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  1. Re:Yay! on US Spying Costs Boeing Military Jet Deal With Brazil · · Score: 2

    huh? I design highway safety improvements (including highway design) in Alaska, and work with people who have been doing so for 30 years. I assure you that whether a road is curved or straight is based entirely on the terrain and the suitability of the ground, though there are traffic calming measures that may introduce curves to control speed.

    I also just took a look at an older design guide, and can find no mention of carpet bombing as a design consideration. Perhaps this is exclusive to a few roads around military bases?

  2. Re:Side Show and a Game Changer on Affordable 3D Metal Printer Developed Based on RepRap · · Score: 1

    This won't replace a machine shop. It uses a MIG welder as an extruder, so precise tolerances aren't what this machine is for. Hackaday featured this yesterday, and they have a picture on the front page that may have come from an academic journal.

    It might complement other equipment in a machine shop, though. It's also interesting to realize that this may work with other metals.

  3. Re:Officer's No Risk Employment Boost on EV Owner Arrested Over 5 Cents Worth of Electricity From School's Outlet · · Score: 1

    My coworker had a neighbor plugging his truck into her house . . .

    . . . handle it with a nasty note on his windshield.

    Nah. Too much effort to write a note. Just unplug it and let him discover his new trouble in the morning.

  4. Re:Cost-benefit analysis on NY Police Get Tall SUVs To Combat Texting While Driving · · Score: 1

    If an analysis was done, the assigned value of a person is about $1.4 Million. So if they can reasonably assure (often WAG, sometimes backed by data) that enhanced enforcement will save 2 or more lives, then it becomes worth the (here's a WAG) $1.5 Million spent on the project. There's a fair bit of money flowing to enforcement, prevention and mitigation of texting while driving.

  5. Re:Welcome to the disposable world. on Ask Slashdot: Best Laptops For Fans Of Pre-Retina MacBook Pro? · · Score: 1

    Our automobiles are disposable consumer oriented devices. . .

    Really? The first car that I had was a '76 El Camino. When I bought it, it had ~80,000 miles on it. By the time that it got to 150,000 miles, I had to replace:
    1. the engine;
    2. the exhaust;
    3. the transmission;
    4. two body panels to head off the rust;
    5. the power steering pump
    6. the starter (twice);
    7. the water pump (twice).

    This, of course, doesn't count normal maintenance items, nor the air conditioning that the previous owner disconnected. I had to replace plugs frequently when it started burning oil. In truth, it was a piece of shit.

    I have a 1997 Chevrolet pickup with 240,000 miles which has needed a fuel pump, water pump and a new fan control switch, aside from normal maintenance. My 1999 Subaru Legacy has 140,000 miles and has needed a power window switch, an oil seal, map light switch, power antenna (-50F is hard on them) and normal maintenance. I have a 1999 Acura that has needed a radiator and a window washer pump. Until 3 years after we married my wife had a 1992 Civic that needed new fuel injectors. (I can provide a better range of examples with the vehicles that my parents had, but this paragraph is already long, and the trend is really clear to me.)

    Cars have become less disposable, not more, and I can still find parts from the OEM for all three of the cars that my wife and I have.

    As to appliances, I replaced an 8-year old over/under washer dryer with a new stackable pair about 10 years ago, and have saved myself no end of trouble. The only repair that it's needed is a $3 latch. The washer and dryer in the other house are a 10 year old pair. The stoves in the two houses are about 10 years old and seem as though they will last some time to come. The refrigerators in both of the houses are beyond 15 years old

    I'm sure that if I checked with my parents, they would confirm that appliances tended to last 10-15 years when I was a child. It seems to me that appliances last about the same as they generally have*, and are becoming more efficient and easier to use. (Come to think about it, did anybody ever get the electro-mechanical timers on older GE stoves to work as you expected?)

    *I'm sure that a cast iron wood-fired cooking stove will outlast today's stoves, but it's MUCH harder to use until you have the knack of it.

  6. Re:Really? on Hammerhead System Offers a Better Way To Navigate While Cycling · · Score: 1

    Yes.

  7. Re:Why put the automation in if not to use it? on Airline Pilots Rely Too Much On Automation, Says Safety Panel · · Score: 1

    That should be "the third paragraph of the section of the article. . ."

  8. Re:Why put the automation in if not to use it? on Airline Pilots Rely Too Much On Automation, Says Safety Panel · · Score: 1

    Read the third paragraph of this article. It looks like it's been managed in at least a limited case. The article doesn't mention whether it's gone farther than a limited test case, though.

  9. Re:Calculator on Ask Slashdot: Cheap Second Calculators For Tests? · · Score: 1

    It works well enough. I would prefer that it has more built-in unit conversion, but beyond that it's fine. I wrote programs to do the most common unit conversions and was happy enough after that.

