Ugg
May 4, 07:51 PM
Fixed...
If I bring my child in for a checkup, physical, broken arm or runny nose the doctor really has no business asking questions that are not pertinent to the treatment of my child. He certainly has no business asking if I have guns in my house if I bring my kid in there for a physical or runny nose.
Dr Choi made this point, "or if children can't play in their front yard for fear of gun fire, it is my problem too." Maybe his focus is on urban kids who live in high crime areas but given that most of the high profile firearm massacres in the past few years were suburban, it seems silly to split hairs, doesn't it?
Do you feel that it's none of the doctor's business if you use a car seat for your child? What if he asked if you make sure the cleaning supplies and anti-freeze are locked up? Is that irrelevant?
Dr Choi also makes the point that in 30,000 people were killed with guns (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf).
In 41,059 people were killed in automobile accidents.
What are doctors for?
If I bring my child in for a checkup, physical, broken arm or runny nose the doctor really has no business asking questions that are not pertinent to the treatment of my child. He certainly has no business asking if I have guns in my house if I bring my kid in there for a physical or runny nose.
Dr Choi made this point, "or if children can't play in their front yard for fear of gun fire, it is my problem too." Maybe his focus is on urban kids who live in high crime areas but given that most of the high profile firearm massacres in the past few years were suburban, it seems silly to split hairs, doesn't it?
Do you feel that it's none of the doctor's business if you use a car seat for your child? What if he asked if you make sure the cleaning supplies and anti-freeze are locked up? Is that irrelevant?
Dr Choi also makes the point that in 30,000 people were killed with guns (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf).
In 41,059 people were killed in automobile accidents.
What are doctors for?
Giuly
Apr 8, 06:20 AM
I got http://m.UploadEdit.com/b92/45298487.gif'd recently and this one arrived at my doorstep today.
These just died, after giving me a whopping 23 days of usage:
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/7228/img0460ih.jpg
I'm wondering why the Magic Mouse comes with batteries intended for Canada (http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/AX91.PDF), though.
These just died, after giving me a whopping 23 days of usage:
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/7228/img0460ih.jpg
I'm wondering why the Magic Mouse comes with batteries intended for Canada (http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/AX91.PDF), though.
saberahul
Mar 18, 04:13 PM
Woman walks up to me and says "Is that the iPhone 4?" to which I reply "Yes, it is. Following that she responds with "Well I have the (something I forgot which one she said - I think HTC something) and it is way better than the iPhone 4!"
My reply: "Good for you."
My reply: "Good for you."
SandynJosh
Apr 15, 09:01 PM
Of course Google's going to have growing pains. It's new territory for them. They'll get it sorted out.
It's not only new territory, it's outside their core competency. Like Cisco selling cameras or Google selling phones.
Competition is good for the consumer. It results in innovation and downward pressure on prices.
If competition results in innovation, why has the Windows PC not evolved into something better. Lord knows that arena is packed with competition.
The downward pressure on prices actually inhibits innovation. R & D is the first thing to go when the pressure gets high. The focus becomes, "How can we make this cheaper?" Let that go on for a couple decades and you get such poorly made PCs that they are disposable.
It's not only new territory, it's outside their core competency. Like Cisco selling cameras or Google selling phones.
Competition is good for the consumer. It results in innovation and downward pressure on prices.
If competition results in innovation, why has the Windows PC not evolved into something better. Lord knows that arena is packed with competition.
The downward pressure on prices actually inhibits innovation. R & D is the first thing to go when the pressure gets high. The focus becomes, "How can we make this cheaper?" Let that go on for a couple decades and you get such poorly made PCs that they are disposable.
Blacknblue
Jan 10, 07:13 AM
Steve Jobs will end his presentation with "a great communicator" ad lib
story about a little girl who had her science project presentation absolutely
ruined because the CD player in the classroom would NOT play the tracks she
meticulously downloaded from the itunes store. The class gets restless and bored, turns mean and chants her to tears with the refrain: "She can't
make it work! She can't make it work! She is such a jerk! She can't make it
work!" He'll end with an aggresive campaign to take Amazon by storm with
all music all platforms! He finishes with a 3D rendering of Amazons being
routed through the jungle with gurgling quicksand swallowing them one by one. The last one holds the ipod above the sand untill it slowly sinks into
the mire like the dinosaurs in the La Brea Tar Pits!
story about a little girl who had her science project presentation absolutely
ruined because the CD player in the classroom would NOT play the tracks she
meticulously downloaded from the itunes store. The class gets restless and bored, turns mean and chants her to tears with the refrain: "She can't
make it work! She can't make it work! She is such a jerk! She can't make it
work!" He'll end with an aggresive campaign to take Amazon by storm with
all music all platforms! He finishes with a 3D rendering of Amazons being
routed through the jungle with gurgling quicksand swallowing them one by one. The last one holds the ipod above the sand untill it slowly sinks into
the mire like the dinosaurs in the La Brea Tar Pits!
