Well, he did sit on the stove to brew the beer, so that's some of the energy input. The other energy input is in the starch. But I'm just wrecking the fun. Honestly, I'd prefer he just be a beer cooler, peltier powered. If he were to geek it up, he could make it a dispenser or something.
It's not new, and it's not really just luxury cars. Even Saturn uses electronic power steering. Basically, it uses an electric motor to provide the power assist, but as stated, they still have a linkage to the wheel. The idea will become more prevalent with hybrids, because an electric power steering system doesn't need the gas engine to be running in order to function.
Most jet fighters are the same way, now. All "fly by wire." In fact, some are so aerodynamically difficult to fly that you need a CPU to control it, the pilot just provides input as to the desired direction.
That's nothing new, though. I'm quite sure that long ago, the RIAA realized they were the obsolete middle man in the artists --> consumer line. But it's a big fat cash cow for them. They do the 'promoting' (payola, etc.) and the artist gets famous. Just like so many labor unions, their position may be obsolete, but because they were firmly established, they're doing everything they can to stay where they are. I certainly don't agree with it, but I can understand why they're lashing out at anything and everything in order to exert their dominance and control. The smart thing to do would be adapt to a more modern business model, but hey, that's not what lawyers do.
I can even understand why bands like Metallica supported the RIAA crackdowns. The huge cut of the $$ that the RIAA gets from record sales could be interpreted as protection money paid to the Mob. If you were forced to play that game, you'd probably some protection.
Same deal here. I have 4 TVs in my tiny condo, which I wired myself for cable. I bought myself a Philips stand-alone 60GB DVR / DVD-RW recorder / DIVX player on eBay, and I'm living large.
I don't have the room for a big fat hi-def flat screen, so for the time being, I'm standard-def only.
It annoys the hell out of me that cable companies charge for service AND extra for the ability to use that service on more than one TV. Gone are the days of people having just one TV... And don't get me started on DVR "rental" fees.
My co worker has naked digital cable. He subscribes to a newsgroup for HD movies, and downloads 'em. Doesn't even watch live TV... and he's fine with it.
I think there are just too many people who just bend over and take it from the cable company without demanding alternatives.
Well, you can't group the homeopathic people into one kind of idiot. There are those who chronically search for a solution to their problems, and will try anything. Sad, but I can't truly blame someone who is suffering to give the unproven a try. Then there are the people who simply believe their life is better with their remedies. And if countless medecine vs. placebo tests have proven one thing, a placebo is a powerful thing. If a $10 bracelet makes you feel better, does it matter whether or not it's the bracelet or your brain?
The difference with audiophiles is that there's always new things to buy for thousands of dollars.
Seems like finally a newer reason to upgrade my hardware. I've never bothered with Vista, and I'm not big into gaming, so my P4/2.2GHz rig has been more than adequate for (surprisingly) over 5 years. Haven't needed a high end graphics card for a while, and only upgraded that for DVI output 3 yrs ago. When I built the thing in '02, I figured I'd get 3 yrs tops before it became a file server.
But it doesn't have a PCIe slot. Something like this would finally give me a reason to build an all new PC. Anyone else in a similar boat?
In case you don't want to do the rough math, the Earth is a little less than 25,000 miles around at the equator. So you'd have to go about 1040 MPH to maintain your position with the sun. Less if you're away from the equator, but still way faster than solar craft are flying now.
I think most of us here are smart enough to find something else to do besides paying attention to the ads... the issue is that you're paying for a service that is then forcing commercials on you.. again.
Cable TV was once ad-free, which was a big lure in the first place to get people to pay for TV that was OTA and free.
Actually, I spend a lot of time in Mohegan Sun casino, one of the 2 large Indian casinos in Connecticut. I frequent the bars there... but I don't gamble. However, it's taken a LONG time to get used to the layout of the place.
Safety isn't bad, as there are exit signs everywhere for the emergency exits. The issue is finding the one you came in from, which makes it harder to go home. But if there was a fire, you'd just head out the nearest marked emergency exit door and find yourself outside, without a clue to what side of the building you're on.
That's still not a valid excuse. It's one that amazes me... environmentalists are driving the push for CF bulb switchover, yet nobody is co-driving the effort to make sure the mercury doesn't make it into the environment. Coal is a big emitter of mercury, but that doesn't mean you should ignore the mercury in the bulbs, especially for those of us who get nuclear power in the US.
One of the best ways to imrpove the environment is to make sure your solution isn't making other problems worse.
Of course, you could have an all-woman submarine crew. As an engineer at Electric Boat, we've joked about this before... especially given that women that live with one another tend to synchronize cycles.
So for one week a month, that boat would be the most dangerous thing in the water.
