I've been saying that electric cars should be used this way for *years.*
Done intelligently, you should be able to make money off of it, even. A good system would let you tell the car to maintain at least X% charge (based on how much range you need on a daily basis). Then have it charge past X% only when electricity costs are below Y, and only feed back to the grid when electricity costs are above Z.
Employers might benefit by having (dis)charging stations for employees that can reduce their peak grid draw during the day. (employees charge their cars at off-peak rates, and (dis)charge at work for discounted rates.
If it's hooked up at home, you have an automatic whole-house UPS system (again telling the car to not go below X%).
I've supported legalizing (some) drugs - marijuana at the very least - for a long time because of this. It would do far more to hurt the cartels than anything we're doing now. Unfortunately, I'm sure the cartels know this, too, and that anyone in the US or Mexico that makes serious headway in that direction will have a very short lifespan.
Or at the very least allow the law-abiding citizens to arm themselves (not that the ones that really need it could afford to at this point). Plus, I'm sure any Mexican politician that tried to enable this would end up dead to protect the cartel's monopoly on violence.
Or maybe use UCs in inner-city commuter type cars? If they charge fast enough, and you can deliver enough grunt, you could top them off every time they stop at a light. Or have a lane that has contacts that let you charge while moving, even. You'd have to work out some safety issues, obviously, but a 20 mile range would be more than enough in that sort of situation.
Which is going to be the big issue here,most people have a 5 day work week and they can't just skip one day of work each week. So in practice, they have to ship their kids somewhere or have someone come watch them - but 30 babysitters are way more expensive that one teacher - or you'll have older kids at home unsupervised, which will have plenty issues of its own. So yeah it saves the school money, but at the cost of the parents...
Sounds like an excellent opportunity for the out-of-school older kids to earn some extra money watching the out-of-school younger kids...
Are all those cameras effective, or just taking a toll on privacy without bringing added security?
Well, they didn't prevent the rioting and looting, so they obviously weren't contributing to security, just enabling punishment after the fact.
The only way to get security is to take the responsibility on yourself - this sort of thing probably wouldn't get far in my neighborhood, because my neighbors and I are willing (and able) to to protect ourselves (we'd be in our front yards with rifles & shotguns, most likely).
The number one gripe I have is that the interface usually ends up stunted. Fallout 3 was like this. - they tried to reduce the number of buttons needed so it could easily be ported to a console, and left the PC users with a clunky interface when we could have easily just used more buttons. - huuuge text that forced you to scroll all the time
Knights of the Old Republic wasn't as bad, but was still obviously optimized for a console.
Not to mention that a windfall like that has a very real possibility of *reducing* your quality of life. If you can't keep your mouth shut (or live in a state that doesn't allow blind trusts to claim lottery prizes), you'll have to deal with the inevitable deluge of "cousins," "friends," and lawsuits.
Having a "fun" car that gets bad gas mileage isn't has horrible as you might think.
For those of us that like driving for driving's sake, we more or less have these two choices: - Get one car that compromises between fun and economy - these always seem to end up on the lower end of the fuel economy range, and you put a lot of miles on them
- Get a fun car (and don't worry about MPG) and a daily driver. In this case the daily driver can be an econobox. I've gone with this method because, frankly, a sports car with a manual transmission isn't much fun when you're just commuting in traffic. I'd rather cherry-pick the few miles (and track days) where I can actually enjoy the car. Overall, I probably burn LESS gas this way, because the bulk of the miles get put on a much more efficient car.
I'd rather have black asphalt shingles and a soffit/ridge venting system that I can control, so I vent the heat in the summer or trap it in the winter.
I'd rather have solar panels (or something else to capture the heat energy) completely covering the roof with an air gap underneath.
Keeps the solar energy off the roof, and lets me do something useful with it. (I live where we spend much more energy trying to cool houses than to heat them)
I remember reading about how when cars were first getting radios, some people wanted them banned because they were a distraction and caused accidents. I guess it's only logical that the replacement and/or add-on devices would also receive the same stigma. That's not to say texting while driving isn't worse, but that any new gadget causes a bigger distraction when the operator isn't use to the unit.
An example is my old Motorola E815... with T9 and having used it enough, I could text (in any setting.. doesn't mean while driving) one handed without looking at the phone just fine. But when I first got it, heck no. I had to look to learn where the keys were, double check the spelling, etc.