Compile 'em all
Jan 12, 08:00 PM
Did he really say 10 million within a year? Surely he jests. It's not even coming out in Europe until
The iPhone will be released in Europe in Q4 2007.
The iPhone will be released in Europe in Q4 2007.
Millah
Mar 25, 12:02 AM
Man, can't believe it's been ten years. As a longtime Mac user, since OS8, I've grown up on OSX. I still remember getting OSX the very first day it launched, and just being BLOWN AWAY with the user interface. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, especially coming from the old platinum interface of OS9. Even comparing it to Windows 2000, it was just a giant leap. The Aqua bubbles, the high resolution icons, and the sophisticated animations really blew me away. I never went back to OS9, despite the occasional issues with cheetah.
Using the iPhone for the first time is probably the only thing that has compared to seeing OSX for the first time. And I really don't think anything in the future will ever compare again. They were so influential. Especially the aqua bubble design, which has found it's way into just about every other tech companies designs. Almost everything has aqua bubbles now. Adobes logo, Aero in Windows, android, Blackberry, PS3 UI, etc...all these things have representations of aqua.
Using the iPhone for the first time is probably the only thing that has compared to seeing OSX for the first time. And I really don't think anything in the future will ever compare again. They were so influential. Especially the aqua bubble design, which has found it's way into just about every other tech companies designs. Almost everything has aqua bubbles now. Adobes logo, Aero in Windows, android, Blackberry, PS3 UI, etc...all these things have representations of aqua.
cayley
Apr 4, 03:25 PM
Yes, if my Xbox was stolen, I'd definitely want it back -- probably enough so that I wouldn't care what MS did on my behalf. But as it didn't happen to me, I can be more rational about this.
I don't think MS should give out this information to end customers. It would create way too many loopholes and all XBox Live user's privacy would potentially be compromised. Now if cops were to call MS and say "We're investigating a stolen XBox," that id tracking system you described comes in very handy.
I don't think MS should give out this information to end customers. It would create way too many loopholes and all XBox Live user's privacy would potentially be compromised. Now if cops were to call MS and say "We're investigating a stolen XBox," that id tracking system you described comes in very handy.
TheWatchfulOne
Apr 15, 12:40 PM
Is it just me, or is the writing on the 3rd photo a bit skewed, or rotated in an odd way?
You are correct. In fact the text in the 1st image looks a little skewed as well. Most likely these images are fake, however they are pretty close to how I envision the next iPhone to look like.
You are correct. In fact the text in the 1st image looks a little skewed as well. Most likely these images are fake, however they are pretty close to how I envision the next iPhone to look like.
Rocketman
Jul 21, 09:34 AM
Moral of the story:
Never argue with someone with a $100,000,000 signal analysis lab or CAMPUS. Especially someone with incentive to publish scientific fact to demonstrate with science their own product is equal to, or superior to, their competitor's products in terms of a "PR talking point" targeted to disparage the FASTEST GROWING and LARGEST MINDSHARE and HIGHEST MARGIN product in the segment.
Also you probably shouldn't argue with someone who has so little to say, everything they do actually say is cascaded along all forms of media, instantly, for free, and with perceived credibility. While the "other companies" issue press releases and badly planned press conferences that end up lining bird cages and sitting in electronic in-boxes as uninteresting and insignificant.
Just a suggestion from the people at:
Rocketman
Never argue with someone with a $100,000,000 signal analysis lab or CAMPUS. Especially someone with incentive to publish scientific fact to demonstrate with science their own product is equal to, or superior to, their competitor's products in terms of a "PR talking point" targeted to disparage the FASTEST GROWING and LARGEST MINDSHARE and HIGHEST MARGIN product in the segment.
Also you probably shouldn't argue with someone who has so little to say, everything they do actually say is cascaded along all forms of media, instantly, for free, and with perceived credibility. While the "other companies" issue press releases and badly planned press conferences that end up lining bird cages and sitting in electronic in-boxes as uninteresting and insignificant.
