That is the funniest thought ever... Seeing a Buick Roadmaster Wagon on top of Mt. Everest, with cans of Kool-Aid and noodles in the back seat and four backpacks in the rear:)
Interesting how VW is buying the naming rights to famous names. They also have rights to use the Rolls Royce name. Still just VW inside.
No, that's not correct. BMW has the rights to the Rolls-Royce name, something VW found out AFTER they had bought the Rolls-Royce car manufacturer. (Check out http://www.iht.com/IHT/TB/98/tb072998.html) VW does own the rights to the
The latest Rolls-Royce is made by BMW and is powered by a BMW V12 bored up to 6.75 liters, the same volume the old RR V8's had.
Re:Wait... so you're telling me...
on
A New Ice Age?
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Ah yes, the intuitor guy. An engineer* who seems to wish he's a scientist. And instead of educating himself further he puts up a web site with some equations (mostly 7th-11th grade physics ones) and keeps talking in "I don't think a real scientist would..."
And his silly attempts at savagery shows that he never quite GETS it - check out his "review" of The Core. It completely has eluded him that "The Core" is a funny little 50s type sci-fi movie, not a documentary.
* I'm an engineer myself but I've been trained to actually find the truth, not make surmises about what I *think* scientists would say our do - I'd go ask some of them!
If you're good at math, you're good at math. It does not satisfy the requirements for being an engineer. Being good at math and just do as you're told? Will that enable you to learn thermodynamics, physics, mechanics of materials, circuit analysis, etc? (Short answer: No.)
Science discovers what always is. Engineers create what never was.
I have developed a spam filter that is 100 percent (ONE HUNDRED PER CENT) effective at deleting Unwanted Messages.
In addition, every user will get special discounts on software, mp3s and computer parts with my partners, and two FREE MP3'S every month.
There are also special savings on 100% all-natural and effective male enhancement products.
A portion of the rebates will go towards a $100000 fund needed to get 100,000,000 dollars (ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS) from Liberia into an account in Switzerland. If you provide your social security number (SSN) and your checking and savings account number you will get part of the ONE HUNDRED MILLION US DOLLARS. Only the first 100 people will qualify, so hurry up and don't miss this offer!
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is a notebook surge protector. Mine is an inline Belkin unit and cost about 30 bucks. It goes between the transformer of the power supply and the cable into the transformer. It also offers phone line protection. Compact (size of two BIC lighters next to each other), weighs just a few ounces, and offers some extra peace of mind.
A USB memory key is also quite incredibly useful if you move moderate amounts of data between computers, like spread sheets and word documents.
The Citroen SM is stated to have "air and water" suspension... totally incorrect. The SM had "hydro-pneumatic" suspension, which the writer apparently assumed to mean air and water.
In fact the suspension was hydraulic/pneumatic, the hydraulic fluid was oil, not water, and the gas for the pneumatic system was nitrogen, not air.
As someone else pointed out, the picture for the Bronco II slide shows a Full-Size Bronco, which was a completely different vehicle than the Bronco II. This would be like showing a Chevy Caprice in the Chevy Vega slide. How difficult would it be to get permission from someone owning a Bronco II to use a picture of it for the article?
Article claims the Edsel didn't sell because it had too many features and was thus too expensive, and also because it was ugly. The Edsel failed because it was a bad car - major quality problems and prone to catching fire.
Furthermore they claim in a stab at the rotary engine that Diesel engines had problems in early life. What on earth are they talking about? The Diesel engine was invented about a century ago. European cab drivers have been using Diesel engines for decades upon decades... Trucks, and tanks, and construction machinery, and what else uses them.
I could go on, but I won't. This is a very poorly fact-checked article.
If they have clouds? Well, mostly clouds do not equal complete darkness... the fact that photovoltaic cells are frequently called solar cells does not mean that you have to see the sun in the sky for them to work... they are cells, meaning they convert light into electricity. Cloudy -> less light -> less electricity but NOT a standstill.
As far as the engineering aspects go, I have a couple rhetorical questions:
How realistic is it that a bunch of students will be able to
1) develop new types of photovoltaic cells?
2) develop new, more efficient electric motors
Those are the kinds of things that have been through a lot of development already and will need tons of resources in terms of finances, facilities and manpower. It is wholly unrealistic to expect a group of undergrads (and possibly grads) to make any sort of strides in those areas.
What the students are doing well is taking existing technology and putting it together in well-developed and increasingly well-refined packages.
Making technical progress isn't always about developing an even fancier motor or PV array. Technical progress is often about finding new ways to put together existing technology.
People who complain about undergrads not researching new types of PV cells simply have no concept of what they're actually asking, and certainly have no appreciation of the ingenuity of many of the Solar Car designs and the technical developments they in many ways represent.
