I was flodded out of my apartment after our landlord refused to clear the drains that I complained about the week before (I saw them flooding). Only later when I came back with my lawyer did I notice that some of the drains were actually false drains (just a 2 foot cement box with no pipes leading from it) and the maintenance guy was shovelling the rocks and mud back into the drain (I'm certain that will help the low flow that they had going on before).
I came back to an apartment w/o carpets, waterlines on the walls, a few fans and a dehumidifer, and this lovely quote from the landlord:
1. Your rent for this month is late. 2. We don't have any other apartments available, but you can still change in this one. 3. You still have 3 months left on your lease.
I now have the image of some LOLcat opening the flap to the VCR and projectile vomitting into the bay. That image will keep me going the rest of the day.
While working with some satellite equipment, I worked on a dish assembly that had a misaligned gasket. Rain being the beast it is, the moisture that got into the feedhorn screwed up the transmission something terrible.
We removed the gasket, went crazy with the alcohol and baked the feedhorn in an oven at low temperatures for 3 hours.
Technically, it wasn't electronics, but it did work like a charm.
You may not have broken anything at 100C, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that exposure to temperatures that high will decrease the life of that component.
We have conducted tests that were designed to break 'heavy-duty' electronics. We only brought the oven temperature up to 85C in order to stress the components. If possible, I would avoid any temperature above 40C if you are concerned about the longevity of your components.
(BTW, it looks like you were thinking of 100F not 100C. 100C will boil water, and I doubt that you were running components at that temperature for any length of time. )
I know you were trying to be funny, but some dryers do have a removable shoe rack that doesn't rotate. Electronics could be placed on that while the dryer blows the hot air around.
I purchased an Alienware laptop for my wife a few years back. Though she doesn't play games, she insisted on a laptop that could do it. (works out well for me, since now I don't have to lug my laptop around if I want to play a game).
The Alienware had a beautiful screen, and enough horsepower to play the latest games at near maximum resolution. I was happy with it. It also cost less than $2000 brand new, which I considerd a fair price for the specs of the machine. It was faster, and had a larger screen than my Dell Inspiron 8600 (Which is still alive after 4 years of beating the hellout of it.) However, it did have a video card failure. Thankfully it was swappable, which was one of the reasons I went with alienware. Less than $200 to repair and it was back up and running. My Dell hasn't yet had a failure.
The point is, for a laptop to last for over 2 years and only suffer a video-card failure, I'd consider $1700 a good price.
Unfortunately, the PC gaming industry seems to be designing itself for failure. In a time when companies are taking losses on hardware to increase their userbase (consoles) the PC gaming industry seems to be going to extra efforts to actually limit the growth of their market.
What has been the single most revolutionary improvement to console gaming? Multiplayer. The console industry has realized this and games that only offer single player are so rare that when something lacks multiplayer it can be seen as a black mark by critics. We are a social species, and gaming originated as a social activity. It is only for a brief period when transitioning into the electronic world that gaming became a single player activity. Improvements in hardware and data connections are bringing gaming back into the 'coffee table' world of board and card games.
Back to my topic. When you brought over your copy of monopoly, it was a game that was designed, and infact required, multiple players. Yet it is rare that you come across any PC game that isn't designed in such a way that you are expected to pay an additional fee to enjoy it with your friends. It may be a throwback to the per-chair licensing that is still utilized by many software producers, but it is detrimental to the growth of the PC gaming industry. It is an intentional speedbump that is thrown in the path of growth. If the PC gaming industry wants to continue with the concept of DRM, then they have to do so in a manner that allows people to socialize with the friends the know in the real world. Online 'lobbies' and forums don't completely fill that gap.
While intelligent and technologically advanced life isn't exactly uncommon, we aren't so lucky as to have a neighbor as close as 4.2 light years, and the closest is really more like 2,000 light years away, and just happens to be on the other side of a radio-wave inhibiting nebula.
The fact that we are still discovering objects of that size in our own system should indicate that it is probably very hard to do so for even our nearest stellar neighbor. In otherwords, if they found a planet within 10 ly of Sol, I wouldn't be surprised that we didn't see it before.
Any civilization advanced enough to build dyson spheres would look pretty magical to me. For all we know, the stuff it takes to make dyson spheres could appear as dark matter to an outside observer.
Simply put, anything with sufficient strength to withstand the entire output of a star is pretty much magic based on my understanding of technology.