The problem is, even if you can (using your example) type on your phone without looking, you still have to divert your focus away from whatever else you're doing and into composing a coherent message and typing it. It doesn't matter how much of a mental giant someone is, they have only 100% of their attention to use, and if they're not using all 100% on driving, they're being irresponsible and dangerous.
I suspect most people almost never focus 100% on driving in the first place. It's very obvious how distracting things are once you've trained yourself to focus 100% on something. When I'm driving, and my fiancee tries to talk to me, one of two things happens. Either I have NO idea what she just said (she loves this, really!), or if I pay attention to what she's saying, then when I refocus on driving I realize there's a major gap in my situational awareness due to the conversation.
Radios are a slightly different story, IMO. As long as you're not fiddling with it or trying to follow dialogue, music (for me, anyway) actually improves my ability to focus on driving.
All I really see is a possible chilling effect which will have the opposite of the desired effect, you'll see students enter other fields than risk a charge that doesn't fit the actual error.
Actually, what will probably happen is that all future forecasts will be useless, because they'll all just say some variation of, "yes it's possible, but we're not sure; take precautions." People will stop taking them seriously, and be just as unprepared.
Wait... doesn't cramming the population together make it easier and more cost effective to provide service?
Every time someone gripes about the good networks in Japan, etc. compared to here in the US, someone says, "but people are too spread out in the US."
Now it's the other way around?
The real reason is that upgrading costs money, and they have no reason to do it when they can continue to sell the same crap for more money instead. In developing areas, current generation tech is being installed. Here we're stuck with existing old stuff until it's so crotchety it HAS to be upgraded.
Well, for starters those sane laws you mention are usually just the traffic code, so those would apply equally. If a car doesn't yield when it has to then it doesn't make a difference if it was driven by a computer or a human driver.
IMO, this won't work. The car manufacturer would always end up getting sued (probably by all involved parties), and they're not going to sell self-driving cars in those circumstances. You'd have to have a separate road (no human-driven cars in the mix), with legislation in place that basically says you/your insurance is responsible for yourself, no matter what happens.
Not to mention that the biggest cost of a home theatre is good speakers, which, treated properly will last a very long time. My "next" home theatre will probably only cost 20-30% of the current setup.
So, let's recap again: Home theatre: - Better sound (always in the sweet spot) - Better, cheaper food - Alcohol, if inclined - No cell phones - No lines - No noisy neighbors - Can pause for bathroom breaks and food refills - More comfortable seats - and now better picture
Cinema: - New releases available immediately - Can go with large group - 3D (I already wear glasses, so this isn't necessarily an advantage)
HT costs a lot up-front, but once you have it, you'll use it a lot - especially considering it works for TV and gaming. (My setup would take about 125 cinema trips for two to break even)
Yep, I've been saying for years: Strap a combat knife to the seat-back in front of every adult passenger, and just x-ray/metal detect for guns and use dogs to try to catch explosives.
I actually usually prefer a touch screen, but there's a big catch. There can't be ANY lag. My iPhone is great - almost everything responds immediately, and I have no problems at all.
My GPS has the same type of touch screen, but it's horrible. There's a little (very very tiny bit, actually) lag, but it's enough to really throw me off.
Basically, touch screens suck when the hardware can't keep up with the interface.
While there are already lots of comments humorously suggesting various variations of porn, it would be an interesting opportunity to "find" a lot of anti-Islamic stuff, and trumpet it far and wide.
"Not only was your leader killed, his computer was full of pornographic infidels, anti-Islamic rants, plans to turn the world against Islam, bacon recipies, etc.!!"
Slashdot Mirror
I've been saying that electric cars should be used this way for *years.*
Done intelligently, you should be able to make money off of it, even. A good system would let you tell the car to maintain at least X% charge (based on how much range you need on a daily basis). Then have it charge past X% only when electricity costs are below Y, and only feed back to the grid when electricity costs are above Z.
Employers might benefit by having (dis)charging stations for employees that can reduce their peak grid draw during the day. (employees charge their cars at off-peak rates, and (dis)charge at work for discounted rates.
If it's hooked up at home, you have an automatic whole-house UPS system (again telling the car to not go below X%).
