A volt is 1 newton-meter per coulomb.
A newton is the force required to accelerate a 1 kilogram mass 1 meter per second, per second.
Most (all?) units of (metric) measurement are based on kilograms, meters, and seconds.
Scientists Struggling to Make the Kilogram Right Again
By OTTO POHL
RAUNSCHWEIG, Germany -- In these girth-conscious times, even weight itself has weight issues. The kilogram is getting lighter, scientists say, sowing potential confusion over a range of scientific endeavor.
The kilogram is defined by a platinum-iridium cylinder, cast in England in 1889. No one knows why it is shedding weight, at least in comparison with other reference weights, but the change has spurred an international search for a more stable definition.
"It's certainly not helpful to have a standard that keeps changing," says Peter Becker, a scientist at the Federal Standards Laboratory here, an institution of 1,500 scientists dedicated entirely to improving the ability to measure things precisely.
Even the apparent change of 50 micrograms in the kilogram -- less than the weight of a grain of salt -- is enough to distort careful scientific calculations.
Dr. Becker is leading a team of international researchers seeking to redefine the kilogram as a number of atoms of a selected element. Other scientists, including researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Washington, are developing a competing technology to define the kilogram using a complex mechanism known as the watt balance.
The final recommendation will be made by the International Committee on Weights and Measures, a body created by international treaty in 1875. The agency guards the international reference kilogram and keeps it in a heavily guarded safe in a château outside Paris. It is visited once a year, under heavy security, by the only three people to have keys to the safe. The weight change has been noted on the occasions it has been removed for measurement.
"It's part ceremony and part obligation," Dr. Richard Davis, head of the mass section at the research arm of the international committee.
"You'd have to amend the treaty if you didn't do it this way."
That ceremony has become a little sorrowful as the guest of honor appears to be, on a microscopic level at least, wasting away.
The race is already well under way to determine a new standard, although at a measured pace, since creating reliable measurements is such painstaking work.
The kilogram is the only one of the seven base units of measurement that still retain its 19th-century definition. Over the years, scientists have redefined units like the meter (first based on the earth's circumference) and the second (conceived as a fraction of a day). The meter is now the distance light travels in one-299,792,458th of a second, and a second is the time it takes for a cesium atom to vibrate 9,192,631,770 times. Each can be measured with remarkable precision, and, equally important, can be reproduced anywhere.
The kilogram was conceived to be the mass of a liter of water, but accurately measuring a liter of water proved to be very difficult. Instead, an English goldsmith was hired to make a platinum-iridium cylinder that would be used to define the kilogram.
One reason the kilogram has lagged behind the other units is that there has been no immediate practical benefit to increasing its precision. Nonetheless, the drift in the kilogram's weight carries over to other measurements. The volt, for example, is defined in terms of the kilogram, so a stable kilogram definition will allow the volt to be tied more closely to the base units of measure.
A total of 80 copies of the reference kilogram have been created and distributed to signatories of the metric treaty. The sometimes colorful history of these small metal cylinders underscores how long the world has used the same definition of the kilogram.
Some of the metal plugs were issued to countries that later vanished, including Serbia and the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese had to surrender theirs after World War II. Germany has acquired several weights, including the one issued to Bavaria in 1889 and the one that belonge
But the increase has also drawn objections from developers of 'open source' programs
Open what now?
(programs for which the source code is freely distributed)
Ohhhh! I think I get it! So these programs would be free like free speech... and like free beer! What an amazing concept! Now tell me one more thing: what is this New York Times you speak of?
There're an infinite number of constructions that will never be the same in the decompilation as they were in the original source code. I don't know a single C++ programmer who will readily admit to using a goto, but guess what? Chances are their compiled code is fraught with unconditional branches, the low-level equivalent of goto. (This mentality predates C/C++. One of my first year professors jokingly referred to "The Cult of Nogoto") Perhaps the decompiler in question is able to transform them back into more realistic code, but I don't know becuase I haven't been able to read the article yet.
My copies of Windows 2000 Professional, Server, and Advanced Server, are all from an MSDN subscription. None of them require a serial to install, and all of them update without issue.
My biggest complaint with Windows Update is the inconvenience of having to sort the wheat from the chaff: many of the recommended updates do not concern me.
It's binocular vision (having two working eyes) that allows us* to perceive depth, in much the same way that having two ears allows us* to enjoy sterophonic sound, locate the source of a sound, etc.
One advantage to having just one working eye is that you never "see double" when you lose your focus.
The suicide, and subsequent martyrdom, is a very important element in the process. It has a profound psychological impact on both sides of the conflict. I'm sure cars like these will be used for attack, but they probably won't eliminate the suicide bomber.
Or is there a glaring contradiction in the first paragraph of the article?
[P]rogrammers usually do have a longer attention span and a greater ability to concentrate [...] [M]ost programmers [...] concentration is too easily broken.
Slashdot Mirror
how exactly do they derive volts from kilograms?
A volt is 1 newton-meter per coulomb.
A newton is the force required to accelerate a 1 kilogram mass 1 meter per second, per second.
Most (all?) units of (metric) measurement are based on kilograms, meters, and seconds.
Scientists Struggling to Make the Kilogram Right Again
By OTTO POHL
RAUNSCHWEIG, Germany -- In these girth-conscious times, even weight itself has weight issues. The kilogram is getting lighter, scientists say, sowing potential confusion over a range of scientific endeavor.
