The F-18 was a complete boondoggle. I'm going from memory, but IIRC it was born out of a competition for a single aircraft to serve both Air Force and Navy (sound familiar so far?). The design that would become the F-16 won, but the Navy wanted a second engine so we ended up building TWO fighters. F-16 development went fairly well, but the F-18 proved to cost far more than initially thought as the specs changed underneath of it. A major design iteration (redesign?) resulted in the Super Hornet, and both configurations currently fly. But the path was not smooth or cheap.
If anything, the F/A-18 program shows how iterative design is generally smoother and more cost effective than a clean sheet design. Other examples include the gradual changes that keep the 747 and 727 viable, versus the 787 or A-380 programs.
Not that a clean sheet design is doomed - you have programs like the 777, which went pretty well. And sometimes the technology changes significantly enough that iterative design will no longer result in acceptable performance. I'm not sure what it would have cost to modify the F/A-18 to include stealth and internal weapons, but I'm betting it wouldn't have been cheap. And it almost certainly would not have produced a VTOL version.
I'm glad you guys like these giant phones, because it drives down the prices for the size I prefer. I currently have a Samsung Exhibit 4g. CM10 runs on it adequately and my thumb can reach the whole screen. And for around $150 (no contract), I can forgive the laggy Google voice command stuff.
At the time (early 20th century), rail speeds were limited by a side-to-side oscillation that the single rail eliminated. It also automatically banked in turns, making sharper turns more comfortable for passengers. Both problems have since been mostly solved, without resorting to the need for "train"ing wheels. Sorry.
Let's just say I find it cumbersome. I feel that there should be a "sync" so that I can totally restore the device to a know point in time. Photos, music, and other downloads are not backed up at all - you have to either use a third-party app or you have to manually do backups via your computer.
Mine is rooted so I just make the occasional image. Again, with third-party tools. I find using the iPhone with iTunes to be a bit clumsy, but at least you get a full backup automatically. If you lose the phone, you go buy another one and hook it back up to iTunes and it's just like you never lost your phone. That's what I'm looking for.
Android backup has gotten progressively better (it still does not include all of your data), but it's still a PITA to restore everything unless you have root.
I bought the Kindle Fire HD for my wife, despite there being no root at the time. And now it is rooted. But for my own devices, I'll make sure I can root before purchase from now on.
Yes, well, such is the nature of comparing a very specific product (the iPhone) with a line of hundreds of very diverse products. I had two iPhones, and now I have an Android (as well as a Kindle Fire HD... not sure if that counts as Android).
Anyway, I find both environments very lacking without root. I've also found the alternative Android markets to be mostly crap, even going so far as to install the Google market on my Kindle.
Yes, they think that handguns will be an effective weapon against an oppressive regime. If I were a dictatorial leader I could wipe out the handgun threat in a week. Checkpoints, random searches, and summary executions of people found with handguns should make quick work of it - at least in urban areas.
I find stereotypes offensive when applied blindly to people.
To game systems... meh.
Re:Nintendo needs to rethink its place in the worl
on
Is the Wii U Already Dead?
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Hi, parent here.
I can buy a Wii for a lower price than the XBox or PS. I'm 8 years from angsty teenagers, so I don't have to deal with the desire for mature rated games for a long time. The Wii games are more fun for the tipsy adults when we have friends over.
The Wii U doesn't appeal to me because it looks more complicated and it costs more than twice as much. Talk to me when it is $150. I'd also prefer it didn't have big easy-to-break-looking, drain-its-batteries-all-the-time controller tv things.
Another AC made the same point. But do you really think that every one of those people owns exactly 3 guns? There are probably a fair number of people who have a single pistol, shotgun, or rifle, and a fail number of people who need to use one for work... I don't know if I'd call such people "gun loving".
We have 1.5 million active military personnel, and another 1.5 million reservists. That's a full 1% of our population. Another approximately million Americans work as sworn officers of some kind. I couldn't find statistics on armed guards, but I'd bet that comes in at a million as well.
