Yes! Except your observation is based on most V8s, which have "cross-plane" or "90 degree" crankshafts. Those with "flat" or "180 degree" cranks sound great, as they are even-firing. I'm only aware of a few flat-crank V8 designs, specifically those from Lotus and Ferrari. Flat crank designs have second-order vibrations (not unlike inline 4s), but that isn't so important in 1) sports cars, and 2) engines under 4 litres.
I don't like the "V8 burble" so popular with (Chevelle, for example) fans and hate the sound of a V-twin. Incidentally, cross-plane V8s sound a lot better when there's a "balance pipe" connecting the left and right exhausts before they exit. It can add a little power, too, if designed properly.
V12, yes, the engine of serious luxury and some of the most interesting sports cars (XKE Series 3, XJ13, McLaren F1, old Packards... and the Rolls-Royce Merlin powering WWII Spitfires and Mustangs!
I'll have to go looking for the sound of a ramjet. However, I hear the sound of pulsejets, V1 "buzzbombs," was both interesting and dreaded.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I first started reading the comments for this article. Some people on Slashdot were actually OK with being told they had to have a noisemaker on their car.
My car will be so fast that no one will be able to hear it before it arrives, and then the sound will be very loud.
Not necessarily size/breed difference... I had a pair of boys from the same (purebred) litter. One was fluffy and tan, scared of his tail, and never closed his eyes. The other slept a lot but was black, very territorial and protective of his family, and had a special look and bark for anyone he didn't know. It worked as you say... the lookout woke up the enforcer, and he let 'em have it. Maybe because he was mad at having been awaken and knew better than to take it out on his brother.
If the house is not already built and you're thinking about putting wires everywhere, think again. Cat5 (or 6) is cheap enough to go ahead and run and will probably serve for quite a few years, but anything you install will become obsolete quicker than you think. I tried that, and wish I'd just run cheap conduit from the attic or crawlspace to every wall so I could easily pull whatever cabling I wanted later, and replace it easily even later. A pair of wires for an alarm system to each window/door makes some sense, as does specialty low-voltage wiring (I would run 12V to each street-facing window for the Christmas-candle-in-the-window). Your house's design will matter a lot. For example, I have open truss-style joists beteen floors that make pulling cable reasonable. I have a crawlspace, but it doesn't help me because it's so tight and working around insulation is a PITA. I have an attic, but the center-only subfloor and loose insulation makes working above the non-floored parts a bit hazardous.
Again, if new, insist on an electric panel with surplus capacity and especially space for (not just 2 or 3) more breakers. Think about where you're going to run cabling underground to outbuildings, lights, mailbox sensors, cameras, driveway sensors, etc.
Programmable thermostats are cheap and very nice to have. Networked thermostats are widely available, but don't add any value for some of us.
Someone else mentioned the water heater location. DO try to minimize the distance between a tank or tankless heater and the shower you expect to use the most. Thermostatically and clock controlled hot water circulators work pretty well, but they use additional energy by moving hot water through the pipes where it cools faster.
Speaking of water, I only know of two types of good plumbing: copper (not "see-through") and PEX. Avoid the rest if possible, particularly if replacing it will involve tearing into walls/floors/ceilings. I recommend, as did others, concentrating on quality materials and workmanship. Close gaps where bats can enter (3/8"), Avoid situations where crawlspaces become damp or worse, shifting foundations that crack walls, siding and trim that ages poorly or needs constant maintenance (paint), designs where termites find easy entry or finding and preventing/eliminating them is difficult, untreated wood exposed to wet conditions (door frames, garage door framing, window frames...
Check into keypad door locks (Schlage, etc). Whether network-connected or not, they're nice to have for a number of reasons. You can program entry combinations temporarily for friends while you're out of town or allow easy access to visitors arriving before you get home from work. Speaking of security... you want at least deadbolts and good window locks all around.