Oh, it definitely makes a difference. For me, not a good one either. I've had IBS for a while now (something a 26 yr old really shouldn't have.) I eat Columbo yogurts, mostly 'cause I like 'em and they're good protein/calcium and easy on my stomach.
I tried Activia for a week instead of the Columbo, and all I could think of were the commercials for "foaming pipe snake" drain cleaner/clog remover. Because there was some definite foaming and snake like action coming from my rear end for 3 days afterwords.
I'm not going to eat it again, unless the Fleet enema is the only other alternative.
Every cell phone is like that. I work for a gov't contractor (submarines) and I cannot have a camera on the premises, like tens of thousands of other engineers in this country. Yet, cameras and extra features seem to define a "high end" cell phone, not good quality or performance. It's what's there, and it's what sells.
Slashdotters look at specs, but the general public does not. They just want the latest and greatest, even if they don't really understand why.
Apple is just better at it... they have the lock on the "it" gadget. iPods are fashion statements and status symbols, not just media players.
If Apple respected gadget geeks, the iPod wouldn't require iTunes (or any software) to use, it'd have an AM/FM radio built in, and it'd be 2/3 the price.
Apple's just leading the latest trend that cell phone companies started... the gadget is the flashy lure, but it's the service contract and pay-per-use that's the moneymaker for the company.
Maybe I'm old (26) but I like my gadgets with no strings attached. And it should do what I want, not what the company who sold it to me wants.
I'm not a woman, but the flicker is the worst thing about CFL bulbs. It's quite bothersome. I have 2 in my house, but I put them in places like the hallway. They're places I don't spend much time in, but due to the frequency of travel and lack of switches from every doorway in the hall, I tend to leave it on when I'm home at night. I couldn't read comfortably with a CFL, as I'm sensitive to the flicker. Plus, the CFL tends to take a minute to reach full brightness, which is annoying for a room where you turn it off and on frequently.
But the secondary issue is that they're just not that bright, and they're just not pleasant.
What I've done in recent years is spent a little more money on halogen bulbs that screw into normal light sockets (not the small specialty halogen lights). I'm talking the Philips Halogena or the GE Edison bulbs. They're more efficient (more lumens/wattage) and longer lasting than standard light bulbs. They're worth it if CFLs don't suit your needs. And I've yet to have one burn out on me. They're not the cheapest, but sometimes you find multi-packs on sale for very good prices. I dunno if they save a significant amount of money in the end, but they're BRIGHT and they're hassle and flicker free.
Many parts of the world are still rising slowly after being uncovered by ice after the Wisconsonian glaciation. I live in Connecticut, just north of where the glaciers stalled for a while until some 15,000 years ago. The terminal moraine created the forks of Long Island, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Fisher's Island, and Block Island. Long Island Sound was actually a bowl below sea level, which became a freshwater lake when the glacier meltwater filled it up. At some point, though, the melting glaciers around the world raised the sea levels enough to cause catastrophic flooding, creating Long Island Sound as we know it today.
Better evidence, at least for those of us more familiar with the US, is in Maine, where the 'drowned coastline' that formed when sea levels rose is actually rising up from the sea from the the release of pressure of the previous glaciers.
I too had one of those 160 in one kits. It had blue sides on it, and the snap springs that you used to attach wires to. But I cut to the chase when I was 9, and asked for a digital multimeter. From then I built my own stuff... I ended up being a MechE, but I still like working on electronics.
You're leaving out the middle man. Most mobile phones in America, at least, are sold through the service provider. The provider has NO incentive to sell you a phone that will last more than the max 2 yr service contract. Motorola/Nokia/Ericsson and the others could easily make a better phone, but their main outlet is through retailers that have no interest in selling said phones.
You also have to consider the fact that a cell phone is a gadget for non-gadget people. You can easily sell a POS gadget to someone who doesn't know or isn't interested in the details. The rest of us just don't have a choice.
I figured I'd chime in... it bears noting that aviation fuel is still leaded, unlike roadgoing vehicle fuel. There are 2 main aspects to using fossil fuels: emissions and the economics of waste & dependency. In the case of aviation, the emissions per gallon burned, regardless of how economically it's used, can be a lot worse than those burned by a road vehicle. Newer cars and catalytic converters really do an excellent job on the emissions front. Aviation emissions have really only been reduced as a by-product of engineering efforts to improve combustion efficiency of the engines. They still lack anything to clean up their fully leaded exhaust.
Slashdot Mirror
how much money can the RIAA be held accountable for?
Just ever so slightly more than the lawyers will charge for their services...
