No, I'm not about to give up yet, but this thing is frustrating as hell.
It is way too easy to get an inadvertent touch screen response when I didn't intend to touch it or do something with it. It is way too sensitive. You can barely hold the thing without touching something inadvertently.
Some stuff that I'd like to do isn't possible, or it seem impossible for the moment. For example, I'd like to be able to post to this blog, but the keyboard is way too hard to use. I'm lucky if I'm able to get a single sentence typed in--- it's that bad.
I've experimented with it a bit, but there doesn't appear to be much that I can do with it, at least for now. I've used it to make short movies, but the same old problem keeps popping up---sensitive screen, unexpected responses. If you don't keep touching the screen, the thing will cut off automatically. Phone calls can do the same thing. That might be adjustable, but it is all a pain in the neck.
The battery life is pretty short too. I knew about that, but it is even worse than what I was warned about. There are batteries on the market and other stuff. All is not lost on that count, at least.
There's a learning curve to this thing, and that curve may be a bit longer than any reasonable person should expect. So far, not a good experience.
Al Fin: "Cowboy Commentary", aka "Eat your veggies" The Flag banner is posted in order to defy those who would make patriotic symbols illegal or disreputable.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Why am I not surprised?
Yesterday, I heard that a contributing factor in the Columbia disaster was old heat-shielding tiles. The tiles were made all in one batch, and kept in a warehouse as they were needed. Since the shuttles were over 30 years old, the tiles were also over 30 years old, and subject to a greater risk of failure.
Not that it was the cause of the disaster, but what if the tiles were newer and stronger? Then the shuttle may have survived. Maybe. There's no proof of that, or if there is, it may be covered up. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.
Not that it was the cause of the disaster, but what if the tiles were newer and stronger? Then the shuttle may have survived. Maybe. There's no proof of that, or if there is, it may be covered up. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.
Next Big Future: Laser based generation of high energy neutrons
Next Big Future: Laser based generation of high energy neutrons: A new compact high-flux source of energetic neutrons has been built by physicists in Germany and the US. The new laser-based device has the...
Quote:
Whoa! If all that is true and pans out, it's a big deal.
Quote:
high powered lasers with high repetition have been proposed for high performance space propulsion and for commercial nuclear fusion...according to his calculations, improvements in short-pulse laser systems could make this form of thruster more than 40 times as efficient as even the best of today’s ionic propulsion systems that push spacecraft around. Even at 50 percent efficiency, burning off 40 milligrams of the boron fuel would deliver a gigajoule of energy. The amount of power depends on the laser pulse rate. The motor could generate 1 megawatt per second if the pulses are frequent enough to start reactions that consume that amount of boron in 1000 seconds.[ emphasis added]
Whoa! If all that is true and pans out, it's a big deal.
Ron Paul Warns Immigration 'Reform' Will Turn The US Into A Police State
Free Republic via marketoracle
Comment:
Paul is against E-Verify because it would be too intrusive, it appears. It would be like a national ID card.
But I think he's a little bit off because you need to prove your birth in order to get a passport. That's not considered an ID card, but you have to have one if you want to go overseas. If you can prove your birth, then you can prove your US citizenship.
For those who can't prove their citizenship this way, something could be arranged, I'm sure.
It's no big deal. Still, I would prefer a smaller, less intrusive system. But that is less likely than what this is, I suspect.
As I noted in my most recent book, Liberty Defined, much of our immigration problems would be eliminated were the federal government to simply return to sound money practices and end the welfare incentive for individuals to come to the US illegally. Afterward, what remains of the problem would mostly be solved with a far more generous and flexible guest worker program. Whatever the case, turning the US into a police state in order to fight a hyped up illegal immigration "crisis" is a bad deal for us all.
Comment:
Paul is against E-Verify because it would be too intrusive, it appears. It would be like a national ID card.
But I think he's a little bit off because you need to prove your birth in order to get a passport. That's not considered an ID card, but you have to have one if you want to go overseas. If you can prove your birth, then you can prove your US citizenship.
For those who can't prove their citizenship this way, something could be arranged, I'm sure.
It's no big deal. Still, I would prefer a smaller, less intrusive system. But that is less likely than what this is, I suspect.
