There is one niche that Dirigibles could fill quite nicely that they have not yet appeared in: Cruise Liners. Unlike the Ocean Liners of yore they would not be competing on cargo haul or schedule. They would be competing on uniqueness of experience and elegance.
They also turn out to be very good aerial cranes, but neither case is going to work out if they have to use helium for buoyancy: there simply isn't enough of it trapped terrestrially to sustain a large number of airships, and it's far too valuable to waste on such frivolities.
There's still one in NYC for getting tourists to Roosevelt Island. But most of the residents use the subway stop: aerial tramways aren't fast, and that particular one isn't very convenient, either.
They're great if you want to steampunkify a skyline for your adventure movie. Not so great for actually moving goods and people.
Oh yes those evil seat belts made mandatory because they save peoples lives, damn evil big government regulating car safety . Has it come to the point where there has to be a knee-jerk reaction to everything just for the sake of it?
If it saves one life, it's worth it? Is that the argument? Because once you start telling people what they can and can't do for their own good, you can make peoples lives pretty miserable. But I suppose you don't care if people are slaves as long as they are taken care of. It's a seductive philosophy, and I'm not going to say it's wrong, per se, but I would be very depressed to find it impossible to live any other way.
The libertarian argument for requiring people to wear seat-belts, btw, is not that it saves the life of the wearer, but that a driver with proper seat restraint can maintain control of his vehicle better in an accident, to prevent or reduce injury to the occupants of other vehicles. But under that argument, you're pretty strained for a reason to require passengers to wear them....
Oh yeah, I can't tell you how many times I find myself in assorted foreign countries. That's definitely a problem most people will have in their daily lives.
eBooks aren't a religion. If you find yourself with a broken reader in a country with no compatible eBook readers and a need to read.. then find a local solution. Maybe buy a regular book.
Upon further reflection, I think the method I outlined will not necessarily get the most preferred candidate. But I still think the idea of trying out every possible pair is part of the way to find the most preferred candidate.
Hopefully, this will pass, and they will follow it up with getting rid of the primaries altogether. There's no need for a playoff if you're using a system like this.
Although, I think a weighted system would work a little better. Just because two or more candidates might be acceptable to me, doesn't mean that they're equally acceptable to me.
I think the best system, though, is one where everyone ranks the acceptable candidates, then the computer runs through every possible paring (shouldn't be too bad, it's just O(N^2) in the obvious algorithm, and there are a number of obvious things you can do to pare down N and reduce the data). In one of those pairs, the winning candidate will have more votes than in all of the other pairs. That's the most acceptable candidate. I'm sure that there's a name for such a system, but I'm too lazy to look it up.
I won't know, because I won't buy a Nook Color. I don't think Barnes and Noble can afford to compete with both the iPad AND the Kindle, and I'm afraid that by trying to compete with the former, they're going to start ignoring the latter (like, right now, for instance, they seem to have missed the new, smaller lighter kindle...)
Um.. what are you talking about? If you break your eReader, when you buy another one, you associate it to your account and re-download everything. At least, that's how it works with Nook and Kindle. What happens if your basement gets flooded and all your books in storage are ruined by mold?
And in the meantime, you can associate other devices to your account (like the iPad that won't work with Sony's device...) and view your books on those (again, with Nook and Kindle, that is.) Barnes and Noble will even helpfully sync the last page read across all devices running nook software (on purchased books...) which can connect to the internet, so you can read on ePaper during the day and on your backlit iPad at night, if you so choose.
And it takes a lot of page-turns to drain the battery of an ebook reader. Basically, an entire book worth.
The sci-am article is bullshit: eBook readers fill a niche; they have drawbacks AND benefits, and those benefits are significant for people who like to read novels. They're less beneficial to people who like to collect books, though. (would you rather read "The Great Gatsby" or be the "great" Gatsby?)
Which reminds me.. the last ebook I read came from my town Library. It worked almost like a regular book, except that I didn't have to handle the standard bulky hard-cover book that libraries seem to favor and cover in that finger-print revealing, icky-feeling cellophane.
You realize that when you turn off the identifier, that doesn't prevent the router from broadcasting its existence, it just has an empty string where the the SSID would be...
I fail to see how the one impugns the other. Everybody involved admits that the 10-lane highway would be useful: the existing roads are overcrowded, and the greedy toll operator thinks there's a lot of profit to be had. They can be greedy and taking advantage of the situation without being wrong.
