In short, it's the random nature of security enforcement that makes it effective, not the universal enforcement.
I agree
In my expereince they are very good at that randomness, the rules seem to change arbitrarily every week, if not by the day. But it's very frustrating when you're just doing your job, and the doesn't-seem-so-secure security doubles the costs of doing it.
"and I hope that airline security has improved somewhat since then. (I can dream, can't I?)"
Keep dreaming.
My experience with a current construction project for a major airline at a major airport speaks to a discomfortingly confused security situation.
The first time I went to the site with the Architect, who had a badge to escort us into the terminal, we were refused entry at 3 different points, always told to go somewhere else that wouldn't let us in. Then we went to an airline official, who said that the badge the architect had would get us in at a security gate that we tried before, so she escorted us there, and we weren't let in. So she did about a half hour of research, and found that we needed to go to the desk where they check in pets in their crates! There they checked the architect's badge and our IDs and issued us each a ticket-like piece of paper that we took to the security gate. There they took that "ticket" from us (and my co-worker's zippo lighter) and let us through. We then had the run of the place, without any ticket or pass. We spent over an hour and a half getting in to do 2 hours of work. Then, after suffering through all that security red tape, we at one point got separated from the contractor with the keys, while we were in the non-secure loading dock (accessible from a public roadway). But not to worry, a friendly worker let us back to the secured passenger terminal side.
The second time I went with my boss, who picked up his own badge that he applied for three weeks earlier. He had been told it was ready to pick up. It took a little over an hour wating in lines and watching safety videos to pick up the badge. But when we tried it (it was a swipe and pin number type), it didn't work. So we went back down to the security badging office, only to find a sign on the door saying that they were closed for lunch and would be back at 1:00pm (even though it wasn't noon yet). I went back to the office, and he stayed the rest of the day to get it straightened out and do about an hour of work.
The third time I went, construction was well under way, the walls were knocked down, and the only thing bewteen the public parking and the secure air side was some pastic sheeting.
Did I mention that both the existing layout and the new design include a loading dock that connects the non-secured public roadways with the secure airside through a locked, but un-manned, door? Anyone on the inside (including employees, or sneaky passengers) could open the door, (or man the freight elevator if they had the key), and bring large, explosive things off the truck with a forklift and into the passenger terminal.
Without multiple buyers and multiple sellers, you cannot have a market in the traditional sense, so you don't have a "free market" either, however you want to construct your definition of freedom.
I admit I don't know the details of "classical economics" or "neoclassical economics", but I used the word "classic" as an adjective, not "classical" as a name.
Most of the things you complain about are due to the design, as in aesthetic concerns, taking precendence over design, as in utility. I work in the construction industry and I have to fight architects, who often are more like interior designers, all the time over such things (like putting a thermostat where it's less visible, rather than where it will sense the right temperature). However, some of the things you metion, like grouping light switches and putting receptacles more than 1 foot or so above the floor are reasonable, if reasonably done. (don't put receptacles below a counter, arrange the light switches in a rational manner and label them, etc.)
Older houses that I've been in often have had the electric receptacles in the baseboard. Most modern houses have them at 6"to12" above the floor, presumably because putting them all the way down to the floor could be hazardous when mopping.
I doubt most people would want to see cords dangling from recptacles mounted higher. The exceptions I've seen are where mounted above countertops, where you need them for access; in basements, which could be subject to flooding hazards; and in garages, which could be a fire hazard from heavier-than-air gas an oil fumes if mounted below the typical code-mandated minimum distance above the floor.
Learning to play an instrument, sing, or dance can provide a great way to release your emotions, commune with your friends, and enjoy music much more than simply putting on the earphones and listening in your own little cocoon.
"Because most people aren't skilled enough." would be closer to the truth,
There was a time when music was thought of, not as a "spectator sport", so to speak, but as part of a social event, for singing, playing, and dancing with your friends. Now-a-days, when you can just pop in a CD or click on your iPod to listen to music, the skills acquired to perform music don't seem to be valued by the average person, and they aren't pursued as much.
Still, I know several people, some of whom are not talented or skilled at all, who enjoy sing-alongs and the like.
The "free market" (can't exist btw, it's just a idealized concept) IS working how it's supposed to.