Think of the house as not a "build it and you're done" but a lifelong project. You'll want a place to work (garage space aside from cars, workshop, shed, etc). You'll want yard space for any outbuildings or other projects you might later build. You'll want a home owners' association and rules that you can work with. Some are so restrictive and obnoxious that you can't do anything, but lax or nonexistent might mean that your independent trucker neighbor's semi cab is parked in the front yard just a few feet from your house. Having a large backyard might be frustrating if you can't get vehicles to it. Look for access paths and clearances. Find out how tall of a privacy fence are you allowed to build and how far forward it can come (even with the front of the house?). Will you be allowed to install or replace worn out shingles with a reflective variety to cut heat gain?
other thoughts... is the site suitable for solar, wind, or microhydro power? If new construction, seriously consider a ground-source heat pump. Operating costs are much lower, useful life is probably longer (and only some parts then need be replaced), there need be no visible external apparatus, and noise from the outdoor unit is eliminated. It's much cheaper to install at most sites during construction than later and t
Young children years ago quickly learned to hide the park exit in Roller Coaster Tycoon for just this reason. Same with the water fountains and selling drinks, something I observe in almost every building where drinks are sold.
Ah, my stained glass class teacher noted that, but that the perceived value lies in having a one-of-a-kind handcrafted item. So... some items are difficult or too time-consuming to bother making by hand, but the gap between hand-crafted and mass produced is rather wide, and will be filled by one-off/a few-off 3D prints. Much as I dislike paying the car dealer for a replacement plastic clip that holds the sun visor in place on my 13 year old vehicle, the $5 is certainly cheap compared to my time/effort/materials to print one, even if handed the design file. OTOH, a knob from the dash of my (I wish) Corvette XP-882 4 rotor Wankel powered prototype probably can't be had from any parts bin on the planet, so digital printing (or milling) one beats carving it manually. Imagine trying to convince people that the knob really is supposed to be eccentrically mounted and not quite round.
Thanks. Not to mention Orville and Wilbur, who cast their own aluminum engines back when aluminum hadn't been around very long in useful quantities at affordable prices. All that's really necessary is 1) time, and 2) determination.
It might be the scanners who become persecuted, not just the sharers and uploaders. They can have my 3D scanner when they X-pry-X find it in my (mom's) basement...
The only reason I can identify for the OSNews author having thought RMS was being paranoid or nutty is that he was previously highly naïve. The good news is that most people, once they're paying attention, will hopefully be able to follow RMS's logic. The bad news is that many people would rather stay ignorant (temporarily blissful?).
Davies imagines some aliens who don't subscribe to the Leave No Trace ethic. Such anthropomorphic aliens suggest that he's been watching too much Star Trek. "If we can put a man on the Moon..." then we can avoid leaving tracks easily visible from miles away. Apollo was meant to leave tracks—on the Moon and in history books. Did alien observers wish their presence to be discovered later but not while they were here? Only that would explain such reckless ET behavior to me, but even so, I agree that it's worthwhile to look.
I tried that. Again and again. I never finished the first of the three. I thought it would be fun to have all those conspiracy theories intertwined, but they're not, they're just thrown in the same story without much weaving. Are the other two any better?
OK, I'll lay it out... if the front car begins braking but has very little traction, 3 feet might make it more likely that the rear car will hit it, but the speed differential will be negligible. 3 feet behind, 10, 50, all are safe, just minor fender benders. If the front car hits a stationary object or brakes on a dry patch, the rear car will not have time for reaction+appreciable braking within 10 feet, but unless the front car comes to a rest instantly, the front car will have slowed more within the time it takes the rear car to travel 10 feet than to travel 3 feet, hence the greater speed differential for 10 feet than 3. The front car decelerates, the rear does not until impact. Yes, 50 or 100 feet is better, but 3 is better than 10. Automated cars traveling in very tight packs are safer than looser groups in case of mechanical failure for the same reasons. They might all bump, but the speed differentials will be negligible. Your physics teacher was the assistant wrestling coach, right?
Actually, I'd argue that at that speed, 3 feet is safer than 10. Drivers behind won't avoid hitting cars in front either way, but the speed differential upon impact will likely be worse at 10 feet than at 3.
My 10 year old son learned on his own Verizon's business strategies... with Roller Coaster Tycoon. He'd hide the amusement park's exit gate so guests would stay longer and hence spend more, and he'd cut the prices on soft drinks a little and charge for restroom usage. My younger daughter would get involved and check the state of individual guests. They were usually desperately looking for an exit or a restroom, or feeling nauseous, but my son didn't respond to their plight since his short-term profits were increasing.
