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Comment Re:Cumbersome (Score 1) 535

by Black Cardinal (#33896902) Attached to: Huge Shocker — 3D TVs Not Selling

LASIK only makes sense if you're eyes are stable and not still getting worse. I'm 38 but every couple of years my prescription gets updated to correct my ever-increasing nearsightedness.

I wish my eyes were stable, I'd get LASIK in a heartbeat if I had confidence that I wouldn't need to start wearing glasses again 2 to 3 years after the procedure.

Comment Re:come on people... (Score 2, Insightful) 221

by Black Cardinal (#33862444) Attached to: High-Tech Microphone Picks Voices From a Crowd
Did you actually read the article and watch the example video? This was an example shown in the video, where bubblegum being popped by someone sitting next to the coach (who was being focused upon by the system) was clearly audible above the crowd noise during a heated moment. It wasn't so much desirable as a concrete example of its effectiveness.

Comment Re:Unintended consequences (Score 1) 1139

by Black Cardinal (#33297326) Attached to: Is a US High-Speed Railway Economically Feasible?
Running new lines might be practical in a few shorter corridors, but it would be extremely difficult to get either the land or the money to buy such land for longer high-speed runs, such as cross-country. It would be difficult to repeat the massive government allocation of land that was done in the 19th century because this time much of it is already privately owned.

Comment Unintended consequences (Score 1) 1139

by Black Cardinal (#33296790) Attached to: Is a US High-Speed Railway Economically Feasible?
A couple of weeks ago The Economist had an interesting article about this: http://www.economist.com/node/16636101. It pointed out that upgrading America's railroads to handle high-speed (or even pseudo high-speed) traffic would have a negative economic impact on freight train service, which is among the best in the world. I had never seen America's train system called "the best" in anything before, but I do think this does point out the dangers of just focusing on the benefits in one specific area.

Comment Re:The "retinal display" is still bs (Score 1) 233

by Black Cardinal (#33296130) Attached to: 7-Inch iPad Rumored

Take a close look at text printed on 600dpi and 1200dpi monochrome printers, and you can't tell the difference without the aid of a magnifier. Even text from a 300dpi printer will only be slightly less sharp.

But if you look at a grayscale (or color) image printed at those resolutions, absolutely you will see the difference. This is because the extra resolution has the effect of enabling more color levels through halftoning. The extra resolution is used to compensate for the low bit depth, not to add detail.

A printer has an inherent depth of only one bit: a drop is either there or it is not. Displays have much more bit depth and can get by with a lower resolution as a result.

I'm not making any claims about the retina display, I'm just pointing out why display and print resolutions aren't directly comparable.
Image

Doctor Slams Hospital's "Please" Policy 572

Posted by samzenpus from the paging-doctor-manners dept.
Administrators at England's Worthing Hospital are insisting that doctors say the magic word when writing orders for blood tests on weekends. If a doctor refuses to write "please" on the order, the test will be refused. From the article: "However, a doctor at the hospital said on condition of anonymity that he sees the policy as a money-saving measure that could prove dangerous for patients. 'I was shocked to come in on Sunday and find none of my bloods had been done from the night before because I'd not written "please,"' the doctor said. 'I had no results to guide treatment of patients. Myself and a senior nurse had to take the bloods ourselves, which added hours to our 12-hour shifts. This system puts patients' lives at risk. Doctors are wasting time doing the job of the technicians.'"

Comment Fairly well-traveled for an American (Score 1) 958

by Black Cardinal (#29671725) Attached to: How many countries have you visited?
Not counting the U.S., my native country, I've visited 18 countries:

Canada
Japan
Fiji
New Zealand
Germany
Italy
Switzerland
Liechtenstein
Austria
Czech Republic
Poland
Lithuania
Estonia
Russia
Finland
Sweden
Norway
Israel

Japan and Israel were business trips, but I got to spend some time in the local culture, as well. I've also been to Latvia but just riding through on a bus so it doesn't count.

My wife really likes to travel, and I enjoy it, too, although I wouldn't have traveled nearly as much if it weren't for her.

Comment Re:Palm has retired the OS (Score 1) 290

by Black Cardinal (#29224979) Attached to: Snow Leopard Drops Palm OS Sync

Except you don't seem to be the type that's in any rush to upgrade to current technology.

It's not wise to extrapolate from a single data point. Just because I like one device the way it is doesn't mean I don't like to update other tech gadgets. It depends on the risks and benefits.

I was considering upgrading to Snow Leopard this weekend, but decided to wait until I return from a trip I'm taking next week. I don't want to spend my last night at home frantically trying to restore a Leopard backup to my MacBook Pro if something went wrong with the upgrade. Now I'll probably wait even longer, to see if this issue is resolved.

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