A flying car. This is what we were promised. (pic)
rynvndrp 1 point 7 days ago[-]
Agreed, we aren't out of land and using extra energy to lift yourself off the ground hardly is worth the decrease friction costs. They may someday work, but a small two person flying car is going to be more power hungry than a large hummer.
It may not be as cool but hot air balloons and zeppelins are a highly efficient form of air transportation, albeit slow and large.
I knew someone who actually did this... [PIC]
rynvndrp 3 points 7 days ago[-]
Want to take that issue even further: After buying the the products, take them out of their over packaging. Like toys that have huge amounts of plastic or software or other over packaged items and leave the packaging at customer service. You should see the reactions I get.
I once did at a walmart in south dakota as was told I couldn't leave the store without the UPC because it voided the warranty and they wouldn't be able to return it. I walked out anyway.
If it's illegal to price gouge during times of crisis, then why is it O.K. for an insurance company to raise your deductible during a natural disaster?
rynvndrp 8 points 8 days ago[-]
While I don't agree with their beliefs, the best 'insurance' I have ever seen is a group of people in hard Calvinist church. They beliefs including stating that insurance is gambling against God and that you should be open to the struggles He presents to you. People are asked to give to the needy what they would otherwise spend on insurance. Because of that, when one of them has a problem, they go in front of the church and ask for help. When a tornado took about three houses of congregation members, other people in the congregation that were construction workers, carpenter, electricians, etc lead a bunch of volunteers to rebuild the houses with lumber partially donated from the local co-op. 5 weeks later, every house was rebuilt and the families moved back in. Their neighbors were still filing claims and trying to get quotes to send to the insurance companies.
Just kind of an interesting event.
Time To Boycott Twilight. It's A Mormon Flick
rynvndrp 2 points 8 days ago* [-]
Just about all of Newtons laws have been disproven. The only thing that really stands from Newton is that gravity has an infinite reach and his law of heating/cooling.
We continue to use his laws of motion because they are simple, very accurate approximations in the energy ranges that the majority of what we experience occurs, but specific relativity has changed the exact law. It is probably true that specific relativity is also an approximation, just a better one, but there isn't good evidence of that yet.
Newton's Thermodynamic laws were thrown out in the mid 19th century. Newton proposed a material form of heat that while useful is highly flawed. Under his views, perpetual motion devices should be viable. It took an industrial revolution to throw it out, but it happened none the less.
Newton was great, but look at the formulas, the work, and the science, not the man's reputation.
Material slicker than Teflon discovered by accident. It's also the hardest material after diamond and cubic boron nitride. Best part: it's called "BAM" (Emeril would be proud)
Material slicker than Teflon discovered by accident. It's also the hardest material after diamond and cubic boron nitride. Best part: it's called "BAM" (Emeril would be proud)
rynvndrp 6 points 10 days ago* [-]
A coating that grows a ceramic crystal. That is done through ionizing the material as a gas and exposing the what you want coated. That isn't a cheap process either.
Its a great material, but its not going to be a mass production replacement. It will be used in places where Teflon never was as well. Propeller blades for ships, industrial equipment, high stress environments, etc.
Material slicker than Teflon discovered by accident. It's also the hardest material after diamond and cubic boron nitride. Best part: it's called "BAM" (Emeril would be proud)
Material slicker than Teflon discovered by accident. It's also the hardest material after diamond and cubic boron nitride. Best part: it's called "BAM" (Emeril would be proud)
rynvndrp 1 point 10 days ago[-]
Being as hard as it is is going to stop it from replacing Teflon. That stuff is going to be impossible to machine and thus expensive to make into most mass produced products.
Tungsten is a heck of a lot harder and stronger than steel, very plentiful and relatively easy to refine, but rarely used for the same hardness issues.
Gasoline nearing $1 per gallon (marketwatch.com)
submitted 11 days ago by rynvndrp to reddit.com
Let Detroit Go Bankrupt. By Mitt Romney
rynvndrp 0 points 11 days ago[-]
That worker to worker fight is part of the driving force out of the union. Without it people won't want to leave, they would want to get a union job that guarantees them pay. Because you have to fight for it, it means that if you get the chance, you won't stay. At the union level, there should be effects to move people into other areas such as job fairs. It is not fair to the workers. These areas aren't a good place for people to be. Thats the main conclusion.
Dow falls 427 as stocks hit 5-year lows
rynvndrp 2 points 11 days ago* [-]
Not pinning for it but I will take big inflation over big deflation any day until my loans are paid off. Once I have savings then deflation looks more attractive.
Yes I desire a stable dollar but if I had to pick I would take inflation.
Also if you still don't get the concept. Think about if my job was to find gold nuggets, refine them, make coins and sell them. Say gold doesn't change in price relative to inflation and say each coin is worth $300 in 2009. To pay off my loans in 2009 I have to work and make 100 gold coins to pay off that loan. If I would wait until 2010, my loan is 31.5k but gold coins now sell for $330 and I could pay it off by selling 96 coins and have money left over.
The Kite Car: An innovative concept with a beautiful design
rynvndrp 4 points 11 days ago[-]
a beautiful design that won't ever make it into the real world. Can you imagine the stress put on the axial connections when someone leans on this? Not to mention the front wheel being off center and having a high probability tipping point about 30 degrees left of backward right in the location you have to climb into the device.
Dow falls 427 as stocks hit 5-year lows
rynvndrp 2 points 11 days ago* [-]
They will go down if the inflation rate is more than 5%. Lets not say horrible worst case senerio. Lets say inflation hits 10%. The loans still grow at 5%. 30k will be 31.5k in 2010 dollars, but the adjusted value from inflation makes it worth 28.6k in 2009 dollars.
Massive inflation is one of the ways governments (cough cough Argentina cough cough) lower their debt.
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Honda has never had an unprofitable year. It has never had to lay off employees.
rynvndrp 5 points 6 days ago[-]
You may get your wish. Much of the quarter economy is driven by stock market demands. In the end the company works for its stock holders. When the stocks were up everyone was looking for short term gains, they weren't looking for long term investment. Everyone wanted to find the next Microsoft or Yahoo. The economic numbers were pretty good but the core US industries weren't doing well on the market. Dividend hunting was considered and cowardly low end position.
However, this depression has eating up or scared off many of the short term gain stock investors. Many people are looking into long term lock ins. Nuclear reactor construction holds onto investments in the billions of dollars for a decade (or more) and then the plant payout a steady stream for 15-20 years after that. Originally setup as a option for 30 somethings to lock in money for retirement. They were seen as a stupid investment just 10 years ago and no one could get one going. In the last 2 and a half years, 34 new reactors have gotten financing just in the U.S. Part of it is with the 2005 energy act, but that only covers the first 10 plants or so. The other 24 aren't backing out even though they won't get an increase subsidy. Long terms are out to play again. I hope the short termers go back to make a mess of their own lives and leave other peoples money and the economy alone.