Just a suggestion from the people at:
Rocketman
mrgreen4242
Sep 12, 08:43 AM
How you gonna burn it to DVD if it's Hi-Def?
You can burn HD video to DVD as long as you have something that can play it back, eg a Mac mini Media Edition. A DVD-R DL would hold a 2hr 1080p H.264 movie (with only stereo sound and a less than perfect, imo, bitrate). More better would be 720p with 5.1 and a very high bitrate on a DVD-R DL.
All new Macs have DL SD (well, all new Macs with SDs)... I know DVD-R DL blanks are still $1-2 a piece, but have you seen the price for a BR or HDDVD movie?
You can burn HD video to DVD as long as you have something that can play it back, eg a Mac mini Media Edition. A DVD-R DL would hold a 2hr 1080p H.264 movie (with only stereo sound and a less than perfect, imo, bitrate). More better would be 720p with 5.1 and a very high bitrate on a DVD-R DL.
All new Macs have DL SD (well, all new Macs with SDs)... I know DVD-R DL blanks are still $1-2 a piece, but have you seen the price for a BR or HDDVD movie?
z4n3
Mar 24, 04:46 PM
I think that's Audion.
http://www.panic.com/audion/
Thanks... :D
I wish it was still around.
Found this link (https://www.panic.com/extras/audionstory) that is quite interesting regarding iTunes beginnings
http://www.panic.com/audion/
Thanks... :D
I wish it was still around.
Found this link (https://www.panic.com/extras/audionstory) that is quite interesting regarding iTunes beginnings
RichP
Aug 13, 12:13 PM
klaus,
so, based on your experience, we can still say the "new" 23s are junk? That really is upsetting.
I gave up on 23s a while ago, although I would really like the increased resolution. I agree with what you said, for the price we pay, we should get quality and consistency, (especially with a company that really pushes dual screen configurations) There is NOTHING more irritating than when the monitors dont "match"
so, based on your experience, we can still say the "new" 23s are junk? That really is upsetting.
I gave up on 23s a while ago, although I would really like the increased resolution. I agree with what you said, for the price we pay, we should get quality and consistency, (especially with a company that really pushes dual screen configurations) There is NOTHING more irritating than when the monitors dont "match"
tvachon
Jan 9, 05:01 PM
Had, then i had to pause. grrrr
gnasher729
Oct 4, 04:30 PM
Indeed, there would need to be a "helper" that checks to see where the track came from, and redirects it to DoubleTwist if necessary.
I'm interested in seeing where this all goes, it'll hopefully silence the complaints of the lack of an NZ iTMS.
Not necessarily. We don't know exactly how FairPlay works. Lets say I download my favorite song from iTMS. iTMS encrypts the song and adds my AppleID to it. When iTunes wants to play the song, it calls iTMS, gives it my AppleID, the iTMS returns a key to decrypt the song, iTunes decrypts it and plays it. Most likely iTunes will actually send both my AppleID + some ID for the song, so that if I crack the key for one song I cannot copy _all_ my songs.
Now the question is: Does iTMS keep track of all the songs that I bought or not? If it doesn't keep track of all the songs then the following would be possible: DoubleTwist adds a a random song id to the song. Then it adds _my_ AppleID and encrypts the file. When iTunes wants to play the song, it notices that it is encrypted, and takes my AppleID plus the song ID and sends it to iTMS. If iTMS doesn't keep track of songs then it will calculate which key would decrypt the file (if Apple had sold me a song with that song ID). And that key could be used to decrypt the song.
Another possibility: DoubleTwist could take the song ID and my AppleID from _any_ one song ABC that I bought from iTMS. It could be possible to find which key was used to encrypt that song from that information; nobody would have tried to make it difficult to find out. The decryption key is top secret, not the encryption key. So with this information, DoubleTwist could encrypt any song XYZ with exactly the same key as the one song ABC that I bought from iTMS. When I try to play any of those songs, iTunes will find the my Apple ID and the song ID of ABC attached to the song, sends it to iTMS, which returns the key to decrypt ABC, and uses it to decrypt XYZ. And since XYZ was encrypted with the same key as ABC, it will decrypt and play.
I'm interested in seeing where this all goes, it'll hopefully silence the complaints of the lack of an NZ iTMS.
