Single pinhole cameras have severe quality limits. Make the hole too big and sharpness is inversely proportional to the diameter of the hole. Make the hole too small and sharpness is proportional to the size of the hole, and the amount of light is reduced also. For best sharpness there's an optimum pinhole diameter { 1.9 * sqrt ( f * l ), where f is focal length and l is wavelength }, and the results even at the optimum aren't very good.
Multiple pinholes offers a theoretical way around the diffraction limit. If I understand the concept correctly, this is a "synthetic aperture" technique.
That's probably only OK if the valves move in the same direction as the piston and the pistons are flat. Side thrust on the valve stem and scraping on the top of the piston may lead to problems quickly.
Having actually studied the data sheets for Nuvistors, I can tell you that their noise performance is inferior to modern semiconductors designed for RF reception.
Nuvistors are thermionic electron tubes, and even with the smoothing effects of space charge their equivalent noise temperature is limited by using a hot cathode to emit electrons. Unlike semiconductors, they can't be cooled to reduce noise.
Power companies are very heavily regulated in the U.S.. Generally, they have to ask permission to change rates. Environmentalists, consumerists, and NIMBYists are constantly nibbling at them, and in many places they are have to accept competing generator companies on their distribution network. Their financials and the pay of major officers is public record. If they're getting away with something, it's because everyone outside the company isn't paying attention.
Efficiency gains come from thicker wire, better transformer steel and more of it, more conductive diodes, etc.. Each improvement of this sort not only improves efficiency but extends device life and reduces fire hazard. There's more to be gained here than raw efficiency.
A bad wall wart wastes power 24 hours a day and can easily have efficiency below 50%. Low voltage DC power cables waste energy only when used.
The big problem with running low voltage DC throughout the house is that the initial installation expense is unjustifiable, and even worse as a retrofit. Thick copper wire can cost over $1 per foot.
Your solution is a poor one, ill-conceived, inefficient, and poorly directed. Pollution comes from the power generator, and the power generating company should be taxed at a rate equal to the demonstrable damage the pollution causes. This should give electric companies more incentive to tell their customers not to waste.
Of course, if the utility is state-owned, this nice mechanism disappears; the state is not going to tax itself for polluting or for any other misbehavior. Another reason to minimize government.
R&D for a feature like this is a one-time expense of less than $100,000 per set-top manufacturer, and then it becomes part of the standard design. Over 20 million boxes, that's 0.5 cents per box. Parts cost is on the order of 25 cents per box. Savings for the consumer would be better than $1 a month in most places.
Cable companies not being very ethical, I've no doubt that they'd try to charge extra for it. That they could get away with it is a political problem having to do with being a "regulated" monopoly.
The cable boxes I have experience with have an "OFF" on the remote, and also on the front panel. In the "OFF" condition, the LED display turns off, and the box's dissipation goes from 21 W to 20.5 W, typically. This is worse than ineffective, it's dishonest.
A work-for-hire model that deprives programmers of true ownership of their code
The exact opposite is true. If you work as an employee, everything you do is property of your employer. If you work for hire, the specific code you produce belongs to the employer, but the development is yours, and the development material is far more important to the programmer than any specific code implementation.
About a month ago OpenOffice 4.0.1 started crashing hard when exiting - freezing up the whole system UI, although streaming audio continued playing (Linux, Fedora 20, KDE. Push Reset button and reboot.). I switched to Libre Office and happily used it for 2 days, until I discovered it wouldn't save to the.sxc filetype.
Installed OpenOffice 4.1.2, everything seems good now.
Push starting a car with a completely dead battery isn't possible; you have to have enough voltage to make the ignition system work.
Exception: if a car had a permanent magnet generator, it might work.
Parapsychologists fall into 2 categories: suckers and people out to fleece suckers. For the second class look at the early scenes of Dr. Peter Venkman.
The idea that there are over 110 climate scientists needed to make models in Australia alone is preposterous. Model making consists of little more than taking data sets and making correlations, then checking for internal consistency. Until new data becomes available, nothing more can be done.
This is a job for one person, maybe with a secretary. Anything more is evidence of a political machine.
Existing global climate models are useless to predict a few years but are the best thing we have to predict what the long term averages for climate will be.
That's a joke, right? The models are no good when tested against the data we have, but those same models are the best for data we don't have yet!
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Single pinhole cameras have severe quality limits. Make the hole too big and sharpness is inversely proportional to the diameter of the hole. Make the hole too small and sharpness is proportional to the size of the hole, and the amount of light is reduced also. For best sharpness there's an optimum pinhole diameter { 1.9 * sqrt ( f * l ), where f is focal length and l is wavelength }, and the results even at the optimum aren't very good.
