karma since I've registered.) Go ahead and call me a karma whore, but my post record will show I do anything but echo the mass sentiment.
Metamoderation has the ability to take away your eligibility to moderate in the first place. I also didn't see anything in the faq about getting banned from simply being modded down. If I understand it correctly, it's pretty tough to get banned.
Oh, go ahead and call the FAQ "shit" again. I guess any source that refutes your opinion is just the Man bringing you down.
While we're on the topic if "childish", I happened to glance at your profile and noticed CmdTaco, Hemos and CowboyNeal are on your "foes" list. Yeah, that's showin' em! I expect to be on that list too after this... woe is me! =Smidge=
1) Probably break the car's computer system, which relies on the proper function of those sensors
2) Require you to understand how each sensor operates (Which I'm sure are equally undocumented)
3) Build your own interface circuitry
4) Do your own calibration and correction
5) Understand what the sensors tell you, and how to deduce the status of the vehicle from them
The onboard computer does all that. All you need to do is ask it what's going on.
At least the hookup is designed for car/computer communications. It would be easier to reverse engineer one access point and protocol than to hack together a complete, seperate system that doesn't break the existing one (which would kill the car). Especially since there is some documentation on it, and equipment that is designed to interface with it is available. (Very expensive though - got any buddies who work in a repair shop?) =Smidge=
You can ignore moderation results, too. There are settings for each moderation category that allow you to modify the scores.
Don't want to read "funny" comments? Give it a -6 modifier, everything else a +1 and browse with comment score 0. Want to read nothing but flaimbait? Give everything a modifier of -6 and flaimbait +6. The moderation system is only a "community suggestion" for which topics are worth reading. Sure it's not perfect, but it was never touted to be.
Once the bad moderation is done, the damage is permanent. And its quite easy to make multiple accounts to get multiple mod points. I dont see any reduction in the frequency of bad moderation either.
What damage? Your karma score? Cry me a river... as for making multiple accounts, it's also possible to post as an AC hundreds of times in the same thread and spam it to hell and back. At least you have to put effort into maintaining good karma and activity on multiple accounts to get those mod points.
How so?
Simple: He wants others to be accountable, but by posting as an AC he can't be held accountable himself. That's hypocrisy.
Maybe he didn't register, sure, but that's really not an excuse. If he's been around long enough to be that pissy about the moderation system chances are he does have an account anyway. =Smidge=
It's not really how much heat, it's where it's dumped. Powerplants are frequently build next to lakes and rivers as a source of cooling water... and there are plenty of laws limiting the temperature of the water leaving the plant. (Least you end up with a boling hot river, not only killing most of the life in and around it but probably creating a nice environment for all sorts of nasty stuff to grow...)
But in general, yes, it would be no different than what we're doing now. =Smidge=
"Going Supernova" requires a certain amount of mass. Our sun is too small. For a star the size of our sun, the death is a gradual swelling of the outer layers and a contraction of the core, resulting in a nebula with a white dwarf in the middle.
A drinking-cup sized chunk of fusion wouldn't have much umph at all. Considernig the processes going on are completely different from the kind in hydrogen fusion bombs, I'd say the worst explosion is from overheating and overpressurizing of the chamber - something like a handgrenade. =Smidge=
Slashdot Mirror
In other words, take the total square footage of the area you want to cool and divide it by 3. That's a rough estimate of the square footage of solar panel you'll need. (Of course, the math WILL change depending on your installation: more efficient panels, better sunlight, more efficient AC unit, etc). This estimate is a worst-case scenario, and I can easily see getting a factor of 5 or better.
As for excess energy... if you anticipate needing a LOT of cooling, one option may be to "store" some of that cool. Use the extra juice to run refrigeration units to chill tanks filled with brine or antifreeze solution. Help cool off/dehumidify your house by running this chilled solution through some radiator coils. (Add small fans for better results!) The pump and fans can also be powered from the "extra juice" if there is any.
