I read his memoirs in high school. If half of what he claims that he did is true, I suspect that he'd have lasted about a day in the Los Alamos of today. Damn shame, really. A lot of the brightest people like to play with different consciousness states as well as being inveterate pranksters.
I guess I can understand polygraphy IF it's at all accurate. After all, they are dealing with dangerous (from a proliferation standpoint) materials and experiments critical to national security. As for drug testing, I think it should only happen if an employee is exhibiting other problems at work, if then. And it also depends what drug is being tested for. Is there any evidence that enjoying the occasional herbal treat harms work performance in any material way?
However, you said "Al Qaeda is pretty well funded", and I am curious as to how you know this.
I've heard cost estimates between $400 and $500k for the 9/11 attacks. Another $500 x 20 people = $10,000 doesn't seem like a big deal with that kind of budget. If anything, after Iraq you have more pissed off people willing to give money to radical Islamic groups than before. It's not only a religious thing now, it's an Arab nationalist thing.
You are not allowed to accept cash payments of more than 15,000 Euros without doing lots of ID checks and registering them with the appropriate authorities
This is #800, though, which is approx 1600 Euros. Not even close. In the US, the limit is $10,000 - it's not that you have to register with anyone, but if you deposit more than $10,000 at once, it's reported to the IRS.
You tend to end up as the subject of a money laundering investigation. (He says having just been given £800 cash which he's somehow got to get into a bank account.)
If you're that worried, just spend it as is and the money never existed. Gradually spend the money on stuff like food and simply reduce your other expenditures.
BTW, is the UK really that paranoid? I've got cash payments in excess of $1000 from business clients before and deposited them in the bank. As well as a graduation gift after college. I haven't jbeen audited, jailed, stalked, or shot yet:) This is in the US, though.
Isn't paying in cash and flying one-way into the United States supposed to be a red flag?
I don't understand why, either? Now that it's known that it's a red flag, any halfway competent terrorist would just buy a round-trip ticket with a credit card. Credit cards are not hard to come by, and what's an extra $500 if you're planning mass mayhem? Remember that Al Qaeda is pretty well funded...
(1) transportation has proven to be the real Achilles's Heel of modern society
And it wasn't before 2001? Sure, there were hijackings, but nothing like 9/11! And something like 9/11 won't ever happen again - on 9/11 the passengers were complacent because they thought that it was a regular hijacking for ransom or transportation abroad - now that people remember 9/11, the next person to attempt to hijack a US plane will be beat to a bleeding crying pulp before the plane ever lands. Look at Richard "shoebomber" Reid - apart from getting arrested, he wasn't in quite the same condition at takeoff as at landing.
Paying in cash is a sure way to single yourself out for inspection. Few people pay with large sums of cash these days, and for good reason.
I'd rather get physically searched for explosives than have my bank records searched. At least the physical search is open rather than covert and actually does something to prevent terrorism. Actually, the best solution would be not to allow any baggage and have baggage fly by separate pilotless airplane.
If you accidentally put a credit card down on the pad and then put your laptop down to charge, will it damage the card? I could see this as being a problem with magnetically sensitive things. Also, will it interfere with CRT monitors? (Yes, some people still use them.)
It says devices need a special coil to receive charging, but does this stop a stray hand from getting zapped?
This isn't electricity, this is an alternating magnetic field that can *induce* an AC current in a large coil. Your hand isn't a multi-turn coil, so I wouldn't worry. Anyway, no more dangerous than being near an AC motor.
. In contrast, the one in the last RWD car I've been in (a Mercury Grand Marquis) was probably closer to 8 or 10 inches.
The Grand Marquis is a bad example because it's basically a 50s design with a solid rear axle and a non-split driveshaft, so the whole driveshaft has to move up and down with the axle. By contrast, my Volvo 240 which has a split driveshaft has a hump that's pretty small - maybe 5 or 6" tall in back. In front I guess you still get the transmission case between the driver and passenger, but that's not larger than a center console in any other car. You can make the hump even smaller, BTW, if you have an independent rear suspension so the driveshaft doesn't need room to move at all and most of the moving-up-and-down parts are behind the rear seat.