Recent decisions at the USPS regarding next-day delivery WILL impact Netflix's DVD shipments adversely, driving the business even faster to streaming. The best we can hope for if Verizon buys them is that they'll quickly spin off the DVD business, and it will focus on older and commercially less-successful movies.
I do expect Verflixon to charge more to stream to "smart" devices (however they decide to define that), and make it difficult to tolerate not subscribing to the extra cost options. Furthermore, they'll obsolete existing Netflix-capable devices (Roku, Wii, etc.) and market their own replacements, "free" with a 24 month contract. Also, resolution will be lower and there'll be pauses for "rebuffering."
Don't forget that documentaries about corporate malfeasance, citizen discontent, and popular uprisings will disappear from the catalog. You won't be watching pieces about OWS or anything Michael Moore might think up, but you'll get virtual visits to Ground Zero—Giftshop, that is, with "buy me now" buttons onscreen. Watch for a Verizon-Disney merge soon... Derizney? My son will then be hired to run Derizneyland.
I could rant like others about all the wrong things they do, but in the end, no matter what they say,
1) the proposed merger violated everything about the concept of anti-trust, and
2) why, when some corporation who tries to weasel their way into something they're not supposed to get, do we treat their complaints as news? Why does anyone listen at all? Convicted murderers complain that they're innocent, but we only hear about a few of those. When Manson comes up for parole, we hear that it was denied. Maybe he claimed innocence, I don't know, because if so it's buried way down in the article.
Ahhh, and a two-vector attack should be much more successful. Use both the mic and accelerometers and compare to a dictionary generated with data from the two combined. While we're at it, can we use the phone to somehow detect changes in the RF field due to key presses/processing by the keyboard's microcontroller? Maybe that's too much of a processing load for one phone. But beware if you spot several phones lying next to your keyboard.
There's been on in Greensboro, NC for at least 40 years. We didn't use the terminology "Roundabout." Most called it a Traffic Circle. I read the "distinction between traffic circles, rotaries, and modern roundabouts" section in Wikipedia, and this intersection meets the definition of "modern roundabout." So no, there were at least some around long before 1990. I recently used numerous roundabouts on Cape Cod. Most of them could also be called roundabouts. Part of the current problem is that drivers accustomed to their function tend to get impatient with those who don't know how to navigate them, and may become overly aggressive. I agree with some others that they work better for lightly travelled intersections. Heavy traffic necessitates more cooperation, and getting aggressive and meek drivers to cooperate is difficult (due to both).
If the individuals responsible for it weren't being shielded by the school system, I think they might be facing jail time. If I were a victim, I would be suing, too, but not being a potential recipient of money, I would rather see the individuals responsible face criminal charges. It's not enough deterrent for the subject to know that his/her employer might be sued, as we've seen before concerning criminal acts by corporate officers.
JScript is also available by default. I think it beats VBScript by a long shot (and I've programmed a lot more VB than JavaScript), and has access to all the same Windows (and MS Office) objects. The MSE7 editor/debugger is available if MS Office is installed, and isn't too terrible for throwing some JScript or VBScript together. What's more, you can mix or match JScript, VBScript, and others (Rexx, Perl, etc.) that are not installed by default.
Yes, it's not as simple as just not adopting new technologies. BB has long had very obnoxious policies. The day Family Video opened nearby was the same day I never ventured into a BB again. I don't understand how BB killed the old neighborhood family-run video store, unless it was just that BB had more copies of the latest movies, but I do understand why BB closed the store not long after FV opened a block away. I can't say about other BB stores, but the appearance and general manner of the employees of the one here were terrible (and I'm a pretty tolerant person, so I'm sure that had a greater negative influence on many others). One might say that if you pay poorly that's what you get, but that doesn't work here, either, as employees of other stores that pay poorly at least have good attitudes towards customers and don't appear to have dirt falling from their bodies. This just reflects poor management. Oh yeah, and FV apparently vacuums the floor occasionally, unlike BB. FV may be in trouble, too, I don't know, and I don't go there much since getting Netflix and Dish, but at least they do what they've always done well. The worst policy of BB? Late fees, charged automatically to your credit card. FV charges a late fee upon return, for which you can get credit toward your next rental. They still make some money on late returns, but in a more customer-friendly way, and their business model isn't built on it. Does your public library charge late fees automatically to your credit card immediately after the due date? People weren't used to that, and didn't like it at all. It wasn't the cost, but the idea of it. The only bad things about this are the now completely unemployed and the vacant stores left behind.
