Like many here, I prefer RPN to algebraic notation - a lot. When my 41CV got stolen (to whoever stole it - may your hands rot of!) I tried to find a good replacement. Unfortunately, by that time the more-or-less acceptable 32s(II) was replaced by the abysmal 33s. I got out my 32e (who remembers those? It was my first calculator back in high school) and being frustrated at having to charge it all the time (everything else is fine...) I decided to write to HP. In a quite angry mood, I found a feedback form on the hp calculator webpage and let loose with my frustration (nor good rpn, layout unusable etc.). To my surprise, I received a personal reply (!) telling me that soon a new product would be introduced. I said to myself: ok, don't get all excited, just see what happens. Then, a few months later, the 35s became available. Not bad at all, although the shift buttons (blue/yellow) are in the wrong place and so are the operators (+ - * / ). But hey, just because the email I got it anyway, although my brother gave me a 12C platinum edition for my birthday...
Full Ack. I just want to add one thing - fully simlocked phones are common here only if it is a subsidized phone with an ultra-cheap contract or prepay SIM. Sometimes other phones are sold *net*locked, but only if it's a special offer or a really brand-new model. T-Mobile Germany's netlocked phones can be unlocked for 99 at once or for free after 2 years. And they are available without a contract. Except for the iPhone, no other T-Mobile phone with a contract has (to my knowledge) a simlock.
me - not getting an iPhone until Apple and T-Mobile come to their senses and remove the simlock again. Or apply above practice
I agree totally. They could have just put in something like a serial number and that would be it. I don't have a problem with that. Track it via a database if need be and be done with it. That's what VIN in cars are used for, for instance. Call me paranoid, but I don't like to have my name and email encoded in some piece of software / music / whatever, especially if it is available on a not necessarily secure WiFi enabled iPod (yeah, I'm thinking a bit into the future).
Absolutely very poorly researched. In case of the Citroen they also forgot to mention that hydropneumatically suspended cars were already on the market since almost 20 years at the time. The suspension would only give trouble if basic maintenance was not performed on the suspension, which was admittedly more maintenance than was needed on a leaf spring. But is this surprising? In my personal experience (I have/have had 4 HP-sprung Citroens in all, average age 15+ years) the suspension *never* failed on any of those.
Same goes for some of the other cars mentioned, and really some bad cars are not on the list. The Alfasud for instance: great car to drive but already rusting in the showroom. The GM Diesel V8s from the 80s. Other companies could make reliable diesel passenger cars and had done so since the 30s (Mercedes for instance). I could go on...
As the original Hitchhiker's was a radio (!) series, the adaption to a movie could work, if done correctly. Although it would have to be shortened quite a bit... The television version is fine though.
The codes your are describing are not the same codes as they are going to release. The dashboard codes give a general indication of what's wrong. The codes you get via computer hookup can be much more detailed. Also (when having the correct access codes) some manufacturers can update the parameters and sometimes even the software within the onboard electronics. At least one manufacturer (Peugeot/Citroen from France) can even do this via the internet: an engineer in the development department can check and update the software remotely if your car is in the workshop. Check this out: http://www.computeruser.com/news/02/01/30/news18.h tml MB
The basis for this vehicle is (as the say) a Mercedes-built Unimog (see http://www.mercedes-benz.com/e/ecars/unimog/defaul t.htm for details), which has been modified.
These are heavy-duty trucks (can't drive them with a normal driving licence, so no soccer moms in this one) for use by the military, rescue and emergency services and for world travellers local authorities, builders, even farmers etc. who would need an ultra-tough vehicle. At the Mercedes plant near Sindelfingen, they use Unimogs with additional retractable steel wheels to haul trains loaded with new Mercedes cars:-)
Unlike the US, Mercedes-Benz sells commercial vehicles under its own name in most of the world.
Why they would want a relatively weak GM-engine instead of the Mercedes engines I do not know. The strongest engine available in a stock Unimog is a 240 HP diesel engine.
