Even for the mentally ill? One could argue that his brain simply works differently than yours or mine. I'm not saying I agree with the decision, I'm just curious where the line should be drawn.

I don't think it's over. The summary is talking about red light cameras in California, and all the comments are about Microsoft.

Well, if anyone has some modponits they dont want, have at it with "Offtopic".

If you click the comments it appears they are linked to story Microsoft Releases Prototype of Research OS Barrelfish

Are you sure? I drove a Prius last week, and I didn't notice that. I did notice that when I had the A/C on my MPG was much lower (e.g. 28MPG instead of 50MPG), and that the engine stayed on more often, but I never saw the A/C automaticallly shut itself off. That would be a strange thing for it to do, since it would be contradicting the user's wishes.

Yeah, they all run by the battery pack. From the wikipedia article:

The gasoline engine normally shuts off during traffic stops and the accessories (including the air conditioning) are powered by the battery pack.

FYI - the volt will be operating the batteries around 30 to 85 % SOC (State of Charge). Basically rechargeable batteries die faster if you charge them up to the brim and deplete them all the way. The volt could probably run closer to 60 miles on battery if you didn't mind the battery losing a big chunk of it's storage capacity in a year.

Isn't that assuming you are running at full throttle the entire trip? Think of how far you have the pedal down during your trip, probably closer to 20% average power which would raise the heater to ~6%. Then again the heating element may not need to be energized the entire duration either. In any case I would herustically guess that peripherals would run around 10%; an acceptable loss IMO.

Yes, it is, but it is a little more complex than that. . .what if those windows you had were really inefficient? You didn't destroy windows and replace them to keep glassmakers busy. You removed old energy inefficient windows, and replaced them with brand new efficient windows that were stockpiled. The US benefits because it is essentially an investment to reduce energy usage, oil dependence, yada yada. We wreck old houses to build new skyscrapers all the time, this is just on a much smaller scale.

It is my understanding that the point of the program is to essentially encourage people to replace their gas-guzzlers with new cars that are more efficient. Since a new car would lose around this value as soon as it goes off the lot, I see it as making people who want to buy a used high millage vehicle now able to purchase a brand new car. My friend actually falls precisely into this category. He always buys used but this time he is going to buy new if he can get the program. Think of it as the government taking cars in new (fuel efficient) cars, reducing the price, and moving them to used car lots.

Summary says it takes 45 minutes for a quick charge while the article states: "Batteries that last for 289,000 km have been demonstrated, as well as the ability to 'quick charge' batteries to 80% in less than 10 minutes. " Perhaps it's 45 minutes for a full charge?

I was going to post it a few billion ago when I was out that ways and saw it first hand, but I figured someone already did so I didn't. I don't want to be responsible for a dupe.

That's fine and all but I still think a meat based race car would prove to be far more impressive.

It's called the Kentucky derby.

*raises hand*

I do.

Ok.

If no one bothers to observe it though it won't matter :-D

Kinda hard to have a video conference when you have to be on both sides of the device at once for it to work.

Ever heard of a mirror? (Note my sig)