This is incorrect. The FAA issued _guidelines_ (AC 91-57) in 1981 suggesting that RC planes adhere to a 400 AGL ceiling. The AMA - the private RC pilot's association - has a 400 AGL ceiling within 3 miles of an airport, and requires VLOS and a spotter when flying first person view. Pilots, especially glider pilots, routinely exceed 400 feet, and one popular competition class (ALES) starts off with a climb to 200 meters.
Depending on the process used, the carbon fiber to epoxy ratio can be rather high. For a DIY-style wet layup, 50/50 carbon/epoxy is reasonably good. For a compression molded or pultruded element (this particular case is probably compression molded), 70/30 carbon/epoxy ratios are more likely. Also, since the Young's modulus of CF is way, way higher than for the filler, essentially all of the load is carried in the carbon.
Here's the CPI data:
ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt
Even if you accept that it's representative data, there has still been persistent inflation. Even if it's only 2-3 percent/year, it adds up. One dollar today is worth 79 cents in 2003.
Actually, all the R&D done by grad students is paid for by you. The vast majority of our funding comes from the US Gov (DARPA, NSF, NIH, etc), a bit from private sources (Gates Foundation, etc), and a tiny, tiny amount from internal funding. Funding grants pay our salaries, purchase equipment, pay for lab space, etc. Pretty much the only time a professor will get money directly from the school is when they're starting out, in which case they'll typically get 200k - 1 million to get a lab started. Undergrad tuition pretty much goes to pay for non-research profs, and administration.
Hmmm. I read the linked article, and from the truly minimal amount
of hard information, it suggested that:
1) They're using some SOI process
2) They're using a laser ablation/etch process to define the cell boundaries
3) Each cell then has to be glued & connected, perhaps on a flexible substrate.
Brilliant! I mean, why bother using cheap, OTS silicon wafers, when you
can use expensive SOI, slice it up into tiny fragments with a laser, and
then throw cash at the packaging!
Yes, I am an OE engineer.
Cars are for driving. How about leaving off the electronic widgets, which, while cool, don't affect driving performance, and using the resulting savings for things like: better suspensions, better brakes, improved engine efficiency, etc. I mean, for the bloody Toyota Matrix has all sorts of nifty gadgets, but it's still using drum brakes in the rear. Drum brakes!
By way of comparison, I recently did some brake work on my car. Replaced the 4 wheel disc brake rotors with cross-drilled rotors, used better pads, and added stainless steel brake lines. My total parts cost - ~$200 over stock parts. Hitting the brakes is now
like having the Hand of God pulling you into your seatbelt.
Not to be too harsh, but:
1) Nobody on their management, board of directors, or technical board has an optics background
2) They're doing this in free space. That's fine in a _mechanically stable environment_
3) Computers are not mechanically stable enviroments. PCB boards flex. Things heat up
and cool down. Everything moves around over time
4) Focusing a received laser beam to a detector requires precise alignment. A 1 GHz detector
is ~ 0.4 mm square. A 12 GHz detector is 25 microns square (New Focus Optics). So, either
they can do a slow data bus that's stable, or a fast one that isn't.
They're screwed.
Yes, I am an optical engineer.
The difference in this case is one of resource allocation. An important, though unspoken, check on state powers is the budget. Want to run surveillance on a suspect 24/7? You now have to pay for officers to do a surveillance job. This means that they're not doing another job. This restricts who you're willing to run surveillance on. It raises the "reasonable suspicion" bar. When running a GPS tracking job, you're only down the cost of the device, which presumably you'll get back eventually. You now have minimal incentive to choose your surveillance targets carefully, since the marginal cost of surveillance is close to zero. And, realistically, since there's no independent (judicial) review, there's every reason to expect a massive increase in the amount of tracking done by the police - there's no incentive not to.
I agree that, in this case, the observers did exactly the right thing. It's incredibly risky to physically take on the police; the only situation I could see it being warranted is if there is an immediate threat of serious physical harm. Just curious about the law. I've only heard of one US case of citizens successfully taking on police by force: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens
Here's a question for ya: if I see a cop do something flagrantly illegal, which poses a physical threat, do I get to perform a citizen's arrest on the spot?
I mean, seriously, these cops weren't tasing the guy because they were physically threatened (he was in handcuffs). They were tasing him because, well, they wanted to. That's assault. Shouldn't someone have, you know, done a bit more than ask for a badge number?
I'm not saying it's the wisest strategy, since you'll likely get beaten down, but is it _legal_?
For a simple case, where you're doing N measurements of a single quantity (here, position along an axis), and each measurement has the same error 'E' associated with it, you get a standard deviation of Enew = E / Sqrt(N). So, increasing the number of satellites you reference helps, but it's ultimately a losing game. Want to double your accuracy? Quadruple your number of satellites.
How exactly would these patents be enforced? If I get a patent on, say, an audio amplifier, I can purchase competitors amplifiers, disassemble them, and see if they're using my patented design. Tax returns are private. How will the patent holders be able to prove infringement?
Where's the -1:Inane moderation option when you need it?.