Tesla Reaches 20,000 Unit Production Rate Annually for Model S
treehugger.com via Free Republic
Comment:
Bingo. When you have economies of scale, your costs per unit go down. Thus, the achievement of economies of scale is overcoming a barrier to entry.
An electric vehicle could be feasible technically, but not competitive economically because barriers to entry forbid the achievement of economies of scale. How? Because economies of scale requires a big factory which costs a lot of money.
There is little incentive for existing manufacturers to do this because it is a revolutionary design which makes their existing models obsolete. If their existing models become obsolete, they lose a lot of money.
A new player who wants to implement a revolutionary design has to round up the capital to make a big factory and that isn't easy for "unproven" technology.
This is not a contradiction, because the thing that isn't proven is customer acceptance. It can be proven technically, but if customers can't get it, it can't be proven economically. It's a chicken and egg dilemma. Musk is on his way to overcoming that.
Update:
Maybe not so fast. According to this MarketWatch post, the company's stock is not a buy. Actually, according to them, the company is bankrupt.
If Tesla is to succeed, they will probably have to do it on the basis of the stock or on Musk's own fortune. I have confidence in Musk, but I don't believe that the taxpayers should be financing his business.
However, it is in the national interest to stop importing so much oil. Tough dilemma. I won't bitch too much if subsidies happen, but if it is so good, people should be supporting it.
That means if you believe in Tesla and Elon Musk, you should buy the stock and/or his car with your own money. Otherwise, if there is no subsidy, nor if there's no stock purchases or car purchases, there is a great risk that Tesla will fail.
This now puts what was said about the infeasibility of electric cars into perspective.
Update:
Paging Al Gore. Are you awake, Al Gore? What about the rest of these big-time liberals. Where are they on this? Put up, or shut up.
By the way, Musk says he will make money this year.
Update:
Oh, hell. What am I thinking about? Have Uncle Sam give Musk all he needs to make Tesla work.
It's for national security. No more imported oil.
This is a big deal because economies of scale; that is, the more you make of something, the less it costs you per unit because you can amortize your fixed costs over more products
Comment:
Bingo. When you have economies of scale, your costs per unit go down. Thus, the achievement of economies of scale is overcoming a barrier to entry.
An electric vehicle could be feasible technically, but not competitive economically because barriers to entry forbid the achievement of economies of scale. How? Because economies of scale requires a big factory which costs a lot of money.
There is little incentive for existing manufacturers to do this because it is a revolutionary design which makes their existing models obsolete. If their existing models become obsolete, they lose a lot of money.
A new player who wants to implement a revolutionary design has to round up the capital to make a big factory and that isn't easy for "unproven" technology.
This is not a contradiction, because the thing that isn't proven is customer acceptance. It can be proven technically, but if customers can't get it, it can't be proven economically. It's a chicken and egg dilemma. Musk is on his way to overcoming that.
Update:
Maybe not so fast. According to this MarketWatch post, the company's stock is not a buy. Actually, according to them, the company is bankrupt.
If Tesla is to succeed, they will probably have to do it on the basis of the stock or on Musk's own fortune. I have confidence in Musk, but I don't believe that the taxpayers should be financing his business.
However, it is in the national interest to stop importing so much oil. Tough dilemma. I won't bitch too much if subsidies happen, but if it is so good, people should be supporting it.
That means if you believe in Tesla and Elon Musk, you should buy the stock and/or his car with your own money. Otherwise, if there is no subsidy, nor if there's no stock purchases or car purchases, there is a great risk that Tesla will fail.
This now puts what was said about the infeasibility of electric cars into perspective.
Update:
Paging Al Gore. Are you awake, Al Gore? What about the rest of these big-time liberals. Where are they on this? Put up, or shut up.
By the way, Musk says he will make money this year.
Update:
Oh, hell. What am I thinking about? Have Uncle Sam give Musk all he needs to make Tesla work.
It's for national security. No more imported oil.
Tarkenton: Mickelson was right on taxes
usatoday via Instapundit
Comment:
That business about Mickelson reminds me of something that I almost forgot about.