You need to get better politicians so they don't make bad deals, and maybe investigate the ones to do make bad deals. Corruption seems like a pretty valid way to void a contract, to me.
It's possible it looks a lot better in person. Still, the kinect thing seems a bit gratuitous: Why are they trying to do TWO hard things. Wouldn't it make more sense to start with, say, a computer generated spinning teapot first?
They require a card, but the card that can be an iTunes gift card, which you can get for cash at a number of locations.
The recent Amazon password debacle leads one to conclude it would be a good policy to use the gift cards even if you plan on buying a lot of music and apps from them.
If that's their total compensation, that's very reasonable. (especially as there are certainly going to be some managers in there who make more than the average...)
On the other hand, it doesn't matter how reasonable it is if you don't actually need the job they're doing. (and you really don't. You don't even need the transponders, really: just take the camera that reads the tags for people who "run" the booth, and make that the mechanism for everybody. Except instead of a fine, just a regular bill.
No, I'm pretty sure it was going through everyone's head. Something like, "What, are they using crypt()?!" followed by, "wait.. they actually are using crypt()? wtf?"
I mean, you saw the whole Net Neutrality debate in the US. It had misdirection on one side which triggered the American Native "I DON'T WANT NO GUBBERMENT" reaction.
The problem was the other side of it, that was salivating over all the possibilities to insert more government control into the legislation for net neutrality. You weren't ever going to get real net neutrality, you were going to get something like it, plus a whole lot of political meddling.
That's what critics used to say about Charles Dickens #1 selling books (talentless hack appealing to working class commoners) (i.e.lowest common denominator).
The only problem is that in Dickens' case, the critics were right...
Although, I'm pretty sure Obama could make your life pretty miserable if he took a specific interest. That's a kind of authority, you know. The same kind as the Chicago mob, in fact...
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There is one niche that Dirigibles could fill quite nicely that they have not yet appeared in: Cruise Liners. Unlike the Ocean Liners of yore they would not be competing on cargo haul or schedule. They would be competing on uniqueness of experience and elegance.
They also turn out to be very good aerial cranes, but neither case is going to work out if they have to use helium for buoyancy: there simply isn't enough of it trapped terrestrially to sustain a large number of airships, and it's far too valuable to waste on such frivolities.
There's still one in NYC for getting tourists to Roosevelt Island. But most of the residents use the subway stop: aerial tramways aren't fast, and that particular one isn't very convenient, either.
They're great if you want to steampunkify a skyline for your adventure movie. Not so great for actually moving goods and people.
Oh yes those evil seat belts made mandatory because they save peoples lives, damn evil big government regulating car safety . Has it come to the point where there has to be a knee-jerk reaction to everything just for the sake of it?
If it saves one life, it's worth it? Is that the argument? Because once you start telling people what they can and can't do for their own good, you can make peoples lives pretty miserable. But I suppose you don't care if people are slaves as long as they are taken care of. It's a seductive philosophy, and I'm not going to say it's wrong, per se, but I would be very depressed to find it impossible to live any other way.
The libertarian argument for requiring people to wear seat-belts, btw, is not that it saves the life of the wearer, but that a driver with proper seat restraint can maintain control of his vehicle better in an accident, to prevent or reduce injury to the occupants of other vehicles. But under that argument, you're pretty strained for a reason to require passengers to wear them....
Oh yeah, I can't tell you how many times I find myself in assorted foreign countries. That's definitely a problem most people will have in their daily lives.
eBooks aren't a religion. If you find yourself with a broken reader in a country with no compatible eBook readers and a need to read.. then find a local solution. Maybe buy a regular book.
Nah, It's better to have radicals locked in opposition. Moderates are too easily bought.
Upon further reflection, I think the method I outlined will not necessarily get the most preferred candidate. But I still think the idea of trying out every possible pair is part of the way to find the most preferred candidate.
Hopefully, this will pass, and they will follow it up with getting rid of the primaries altogether. There's no need for a playoff if you're using a system like this.
Although, I think a weighted system would work a little better. Just because two or more candidates might be acceptable to me, doesn't mean that they're equally acceptable to me.