Maybe you ought to just get yourself a Toyota MR2 or something and be happy, even if it's not a sedan.
Personally, I'd prefer a Tatraplan. Or even a VW Squareback with a modern (Subaru) boxer motor.
A FWD car typically understeers, and to correct it you simply reduce the throttle. This is intuitive.
Well, it's *perceived* as intuitive. The problem is that letting off the throttle suddenly causes engine braking which can actually cause the car to swap ends if it's slippery. FWD can actually be really obnoxiously scary under the wrong conditions.
Also, FWD cars are cheaper to make and have flat floor pans,
Cheaper to make - less of a problem than before since they've improved manufacturing technology significantly. They say that it's easier to drop in the powertrain as a unit, but they do that with RWD cars like the Miata. The entire powertrain from engine/transmission in front to differential in rear is mounted on a truss frame and is bolted up from the underside.
Flat floor pans? I haven't seen a truly flat-floor FWD *car* recently. I think that the 1960s Olds Toronados were flat, as are some minivans, but one's an old example, the other's a truck. Most cars seem to have a center tunnel and route the exhaust pipe down it. I think that they need the tunnel for structural strength.
Actually, what I'd like to see is a fairly light sedan with a powertrain mounted over the rear axle. With modern engine technology, it would be possible to make the powertrain light and compact enough not to make the car too rear-heavy. And then you avoid the problem of having the exhaust run under the car from front to rear. You could have a totally flat underside which is good for aerodynamics as well. Body bracing would be provided by taller side sills, and the doors would be gullwings so as to allow one to step "in and over" to get into the car.
These days, if you wanted to, you could use off-the-shelf components and get a working system.
I've actually seen a Mac Mini mounted in the DIN slot in a car's dashboard with a small LCD monitor hinged over the CD slot and a keypad controlling it. Apparently, by design or not, the Mac Mini is perfectly sized for this application. And it uses a laptop HDD which just so happens to be pretty vibration resistant.
So everyone says. The problem is that Ford won't ever admit that its Aussie (and possibly Euro, but Australian travel conditions are closer to American conditions) divisions kick the asses of its domestic designers. So the Australian cars won't be brought to the US unless they're an expensive "premium" product. Too much "not invented here" disease.
Besides, Australian cars are rather "simple" for American tastes - when GM brought the GTO here, everyone bitched and moaned about how bland and feature-less the car was. Very few people complimented GM on showing good taste and restraint in design.
Mr. BMW, My 1982 Toyota Celica Supra (L-Type) had fuel-injection and a real-time electronic MPG display.
Supras are nice little cars, BTW. They're even rear-wheel-drive. BTW, I wasn't bragging: said BMW had approximately 160,000 hard miles done over 15 years by the time I got my grubby lil' hands on it.
Personally, I'd love to have a computer running iTunes in my car -- all I'd have to do is set it to "party shuffle" and hit "next track" every once in a while.
Full computer would be a bit of overkill. Why not just include a USB port on the radio allowing you to plug in an external HDD in a 2.5" case or a flash stick. It should be able to read MP3s in addition to higher quality formats (up to and including uncompressed wave files).
But doesn't this thing just rock? If they could get it to do dashboard output with the 07 Prius I'd probably buy one.
Yes! This is exactly what I was thinking of and more. I'm not sure if automakers would actually include a full data display as stock - it might cut into their dealers' repair profits...
I learned to drive in a rear wheel drive car and the first car I owned was rear wheel drive. Front is better in every way.
Nah, Americans' view of rear wheel drive has been spoiled by the American cars built up until the 80s. They had heavy iron-block V8 engines that put approx. 60% of the weight of the car at the front end. Which meant that they got poor traction on the rear, driving wheels. If you have a RWD car that's close to 50/50 balanced or even slightly (like 48/52) rear-biased, you get decent traction and good handling.
contend with snow, rear wheel drive is a huge liability.