The Mickleson and Culliver episodes lead me to believe that there is an ongoing attempt to silence opposition or even the hint of opposition. This is a rather chilling development because it means that the regime will not tolerate dissent.
It means that they will find a way to get to people in order to shut them up. It could take relatively mild techniques at first, but if resistance starts to mount, then what?
Do you remember the Dixie Chicks episode in the Bush Administration? The Dixie chicks were claiming censorship then, but the Bush Administration had nothing to do with that. If is arguable whether there was any censorship at all from any quarter, much less the government, at that time.
The constant and relentless hounding of the media against the Bush administration turned the people against Bush. Yes, Bush made mistakes, but those mistakes were being magnified all out of proportion to their significance. Yet Obama's mistakes are minimized or covered up. The end result is that we are getting a more state controlled economy that is strangling personal initiative in its crib.
There should be concern about the integrity of our information and political systems. The propaganda combined with the censorship is distorting the political process and I think it is yielding an ominous result that will end in tyranny.
Update:
It is all about the conspiracy to keep you poor and stupid.
Mickelson was telling the truth. If there's anything that should upset or insult Americans, it's just how much of their money the government takes.
Comment:
That business about Mickelson reminds me of something that I almost forgot about.
The Mickleson and Culliver episodes lead me to believe that there is an ongoing attempt to silence opposition or even the hint of opposition. This is a rather chilling development because it means that the regime will not tolerate dissent.
It means that they will find a way to get to people in order to shut them up. It could take relatively mild techniques at first, but if resistance starts to mount, then what?
Do you remember the Dixie Chicks episode in the Bush Administration? The Dixie chicks were claiming censorship then, but the Bush Administration had nothing to do with that. If is arguable whether there was any censorship at all from any quarter, much less the government, at that time.
The constant and relentless hounding of the media against the Bush administration turned the people against Bush. Yes, Bush made mistakes, but those mistakes were being magnified all out of proportion to their significance. Yet Obama's mistakes are minimized or covered up. The end result is that we are getting a more state controlled economy that is strangling personal initiative in its crib.
There should be concern about the integrity of our information and political systems. The propaganda combined with the censorship is distorting the political process and I think it is yielding an ominous result that will end in tyranny.
Update:
It is all about the conspiracy to keep you poor and stupid.
Monday, February 4, 2013
'Father of the Prius' Declares Electric Cars 'Not Viable'
breitbart via Free Republic
Did some reading and an impression given was electric cars are a bad idea from the start---due to laws of thermodynamics.
I hope not.
If all else fails, an intriguing idea would be flywheel energy storage..
Update:
That bit about the laws of thermodynamics has me a bit suspicious. I still think there is hostility towards actually making changes that will challenge the status quo. Even if those changes can be superior in all respects, including economic.
The Tesla would work better if he had used Aronsson's batteries. Don't know why Musk won't. Furthermore, Aronsson has fuel cells that would work and Musk wasn't interested in those either. In my opinion, everything you need for an electric car already exists. In the case of Aronsson's batteries, those have existed for decades.
There is simply too many economic self-interested people who are anti-electric combined with sincere people who are pro-electric who are making mistakes. To put it succinctly, there is no will to get this done.
President Obama made promotion of electric vehicles a key component of his green initiative. Last September, the Congressional Budget Office reported that federal policies to prop up and promote electric cars will cost taxpayers $7.5 billion through 2019.
Did some reading and an impression given was electric cars are a bad idea from the start---due to laws of thermodynamics.
I hope not.
If all else fails, an intriguing idea would be flywheel energy storage..
Update:
That bit about the laws of thermodynamics has me a bit suspicious. I still think there is hostility towards actually making changes that will challenge the status quo. Even if those changes can be superior in all respects, including economic.
The Tesla would work better if he had used Aronsson's batteries. Don't know why Musk won't. Furthermore, Aronsson has fuel cells that would work and Musk wasn't interested in those either. In my opinion, everything you need for an electric car already exists. In the case of Aronsson's batteries, those have existed for decades.
There is simply too many economic self-interested people who are anti-electric combined with sincere people who are pro-electric who are making mistakes. To put it succinctly, there is no will to get this done.
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