I was driving to work and the sun was coming up through some haze and I could clearly see this big ass sunspot in the lower left-hand quadrant. I kept meaning to find an article about it, maybe some pix, too, but better late than never, I guess.
PKD is rather erratic, I've found. I agree with your comments on "Androids". However, I loved "Man in the High Castle", thought "Clans of the Alphane Moon" was okay at best, never got into "Dr. Bloodmoney", and thought "Albemuth" was interesting but exceedingly paranoid.
Of course, I need to read "Ubik" and "Flow My Tears" before I can say I've really read much of PKD.
1. PostScript fonts load either through the ~user/library/fonts folder or through FontBook by drag/drop, no drivers to load. OS9 had similar compatibility, but you couldn't edit the fonts folder on the fly quite like you can in OS X. You don't really need ATM/Suitcase/FontFolio unless you like the interface.
2. The Quartz rendering engine works through PostScript/PDF. I can double-click on a.ps file and it immediately renders as a PDF. It then displays through Preview. Very handy for quick conversion for proofs.
3. All print dialogues have the option to save as PDF, and most have an output option to save as raw PostScript. This is useful as a ground-level route when prepress files just won't rip.
There may be other fun Easter eggs I don't know about, but I use these capabilities every day.
For my own $0.02, OSX has native PostScript compatibility, which is not something I'd say for WIn2000 (what I use at work when I have Windows files to deal with). This is a huge reason I stay on a Mac, after migrating from Win 3.11 in 1995.
Hybrids *do* have electric "brakes". The electric motor is attached to the flywheel (or somewhere on the crankshaft) and adds its torque to the gasoline engine when needed. When you take your foot off the gas, the motor turns into a generator and pulls power from the crankshaft to charge the batteries. That's what I mean by "engine braking"; to contrast this, in a normal car, you're just giving the engine less gas than it needs to maintain a certain speed so it slows down. In a hybrid the motor actively slows the engine through magnetic resistance.
The reason you still have brake pads and shoes is because friction acts much faster than EMF resistance and is therefore better in emergencies. I don't think I'd drive a hybrid without standard brakes!
That being said, I wish that I could have the option to set the draw strength higher or lower just because I *would* like to leave the friction brakes only for emergencies.
I reset one of the trip odometers each time I fill up the tank, and use the odometer reading (number of miles travelled) along with the number of gallons I put in to make my own calculation of mileage. It's always at least 3 or 4 miles per gallon lower than what the display reports.
This is exactly the behavior I see. Either it's the difference between real-world and calculated mileage or it's marketing.
With the AC off, I get 44-46 mpg. That's lower than the calculated mpg the onboard computer gives me,m and lower than the official EPA mpg. However, I still think it's pretty good. I have some theories about why people don't get good mileage:
1. The electric motor acts like a turbo would. You can't just hammer down and plow past people in the passing lane. If you try that, you'll just shove the CVT into 5000 RMP mode and waste a ton of gas. You have to let it "spool up".
2. Most peope ride the brakes. If you chill out, you can engine brake and let the electric motor suck the power off the transmission rather than having the brakes turn it into heat.
3. Kinda like #1, blasting up to 80 mph is a bad idea because you waste a lot of gas *and* battery juice. You can ride at 80 mph, and relatively efficiently, too, but you have to let the car get there.
All that said, I'd like the car to have a whole lot more battery power for off-the-line accelerations, which takes up the most fuel, and to store more regenerative power.
The Moon is interesting enough as a scientific object of study, but why go from one gravity well to another to get to a third? Just go to Mars already! (Sorry, been reading Zubrin.)
Hubble's still doing good science. The Voyagers are obselete but we're still listening to them for that very reason.
Since my first "first post" was modded as "Offtopic" (anybody RTFP before they mod?), I'll re-post, basically saying that the Gates Foundation folks should be interested because this would be a cheap way to help eradicate mosquitos, therefore malaria, in 3rd-World nations.
Slashdot Mirror
I was driving to work and the sun was coming up through some haze and I could clearly see this big ass sunspot in the lower left-hand quadrant. I kept meaning to find an article about it, maybe some pix, too, but better late than never, I guess.
Whaddaya know. I thought I was snarking on a typo. Cool. Thanks for the correction.
This must be one of those new dogs with six nucleotides.
What does "Y" pair with?
In Soviet Russia, Bush bashes YOU!!!!
Of course, I need to read "Ubik" and "Flow My Tears" before I can say I've really read much of PKD.
1. PostScript fonts load either through the ~user/library/fonts folder or through FontBook by drag/drop, no drivers to load. OS9 had similar compatibility, but you couldn't edit the fonts folder on the fly quite like you can in OS X. You don't really need ATM/Suitcase/FontFolio unless you like the interface.
2. The Quartz rendering engine works through PostScript/PDF. I can double-click on a .ps file and it immediately renders as a PDF. It then displays through Preview. Very handy for quick conversion for proofs.
3. All print dialogues have the option to save as PDF, and most have an output option to save as raw PostScript. This is useful as a ground-level route when prepress files just won't rip.
There may be other fun Easter eggs I don't know about, but I use these capabilities every day.
For my own $0.02, OSX has native PostScript compatibility, which is not something I'd say for WIn2000 (what I use at work when I have Windows files to deal with). This is a huge reason I stay on a Mac, after migrating from Win 3.11 in 1995.
Photons *do* have inertia. That's what makes lightsails work.
From a quick Google search, here's some math that says photons do have inertia.
Are they adjusted for inflation?
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those!
The reason you still have brake pads and shoes is because friction acts much faster than EMF resistance and is therefore better in emergencies. I don't think I'd drive a hybrid without standard brakes!
That being said, I wish that I could have the option to set the draw strength higher or lower just because I *would* like to leave the friction brakes only for emergencies.
This is exactly the behavior I see. Either it's the difference between real-world and calculated mileage or it's marketing.
With the AC off, I get 44-46 mpg. That's lower than the calculated mpg the onboard computer gives me,m and lower than the official EPA mpg. However, I still think it's pretty good. I have some theories about why people don't get good mileage:
1. The electric motor acts like a turbo would. You can't just hammer down and plow past people in the passing lane. If you try that, you'll just shove the CVT into 5000 RMP mode and waste a ton of gas. You have to let it "spool up".
2. Most peope ride the brakes. If you chill out, you can engine brake and let the electric motor suck the power off the transmission rather than having the brakes turn it into heat.
3. Kinda like #1, blasting up to 80 mph is a bad idea because you waste a lot of gas *and* battery juice. You can ride at 80 mph, and relatively efficiently, too, but you have to let the car get there.
All that said, I'd like the car to have a whole lot more battery power for off-the-line accelerations, which takes up the most fuel, and to store more regenerative power.
It was Harding. First google link.
Baboon
Chimp
Although the big males of the troop are pretty big, they're still 7 kg smaller than big male chimps.
I still wouldn't wanna mess with one, though.
[troll] Well, maybe they'll actually read "Ringworld" before they start filming. (Unlike Dune.) [/troll]
And he got lots of Troll Pellets, too!
That could be potentially embarrassing, no?
That redhead certainly gets me glowing.
Sub-etheric vibrations? Ectoplasmic vibrations? Good vibrations?
Hubble's still doing good science. The Voyagers are obselete but we're still listening to them for that very reason.
Now, is it possible to exercise a gene?
All in all, I'd say that this was a fascinating display of "less is more".
Who says that UK food isn't good? We have excellent pizzas, curries, chinese, and kebabs.
Notice that none of these cuisines are *British*.
Thanks, Mr. Moderator!