This strikes me as excellent news. Why has it taken so long? Terrestrial wireless where possible, satellite otherwise. But by insisting on real time interactive communication we're still operating in the past. Geostar would have had interactive short text messaging, like current cell phones, with similar bandwidth requirements (miniscule), at high power (how does 500 watts strike you?), with low power supply requirements (500 watts for a few milliseconds every few minutes at most means average power usage is very small). By now, Geostar service would be relatively cheap. (It also would have had GPS-like capability without separate GPS satellites.) How often do we really need interactive voice when we're in the wilderness? What's more, with the recent work on voice audio compression, packets of voice could be sent cheaply, too. Interactivity on the order of a few seconds should meet most people's requirements, if not preferences. I prefer real time voice with no lag, but not if it costs 10 or 100 times as much. So come on, AT&T and others, offer satellite backup service for SMS only at a decent price!
Slashdot Mirror
Yes! Except your observation is based on most V8s, which have "cross-plane" or "90 degree" crankshafts. Those with "flat" or "180 degree" cranks sound great, as they are even-firing. I'm only aware of a few flat-crank V8 designs, specifically those from Lotus and Ferrari. Flat crank designs have second-order vibrations (not unlike inline 4s), but that isn't so important in 1) sports cars, and 2) engines under 4 litres.
I don't like the "V8 burble" so popular with (Chevelle, for example) fans and hate the sound of a V-twin. Incidentally, cross-plane V8s sound a lot better when there's a "balance pipe" connecting the left and right exhausts before they exit. It can add a little power, too, if designed properly.
V12, yes, the engine of serious luxury and some of the most interesting sports cars (XKE Series 3, XJ13, McLaren F1, old Packards... and the Rolls-Royce Merlin powering WWII Spitfires and Mustangs!
I'll have to go looking for the sound of a ramjet. However, I hear the sound of pulsejets, V1 "buzzbombs," was both interesting and dreaded.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I first started reading the comments for this article. Some people on Slashdot were actually OK with being told they had to have a noisemaker on their car.
My car will be so fast that no one will be able to hear it before it arrives, and then the sound will be very loud.
Not necessarily size/breed difference... I had a pair of boys from the same (purebred) litter. One was fluffy and tan, scared of his tail, and never closed his eyes. The other slept a lot but was black, very territorial and protective of his family, and had a special look and bark for anyone he didn't know. It worked as you say... the lookout woke up the enforcer, and he let 'em have it. Maybe because he was mad at having been awaken and knew better than to take it out on his brother.