There are lots of things that came our way
on
Science Faction
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
One thing is to dream up some sort of fantastic invention or concept, another is being able to actually develop it - it usually takes decades.
Some of you mentioned Jules Verne - he dreamed up submarines and travelling to the moon. He even predicted weightlessness, albeit for the incorrect reason. (He assumed that somewhere between the moon and the earth the gravitational fields would cancel each other out.) Well, we have both - we have submarines and we've been to the moon.
Colonies on the moon? We don't have those, but we have had space stations for decades now, such as Skylab, Mir, and now the ISS. We might even be travelling to Mars within a decade or two, and whoever goes there are going to stay on Mars for a few months.
Johnny Mnemonic / Neuromancer? We're headed that way - researchers are working on connecting computer chips directly to the brain stem to enable completely paralyzed people to robotic arms and computers so they can communicate more easily and manipulate objects.
Alternative energy sources? Several of you claim that there is no work done on these - that's patently untrue. If you would care to read a trade magazine such as Mechanical Engineering you'll find that solar energy, wind energy, and even fusion power receives more and more funding, and at the very least receives constant attention from the engineering societies.
Alternative energy sources and reclaiming waste energy such as waste heat and methane from landfills are becoming more and more prevalent, but right now are used mostly in "niche" applications where the average Joe does not see them - so the perception is that we're only using oil for energy.
And on the topic of Sci-Fi energy sources - Nuclear Power? Isn't that Sci-Fi? Although a nuclear power plant is in principle a very fancy egg boiler.
The internet? Repositories of information available from any computer anywhere? This was not Sci-Fi? In short, the means of communication that we have available now compared to what we had a few decades ago? PDAs, cell phones with internet access, Wi-Fi ?
How about GPS? You can be dropped anywhere on the planet and in an instant find out where you actually ARE. With a satellite phone and a laptop you can even pull up maps and find your way to where you're going. As one of the engineers in charge of developing GPS for the military said in an interview, "This generation may be the last one to know what it means to be lost"
So we don't yet have the holodeck or the matter transference beams, big deal. A lot of what was Sci-Fi a few decades is a reality today, but we fail to appreciate most of it.
Money can already be tracked, but it's rather cumbersome - you record the serial numbers. Each note that we use is already uniquely identifiable.
So kidnappers can demand unmarked bills all they want - you record the serial numbers instead. Not quite as efficient as marking the bills though.
In theory each bill can already be tracked by having optical readers installed in ATMs and at each cash reception point. The RFID tag simplifies this process, but in principle adds nothing in terms of surveillance possibilities - each bill is already uniquely marked and traceable.
For those of you that are worried about tracking, there are alternatives. You can buy US gold bullion coins, silver coins, or Euro coins. Cumbersome, but it works, and they are untraceable.
Gold is pretty universally accepted - refugees that were fortunate to possess valuable jewelry during WWII used this to bribe themselves across borders.
Slashdot Mirror
That is the funniest thought ever ... Seeing a Buick Roadmaster Wagon on top of Mt. Everest, with cans of Kool-Aid and noodles in the back seat and four backpacks in the rear :)
VW does own the rights to the Bentley name though. (Didn't see that unfinished sentence!)
No, that's not correct. BMW has the rights to the Rolls-Royce name, something VW found out AFTER they had bought the Rolls-Royce car manufacturer. (Check out http://www.iht.com/IHT/TB/98/tb072998.html) VW does own the rights to the
The latest Rolls-Royce is made by BMW and is powered by a BMW V12 bored up to 6.75 liters, the same volume the old RR V8's had.
And his silly attempts at savagery shows that he never quite GETS it - check out his "review" of The Core. It completely has eluded him that "The Core" is a funny little 50s type sci-fi movie, not a documentary.
* I'm an engineer myself but I've been trained to actually find the truth, not make surmises about what I *think* scientists would say our do - I'd go ask some of them!
You don't need to leave the house for sex. There are prostitutes that make house calls.
Jet fuel is kerosene. A 1984 Capri wouldn't run on it at all.
for good time's Sake
So somebody DID follow the wise words of Bug-eyed Earl: "If life gives you poop, make poop-juice."
If you're good at math, you're good at math. It does not satisfy the requirements for being an engineer. Being good at math and just do as you're told? Will that enable you to learn thermodynamics, physics, mechanics of materials, circuit analysis, etc? (Short answer: No.)
Science discovers what always is. Engineers create what never was.
In addition, every user will get special discounts on software, mp3s and computer parts with my partners, and two FREE MP3'S every month.
There are also special savings on 100% all-natural and effective male enhancement products. A portion of the rebates will go towards a $100000 fund needed to get 100,000,000 dollars (ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS) from Liberia into an account in Switzerland. If you provide your social security number (SSN) and your checking and savings account number you will get part of the ONE HUNDRED MILLION US DOLLARS. Only the first 100 people will qualify, so hurry up and don't miss this offer!