Actually, the classic "free market", as an idealized concept, requires commodities that can be produced by multiple people/companies, with little or no barrier to entry, knowledgeable buyers, and the flexibility to switch products at will as supply, demand, and prices dictate.
The current situation with graphics cards fails those prerequisites on all counts.
In my experience, almost every time a new doctor or hospital required records from a previous one, there was a charge for duplicating and sending the records. Though they never gouged me like your anecdote above; it was typically a one-time fee of $25 or so for the entire record.
I would assume that the doctor/hosptial/insurance company owns the records. That's why we have laws about access to them and privacy concerns about them. The medical practice is the one that makes the records, puts them in a form (hopefully) most useful to them, and needs to reference them and share them with other caregivers in the course of caring for you. Most people wouldn't have a clue what they contained even if they read them.
I believe that you are misunderstanding his point. It was not that the iTunes sales are bad for the artist. It is that the artist loses out on the potential available from the lower costs associated with online sales. The label is giving the artist a percent of a lower total, rather than the same or better royalty in absolute terms. The benefits of lower costs are being shared by Apple, the consumer, and the label - but the artist is typically taking home less money per unit. Not to mention the standard contracts that charge the artist for "breakage", etc.
If you cannot detect something at all with light or gravity effects, then it very likely isn't there
So I guess that I should forget all about radioactivity, what with all the weak forces and strong forces that govern subatomic particles rather than light and gravity?
Say for instance the 1900 leap year bug. How would you get around that?
Don't transform given dates, use those given (as opposed to those calculated). If there's any computation that crosses that bug, such as day-of-the-week before 1900 or number of days between dates on opposite sides of 1900, recompute it with the correct result. Add a comment that the original document included such and such calculation with the incorrect result.
Just because there's a mistake in the original implementation doesn't mean you should codify that mistake.
Just because there's a mistake in the original document doesn't mean you should ignore that mistake.
Solenoids I've done before (I design HVAC. plumbing and fire protection for a living). A large retail chain, who prefers to remain anonymous, used to mandate solenoids on all of their display models. (yeah, they used to have actual working models on display) The spring loaded valves I've never heard of before; interesting, I wonder how well they'd hold up in my home with the hard well water.
Commercial/industrial/hospital installations are already commonly providing interfaces through the web browser. In a large system a remote interface can often avoid the time and expense of a trip to the site to turn on a system just because someone's having an off-hours meeting.
Although "powering down" an appliance doesn't have much utility on the face of it, it could be useful to be able to shut something down or turn it on from your browser when you're away. The common dumb example is to turn heating or cooling on an hour before you get home, so I guess maybe you could turn them off after you realize you're not going home yet.
More likely, you would be using the web interface because the system paged you or sent a text to your cell phone telling you that something went wrong. An e-mail woudn't be as useful, since it's less likely to get your attention in a timely fashion. If the temperature falls well below the setpoint, and you're on vacation, there might be a problem with your furnace or boiler. And it can be possible to set it up so you can do a little troubleshooting from the web, though more likely you'd call a neighbor or relative to check up on it.
Another situation that most people don't think of, but that does happen often enough to cause a lot of damage, is a wasing machine hose bursting and flodding the house. However, a better solution than monitoring that through the web is to shut the damn valves at the hose connection (you're supposed to do that every time you finish washing clothes, the hoses are prone to failure if left under pressure, but nobody, including me, does that.)
Still, there's a lot less call for this stuff in a single family home than in an industrial or commercial setting where a serviceman might be on call.
"I suspect the only connection to the Heathkit we love is the name"
Zenith bought Heath way back in 1979.
The only connection of that Zenith to the current Zenith is the name, as they hit hard times, sold a majority stake to LG in the 90s, went bankrupt in '99 and were absorbed by LG. About their only "product" at the time was HDTV patents. http://www.zenith.com/sub_about/about_corp_history.html/
THey are a country/rock band doing festivals, bars, opening acts, mostly small/medium size venues. They want to play their own music, but their venues want them to cover. 5 members: lead singer/guitar/harmonica, rythm guitar, keyboard/sax/accordian, drums, and my friend's duaghter, fiddle/mandolin. She's done a couple of indie CDs as well, but hasn't made any money with them.
