effectively at 0% margin, is a game other businesses don't have the will to do
One look at Amazon's share price should tell you why that is a simple mentality. The market rewards revenue growth handsomely. Amazon investors have won many times over. Amazon executives are paid handsomely. A company does not need to pay out dividends to be a good investment.
but I'm certain that the population of the USA wouldn't stand for that.
I'm certain that you are wrong. Would you have guessed that helmets and seatbelts could be mandated? Fuel economy? I think you are underestimating the emotional power of 30,000 deaths. A few hundred per year stops wars. The slight possibility of an innocent man being executed stops capital punishment. I'm pretty sure most people won't be as cavalier about death as you are when there is a solution on hand.
Corporations are voluntary associations of people who do not give up their rights associating that way.
Incorrect. A corporation is a trick of law that makes certain economic activity more convenient. If people want to band together and make some kind of a political statement, then they can go ahead and do that without a charter from the government.
I mean, a corporation can be an entity with no employees owned by another corporation - people don't even need to be part of it.
Look, if you think improving automotive safety is akin to restricting freedom, then I can't really tell you not to believe that - but I will tell you that I disagree. One does not have a natural right to speed around in a giant chunk of metal at 70 MPH. If you think it is worth 30,000 lives to have this deluded sense of control and liberty, then, like, that's your opinion, man. I simply disagree and will vote for people who politicians who promise to improve automotive safety.
He didn't cause 30,000 deaths, but the system in place that lets him have such freedom most certainly did. Restricting _how_ you get from point A to B has nothing at all to do with liberty. Restricting your _ability_ to get from point A to B would, but we are not talking about restricting that.
I assume they'd use some kind of a binary system, with fresh water in the cooling loop and pumping salt water through the heat exchangers. I don't think you'd want to rely on natural heat dissipation, as you'd need a very large radiator, and sea life would love to grow all over it.
I don't think your lifestyle is worth 30,000+ dead folks each year. Sorry. There is always the track, and I suspect driving refuges will spring up for like minded folks such as yourself.
Low pressure sodium is indeed even more efficient - can we just agree that, as far as lumens per watt - sodium lamps are already pretty darned efficient? They may or may not manage to find LEDs with more lumen efficiency, but the color will almost certainly be better. I can see that (and their directionality) enabling them to use fewer lumens overall.
There is a subtext to this discussion, which is that there is a faction of Americans who fear treaties in general. Under the US Constitution, treaties are more or less equivalent to constitutional amendments. However, as opposed to amendments, treaties tend to sail on through the Senate. So there are more than a few folks who fear giving away our national sovereignty through the "back door" of the treaty process.
Personally, I prefer a world where every country is held accountable. With such a small population, America is not going to be on top forever - and setting up a system that protects all countries now is in our long-term best interests IMHO.
That's a great idea if you have the discipline to keep that backup current and you don't mind having a week or so worth of work lost. I don't relish either of those things.
In fact it does happen, so tell it to the family of the wrong man executed.
I don't really feel moved by that sentiment. The effects on society are far more important than the rare family's devistation. We tolerate 30,000 deaths a year so that we can drive around as we please, but the purely theoretical case of a wrongly executed prisoner should result in sanction? We fire rockets into groups of cars that probably contain this or that terrorist leader, killing civilians pretty much constantly. Again, I appeal to everyone's sense of perspective. The very few prisoners executed in the US every year are simply not that big of a deal, and not really worthy of all the stink... there is very little return on your investment even if you are ultimately successful.
Because that's what all Europeans do?
If you are going to punish the entire US with a drug sanction, then I'm going to hold you responsible for the actions of your leaders as well. If we can back off from ridiculous sanctions which punish even death penalty opponents, then maybe I'll be considerate of the pacifists of the EU.
But that isn't an argument in favour of killing alleged capital offenders.
I certainly can agree with that. I'm not exactly a death penalty advocate; I think it is expensive and ineffective as a deterrent. I also think that in the US it is racially unequal. That said, it does not warrant the kind of passion that it induces in people. As you mentioned, these people would otherwise just rot in jail.