If the house is not already built and you're thinking about putting wires everywhere, think again. Cat5 (or 6) is cheap enough to go ahead and run and will probably serve for quite a few years, but anything you install will become obsolete quicker than you think. I tried that, and wish I'd just run cheap conduit from the attic or crawlspace to every wall so I could easily pull whatever cabling I wanted later, and replace it easily even later. A pair of wires for an alarm system to each window/door makes some sense, as does specialty low-voltage wiring (I would run 12V to each street-facing window for the Christmas-candle-in-the-window). Your house's design will matter a lot. For example, I have open truss-style joists beteen floors that make pulling cable reasonable. I have a crawlspace, but it doesn't help me because it's so tight and working around insulation is a PITA. I have an attic, but the center-only subfloor and loose insulation makes working above the non-floored parts a bit hazardous. Again, if new, insist on an electric panel with surplus capacity and especially space for (not just 2 or 3) more breakers. Think about where you're going to run cabling underground to outbuildings, lights, mailbox sensors, cameras, driveway sensors, etc. Programmable thermostats are cheap and very nice to have. Networked thermostats are widely available, but don't add any value for some of us. Someone else mentioned the water heater location. DO try to minimize the distance between a tank or tankless heater and the shower you expect to use the most. Thermostatically and clock controlled hot water circulators work pretty well, but they use additional energy by moving hot water through the pipes where it cools faster. Speaking of water, I only know of two types of good plumbing: copper (not "see-through") and PEX. Avoid the rest if possible, particularly if replacing it will involve tearing into walls/floors/ceilings. I recommend, as did others, concentrating on quality materials and workmanship. Close gaps where bats can enter (3/8"), Avoid situations where crawlspaces become damp or worse, shifting foundations that crack walls, siding and trim that ages poorly or needs constant maintenance (paint), designs where termites find easy entry or finding and preventing/eliminating them is difficult, untreated wood exposed to wet conditions (door frames, garage door framing, window frames... Check into keypad door locks (Schlage, etc). Whether network-connected or not, they're nice to have for a number of reasons. You can program entry combinations temporarily for friends while you're out of town or allow easy access to visitors arriving before you get home from work. Speaking of security... you want at least deadbolts and good window locks all around. Think of the house as not a "build it and you're done" but a lifelong project. You'll want a place to work (garage space aside from cars, workshop, shed, etc). You'll want yard space for any outbuildings or other projects you might later build. You'll want a home owners' association and rules that you can work with. Some are so restrictive and obnoxious that you can't do anything, but lax or nonexistent might mean that your independent trucker neighbor's semi cab is parked in the front yard just a few feet from your house. Having a large backyard might be frustrating if you can't get vehicles to it. Look for access paths and clearances. Find out how tall of a privacy fence are you allowed to build and how far forward it can come (even with the front of the house?). Will you be allowed to install or replace worn out shingles with a reflective variety to cut heat gain? other thoughts... is the site suitable for solar, wind, or microhydro power? If new construction, seriously consider a ground-source heat pump. Operating costs are much lower, useful life is probably longer (and only some parts then need be replaced), there need be no visible external apparatus, and noise from the outdoor unit is eliminated. It's much cheaper to install at most sites during construction than later and t
Young children years ago quickly learned to hide the park exit in Roller Coaster Tycoon for just this reason. Same with the water fountains and selling drinks, something I observe in almost every building where drinks are sold.
Guess I'll have to carry binoculars so I can walk in the door and look around without visiting everything.
Ah, my stained glass class teacher noted that, but that the perceived value lies in having a one-of-a-kind handcrafted item. So... some items are difficult or too time-consuming to bother making by hand, but the gap between hand-crafted and mass produced is rather wide, and will be filled by one-off/a few-off 3D prints. Much as I dislike paying the car dealer for a replacement plastic clip that holds the sun visor in place on my 13 year old vehicle, the $5 is certainly cheap compared to my time/effort/materials to print one, even if handed the design file. OTOH, a knob from the dash of my (I wish) Corvette XP-882 4 rotor Wankel powered prototype probably can't be had from any parts bin on the planet, so digital printing (or milling) one beats carving it manually. Imagine trying to convince people that the knob really is supposed to be eccentrically mounted and not quite round.
Thanks. Not to mention Orville and Wilbur, who cast their own aluminum engines back when aluminum hadn't been around very long in useful quantities at affordable prices. All that's really necessary is 1) time, and 2) determination.
It might be the scanners who become persecuted, not just the sharers and uploaders. They can have my 3D scanner when they X-pry-X find it in my (mom's) basement...
The only reason I can identify for the OSNews author having thought RMS was being paranoid or nutty is that he was previously highly naïve. The good news is that most people, once they're paying attention, will hopefully be able to follow RMS's logic. The bad news is that many people would rather stay ignorant (temporarily blissful?).
Davies imagines some aliens who don't subscribe to the Leave No Trace ethic. Such anthropomorphic aliens suggest that he's been watching too much Star Trek. "If we can put a man on the Moon..." then we can avoid leaving tracks easily visible from miles away. Apollo was meant to leave tracks—on the Moon and in history books. Did alien observers wish their presence to be discovered later but not while they were here? Only that would explain such reckless ET behavior to me, but even so, I agree that it's worthwhile to look.