Multiple pinholes offers a theoretical way around the diffraction limit. If I understand the concept correctly, this is a "synthetic aperture" technique.
Flower power.
Poppet valves can be made quite strong, it may not be possible to make a butterfly valve strong enough while maintaining aerodynamic efficiency.
I've read that sliding valves in IC engines have problems with fouling and with maintaining a tight seal.
A solenoid is a very simple device, and relatively easy to make rugged. More worrisome are the control electronics and wiring.
With rocker arms, it's possible to change the pivot point, which allows changing duration and lift.
That's probably only OK if the valves move in the same direction as the piston and the pistons are flat. Side thrust on the valve stem and scraping on the top of the piston may lead to problems quickly.
Having actually studied the data sheets for Nuvistors, I can tell you that their noise performance is inferior to modern semiconductors designed for RF reception.
Nuvistors are thermionic electron tubes, and even with the smoothing effects of space charge their equivalent noise temperature is limited by using a hot cathode to emit electrons. Unlike semiconductors, they can't be cooled to reduce noise.
Power companies are very heavily regulated in the U.S.. Generally, they have to ask permission to change rates. Environmentalists, consumerists, and NIMBYists are constantly nibbling at them, and in many places they are have to accept competing generator companies on their distribution network. Their financials and the pay of major officers is public record. If they're getting away with something, it's because everyone outside the company isn't paying attention.
Efficiency gains come from thicker wire, better transformer steel and more of it, more conductive diodes, etc.. Each improvement of this sort not only improves efficiency but extends device life and reduces fire hazard. There's more to be gained here than raw efficiency.
Kill-A-Watts aren't very good at measuring low levels of drain, even when set in the accumulate mode.
A bad wall wart wastes power 24 hours a day and can easily have efficiency below 50%. Low voltage DC power cables waste energy only when used.
The big problem with running low voltage DC throughout the house is that the initial installation expense is unjustifiable, and even worse as a retrofit. Thick copper wire can cost over $1 per foot.
Your solution is a poor one, ill-conceived, inefficient, and poorly directed. Pollution comes from the power generator, and the power generating company should be taxed at a rate equal to the demonstrable damage the pollution causes. This should give electric companies more incentive to tell their customers not to waste.
Of course, if the utility is state-owned, this nice mechanism disappears; the state is not going to tax itself for polluting or for any other misbehavior. Another reason to minimize government.
<sarcasm> Damn, I hate it that lights don't turn themselves off when I don't want their light any more! </sarcasm>
R&D for a feature like this is a one-time expense of less than $100,000 per set-top manufacturer, and then it becomes part of the standard design. Over 20 million boxes, that's 0.5 cents per box. Parts cost is on the order of 25 cents per box. Savings for the consumer would be better than $1 a month in most places.
Cable companies not being very ethical, I've no doubt that they'd try to charge extra for it. That they could get away with it is a political problem having to do with being a "regulated" monopoly.
The cable boxes I have experience with have an "OFF" on the remote, and also on the front panel. In the "OFF" condition, the LED display turns off, and the box's dissipation goes from 21 W to 20.5 W, typically. This is worse than ineffective, it's dishonest.
The exact opposite is true. If you work as an employee, everything you do is property of your employer. If you work for hire, the specific code you produce belongs to the employer, but the development is yours, and the development material is far more important to the programmer than any specific code implementation.
Now you won't have to hire a surveyor to find out where the edge of your property is.
Beating dead horse faces.
About a month ago OpenOffice 4.0.1 started crashing hard when exiting - freezing up the whole system UI, although streaming audio continued playing (Linux, Fedora 20, KDE. Push Reset button and reboot.). I switched to Libre Office and happily used it for 2 days, until I discovered it wouldn't save to the .sxc filetype.
Installed OpenOffice 4.1.2, everything seems good now.
Push starting a car with a completely dead battery isn't possible; you have to have enough voltage to make the ignition system work.
Exception: if a car had a permanent magnet generator, it might work.
Usually, when a clutch linkage fails, the clutch engages.
Japanese and other orientals probably have an edge over the rest of us, even without extra exercise.
Parapsychologists fall into 2 categories: suckers and people out to fleece suckers. For the second class look at the early scenes of Dr. Peter Venkman.
The idea that there are over 110 climate scientists needed to make models in Australia alone is preposterous. Model making consists of little more than taking data sets and making correlations, then checking for internal consistency. Until new data becomes available, nothing more can be done.
This is a job for one person, maybe with a secretary. Anything more is evidence of a political machine.
That's a joke, right? The models are no good when tested against the data we have, but those same models are the best for data we don't have yet!