Also, even from the FAQ it is not really clear what they want to prove. Basically it's cool, but... Just adding features to a vehicle doesn't make it better... Hm. My 0.02$
Maybe oil itself is not really a technology. But the refining technologies are, and refined products changed the world. Oil had an enormous influence on our way of life, mainly trough the modes of transportation, especially when they discovered enough to make it affordable to almost everyone. Cheap energy, and easy to transport. Think of its practical uses, first (before widespread electricity networks) kerosene provided light to work longer days. Later, it made possible the internal combustion engine (which would be my second choice), which provided the propulsion for the automobile (no Tin Lizzy without petrol), larger, faster ships and airplanes. Electricity plants run on oil. Plastics are made from it. Almost everything you think of, would not be possible to produce or use at the price we are accustomed to without oil. Wars were fought over oil and lost for the lack of it, crises erupted when supply was limited. Think not only of Kuwait and the Suez crisis but also of WW2, where Hitlers decision to invade Russia was largely influenced by the lack of petrol for the war in the west (artificial petrol was in short supply), and Japan, whose attack on Indonesia was inspired by its huge oil ressources and refineries. Industrialisation would not have progressed at the pace it did. Nobody would think about computers, space travel and cellular phones. We are completely dependent on it, for the time being. For me, the 20th century is the petrol age. The information age is just beginning... My 0.02c
The Raite (or Yamakawa, the brand name it's mostly sold under in Europe) is based on the same chipset from ESS Technologies (check press release here: http://www.esstech.com/Newsroom/1999/9-23-99.html) . For a Raite/Yamakawa Forum/FAQ (in German, you know what to do with the babelfish) check here: http://www.taubenschlag.uni-frankfurt.de/cgi-bin/U ltimate.cgi?action=intro
Re:Hard science fiction is soft
on
Darwin's Radio
·
· Score: 1
Yep. For people who are interested in this subject and want some harder facts about the evolution and history of mankind, I would suggest "The Third Chimpanzee" (i.e.: us) by Jared Diamond (He's a prof at UCLA, I forget in what). This non-fiction book is very readable and gives some astounding (IMHO) insights into where we came from and how we came to be as we are. Better written than a lot of SF, and with more hard facts, although not everybody would agree with him. YMMV.
Basically, the representatives should be chosen on merit, not because they happen to be born in one country or another. Interesting is that arguments along the line of "our country is not represented as strongly as it should etc." are mostly fielded by politicians, not the techies. Who cares where the happened to be born, it's the expertise that counts! Having a influential organisation like ICANN without people at the helm with a sound understanding of the complex nature of the internet would be a far greater problem than national "under-representations". Also, as a "european", I think the writer of the article could have done better than calling all candidates of this particular continent(!) Europeans, he could have checked on their nationalities.
Slashdot Mirror
Like many here, I prefer RPN to algebraic notation - a lot. When my 41CV got stolen (to whoever stole it - may your hands rot of!) I tried to find a good replacement. Unfortunately, by that time the more-or-less acceptable 32s(II) was replaced by the abysmal 33s. I got out my 32e (who remembers those? It was my first calculator back in high school) and being frustrated at having to charge it all the time (everything else is fine ...) I decided to write to HP. In a quite angry mood, I found a feedback form on the hp calculator webpage and let loose with my frustration (nor good rpn, layout unusable etc.). To my surprise, I received a personal reply (!) telling me that soon a new product would be introduced. I said to myself: ok, don't get all excited, just see what happens. Then, a few months later, the 35s became available. Not bad at all, although the shift buttons (blue/yellow) are in the wrong place and so are the operators (+ - * / ). But hey, just because the email I got it anyway, although my brother gave me a 12C platinum edition for my birthday...
Full Ack. I just want to add one thing - fully simlocked phones are common here only if it is a subsidized phone with an ultra-cheap contract or prepay SIM.
Sometimes other phones are sold *net*locked, but only if it's a special offer or a really brand-new model.
T-Mobile Germany's netlocked phones can be unlocked for 99 at once or for free after 2 years. And they are available without a contract.
Except for the iPhone, no other T-Mobile phone with a contract has (to my knowledge) a simlock.
me - not getting an iPhone until Apple and T-Mobile come to their senses and remove the simlock again. Or apply above practice
According to a press release by T-Mobile, the iPhone is sold without SIM-lock as of now. German speakers follow this link: http://www.t-mobile.de/unternehmen/presse/pressemitteilungen/1,12219,19688-_,00.html You get one for 399 with a two year contract of for 999 without a contract.
A sign of things to come?
I agree totally. They could have just put in something like a serial number and that would be it. I don't have a problem with that. Track it via a database if need be and be done with it. That's what VIN in cars are used for, for instance. Call me paranoid, but I don't like to have my name and email encoded in some piece of software / music / whatever, especially if it is available on a not necessarily secure WiFi enabled iPod (yeah, I'm thinking a bit into the future).
Well, as a visitor I want to visit, not get a job at the DoD...
Absolutely very poorly researched. In case of the Citroen they also forgot to mention that hydropneumatically suspended cars were already on the market since almost 20 years at the time. The suspension would only give trouble if basic maintenance was not performed on the suspension, which was admittedly more maintenance than was needed on a leaf spring. But is this surprising? In my personal experience (I have /have had 4 HP-sprung Citroens in all, average age 15+ years) the suspension *never* failed on any of those.