Actually, using his logic, the only planes/airlines he'll never fly on are the perfectly safe ones. :)
Yeah, they kind of neglect to compare it to how much these same people work every day when they ARE in the office...
I've supported legalizing (some) drugs - marijuana at the very least - for a long time because of this. It would do far more to hurt the cartels than anything we're doing now.
Unfortunately, I'm sure the cartels know this, too, and that anyone in the US or Mexico that makes serious headway in that direction will have a very short lifespan.
Or at the very least allow the law-abiding citizens to arm themselves (not that the ones that really need it could afford to at this point).
Plus, I'm sure any Mexican politician that tried to enable this would end up dead to protect the cartel's monopoly on violence.
Or maybe use UCs in inner-city commuter type cars? If they charge fast enough, and you can deliver enough grunt, you could top them off every time they stop at a light. Or have a lane that has contacts that let you charge while moving, even. You'd have to work out some safety issues, obviously, but a 20 mile range would be more than enough in that sort of situation.
Which is going to be the big issue here ,most people have a 5 day work week and they can't just skip one day of work each week. So in practice, they have to ship their kids somewhere or have someone come watch them - but 30 babysitters are way more expensive that one teacher - or you'll have older kids at home unsupervised, which will have plenty issues of its own. So yeah it saves the school money, but at the cost of the parents...
Sounds like an excellent opportunity for the out-of-school older kids to earn some extra money watching the out-of-school younger kids...
Are all those cameras effective, or just taking a toll on privacy without bringing added security?
Well, they didn't prevent the rioting and looting, so they obviously weren't contributing to security, just enabling punishment after the fact.
The only way to get security is to take the responsibility on yourself - this sort of thing probably wouldn't get far in my neighborhood, because my neighbors and I are willing (and able) to to protect ourselves (we'd be in our front yards with rifles & shotguns, most likely).
The number one gripe I have is that the interface usually ends up stunted. Fallout 3 was like this.
- they tried to reduce the number of buttons needed so it could easily be ported to a console, and left the PC users with a clunky interface when we could have easily just used more buttons.
- huuuge text that forced you to scroll all the time
Knights of the Old Republic wasn't as bad, but was still obviously optimized for a console.
Not to mention that a windfall like that has a very real possibility of *reducing* your quality of life. If you can't keep your mouth shut (or live in a state that doesn't allow blind trusts to claim lottery prizes), you'll have to deal with the inevitable deluge of "cousins," "friends," and lawsuits.
Having a "fun" car that gets bad gas mileage isn't has horrible as you might think.
For those of us that like driving for driving's sake, we more or less have these two choices:
- Get one car that compromises between fun and economy - these always seem to end up on the lower end of the fuel economy range, and you put a lot of miles on them
- Get a fun car (and don't worry about MPG) and a daily driver. In this case the daily driver can be an econobox. I've gone with this method because, frankly, a sports car with a manual transmission isn't much fun when you're just commuting in traffic. I'd rather cherry-pick the few miles (and track days) where I can actually enjoy the car. Overall, I probably burn LESS gas this way, because the bulk of the miles get put on a much more efficient car.
Asphalt shingles come in any color you like.
I'd rather have black asphalt shingles and a soffit/ridge venting system that I can control, so I vent the heat in the summer or trap it in the winter.
I'd rather have solar panels (or something else to capture the heat energy) completely covering the roof with an air gap underneath.
Keeps the solar energy off the roof, and lets me do something useful with it. (I live where we spend much more energy trying to cool houses than to heat them)
While carrying him back next door, Ardolf allegedly kissed the boy on the lips.
You know what that word means, right?
allegedly, adv.: A word used reluctantly by the media to cover their arses while assigning guilt in the court of public opinion.
(IMO, defendants should be held anonymous until convicted)
I remember reading about how when cars were first getting radios, some people wanted them banned because they were a distraction and caused accidents. I guess it's only logical that the replacement and/or add-on devices would also receive the same stigma. That's not to say texting while driving isn't worse, but that any new gadget causes a bigger distraction when the operator isn't use to the unit.
An example is my old Motorola E815... with T9 and having used it enough, I could text (in any setting.. doesn't mean while driving) one handed without looking at the phone just fine. But when I first got it, heck no. I had to look to learn where the keys were, double check the spelling, etc.