  10. Re: My 2 cents on Ask Slashdot: Cheap Second Calculators For Tests? · · Score: 1

    Why? Is it the PE exam that you're taking?
    The HP 33 and 35 are allowed on the exam. The 35 has the enter key in the same place as the enter key on the 48, both are programmable, but apparently the 33 has been discontinued. You can put in your own equations. As to conversions, I made a cheat sheet as I was preparing for the exam, and walked in with bound notes that included my most commonly used equations and unit conversions.

  11. Re:Calculator on Ask Slashdot: Cheap Second Calculators For Tests? · · Score: 1

    Ignore my post. I confused the two calculators. My backup calculator is the 35s, not the 33s.

  12. Re:Calculator on Ask Slashdot: Cheap Second Calculators For Tests? · · Score: 1

    I didn't have any problems navigating on the 33s. Admittedly, I only wrote two short programs for it. The advantage to the 33s is that the "enter" key is in the same position, relative to the number keys, as the "enter" key on the HP48.

  13. Re:Calculator on Ask Slashdot: Cheap Second Calculators For Tests? · · Score: 1

    um, no. It seems likely that Rich0 is taking the PE exam. They took my eraser away from me, because it wasn't on the back of the pencil that they issued. If you walk in with an HP 48, they'll take it until the end of the exam. When I sat for the exam, the proctor was a retired engineer.

  14. Re:Which company bought this 'new' rule? on EPA Makes Most Wood Stoves Illegal · · Score: 1

    This problem is acute, not chronic. It happens during specific weather events. It's probably a little more constant in some areas in the borough, but it's not like we're living next to I-405 in Los Angeles.

    The borough was starting some efforts to improve air quality, but unfortunately, an idiot convinced a majority of voters to freeze any attempt by the borough to limit the use of polluting devices. The state has begun some enforcement action, but it's been slow going.

  15. Do the antennae on the deKalbs wiggle?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo_(short_story)

  16. Re:And if you don't comply.. on Facebook and Cisco Offer Check-In Service For Free Wifi · · Score: 1

    I used to wear a nice wide-brimmed fedora. (I left it on a plane and haven't bought another.) It may be time to start wearing one again.

    .

  17. Re:water defers to fire? on Charge Your Mobile Device With Fire · · Score: 1

    The parent to your post is good. Your post, however, made me laugh out loud. Thanks.

  18. Re:Just think... on Charge Your Mobile Device With Fire · · Score: 1

    . . .from dead wood in a healthy forest. . .

    . . .or from wood in a well-managed forest. . .

  19. Re:Thermovoltaic cell... on Charge Your Mobile Device With Fire · · Score: 1

    Sunlight isn't reliable. Fire from a small stove, or a few dry twigs, or even moss can be counted on with planning, though.

  20. Re:You can charge with fire today on Charge Your Mobile Device With Fire · · Score: 1

    . . .introducing the first Kickstarter to show up after Tesla begins selling their SUV.

  21. Re:Many advantages of FlameStower over BioLite on Charge Your Mobile Device With Fire · · Score: 1

    You are spot on. I made a close guess on the weight above, and didn't make the point quite as well as you do. Where weight counts, when you're not living out of the house or the car, FlameStower is much better than BioLite. Weight is precisely why I've not already bought a BioLite.

  22. Re:Or just a battery. on Charge Your Mobile Device With Fire · · Score: 1

    oops. I just noticed that RobinEggs says that it weighs 7 oz. I still view this as a favorable weight, given that I can put it over the fire of my choice.

  23. Re:Or just a battery. on Charge Your Mobile Device With Fire · · Score: 1

    Although you're posting as AC, you make a decent point to which I would like to see a riposte.

    Have you ever climbed Denali or Everest or Chimborazo? I can bet that the folks who do today will love having longer-term charging power.

    Looking at it, I bet it weighs 4 or 5 oz. I've not attempted any of the mountains I've mentioned, but I like outdoors and live in Alaska. I've trekked for as long as three weeks and don't trust *phones nor GPS devices for trips like that, but wouldn't mind one for a backup. This, or something like it, would make a trustworthy secondary to my primary map and compass if the weight is right.

  24. Re:The real question is on Apple Maps Flaw Sends Drivers Across Airport Runway · · Score: 1

    There are 100,000 in the borough, and it also serves as a hub for the villages and towns from about 100 miles south of Fairbanks up to Barrow, and everything east and west of Fairbanks. You're absolutely right about the size of the airport, and I didn't mean that as anything but a fun fact. (Delta used to fly 757s here for passenger service, but I think that went away a long time ago.)

    As to the 737, Alaska airlines is going to drastically reduce the number of 737s flying to Fairbanks. They've decided that in-state service between Fairbanks and Anchorage should be adequately served by Bombardier QX400s instead. So, it'll look even more like a small regional airport. :-)

  25. Re:I live in Fairbanks... on Apple Maps Flaw Sends Drivers Across Airport Runway · · Score: 1

    Google provides a better picture.