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Comment Surprised? (Score 2) 579

When I first saw them appearing, the "unintended consequence" of drivers using them was immediately obvious and appreciated ;-) Such use is no excuse for an accident though - only an idiot doesn't make sure some other idiot isn't on a collision course before going into an intersection. It's as bad as the people suing the state of Oregon because an expansion joint on a curved overpass in the Portland area is a little uneven - cars hop a little going over it, but if you're not going way over the speed limit, it's not a problem and thousands of cars handle it every day. But a few idiots couldn't and now that it's made the news, here they come out of the woodwork.

Comment User Interface (Score 1) 427

Phones are barely big enough to be usable for apps as it is - while I would like to move to a smartwatch to avoid hauling a phone or tablet around, it needs a way to have a large display on demand and simple user interface that isn't audible (for privacy and security reasons). Until we get a neural or perhaps google glass style interface, I don't think it's possible to solve that problem. And all that with a 24hr battery life.

Comment Re:The Nook is/was excellent (Score 1) 321

I love the nook hardware; the software is the problem and rooting never worked well enough so that I could get another ereader installed. The builtin reader often silently refuses to open books - it just ignores touches and does nothing. The kindle I had worked great, but I ditched it for the nook to get away from the proprietary format and move to the epub standard. Instead, I'm having to read on the Nexus, which is ok inside, but useless outside in the sun. A nook with functional open software would be great...

Comment Re:NOT zero-emissions! (Score 3, Insightful) 160

The vehicle itself is zero emission. The cost, environmentally and otherwise, of fuel and production, while important, are separate issues that need to be addressed separately.

If you try to solve a large, complex, problem in toto, you will likely fail. Breaking it up into manageable pieces is much more likely to succeed, such as starting with the end user product where you get the most bang for the buck and then work up the chain. Transportation is the biggest problem which will take the longest time to effect a transition, so getting started on it is important.

Once you have the transition to electric vehicles underway, then you can work on the dirtiest of the electric supplies and every time you make the supply cleaner, you automatically make everything powered by that supply cleaner, magnifying the effect of that effort.

Trying to claim a zero emission vehicle isn't zero emission is just trying to confuse issues and holds back progress.

Comment Re:Economics (Score 1) 659

The idea that electric vehicles aren't taking off is nonsense - they're being adopted at rate comparable to if not exceeding that of hybrids when they were introduced. The only sense of "failure" is in comparison to the ridiculously optimistic projections issued when the Leaf was introduced. There are a number of technologies in the pipe to take care of the range issue for cross country driving (which, while the issue everyone focuses on, is not an issue at all for a multi-car household, as most are), and I'll bet on those coming to market before affordable fuel cells do.

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