The problem is, even if you can (using your example) type on your phone without looking, you still have to divert your focus away from whatever else you're doing and into composing a coherent message and typing it. It doesn't matter how much of a mental giant someone is, they have only 100% of their attention to use, and if they're not using all 100% on driving, they're being irresponsible and dangerous.
I suspect most people almost never focus 100% on driving in the first place. It's very obvious how distracting things are once you've trained yourself to focus 100% on something. When I'm driving, and my fiancee tries to talk to me, one of two things happens. Either I have NO idea what she just said (she loves this, really!), or if I pay attention to what she's saying, then when I refocus on driving I realize there's a major gap in my situational awareness due to the conversation.
Radios are a slightly different story, IMO. As long as you're not fiddling with it or trying to follow dialogue, music (for me, anyway) actually improves my ability to focus on driving.
PETA believe pet ownership is slavery...
I have a cat, and PETA is spot on.
Oh, wait, you mean they think the PET is the slave??
Dumbass legislators: "Let's make posession of $THING a crime to prevent $BEHAVIOR!"
Sorry, it doesn't work, and it fscks over law abiding people for any values of $THING and $BEHAVIOR that I'm aware of.
All I really see is a possible chilling effect which will have the opposite of the desired effect, you'll see students enter other fields than risk a charge that doesn't fit the actual error.
Actually, what will probably happen is that all future forecasts will be useless, because they'll all just say some variation of, "yes it's possible, but we're not sure; take precautions." People will stop taking them seriously, and be just as unprepared.
Wait... doesn't cramming the population together make it easier and more cost effective to provide service?
Every time someone gripes about the good networks in Japan, etc. compared to here in the US, someone says, "but people are too spread out in the US."
Now it's the other way around?
The real reason is that upgrading costs money, and they have no reason to do it when they can continue to sell the same crap for more money instead. In developing areas, current generation tech is being installed. Here we're stuck with existing old stuff until it's so crotchety it HAS to be upgraded.
Well, for starters those sane laws you mention are usually just the traffic code, so those would apply equally. If a car doesn't yield when it has to then it doesn't make a difference if it was driven by a computer or a human driver.
IMO, this won't work. The car manufacturer would always end up getting sued (probably by all involved parties), and they're not going to sell self-driving cars in those circumstances. You'd have to have a separate road (no human-driven cars in the mix), with legislation in place that basically says you/your insurance is responsible for yourself, no matter what happens.
Not to mention that the biggest cost of a home theatre is good speakers, which, treated properly will last a very long time.
My "next" home theatre will probably only cost 20-30% of the current setup.
So, let's recap again:
Home theatre:
- Better sound (always in the sweet spot)
- Better, cheaper food
- Alcohol, if inclined
- No cell phones
- No lines
- No noisy neighbors
- Can pause for bathroom breaks and food refills
- More comfortable seats
- and now better picture
Cinema:
- New releases available immediately
- Can go with large group
- 3D (I already wear glasses, so this isn't necessarily an advantage)
HT costs a lot up-front, but once you have it, you'll use it a lot - especially considering it works for TV and gaming. (My setup would take about 125 cinema trips for two to break even)
Yep, I've been saying for years: Strap a combat knife to the seat-back in front of every adult passenger, and just x-ray/metal detect for guns and use dogs to try to catch explosives.
I actually usually prefer a touch screen, but there's a big catch. There can't be ANY lag. My iPhone is great - almost everything responds immediately, and I have no problems at all.
My GPS has the same type of touch screen, but it's horrible. There's a little (very very tiny bit, actually) lag, but it's enough to really throw me off.
Basically, touch screens suck when the hardware can't keep up with the interface.
The problem was the instruments of energy we chose to achieve that without a clear vision or plan in mind to maintain it.
Of course there was a clear vision. It was CLEAR that it wouldn't run out in OUR lifetime, so why should WE worry about it...
While there are already lots of comments humorously suggesting various variations of porn, it would be an interesting opportunity to "find" a lot of anti-Islamic stuff, and trumpet it far and wide.
"Not only was your leader killed, his computer was full of pornographic infidels, anti-Islamic rants, plans to turn the world against Islam, bacon recipies, etc.!!"