Of course, that will never happen, because we're far too fascinated with keyboard bling. After all, feature-creep isn't a problem, it's a lifestyle, right?
This was a known phenomenon even with some of the earliest keyboards. There are many ways to observe what is going on at a distance that aren't just related to emission strength.
It is all about learning the profile of a given device. Once you know the profile, it is only a matter of time before its contrasting behavior with the ambient conditions gives you a good idea what it is doing.
Setup a microphone (directional is preferred) and direct it at the keyboard you would like to monitor. Record the sound of the person typing their password a few times. Then send them an email and a response request. Record that sound and use it to determine the sound of each key. Because of wear, finger position, and angle of attack, each keypress sounds a little different than the rest.
Now, thanks to the email responses, you have a sample of what the keys should sound like.
Of course, a simple video camera is often much easier.
It won't fall apart because it "can't" be allowed to fall apart. Granted I would love to see it fixed, but I doubt that will happen. Your elected leaders will explain how more funding is necessary because what they have going now just isn't working. So throw more money at it till it does work, or until no more terrorists are flying because no one is flying.
Nope. This is not the Empire of the USA. I suggest you read the sign prominently posted in your nearest US Embassy in the US citizens section explaining that you are no longer in the United States and what that means in legal terms.
Given that the rights enumerated in the US Constitution are viewed to be natural rights that are yours by simple virtue of you being born a human being. Nationality has nothing to do with it.
What if you are like me, and only keeps a phone underneath the seat of their car in case of accidents or breaking down. I check it every now and then, but thats at best a weekly affair. Looks like I'm set to be a terrorist.
No, sorry I don't want to be required to report activity to the government or risk being considered an accomplice.
Whenever you consider granting someone a power, such as the power that was granted by this law, you have to evaluate it not on what you intend it to do, but by the consequences which would result if it were abused.
It goes to show that those that voted for this measure, did not fully understand the consequences of their actions.
(This is a followup, but if you wanted to make it harder for them, simply don't use the term 'unfairly' when you ask the question)
The universe is supposedly expanding, not collapsing.
What if you view it from the perspective of how objects would appear to have a redshift, if they were all accelerating toward a central point.
Take a massive gravitational force: A Objects B, C, and D are arranged in a line extending from Object A. A to B is the same distance from B to C. Initially all points are at rest.
If A were something massive, B, C, and D would all appear to have a redshift relative to each other. Although they are all accelerating toward A, because the distance between A and B is less than the distance between A and C and A and D, the acceleration due to gravity would look like this: B>C>D. Thus B would appear to be acclerating away from C and D from the perspective of C and D. Likewise, C and D would appear to be accelerating away from B from the perspective of B (Even though B,C,and D would all be getting closer from the perspective of A).
That isn't intended to be anywhere near a scientific description of what it would 'look' like inside a black hole, but it is a fun little perspective brain teaser. (If I typed it correctly. It is much easier with a whiteboard)
Thanks a lot... Before I was peacefully ignorant...
As long as you don't learn what you do not know about something "abnormal, non-Euclidean, and loathsomely redolent of spheres and dimensions apart from ours" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu, perhaps we may all remain peacefully ignorant.:)
at 23, you are considered an "old man" in basic training even today
When I started at the Air Force Academy, one of the guys in my flight was 22. He was older than most of the Cadre (and since he already was previously enlisted, they knew to keep a lot of the BS away from him).
We called him "Old Man Wharton" (Name changed to protect the innocent).
I just wanted to say that you were right on the mark. At age 17,18 and fresh out of HS, someone 23 would appear to be ancient.
You must not be up on your lingo sir. I beleive as of 2007 the correct spelling is fanboi.
I did have to supress the urge to use that spelling. However, I like to post comments which could also be read aloud without sounding like it came from the internet. Fanboy cuts it close, but I do love the sound of the good old fashioned, fanatic.
Slashdot Mirror
I was flodded out of my apartment after our landlord refused to clear the drains that I complained about the week before (I saw them flooding). Only later when I came back with my lawyer did I notice that some of the drains were actually false drains (just a 2 foot cement box with no pipes leading from it) and the maintenance guy was shovelling the rocks and mud back into the drain (I'm certain that will help the low flow that they had going on before).
I came back to an apartment w/o carpets, waterlines on the walls, a few fans and a dehumidifer, and this lovely quote from the landlord:
1. Your rent for this month is late.
2. We don't have any other apartments available, but you can still change in this one.
3. You still have 3 months left on your lease.
So yea, I immediately lawyered up.