Not necessarily. We don't know exactly how FairPlay works. Lets say I download my favorite song from iTMS. iTMS encrypts the song and adds my AppleID to it. When iTunes wants to play the song, it calls iTMS, gives it my AppleID, the iTMS returns a key to decrypt the song, iTunes decrypts it and plays it. Most likely iTunes will actually send both my AppleID + some ID for the song, so that if I crack the key for one song I cannot copy _all_ my songs.
Now the question is: Does iTMS keep track of all the songs that I bought or not? If it doesn't keep track of all the songs then the following would be possible: DoubleTwist adds a a random song id to the song. Then it adds _my_ AppleID and encrypts the file. When iTunes wants to play the song, it notices that it is encrypted, and takes my AppleID plus the song ID and sends it to iTMS. If iTMS doesn't keep track of songs then it will calculate which key would decrypt the file (if Apple had sold me a song with that song ID). And that key could be used to decrypt the song.
Another possibility: DoubleTwist could take the song ID and my AppleID from _any_ one song ABC that I bought from iTMS. It could be possible to find which key was used to encrypt that song from that information; nobody would have tried to make it difficult to find out. The decryption key is top secret, not the encryption key. So with this information, DoubleTwist could encrypt any song XYZ with exactly the same key as the one song ABC that I bought from iTMS. When I try to play any of those songs, iTunes will find the my Apple ID and the song ID of ABC attached to the song, sends it to iTMS, which returns the key to decrypt ABC, and uses it to decrypt XYZ. And since XYZ was encrypted with the same key as ABC, it will decrypt and play.
mrkgoo
Jan 12, 04:21 PM
C'mon...this is the CEO of Apple presenting at Macworld. He was hardly going to be subdued, not with a bunch of fanboys and shareholders present.
Anyway, I saw most of the iPhone stuff as excitement rather than arrogance. It's a reason I believe the ApplTV was 'previewed' last year, so all focus could be on the iPhone. I think Steve was genuinely excited to present it to us.
However, I do think that the pie charts explainingthe market share of Zune is a bit underhanded. If Microsft did the same thing with market share for OS, it'd be the same. 2% market share is pretty damned good for Zune, considering competition in the market - any other mp3 player would love to get that kind of market share. I'd prefer it if Apple focused more on selling theri own products in this regard, than downplaying others.
Anyway, I saw most of the iPhone stuff as excitement rather than arrogance. It's a reason I believe the ApplTV was 'previewed' last year, so all focus could be on the iPhone. I think Steve was genuinely excited to present it to us.
However, I do think that the pie charts explainingthe market share of Zune is a bit underhanded. If Microsft did the same thing with market share for OS, it'd be the same. 2% market share is pretty damned good for Zune, considering competition in the market - any other mp3 player would love to get that kind of market share. I'd prefer it if Apple focused more on selling theri own products in this regard, than downplaying others.
tvguru
Sep 12, 08:49 AM
When you come across a bit of information that seems to point to some sort of confirmation to a rumor do you read 9 pages of threads or do you just post it? I scolled through real quick to see if the image had been posted and didn't see it. Lay off.
It wasn't at you personally, it's just that everyone just finished bashing that exact thing when your post showed up. Bad timing really. :)
It wasn't at you personally, it's just that everyone just finished bashing that exact thing when your post showed up. Bad timing really. :)
MrKobie
Jan 12, 02:50 AM
The iPhone looks pretty cool, but it's a logical progression - certainly not a revolution. If it was so revolutionary there wouldn't have been so many predictions about it. Instead, a lot of the predictions were actually aiming too high.
And it really is this fan-boy attitude of 'Steve is our hero, everything he does is wonderful' that keeps apple products so expensive. If you were all a little more critical they'd have to work a little harder to earn your money.
600 bucks for a phone (with contract) with only 8gigs of ram for my music? It's not 3G. It's got WiFi but doesn't do VOIP? I think I'll pass on this one.
And it really is this fan-boy attitude of 'Steve is our hero, everything he does is wonderful' that keeps apple products so expensive. If you were all a little more critical they'd have to work a little harder to earn your money.
600 bucks for a phone (with contract) with only 8gigs of ram for my music? It's not 3G. It's got WiFi but doesn't do VOIP? I think I'll pass on this one.
leekohler
May 5, 05:49 PM
I guess it's a good thing that I've given up hope that America will give up it's gun obsession.
Since as you say, there are no possible solutions. :rolleyes:
Look at the "drug war". Do you really want a "gun war"? Really?
