You know there's something fundamentally out of balance in the R&D module when the wall worts are bigger than the devices they are recharging;-)
Generally the charge management IC is in the device (or even in the battery pack if removable), not the wall wart. Making a wall wart large WRT the portable device it charges isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you assume the user is going to carry around the device and not the power supply, too. That way you can make the supply much cheaper by not having to specify some highly efficient but compact (and expensive) transformer. A reasonable trade-off in most cases. DC power supplies are commodity parts. You just spec what you need and have your parts buyer get a suitable one. For a really big order, you can even get the manufacturer to emboss your name on the enclosure, instead of just a sticker.
There may be a few people, like you, who would appreciate a more lithe and elegant looking power supply, but I think it would be a tough sell to the general market. If one product is $5 more, but has a really nice wall wart -- otherwise the same specs . . . ? Maybe there's a business opportunity there for gorgeous aftermarket DC supplies, but I wouldn't bet anything expensive or sentimental on it. If you want to try it and take the risk, I'll be happy to design it for you. Engineers will design anything you pay us to make:)
What scares me though... many many reports of fires due to overcharging (shoddy chargers). It is suggested to always charge the LiPos in a 'battery bunker', a clay pot filled with sand, with a lid.
If one is really concerned about explosion/fire, I'd leave the lid off -- at least don't fasten it down. Then the setup would resemble a munitions loading bunker.
has anything changed with this or is what i've heard BS?
You can design in a larger and more costly charger manager in a notebook battery than you can in a digital audio player. More sophisticated charge management ICs have dead battery precharging cycles, thermimstor inputs to watch cell temp, and smarter logic for charging battery depending on state of charge when you plug it in to the charger. The smaller, low cost chargers you use for small electronics aren't nearly so smart, most just stop charging at a given voltage (or at the end of the safety timeout).
Anyway, you can get better battery lifetime if you can afford the cost and size of a fancier charger. Doesn't mean the guys designing small devices are doing a bad job, they just have a different tradeoff to make when doing the design.
John Mayer even has a Song about it "Something's missing"... you can buy it on iTunes with your credit card to put on your iPod, in your in car stereo adapter, on the way to work!
Funny you should mention that -- John Mayer echoing through my dimly lit, dusty workplace was the straw that broke the camel's back. I would not recommend him to anyone already depressed about their work situation.
Re:We want people to thrive and grow
on
Understanding Burnout
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
"Burnout" is another one. The employee is totally responsible for this as the employer will extract as much productivity as their morals allow with no consideration for "burn out."
True, employers may have no legal responsibility to prevent burnout or provide for growth. Sure, employees are ultimately responsible for their own growth. Here's an interesting implication of those two facts: if you, as an employer don't provide anything in the way of support to promote an employee's growth and prevent his burnout, he may just seek out an employer who does.
Here's a very short parable:
Al and Bob both bought a set of tools. Al kept his tools clean and dry. Bob left his tools out in the rain. Bob's tools rusted, and he had to get another set to replace them.
Now, which man was within his rights? Both, right? Which man was smart?
265sqm.. / 350 million people (Just the US population + generouse allowance) =.75 Square miles per million people or more exact
The actual summary quote was:
it looks like a square 265 miles on a side in the American southwest would do it.
That's about 70200 square miles. So it's more like.0002 sq miles per person or 6000 sqft.
(0.75714285714285714285714285714286 sq.m. per million)
I'm impressed you got this precision -- down to 1x10^-24 square inch -- too bad about the accuracy.;)
But anyway, 6000 sqft per person seems much more reasonable, doesn't it? If I could cover my whole yard with these, and maybe angle them toward the sun, I'd be in business.
And that's about.06 hectares, for SI the conversion impaired.
reminds me of the tornado warnings in middle america/central plains.
by the time the Hams radioed that one was on the ground, it was confirmed, and a signal was sent to ativate the system, the tornados were often over.
Most tornados are spotted by radar now. Much more effective than human spotters, particularly at night. We've got multiple zones per county in some areas, so only sirens in a tornado's path are sounded. There's plenty of warning of tornados here, usually.p>
One disadvantage of the automated approach is that radar doesn't see ground-level straight-line winds very well. So called "microbursts" of >100mph wind concentrated in a small area of several blocks can cause as much damage as a tornado, and not get picked up by the warning network. I was in the "throne room" of my apartment when one of these blew through. My ears popped at the sudden, severe pressure drop. Several roofs got damaged, chimneys knocked down, one deck was re-arranged like pick up sticks and a tractor trailer got flipped over.
