Pickup Pal clearly lives in a grey area between common carriers (busses) and private arrangements (catching a lift home with a friend.) Applying either set of regulations, and I'm sure there are plenty on both, isn't going to work. Clearly, we need to establish a Legislative investigation committee, with an adjunct task-force, to properly promulgate the appropriate regulatory framework in which such an entity might operate safely with an eye toward fairness and equality for all similar services that might be impacted by this new entity.
Or, the government could simply sod off and let people get on with their lives.
There's taking money, then there's cost sharing. If the money they're taking doesn't exceed the standard mileage allowance ($.50/mile this year?) then this isn't really being done for profit.
A carpool is quite a bit different from a bus, provides an entirely different service in an entirely different manner.
In and around Tampa, Florida, the state will GIVE you a van and buy your gas if you get 4 or more people to ride in it 5 days a week (I think they're looking for people with 40+ mile commutes each way). Turns out to be cheaper for the state to supply the vans than for them to increase capacity on the roads clogged with single riders.
Sometimes the deregulation can get out of hand. In Miami, the independent Jitneys would cut in front of buses to pick up passengers at city bus stops for something like $0.10 per ride less than the city bus. Ha! Stick it to the man, you say? All was fun and games until three and four Jitneys would start competing on the same route, at the same time, not only looking ridiculous, but completely snarling traffic since they blocked all lanes trying to cut in front of each other to get to the bus stops first. I think they were shut down before any really dramatic safety problems came up...
What doesn't make sense? You're taking business away from the Taxi / Limo services, they've got established hooks into government, they get government to protect their businesses. To hell with considerations like efficiency, the environment, freedom of choice, or common sense, this is the political machine you're messin' with, man.
Hey, if those financiers don't get a $700bn bailout, they're going to take their money bags and hide in the closet, and then will we all be?
Money is the grease that lubes the machine, would be interesting if the internet could be used as a basis of practical bartering system that circumvented the control of the almighty dollar. I suppose anything that got too successful would be identified as a shadow currency and either outlawed or taxed:-(
You're talking about funding Science for Science's sake... this is America - we pay $54M for Capt. Jack Sparrow to make a fourth appearance - get your priorities straight. The public is ready to pay for another Apollo 11 drama, they don't really understand what "exoplanet" means.
When China is building a nuclear power plant on the Moon (for peaceful, energy generating research, of course), we'll have a need to be there too... greater than the need to show our military strength in the middle east - and I think it will be cheaper to conquer the moon than Baghdad, anyway.
If this old guy who enjoys piloting his boat provides free ferry rides across the river, you can certainly ride the ferry for free.
You could even take a job on the other side of the river and take out a mortgage on a new house based on that job, that is incidentally dependent on the old guy and his boat.
If the old guy decides that he's going to take the month off and do some traveling in his boat, is it really his problem that you have become dependent upon his generosity? Or that you don't have the resources or skill to purchase and operate your own boat? Even if you chipped in for gas once in awhile, I don't think he really has an obligation to ferry you across the river twice a day, five days a week, just because he used to do it and you are incapable without him.
I can see some judges attempting to press the old guy and his boat into service because he has become a vital component of the local economy, but true justice would be if the users of the service were made to pay the whole cost of providing the service, including providing the necessary labor.
And... when the old guy dies, you truly are up the creek....
Something as simple as the a supported cards list could be mirrored - even if out of date, an old list is better than no list.
Surely the poster / complainer has enough resources to copy the list and put it up on a free website somewhere? Maybe they could even get together a script to update it weekly or something - then when the main site goes down, a reasonably recent copy is still available?
Solar sails work too... the car analogy was the first hint that this was a joke. Of course, if the laser is ground based, most of the "thrust" will be pushing up, which isn't a very efficient vector to de-orbit with. Low angles would intersect more atmosphere, not good for retaining laser focus or power. You could eventually de-circularize the orbit enough to get increased atmospheric drag and re-entry, but I'd bet that we're talking about hundreds, or even thousands of passes, unless the laser really is strong enough to mostly vaporize the target - such a strong blast would likely fragment the target, which is a bigger mess than leaving it intact.
If we had efficient lasers strong enough to accomplish this in an impressive way, I'd bet we would be using them to demonstrate this capability.