The answer with things like this, as always, lies in regulation and education- not bans. We can minimize the problem, but it will never go away.
Since as you say, there are no possible solutions. :rolleyes:
Look at the "drug war". Do you really want a "gun war"? Really?
The answer with things like this, as always, lies in regulation and education- not bans. We can minimize the problem, but it will never go away.
Sweetfeld28
Oct 18, 10:24 AM
Personally, i don't think this format war is very worth while to begin with. I mean Blu-Ray does seem to be the leading format, but i think i will rather wait for this Hybrid Disc to come out that uses the same Red laser that our burners already have:
Versatile Multilayer Disc [VMD] (http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/26/hd-dvd-blu-ray-and-dvd-all-in-one-disc-draws-closer/)
ryan
Versatile Multilayer Disc [VMD] (http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/26/hd-dvd-blu-ray-and-dvd-all-in-one-disc-draws-closer/)
ryan
The Scotsman
Jan 12, 06:16 PM
Just to join in on this thread, Yes I agree that Steve was smug very smug to be precise but he was just very proud of the product he has worked on for a long time and believes that it is the best thing that is going to be on the market. I think he has a right to be smug.
I just hope his smugness is warranted when the iPhone is released (or whetever it will be called by then) I think the iPhone although brilliant in looks, functionality and UI has several short comings and hope that these will be ironed out quickly in time for the 2nd gen iPhone.
I just hope his smugness is warranted when the iPhone is released (or whetever it will be called by then) I think the iPhone although brilliant in looks, functionality and UI has several short comings and hope that these will be ironed out quickly in time for the 2nd gen iPhone.
moose0422
Apr 29, 06:42 PM
In System Preferences, Internet Accounts has been renamed to Mail, Contacts, and Calendars.
Lord Blackadder
Aug 10, 01:10 PM
There's nothing really sinister about it. It's just harder to measure and to this point, there's been no point in trying to measure it in comparison to cars.
I understand that they have to be measured differently, but doesn't it make sense that they be compared apples-to-apples (if possible) to the vehicles they are intended to replace?
Most people do ignore it to a large extent, because they say "heck, if it costs me $1 to go 40 miles on electric vs. $2.85 to go 40 miles on gasoline, then that *must* be more efficient in some way". And they are probably right. Economics do tend to line up with efficiency (or government policy).
That is true, but as you pointed out later "green", "efficient", "alternative[to oil imports]" are not all the same thing. Perhaps they are more green but less efficient, or less efficient but more green. Just being more efficient in terms of bang for buck is not necessarily also good from an environmental or alternative energy standpoint. But you are right that the end cost per mile is going to weigh heavily when it comes to consumer acceptance of new types of autos.
I think it's great that European car manufacturers have invested heavily in finding ways to make more fuel efficient cars. And they have their governments to thank for that by making sure that diesel is given a tax advantage vs. gasoline. About 15 years ago, Europe recognized the potential for efficiency in diesels to ultimately outweigh the environmental downside. It was a short-term risk that paid off and now that they have shifted the balance, Europe is tightening their diesel emissions standards to match the US. Once that happens, I'm sure there will a huge market for TDIs in the US and we'll have a nice competitive landscape for driving-up fuel efficiency with diesels vs. gasoline hybrids vs. extended range electrics.
I would argue that Europe's switch to diesels did not involve quite the environmental tradeoff you imply - in the 70s we in the US were driving cars with huge gasoline engines, and to this day diesel regulation for trucks in this country is pretty minimal. Our emissions were probably world-leading then - partially due to the fact that we had the most cars on the roads by far. The problem lies (in my heavily biased opinion) in ignorance. People see smoke coming off diesel exhausts and assume they are dirtier than gasoline engines. But particulate pollution is not necessarily worse, just different. People are not educated about the differerence between gasoline engine pollution and diesel engine pollution. Not to mention the fact that diesel engines don't puff black smoke like they did in the 70s. I'm not arguing that diesels are necessarily cleaner, but they are arguably no worse than gasoline engines and are certainly more efficient.
Whether or not it's "greener" depends upon your definition of green. If you're worried about smog and air quality, then you might make different decisions than if you are worried about carbon dioxide and global warming. Those decisions may also be driven by where you live and where the electricity comes from.
A lot of people in the US (and I assume around the world) are also concerned about energy independence. For those people, using coal to power an electric car is more attractive than using foreign diesel. Any cleaner? Probably not, but probably not much dirtier and certainly cheaper. Our government realizes that we can always make power plants cleaner in the future through regulation, just as Europe realized they could make diesels cleaner in the future through regulation. Steven Chu is no dummy.