The added benefit here is that you can use energy collected in early morning/late evening hours to help reduce cooling load during the really hot parts of the day, allowing you to get away with smaller AC units and less solar panels.
=Smidge=
I agree with your deifinition of "engineering", even though that has little to do with my point. Engineering requires science, and essentially engineers are "applied scientists". Technicians generally do not have scientific backgrounds and so are neither scientists nor engineers.
As a mechanical engineer, I can assure you that I don't do every single calculation by hand. So use of reference tables is completely irrelevant, and I frequently use all sorts of equations I can't even begin to understand. I really don't care to, since lacking that knowledge doesn't effect my ability to do the job. However, I have to be familiar with the basic principles at work, because that does effect my work. The understanding and application of those principles is what makes it science.
From Dictionary.com: Science is "The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena". That's not what most technicians do. More often than not it's a cookbook of experience and common procedure to correct a problem. No actual knowledge of the underlying principles of operation are required and typically the guy is only vaugely familiar with their existance, let alone content.
A car mechanic will probably not know much about thermodynamics or kinematics, even though he'll recharge your AC sytem and balance your tires.
A serviceman working on your home heating system probably doesn't know much about fluid mechanics or electronics, even though he may replace the pump and install a new digital controller.
A steelworker probably doesn't know much about structural design and stress analysis, even though he welds and bolts the frame of a building together.
Again, this is not to say they can't understand it, only that it isn't what they were trained to do. It's not required to do the job.
=Smidge=
Having dealt with many "Service technicians" and "maintenance workers", I can assure you it's rare they apply any kind of scientific process... unless maybe we're not using the same definition?
The process is a lot more like a premade flowchart. "Does it work?" (Y/N), "Is it turning over?" {Y/N), "Is there fuel?" (Y/N)... each step is usually followed by routine inspections of various components t make sure everything is where it should be. It's all very robotic. Sometimes an experienced person can take a shortcut because he recognizes the problem, but it's still not scientific. It's rhetoric.
Even the most highly qualified and experienced technician will not be able to tell you how to build an engine. That's a surprisingly big leap in skill. This is because they don't fully understand the underlying principles of it's operation: Kinematics, Thermodynamics, Chemistry, Fluid Dynamics, Material science, etc. Knowledge and use of those principles would constitute science.
Good example: ask a technician what it means when an engine is "running rich". They'll probably tell you it means there's too much fuel and not enough air, which is true, but you'll be lucky if they can actually explain why that hurts the engine's performance.
Chances are, when you go to fix your network, you have some knowledge of the underlying principles: Protocol abstraction, networking theory, maybe even basic electronics. Using those principles is pretty much required because so few of the problems with computer networks are physical. That would consitute science.
Now, about being held accountable: I definitely agree! I was only suggesting that maybe they didn't fully understand the repercussions of their actions.
=Smidge=
"Maintenance workers" aren't scientists. Scientists have Master's and PhD's from accredited universities, Maintenance workers have certification from DeVry Institute of Technology (sometimes...)
This is not to say they are immoral or stupid, but perhaps they don't quite understand how dangerous the stuff that goes on in the labs can be, and important those systems are. They don't design those systems, only fix them (which requires no knowledge of what it actually does)
=Smidge=
Since when is stating a lucid truth considered a troll?
=Smidge=
You'ld like to think that, wouldn't you? Guess what... that stuff is all over your skin, hair and clothes 24/7. Doesn't matter how much soap you use. Unless you bathe in isopropyl alcohol in a biomedical clean room you're going to be crawling with millions and millions of microbes of every description.
;)
This is a Good Thing(tm), since you're immune to all of them and they take up all the real estate so the really nasty ones have a problem surviving.
Sex brings you in to very intimate contact with someone else's germs. Filthy!
=Smidge=
My thoughts exactly! I mean, look what happened to those poor people on Golgafrincham!
/.ers can probably related, just think of how many bacteria, mold and fungi you pick up during sex!