I think Kamen is fascinated with the Sterling simply because it is theoretically the most efficient thermal cycle. He believes that his demiGod engineering and development abilities can realize a significant portion of that theoretical efficiency in a small package.
He has been developing the concept for a long time, I believe his current versions are quite a bit better than 6% efficient.
We have a Ram 1500 Quad Cab for similar reasons.... and to those who complain that 15MPG is a crime against nature, I say that $30K for a gas sipper alternative buys an awful lot of gas (and that gas sipper costs $30K mostly due to the energy required to build it)
I looked at it when I was laid off one March - they were accepting applications, but not reviewing them until December, financially that would have been suicide. Also, cost of living in the DC 'burbs made $71K very unattractive.
Sorry, just read up on the Aptera - it can't tow a trailer, so I guess taking the boat to the lake is also out....
Seriously, Aptera is a California only concept at the moment - nice concept, but it won't be killing the rest of the automotive market anytime soon. I also question their ability to deliver mass quantities of that body shell within their target price - maybe the passionate craftsmen they have right now can do it, but getting that produced en-masse will be a significant challenge. There's a reason the Corvette body never migrated down to the Camaro.
Patent examiners, at least, have plenty of job security - as long as you're willing to work in DC on less than $70K/yr salary, they're willing to keep you. It appears that they optimize that number as low as possible while still finding warm bodies willing to sit in the chair.
If the company being targeted by this method has documented their trade secret, even if only internally, they can instantly shut down any infringement litigation by producing said documentation.
Of course, this "outs" their trade secret, but that's not usually fatally crippling.
My daily driver has 2 seats (Miata), but after taking up one garage slot with that, the other better be able to haul all 4 at one time - if Miatae got 60mpg we could just take two, but sadly, they don't.
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Pickup Pal clearly lives in a grey area between common carriers (busses) and private arrangements (catching a lift home with a friend.) Applying either set of regulations, and I'm sure there are plenty on both, isn't going to work. Clearly, we need to establish a Legislative investigation committee, with an adjunct task-force, to properly promulgate the appropriate regulatory framework in which such an entity might operate safely with an eye toward fairness and equality for all similar services that might be impacted by this new entity.
Or, the government could simply sod off and let people get on with their lives.
Which option do you prefer?
It simplifies the life of the revenue collector if everybody pays. You don't actually want your revenue office trying to think, do you?
There's taking money, then there's cost sharing. If the money they're taking doesn't exceed the standard mileage allowance ($.50/mile this year?) then this isn't really being done for profit.
A carpool is quite a bit different from a bus, provides an entirely different service in an entirely different manner.
In and around Tampa, Florida, the state will GIVE you a van and buy your gas if you get 4 or more people to ride in it 5 days a week (I think they're looking for people with 40+ mile commutes each way). Turns out to be cheaper for the state to supply the vans than for them to increase capacity on the roads clogged with single riders.
Sometimes the deregulation can get out of hand. In Miami, the independent Jitneys would cut in front of buses to pick up passengers at city bus stops for something like $0.10 per ride less than the city bus. Ha! Stick it to the man, you say? All was fun and games until three and four Jitneys would start competing on the same route, at the same time, not only looking ridiculous, but completely snarling traffic since they blocked all lanes trying to cut in front of each other to get to the bus stops first. I think they were shut down before any really dramatic safety problems came up...
What doesn't make sense? You're taking business away from the Taxi / Limo services, they've got established hooks into government, they get government to protect their businesses. To hell with considerations like efficiency, the environment, freedom of choice, or common sense, this is the political machine you're messin' with, man.
Hey, if those financiers don't get a $700bn bailout, they're going to take their money bags and hide in the closet, and then will we all be?
Money is the grease that lubes the machine, would be interesting if the internet could be used as a basis of practical bartering system that circumvented the control of the almighty dollar. I suppose anything that got too successful would be identified as a shadow currency and either outlawed or taxed :-(
You're talking about funding Science for Science's sake... this is America - we pay $54M for Capt. Jack Sparrow to make a fourth appearance - get your priorities straight. The public is ready to pay for another Apollo 11 drama, they don't really understand what "exoplanet" means.
When China is building a nuclear power plant on the Moon (for peaceful, energy generating research, of course), we'll have a need to be there too... greater than the need to show our military strength in the middle east - and I think it will be cheaper to conquer the moon than Baghdad, anyway.