Another thing is to automatically
interrupt the electricity in the buildings to prevent
fires caused by short-circuits. But what would it cost
to equip all houses in San Francisco (or any big or medium
sized city) with such systems?
If you really wanted to do that, you'd do it at the substation level. But I doubt you would. Substations already have circuit interrupting switchgear, houses have fuses and breakers, outlets in particularly hazardous locations have GFIs. Electricity won't leak out and start a roaring inferno like your gas service could.
Crowd control in an of itself is not a bad idea if that's what you're getting at.
This'll be used for peaceful protests and civil disobedience, not just riots, looting and foreigners. Remember the taser? That was originally for violent "subjects" who the cops would've shot before. That was how they sold it. Now it's good for anyone who won't stop passively resisting arrest, or who annoys the cops. Just torture 'em until they comply. Then torture 'em a little more so they learn their lesson. That was retail. This is the wholesale version.
Yeah, and they (Wired) didn't make them available to the public, as some decent news sources do. Would have been nice if they made them available in their article - because "everyman" trying to obtain gov. docs via the sunshine laws is like pulling teeth. I've done it.
Absolutely NO amount of radiation is completely safe. I'm wondering if this will be a new disaster like the use of radioactive munitions by NATO in former Yugoslavia...
I'm not saying I like the idea of this thing, I don't, but you're confusing nuclear radiation with mm wave RF. Light is radition, too.
But don't take my word for it...check Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 545, Subchapter B. This concept was apparently important enough that it be the first set of rules enumerated in the vehicle operating code. Most states have similar statutes in place, and most civilized nations either observe these rules of driving behavior by ordinance or by simple courtesy.
Now hold on just a bit, there, Pardner. I checked my state's driver's manual and the manuals from some neighboring states. I was shocked and surprised to find that driving in these states is not regulated by the Texas (Yaa-hoo!) Transportation Code. None of these states has a mention of the need to "move over, little dogie" when being signalled by another driver. In fact, I found no mention of signalling to another driver, visibly or audibly, of one's intention to pass.
They do provide for the left lane of a multiple lane highway being used for passing slower traffic. They do not state that one must evacuate the left lane, real pronto-like, cowboy, when being overtaken. To the contrary, they emphasize the need to merge right more cautiously, so as not to cut in on other drivers. One manual even makes a special note of travelling at the speed of traffic even when they are moving too slowly for your taste.
I'm sure you're totally right about Texas, Slim -- I'm taking your word for it, since the cowboy code doesn't allow lying. The attitude is definately borne out by Texans driving in my area. But now we know why -- it's required by law.
One final note: non-accident-related traffic jams aren't generally caused by not having enough lanes for everyone to get from point "A" to point "B". They are due to intersections with other roads. Changing lanes, merging and exiting acutally cause the slowdown, because the interchange is almost always the lowest capacity node in the system. The fewer unnecessary lane changes, the better traffic will move for everyone, not just you. You're not the only one driving with a pregnant lady about to give birth and a dog having a heart attack.
OK, I lied, one more point: http://www.dmv.org/ has links to driver's manuals and traffic codes from 40-some states. They'd also like to sell you DVDs on driver's ed, etc. I have no financial interest in this site.
Pretty much every book I enter I get 'unsuggested' a book that I've both read and enjoyed!
Well, we've Slashdotted the site but I found the same thing. For every book I tried, I found several un-suggestions that I have read and enjoyed. The oddest unsuggestion pair:
"Is Sex Necessary?" by Thurbur and White . . . and . . . "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstien.
One's a cute (and rather innocent) parody of self-help books of the 1920s with funny little essays and doodly illustrations, the other is a book of irreverent poetry (ostensibly) for children with cute illustrations.
I was flagged for having a "terrorist profile" back in 1997. I went to a conference in Memphis and bought 2 one-way tickets -- there and back -- because it was cheaper in that instance than the round trip. At the airport, the rent-a-pig told the rent-a-sow next to him, "Ugh . . . terrorist profile" as he handed me a form and sent me back for more extreme searches of my possessions. I complained to the guy at the "extra security checkpoint" that I didn't care to be called a "terrorist" and his response was "They shouldn't have said that".
Last time I had a head-on collision, it did total the bike. I also totalled the (cheap) car and spent some time in the hospital.
Good Lord, man, what would you condiser a 'loss'? I'm on your side here, but there's no mention of the driver of the car being hurt, just the car. And that's the thing: drivers assume that they won't be the ones suffering the "ass dents" if an accidnt occurs. Worst case for them is ass dents in their car, versus ass dents in our asses, etc.
At any rate, I hope your winning streak continues, and by that I mean that I hope you don't get hurt too badly, not that you end up in the hospital again. Death to cars and suvs.