This is not to say that it's good to wallow in filth all day, but chances are the bugs on your desk and keyboard are 99.9% completely harmless, with the other 0.1% being a very mild hazard that you're probably more likely to get from something else (another posted mentioned warts as an example). Your best defense is to wash your hands before eating. Hopefully that's common sense.
Every time you breathe in you swallow about 60,000 bacteria. According to the linked article that's like licking your spacebar clean. Can you imagine how many germs you pick up drinking out of a bottle or cup that's been sitting out for even a few minutes? What about eating the rest of that sandwich you got yesterday? And only a few
=Smidge=
Smidge204 (605297)
Mr Smidge (668120)
I had it before you! (And thanks for the link)
=Smidge=
as long as it is accurate and useful
Aye, there's the rub. How easy is it to forge metadata, or remove it completely?
=Smidge=
(mainly I think because everyone trusted what they heard on the radio, thankfully we're all far more cynical now)
Yeah, now they only trust anything they see on television!
You might wanna try the Google Zeitgeist for that search count, though It's not very "live". Keep an eye on it!
=Smidge=
I happen to live in that state, as a consequence I know about the test since I took it myself (granted, a few years ago) and since it was all over the news. I'm sure if I looked around I could find more examples.
The Nashville schools were contemplating dropping the honor roll because of privacy concerns
Not according to the article I linked too. That might be the "reason" they've given it, but that sure doesn't sound like the true motivating factor. "Some schools since have put a stop to academic pep rallies. Others think they may have to cancel spelling bees." How the hell does an academic pep rally constitute a privacy concern?
I'd like to see someone in charge with enough balls to tell these crybabies off. Success comes from effort, not spoon feeding and consolation. That's the difference between success and mediocrity.
I would rather have the kid give up than give him a 50% for doing nothing and have him get the impression he actually deserves it. Moreover, it demotivates people who actually make the grade because now it's meaningless. Why try hard when you'll get decent grades with almost no effort?
Personal anecdote: In my High School they had just started an academic program. If you had a GPA above 3 or if you have improved your GPA for the past two semesters, you got to attend an annual event.
The event was basically a day off spend in the auditorium. Entertainment, music, games, and depending on your grade your GPA you got a certain number of raffle tickets for door prizes. (Everything from small cheesy drawing tool kits to CD boomboxes and $100 gift certificates). First year involved some 200 students. By the third year over half the school (~3000) qualified. They had to break it up as a day for each grade at that point.
My moral for this: Use a bigger carrot instead of a longer string. (FYI: The total cost of this was pretty low, too. Run by volunteers who solicited most of the prizes and materials from local businesses as donations - non profit, tax deductable!)
Parents complain about all kinds of crap. Th
at doesn't mean the standards of schools are changing.
When the schools change their policies based on those complaints, yeah, it does mean the schools are changing. Remember that whole "evolution -> biological changes over time" crap that happened in Georgia not too long ago? Great example of the kind of crap going on all over the country. I wont even get started on the poor politics involved with textbooks...
This is just the specific stuff I'm familiar with off the top of my head. Even from my own experience I can tell you that the standards of education: the amount and quality of information provided, as well as the methods, is going from bad to worse.
=Smidge=
June 2003, the failure rate for the New York State Math 'A' regents exam reached all time highs. Apparently the test was no more difficult than it ever was in the past. It's trig and algebra, people. Apparently some 65% of high school students didn't get it. read the report
"I think we have to be really careful about grading, that we don't do things that really devastate children and don't give an accurate reflection of their work." -Chief Instructional Officer Sandy Johnson (Tennessee), supporting a proposal to change the grading guidelines so that the lowest grade you can receive for anything is a 50/100. That's right! Don't even show up for class and get a 50%!
Nashville was also contemplating dropping the Honor Roll program because of fears of slipping student morale: story
(Haven't followed up on that. Did they actually do it?)
What about that story about 1337 speak in schools? That kind of functional illiteracy is barely accepable online, but it's okay for english papers?