The pool you are left with: people who own several weapons who could probably be called "gun loving".... that pool is probably under 10%.
If I'm generous to your point and assume that the distribution of guns per owner is normal about the average of 3, then that leaves 50% of the guns in 16% of the people's hands. I suspect the distribution is skewed toward even fewer people owning most of the guns.
the same international laws they want Iran eviscerated under.
Israel never signed on to the nonproliferation treaty. There is no international law that they are violating by possessing or developing nuclear weapons.
Iran, as a signatory, is obliged to allow inspections. They currently are obstructing the inspectors, which is the source of their troubles. They can leave the treaty any time they like, just as North Korea did. They want it both ways - they want the benefits of the NPT and the benefits of being a nuclear power.
During the night of October 8–9, an alarmed Dayan told Meir that "this is the end of the third temple."[261] He was warning of Israel's impending total defeat, but "Temple" was also the code word for nuclear weapons.[262] Dayan again raised the nuclear topic in a cabinet meeting, warning that the country was approaching a point of "last resort."[264] That night Meir authorized the assembly of thirteen 20-kiloton-of-TNT (84 TJ) tactical atomic weapons for Jericho missiles at Sdot Micha Airbase, and F-4 aircraft at Tel Nof Airbase, for use against Syrian and Egyptian targets.[262] They would be used if absolutely necessary to prevent total defeat, but the preparation was done in an easily detectable way, likely as a signal to the United States.[264] Kissinger learned of the nuclear alert on the morning of October 9. That day, President Nixon ordered the commencement of Operation Nickel Grass, an American airlift to replace all of Israel's material losses.[265] Anecdotal evidence suggests that Kissinger told Sadat that the reason for the U.S. airlift was that the Israelis were close to "going nuclear."
Yeah, I'm well aware of the Federal Government's ability to conflate civilian and military. Sort of gets to my point - the government is a terrible regulator of itself.
They had a short run of the place, though. By 1946 it was being run by the Atomic Energy Commission. By 1977, it was being run by the newly-formed Department of Energy. So really only the first 3 years can be blamed on the military.
Slashdot Mirror
The F-18 was a complete boondoggle. I'm going from memory, but IIRC it was born out of a competition for a single aircraft to serve both Air Force and Navy (sound familiar so far?). The design that would become the F-16 won, but the Navy wanted a second engine so we ended up building TWO fighters. F-16 development went fairly well, but the F-18 proved to cost far more than initially thought as the specs changed underneath of it. A major design iteration (redesign?) resulted in the Super Hornet, and both configurations currently fly. But the path was not smooth or cheap.
If anything, the F/A-18 program shows how iterative design is generally smoother and more cost effective than a clean sheet design. Other examples include the gradual changes that keep the 747 and 727 viable, versus the 787 or A-380 programs.
Not that a clean sheet design is doomed - you have programs like the 777, which went pretty well. And sometimes the technology changes significantly enough that iterative design will no longer result in acceptable performance. I'm not sure what it would have cost to modify the F/A-18 to include stealth and internal weapons, but I'm betting it wouldn't have been cheap. And it almost certainly would not have produced a VTOL version.
28-Feb-2013, Feb-28-2013, or 2013-Feb-28 is the only true answer... anything else is ambiguous :)
I'm glad you guys like these giant phones, because it drives down the prices for the size I prefer. I currently have a Samsung Exhibit 4g. CM10 runs on it adequately and my thumb can reach the whole screen. And for around $150 (no contract), I can forgive the laggy Google voice command stuff.
At the time (early 20th century), rail speeds were limited by a side-to-side oscillation that the single rail eliminated. It also automatically banked in turns, making sharper turns more comfortable for passengers. Both problems have since been mostly solved, without resorting to the need for "train"ing wheels. Sorry.
Or high by 10%... I'd tell that asshole that I have lots of guns, so he'd better not come by.