Seriously, why would you need this in Africa? Why would being in Africa necessitate low power? Why would you think that a high peak power pulsed laser necessarily has a high constant power draw? Just for reference here, I use a 1.5 MW laser in my lab; it runs on 120 VAC, at ~3 amps.
It's not just that labeling is lax in the US, it's that it's _illegal_ to do some forms of extra labeling. Want to test your beef for bovine spongiform encephalopathy and label it? You can't. Thank the beef lobby.
Today, the UFC brings you: Scientist Cage Match!
My money's on the geologists. Despite their tendencies towards excessive beer consumption, at least they run around outdoors occasionally.
I have fond memories of getting some TiCl4 for my "stack" (Caltech ditch day tradition); I'd built a laser alarm cage, and the people breaking it were supposed to use a little TiCl4 to find the beams. Good stuff. Navy used it for years (for all I know, they still might) for smokescreens.
You're extremely lucky to have retained your fingers though. HF is terrible stuff.
It's a little bit hard to tell from the article (the eetimes one is better), but it sounds like they're using the ring as a resonator to carry the clock. Ring resonators aren't exactly new (especially in my field, waveguide optics), but using them as clocks poses a few interesting challenges. If you extract energy (signal), you're going to damp out the resonator; if you couple multiple loops, for carrying the clock to internal points in the circuit, you need to ensure that the resonator frequencies are exactly matched. Doing this for a couple of resonators isn't hard. Doing it for the hundreds you'd need for a CPU sounds bloody well impossible. You'd have to actively detect and correct for phase error at each coupling point, adding lots of RF analog electronics, which would suck.
Forget the rest of the house for a moment. What I want is a bathroom made entirely of seamless, stainless steel. With steam jets, a floor drain, and an airlock-style door. Need to clean the tub? Close the door, and press the giant red _autoclave_ button.
The critical line in your post is:
"...they're paid the same wages (adjusted to the cost of living..."
The cost of living in China and India is a hell of a lot less than here or the UK. This creates downward price pressure on engineers here. Thus the distaste.
1) The Mozilla sets up a shell corporation to deal with the IRS.
2) Development & management will be unaffected.
3) Nothing else will change.
Why is this "news for nerds"? Or "stuff that matters"? Where are the articles like "Man builds turbojet engine in backyard"?
Slashdot Mirror
This is incorrect. The FAA issued _guidelines_ (AC 91-57) in 1981 suggesting that RC planes adhere to a 400 AGL ceiling. The AMA - the private RC pilot's association - has a 400 AGL ceiling within 3 miles of an airport, and requires VLOS and a spotter when flying first person view. Pilots, especially glider pilots, routinely exceed 400 feet, and one popular competition class (ALES) starts off with a climb to 200 meters.
Depending on the process used, the carbon fiber to epoxy ratio can be rather high. For a DIY-style wet layup, 50/50 carbon/epoxy is reasonably good. For a compression molded or pultruded element (this particular case is probably compression molded), 70/30 carbon/epoxy ratios are more likely. Also, since the Young's modulus of CF is way, way higher than for the filler, essentially all of the load is carried in the carbon.
Here's the CPI data: ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt Even if you accept that it's representative data, there has still been persistent inflation. Even if it's only 2-3 percent/year, it adds up. One dollar today is worth 79 cents in 2003.
I'm not sure about the video link, but standard RC range is 1 mile. I've flown ~ 1/2 mile away with no radio issues.
Actually, all the R&D done by grad students is paid for by you. The vast majority of our funding comes from the US Gov (DARPA, NSF, NIH, etc), a bit from private sources (Gates Foundation, etc), and a tiny, tiny amount from internal funding. Funding grants pay our salaries, purchase equipment, pay for lab space, etc. Pretty much the only time a professor will get money directly from the school is when they're starting out, in which case they'll typically get 200k - 1 million to get a lab started. Undergrad tuition pretty much goes to pay for non-research profs, and administration.
Hmmm. I read the linked article, and from the truly minimal amount of hard information, it suggested that: 1) They're using some SOI process 2) They're using a laser ablation/etch process to define the cell boundaries 3) Each cell then has to be glued & connected, perhaps on a flexible substrate. Brilliant! I mean, why bother using cheap, OTS silicon wafers, when you can use expensive SOI, slice it up into tiny fragments with a laser, and then throw cash at the packaging! Yes, I am an OE engineer.
Cars are for driving. How about leaving off the electronic widgets, which, while cool, don't affect driving performance, and using the resulting savings for things like: better suspensions, better brakes, improved engine efficiency, etc. I mean, for the bloody Toyota Matrix has all sorts of nifty gadgets, but it's still using drum brakes in the rear. Drum brakes! By way of comparison, I recently did some brake work on my car. Replaced the 4 wheel disc brake rotors with cross-drilled rotors, used better pads, and added stainless steel brake lines. My total parts cost - ~$200 over stock parts. Hitting the brakes is now like having the Hand of God pulling you into your seatbelt.