It's a fair point. Given the choice, I would prioritize moving to domestic fuel sources in the short term over a massive "go green" (over all alse) campaign.
Which is why we will need new metrics that actually make sense for comparing gasoline to pure electric, perhaps localized to account for the source of power in your area. For example, when I lived in Chicago, the electric was 90% nuclear. It's doesn't get any cleaner than that from an air quality / greenhouse gas standpoint. However, if you're on the east coast, it's probably closer to 60% coal.
I agree completely. The transition needs to be made as transparent as possible. People need to know the source, efficiency and cleanliness of their power source so that they can make informed choices.
I think you're smart enough to know that it's more efficient, but you're not willing to cede that for the sake of your argument, but I encourage you to embrace the idea that we should have extended range electrics *and* clean diesels *and* gasoline hybrids. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
I'm not trying to sound stubborn, I simply have not come accross the numbers anywhere. I don't get paid to do this research, ya know. I do it while hiding from the boss. ;)
I've seen that propaganda FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) before. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Let's consider that the power grid can handle every household running an air conditioner on a hot summer day. That's approximately 2000-3500 watts per household per hour during daytime peak load (on top of everything else on the grid.) Now let's consider that a Volt (or equivalent) has a 16kw battery that charges in 8 hours. That's 200 watts per hour, starting in the evening, or the equivalent of (4) 50 watt light bulbs. This is not exactly grid-overwhelming load.
I'm no math whiz (or electrician), but wouldn't 200 watts/hr * 8 hours = 1.6kw, rather than 16kw? I thought you'd need 2kw/hr * 8hrs to charge a 16kw battery.
It's not that I don't think people have looked into this stuff, it's just that I myself have no information on just how much energy the Volt uses and how much the grid can provide. In the short term, plugin hybrids are few in number and I don't see it being an issue. But it's something we need to work out in the medium/long term.
Or, some would argue that the biggest thing that Americans have trouble with are a few people telling them what the majority should or shouldn't do - which is, as it seems, the definition of "Communism", but I wouldn't go so far as to say that. :)
Communism means nothing in this country, because we've been so brainwashed by Cold War/right-wing rhetoric that, like "freedom", the term has been stolen for propaganda purposes until the original meanings have become lost in a massive sea of BS. I was using it for it's hyperbole value. :D
Most people do indeed realize that they can get better mileage with a smaller car and could "get by" with a much smaller vehicle. They choose not to and that is their prerogative. If the majority wants to vote for representatives who will make laws that increase fuel mileage standards, which in turn require automakers to sell more small cars - or find ways to make them more efficient - that is also their prerogative. (And, in case you haven't noticed, in the last major US election, voters did indeed vote for a party that is increasing CAFE standards.)
Well, that's the nature of democracy. But it's not so much a question of the fact that people realize a smaller car is more efficient, but a question of whether people really care about efficiency. I have recently lived in Nevada and Alaska, two states whose residents are addicted to burning fuel. Seemingly everyone has a pickup, RV and four-wheelers. Burning fuel is not just part of the daily transportation routine - it's a lifestyle.
CAFE standardsAnd if it's important to you, you should do your part and ride a bike to work or buy a TDI, or lobby your congressman for reduced emissions requirements, or stand up on a soap box and preach about the advantages of advanced clean diesel technology. All good stuff.
I walk to work. I used to commute 34 miles a day (total), and while I never minded it, I felt pretty liberated being able to ditch the car for my daily commute. Four years of walking and I don't want to go back. I love cars and motorsport, and I don't consider myself an environmentalist, but I got to the point where I realized that I was driving a lot more than necessary. That realization came when I moved out of a suburb (where you have to drive to get anywhere) and into first a small town and then a biggish city. In both cases it became possible to walk almost everywhere I needed to go. A tank of fuel lasted over a month (or longer) rather than a week from my highway-commuting days. And I lost weight as I hauled by fat backside around on foot. ;)
I won't be in the market for another car for a few years, and my current car (a Subaru) is not very fuel efficient - but then again it has literally not been driven more than half a dozen times in the last six months. When the time comes to replace it I'll be looking for something affordable (ruling out the Volt) but efficiency will be high on the priority list, followed by green-ness.
