They will go through a phase where they purchase and read a few trendy novels, and then go back to not reading much for potentially several years. By alienating the "real" fantasy and sci-fi crowd, you are alienating habitual book purchasers/readers. Those dedicated readers are going to find their books elsewhere (most likely Amazon) and you lose a long-term customer.
Doesn't matter. The stream of teenagers going through a 'phase' is endless because they're constantly being replenished. Why do they want stock that might not sell or to deal with demanding old farts who want special when they can just pile the latest vampire novel up to the ceiling?
Back on topic, the endless replenishment of ignorance is Randi's biggest problem. I'd ask him what he can possibly do about that...
Apparently, 10p for a CD/DVD that (being made from a proper pressing plant) didn't degrade in sunlight was a tad too expensive and you're meant to buy that yourself for extra...
Surface mount is a moot point in the face of an inexpensive breakout board, unless you're looking at a size-constrained application. You can have your own PCBs manufactured professionally for $10 if they're small (5x5cm), so SMD parts are viable as long as the pitch isn't too small--I've soldered small SMD parts many times with both a heat-gun and a soldering iron. I like the heat-gun better, but the soldering iron is more commonly available. That said, if Arduino is a contender, then use of breakout boards is a non-issue.
Yeah, that's way easier than sticking a chip in a breadboard. Everybody has a hot air solder rework station at home and manufactures their own PCBs.
ARM chips... are very delicate electrically.
That's a pretty sweeping statement. Do you have any evidence to back that up? You know that NXP's line of ARM micros are all 5V tolerant, right? And ST's ARM lineup all have at least *some* 5V tolerant pins, most of them are mostly 5V tolerant. The STM32F4 which is on the discovery board has 138 of 140 5V tolerant pins. TI's micro that's on the launchpad also has all 5V tolerant I/O.
It's nothing to do with 5V tolerance. Read this for a while then come back and tell me ARM chips would take that kind of abuse.
AVR chips have enough volts for an LED
If this is an issue, you're doing it wrong. VCC--|>|---/\/\/\---MCU pin. With 5V tolerant I/O, you no longer have a problem.
Again, nothing to do with 5V tolerance.
Read the Arduino forums, the first thing most people do with their Arduino is connect LEDs to it (usually without resistors...) In their eyes a board which can drive LEDs directly is better than one which can't (or which dies because they didn't put in a resistor). I've seen people try to drive 64 LEDs in parallel from one Arduino pin then go on the forums and complain they're "a bit dim".
So for most people this is an issue. They want 5V from their I/O pins with at least enough current for an LED. They're not engineers, have never read a datasheet and don't know you're not supposed to do it.
(Plus I think "eight UARTs, four SPIs, four I2Cs and up to 27 timers" is moot for most people...)
Just because you don't need it for a particular application doesn't mean that having it available is bad.
No, but most people don't see it as a reason to choose ARM over AVR.
I think arduino's are rather expensive for what they are.
Apostrophes aren't difficult...
As pointed out by a million other people, you don't have to buy the official board. Even if you do, you can use the board for development then just pull the chip out and put it on a piece of perf-board for your final gadget (the Arduino connectors are rubbish for long-term builds anyway, better to solder wires to a board). New chips for an Arduino board are $3.
My whole problem with the whole Arduino universe is the price.
You can get clones for $12, or use bare AVR chips for $3 (the Arduino PCB is mostly just a voltage regulator and some header strips).
A bare AVR chip will work with no external components whatsoever. Just put one in a breadboard, connect up your favorite programmer, you're good to go.
Nope. That way just opens the door to creating new ways to beat the system.
I think letting patent holders choose how much to pay the patent office, then limiting their damage claims to a multiple of that amount is the way. In that world nobody could afford to sit on a stack of patents in the hope of suing somebody for big money. The only patents being actively maintained would be patents that were earning real money.
...or... after the second year we should limit patent damage claims to a multiple of what the licensee was paying the patent office every year to maintain that patent. A patent which is earning you millions every year is worth paying $100,000 a year to maintain, right? 5% of the patent's value feels about right.
Nope. All that would do is produce another mountain of fake/useless bureaucracy at taxpayer expense. Patent troll are quite capable of pretending to do "research".
Slashdot Mirror
This is some strange new definition of the word "open" that I was previously unaware of.
If that's the effort needed to do it with "no problems" then I think I'll give it a miss.
Yep. For every person who wants to "use Google Maps to find directions" there's a hundred others who just want to download porn/movies all day long.
If you live in a sparsely populated rural area then it might be OK to leave your WiFi open.
Anywhere with a few dozen people within range is just asking for all the freeloaders to leap on.
Maybe so, but the hassle and expense of mounting a legal defense simply isn't worth it.
Even if a case is quickly dismissed by the judge it'll still cost you time and money to get there.
They will go through a phase where they purchase and read a few trendy novels, and then go back to not reading much for potentially several years. By alienating the "real" fantasy and sci-fi crowd, you are alienating habitual book purchasers/readers. Those dedicated readers are going to find their books elsewhere (most likely Amazon) and you lose a long-term customer.
Doesn't matter. The stream of teenagers going through a 'phase' is endless because they're constantly being replenished. Why do they want stock that might not sell or to deal with demanding old farts who want special when they can just pile the latest vampire novel up to the ceiling?
Back on topic, the endless replenishment of ignorance is Randi's biggest problem. I'd ask him what he can possibly do about that...
