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Comment Needs more data (Score 1) 23

MTBF is useful information, but I think it would be more useful in conjunction with factors like active spinning time, total spin up/down counts, cumulative head seek time, total IO, etc. Presumably time-in-service affects the MTBF more than the age of the drive, but to what extent? Is a NIB drive that's two years old going to be as reliable as one that's only a month or two old? So many variables....

Comment Speculative (Score 2) 77

lasting ecological shifts will hinge on design and long-term care.

We don't really know that for sure. It may improve the odds, but neither desertification nor greening require human intervention, nor is human intervention necessarily going to achieve the desired outcome. Life, uh... finds a way. (Except when it doesn't.) But for all we know (and what seems most likely absent evidence to the contrary), this is just a temporary oasis of sorts that will last only as long as the structures on the site.

Comment Re:Unacceptable (Score 1) 120

The article is sparse on details. I don't necessarily think driverless cars should be given a free pass -- in fact, we should probably have higher fines for the manufacturers -- but 9 times out of 10 when a road is blocked, it's because of construction or an accident, not a checkpoint. I suspect it was reacting to the obstruction, because when a road is obstructed, the "no U-Turn" rule generally doesn't apply (or isn't enforced anyway). In fact, if it hadn't been a checkpoint, I doubt they would have even been looking for illegal U-Turns, which are indicative of people trying to avoid the checkpoint, presumably.

As for fines, I do think they should be higher for self-driving cars, because $300 isn't even a slap on the wrist for Google. On the other hand, that could create a perverse incentive where officers are ignoring flagrant violations by human drivers in favor of issuing a $100k ticket to a Waymo that veered out of its lane to avoid a hazard. It could also create a situation where self-driving cars are so cautious that traffic is snarled by puritanical robot cars that won't even approach the speed limit because it's not worth the risk.

Comment Re: Hey that's me for once! (Score 3, Insightful) 175

Sorry for your loss. Dating apps are indeed garbage. If I were single, I'd be talking to every attractive person I saw at a grocery store, museum, out walking, etc. I'm an introvert and it makes me nervous AF, but I've also realized that pretty much anyone who agrees to meet for a drink is already interested, so that makes it easier. I mean I hate doing job interviews too, but it's just part of the process, not the end of the world.

Comment Re: Obligatory (Score 1) 159

I assume you mean because water evaporates more quickly than pads are wetted, leading to reduced functionality. This is an implementation problem, not a limitation of the concept itself. Better wetting, materials, and/or using multi-stage evaporative coolers can overcome the limit of older systems typically found in homes.

Comment 25MPH (Score 3, Insightful) 105

It's easy to get great efficiency when you're traveling at 25MPH, where drag is a minimal contributor. Most modern EVs can manage close to 5 mi/kWh at those speeds. Range is then just a question of battery capacity, so is the improvement in energy density, or just packing more batteries into the vehicle?

Comment Re: A "Citizen Scientists" model may work elsewher (Score 1) 13

Sure, it could be done. We could all volunteer to maintain roads and bridges too. Grab those shovels comrades!

If only we had some way to collectively pay for professionals to perform services for the common wealth. Not everyone would want to pay of course, so we'd need to have some sort of rules and penalties for those who try to avoid paying their fair share. I've got it: we can send them to Mar-A-Lago!

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