"There is no need for such laws - people can "vote" with their wallets."
I can vote with my wallet only if the products are offered. As a consumer with, apparently, "rare" tastes, I can tell you it's very hard to vote with my wallet on a lot of things I would purchase if I could conveniently. Have you ever tried to buy low-salt, low calorie fast food? Or "no sugar added" products that don't contain fake sugar? I'd love to vote with my wallet for more energy efficient fixtures and appliances, but, unfortaunately, unless the mass markets agree with me, I can't buy those things because the available manufacturers and retailers only go for the least common denominator products.
"Absolute zero, ferinstance, is the temperature at which all molecular motion stops. Nothing moves at absolute zero"
Absolute zero is the minimum energy state allowable, there may be some motion required by quantum mechanics even at the minimum energy state of absolute zero.
Absolute zero represents complete cessation of motion
No, absolute zero represents the minimum energy state possible for the system being considered. For an ideal gas that would be a complete cessation of motion but not so for a real system.
Presumably, the highest temperature possible would represent the maximum energy state possible for the system being considered. What that might be is unknown, especially unknown to me, but presumably would not have to be infinite.
A nitpick, heat is not measured by temperature, the definition of heat implies movement from on body to another, and temperature measures the potential for that movement. If it's not moving, it's not heat. Temperature measures thermal energy, i.e. the energy of the kinetic energies of the particles plus the latent energy of phase changes.
to get a fuller picture of the quotes from the above referenced article:
". . . during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Late Edition" program on 9 March, 1999. When asked to describe what distinguished him from his challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Gore replied (in part): 'During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. . . ' "
"If President Eisenhower had said in the mid-1960s that he, while President, "created" the Interstate Highway System, we would not have seen dozens and dozens of editorials lampooning him for claiming he "invented" the concept of highways or implying that he personally went out and dug ditches across the country to help build the roadway."
". . . he sponsored the 1988 National High-Performance Computer Act (which established a national computing plan and helped link universities and libraries via a shared network) and cosponsored the Information Infrastructure and Technology Act of 1992 (which opened the Internet to commercial traffic)."
so yeah, let's all call him a liar based on misquotes pushed by his political opponents.
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In my expereince they are very good at that randomness, the rules seem to change arbitrarily every week, if not by the day.
But it's very frustrating when you're just doing your job, and the doesn't-seem-so-secure security doubles the costs of doing it.
Oh, a good guess, but no.
I don't think I should say specifically.
Keep dreaming.
My experience with a current construction project for a major airline at a major airport speaks to a discomfortingly confused security situation.
The first time I went to the site with the Architect, who had a badge to escort us into the terminal, we were refused entry at 3 different points, always told to go somewhere else that wouldn't let us in. Then we went to an airline official, who said that the badge the architect had would get us in at a security gate that we tried before, so she escorted us there, and we weren't let in. So she did about a half hour of research, and found that we needed to go to the desk where they check in pets in their crates! There they checked the architect's badge and our IDs and issued us each a ticket-like piece of paper that we took to the security gate. There they took that "ticket" from us (and my co-worker's zippo lighter) and let us through. We then had the run of the place, without any ticket or pass.
We spent over an hour and a half getting in to do 2 hours of work. Then, after suffering through all that security red tape, we at one point got separated from the contractor with the keys, while we were in the non-secure loading dock (accessible from a public roadway). But not to worry, a friendly worker let us back to the secured passenger terminal side.
The second time I went with my boss, who picked up his own badge that he applied for three weeks earlier. He had been told it was ready to pick up. It took a little over an hour wating in lines and watching safety videos to pick up the badge. But when we tried it (it was a swipe and pin number type), it didn't work. So we went back down to the security badging office, only to find a sign on the door saying that they were closed for lunch and would be back at 1:00pm (even though it wasn't noon yet). I went back to the office, and he stayed the rest of the day to get it straightened out and do about an hour of work.
The third time I went, construction was well under way, the walls were knocked down, and the only thing bewteen the public parking and the secure air side was some pastic sheeting.