I wonder if all of you people who are proposing a diesel/diesel hybrid are Europeans, because in America, diesel is looked at as smelly and messy - it's what the trucks with black smoke use.
<snip>
As far as the Chevy Volt goes, I just don't like the name... but the price is right assuming they can get it into the high $20,000's rather quickly.
I'm an American, and yes I've seen the trucks with black smoke. We just need to discard that preconception. This isn't 1973 anymore. We also need to tighten up emissions regualtion on trucks.
The Volt is a practical car by all acoioutns, but it costs way too much. The battery is the primary contributing factor, I've heard that it costs somewhere between $8-15k by itself. Hopefully after GM has been producing such batteries for a few years the cost will drop substantially.
I understand that they have to be measured differently, but doesn't it make sense that they be compared apples-to-apples (if possible) to the vehicles they are intended to replace?
Most people do ignore it to a large extent, because they say "heck, if it costs me $1 to go 40 miles on electric vs. $2.85 to go 40 miles on gasoline, then that *must* be more efficient in some way". And they are probably right. Economics do tend to line up with efficiency (or government policy).
That is true, but as you pointed out later "green", "efficient", "alternative[to oil imports]" are not all the same thing. Perhaps they are more green but less efficient, or less efficient but more green. Just being more efficient in terms of bang for buck is not necessarily also good from an environmental or alternative energy standpoint. But you are right that the end cost per mile is going to weigh heavily when it comes to consumer acceptance of new types of autos.
I think it's great that European car manufacturers have invested heavily in finding ways to make more fuel efficient cars. And they have their governments to thank for that by making sure that diesel is given a tax advantage vs. gasoline. About 15 years ago, Europe recognized the potential for efficiency in diesels to ultimately outweigh the environmental downside. It was a short-term risk that paid off and now that they have shifted the balance, Europe is tightening their diesel emissions standards to match the US. Once that happens, I'm sure there will a huge market for TDIs in the US and we'll have a nice competitive landscape for driving-up fuel efficiency with diesels vs. gasoline hybrids vs. extended range electrics.
I would argue that Europe's switch to diesels did not involve quite the environmental tradeoff you imply - in the 70s we in the US were driving cars with huge gasoline engines, and to this day diesel regulation for trucks in this country is pretty minimal. Our emissions were probably world-leading then - partially due to the fact that we had the most cars on the roads by far. The problem lies (in my heavily biased opinion) in ignorance. People see smoke coming off diesel exhausts and assume they are dirtier than gasoline engines. But particulate pollution is not necessarily worse, just different. People are not educated about the differerence between gasoline engine pollution and diesel engine pollution. Not to mention the fact that diesel engines don't puff black smoke like they did in the 70s. I'm not arguing that diesels are necessarily cleaner, but they are arguably no worse than gasoline engines and are certainly more efficient.
Whether or not it's "greener" depends upon your definition of green. If you're worried about smog and air quality, then you might make different decisions than if you are worried about carbon dioxide and global warming. Those decisions may also be driven by where you live and where the electricity comes from.
A lot of people in the US (and I assume around the world) are also concerned about energy independence. For those people, using coal to power an electric car is more attractive than using foreign diesel. Any cleaner? Probably not, but probably not much dirtier and certainly cheaper. Our government realizes that we can always make power plants cleaner in the future through regulation, just as Europe realized they could make diesels cleaner in the future through regulation. Steven Chu is no dummy.
It's a fair point. Given the choice, I would prioritize moving to domestic fuel sources in the short term over a massive "go green" (over all alse) campaign.
Which is why we will need new metrics that actually make sense for comparing gasoline to pure electric, perhaps localized to account for the source of power in your area. For example, when I lived in Chicago, the electric was 90% nuclear. It's doesn't get any cleaner than that from an air quality / greenhouse gas standpoint. However, if you're on the east coast, it's probably closer to 60% coal.
I agree completely. The transition needs to be made as transparent as possible. People need to know the source, efficiency and cleanliness of their power source so that they can make informed choices.
I think you're smart enough to know that it's more efficient, but you're not willing to cede that for the sake of your argument, but I encourage you to embrace the idea that we should have extended range electrics *and* clean diesels *and* gasoline hybrids. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
I'm not trying to sound stubborn, I simply have not come accross the numbers anywhere. I don't get paid to do this research, ya know. I do it while hiding from the boss. ;)
I've seen that propaganda FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) before. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Let's consider that the power grid can handle every household running an air conditioner on a hot summer day. That's approximately 2000-3500 watts per household per hour during daytime peak load (on top of everything else on the grid.) Now let's consider that a Volt (or equivalent) has a 16kw battery that charges in 8 hours. That's 200 watts per hour, starting in the evening, or the equivalent of (4) 50 watt light bulbs. This is not exactly grid-overwhelming load.
