Well, with the new Wii MotionPlus, this might make things even easier for a potential Wii RTS. Of course, the real questions are who will make it and who will buy it.
Fair enough. However, a mix between the two could work. I mean, some people need the carrot, others need the stick. As for carpool lanes, I agree. Except, instead of getting rid of them, make them bus only lanes. We have them in Ottawa, and they make commuting to and from downtown a much more pleasant task during rush hour, especially since we have the 417 (100 km/h high way) running straight through Ottawa.
While I agree that bus fare should be closer to cost, there are good arguments for publicly funded public transit. The big one being that public transit puts less stress on the roads, meaning a lower time and annoyance cost regarding traffic congestion. So by making the public pay, public becomes more attractive, and everyone benefits, not just the riders. It's the same reason why carpool lanes exist.
Fair enough. But, if you work on the public transit infrastructure first, get it up and running, and then start these fees, then it's workable. I'm not suggesting that this all be done at once. Phase it in, one piece at a time. You'll have a hard time finding people who are opposed to better public transit, except on the issue of cost.
Good point. But, you also have to consider that, instead of building new power plants every time we get a newer and better way to generate electricity (which will happen anyways), you have to modify factories to build the new engine, modify all the fuel stations to accommodate the new fuel, and then wait for the cars to get out on the road. Note that California's own air resources board notes that it takes 16 years for 50% of the passenger cars produced in that year to be off the road. That jumps up to 18 years for light duty trucks. Unless we find a catalyst for carbon fixing in a cheap and usable form, I think that electric is probably the better way to go.
I agree. Public transit, in its current form, sucks. Which is why I want to improve it. Make it so that transit is cheap, reliable, fast, and most importantly, popular. When everyone's using public transit, your odds of hitting the winos drop, as they've been diluted by all the ex-drivers. And for what it's worth, I've only had a few creepy transit experiences, and those are usually over fast enough.
Of course, the real solution is to get urban centers off of a car based infrastructure
I understand that cars are a necessary evil. I just want them to be less necessary and less evil. Starting with big cities, and moving to suburban areas. Obviously, a farmer is going to need a good truck, but there's no reason that urbanites should require a car 50 years down the road if we make the right decisions now.
Park and rides aren't epic failures in Kanata, Ontario (a west-end suburb of Ottawa). That probably has to do with the expense and effort of parking in downtown Ottawa.
You do raise a good point. I wonder who the majority of people driving downtown are: people who live downtown, or those who don't?
I still think that people would adjust pretty fast if it became much more expensive to drive and park in the downtown core of a city (say by automated toll roads). At some point, convenience becomes too expensive. And don't forget, just because the current bus system sucks doesn't mean the next won't. Not to mention my idea of a taxi-esque system.
My idea of a taxi-esque system is something like this. You call up the taxi company (which is paid for partially by taxes, since it's a public service, and partially by a simple fee, maybe twice the amount it would cost to bus there), and you accept that you'll probably be sharing it with people who are on the way. Or, if we can get even better infrastructure in place, some sort of computer guided taxi system, with emergency controls built in. Of course, if you have to take control of the taxi, there will be follow up, like if you call 911.
While you are correct, I must ask you something. Do you think it's easier to build new power plants that will supply the electric grid, or do you think it's easier to replace every car on the road with one that will support our new favourite energy supply?
You missed the key point of my post. I said for urban centers. I was aiming for a system like that for just intracity travel. For intercity, some suburban, and rural transportation, cars are obviously the best option. I just thought that getting people in cities to be less dependent on them (while in the city, when they want to leave, go for it) would save huge amounts of money. I've heard an apocryphal story that New York City has more cars than parking spots.
To summarize:
If you live in a city, such as Ottawa, Toronto, New York, Buffalo, etc... - take a bus, take a subway, take a taxi-like system.
If you live near a city, such as a suburb - have park-and-rides to get into the city, make it cost money to get into the city, or have the taxi-like system come out to get you.
If you live in a rural area - keep your car.
My point is not to get rid of cars, I understand that. My point is to give people better alternatives for urban transportation.
You sir, are the exception rather than the rule. A lot of people in my area claim to care, but as soon as it hits their wallet, they go right back to their old ways. Me? I'm too poor to do too much driving, so I walk and take the bus. But that's only because I value other things above my time. Others see time as their only asset - probably because they're overworked and overstressed - but I'd rather relax, hop on a bus, and read.
Not likely, as you still need gas for plenty of other things. Will it drop? Maybe. Just hope it doesn't drop too low, otherwise the whole point of the alternatively fueled cars will be seen as a moot point by most people.
Only if the technologies aren't locked up and hidden away by patents. The fact is, we either need a better infrastructure (so electric cars are possible), or a reasonable and standard selection of fuels. If the average consumer has to think too hard about which fuel his car uses, he won't be getting that car. Of course, the real solution is to get urban centers off of a car based infrastructure, and go to a different system, such as good subway or bus system, coupled with a public taxi type system, as in Hominids, by Robert J. Sawyer.
You're close. The blackbody radiation is often the signal that's getting drowned out by all the noise. For example, we have to cool our bolometers down to 300 mK to get any meaningful data. And that's just for testing. When the detector finally gets launched, it's going to have a huge tank of liquid Helium-3 to keep it cold (via a complicated pump system).
You had clay? We scratched the count in diamond using nothing but our fingernails. And thanked our parents for the bloody stumps of fingers we had at the end.