Did I mention that both the existing layout and the new design include a loading dock that connects the non-secured public roadways with the secure airside through a locked, but un-manned, door? Anyone on the inside (including employees, or sneaky passengers) could open the door, (or man the freight elevator if they had the key), and bring large, explosive things off the truck with a forklift and into the passenger terminal.
Not to mention three times as many transmissions
Without multiple buyers and multiple sellers, you cannot have a market in the traditional sense, so you don't have a "free market" either, however you want to construct your definition of freedom.
I admit I don't know the details of "classical economics" or "neoclassical economics", but I used the word "classic" as an adjective, not "classical" as a name.
Most of the things you complain about are due to the design, as in aesthetic concerns, taking precendence over design, as in utility. I work in the construction industry and I have to fight architects, who often are more like interior designers, all the time over such things (like putting a thermostat where it's less visible, rather than where it will sense the right temperature). However, some of the things you metion, like grouping light switches and putting receptacles more than 1 foot or so above the floor are reasonable, if reasonably done. (don't put receptacles below a counter, arrange the light switches in a rational manner and label them, etc.)
Older houses that I've been in often have had the electric receptacles in the baseboard. Most modern houses have them at 6"to12" above the floor, presumably because putting them all the way down to the floor could be hazardous when mopping.
I doubt most people would want to see cords dangling from recptacles mounted higher. The exceptions I've seen are where mounted above countertops, where you need them for access; in basements, which could be subject to flooding hazards; and in garages, which could be a fire hazard from heavier-than-air gas an oil fumes if mounted below the typical code-mandated minimum distance above the floor.
Learning to play an instrument, sing, or dance can provide a great way to release your emotions, commune with your friends, and enjoy music much more than simply putting on the earphones and listening in your own little cocoon.
"Because most people aren't skilled enough." would be closer to the truth,
There was a time when music was thought of, not as a "spectator sport", so to speak, but as part of a social event, for singing, playing, and dancing with your friends. Now-a-days, when you can just pop in a CD or click on your iPod to listen to music, the skills acquired to perform music don't seem to be valued by the average person, and they aren't pursued as much.
Still, I know several people, some of whom are not talented or skilled at all, who enjoy sing-alongs and the like.
Actually, the classic "free market", as an idealized concept, requires commodities that can be produced by multiple people/companies, with little or no barrier to entry, knowledgeable buyers, and the flexibility to switch products at will as supply, demand, and prices dictate.
The current situation with graphics cards fails those prerequisites on all counts.
In my experience, almost every time a new doctor or hospital required records from a previous one, there was a charge for duplicating and sending the records. Though they never gouged me like your anecdote above; it was typically a one-time fee of $25 or so for the entire record.
I would assume that the doctor/hosptial/insurance company owns the records.
That's why we have laws about access to them and privacy concerns about them.
The medical practice is the one that makes the records, puts them in a form (hopefully) most useful to them, and needs to reference them and share them with other caregivers in the course of caring for you.
Most people wouldn't have a clue what they contained even if they read them.
I believe that you are misunderstanding his point. It was not that the iTunes sales are bad for the artist. It is that the artist loses out on the potential available from the lower costs associated with online sales. The label is giving the artist a percent of a lower total, rather than the same or better royalty in absolute terms. The benefits of lower costs are being shared by Apple, the consumer, and the label - but the artist is typically taking home less money per unit. Not to mention the standard contracts that charge the artist for "breakage", etc.
my favorite quote:
So I guess that I should forget all about radioactivity, what with all the weak forces and strong forces that govern subatomic particles rather than light and gravity?
Don't transform given dates, use those given (as opposed to those calculated). If there's any computation that crosses that bug, such as day-of-the-week before 1900 or number of days between dates on opposite sides of 1900, recompute it with the correct result. Add a comment that the original document included such and such calculation with the incorrect result.
Just because there's a mistake in the original implementation doesn't mean you should codify that mistake.
Just because there's a mistake in the original document doesn't mean you should ignore that mistake.
Solenoids I've done before (I design HVAC. plumbing and fire protection for a living). A large retail chain, who prefers to remain anonymous, used to mandate solenoids on all of their display models. (yeah, they used to have actual working models on display)
The spring loaded valves I've never heard of before; interesting, I wonder how well they'd hold up in my home with the hard well water.
