Comment Re:It ain't broke (Score 1) 865
No I didn't forget it, but it's an American thing and 'we' don't do them :)
My opinion is for example that a steering lock (bolt) operated by an electromagnet can be build smaller and simpler than one operated by hand as the open and close forces are more predictable. An added benefit is you no longer need to install it at the top of the steering column.
Mechanical and electrical problems on a conventional ignition lock are not unheard of and not cheap to fix while another piece of logic in the firmware is first of near free to build and second does typically not require maintenance.
Additionally car manufacturers are in a fight to lower the weight and thus fuel consumption so every gram counts, electro magnetic systems are lighter than mechanical ones operated by hand.
The first remotes were to avoid getting up to change channels and they were expensive.
But as soon as IR became a single chip option the TV manufacturers jumped on the remotes to save cost on the much more expensive mechanical switches.
Why would it need to be different for cars, these electronic switches are simply cheaper to manufacture.
My 2011 Nissan is also 'missing' an ignition key, it has a proximity sensor for the fob and a push button to start and stop.
The brand new Renault hire car I have has a push button on the dash plus a keycard that has to slide in the centre console, exactly like the company Renault I had in 2004.
Over the past 60 years I don't see much advancement, maybe except for the proximity sensor.
That phone was awesome!
But I would also like to see some footage out of the sun or on a gray day.
I assume the obvious difference is going to be the depth of field or DOF.
The Galaxy will have oodles of it but lacks the ability to isolate the subject, the Canon will make a nice sharp shot on the subject leaving the surroundings vague.
And then there's this thing with zoom/ interchangeable lenses...
For obvious reasons I don't have a Facebook or Twitter account yet Facebook mailed me with the positive message I should join them so I could communicate with good friends like *name1*, *name2* and *name3*.
Meaning my daft sister and a somewhat remote cousin/journalist had stupidly and carelessly dumped their adress books on Facebook who dutyfully analised their input for links and found me as a common point.
I have cursed both and written Facebook I was not impressed by their spying.
Strange enough they did supply a link where I could free myself from receiving further mails from them.
But for eternety I'll be watched by them and those they deal with, see my sig.
In other words, when treating the fracking chemicals exactly as the associated water from these wells there is no health hazard at all.
Other countries have regulated the type of chemicals used, this has not at all stopped companies investing in those places, the process depends mainly on water, sand (a ceramic called proppant) and high pressure.
Oh yes, the frack itself costs per well between half an hour and maybe two hours at the most, plus a couple of days rigging up and down.
But first, I don't see any real evil here. The ground around a working oil well is a messy place. You can't help but spill a little, and there's no malfeasance necessary to occasionally spill a lot (what you and I would call a lot)
Crap, there is absolutely no reason to spill either at the drilling site or during transport, all it takes is some solid regulation.
Every time I get gas, at least one drop hits the pavement, no matter how hard I try to tap it off.
In Europe filling stations have, by regulation, a spill proof surface and all runoff goes via a separator.
Over here in The Netherlands, a very large gas exporter, the same applies to drilling and production sites.
I totally believe Aruba when they say they did everything they were supposed to do.
Now there I might agree, in Texas there isn't much you are supposed to do...
I don't know the outfit but they are a reasonably size independent even though on a national or international scale they are tiny and could dissolve overnight without hurting the national energy market.
The problem is a lack of regulation and cowboy outfits that often disappear overnight.
"No job too big; no fee too big!" -- Dr. Peter Venkman, "Ghost-busters"