I knew cats could carry a grudge, but wow.
I now have the image of some LOLcat opening the flap to the VCR and projectile vomitting into the bay. That image will keep me going the rest of the day.
While working with some satellite equipment, I worked on a dish assembly that had a misaligned gasket. Rain being the beast it is, the moisture that got into the feedhorn screwed up the transmission something terrible.
We removed the gasket, went crazy with the alcohol and baked the feedhorn in an oven at low temperatures for 3 hours.
Technically, it wasn't electronics, but it did work like a charm.
You may not have broken anything at 100C, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that exposure to temperatures that high will decrease the life of that component.
We have conducted tests that were designed to break 'heavy-duty' electronics. We only brought the oven temperature up to 85C in order to stress the components. If possible, I would avoid any temperature above 40C if you are concerned about the longevity of your components.
(BTW, it looks like you were thinking of 100F not 100C. 100C will boil water, and I doubt that you were running components at that temperature for any length of time. )
I know you were trying to be funny, but some dryers do have a removable shoe rack that doesn't rotate. Electronics could be placed on that while the dryer blows the hot air around.
I purchased an Alienware laptop for my wife a few years back. Though she doesn't play games, she insisted on a laptop that could do it. (works out well for me, since now I don't have to lug my laptop around if I want to play a game).
The Alienware had a beautiful screen, and enough horsepower to play the latest games at near maximum resolution. I was happy with it. It also cost less than $2000 brand new, which I considerd a fair price for the specs of the machine. It was faster, and had a larger screen than my Dell Inspiron 8600 (Which is still alive after 4 years of beating the hellout of it.) However, it did have a video card failure. Thankfully it was swappable, which was one of the reasons I went with alienware. Less than $200 to repair and it was back up and running. My Dell hasn't yet had a failure.
The point is, for a laptop to last for over 2 years and only suffer a video-card failure, I'd consider $1700 a good price.
Unfortunately, the PC gaming industry seems to be designing itself for failure. In a time when companies are taking losses on hardware to increase their userbase (consoles) the PC gaming industry seems to be going to extra efforts to actually limit the growth of their market.
What has been the single most revolutionary improvement to console gaming? Multiplayer. The console industry has realized this and games that only offer single player are so rare that when something lacks multiplayer it can be seen as a black mark by critics. We are a social species, and gaming originated as a social activity. It is only for a brief period when transitioning into the electronic world that gaming became a single player activity. Improvements in hardware and data connections are bringing gaming back into the 'coffee table' world of board and card games.
Back to my topic. When you brought over your copy of monopoly, it was a game that was designed, and infact required, multiple players. Yet it is rare that you come across any PC game that isn't designed in such a way that you are expected to pay an additional fee to enjoy it with your friends. It may be a throwback to the per-chair licensing that is still utilized by many software producers, but it is detrimental to the growth of the PC gaming industry. It is an intentional speedbump that is thrown in the path of growth. If the PC gaming industry wants to continue with the concept of DRM, then they have to do so in a manner that allows people to socialize with the friends the know in the real world. Online 'lobbies' and forums don't completely fill that gap.
Or check the post-it note under the keyboard.
Highly advanced society? I'm a Scotsman living in London and every day I see evidence to the contrary. :)
Then why are you living in London, rather than Scotland?
While intelligent and technologically advanced life isn't exactly uncommon, we aren't so lucky as to have a neighbor as close as 4.2 light years, and the closest is really more like 2,000 light years away, and just happens to be on the other side of a radio-wave inhibiting nebula.
You don't know that.
We are still discovering near-planet sized objects in our own solar system as recently as 2003. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90377_Sedna
The fact that we are still discovering objects of that size in our own system should indicate that it is probably very hard to do so for even our nearest stellar neighbor. In otherwords, if they found a planet within 10 ly of Sol, I wouldn't be surprised that we didn't see it before.
Any civilization advanced enough to build dyson spheres would look pretty magical to me. For all we know, the stuff it takes to make dyson spheres could appear as dark matter to an outside observer.
Simply put, anything with sufficient strength to withstand the entire output of a star is pretty much magic based on my understanding of technology.
Of course, that will never happen, because we're far too fascinated with keyboard bling. After all, feature-creep isn't a problem, it's a lifestyle, right?