I think the best system, though, is one where everyone ranks the acceptable candidates, then the computer runs through every possible paring (shouldn't be too bad, it's just O(N^2) in the obvious algorithm, and there are a number of obvious things you can do to pare down N and reduce the data). In one of those pairs, the winning candidate will have more votes than in all of the other pairs. That's the most acceptable candidate. I'm sure that there's a name for such a system, but I'm too lazy to look it up.
Perhaps there is "tearing" as the page updates.
I won't know, because I won't buy a Nook Color. I don't think Barnes and Noble can afford to compete with both the iPad AND the Kindle, and I'm afraid that by trying to compete with the former, they're going to start ignoring the latter (like, right now, for instance, they seem to have missed the new, smaller lighter kindle...)
Um.. what are you talking about? If you break your eReader, when you buy another one, you associate it to your account and re-download everything. At least, that's how it works with Nook and Kindle. What happens if your basement gets flooded and all your books in storage are ruined by mold?
And in the meantime, you can associate other devices to your account (like the iPad that won't work with Sony's device...) and view your books on those (again, with Nook and Kindle, that is.) Barnes and Noble will even helpfully sync the last page read across all devices running nook software (on purchased books...) which can connect to the internet, so you can read on ePaper during the day and on your backlit iPad at night, if you so choose.
And it takes a lot of page-turns to drain the battery of an ebook reader. Basically, an entire book worth.
The sci-am article is bullshit: eBook readers fill a niche; they have drawbacks AND benefits, and those benefits are significant for people who like to read novels. They're less beneficial to people who like to collect books, though. (would you rather read "The Great Gatsby" or be the "great" Gatsby?)
Which reminds me.. the last ebook I read came from my town Library. It worked almost like a regular book, except that I didn't have to handle the standard bulky hard-cover book that libraries seem to favor and cover in that finger-print revealing, icky-feeling cellophane.
You realize that when you turn off the identifier, that doesn't prevent the router from broadcasting its existence, it just has an empty string where the the SSID would be...
The change to one more party would go like this: the bad shit would have tri-partisan support.
Similarly, you cannot trust anything with "bipartisan support"
I fail to see how the one impugns the other. Everybody involved admits that the 10-lane highway would be useful: the existing roads are overcrowded, and the greedy toll operator thinks there's a lot of profit to be had. They can be greedy and taking advantage of the situation without being wrong.
You need to get better politicians so they don't make bad deals, and maybe investigate the ones to do make bad deals. Corruption seems like a pretty valid way to void a contract, to me.
It's possible it looks a lot better in person. Still, the kinect thing seems a bit gratuitous: Why are they trying to do TWO hard things. Wouldn't it make more sense to start with, say, a computer generated spinning teapot first?
They require a card, but the card that can be an iTunes gift card, which you can get for cash at a number of locations.
The recent Amazon password debacle leads one to conclude it would be a good policy to use the gift cards even if you plan on buying a lot of music and apps from them.
Uh.. what's the other option? No highway?
If that's their total compensation, that's very reasonable. (especially as there are certainly going to be some managers in there who make more than the average...)
On the other hand, it doesn't matter how reasonable it is if you don't actually need the job they're doing. (and you really don't. You don't even need the transponders, really: just take the camera that reads the tags for people who "run" the booth, and make that the mechanism for everybody. Except instead of a fine, just a regular bill.
No, I'm pretty sure it was going through everyone's head. Something like, "What, are they using crypt()?!" followed by, "wait.. they actually are using crypt()? wtf?"
I mean, you saw the whole Net Neutrality debate in the US. It had misdirection on one side which triggered the American Native "I DON'T WANT NO GUBBERMENT" reaction.
The problem was the other side of it, that was salivating over all the possibilities to insert more government control into the legislation for net neutrality. You weren't ever going to get real net neutrality, you were going to get something like it, plus a whole lot of political meddling.
Perhaps there is a person reviewing each one for stuff that must be redacted, like certain personal names/addresses, or Obama's birth certificate.
They're called "Twits"
That's what critics used to say about Charles Dickens #1 selling books (talentless hack appealing to working class commoners) (i.e.lowest common denominator).
The only problem is that in Dickens' case, the critics were right...
iEye? Aye!
So, you're handicapped, therefore the rest of us can't have nice things, because YOU can't enjoy them?
Although, I'm pretty sure Obama could make your life pretty miserable if he took a specific interest. That's a kind of authority, you know. The same kind as the Chicago mob, in fact...