My bet is that like the rest of the world's diesels, that particular vehicle is facing the "OMG thick black smoke" laws passed in this country. Our emissions requirements are tighter on the types of particular matter that come with diesels, yet less strict with CO2. If only the world could agree to one emissions standard..... make the environment better, end the JDM crap, and bring some decent diesel cars to the US.
I'm not doubting that the older drives have gained more experience, and may be better able to plan/make better driving choices, however their reflexes are slower, and most of their senses have dulled with age. This certainly affects their ability to drive.
I understand the typical driver, and thats the problem. We should fix the drivers. Train them better, and take their licenses away for needlessly making poor choices that endanger the lives of others.
I believe the new Porsche Panamera (the most unappealing Porsche, or dare I say car {priuses/prii are excluded, as they are golf carts}) has such a feature. It's really a really cool idea, though I think it'd be incredibly difficult to integrate that into a car with 3 pedals....
And I acknowledge that there are some things that have definitely been a benefit (airbags, seatbelts, etc.) But 292? That number isn't the number of people killed when the driver couldn't see them out the window, or with the mirror. It includes all of the times the person never looked (if they aren't even looking at the mirror, why would they look at a screen), it includes all of the people who were impaired and shouldn't have been driving anyway. The problem isn't (mostly) that you can't see behind your car, the problem is that people don't look.
It's not just the drivers either. Jogging down the sidewalk, listening to your music while reading your e-mail on your phone? Get hit by a car? You're part of the problem.
Stop mandating this crap. I don't want traction control in my car, I don't want more screens, I don't want want my car to drive itself, and I don't want my car to disable cellphones.
I enjoy driving, and I drive a lot. My car is comfortable, gets good fuel economy (45-48MPG), has a manual transmission and drives like a car (not a golf cart). There are no screens (aside from the 1"x2" LCD clock and Odometer) and my speedometer and odometer have needles (so you can see how fast you're going out of your peripheral vision (is the needle straight up? I'm good)).
I agree, there are some safety features that should be in all cars... Seat belts, and airbags are important. But back up cameras? 292 fatalities a year. This is insignificant, seeing as how there are about 40,000 automobile fatalities per year, 0.7%? More people likely die from just being poor drivers. Why doesn't the government require better driver education before issuing licenses? Why don't we require retesting at certain ages? (Do you really think that all of the people out there driving in their late 80s drive just as well as they did when they were 19?) I'm betting fixing these problems would save a lot more lives than making us have more crap in our car.
If these cameras are mandatory, will they be included in states "safety" inspections? Will I be required to fix it if it breaks? If I swap out the stereo in my car for a different one, will I be required to reattach the camera?
Nope. As per another post in this thread, there was an article on/. a few months ago about a Mexican high school doing this.
Here are some of our pics, courtesy of my friend Theo, http://picasaweb.google.com/Theo.McDonald/AIAABalloonLaunch2#
however, he seems to be missing some of the pictures from apogee. (The really cool pics:/)
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1367009&cid=29408247
I'm pissed off because this made the front page of slashdot, apparently because 2 MIT students did it.
People do this type of thing all the time, even people from other schools (WPI) and don't get recognized.
The first time we launched our radios failed. It landed about 17 miles from where we predicted (We use software whose name escapes me at the moment which can predict the location based on current wind patterns) and someone else found it and called us.
The second time, our radios gave us its coordinates to within a couple of meters. We had been following it for its entire flight (unfortunately, the balloon had been under-filled, so it landed a few hundred miles south of where we planned... We followed it for 13 hours).
As far as landing in places where you won't be able to get it... you don't launch anywhere near any? You should plan your launch such that you are nowhere near any large bodies of water, as they are the primary thing that makes it unreachable. You can climb tress and etc. Desolate areas are better, because landing on the highway will cause issues. (We chose to launch in New Hampshire, with our ballon intended to land in Central MA. The first shot was pretty close, the second shot landed in southern CT, hopefully our third shot will land in Central MA, but we haven't gotten that far yet)
This article actually pissed me off enough to log in and make a post.
This is nothing new. A group of us did this a few years ago and have a set of similar pictures. We actually intend to launch another balloon in a few weeks, with revised radio gear. See.... we don't use cellphones for that, and we use a GPS unit that will actually give us a correct altitude and speed that high up.