This was a known phenomenon even with some of the earliest keyboards. There are many ways to observe what is going on at a distance that aren't just related to emission strength.
It is all about learning the profile of a given device. Once you know the profile, it is only a matter of time before its contrasting behavior with the ambient conditions gives you a good idea what it is doing.
I use a 50" screen as my primary display for my computer. I didn't have room for a desk so it became an all-in-one entertainment/computing center.
In short:
My electric bill sucks.
I like this method:
Setup a microphone (directional is preferred) and direct it at the keyboard you would like to monitor. Record the sound of the person typing their password a few times. Then send them an email and a response request. Record that sound and use it to determine the sound of each key. Because of wear, finger position, and angle of attack, each keypress sounds a little different than the rest.
Now, thanks to the email responses, you have a sample of what the keys should sound like.
Of course, a simple video camera is often much easier.
It won't fall apart because it "can't" be allowed to fall apart. Granted I would love to see it fixed, but I doubt that will happen. Your elected leaders will explain how more funding is necessary because what they have going now just isn't working. So throw more money at it till it does work, or until no more terrorists are flying because no one is flying.
Either or.
But falling apart? That's just wishful thinking.
Nope. This is not the Empire of the USA. I suggest you read the sign prominently posted in your nearest US Embassy in the US citizens section explaining that you are no longer in the United States and what that means in legal terms.
Given that the rights enumerated in the US Constitution are viewed to be natural rights that are yours by simple virtue of you being born a human being. Nationality has nothing to do with it.
What if you are like me, and only keeps a phone underneath the seat of their car in case of accidents or breaking down. I check it every now and then, but thats at best a weekly affair. Looks like I'm set to be a terrorist.
No, sorry I don't want to be required to report activity to the government or risk being considered an accomplice.
Okay, err, not to be ignorant here, but where did the other black holes GO? How do they "die?"
A quick look at the wikipedia article before my boss yelled at me to get back to work was not very enlightening.
Black holes 'evaporate' through Hawking radiation.
Followup:
Whenever you consider granting someone a power, such as the power that was granted by this law, you have to evaluate it not on what you intend it to do, but by the consequences which would result if it were abused.
It goes to show that those that voted for this measure, did not fully understand the consequences of their actions.
(This is a followup, but if you wanted to make it harder for them, simply don't use the term 'unfairly' when you ask the question)
Err, you actually think someone is looking for bin laden?
Yes. If you think otherwise, then you really need to loosen the tinfoil.
The universe is supposedly expanding, not collapsing.
What if you view it from the perspective of how objects would appear to have a redshift, if they were all accelerating toward a central point.
Take a massive gravitational force: A
Objects B, C, and D are arranged in a line extending from Object A. A to B is the same distance from B to C. Initially all points are at rest.
If A were something massive, B, C, and D would all appear to have a redshift relative to each other. Although they are all accelerating toward A, because the distance between A and B is less than the distance between A and C and A and D, the acceleration due to gravity would look like this: B>C>D. Thus B would appear to be acclerating away from C and D from the perspective of C and D. Likewise, C and D would appear to be accelerating away from B from the perspective of B (Even though B,C,and D would all be getting closer from the perspective of A).
That isn't intended to be anywhere near a scientific description of what it would 'look' like inside a black hole, but it is a fun little perspective brain teaser. (If I typed it correctly. It is much easier with a whiteboard)
Thanks a lot... Before I was peacefully ignorant...
As long as you don't learn what you do not know about something "abnormal, non-Euclidean, and loathsomely redolent of spheres and dimensions apart from ours" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu, perhaps we may all remain peacefully ignorant. :)
I don't think that discovering early black holes is all that surprising given that concentrations of matter were much greater early on.
What I want to know, is how did the universe expand beyond its own swartzchild radius?
at 23, you are considered an "old man" in basic training even today
When I started at the Air Force Academy, one of the guys in my flight was 22. He was older than most of the Cadre (and since he already was previously enlisted, they knew to keep a lot of the BS away from him).
We called him "Old Man Wharton" (Name changed to protect the innocent).
I just wanted to say that you were right on the mark. At age 17,18 and fresh out of HS, someone 23 would appear to be ancient.
You must not be up on your lingo sir. I beleive as of 2007 the correct spelling is fanboi.
I did have to supress the urge to use that spelling. However, I like to post comments which could also be read aloud without sounding like it came from the internet. Fanboy cuts it close, but I do love the sound of the good old fashioned, fanatic.