Not to be too harsh, but: 1) Nobody on their management, board of directors, or technical board has an optics background 2) They're doing this in free space. That's fine in a _mechanically stable environment_ 3) Computers are not mechanically stable enviroments. PCB boards flex. Things heat up and cool down. Everything moves around over time 4) Focusing a received laser beam to a detector requires precise alignment. A 1 GHz detector is ~ 0.4 mm square. A 12 GHz detector is 25 microns square (New Focus Optics). So, either they can do a slow data bus that's stable, or a fast one that isn't. They're screwed. Yes, I am an optical engineer.
The difference in this case is one of resource allocation. An important, though unspoken, check on state powers is the budget. Want to run surveillance on a suspect 24/7? You now have to pay for officers to do a surveillance job. This means that they're not doing another job. This restricts who you're willing to run surveillance on. It raises the "reasonable suspicion" bar. When running a GPS tracking job, you're only down the cost of the device, which presumably you'll get back eventually. You now have minimal incentive to choose your surveillance targets carefully, since the marginal cost of surveillance is close to zero. And, realistically, since there's no independent (judicial) review, there's every reason to expect a massive increase in the amount of tracking done by the police - there's no incentive not to.
Why not just go all the way, and have nothing but embassies? Welcome to Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong.
I agree that, in this case, the observers did exactly the right thing. It's incredibly risky to physically take on the police; the only situation I could see it being warranted is if there is an immediate threat of serious physical harm. Just curious about the law. I've only heard of one US case of citizens successfully taking on police by force: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens
Here's a question for ya: if I see a cop do something flagrantly illegal, which poses a physical threat, do I get to perform a citizen's arrest on the spot? I mean, seriously, these cops weren't tasing the guy because they were physically threatened (he was in handcuffs). They were tasing him because, well, they wanted to. That's assault. Shouldn't someone have, you know, done a bit more than ask for a badge number? I'm not saying it's the wisest strategy, since you'll likely get beaten down, but is it _legal_?
For a simple case, where you're doing N measurements of a single quantity (here, position along an axis), and each measurement has the same error 'E' associated with it, you get a standard deviation of Enew = E / Sqrt(N). So, increasing the number of satellites you reference helps, but it's ultimately a losing game. Want to double your accuracy? Quadruple your number of satellites.
What's wrong with Simpson? Looking at the Wikipedia page, he seems like a decent, moderate guy. Good quotes.
How exactly would these patents be enforced? If I get a patent on, say, an audio amplifier, I can purchase competitors amplifiers, disassemble them, and see if they're using my patented design. Tax returns are private. How will the patent holders be able to prove infringement?
Notice how the industrial rates are substantially lower than the commercial or residential rates? Why is that?
Where's the -1:Inane moderation option when you need it?. Seriously, why would you need this in Africa? Why would being in Africa necessitate low power? Why would you think that a high peak power pulsed laser necessarily has a high constant power draw? Just for reference here, I use a 1.5 MW laser in my lab; it runs on 120 VAC, at ~3 amps.
It's not just that labeling is lax in the US, it's that it's _illegal_ to do some forms of extra labeling. Want to test your beef for bovine spongiform encephalopathy and label it? You can't. Thank the beef lobby.
Today, the UFC brings you: Scientist Cage Match! My money's on the geologists. Despite their tendencies towards excessive beer consumption, at least they run around outdoors occasionally.
I have fond memories of getting some TiCl4 for my "stack" (Caltech ditch day tradition); I'd built a laser alarm cage, and the people breaking it were supposed to use a little TiCl4 to find the beams. Good stuff. Navy used it for years (for all I know, they still might) for smokescreens. You're extremely lucky to have retained your fingers though. HF is terrible stuff.
It's a little bit hard to tell from the article (the eetimes one is better), but it sounds like they're using the ring as a resonator to carry the clock. Ring resonators aren't exactly new (especially in my field, waveguide optics), but using them as clocks poses a few interesting challenges. If you extract energy (signal), you're going to damp out the resonator; if you couple multiple loops, for carrying the clock to internal points in the circuit, you need to ensure that the resonator frequencies are exactly matched. Doing this for a couple of resonators isn't hard. Doing it for the hundreds you'd need for a CPU sounds bloody well impossible. You'd have to actively detect and correct for phase error at each coupling point, adding lots of RF analog electronics, which would suck.
Forget the rest of the house for a moment. What I want is a bathroom made entirely of seamless, stainless steel. With steam jets, a floor drain, and an airlock-style door. Need to clean the tub? Close the door, and press the giant red _autoclave_ button.
"Consulting: if you're not a part of the solution,there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem." from the wonderful folks at despair.com
The critical line in your post is: "...they're paid the same wages (adjusted to the cost of living..." The cost of living in China and India is a hell of a lot less than here or the UK. This creates downward price pressure on engineers here. Thus the distaste.
1) The Mozilla sets up a shell corporation to deal with the IRS. 2) Development & management will be unaffected. 3) Nothing else will change. Why is this "news for nerds"? Or "stuff that matters"? Where are the articles like "Man builds turbojet engine in backyard"?