Ham Radio / APRS FTW....
And what if I give my phone to my friend in the passenger seat to answer my call? How would they no if it was me or him that was talking? Should I not have insurance coverage because my friend was talking on my phone?
I'm even more surprised by the fact that they gave links to Newegg for all there parts, and if I build a similar system swapping out their PSU choice for a 1300W one from newegg (the one newegg had with the most PCIe connectors, as they didn't have the PSU they used) it costs a only $3,400 US, or as per google, about 2,200 EUR.
Granted prices may have dropped since they did this, but I doubt they've been cut in half.
First thing I thought of as well... This has been happening quite a bit recently, with Montsegur and the History Channel and now Two Minutes to Midnight...
I have used several different CAD programs for both 2d and 3d work. I have found that CadKey (now KeyCreator) is extremely well rounded. 2D is simple and quick as is 3D.
Why is less energy density a plus? I would like a laptop with a long battery life, and improvements in processor technology should be used to increase battery life, not reduce the capacity of batteries.
I've never been able to understand why, but I usually develop headaches with several hours of exposure to flourescant lights. I had tried to replace several incandescant bulbs with CFLs, but noticed the same problems. I had to switch back, as while I can get through a day of work with the lights, having them at home and at work would put me in constant pain.
I am sure I am not the only one who has problems such as this.
Unfortunetly the US presents an interesting situation involving this matter. Depending on where you live in the United States, a motor vehicle may be required for such simple tasks as getting to your neighbors house. There are parts of this country where the nearest house to yours is several miles away. While this may be rare, a considerably more common issue would be that while other people are nearby, the closest stores and other meeting places are miles away.
Public transportation is almost non-existant in many areas (I can think of a couple of areas within 100 miles of New York City that suffer from this) and bicycle riding would be unsafe (Ever take a bicycle on a road with a 55MPH speed limit where everyone does 65? {No shoulder, and you would get a ticket for riding there if it did, plus the people in cars believe you don't belong there so they would not be curteous enough to avoid you}) this leaves only one way for teens to see each other, parents. Who in all probability are BOTH working. This takes away any independence from teens, and now when they move out to go to school they have to start providing for themselves (buying simple things such as toothpaste etc. ) while they have never had the chance or capability to do this before hand. Besides this, having teens learn to drive under the governing eye of someone older is a good thing (although far too often it doesn't happen, or those supervising should not be teaching anyone their bad habits) is a good thing. (IT should still be suplimented with an EXTENSIVE driver training course, which it is not in the United States.)
What works in one country, does not always work in another country!
As a Boy Scout, I feel that I must respond to your comment to give you some ideas why this "Bigotry" is there, why there is nothing wrong with these policies and other things.
First off, the BSA is a private organization and is thusly permitted to have membership requirements. Restrictions such as these are only in place because people that do not meet them would be unable to take the oath and law to heart.
A Scout is Reverent. A scout should show respect towards a God, whatever religion that they may practice or believe in. Even though a belief in God is expected of all members of this organization, the idea that others who do not believe are inferior is not impressed at all. This would go against another two parts of the scout law, A scout is curteous and a scout is kind. It would not be curteous or kind of me to treat you with disrespect because I disagree with your views.
Homosexuality follows the same lines, a scout should not be disrespectful to any person for any reason, Scouts are not bigots and they are not taught to be bigots. I have friends that fall into both of these categories, and yet I have been involved with the BSA since CubScouts.
For an organization that teachs young men so many useful things, and exposes them to things that they would not have the chance to expierence otherwise, the BSA is picked on quite a bit. You are not alone in your beliefs, I have had a personal issue with someone expressing similar beliefs.
I became interested in scouting after reading a paper passed out to all students of scouting age at my elementary school, which happened to also be my troops host. That was several years ago. The current principal of that school refuses to permit us to distribute papers because she believes we are bigots and we do not except gays or atheists. My troop still conducts their meetings inside the school because it is in a central, easily excessable location and she has not expressed any desire for us to leave. (unfortunetly due to the decreasing number of incoming scouts, my troop's size is dwindling, and may not exist a few years from now.)