Well, he did sit on the stove to brew the beer, so that's some of the energy input. The other energy input is in the starch. But I'm just wrecking the fun. Honestly, I'd prefer he just be a beer cooler, peltier powered. If he were to geek it up, he could make it a dispenser or something.
because this is Slashdot! Did you really expect a "Vista is GREAT" article? Not that they exist.
It's not new, and it's not really just luxury cars. Even Saturn uses electronic power steering. Basically, it uses an electric motor to provide the power assist, but as stated, they still have a linkage to the wheel. The idea will become more prevalent with hybrids, because an electric power steering system doesn't need the gas engine to be running in order to function.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_steering#Electric_systems
Most jet fighters are the same way, now. All "fly by wire." In fact, some are so aerodynamically difficult to fly that you need a CPU to control it, the pilot just provides input as to the desired direction.
That's nothing new, though. I'm quite sure that long ago, the RIAA realized they were the obsolete middle man in the artists --> consumer line. But it's a big fat cash cow for them. They do the 'promoting' (payola, etc.) and the artist gets famous. Just like so many labor unions, their position may be obsolete, but because they were firmly established, they're doing everything they can to stay where they are. I certainly don't agree with it, but I can understand why they're lashing out at anything and everything in order to exert their dominance and control. The smart thing to do would be adapt to a more modern business model, but hey, that's not what lawyers do.
I can even understand why bands like Metallica supported the RIAA crackdowns. The huge cut of the $$ that the RIAA gets from record sales could be interpreted as protection money paid to the Mob. If you were forced to play that game, you'd probably some protection.
Diamonds should rank #1 on that list...
Same deal here. I have 4 TVs in my tiny condo, which I wired myself for cable. I bought myself a Philips stand-alone 60GB DVR / DVD-RW recorder / DIVX player on eBay, and I'm living large.
I don't have the room for a big fat hi-def flat screen, so for the time being, I'm standard-def only.
It annoys the hell out of me that cable companies charge for service AND extra for the ability to use that service on more than one TV. Gone are the days of people having just one TV... And don't get me started on DVR "rental" fees.
My co worker has naked digital cable. He subscribes to a newsgroup for HD movies, and downloads 'em. Doesn't even watch live TV... and he's fine with it.
I think there are just too many people who just bend over and take it from the cable company without demanding alternatives.
Well, either that, or nuclear winter.
Well, you can't group the homeopathic people into one kind of idiot. There are those who chronically search for a solution to their problems, and will try anything. Sad, but I can't truly blame someone who is suffering to give the unproven a try. Then there are the people who simply believe their life is better with their remedies. And if countless medecine vs. placebo tests have proven one thing, a placebo is a powerful thing. If a $10 bracelet makes you feel better, does it matter whether or not it's the bracelet or your brain?
The difference with audiophiles is that there's always new things to buy for thousands of dollars.
Seems like finally a newer reason to upgrade my hardware. I've never bothered with Vista, and I'm not big into gaming, so my P4/2.2GHz rig has been more than adequate for (surprisingly) over 5 years. Haven't needed a high end graphics card for a while, and only upgraded that for DVI output 3 yrs ago. When I built the thing in '02, I figured I'd get 3 yrs tops before it became a file server.
But it doesn't have a PCIe slot. Something like this would finally give me a reason to build an all new PC. Anyone else in a similar boat?
In case you don't want to do the rough math, the Earth is a little less than 25,000 miles around at the equator. So you'd have to go about 1040 MPH to maintain your position with the sun. Less if you're away from the equator, but still way faster than solar craft are flying now.
Seems like that photo caption isn't the best place to make that kind of typo!
I think most of us here are smart enough to find something else to do besides paying attention to the ads... the issue is that you're paying for a service that is then forcing commercials on you.. again.
Cable TV was once ad-free, which was a big lure in the first place to get people to pay for TV that was OTA and free.
HBO used to not have commercials.
And satellite radio has no commercials...for now.
It's really the principle of the thing.
Actually, I spend a lot of time in Mohegan Sun casino, one of the 2 large Indian casinos in Connecticut. I frequent the bars there... but I don't gamble. However, it's taken a LONG time to get used to the layout of the place.
Safety isn't bad, as there are exit signs everywhere for the emergency exits. The issue is finding the one you came in from, which makes it harder to go home. But if there was a fire, you'd just head out the nearest marked emergency exit door and find yourself outside, without a clue to what side of the building you're on.
That's still not a valid excuse. It's one that amazes me... environmentalists are driving the push for CF bulb switchover, yet nobody is co-driving the effort to make sure the mercury doesn't make it into the environment. Coal is a big emitter of mercury, but that doesn't mean you should ignore the mercury in the bulbs, especially for those of us who get nuclear power in the US.
One of the best ways to imrpove the environment is to make sure your solution isn't making other problems worse.