I'm no math whiz (or electrician), but wouldn't 200 watts/hr * 8 hours = 1.6kw, rather than 16kw? I thought you'd need 2kw/hr * 8hrs to charge a 16kw battery.
It's not that I don't think people have looked into this stuff, it's just that I myself have no information on just how much energy the Volt uses and how much the grid can provide. In the short term, plugin hybrids are few in number and I don't see it being an issue. But it's something we need to work out in the medium/long term.
Or, some would argue that the biggest thing that Americans have trouble with are a few people telling them what the majority should or shouldn't do - which is, as it seems, the definition of "Communism", but I wouldn't go so far as to say that. :)
Communism means nothing in this country, because we've been so brainwashed by Cold War/right-wing rhetoric that, like "freedom", the term has been stolen for propaganda purposes until the original meanings have become lost in a massive sea of BS. I was using it for it's hyperbole value. :D
Most people do indeed realize that they can get better mileage with a smaller car and could "get by" with a much smaller vehicle. They choose not to and that is their prerogative. If the majority wants to vote for representatives who will make laws that increase fuel mileage standards, which in turn require automakers to sell more small cars - or find ways to make them more efficient - that is also their prerogative. (And, in case you haven't noticed, in the last major US election, voters did indeed vote for a party that is increasing CAFE standards.)
Well, that's the nature of democracy. But it's not so much a question of the fact that people realize a smaller car is more efficient, but a question of whether people really care about efficiency. I have recently lived in Nevada and Alaska, two states whose residents are addicted to burning fuel. Seemingly everyone has a pickup, RV and four-wheelers. Burning fuel is not just part of the daily transportation routine - it's a lifestyle.
CAFE standardsAnd if it's important to you, you should do your part and ride a bike to work or buy a TDI, or lobby your congressman for reduced emissions requirements, or stand up on a soap box and preach about the advantages of advanced clean diesel technology. All good stuff.
I walk to work. I used to commute 34 miles a day (total), and while I never minded it, I felt pretty liberated being able to ditch the car for my daily commute. Four years of walking and I don't want to go back. I love cars and motorsport, and I don't consider myself an environmentalist, but I got to the point where I realized that I was driving a lot more than necessary. That realization came when I moved out of a suburb (where you have to drive to get anywhere) and into first a small town and then a biggish city. In both cases it became possible to walk almost everywhere I needed to go. A tank of fuel lasted over a month (or longer) rather than a week from my highway-commuting days. And I lost weight as I hauled by fat backside around on foot. ;)
I won't be in the market for another car for a few years, and my current car (a Subaru) is not very fuel efficient - but then again it has literally not been driven more than half a dozen times in the last six months. When the time comes to replace it I'll be looking for something affordable (ruling out the Volt) but efficiency will be high on the priority list, followed by green-ness.
I wonder if all of you people who are proposing a diesel/diesel hybrid are Europeans, because in America, diesel is looked at as smelly and messy - it's what the trucks with black smoke use.
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As far as the Chevy Volt goes, I just don't like the name... but the price is right assuming they can get it into the high $20,000's rather quickly.
I'm an American, and yes I've seen the trucks with black smoke. We just need to discard that preconception. This isn't 1973 anymore. We also need to tighten up emissions regualtion on trucks.
The Volt is a practical car by all acoioutns, but it costs way too much. The battery is the primary contributing factor, I've heard that it costs somewhere between $8-15k by itself. Hopefully after GM has been producing such batteries for a few years the cost will drop substantially.
Nekbeth
Apr 25, 04:00 PM
Thanks for your advice dejo, but I'm not stepping away because of lack of fundamentals. Interaction with other developers is an additional learning source (the main is all kind of documentation), of course I need to learn more about fundamentals of objective C just like you did when you had 3 months programming, but that ain't stopping me from asking help in forums. Some people help you, some don't, you just have to deal with that.
btw, thanks for pointing my error, your right.. those are declaration for cancelTime: and cancelIt: , I got confuse with the parameter :D
btw, thanks for pointing my error, your right.. those are declaration for cancelTime: and cancelIt: , I got confuse with the parameter :D