To sum it up:
Please don't consider scouts bigots, or completely disregard anything said by a scout for that reason, as by doing so you are only showing your ignorance for other peoples ideas, and values. I would never disregard what you say or believe because you are an atheist or because you are gay, why should you disregard what I say because I am a scout?
Proud to be a Scout
Rob
I only blame Microsoft for not using their heavy hand to do good. They are well known for using their economic leverage to control other aspects of the computing world, why not something simple that would make it better for everyone?
Speaking as a linux user who happens to also use windows to play games, while yes running in administrator mode in windows is "technically" avoidable, in reality it isn't. It isn't avoidable for your average home user who isn't going to try and figure out how to get all of his programs working with the limited user accounts. Microsoft as well as the majority of developers of Windows applications do not make any effort towards the simplification of this process, and they are at fault, not the average computer user who just wants to be able to get work done, and communicate with friends and family.
I have no problem paying for music, as a matter of fact I pay for everything I listen to (excluding a total of I believe 3 songs that I could not find for purchase on CD that I managed to find online). I only buy real CDs however, I refuse to purchase songs online because of restrictions and other issues. I have two mp3 players in my possesion, one that's older than dirt, only plays unrestricted mp3s, my other is a Rio Karma. If I were to pay to download music I couldn't play it on my flash based player. Is this fair? If I could buy music online that would play on all of the things I want to play it on, I would gladly purchase it online.
(NOTE that it should cost me less than CDs, and considering that a good number of my CDs were purchased through clubs, such as BMG, even iTunes prices don't come close. 8.99 as compared to 3.99. 5 dollars more for restricted junk)
I wouldn't say it's been reversed so much as removed... If it was reversed they would be requiring the string Allah in usernames, then again maybe i'm just nuts.
So the first lines of the article basicly claim it's a perpetual motion machine, and than later in the article it says this is impossible. Wonderful when even the articles contridict themselves. I really enjoy the part where they state that they recieved a patent, like it actually means something.
I have an older computer with a crappy PSU, and the PSU is by far the loudest piece of the system, and that is what influenced me in my choice of a fanless unit.
Slashdot Mirror
My bet is that like the rest of the world's diesels, that particular vehicle is facing the "OMG thick black smoke" laws passed in this country. Our emissions requirements are tighter on the types of particular matter that come with diesels, yet less strict with CO2. If only the world could agree to one emissions standard..... make the environment better, end the JDM crap, and bring some decent diesel cars to the US.
I'm not doubting that the older drives have gained more experience, and may be better able to plan/make better driving choices, however their reflexes are slower, and most of their senses have dulled with age. This certainly affects their ability to drive.
I understand the typical driver, and thats the problem. We should fix the drivers. Train them better, and take their licenses away for needlessly making poor choices that endanger the lives of others. I believe the new Porsche Panamera (the most unappealing Porsche, or dare I say car {priuses/prii are excluded, as they are golf carts}) has such a feature. It's really a really cool idea, though I think it'd be incredibly difficult to integrate that into a car with 3 pedals....
And I acknowledge that there are some things that have definitely been a benefit (airbags, seatbelts, etc.) But 292? That number isn't the number of people killed when the driver couldn't see them out the window, or with the mirror. It includes all of the times the person never looked (if they aren't even looking at the mirror, why would they look at a screen), it includes all of the people who were impaired and shouldn't have been driving anyway. The problem isn't (mostly) that you can't see behind your car, the problem is that people don't look.
It's not just the drivers either. Jogging down the sidewalk, listening to your music while reading your e-mail on your phone? Get hit by a car? You're part of the problem.
Stop mandating this crap. I don't want traction control in my car, I don't want more screens, I don't want want my car to drive itself, and I don't want my car to disable cellphones.
I enjoy driving, and I drive a lot. My car is comfortable, gets good fuel economy (45-48MPG), has a manual transmission and drives like a car (not a golf cart). There are no screens (aside from the 1"x2" LCD clock and Odometer) and my speedometer and odometer have needles (so you can see how fast you're going out of your peripheral vision (is the needle straight up? I'm good)).
