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Comment Re:Does anyone like touch screens on a notebook? (Score 1) 25

I can't think of a single time I have ever wanted a touch screen on a notebook, or desktop computer.

I find it's usually when I'm standing over the computer, like using it in passing. It's handy when cooking. Otherwise it's not very useful as you say. Though sometimes I would rather just touch the screen than use the trackpad, which I'm not used to. My work laptop has touch and I use it now and then.

Comment Re: Is it another car or actually a truck? (Score 1) 139

I've transported a lot of that type of stuff in a minivan, using a tarp to keep it clean. Also you can put the Xmas tree on the roof rack. Those micro bed pickups can do basically one potentially relevant thing that a van can't, which is carry a fridge upright. Usually though you can get free delivery for something that expensive. I guess if you buy a lot of used refrigerators they might be handy?

Comment Re:Pluto is a planet (Score 1) 48

Thank god for that. It was hard enough to learn 9 (now 8) planets at school. Can you imagine having to learn all the names if the hydrostatic equilibrium definition held?

Since when does science work by a standard of "what is easy for children to memorize lists of"? Do we say "There are 8 rivers in the world, and all others are dwarf rivers, which really aren't rivers" to make it easier on kids? Do we say "There are 8 bones in the human body, and all others are dwarf bones, which don't really count as bones"?

That's not how science works. Science is focused on practical distinctions about how things developed and their physical properties relative to each other. Hydrostatic equilibrium is a very practical definition. The process of undergoing relaxation induces metamorphism and releases heat, altering bodies. You go to non-equilibrium bodies if you want to study the primordial makeup of our solar system. You go to equilibrium bodies if you want to study tectonics, volcanism, non-primordial chemistry, and search for past or present life. The boundary could not be more meaningful. Yes, there is a bit of fuzz between equilibrium and non-equilibrium, but the same applies to pretty much all scientific fields.

Comment Re:Pluto is a planet (Score 1, Interesting) 48

Supporters of the IAU definition (which I should add was a deeply biased sample, in that it looked like they were headed toward no definition or a hydrostatic equilibrium definition, so most supporters of that left, but the people trying to switch it to an orbit-clearing definition stayed) will argue that it's cleared if the remaining objects are trivial transients or in orbital resonance. But that's not what the IAU definition says. Also they'll point to the Stern-Levison parameter, but (A) that was based on the ability to scatter today's distribution of asteroids, not the primordial distribution, which included outright planetissimals**; and (B) Mars didn't even clear it's own orbit, Jupiter did. Also, in the paper that introduced the Stern-Levison parameter, they argued for a better definition where you combine adjectives and nouns (each with specific implications about the body) as needed to describe its size, composition, etc.

But the OP's point stands, in that it's stupid to say that something is a "dwarf planet", yet not a planet. It's like saying dwarf stars aren't stars or dwarf galaxies aren't galaxies or whatnot. An adjective-noun is almost always a noun, that's how language works. In the cases where an adjective-noun isn't a noun - say, "shooting star" or "slow worm" or whatnot - we treat these as scientifically erroneous colloquialisms, and formalize corrected scientific terminology. We don't do literally the opposite and have science codify misleading language.

Comment Re:Will they be subjected to their own rules? (Score 1) 21

IP infringement is the name of the game on the Google Appstore, filled with copycats and straight rip-offs any cursory check would pick up before allowing publishing.

It's not illegal to make and sell a similar product with a similar name. Retail stores are filled with them. This doesn't make the App Store good, it isn't, it's crap. But it also means that they don't have any duty to prevent those apps from existing. They may chase them off the store if enough people complain, but only because people are complaining and it's cheaper than some other approach.

Comment Re:Ford EV? (Score 1) 139

Reading the tea leaves, it sounded like the market for a full-size electric pickup is comprised of individuals who seemingly suffer from terminal range anxiety. So Ford is rumored to be relaunching the F-150, except on the new universal platform and also as an EREV - it's supposedly gonna have a generator on board.

Ford didn't even make the version of the F-150 Lightning which should have existed. The tradesman version didn't offer the big battery as an option! You could only get the fully loaded model with it. This is presumably because they couldn't get enough batteries to sell all the models which should exist, so they reserved the big packs for the most expensive models, since nobody would buy those models without the big battery.

Comment Re:moon (Score 4, Interesting) 48

Speak for yourself, Pluto is fascinating. Tectonically active. Cryovolcanism so abundant it appears to have formed large mountains by the merger of individual domes. A gigantic scar exposing its mantle, which over time roils in massive convection cells, pockmarked in sublimation pits. Mountains drifting like icebergs and accumulating on the shore. Penetentes (sublimation ice spikes), the size of large hills. A multilayer blue atmosphere, in which organic chemistry occurs, depositing not just organic matter onto its own surface, but that of its moon as well. Active glaciation. A probable subsurface ocean, in contact with rock. Conditions suggesting it was habitable when it formed.

IMHO, it's way more interesting than a number of recognized planets.

(Also, I'm confused by your response. This isn't about the moon, and the moon has no atmosphere for flying)

Comment Re:Terrible feature (Score 1) 139

Let me spell it out very plainly because you donâ(TM)t get it.

Instead, you plainly proved that you don't get it.

At no point do I want the electric company to commandeer the power in my car to reduce my range.

This functionality is good for both V2H and V2G. If you don't want to do V2G, don't! You can still do V2H. If these acronyms confuse you, then you aren't sufficiently educated to participate in this conversation. If they don't, then your comment is inexplicable.

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