Apparently, 10p for a CD/DVD that (being made from a proper pressing plant) didn't degrade in sunlight was a tad too expensive and you're meant to buy that yourself for extra...
Where would you insert the CD/DVD?
You mean LinuxMint?
Apple iPhones, too. Just ask anybody who's dropped one.
With "exercises" of this nature, are you sure the gun nuts are so nuts after all?
What possible excuse is there for doing this over civilians? I can't think of one.
Even if this is only "training", is there no way they could have painted some roads on the ground out in the desert or something?
Tanks aren't vulnerable to mines/IEDs?
ARM chips are 3.3V, surface mount
Surface mount is a moot point in the face of an inexpensive breakout board, unless you're looking at a size-constrained application. You can have your own PCBs manufactured professionally for $10 if they're small (5x5cm), so SMD parts are viable as long as the pitch isn't too small--I've soldered small SMD parts many times with both a heat-gun and a soldering iron. I like the heat-gun better, but the soldering iron is more commonly available. That said, if Arduino is a contender, then use of breakout boards is a non-issue.
Yeah, that's way easier than sticking a chip in a breadboard. Everybody has a hot air solder rework station at home and manufactures their own PCBs.
ARM chips ... are very delicate electrically.
That's a pretty sweeping statement. Do you have any evidence to back that up? You know that NXP's line of ARM micros are all 5V tolerant, right? And ST's ARM lineup all have at least *some* 5V tolerant pins, most of them are mostly 5V tolerant. The STM32F4 which is on the discovery board has 138 of 140 5V tolerant pins. TI's micro that's on the launchpad also has all 5V tolerant I/O.
It's nothing to do with 5V tolerance. Read this for a while then come back and tell me ARM chips would take that kind of abuse.
AVR chips have enough volts for an LED
If this is an issue, you're doing it wrong. VCC--|>|---/\/\/\---MCU pin. With 5V tolerant I/O, you no longer have a problem.
Again, nothing to do with 5V tolerance.
Read the Arduino forums, the first thing most people do with their Arduino is connect LEDs to it (usually without resistors...) In their eyes a board which can drive LEDs directly is better than one which can't (or which dies because they didn't put in a resistor). I've seen people try to drive 64 LEDs in parallel from one Arduino pin then go on the forums and complain they're "a bit dim".
So for most people this is an issue. They want 5V from their I/O pins with at least enough current for an LED. They're not engineers, have never read a datasheet and don't know you're not supposed to do it.
(Plus I think "eight UARTs, four SPIs, four I2Cs and up to 27 timers" is moot for most people...)
Just because you don't need it for a particular application doesn't mean that having it available is bad.
No, but most people don't see it as a reason to choose ARM over AVR.
I'm pretty sure a "real AVR development board" is more expensive than an Arduino. And not much more flexible.
I think arduino's are rather expensive for what they are.
Apostrophes aren't difficult...
As pointed out by a million other people, you don't have to buy the official board. Even if you do, you can use the board for development then just pull the chip out and put it on a piece of perf-board for your final gadget (the Arduino connectors are rubbish for long-term builds anyway, better to solder wires to a board). New chips for an Arduino board are $3.
Plus you don't get a massive online community like you do with Arduino/AVR.
I still don't understand why people are focused on PICs and AVRs. ARM has had better functionality and pricing....
Obviously a lot of people don't agree with your definition of "better".
ARM chips are 3.3V, surface mount and are very delicate electrically.
AVR chips have enough volts for an LED, can be stuck in breadboards, and can take a hellish amount lot of electrical abuse.
(Plus I think "eight UARTs, four SPIs, four I2Cs and up to 27 timers" is moot for most people...)
I prefer C++ myself...
My whole problem with the whole Arduino universe is the price.
You can get clones for $12, or use bare AVR chips for $3 (the Arduino PCB is mostly just a voltage regulator and some header strips).
A bare AVR chip will work with no external components whatsoever. Just put one in a breadboard, connect up your favorite programmer, you're good to go.
Nope. That way just opens the door to creating new ways to beat the system.
I think letting patent holders choose how much to pay the patent office, then limiting their damage claims to a multiple of that amount is the way. In that world nobody could afford to sit on a stack of patents in the hope of suing somebody for big money. The only patents being actively maintained would be patents that were earning real money.
Do you work for Boeing or something...?
...or... after the second year we should limit patent damage claims to a multiple of what the licensee was paying the patent office every year to maintain that patent. A patent which is earning you millions every year is worth paying $100,000 a year to maintain, right? 5% of the patent's value feels about right.
Hang on... that might actually work.
I've just fixed the system!
Make the patent offices liable for any patent that's later invalidated (ie. pay all the legal bills). It's the only way.
Nope. All that would do is produce another mountain of fake/useless bureaucracy at taxpayer expense. Patent troll are quite capable of pretending to do "research".
Here's a link to the manufacturer's site, with pictures that don't need Javascript or social networking enabled:
http://www.ncst.com/content/bunker-xrv-5241
Coal and oil are in the mid 40s and nuclear in the lower 40s.
What about the power needed to extract/transport all that stuff?
A solar panel has a one-off cost but will produce that 'abysmal' 20% power for many, many years.
Isn't there some law or other about headlines that end in a question mark? Something about the answer always being "NO!".
The sun's output is easy to measure.
Given that, you'd think there'd be some solid evidence to back up your claim...but noooo.