I agree, there are some safety features that should be in all cars... Seat belts, and airbags are important. But back up cameras? 292 fatalities a year. This is insignificant, seeing as how there are about 40,000 automobile fatalities per year, 0.7%? More people likely die from just being poor drivers. Why doesn't the government require better driver education before issuing licenses? Why don't we require retesting at certain ages? (Do you really think that all of the people out there driving in their late 80s drive just as well as they did when they were 19?) I'm betting fixing these problems would save a lot more lives than making us have more crap in our car.
If these cameras are mandatory, will they be included in states "safety" inspections? Will I be required to fix it if it breaks? If I swap out the stereo in my car for a different one, will I be required to reattach the camera?
My cousin traveled up from North Carolina, said there were no pat downs, or scanners. (He said he saw the scanners, but they weren't using them)
Nope. As per another post in this thread, there was an article on /. a few months ago about a Mexican high school doing this.
Here are some of our pics, courtesy of my friend Theo, http://picasaweb.google.com/Theo.McDonald/AIAABalloonLaunch2#
however, he seems to be missing some of the pictures from apogee. (The really cool pics :/)
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1367009&cid=29408247 I'm pissed off because this made the front page of slashdot, apparently because 2 MIT students did it. People do this type of thing all the time, even people from other schools (WPI) and don't get recognized.
The first time we launched our radios failed. It landed about 17 miles from where we predicted (We use software whose name escapes me at the moment which can predict the location based on current wind patterns) and someone else found it and called us. The second time, our radios gave us its coordinates to within a couple of meters. We had been following it for its entire flight (unfortunately, the balloon had been under-filled, so it landed a few hundred miles south of where we planned... We followed it for 13 hours). As far as landing in places where you won't be able to get it... you don't launch anywhere near any? You should plan your launch such that you are nowhere near any large bodies of water, as they are the primary thing that makes it unreachable. You can climb tress and etc. Desolate areas are better, because landing on the highway will cause issues. (We chose to launch in New Hampshire, with our ballon intended to land in Central MA. The first shot was pretty close, the second shot landed in southern CT, hopefully our third shot will land in Central MA, but we haven't gotten that far yet)
This article actually pissed me off enough to log in and make a post. This is nothing new. A group of us did this a few years ago and have a set of similar pictures. We actually intend to launch another balloon in a few weeks, with revised radio gear. See.... we don't use cellphones for that, and we use a GPS unit that will actually give us a correct altitude and speed that high up. Ham Radio / APRS FTW....
And what if I give my phone to my friend in the passenger seat to answer my call? How would they no if it was me or him that was talking? Should I not have insurance coverage because my friend was talking on my phone?
I'm even more surprised by the fact that they gave links to Newegg for all there parts, and if I build a similar system swapping out their PSU choice for a 1300W one from newegg (the one newegg had with the most PCIe connectors, as they didn't have the PSU they used) it costs a only $3,400 US, or as per google, about 2,200 EUR. Granted prices may have dropped since they did this, but I doubt they've been cut in half.
First thing I thought of as well... This has been happening quite a bit recently, with Montsegur and the History Channel and now Two Minutes to Midnight...
I have used several different CAD programs for both 2d and 3d work. I have found that CadKey (now KeyCreator) is extremely well rounded. 2D is simple and quick as is 3D.
Why is less energy density a plus? I would like a laptop with a long battery life, and improvements in processor technology should be used to increase battery life, not reduce the capacity of batteries.
I've never been able to understand why, but I usually develop headaches with several hours of exposure to flourescant lights. I had tried to replace several incandescant bulbs with CFLs, but noticed the same problems. I had to switch back, as while I can get through a day of work with the lights, having them at home and at work would put me in constant pain.
I am sure I am not the only one who has problems such as this.
Unfortunetly the US presents an interesting situation involving this matter. Depending on where you live in the United States, a motor vehicle may be required for such simple tasks as getting to your neighbors house. There are parts of this country where the nearest house to yours is several miles away. While this may be rare, a considerably more common issue would be that while other people are nearby, the closest stores and other meeting places are miles away.