I also remember reading somewhere about parents complaining about a school hanging other student's aorks in the hallways. Apparently it made their kids feel bad to not get their stuff hung up too. I'll see if I can track down that source.
That's just what I can think of off the top of my head. I haven't had breakfast yet...
=Smidge=
I think you missed my point.
Unless I've been misinformed, the goal of this competition is to develop an autonomous vehicle.
To facilitate this, DARPA set certain requirements that the vehicle has to meet. Consider the qualification as the first of two hurdles (the second one being the actual challange)
Now, this isn't Battlebots. The teams are not competing directly with each other except for a piece of cheese (prize money) and bragging rights. You don't need more than one contestant at a time. It's like any other race. You have to do a pre-race trial that determines your rank in the final race. If you don't qualify, you don't get to race at all. The only difference, really, is that it doesn't matter who crosses the line first, but fastest (if at all). Each team's run is completely independent.
The teams are already competing by entering the qualification runs. If they fail the qualification runs, then they can come back and try harder next year.
Funding is about the only valid point you've made, but I'm sure you can get sponsors. The rules say you're allowed to turn your entry into a mobile billboard as long as they get to approve the ads first. (I think digging up sponsor money would count as "trying harder", too, since raising money is a very valuable skill in private R&D)
=Smidge=
I'm sure if every project follows this model of diminishing goals, morale will be at all time high and productivity will skyrocket! I mean, failure is a terrible thing and nobody should be forced to cope with it and try to do better. Trying is hard!
Hey, it works for the public education system, right?
Screw it. If one team qualifies, one team takes the challenge. Chances are they're a shoe-in anyway considering they've already proven themselves more capable.
To all those that failed: Better luck next year, guys!
=Smidge=
It's not just you. Especially from the front view!
I'd rather have a Tachikoma, though... unless this thing can be fitted with a flamethrower... hmm.
=Smidge=
A valid point. Unless they can proove that BobVila.com knew or explicitly ordered advertising in this form, then shouldn't the company that actually DID the spamming take most of the heat?
Although, in the long run, this might work out if BobVila.com loses. If hiring non-compliant spammers for advertizing becomes a liability, maybe they'll go out of business!
=Smidge=
If a "Volvo Technician" is like any other manufacturer's "Technician", that means a car mechanic that has a piece of paper saying if he works on the car it won't void any warrantees.
That also means you'd need take out a few bolts instead of pulling a lever to get at the engine compartment. Any homeowner who would have (legitimate) interest in getting under the hood will probably have a wrench.
What I mean was, it's not like you'll have to ship it back to the factory for service. It's not hermetically sealed or anything stupid like that - it's just not a simple spring lever.
=Smidge=
Why would they need to hack the cars? By design, the owner/driver has absolutely no knowledge anything is wrong until the repair shop calls them.
Even the "idiot lights" they use now (so called because they usually don't tell you there's a problem until the damage is already done) are better, because at least you know about it first hand.
Or you can just be a responsible car owner and stick to a scheduled maintenance program...
(Re-reads original post, notices typos... goes to get more coffee)
=Smidge=
My thoughts exactly. In fact, it's completely misleading.
...too easy... :)
...said Ms Temm optimistically, while sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck...
The "Hood" is one peice, so there is no "hatch" like a traditional car. But it's still removable for access. The headline suggests the engine is completely sealed off to prevent anyone but the manufacturer from touching the insides.
Also, you make an interesting point about the type of people that would buy this car for the same rasons it was designed this way ("wold never oen the hood anyway"). From the article:
"So we shifted the filling station for washer fluid to the side of the car, next to where you fill up fuel, and we closed the bonnet for good."
Now taking bets on how often gasoline ends up in the washer fuild or vice versa!
The car should be programmed to discover any problems under the bonnet, then send a message to the garage to let them know.
Well that's something I don't particularly care for...
The mechanics would then contact the women directly to invite them over.
"If the car says nothing, then everything is fine," said Ms Temm optimistically.
So they have implemented a body scanning system...
The results of which are also sent to the mechanics so they can decide if they need to contact the driver directly and invite them to their shop!