You can even spell out the dots and the dashes. Imagine the face of a morse operator when he receives a message that goes "dash dot dot dash (etc.)"
A USB memory key is also quite incredibly useful if you move moderate amounts of data between computers, like spread sheets and word documents.
I think they have found an area or two of utility now.
In fact the suspension was hydraulic/pneumatic, the hydraulic fluid was oil, not water, and the gas for the pneumatic system was nitrogen, not air.
As someone else pointed out, the picture for the Bronco II slide shows a Full-Size Bronco, which was a completely different vehicle than the Bronco II. This would be like showing a Chevy Caprice in the Chevy Vega slide. How difficult would it be to get permission from someone owning a Bronco II to use a picture of it for the article?
Article claims the Edsel didn't sell because it had too many features and was thus too expensive, and also because it was ugly. The Edsel failed because it was a bad car - major quality problems and prone to catching fire.
Furthermore they claim in a stab at the rotary engine that Diesel engines had problems in early life. What on earth are they talking about? The Diesel engine was invented about a century ago. European cab drivers have been using Diesel engines for decades upon decades ... Trucks, and tanks, and construction machinery, and what else uses them.
I could go on, but I won't. This is a very poorly fact-checked article.
As far as the engineering aspects go, I have a couple rhetorical questions:
How realistic is it that a bunch of students will be able to
1) develop new types of photovoltaic cells?
2) develop new, more efficient electric motors
Those are the kinds of things that have been through a lot of development already and will need tons of resources in terms of finances, facilities and manpower. It is wholly unrealistic to expect a group of undergrads (and possibly grads) to make any sort of strides in those areas.
What the students are doing well is taking existing technology and putting it together in well-developed and increasingly well-refined packages.
Making technical progress isn't always about developing an even fancier motor or PV array. Technical progress is often about finding new ways to put together existing technology.
People who complain about undergrads not researching new types of PV cells simply have no concept of what they're actually asking, and certainly have no appreciation of the ingenuity of many of the Solar Car designs and the technical developments they in many ways represent.
Some of you mentioned Jules Verne - he dreamed up submarines and travelling to the moon. He even predicted weightlessness, albeit for the incorrect reason. (He assumed that somewhere between the moon and the earth the gravitational fields would cancel each other out.) Well, we have both - we have submarines and we've been to the moon.
Colonies on the moon? We don't have those, but we have had space stations for decades now, such as Skylab, Mir, and now the ISS. We might even be travelling to Mars within a decade or two, and whoever goes there are going to stay on Mars for a few months.
Johnny Mnemonic / Neuromancer? We're headed that way - researchers are working on connecting computer chips directly to the brain stem to enable completely paralyzed people to robotic arms and computers so they can communicate more easily and manipulate objects.
Alternative energy sources? Several of you claim that there is no work done on these - that's patently untrue. If you would care to read a trade magazine such as Mechanical Engineering you'll find that solar energy, wind energy, and even fusion power receives more and more funding, and at the very least receives constant attention from the engineering societies.
Alternative energy sources and reclaiming waste energy such as waste heat and methane from landfills are becoming more and more prevalent, but right now are used mostly in "niche" applications where the average Joe does not see them - so the perception is that we're only using oil for energy.
And on the topic of Sci-Fi energy sources - Nuclear Power? Isn't that Sci-Fi? Although a nuclear power plant is in principle a very fancy egg boiler.
The internet? Repositories of information available from any computer anywhere? This was not Sci-Fi? In short, the means of communication that we have available now compared to what we had a few decades ago? PDAs, cell phones with internet access, Wi-Fi ?
How about GPS? You can be dropped anywhere on the planet and in an instant find out where you actually ARE. With a satellite phone and a laptop you can even pull up maps and find your way to where you're going. As one of the engineers in charge of developing GPS for the military said in an interview, "This generation may be the last one to know what it means to be lost"
So we don't yet have the holodeck or the matter transference beams, big deal. A lot of what was Sci-Fi a few decades is a reality today, but we fail to appreciate most of it.
Money can already be tracked, but it's rather cumbersome - you record the serial numbers. Each note that we use is already uniquely identifiable. So kidnappers can demand unmarked bills all they want - you record the serial numbers instead. Not quite as efficient as marking the bills though. In theory each bill can already be tracked by having optical readers installed in ATMs and at each cash reception point. The RFID tag simplifies this process, but in principle adds nothing in terms of surveillance possibilities - each bill is already uniquely marked and traceable. For those of you that are worried about tracking, there are alternatives. You can buy US gold bullion coins, silver coins, or Euro coins. Cumbersome, but it works, and they are untraceable. Gold is pretty universally accepted - refugees that were fortunate to possess valuable jewelry during WWII used this to bribe themselves across borders.