You mean the one star that I can sort-of see in NYC will disappear?:)
I think that damage is already done. My daughter didn't really know what a star was until we brought her to the beach. After that, I felt pretty sorry that I had been singing "Twinkle Twinkle" all this time without actually telling her what the heck a star was...
I am therefore disqualified from commenting on the American reluctance to abolish capital punishment?
No, I'm pointing out that European countries _continue_ to participate in war. I'd love to hear why a convicted murderer deserves to live, but a war can be just despite inevitable innocent civilian casualties. Oh, no, the justice system might have made a mistake! The wrong man might be executed! It's a good point, but saying such a thing while dripping with moral superiority while also supporting the killing of people without a trial is kind of funny. At least, funny in a dark humor kind of way.
I'd say that Americans should be very careful about who they decide to execute, but I'd also put this all in perspective. Cutting off the supply of medicine is probably worse than the remote possibility that a innocent man or two has been executed unjustly. Where is the cutoff in medicine due to drone attacks? The whole issue is absurd.
Came here to say this. Sodium lights are already pretty darned efficient, if a bit ugly. Sodium lights get 140 lumens per watt, so I'm not sure where their savings are coming from - perhaps the improved quality of light lets them decrease the lumens.
It's a good thing Europe never has any wars, or they'd sound almost hilariously hypocritical for condemning the killing of another human being with some kind of legal justification.
There is none, because there's nothing the Lightning connector can do that USB cannot
I have no devices with a lightning connector, so I might be wrong here. I am by no means an expert on such things. My understanding, though, is that the lightning connector is reversible. It also appears to be more durable (on solid piece) and redundant (if the contacts fail on one side, flip it over). You also assume that 12 watts is the upper limit, but only Apple knows this. The point is that a device with 12 watts will charge quite a bit faster than a device with 9 watts. Most importantly, the lightning connector appears to support USB 3.0 with the same form factor (though this is not confirmed, but it has 9 pins so it should work). USB 3.0 requires 10 pins (though two of those are ground so really 9 pins) - the micro USB 3.0 connector is a ungodly thing... have you seen it? Take a gander: it is a USB 2.0 plug with another plug right along side of it. It has the advantage of being backward-compatible, but at the cost of being almost as wide as a full sized USB connector. I don't know how anyone could look at that thing and not be envious of the lightning connector.
12v through any data cable to a phone would make the copper so hot that it would melt though it's plastic protection in a few seconds, short, and blow the socket.
With all due respect, you shouldn't be telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about. Higher voltage will let you run lower currents, which will reduce heat. V=I*R and P=R*I^2, which also gives us P = V*I. The heat of the wire/connector is proportional to the current, not the voltage. So I can get 12 watts with 2.4 amps at 5 V or 12 watts with only 1 amp at 12 volts. Thus, higher voltage will increase the power capacity of the wire without inducing more heat.
Stories are voted on by users, ever heard of the firehose?
Straight plurality votes are what brought us the American congress with it's 5% approval rating. The "democracy == good" equation is not as straightforward as they teach you in school. In this case, a hot issue for a vocal minority gets upvoted, no matter how stupid the content, just to make a political point.
I would agree with you if it weren't for the fact that the passive 3D sets are increasingly popular. As opposed to the active sets where the cost is in the shutter glasses, the passive sets cost more to make because they need an extra film applied in manufacturing. If the feature were not in demand, they wouldn't spend money on it.
but generally speaking any tech not then adopted by the broader population will eventually be abandoned
Betamax vs. VHS was not decided by the broader population, it was decided by bleeding edge folks. Same with HD-DVD vs. BluRay. If 4k pictures are going to take off, it will have to pass muster with the high-dollar bleeding edge crowd first.
The consumers got burned so the media companies could have a pissing contest.
"The consumers" you refer to are the demographic that I was talking about. The vast majority of consumers did not buy BluRay or HD-DVD at all. by the time HD-DVD died, it was summer of 2008 and BluRay marketshare vs. DVDs was under 5%. Even now, it is only about 35%.
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effectively at 0% margin, is a game other businesses don't have the will to do
One look at Amazon's share price should tell you why that is a simple mentality. The market rewards revenue growth handsomely. Amazon investors have won many times over. Amazon executives are paid handsomely. A company does not need to pay out dividends to be a good investment.
but I'm certain that the population of the USA wouldn't stand for that.