I tried that. Again and again. I never finished the first of the three. I thought it would be fun to have all those conspiracy theories intertwined, but they're not, they're just thrown in the same story without much weaving. Are the other two any better?
Anything by Carl Hiaasen, but Sick Puppy was my favorite. Got kids? Get them a copy of Hoot or Flush. Don't like Florida settings? Never mind.
Arthur C. Clarke/Gentry Lee, Cradle. Oh, I think that's Florida again.
I'm sure no one else here would ever read Neal Stephenson...
The other usuals... What the Dormouse Said, Steven Levy stuff, Daemon...
Haven't read Tom Wolfe's Electric Koolaid Acid Test? Do. Interestingly, some of the same peripheral characters show up as in Dormouse and Hackers.
Espionage-related fiction and nonfiction. James Bamford, John LeCarré (most are rather depressing, but nobody alive today is a better novelist),
Frederick Forsyth, Hammer of God. Robert Ludlum, try the Matarese... series.
Robert Baer, real CIA field stories from the 80s/90s and a lot of observations and opinions about the agency and policy.
OK, I'll lay it out... if the front car begins braking but has very little traction, 3 feet might make it more likely that the rear car will hit it, but the speed differential will be negligible. 3 feet behind, 10, 50, all are safe, just minor fender benders. If the front car hits a stationary object or brakes on a dry patch, the rear car will not have time for reaction+appreciable braking within 10 feet, but unless the front car comes to a rest instantly, the front car will have slowed more within the time it takes the rear car to travel 10 feet than to travel 3 feet, hence the greater speed differential for 10 feet than 3. The front car decelerates, the rear does not until impact. Yes, 50 or 100 feet is better, but 3 is better than 10. Automated cars traveling in very tight packs are safer than looser groups in case of mechanical failure for the same reasons. They might all bump, but the speed differentials will be negligible. Your physics teacher was the assistant wrestling coach, right?
Actually, I'd argue that at that speed, 3 feet is safer than 10. Drivers behind won't avoid hitting cars in front either way, but the speed differential upon impact will likely be worse at 10 feet than at 3.
My 10 year old son learned on his own Verizon's business strategies... with Roller Coaster Tycoon. He'd hide the amusement park's exit gate so guests would stay longer and hence spend more, and he'd cut the prices on soft drinks a little and charge for restroom usage. My younger daughter would get involved and check the state of individual guests. They were usually desperately looking for an exit or a restroom, or feeling nauseous, but my son didn't respond to their plight since his short-term profits were increasing. Recent decisions at the USPS regarding next-day delivery WILL impact Netflix's DVD shipments adversely, driving the business even faster to streaming. The best we can hope for if Verizon buys them is that they'll quickly spin off the DVD business, and it will focus on older and commercially less-successful movies. I do expect Verflixon to charge more to stream to "smart" devices (however they decide to define that), and make it difficult to tolerate not subscribing to the extra cost options. Furthermore, they'll obsolete existing Netflix-capable devices (Roku, Wii, etc.) and market their own replacements, "free" with a 24 month contract. Also, resolution will be lower and there'll be pauses for "rebuffering." Don't forget that documentaries about corporate malfeasance, citizen discontent, and popular uprisings will disappear from the catalog. You won't be watching pieces about OWS or anything Michael Moore might think up, but you'll get virtual visits to Ground Zero—Giftshop, that is, with "buy me now" buttons onscreen. Watch for a Verizon-Disney merge soon... Derizney? My son will then be hired to run Derizneyland.
I could rant like others about all the wrong things they do, but in the end, no matter what they say, 1) the proposed merger violated everything about the concept of anti-trust, and 2) why, when some corporation who tries to weasel their way into something they're not supposed to get, do we treat their complaints as news? Why does anyone listen at all? Convicted murderers complain that they're innocent, but we only hear about a few of those. When Manson comes up for parole, we hear that it was denied. Maybe he claimed innocence, I don't know, because if so it's buried way down in the article.
