I agree that the design is rather daft, but the idea is valid. Sure, you're just using gasoline from the vehicles (indirectly) and you could use a generator instead, but then it would have to be refueled every now and then, what about logistics? "Stealing" energy from available traffic makes sense since they are already driving there. Concerning only having lights when cars have recently driven on the road; well, the lights only need to function when there are vehicles around, so if the device is placed a couple of hundred meters before the lights, that ought to do it. Anyway, some kind of battery would probably be used to accumulate and store energy.
You raise a valid point concerning backup energy though. If there is no power line, then a battery would be the only power source (whilst normally, the battery would be the secondary source), so the only redundancy you're going to get are from these "alternative" sources. Perhaps a combination of solar and vehicle generator? Naturally, there might still be a weak link, but then again, most traffic lights has a single point of failure.
So, what about remotely located intersections where there are no power lines available? Using passing vehicles as an energy source could be an alternative to putting up power lines where it's only used for traffic lighting or no traffic lighting at all. Some places use solar cells for this, but not all locations have enough daylight.
So, how long before the colour fades while the solution is in the container? I guess it's good for bussiness if you can't save the solution too long. Besides most kids probably are not much into saving fun and playtime for later either. Potentially limited storage life time may be a larger problem with some of the other products mentioned in the article.
I see. That's true of course.
The hidden reason behind my post though, was mostly to remind people to think twice before buying on credit.
Maybe if people read it enough...
Last time I looked in to it, buying a cell phone together with a calling plan was a bad deal also.
I figure, in the long run, you're better off buying the phone seperately and finding a service provider with a good service and a good deal afterwards. Even if it seems a little bit more expensive at the first look.
What's more impressive is how golfers, using an extension to the natural arm can smack a small ball at speed while aligning the club head so the ball lands in the near vicinity of the goal. A hole-in-one seems impossible when you think about how exact force and angle have to be at club impact.
That is if you have a habit of setting your clock every day. Setting the clock every two weeks seems a lot if you're used to a normal clock. Now if your clock potentially slows a minute a day you risk ending up a quarter of an hour late for those meetings, classes or train connections after two weeks.
When useful open source apps are ported to windows, it usually gets rebranded and rebundled with ads and spyware by sinister companies. It's surely a nasty experience for windows users looking for free software, and certainly often in violation with licenses. Though maybe it will lure users over to platforms where money isn't the sole driver of development.
From the red areas in the images you can clearly see that round tires are inefficient. I propose shaping them oval as a step in optimizing the aerodynamics.
I guess machine code can be rather complicated. What's more of a hassle though is coding at a low level, namely writing machine instructions using micro-ops, and then writing programs using said machine instructions. All in binary of course, although after a while you learn to think in terms of hex which makes it a lot easier to plot down on paper. Some of the things I've been enjoying during the spring. The snow had already melted though and my road is downhill (although windy) on the way back;)
If you can't hear the difference between your GSM phone and your landline you need a better landline. Try comparing a good normal phone to your mobile at the same time, you'll see how lousy the GSM compression really makes the voice sound.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree that the design is rather daft, but the idea is valid. Sure, you're just using gasoline from the vehicles (indirectly) and you could use a generator instead, but then it would have to be refueled every now and then, what about logistics? "Stealing" energy from available traffic makes sense since they are already driving there.
Concerning only having lights when cars have recently driven on the road; well, the lights only need to function when there are vehicles around, so if the device is placed a couple of hundred meters before the lights, that ought to do it. Anyway, some kind of battery would probably be used to accumulate and store energy.
You raise a valid point concerning backup energy though. If there is no power line, then a battery would be the only power source (whilst normally, the battery would be the secondary source), so the only redundancy you're going to get are from these "alternative" sources. Perhaps a combination of solar and vehicle generator? Naturally, there might still be a weak link, but then again, most traffic lights has a single point of failure.
So, what about remotely located intersections where there are no power lines available? Using passing vehicles as an energy source could be an alternative to putting up power lines where it's only used for traffic lighting or no traffic lighting at all. Some places use solar cells for this, but not all locations have enough daylight.
Don't you mean 4^x?
Thankfully, Adblock works rather well, filtering out visually disturbing ads from actually useful and/or entertaining information on the web.
Monty Pythons 'The meaning of life' is a better bet, although gravely misquoted.
So, how long before the colour fades while the solution is in the container? I guess it's good for bussiness if you can't save the solution too long. Besides most kids probably are not much into saving fun and playtime for later either. Potentially limited storage life time may be a larger problem with some of the other products mentioned in the article.
I see. That's true of course.
The hidden reason behind my post though, was mostly to remind people to think twice before buying on credit.
Maybe if people read it enough...
Last time I looked in to it, buying a cell phone together with a calling plan was a bad deal also.
I figure, in the long run, you're better off buying the phone seperately and finding a service provider with a good service and a good deal afterwards. Even if it seems a little bit more expensive at the first look.
Sometimes people seem to forget what a bad deal buying on credit is.
* Except that we didn't. If you were the least bit serious about working with the Amiga, perfectly good monitors were available for every model made.
Do NOT forget your towel!
What's more impressive is how golfers, using an extension to the natural arm can smack a small ball at speed while aligning the club head so the ball lands in the near vicinity of the goal. A hole-in-one seems impossible when you think about how exact force and angle have to be at club impact.
That is if you have a habit of setting your clock every day. Setting the clock every two weeks seems a lot if you're used to a normal clock. Now if your clock potentially slows a minute a day you risk ending up a quarter of an hour late for those meetings, classes or train connections after two weeks.
Is this the same Colin Percival who ran the Pihex project a while back?
Clever boy.
When useful open source apps are ported to windows, it usually gets rebranded and rebundled with ads and spyware by sinister companies. It's surely a nasty experience for windows users looking for free software, and certainly often in violation with licenses. Though maybe it will lure users over to platforms where money isn't the sole driver of development.
From the red areas in the images you can clearly see that round tires are inefficient. I propose shaping them oval as a step in optimizing the aerodynamics.
I read Why? WHY? WHY?!?
I've since learned to take all figures comparing the number of US engineers vs the rest of the world with a grain of salt.
Yup, the rest of the world tends to giggle at the quality of US 'engineering' education too.
Since it's claimed to run at 60000Hz, your demands for awesome speed won't likely be a problem.
Judging from the article, this is just something the marketing department dreamed up anyway.
He fell over under the weight of his A500? Shouldn't be too hard even for a 11 year nerd to throw one of these over the yard.
Try Wikipedia.
I guess machine code can be rather complicated. What's more of a hassle though is coding at a low level, namely writing machine instructions using micro-ops, and then writing programs using said machine instructions. All in binary of course, although after a while you learn to think in terms of hex which makes it a lot easier to plot down on paper. Some of the things I've been enjoying during the spring. The snow had already melted though and my road is downhill (although windy) on the way back ;)
You code Z80 weekly?
If you can't hear the difference between your GSM phone and your landline you need a better landline. Try comparing a good normal phone to your mobile at the same time, you'll see how lousy the GSM compression really makes the voice sound.