I'm certain that you are wrong. Would you have guessed that helmets and seatbelts could be mandated? Fuel economy? I think you are underestimating the emotional power of 30,000 deaths. A few hundred per year stops wars. The slight possibility of an innocent man being executed stops capital punishment. I'm pretty sure most people won't be as cavalier about death as you are when there is a solution on hand.
Corporations are voluntary associations of people who do not give up their rights associating that way.
Incorrect. A corporation is a trick of law that makes certain economic activity more convenient. If people want to band together and make some kind of a political statement, then they can go ahead and do that without a charter from the government.
I mean, a corporation can be an entity with no employees owned by another corporation - people don't even need to be part of it.
Look, if you think improving automotive safety is akin to restricting freedom, then I can't really tell you not to believe that - but I will tell you that I disagree. One does not have a natural right to speed around in a giant chunk of metal at 70 MPH. If you think it is worth 30,000 lives to have this deluded sense of control and liberty, then, like, that's your opinion, man. I simply disagree and will vote for people who politicians who promise to improve automotive safety.
He didn't cause 30,000 deaths, but the system in place that lets him have such freedom most certainly did. Restricting _how_ you get from point A to B has nothing at all to do with liberty. Restricting your _ability_ to get from point A to B would, but we are not talking about restricting that.
I assume they'd use some kind of a binary system, with fresh water in the cooling loop and pumping salt water through the heat exchangers. I don't think you'd want to rely on natural heat dissipation, as you'd need a very large radiator, and sea life would love to grow all over it.
I don't think your lifestyle is worth 30,000+ dead folks each year. Sorry. There is always the track, and I suspect driving refuges will spring up for like minded folks such as yourself.
I'm not exactly a light expert :)
Low pressure sodium is indeed even more efficient - can we just agree that, as far as lumens per watt - sodium lamps are already pretty darned efficient? They may or may not manage to find LEDs with more lumen efficiency, but the color will almost certainly be better. I can see that (and their directionality) enabling them to use fewer lumens overall.
There is a subtext to this discussion, which is that there is a faction of Americans who fear treaties in general. Under the US Constitution, treaties are more or less equivalent to constitutional amendments. However, as opposed to amendments, treaties tend to sail on through the Senate. So there are more than a few folks who fear giving away our national sovereignty through the "back door" of the treaty process.
Personally, I prefer a world where every country is held accountable. With such a small population, America is not going to be on top forever - and setting up a system that protects all countries now is in our long-term best interests IMHO.
They could even make it ad-based :)
That's a great idea if you have the discipline to keep that backup current and you don't mind having a week or so worth of work lost. I don't relish either of those things.
So, to be clear, the United States democractically elected government passed a law, that applies only to United States citizens.
And the law says that US citizens can only use US-based casinos. Sounds like protectionism to me, which violates their WTO commitments.
In fact it does happen, so tell it to the family of the wrong man executed.
I don't really feel moved by that sentiment. The effects on society are far more important than the rare family's devistation. We tolerate 30,000 deaths a year so that we can drive around as we please, but the purely theoretical case of a wrongly executed prisoner should result in sanction? We fire rockets into groups of cars that probably contain this or that terrorist leader, killing civilians pretty much constantly. Again, I appeal to everyone's sense of perspective. The very few prisoners executed in the US every year are simply not that big of a deal, and not really worthy of all the stink... there is very little return on your investment even if you are ultimately successful.
Because that's what all Europeans do?
If you are going to punish the entire US with a drug sanction, then I'm going to hold you responsible for the actions of your leaders as well. If we can back off from ridiculous sanctions which punish even death penalty opponents, then maybe I'll be considerate of the pacifists of the EU.
But that isn't an argument in favour of killing alleged capital offenders.
I certainly can agree with that. I'm not exactly a death penalty advocate; I think it is expensive and ineffective as a deterrent. I also think that in the US it is racially unequal. That said, it does not warrant the kind of passion that it induces in people. As you mentioned, these people would otherwise just rot in jail.
It's a disaster for amateur astronomy,
You mean the one star that I can sort-of see in NYC will disappear? :)
I think that damage is already done. My daughter didn't really know what a star was until we brought her to the beach. After that, I felt pretty sorry that I had been singing "Twinkle Twinkle" all this time without actually telling her what the heck a star was...