Not really - I drive a RWD car now, and it's actually *better* in snow than my family's FWD Jetta. I suspect that it would be even better with a traction-control system, but it's acceptable as is. BTW, the Chrysler LX-cars (300 and Dodge Charger) were tested in snow and found to do better than a lot of FWD cars. But if you like cars that handle like marshmallows and plow through corners, then w00t for you. At least the number of RWD cars has increased in the last few years, so if I decide to buy a new car, it won't have to be a pig-pusher.
It doesn't look to me as this is a terminal illness, the infection is gone in a few weeks to months, so it's hardly an explanation for the world's stupidity.
It can be lethal if you have a weakened immune system due to age, chemo, HIV, whatever. BTW- it may persist as a low-grade infestation even in healthy people. The same as many other infections like syphilis, Lyme Disease, and even chickenpox - the initial symptoms of infection may go away but the pathogen stays in the body and causes mayhem a few years or even decades later.
A quickly evolving industry for aftermarket computer upgrades, including replacement. This industry will be particularly important when cars get to being two years or so old, because the cars functional life will undoubtedly exceed that of the computer. That will make such upgrades particularly important to dealers of used cars.
Let's hope so - but it'll be a royal PITA. Keep in mind that the "computers" in many newer cars provide not just NAV and audio capability, but control stuff like climate control and even lights in some cases (stuff that they have no business controlling IMHO).
continuous, real-time display of mileage as I drive.
This has been a feature of some cars since the early 80s. I learned to drive in a 1983(?) BMW 528e that has a mechanical MPG gauge below the tachometer. AFAIK, it wasn't the cheezy engine vacuum type "mileage" gauge - it was actually driven by the fuel injection computer that "knew" speed and how much fuel was being injected.
The typical consumer would probably prefer across-the-board iPod (and/or MP3) docks for their cars, but Ford's giving them Windows Genuine Advantage(TM).
The consumer would be best served by a standard-sized (say, double DIN) slot in the dashboard where he can have the radio/nav system of his choice installed. When the old one wears out or becomes obsolete, it can be replaced with newer technology without throwing the car away. BTW- this is how most European cars were designed until the early 1990s, if not later. As far as running other controls like heat/AC off of the same LCD screen as the radio and nav system, those supposed engineers should be sent back to school. Introducing a single point of failure that b0rks basically all interior controls into a complex system like a car isn't a good idea. And the climate control *is* safety-critical - think about not having a defroster whilst driving in a blizzard.
What Ford and MS are proposing lacks automotive diagnostic ability.
Yep, it would be nice, in addition to the "Check Engine" moron light to use a small LCD screen in the dash to display error messages in plain English (or language of choice anyway). In addition to the warning light, you'd get a message like "left bank rear O2 sensor zero voltage output". When not in use for error messages, the thing could be used as a trip computer, for nav system messages, etc. It should also be able to display the output of any sensor connected to the car's computer for diagnostic purposes and as a programmable gauge (so you can have it display voltage, oil pressure, and air mass flow at all times while driving). Think about it as a car computer for *car* geeks.
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Cheers,
-b.
-b.
If someone wants to pay cash for a house, let *him* deposit it in his account and then do a wire transfer to yours.
-b.
Not to mention that it's a shorter walk to the cockpit usually.
-b.
I've heard cost estimates between $400 and $500k for the 9/11 attacks. Another $500 x 20 people = $10,000 doesn't seem like a big deal with that kind of budget. If anything, after Iraq you have more pissed off people willing to give money to radical Islamic groups than before. It's not only a religious thing now, it's an Arab nationalist thing.
-b.
This is #800, though, which is approx 1600 Euros. Not even close. In the US, the limit is $10,000 - it's not that you have to register with anyone, but if you deposit more than $10,000 at once, it's reported to the IRS.
-b.