Ahhh, and a two-vector attack should be much more successful. Use both the mic and accelerometers and compare to a dictionary generated with data from the two combined. While we're at it, can we use the phone to somehow detect changes in the RF field due to key presses/processing by the keyboard's microcontroller? Maybe that's too much of a processing load for one phone. But beware if you spot several phones lying next to your keyboard.
Read a technical article from an old Byte magazine or find some old files I downloaded from a BBS or read an early edition of Phrack.
"Rotaries" on Cape Cod, that is
There's been on in Greensboro, NC for at least 40 years. We didn't use the terminology "Roundabout." Most called it a Traffic Circle. I read the "distinction between traffic circles, rotaries, and modern roundabouts" section in Wikipedia, and this intersection meets the definition of "modern roundabout." So no, there were at least some around long before 1990. I recently used numerous roundabouts on Cape Cod. Most of them could also be called roundabouts. Part of the current problem is that drivers accustomed to their function tend to get impatient with those who don't know how to navigate them, and may become overly aggressive. I agree with some others that they work better for lightly travelled intersections. Heavy traffic necessitates more cooperation, and getting aggressive and meek drivers to cooperate is difficult (due to both).
If the individuals responsible for it weren't being shielded by the school system, I think they might be facing jail time. If I were a victim, I would be suing, too, but not being a potential recipient of money, I would rather see the individuals responsible face criminal charges. It's not enough deterrent for the subject to know that his/her employer might be sued, as we've seen before concerning criminal acts by corporate officers.
JScript is also available by default. I think it beats VBScript by a long shot (and I've programmed a lot more VB than JavaScript), and has access to all the same Windows (and MS Office) objects. The MSE7 editor/debugger is available if MS Office is installed, and isn't too terrible for throwing some JScript or VBScript together. What's more, you can mix or match JScript, VBScript, and others (Rexx, Perl, etc.) that are not installed by default.
"...drowned body of John Doe found today wearing a tshirt that reads 'I was expecting a flotation device but all I got was this stupid tshirt.'"
Yes, it's not as simple as just not adopting new technologies. BB has long had very obnoxious policies. The day Family Video opened nearby was the same day I never ventured into a BB again. I don't understand how BB killed the old neighborhood family-run video store, unless it was just that BB had more copies of the latest movies, but I do understand why BB closed the store not long after FV opened a block away. I can't say about other BB stores, but the appearance and general manner of the employees of the one here were terrible (and I'm a pretty tolerant person, so I'm sure that had a greater negative influence on many others). One might say that if you pay poorly that's what you get, but that doesn't work here, either, as employees of other stores that pay poorly at least have good attitudes towards customers and don't appear to have dirt falling from their bodies. This just reflects poor management. Oh yeah, and FV apparently vacuums the floor occasionally, unlike BB. FV may be in trouble, too, I don't know, and I don't go there much since getting Netflix and Dish, but at least they do what they've always done well. The worst policy of BB? Late fees, charged automatically to your credit card. FV charges a late fee upon return, for which you can get credit toward your next rental. They still make some money on late returns, but in a more customer-friendly way, and their business model isn't built on it. Does your public library charge late fees automatically to your credit card immediately after the due date? People weren't used to that, and didn't like it at all. It wasn't the cost, but the idea of it. The only bad things about this are the now completely unemployed and the vacant stores left behind.
This strikes me as excellent news. Why has it taken so long? Terrestrial wireless where possible, satellite otherwise. But by insisting on real time interactive communication we're still operating in the past. Geostar would have had interactive short text messaging, like current cell phones, with similar bandwidth requirements (miniscule), at high power (how does 500 watts strike you?), with low power supply requirements (500 watts for a few milliseconds every few minutes at most means average power usage is very small). By now, Geostar service would be relatively cheap. (It also would have had GPS-like capability without separate GPS satellites.) How often do we really need interactive voice when we're in the wilderness? What's more, with the recent work on voice audio compression, packets of voice could be sent cheaply, too. Interactivity on the order of a few seconds should meet most people's requirements, if not preferences. I prefer real time voice with no lag, but not if it costs 10 or 100 times as much. So come on, AT&T and others, offer satellite backup service for SMS only at a decent price!