I am therefore disqualified from commenting on the American reluctance to abolish capital punishment?
No, I'm pointing out that European countries _continue_ to participate in war. I'd love to hear why a convicted murderer deserves to live, but a war can be just despite inevitable innocent civilian casualties. Oh, no, the justice system might have made a mistake! The wrong man might be executed! It's a good point, but saying such a thing while dripping with moral superiority while also supporting the killing of people without a trial is kind of funny. At least, funny in a dark humor kind of way.
I'd say that Americans should be very careful about who they decide to execute, but I'd also put this all in perspective. Cutting off the supply of medicine is probably worse than the remote possibility that a innocent man or two has been executed unjustly. Where is the cutoff in medicine due to drone attacks? The whole issue is absurd.
Came here to say this. Sodium lights are already pretty darned efficient, if a bit ugly. Sodium lights get 140 lumens per watt, so I'm not sure where their savings are coming from - perhaps the improved quality of light lets them decrease the lumens.
It's a good thing Europe never has any wars, or they'd sound almost hilariously hypocritical for condemning the killing of another human being with some kind of legal justification.
There is none, because there's nothing the Lightning connector can do that USB cannot
I have no devices with a lightning connector, so I might be wrong here. I am by no means an expert on such things. My understanding, though, is that the lightning connector is reversible. It also appears to be more durable (on solid piece) and redundant (if the contacts fail on one side, flip it over). You also assume that 12 watts is the upper limit, but only Apple knows this. The point is that a device with 12 watts will charge quite a bit faster than a device with 9 watts. Most importantly, the lightning connector appears to support USB 3.0 with the same form factor (though this is not confirmed, but it has 9 pins so it should work). USB 3.0 requires 10 pins (though two of those are ground so really 9 pins) - the micro USB 3.0 connector is a ungodly thing... have you seen it? Take a gander: it is a USB 2.0 plug with another plug right along side of it. It has the advantage of being backward-compatible, but at the cost of being almost as wide as a full sized USB connector. I don't know how anyone could look at that thing and not be envious of the lightning connector.
12v through any data cable to a phone would make the copper so hot that it would melt though it's plastic protection in a few seconds, short, and blow the socket.
With all due respect, you shouldn't be telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about. Higher voltage will let you run lower currents, which will reduce heat. V=I*R and P=R*I^2, which also gives us P = V*I. The heat of the wire/connector is proportional to the current, not the voltage. So I can get 12 watts with 2.4 amps at 5 V or 12 watts with only 1 amp at 12 volts. Thus, higher voltage will increase the power capacity of the wire without inducing more heat.
Stories are voted on by users, ever heard of the firehose?
Straight plurality votes are what brought us the American congress with it's 5% approval rating. The "democracy == good" equation is not as straightforward as they teach you in school. In this case, a hot issue for a vocal minority gets upvoted, no matter how stupid the content, just to make a political point.
Since my wife gets Office through work with a little effort, I didn't really shop around - but it's nice to know there are alternatives.
Certainly the blockbusters are popular in 3D... I remember the BluRay version of Avengers was selling like 30% 3D.
I would agree with you if it weren't for the fact that the passive 3D sets are increasingly popular. As opposed to the active sets where the cost is in the shutter glasses, the passive sets cost more to make because they need an extra film applied in manufacturing. If the feature were not in demand, they wouldn't spend money on it.
but generally speaking any tech not then adopted by the broader population will eventually be abandoned
Betamax vs. VHS was not decided by the broader population, it was decided by bleeding edge folks. Same with HD-DVD vs. BluRay. If 4k pictures are going to take off, it will have to pass muster with the high-dollar bleeding edge crowd first.
The consumers got burned so the media companies could have a pissing contest.
"The consumers" you refer to are the demographic that I was talking about. The vast majority of consumers did not buy BluRay or HD-DVD at all. by the time HD-DVD died, it was summer of 2008 and BluRay marketshare vs. DVDs was under 5%. Even now, it is only about 35%.
I'll have to try adding noise. It looks like ffdshow uses ffmpeg so maybe I can do it with that.