Same goes for some of the other cars mentioned, and really some bad cars are not on the list. The Alfasud for instance: great car to drive but already rusting in the showroom. The GM Diesel V8s from the 80s. Other companies could make reliable diesel passenger cars and had done so since the 30s (Mercedes for instance). I could go on...
As the original Hitchhiker's was a radio (!) series, the adaption to a movie could work, if done correctly. Although it would have to be shortened quite a bit... The television version is fine though.
The codes your are describing are not the same codes as they are going to release. The dashboard codes give a general indication of what's wrong. The codes you get via computer hookup can be much more detailed. Also (when having the correct access codes) some manufacturers can update the parameters and sometimes even the software within the onboard electronics. At least one manufacturer (Peugeot/Citroen from France) can even do this via the internet: an engineer in the development department can check and update the software remotely if your car is in the workshop. Check this out: http://www.computeruser.com/news/02/01/30/news18.h tml
MB
The basis for this vehicle is (as the say) a Mercedes-built Unimog (see http://www.mercedes-benz.com/e/ecars/unimog/defaul t.htm for details), which has been modified.
:-)
These are heavy-duty trucks (can't drive them with a normal driving licence, so no soccer moms in this one) for use by the military, rescue and emergency services and for world travellers local authorities, builders, even farmers etc. who would need an ultra-tough vehicle. At the Mercedes plant near Sindelfingen, they use Unimogs with additional retractable steel wheels to haul trains loaded with new Mercedes cars
Unlike the US, Mercedes-Benz sells commercial vehicles under its own name in most of the world.
Why they would want a relatively weak GM-engine instead of the Mercedes engines I do not know. The strongest engine available in a stock Unimog is a 240 HP diesel engine.
Also, even from the FAQ it is not really clear what they want to prove. Basically it's cool, but... Just adding features to a vehicle doesn't make it better... Hm. My 0.02$
M
Maybe oil itself is not really a technology. But the refining technologies are, and refined products changed the world. Oil had an enormous influence on our way of life, mainly trough the modes of transportation, especially when they discovered enough to make it affordable to almost everyone. Cheap energy, and easy to transport. Think of its practical uses, first (before widespread electricity networks) kerosene provided light to work longer days. Later, it made possible the internal combustion engine (which would be my second choice), which provided the propulsion for the automobile (no Tin Lizzy without petrol), larger, faster ships and airplanes. Electricity plants run on oil. Plastics are made from it. Almost everything you think of, would not be possible to produce or use at the price we are accustomed to without oil. Wars were fought over oil and lost for the lack of it, crises erupted when supply was limited. Think not only of Kuwait and the Suez crisis but also of WW2, where Hitlers decision to invade Russia was largely influenced by the lack of petrol for the war in the west (artificial petrol was in short supply), and Japan, whose attack on Indonesia was inspired by its huge oil ressources and refineries. Industrialisation would not have progressed at the pace it did. Nobody would think about computers, space travel and cellular phones. We are completely dependent on it, for the time being. For me, the 20th century is the petrol age. The information age is just beginning... My 0.02c
The Raite (or Yamakawa, the brand name it's mostly sold under in Europe) is based on the same chipset from ESS Technologies (check press release here: http://www.esstech.com/Newsroom/1999/9-23-99.html) . For a Raite/Yamakawa Forum/FAQ (in German, you know what to do with the babelfish) check here: http://www.taubenschlag.uni-frankfurt.de/cgi-bin/U ltimate.cgi?action=intro
Yep. For people who are interested in this subject and want some harder facts about the evolution and history of mankind, I would suggest "The Third Chimpanzee" (i.e.: us) by Jared Diamond (He's a prof at UCLA, I forget in what). This non-fiction book is very readable and gives some astounding (IMHO) insights into where we came from and how we came to be as we are. Better written than a lot of SF, and with more hard facts, although not everybody would agree with him. YMMV.
Basically, the representatives should be chosen on merit, not because they happen to be born in one country or another. Interesting is that arguments along the line of "our country is not represented as strongly as it should etc." are mostly fielded by politicians, not the techies. Who cares where the happened to be born, it's the expertise that counts! Having a influential organisation like ICANN without people at the helm with a sound understanding of the complex nature of the internet would be a far greater problem than national "under-representations". Also, as a "european", I think the writer of the article could have done better than calling all candidates of this particular continent(!) Europeans, he could have checked on their nationalities.