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Comment Re:Nyquist (Score 1) 116

With MIMO you have multiple channels

I was under the impression that MIMO gives you multiple antenna to facilitate beam forming. Channel bandwidth requirements do not change nor does the number of channels required. MIMO still only requires 1 channel. A quick wiki search appears to agree with this impression.

Now you can also use multiple channels but this is independent of MIMO technology. Both techniques can be used together - and typically are which might explain the confusion. Either that or I am confused which is always a possibility....

Comment Re:When did they add DMA? (Score 1) 355

Don't see much need for high power output when Thunderbolt devices like displays will probably need their own power supply anyway.

It's not high power output - it's high power transfer. It will be used as single connection display / ethernet / webcam / USB Audio / power adapter when connecting your laptop to a monitor. Sort of like the ultimate dock.

Comment Re:They are orthogonal use cases (Score 1) 355

I built a FreeBSD 9.1 file server using usb 3 / usb 3 docks, but I failed them all back down to using their 2.0 interface due to persistent flakiness/dropping off the bus type issues.

If you look at MacZFS you will notice that ZFS over a USB bus is garbage. Far too many problems - developer says to not even bother reporting the bugs. And in my experience, FreeBSD is not much different in this regard. Had major problems with ZFS over USB while UFS appears to work fine. Use a different connection, like eSATA or Firewire, and ZFS starts to work again.

I only mention this because it is quite possible that USB was working fine. Glitches / delays / disconnects, regardless of which layer they originate in, appear to hit ZFS hard. Better to use eSATA if you have a FreeBSD box.

Comment Re:Frequent hurricanes? (Score 0) 627

The graph has a logarithmic horizontal scale. As a result, the deviation of sea level from thousands of years ago is calculated over a larger time from then the deviation reported for today. If the deviation for today was calculated using the same time frame it would be significantly larger then the value calculated for thousands of years ago. The fact you did not see this is somewhat disturbing and could just explain why you are arguing your point. Or you're a troll - you're probably just a troll - people on this site can not be that foolish.

Comment Re:Efficiency? (Score 2) 234

The real question is how efficient is it?

It does not have to be any more efficient if they manage to reduct weight and increase reliability. Efficiency has a big part to play but even a less efficient engine would be desirable if they improve greatly on other aspects.

Remember that this is being targeted for vehicles that will run mostly on electric power. An ICE is a dead weight when not being used. If someone drives using 90% pure electric then the efficiency gains of carrying less weight could easily outweigh the losses of an ICE that was 5% less efficient but only operates for 10% of the time.

Comment Re:What size does one take? (Score 1) 193

That was the original plan - 18650 batteries give you the most capacity for the smallest price. But once you start producing thousands of cars things change a little. It would now seem prudent for them to design their own. This would give them more efficient use of space and would make it easier to adopt new upcoming technologies. The economies of scale with respect to 18650 batteries will no longer apply.

Comment Re:HP Calculators (Score 1) 702

An amendment. Forget USB - add inductive charging. Now you do not require any physical ports. The keyboard membrane should be designed so that it also provides a watertight seal between the keyboard and the electronics. Now you have a calculator you can use in the rain, on a ship, or anywhere else you do not want to use a cell phone. Engineers can use it in the field - without taking off any gloves.

Comment Re:HP Calculators (Score 1) 702

Someone needs to start a Kickstarter project to create a decent calculator. A solid case and keyboard as per the older HP calculators. Color display - they're common enough. Embedded ARM CPU as you would expect in a cell phone. And similar to a cell phone, a rechargable battery. Add in bluetooth, WiFi, and USB for communication and your hardware is done.

The interesting part would be on the software end. One could attempt to emulate an HP calculator - but a standard Forth VM would also be interesting. Synchronizing with a PC is a huge area where things could be improved. It would be great to share a workspace with a computer so that once you solve a problem on the calculator - the requred functions would be available on the PC allowing you to automaticaly integrate the solution into your own code / spreadsheet / etc.

An open calculator design would open up lots of possibilities. Cell phones are great start but regardless of how impressive the software is, it still lacks a physical keyboard. Automatic type correction works great for text - not so much for calculators.

Comment Re:Correct me if I'm wrong... (Score 1) 298

One of the big cost savings is in not having to constantly maintain and operate aircraft and pilot skills. With drones you just leave the thing packed up in storage until it is needed. Just look at how many hours your typical F18 has on it before it is ever used in combat - that's a big expense that an air-to-air drone would not have.

Comment Ambient noise does not have to be a problem (Score 1) 63

Multiple microphones can be used to triangulate the different sources of incoming noise. Some intelligent filters that take into account the expected 3D position of the speaker can then be used to filter out ambient noise. Cell phones are already doing this - at least the good ones are. This is why the iPhone has multiple microphones. I imagine Samsung is doing something similar. You can learn more and see some impressive examples in the Stanford on-line artificial intelligence lectures. I believe they were posted in iTunes University a couple of years ago. I now use a Linux desktop so I can not verify that they are still available.

Comment Re:Similar to most studies (Score 1) 427

The guy donated some genetic material. The woman had the thing grow inside them for 9 months. Who's gonna be more connected?

You are correct that the woman is more connected and that it has to do with time - but not for the reasons you've implied. It really comes down to the fact that men can reproduce more frequently then women so they have less invested into each individual offspring. Women only get so many chances so it is worth it for them to invest the time to maximize the success rate. Men maximize their DNA propagation by procreating as frequently and with as many women as possible.

Men and women are different both on the outside and inside. Different brain chemistry leads to different behaviour. Why do some people (not parent poster) find this so hard to understand?

Comment It will have problems in the real world. (Score 2) 242

Anything that light will have serious issues with cross-winds. If current trailers can blow over just imagine how bad it will be when you reduce the weight by 4000 lbs.

Some time ago, I recall reading on /. how Walmart was researching new energy efficient tires for use with trucks. Looks like they are being used here - a single large tire to replace the current standard dual-tire configuration. But this makes me wonder what the impact of a blow-out would be. Perhaps they have it figured out - or perhaps there are good reasons why this will never become a production machine.

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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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