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Comment Re:Why can't I turn off the ads? Otherwise...OK (Score 1) 384

Normal Slashdot has a "disable ads" button if you have good karma. I believe that is what they are rederring to.

Indeed. That's Maker mode, as I mentioned, though Maker mode doesn't get offered for merely good karma.

I've implemented ad hiding for Maker mode, but if I can reproduce a bug with it, I'll fix it.

Transportation

Video Solowheel is for People Who Think a Segway is Boring (Video) 94

Shane Chen is an inventor who likes to make all kinds of things. For instance, he designed the frame and invented a special reflective surface for the screen you see in the background of the video below. But many of his inventions have to do with transportation, especially the kind of transportation that doubles as personal thrill ride, like a sail for paddleboats and an electric surfboard. At this year's CES, I spoke with Chen's daughter Ywanne about his latest rideable invention, which is for obvious reasons called the Solowheel. Her father's the one you can see demonstrating the device in the background; you can see trickier riding in this YouTube video. She says that of all her father's inventions, this is the one that came together most easily: his first stab at a powered unicycle just worked, and since then it's been polishing the experience and getting it to market. And "to market" isn't a dream; for about $1800, you can have an experience that's a bit more intense than a Segway. The Solowheel can climb hills of surprising steepness, as long as the rider is up for it. Coming down looks more challenging, though.

Comment Re:Self-adhesive solar panels have long existed (Score 3, Informative) 46

Uni-Solar made some seriously crappy cells. If the plastic membrane on those cells got a scratch (and they scratched pretty easy) the cell would bloom into a rust ball that produced no power. Also the mounting adhesive could not handle multiple heating and cooling cycles without coming apart. The warranty department also had no idea how to fix the problems.

Comment Re:The ignorance abounds (Score 1) 608

The problem with decriminalization as opposed to legalization, is that the supply chain is still unregulated. The upper chain are still criminals and can still adulter the product in dangerous ways. The product is still sold along side of harder drugs which is the mechanism for the gateway drug argument. And drug dealers exist outside of the law so there is no reason for them to not sell to children.

Comment Re:Good (Score 1) 642

++Or liter... which makes me think he's not an American at all....
oddly enough one of the only metric things to stick after the ill fated attempt at using the metric system in the 70s was the that soda is commonly sold in 1, 2 and 3 liter bottles.
I can't think of much else that stayed metric after the choice was given.

Comment Re:Why... (Score 1) 47

It turns out to be really hard to comunicate with stuff on the bottom of the ocean. Salt water absorbs RF like crazy at useful frequencies. ULF works but has an abysmal data rate. This means you either hang your submersible on a tether or let it go black and operate fully independently for long periods and surface to report back.
There are a ton of unmanned craft using both methods.

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