The kilogram is defined by a platinum-iridium cylinder, cast in England in 1889. No one knows why it is shedding weight, at least in comparison with other reference weights, but the change has spurred an international search for a more stable definition.
"It's certainly not helpful to have a standard that keeps changing," says Peter Becker, a scientist at the Federal Standards Laboratory here, an institution of 1,500 scientists dedicated entirely to improving the ability to measure things precisely.
Even the apparent change of 50 micrograms in the kilogram -- less than the weight of a grain of salt -- is enough to distort careful scientific calculations.
Dr. Becker is leading a team of international researchers seeking to redefine the kilogram as a number of atoms of a selected element. Other scientists, including researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Washington, are developing a competing technology to define the kilogram using a complex mechanism known as the watt balance.
The final recommendation will be made by the International Committee on Weights and Measures, a body created by international treaty in 1875. The agency guards the international reference kilogram and keeps it in a heavily guarded safe in a château outside Paris. It is visited once a year, under heavy security, by the only three people to have keys to the safe. The weight change has been noted on the occasions it has been removed for measurement.
"It's part ceremony and part obligation," Dr. Richard Davis, head of the mass section at the research arm of the international committee.
"You'd have to amend the treaty if you didn't do it this way."
That ceremony has become a little sorrowful as the guest of honor appears to be, on a microscopic level at least, wasting away.
The race is already well under way to determine a new standard, although at a measured pace, since creating reliable measurements is such painstaking work.
The kilogram is the only one of the seven base units of measurement that still retain its 19th-century definition. Over the years, scientists have redefined units like the meter (first based on the earth's circumference) and the second (conceived as a fraction of a day). The meter is now the distance light travels in one-299,792,458th of a second, and a second is the time it takes for a cesium atom to vibrate 9,192,631,770 times. Each can be measured with remarkable precision, and, equally important, can be reproduced anywhere.
The kilogram was conceived to be the mass of a liter of water, but accurately measuring a liter of water proved to be very difficult. Instead, an English goldsmith was hired to make a platinum-iridium cylinder that would be used to define the kilogram.
One reason the kilogram has lagged behind the other units is that there has been no immediate practical benefit to increasing its precision. Nonetheless, the drift in the kilogram's weight carries over to other measurements. The volt, for example, is defined in terms of the kilogram, so a stable kilogram definition will allow the volt to be tied more closely to the base units of measure.
A total of 80 copies of the reference kilogram have been created and distributed to signatories of the metric treaty. The sometimes colorful history of these small metal cylinders underscores how long the world has used the same definition of the kilogram.
Some of the metal plugs were issued to countries that later vanished, including Serbia and the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese had to surrender theirs after World War II. Germany has acquired several weights, including the one issued to Bavaria in 1889 and the one that belonge
But the increase has also drawn objections from developers of 'open source' programs
Open what now?
(programs for which the source code is freely distributed)
Ohhhh! I think I get it! So these programs would be free like free speech... and like free beer! What an amazing concept! Now tell me one more thing: what is this New York Times you speak of?
There're an infinite number of constructions that will never be the same in the decompilation as they were in the original source code. I don't know a single C++ programmer who will readily admit to using a goto, but guess what? Chances are their compiled code is fraught with unconditional branches, the low-level equivalent of goto. (This mentality predates C/C++. One of my first year professors jokingly referred to "The Cult of Nogoto") Perhaps the decompiler in question is able to transform them back into more realistic code, but I don't know becuase I haven't been able to read the article yet.
Stop thinking that the world is out to make you use MS products no matter what.
It's not the world I'm worried about, just Redmond.
Goatse-free
Here is the largest one I could Google. Somewhat flawed, unfortunately.
They also likened the expiration process to rust
This strongly suggests that it is, in fact, oxygen, not light, that causes the degradation.
My copies of Windows 2000 Professional, Server, and Advanced Server, are all from an MSDN subscription. None of them require a serial to install, and all of them update without issue.
My biggest complaint with Windows Update is the inconvenience of having to sort the wheat from the chaff: many of the recommended updates do not concern me.
Everyone loves SCO, right, gang?
I didn't, but I do now.
This smells like flamebait to me, and the post goes downhill from there. Armchair psychology and broad generalizations are not insightful.
Kazaa is covered on
It's binocular vision (having two working eyes) that allows us* to perceive depth, in much the same way that having two ears allows us* to enjoy sterophonic sound, locate the source of a sound, etc.
One advantage to having just one working eye is that you never "see double" when you lose your focus.
*well, most of us
oops - that particular faq entry refers to synapse, not brain.
This is a lameass Visual Basic app.
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
I'm not holding my breath for the XMMS version though.
...still gives me the willies. I can't go near that OS.
the resulting migraines will be unbearable.
Parent post is informative, mods!
Will the doubling even return the number of jobs to the pre-2000 level? I suspect many organizations had more than halved their IT depts.
Clerics can't use vorpal swords. =P
reverse-SCUBA for fish.
The suicide, and subsequent martyrdom, is a very important element in the process. It has a profound psychological impact on both sides of the conflict. I'm sure cars like these will be used for attack, but they probably won't eliminate the suicide bomber.
BTW, why was parent post modded troll?
No, not literally.
It's "Professor Frink". And pr0n.
and thus, no karma.