I don't think that the majority of people are psychopaths.
That's true, I don't think most people will intentionally hit me. But here's a sobering thought: According to "The Sociopath Next Door" by Martha Stout http://www.amazon.com/Sociopath-Next-Door-Martha-S tout/dp/0767915828/sr=8-1/qid=1165002752/ref=pd_bb s_sr_1/104-3007941-4375118?ie=UTF8&s=books, 4% of people are sociopathic. Yikes. So how many drivers do I have to encounter (assuming they are representative of the general population) to have a 50% chance of finding someone who'd run me over without a second thought? About 17. There's another response to my previous post that illustrates this point well.
I know other things can kill me, and I do keep riding, but the odds are against me. Suburban USA is just not set up for bike transport, and the "I've got mine, get out of my way!" attitude of car drivers around here is all too common.
Slashdot Mirror
are octopuses, not octopi.
Attr. to Patricia T. O'Conner, as is the quote, "Octopi is for suckers".
RTA? Dude, this article is: "RIAA Wants Artist Royalties Lowered". Right pew, wrong church.
What story is this post a commentary on? Was this supposed to be attached to the Arson article?
Generally the charge management IC is in the device (or even in the battery pack if removable), not the wall wart. Making a wall wart large WRT the portable device it charges isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you assume the user is going to carry around the device and not the power supply, too. That way you can make the supply much cheaper by not having to specify some highly efficient but compact (and expensive) transformer. A reasonable trade-off in most cases. DC power supplies are commodity parts. You just spec what you need and have your parts buyer get a suitable one. For a really big order, you can even get the manufacturer to emboss your name on the enclosure, instead of just a sticker.
There may be a few people, like you, who would appreciate a more lithe and elegant looking power supply, but I think it would be a tough sell to the general market. If one product is $5 more, but has a really nice wall wart -- otherwise the same specs . . . ? Maybe there's a business opportunity there for gorgeous aftermarket DC supplies, but I wouldn't bet anything expensive or sentimental on it. If you want to try it and take the risk, I'll be happy to design it for you. Engineers will design anything you pay us to make :)
A "wall wort" is me at parties.
If one is really concerned about explosion/fire, I'd leave the lid off -- at least don't fasten it down. Then the setup would resemble a munitions loading bunker.
You can design in a larger and more costly charger manager in a notebook battery than you can in a digital audio player. More sophisticated charge management ICs have dead battery precharging cycles, thermimstor inputs to watch cell temp, and smarter logic for charging battery depending on state of charge when you plug it in to the charger. The smaller, low cost chargers you use for small electronics aren't nearly so smart, most just stop charging at a given voltage (or at the end of the safety timeout).
Anyway, you can get better battery lifetime if you can afford the cost and size of a fancier charger. Doesn't mean the guys designing small devices are doing a bad job, they just have a different tradeoff to make when doing the design.
Funny you should mention that -- John Mayer echoing through my dimly lit, dusty workplace was the straw that broke the camel's back. I would not recommend him to anyone already depressed about their work situation.
True, employers may have no legal responsibility to prevent burnout or provide for growth. Sure, employees are ultimately responsible for their own growth. Here's an interesting implication of those two facts: if you, as an employer don't provide anything in the way of support to promote an employee's growth and prevent his burnout, he may just seek out an employer who does.
Here's a very short parable:
Al and Bob both bought a set of tools. Al kept his tools clean and dry. Bob left his tools out in the rain. Bob's tools rusted, and he had to get another set to replace them.
Now, which man was within his rights? Both, right? Which man was smart?
The actual summary quote was:
That's about 70200 square miles. So it's more like .0002 sq miles per person or 6000 sqft.
I'm impressed you got this precision -- down to 1x10^-24 square inch -- too bad about the accuracy. ;)
But anyway, 6000 sqft per person seems much more reasonable, doesn't it? If I could cover my whole yard with these, and maybe angle them toward the sun, I'd be in business. And that's about .06 hectares, for SI the conversion impaired.
Most tornados are spotted by radar now. Much more effective than human spotters, particularly at night. We've got multiple zones per county in some areas, so only sirens in a tornado's path are sounded. There's plenty of warning of tornados here, usually.p> One disadvantage of the automated approach is that radar doesn't see ground-level straight-line winds very well. So called "microbursts" of >100mph wind concentrated in a small area of several blocks can cause as much damage as a tornado, and not get picked up by the warning network. I was in the "throne room" of my apartment when one of these blew through. My ears popped at the sudden, severe pressure drop. Several roofs got damaged, chimneys knocked down, one deck was re-arranged like pick up sticks and a tractor trailer got flipped over.