Public transportation is almost non-existant in many areas (I can think of a couple of areas within 100 miles of New York City that suffer from this) and bicycle riding would be unsafe (Ever take a bicycle on a road with a 55MPH speed limit where everyone does 65? {No shoulder, and you would get a ticket for riding there if it did, plus the people in cars believe you don't belong there so they would not be curteous enough to avoid you}) this leaves only one way for teens to see each other, parents. Who in all probability are BOTH working. This takes away any independence from teens, and now when they move out to go to school they have to start providing for themselves (buying simple things such as toothpaste etc. ) while they have never had the chance or capability to do this before hand. Besides this, having teens learn to drive under the governing eye of someone older is a good thing (although far too often it doesn't happen, or those supervising should not be teaching anyone their bad habits) is a good thing. (IT should still be suplimented with an EXTENSIVE driver training course, which it is not in the United States.)
What works in one country, does not always work in another country!
As a Boy Scout, I feel that I must respond to your comment to give you some ideas why this "Bigotry" is there, why there is nothing wrong with these policies and other things. First off, the BSA is a private organization and is thusly permitted to have membership requirements. Restrictions such as these are only in place because people that do not meet them would be unable to take the oath and law to heart. A Scout is Reverent. A scout should show respect towards a God, whatever religion that they may practice or believe in. Even though a belief in God is expected of all members of this organization, the idea that others who do not believe are inferior is not impressed at all. This would go against another two parts of the scout law, A scout is curteous and a scout is kind. It would not be curteous or kind of me to treat you with disrespect because I disagree with your views. Homosexuality follows the same lines, a scout should not be disrespectful to any person for any reason, Scouts are not bigots and they are not taught to be bigots. I have friends that fall into both of these categories, and yet I have been involved with the BSA since CubScouts. For an organization that teachs young men so many useful things, and exposes them to things that they would not have the chance to expierence otherwise, the BSA is picked on quite a bit. You are not alone in your beliefs, I have had a personal issue with someone expressing similar beliefs. I became interested in scouting after reading a paper passed out to all students of scouting age at my elementary school, which happened to also be my troops host. That was several years ago. The current principal of that school refuses to permit us to distribute papers because she believes we are bigots and we do not except gays or atheists. My troop still conducts their meetings inside the school because it is in a central, easily excessable location and she has not expressed any desire for us to leave. (unfortunetly due to the decreasing number of incoming scouts, my troop's size is dwindling, and may not exist a few years from now.) To sum it up: Please don't consider scouts bigots, or completely disregard anything said by a scout for that reason, as by doing so you are only showing your ignorance for other peoples ideas, and values. I would never disregard what you say or believe because you are an atheist or because you are gay, why should you disregard what I say because I am a scout? Proud to be a Scout Rob
I only blame Microsoft for not using their heavy hand to do good. They are well known for using their economic leverage to control other aspects of the computing world, why not something simple that would make it better for everyone?
Speaking as a linux user who happens to also use windows to play games, while yes running in administrator mode in windows is "technically" avoidable, in reality it isn't. It isn't avoidable for your average home user who isn't going to try and figure out how to get all of his programs working with the limited user accounts. Microsoft as well as the majority of developers of Windows applications do not make any effort towards the simplification of this process, and they are at fault, not the average computer user who just wants to be able to get work done, and communicate with friends and family.
And just in time for 2007 too!
I have no problem paying for music, as a matter of fact I pay for everything I listen to (excluding a total of I believe 3 songs that I could not find for purchase on CD that I managed to find online). I only buy real CDs however, I refuse to purchase songs online because of restrictions and other issues. I have two mp3 players in my possesion, one that's older than dirt, only plays unrestricted mp3s, my other is a Rio Karma. If I were to pay to download music I couldn't play it on my flash based player. Is this fair? If I could buy music online that would play on all of the things I want to play it on, I would gladly purchase it online.
(NOTE that it should cost me less than CDs, and considering that a good number of my CDs were purchased through clubs, such as BMG, even iTunes prices don't come close. 8.99 as compared to 3.99. 5 dollars more for restricted junk)
I wouldn't say it's been reversed so much as removed... If it was reversed they would be requiring the string Allah in usernames, then again maybe i'm just nuts.
So the first lines of the article basicly claim it's a perpetual motion machine, and than later in the article it says this is impossible. Wonderful when even the articles contridict themselves. I really enjoy the part where they state that they recieved a patent, like it actually means something.
I have an older computer with a crappy PSU, and the PSU is by far the loudest piece of the system, and that is what influenced me in my choice of a fanless unit.