If you're that worried, just spend it as is and the money never existed. Gradually spend the money on stuff like food and simply reduce your other expenditures.
BTW, is the UK really that paranoid? I've got cash payments in excess of $1000 from business clients before and deposited them in the bank. As well as a graduation gift after college. I haven't jbeen audited, jailed, stalked, or shot yet :) This is in the US, though.
-b.
I don't understand why, either? Now that it's known that it's a red flag, any halfway competent terrorist would just buy a round-trip ticket with a credit card. Credit cards are not hard to come by, and what's an extra $500 if you're planning mass mayhem? Remember that Al Qaeda is pretty well funded...
-b.
And it wasn't before 2001? Sure, there were hijackings, but nothing like 9/11! And something like 9/11 won't ever happen again - on 9/11 the passengers were complacent because they thought that it was a regular hijacking for ransom or transportation abroad - now that people remember 9/11, the next person to attempt to hijack a US plane will be beat to a bleeding crying pulp before the plane ever lands. Look at Richard "shoebomber" Reid - apart from getting arrested, he wasn't in quite the same condition at takeoff as at landing.
-b.
I'd rather get physically searched for explosives than have my bank records searched. At least the physical search is open rather than covert and actually does something to prevent terrorism. Actually, the best solution would be not to allow any baggage and have baggage fly by separate pilotless airplane.
-b.
-b.
This isn't electricity, this is an alternating magnetic field that can *induce* an AC current in a large coil. Your hand isn't a multi-turn coil, so I wouldn't worry. Anyway, no more dangerous than being near an AC motor.
-b.
The Grand Marquis is a bad example because it's basically a 50s design with a solid rear axle and a non-split driveshaft, so the whole driveshaft has to move up and down with the axle. By contrast, my Volvo 240 which has a split driveshaft has a hump that's pretty small - maybe 5 or 6" tall in back. In front I guess you still get the transmission case between the driver and passenger, but that's not larger than a center console in any other car. You can make the hump even smaller, BTW, if you have an independent rear suspension so the driveshaft doesn't need room to move at all and most of the moving-up-and-down parts are behind the rear seat.
Maybe you ought to just get yourself a Toyota MR2 or something and be happy, even if it's not a sedan.
Personally, I'd prefer a Tatraplan. Or even a VW Squareback with a modern (Subaru) boxer motor.
-b.
Well, it's *perceived* as intuitive. The problem is that letting off the throttle suddenly causes engine braking which can actually cause the car to swap ends if it's slippery. FWD can actually be really obnoxiously scary under the wrong conditions.
Also, FWD cars are cheaper to make and have flat floor pans,
Cheaper to make - less of a problem than before since they've improved manufacturing technology significantly. They say that it's easier to drop in the powertrain as a unit, but they do that with RWD cars like the Miata. The entire powertrain from engine/transmission in front to differential in rear is mounted on a truss frame and is bolted up from the underside.
Flat floor pans? I haven't seen a truly flat-floor FWD *car* recently. I think that the 1960s Olds Toronados were flat, as are some minivans, but one's an old example, the other's a truck. Most cars seem to have a center tunnel and route the exhaust pipe down it. I think that they need the tunnel for structural strength.
Actually, what I'd like to see is a fairly light sedan with a powertrain mounted over the rear axle. With modern engine technology, it would be possible to make the powertrain light and compact enough not to make the car too rear-heavy. And then you avoid the problem of having the exhaust run under the car from front to rear. You could have a totally flat underside which is good for aerodynamics as well. Body bracing would be provided by taller side sills, and the doors would be gullwings so as to allow one to step "in and over" to get into the car.
-b.
I've actually seen a Mac Mini mounted in the DIN slot in a car's dashboard with a small LCD monitor hinged over the CD slot and a keypad controlling it. Apparently, by design or not, the Mac Mini is perfectly sized for this application. And it uses a laptop HDD which just so happens to be pretty vibration resistant.
-b.