=Smidge=
If you get modded down into the dirt on a consistent basis, you quite possibly deserve it.
I occasionally browse at -1 just to see all the action going on beneath the surface. I've seen a lot, and for the most part it's either way off topic, flamebait or trolling. Go figure! I also get mod points on a fairly regular basis, and when I do I actually browse at -1 more often. I do this because that's how the system works, and I do my part when I'm able. (This is probably why I've had "Excellent" karma since I've registered.) Go ahead and call me a karma whore, but my post record will show I do anything but echo the mass sentiment.
Metamoderation has the ability to take away your eligibility to moderate in the first place. I also didn't see anything in the faq about getting banned from simply being modded down. If I understand it correctly, it's pretty tough to get banned.
Oh, go ahead and call the FAQ "shit" again. I guess any source that refutes your opinion is just the Man bringing you down.
While we're on the topic if "childish", I happened to glance at your profile and noticed CmdTaco, Hemos and CowboyNeal are on your "foes" list. Yeah, that's showin' em! I expect to be on that list too after this... woe is me!
=Smidge=
Except that would:
1) Probably break the car's computer system, which relies on the proper function of those sensors
2) Require you to understand how each sensor operates (Which I'm sure are equally undocumented)
3) Build your own interface circuitry
4) Do your own calibration and correction
5) Understand what the sensors tell you, and how to deduce the status of the vehicle from them
The onboard computer does all that. All you need to do is ask it what's going on.
At least the hookup is designed for car/computer communications. It would be easier to reverse engineer one access point and protocol than to hack together a complete, seperate system that doesn't break the existing one (which would kill the car). Especially since there is some documentation on it, and equipment that is designed to interface with it is available. (Very expensive though - got any buddies who work in a repair shop?)
=Smidge=
Yes there is, its called ignoring them.
You can ignore moderation results, too. There are settings for each moderation category that allow you to modify the scores.
Don't want to read "funny" comments? Give it a -6 modifier, everything else a +1 and browse with comment score 0. Want to read nothing but flaimbait? Give everything a modifier of -6 and flaimbait +6. The moderation system is only a "community suggestion" for which topics are worth reading. Sure it's not perfect, but it was never touted to be.
Once the bad moderation is done, the damage is permanent. And its quite easy to make multiple accounts to get multiple mod points. I dont see any reduction in the frequency of bad moderation either.
What damage? Your karma score? Cry me a river... as for making multiple accounts, it's also possible to post as an AC hundreds of times in the same thread and spam it to hell and back. At least you have to put effort into maintaining good karma and activity on multiple accounts to get those mod points.
How so?
Simple: He wants others to be accountable, but by posting as an AC he can't be held accountable himself. That's hypocrisy.
Maybe he didn't register, sure, but that's really not an excuse. If he's been around long enough to be that pissy about the moderation system chances are he does have an account anyway.
=Smidge=
Register yourself as a company.
Make a database of your personal information (Name, phone number, address, family history, etc).
Sue other companies for using your "copyrighted data", which is held by your company.
Profit! (For the lawyers anyway)
=Smidge=
It's not really how much heat, it's where it's dumped. Powerplants are frequently build next to lakes and rivers as a source of cooling water... and there are plenty of laws limiting the temperature of the water leaving the plant. (Least you end up with a boling hot river, not only killing most of the life in and around it but probably creating a nice environment for all sorts of nasty stuff to grow...)
But in general, yes, it would be no different than what we're doing now.
=Smidge=
"Going Supernova" requires a certain amount of mass. Our sun is too small. For a star the size of our sun, the death is a gradual swelling of the outer layers and a contraction of the core, resulting in a nebula with a white dwarf in the middle.
A drinking-cup sized chunk of fusion wouldn't have much umph at all. Considernig the processes going on are completely different from the kind in hydrogen fusion bombs, I'd say the worst explosion is from overheating and overpressurizing of the chamber - something like a handgrenade.
=Smidge=