Slashdot Mirror
The warp flutes were from Super Mario Bros. 3, not 1.
I can do you one better. However, the site is down. Too much traffic, I suppose.
Well, the worm was probably tilting at windmills and deserved to be consumed.
I think you mean Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Metroid Prime Hunters was a terrible attempt at a DS game, and made me want to kill kittens.
Well, with the new Wii MotionPlus, this might make things even easier for a potential Wii RTS. Of course, the real questions are who will make it and who will buy it.
Umm, if you read the FAQ, they said that they're hopeful that this improvement will be in production in three years.
We already are.
I live in Canada, you insensitive clod!
Fair enough. However, a mix between the two could work. I mean, some people need the carrot, others need the stick. As for carpool lanes, I agree. Except, instead of getting rid of them, make them bus only lanes. We have them in Ottawa, and they make commuting to and from downtown a much more pleasant task during rush hour, especially since we have the 417 (100 km/h high way) running straight through Ottawa.
While I agree that bus fare should be closer to cost, there are good arguments for publicly funded public transit. The big one being that public transit puts less stress on the roads, meaning a lower time and annoyance cost regarding traffic congestion. So by making the public pay, public becomes more attractive, and everyone benefits, not just the riders. It's the same reason why carpool lanes exist.
That's actually a pretty good idea. I'm not dead set on one particular idea, I'm just looking for ways to reduce dependency on cars in cities.
Fair enough. But, if you work on the public transit infrastructure first, get it up and running, and then start these fees, then it's workable. I'm not suggesting that this all be done at once. Phase it in, one piece at a time. You'll have a hard time finding people who are opposed to better public transit, except on the issue of cost.
Good point. But, you also have to consider that, instead of building new power plants every time we get a newer and better way to generate electricity (which will happen anyways), you have to modify factories to build the new engine, modify all the fuel stations to accommodate the new fuel, and then wait for the cars to get out on the road. Note that California's own air resources board notes that it takes 16 years for 50% of the passenger cars produced in that year to be off the road. That jumps up to 18 years for light duty trucks. Unless we find a catalyst for carbon fixing in a cheap and usable form, I think that electric is probably the better way to go.
I agree. Public transit, in its current form, sucks. Which is why I want to improve it. Make it so that transit is cheap, reliable, fast, and most importantly, popular. When everyone's using public transit, your odds of hitting the winos drop, as they've been diluted by all the ex-drivers. And for what it's worth, I've only had a few creepy transit experiences, and those are usually over fast enough.
Well, since you seem to be willing to pay with your life, you should be willing to pay with your bank account. Enjoy your congestion charges!
I understand that cars are a necessary evil. I just want them to be less necessary and less evil. Starting with big cities, and moving to suburban areas. Obviously, a farmer is going to need a good truck, but there's no reason that urbanites should require a car 50 years down the road if we make the right decisions now.
Park and rides aren't epic failures in Kanata, Ontario (a west-end suburb of Ottawa). That probably has to do with the expense and effort of parking in downtown Ottawa.
You do raise a good point. I wonder who the majority of people driving downtown are: people who live downtown, or those who don't?
I still think that people would adjust pretty fast if it became much more expensive to drive and park in the downtown core of a city (say by automated toll roads). At some point, convenience becomes too expensive. And don't forget, just because the current bus system sucks doesn't mean the next won't. Not to mention my idea of a taxi-esque system.
My idea of a taxi-esque system is something like this. You call up the taxi company (which is paid for partially by taxes, since it's a public service, and partially by a simple fee, maybe twice the amount it would cost to bus there), and you accept that you'll probably be sharing it with people who are on the way. Or, if we can get even better infrastructure in place, some sort of computer guided taxi system, with emergency controls built in. Of course, if you have to take control of the taxi, there will be follow up, like if you call 911.
While you are correct, I must ask you something. Do you think it's easier to build new power plants that will supply the electric grid, or do you think it's easier to replace every car on the road with one that will support our new favourite energy supply?
To summarize:
My point is not to get rid of cars, I understand that. My point is to give people better alternatives for urban transportation.
You sir, are the exception rather than the rule. A lot of people in my area claim to care, but as soon as it hits their wallet, they go right back to their old ways. Me? I'm too poor to do too much driving, so I walk and take the bus. But that's only because I value other things above my time. Others see time as their only asset - probably because they're overworked and overstressed - but I'd rather relax, hop on a bus, and read.
Not likely, as you still need gas for plenty of other things. Will it drop? Maybe. Just hope it doesn't drop too low, otherwise the whole point of the alternatively fueled cars will be seen as a moot point by most people.
Only if the technologies aren't locked up and hidden away by patents. The fact is, we either need a better infrastructure (so electric cars are possible), or a reasonable and standard selection of fuels. If the average consumer has to think too hard about which fuel his car uses, he won't be getting that car. Of course, the real solution is to get urban centers off of a car based infrastructure, and go to a different system, such as good subway or bus system, coupled with a public taxi type system, as in Hominids , by Robert J. Sawyer.
You're close. The blackbody radiation is often the signal that's getting drowned out by all the noise. For example, we have to cool our bolometers down to 300 mK to get any meaningful data. And that's just for testing. When the detector finally gets launched, it's going to have a huge tank of liquid Helium-3 to keep it cold (via a complicated pump system).
You had clay? We scratched the count in diamond using nothing but our fingernails. And thanked our parents for the bloody stumps of fingers we had at the end.
And that just scares the shit out of me.