So everyone says. The problem is that Ford won't ever admit that its Aussie (and possibly Euro, but Australian travel conditions are closer to American conditions) divisions kick the asses of its domestic designers. So the Australian cars won't be brought to the US unless they're an expensive "premium" product. Too much "not invented here" disease.
Besides, Australian cars are rather "simple" for American tastes - when GM brought the GTO here, everyone bitched and moaned about how bland and feature-less the car was. Very few people complimented GM on showing good taste and restraint in design.
-b.
Supras are nice little cars, BTW. They're even rear-wheel-drive. BTW, I wasn't bragging: said BMW had approximately 160,000 hard miles done over 15 years by the time I got my grubby lil' hands on it.
-b.
Full computer would be a bit of overkill. Why not just include a USB port on the radio allowing you to plug in an external HDD in a 2.5" case or a flash stick. It should be able to read MP3s in addition to higher quality formats (up to and including uncompressed wave files).
-b.
Yes! This is exactly what I was thinking of and more. I'm not sure if automakers would actually include a full data display as stock - it might cut into their dealers' repair profits...
-b.
Nah, Americans' view of rear wheel drive has been spoiled by the American cars built up until the 80s. They had heavy iron-block V8 engines that put approx. 60% of the weight of the car at the front end. Which meant that they got poor traction on the rear, driving wheels. If you have a RWD car that's close to 50/50 balanced or even slightly (like 48/52) rear-biased, you get decent traction and good handling.
contend with snow, rear wheel drive is a huge liability.
Not really - I drive a RWD car now, and it's actually *better* in snow than my family's FWD Jetta. I suspect that it would be even better with a traction-control system, but it's acceptable as is. BTW, the Chrysler LX-cars (300 and Dodge Charger) were tested in snow and found to do better than a lot of FWD cars. But if you like cars that handle like marshmallows and plow through corners, then w00t for you. At least the number of RWD cars has increased in the last few years, so if I decide to buy a new car, it won't have to be a pig-pusher.
-b.
It can be lethal if you have a weakened immune system due to age, chemo, HIV, whatever. BTW- it may persist as a low-grade infestation even in healthy people. The same as many other infections like syphilis, Lyme Disease, and even chickenpox - the initial symptoms of infection may go away but the pathogen stays in the body and causes mayhem a few years or even decades later.
-b.
Let's hope so - but it'll be a royal PITA. Keep in mind that the "computers" in many newer cars provide not just NAV and audio capability, but control stuff like climate control and even lights in some cases (stuff that they have no business controlling IMHO).
-b.
This has been a feature of some cars since the early 80s. I learned to drive in a 1983(?) BMW 528e that has a mechanical MPG gauge below the tachometer. AFAIK, it wasn't the cheezy engine vacuum type "mileage" gauge - it was actually driven by the fuel injection computer that "knew" speed and how much fuel was being injected.
-b.
The consumer would be best served by a standard-sized (say, double DIN) slot in the dashboard where he can have the radio/nav system of his choice installed. When the old one wears out or becomes obsolete, it can be replaced with newer technology without throwing the car away. BTW- this is how most European cars were designed until the early 1990s, if not later. As far as running other controls like heat/AC off of the same LCD screen as the radio and nav system, those supposed engineers should be sent back to school. Introducing a single point of failure that b0rks basically all interior controls into a complex system like a car isn't a good idea. And the climate control *is* safety-critical - think about not having a defroster whilst driving in a blizzard.
-b.
Yep, it would be nice, in addition to the "Check Engine" moron light to use a small LCD screen in the dash to display error messages in plain English (or language of choice anyway). In addition to the warning light, you'd get a message like "left bank rear O2 sensor zero voltage output". When not in use for error messages, the thing could be used as a trip computer, for nav system messages, etc. It should also be able to display the output of any sensor connected to the car's computer for diagnostic purposes and as a programmable gauge (so you can have it display voltage, oil pressure, and air mass flow at all times while driving). Think about it as a car computer for *car* geeks.
-b.