Of course, you could have an all-woman submarine crew. As an engineer at Electric Boat, we've joked about this before... especially given that women that live with one another tend to synchronize cycles.
So for one week a month, that boat would be the most dangerous thing in the water.
Oh, it definitely makes a difference. For me, not a good one either. I've had IBS for a while now (something a 26 yr old really shouldn't have.) I eat Columbo yogurts, mostly 'cause I like 'em and they're good protein/calcium and easy on my stomach.
I tried Activia for a week instead of the Columbo, and all I could think of were the commercials for "foaming pipe snake" drain cleaner/clog remover. Because there was some definite foaming and snake like action coming from my rear end for 3 days afterwords.
I'm not going to eat it again, unless the Fleet enema is the only other alternative.
Every cell phone is like that. I work for a gov't contractor (submarines) and I cannot have a camera on the premises, like tens of thousands of other engineers in this country. Yet, cameras and extra features seem to define a "high end" cell phone, not good quality or performance. It's what's there, and it's what sells.
Slashdotters look at specs, but the general public does not. They just want the latest and greatest, even if they don't really understand why.
Apple is just better at it... they have the lock on the "it" gadget. iPods are fashion statements and status symbols, not just media players.
If Apple respected gadget geeks, the iPod wouldn't require iTunes (or any software) to use, it'd have an AM/FM radio built in, and it'd be 2/3 the price.
Apple's just leading the latest trend that cell phone companies started... the gadget is the flashy lure, but it's the service contract and pay-per-use that's the moneymaker for the company.
Maybe I'm old (26) but I like my gadgets with no strings attached. And it should do what I want, not what the company who sold it to me wants.
I'm not a woman, but the flicker is the worst thing about CFL bulbs. It's quite bothersome. I have 2 in my house, but I put them in places like the hallway. They're places I don't spend much time in, but due to the frequency of travel and lack of switches from every doorway in the hall, I tend to leave it on when I'm home at night.
I couldn't read comfortably with a CFL, as I'm sensitive to the flicker. Plus, the CFL tends to take a minute to reach full brightness, which is annoying for a room where you turn it off and on frequently.
But the secondary issue is that they're just not that bright, and they're just not pleasant.
What I've done in recent years is spent a little more money on halogen bulbs that screw into normal light sockets (not the small specialty halogen lights). I'm talking the Philips Halogena or the GE Edison bulbs. They're more efficient (more lumens/wattage) and longer lasting than standard light bulbs. They're worth it if CFLs don't suit your needs. And I've yet to have one burn out on me. They're not the cheapest, but sometimes you find multi-packs on sale for very good prices. I dunno if they save a significant amount of money in the end, but they're BRIGHT and they're hassle and flicker free.
Many parts of the world are still rising slowly after being uncovered by ice after the Wisconsonian glaciation. I live in Connecticut, just north of where the glaciers stalled for a while until some 15,000 years ago. The terminal moraine created the forks of Long Island, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Fisher's Island, and Block Island.
Long Island Sound was actually a bowl below sea level, which became a freshwater lake when the glacier meltwater filled it up. At some point, though, the melting glaciers around the world raised the sea levels enough to cause catastrophic flooding, creating Long Island Sound as we know it today.
Better evidence, at least for those of us more familiar with the US, is in Maine, where the 'drowned coastline' that formed when sea levels rose is actually rising up from the sea from the the release of pressure of the previous glaciers.
I too had one of those 160 in one kits. It had blue sides on it, and the snap springs that you used to attach wires to. But I cut to the chase when I was 9, and asked for a digital multimeter. From then I built my own stuff...
I ended up being a MechE, but I still like working on electronics.
I was going to say "The waiting line for the PS3" but yours was better.
But I am engaged, so you can all laugh at me.
You're leaving out the middle man. Most mobile phones in America, at least, are sold through the service provider. The provider has NO incentive to sell you a phone that will last more than the max 2 yr service contract. Motorola/Nokia/Ericsson and the others could easily make a better phone, but their main outlet is through retailers that have no interest in selling said phones.
You also have to consider the fact that a cell phone is a gadget for non-gadget people. You can easily sell a POS gadget to someone who doesn't know or isn't interested in the details. The rest of us just don't have a choice.
I figured I'd chime in... it bears noting that aviation fuel is still leaded, unlike roadgoing vehicle fuel. There are 2 main aspects to using fossil fuels: emissions and the economics of waste & dependency. In the case of aviation, the emissions per gallon burned, regardless of how economically it's used, can be a lot worse than those burned by a road vehicle. Newer cars and catalytic converters really do an excellent job on the emissions front. Aviation emissions have really only been reduced as a by-product of engineering efforts to improve combustion efficiency of the engines. They still lack anything to clean up their fully leaded exhaust.