Cut deficit spending where it matters, cutting NASA's budget today is like picking a flea off of a dog with a arterial wound.
I prefer the Stephen Hawking perspective that we NEED to put 0.25% of GDP into working to get off this rock, permanently if necessary.
If we're so broke, what are we doing playing cowboy-soldier in two wars? How many NASAs could be funded by the effort in Afghanistan alone?
The difference that I see is that you learned these beliefs from others - the MK-ULTRA set seem to be coming up with it independently.
That's what he said.
If this old guy who enjoys piloting his boat provides free ferry rides across the river, you can certainly ride the ferry for free.
You could even take a job on the other side of the river and take out a mortgage on a new house based on that job, that is incidentally dependent on the old guy and his boat.
If the old guy decides that he's going to take the month off and do some traveling in his boat, is it really his problem that you have become dependent upon his generosity? Or that you don't have the resources or skill to purchase and operate your own boat? Even if you chipped in for gas once in awhile, I don't think he really has an obligation to ferry you across the river twice a day, five days a week, just because he used to do it and you are incapable without him.
I can see some judges attempting to press the old guy and his boat into service because he has become a vital component of the local economy, but true justice would be if the users of the service were made to pay the whole cost of providing the service, including providing the necessary labor.
And... when the old guy dies, you truly are up the creek....
Something as simple as the a supported cards list could be mirrored - even if out of date, an old list is better than no list.
Surely the poster / complainer has enough resources to copy the list and put it up on a free website somewhere? Maybe they could even get together a script to update it weekly or something - then when the main site goes down, a reasonably recent copy is still available?
Solar sails work too... the car analogy was the first hint that this was a joke. Of course, if the laser is ground based, most of the "thrust" will be pushing up, which isn't a very efficient vector to de-orbit with. Low angles would intersect more atmosphere, not good for retaining laser focus or power. You could eventually de-circularize the orbit enough to get increased atmospheric drag and re-entry, but I'd bet that we're talking about hundreds, or even thousands of passes, unless the laser really is strong enough to mostly vaporize the target - such a strong blast would likely fragment the target, which is a bigger mess than leaving it intact.
If we had efficient lasers strong enough to accomplish this in an impressive way, I'd bet we would be using them to demonstrate this capability.
What city do you live in? In most larger ones I have driven in, all the econoboxes do just that (full throttle acceleration from every light.)
I think Kamen is fascinated with the Sterling simply because it is theoretically the most efficient thermal cycle. He believes that his demiGod engineering and development abilities can realize a significant portion of that theoretical efficiency in a small package.
He has been developing the concept for a long time, I believe his current versions are quite a bit better than 6% efficient.
We have a Ram 1500 Quad Cab for similar reasons.... and to those who complain that 15MPG is a crime against nature, I say that $30K for a gas sipper alternative buys an awful lot of gas (and that gas sipper costs $30K mostly due to the energy required to build it)
I looked at it when I was laid off one March - they were accepting applications, but not reviewing them until December, financially that would have been suicide. Also, cost of living in the DC 'burbs made $71K very unattractive.
Or, just get two Apteraie and run a wireless video conference link.....
Sorry, just read up on the Aptera - it can't tow a trailer, so I guess taking the boat to the lake is also out....
Seriously, Aptera is a California only concept at the moment - nice concept, but it won't be killing the rest of the automotive market anytime soon. I also question their ability to deliver mass quantities of that body shell within their target price - maybe the passionate craftsmen they have right now can do it, but getting that produced en-masse will be a significant challenge. There's a reason the Corvette body never migrated down to the Camaro.
Patent examiners, at least, have plenty of job security - as long as you're willing to work in DC on less than $70K/yr salary, they're willing to keep you. It appears that they optimize that number as low as possible while still finding warm bodies willing to sit in the chair.
If the company being targeted by this method has documented their trade secret, even if only internally, they can instantly shut down any infringement litigation by producing said documentation.
Of course, this "outs" their trade secret, but that's not usually fatally crippling.
My daily driver has 2 seats (Miata), but after taking up one garage slot with that, the other better be able to haul all 4 at one time - if Miatae got 60mpg we could just take two, but sadly, they don't.