Commercial/industrial/hospital installations are already commonly providing interfaces through the web browser. In a large system a remote interface can often avoid the time and expense of a trip to the site to turn on a system just because someone's having an off-hours meeting.
Although "powering down" an appliance doesn't have much utility on the face of it, it could be useful to be able to shut something down or turn it on from your browser when you're away. The common dumb example is to turn heating or cooling on an hour before you get home, so I guess maybe you could turn them off after you realize you're not going home yet.
More likely, you would be using the web interface because the system paged you or sent a text to your cell phone telling you that something went wrong. An e-mail woudn't be as useful, since it's less likely to get your attention in a timely fashion. If the temperature falls well below the setpoint, and you're on vacation, there might be a problem with your furnace or boiler. And it can be possible to set it up so you can do a little troubleshooting from the web, though more likely you'd call a neighbor or relative to check up on it.
Another situation that most people don't think of, but that does happen often enough to cause a lot of damage, is a wasing machine hose bursting and flodding the house. However, a better solution than monitoring that through the web is to shut the damn valves at the hose connection (you're supposed to do that every time you finish washing clothes, the hoses are prone to failure if left under pressure, but nobody, including me, does that.)
Still, there's a lot less call for this stuff in a single family home than in an industrial or commercial setting where a serviceman might be on call.
Zenith bought Heath way back in 1979.
The only connection of that Zenith to the current Zenith is the name, as they hit hard times, sold a majority stake to LG in the 90s, went bankrupt in '99 and were absorbed by LG. About their only "product" at the time was HDTV patents.
http://www.zenith.com/sub_about/about_corp_history.html/
THey are a country/rock band doing festivals, bars, opening acts, mostly small/medium size venues. They want to play their own music, but their venues want them to cover. 5 members: lead singer/guitar/harmonica, rythm guitar, keyboard/sax/accordian, drums, and my friend's duaghter, fiddle/mandolin. She's done a couple of indie CDs as well, but hasn't made any money with them.
"There is no need for such laws - people can "vote" with their wallets."
I can vote with my wallet only if the products are offered. As a consumer with, apparently, "rare" tastes, I can tell you it's very hard to vote with my wallet on a lot of things I would purchase if I could conveniently.
Have you ever tried to buy low-salt, low calorie fast food?
Or "no sugar added" products that don't contain fake sugar?
I'd love to vote with my wallet for more energy efficient fixtures and appliances, but, unfortaunately, unless the mass markets agree with me, I can't buy those things because the available manufacturers and retailers only go for the least common denominator products.
"Absolute zero, ferinstance, is the temperature at which all molecular motion stops. Nothing moves at absolute zero"
Absolute zero is the minimum energy state allowable, there may be some motion required by quantum mechanics even at the minimum energy state of absolute zero.
Temperature does not measure the latent energy, chemical energy, etc., though heat does get absorbed and released by those.
No, absolute zero represents the minimum energy state possible for the system being considered. For an ideal gas that would be a complete cessation of motion but not so for a real system.
Presumably, the highest temperature possible would represent the maximum energy state possible for the system being considered. What that might be is unknown, especially unknown to me, but presumably would not have to be infinite.
A nitpick, heat is not measured by temperature, the definition of heat implies movement from on body to another, and temperature measures the potential for that movement. If it's not moving, it's not heat. Temperature measures thermal energy, i.e. the energy of the kinetic energies of the particles plus the latent energy of phase changes.
to get a fuller picture of the quotes from the above referenced article:
". . . during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Late Edition" program on 9 March, 1999. When asked to describe what distinguished him from his challenger for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey, Gore replied (in part):
'During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. . . ' "
"If President Eisenhower had said in the mid-1960s that he, while President, "created" the Interstate Highway System, we would not have seen dozens and dozens of editorials lampooning him for claiming he "invented" the concept of highways or implying that he personally went out and dug ditches across the country to help build the roadway."
". . . he sponsored the 1988 National High-Performance Computer Act (which established a national computing plan and helped link universities and libraries via a shared network) and cosponsored the Information Infrastructure and Technology Act of 1992 (which opened the Internet to commercial traffic)."
so yeah, let's all call him a liar based on misquotes pushed by his political opponents.
The grandparent was correct... Deal with it...