Let's just say I find it cumbersome. I feel that there should be a "sync" so that I can totally restore the device to a know point in time. Photos, music, and other downloads are not backed up at all - you have to either use a third-party app or you have to manually do backups via your computer.
Mine is rooted so I just make the occasional image. Again, with third-party tools. I find using the iPhone with iTunes to be a bit clumsy, but at least you get a full backup automatically. If you lose the phone, you go buy another one and hook it back up to iTunes and it's just like you never lost your phone. That's what I'm looking for.
Android backup has gotten progressively better (it still does not include all of your data), but it's still a PITA to restore everything unless you have root.
I bought the Kindle Fire HD for my wife, despite there being no root at the time. And now it is rooted. But for my own devices, I'll make sure I can root before purchase from now on.
My challenge on Android has been to find a good backup scheme without root. With the iPhone you got backup "automatically" through iTunes.
Caveats, caveats everywhere.
Yes, well, such is the nature of comparing a very specific product (the iPhone) with a line of hundreds of very diverse products. I had two iPhones, and now I have an Android (as well as a Kindle Fire HD... not sure if that counts as Android).
Anyway, I find both environments very lacking without root. I've also found the alternative Android markets to be mostly crap, even going so far as to install the Google market on my Kindle.
Most Android devices are locked, too. Sometimes you buy a product for other considerations and if you can root it... great.
Corporations, government, military - it's all the same to me. I could start a whole diatribe :)
Yes, they think that handguns will be an effective weapon against an oppressive regime. If I were a dictatorial leader I could wipe out the handgun threat in a week. Checkpoints, random searches, and summary executions of people found with handguns should make quick work of it - at least in urban areas.
That's probably true - but I don't think that one gun constitutes "gun-loving" in the context of the original troll.
I find stereotypes offensive when applied blindly to people.
To game systems... meh.
Hi, parent here.
I can buy a Wii for a lower price than the XBox or PS. I'm 8 years from angsty teenagers, so I don't have to deal with the desire for mature rated games for a long time. The Wii games are more fun for the tipsy adults when we have friends over.
The Wii U doesn't appeal to me because it looks more complicated and it costs more than twice as much. Talk to me when it is $150. I'd also prefer it didn't have big easy-to-break-looking, drain-its-batteries-all-the-time controller tv things.
Another AC made the same point. But do you really think that every one of those people owns exactly 3 guns? There are probably a fair number of people who have a single pistol, shotgun, or rifle, and a fail number of people who need to use one for work... I don't know if I'd call such people "gun loving".
We have 1.5 million active military personnel, and another 1.5 million reservists. That's a full 1% of our population. Another approximately million Americans work as sworn officers of some kind. I couldn't find statistics on armed guards, but I'd bet that comes in at a million as well.
The pool you are left with: people who own several weapons who could probably be called "gun loving".... that pool is probably under 10%.
If I'm generous to your point and assume that the distribution of guns per owner is normal about the average of 3, then that leaves 50% of the guns in 16% of the people's hands. I suspect the distribution is skewed toward even fewer people owning most of the guns.
Owned by 32% of the population.
the same international laws they want Iran eviscerated under.
Israel never signed on to the nonproliferation treaty. There is no international law that they are violating by possessing or developing nuclear weapons.
Iran, as a signatory, is obliged to allow inspections. They currently are obstructing the inspectors, which is the source of their troubles. They can leave the treaty any time they like, just as North Korea did. They want it both ways - they want the benefits of the NPT and the benefits of being a nuclear power.
Rising power?
What nation with a nuclear bomb has ever been invaded?
Israel
Invasion is easy. Occupation is a bitch.
Yeah, I'm well aware of the Federal Government's ability to conflate civilian and military. Sort of gets to my point - the government is a terrible regulator of itself.
They operated that site until the late 80s. You get a free pass on environmental regulation only up until about the early 70s.
They had a short run of the place, though. By 1946 it was being run by the Atomic Energy Commission. By 1977, it was being run by the newly-formed Department of Energy. So really only the first 3 years can be blamed on the military.