In general the tornado warning sustem works.
If you really wanted to do that, you'd do it at the substation level. But I doubt you would. Substations already have circuit interrupting switchgear, houses have fuses and breakers, outlets in particularly hazardous locations have GFIs. Electricity won't leak out and start a roaring inferno like your gas service could.
Perhaps definition 3 also comes into play here:
as in, they keep torturing "torture" into meaning something else.
Damnit, that's aural goatse, there! Owwwwwwwwww! My eyes, I mean ears!
To punish wrongthought?
This'll be used for peaceful protests and civil disobedience, not just riots, looting and foreigners. Remember the taser? That was originally for violent "subjects" who the cops would've shot before. That was how they sold it. Now it's good for anyone who won't stop passively resisting arrest, or who annoys the cops. Just torture 'em until they comply. Then torture 'em a little more so they learn their lesson. That was retail. This is the wholesale version.
Here is a companion article from Wired with some of the documents: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72236-0.htm l?tw=rss.index
I think you meant to respond to another post . . .
Radar guys use the term millimeter-wave, so I guess it means that radar guys developed it, not communications engineers.
I'm not saying I like the idea of this thing, I don't, but you're confusing nuclear radiation with mm wave RF. Light is radition, too.
Now hold on just a bit, there, Pardner. I checked my state's driver's manual and the manuals from some neighboring states. I was shocked and surprised to find that driving in these states is not regulated by the Texas (Yaa-hoo!) Transportation Code. None of these states has a mention of the need to "move over, little dogie" when being signalled by another driver. In fact, I found no mention of signalling to another driver, visibly or audibly, of one's intention to pass.
They do provide for the left lane of a multiple lane highway being used for passing slower traffic. They do not state that one must evacuate the left lane, real pronto-like, cowboy, when being overtaken. To the contrary, they emphasize the need to merge right more cautiously, so as not to cut in on other drivers. One manual even makes a special note of travelling at the speed of traffic even when they are moving too slowly for your taste.
I'm sure you're totally right about Texas, Slim -- I'm taking your word for it, since the cowboy code doesn't allow lying. The attitude is definately borne out by Texans driving in my area. But now we know why -- it's required by law.
One final note: non-accident-related traffic jams aren't generally caused by not having enough lanes for everyone to get from point "A" to point "B". They are due to intersections with other roads. Changing lanes, merging and exiting acutally cause the slowdown, because the interchange is almost always the lowest capacity node in the system. The fewer unnecessary lane changes, the better traffic will move for everyone, not just you. You're not the only one driving with a pregnant lady about to give birth and a dog having a heart attack.
OK, I lied, one more point: http://www.dmv.org/ has links to driver's manuals and traffic codes from 40-some states. They'd also like to sell you DVDs on driver's ed, etc. I have no financial interest in this site.
. . . and there I sat, in the in the stark judgement of the high beams, flashing their mute testament against me.
Well, we've Slashdotted the site but I found the same thing. For every book I tried, I found several un-suggestions that I have read and enjoyed. The oddest unsuggestion pair:
"Is Sex Necessary?" by Thurbur and White . . . and . . . "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstien.
One's a cute (and rather innocent) parody of self-help books of the 1920s with funny little essays and doodly illustrations, the other is a book of irreverent poetry (ostensibly) for children with cute illustrations.
Good Lord, man, what would you condiser a 'loss'? I'm on your side here, but there's no mention of the driver of the car being hurt, just the car. And that's the thing: drivers assume that they won't be the ones suffering the "ass dents" if an accidnt occurs. Worst case for them is ass dents in their car, versus ass dents in our asses, etc.
At any rate, I hope your winning streak continues, and by that I mean that I hope you don't get hurt too badly, not that you end up in the hospital again. Death to cars and suvs.
That's true, I don't think most people will intentionally hit me. But here's a sobering thought: According to "The Sociopath Next Door" by Martha Stout http://www.amazon.com/Sociopath-Next-Door-Martha-S tout/dp/0767915828/sr=8-1/qid=1165002752/ref=pd_bb s_sr_1/104-3007941-4375118?ie=UTF8&s=books, 4% of people are sociopathic. Yikes. So how many drivers do I have to encounter (assuming they are representative of the general population) to have a 50% chance of finding someone who'd run me over without a second thought? About 17. There's another response to my previous post that illustrates this point well.
I know other things can kill me, and I do keep riding, but the odds are against me. Suburban USA is just not set up for bike transport, and the "I've got mine, get out of my way!" attitude of car drivers around here is all too common.