On 4/18/2011 8:59 AM, Invisible wrote:
>> Beyond 2000 was my favorite growing up. I so miss that program. Always
>> liked the opening sequence, too. The title music was catchy.
>
> I remember the opening sequence being *very* futuristic. I don't
> remember the music though.
>

I'm sure it could be found on Youtube. ;)

I remember it started out with the voyager probe, and went from there, I 
forget how it all tied together.

>> Yep. My FIL's Toyota pretty much has a transceiver in the fob and a
>> button you push to start the engine. No key involved. The fob stays in
>> your pocket the whole time.
>
> My car is the same.
>

Mine still has the old-fashioned steel (or whatever metal its made out 
of, I'm sure it some sort of alloy) key. ;)

> I still maintain that making a mechanical key out of plastic is a stupid
> idea. ;-)

Well, yeah...

>
> Given that the batteries in the fob eventually die, it would be a safety
> issue if the car just suddenly stopped when that happened. (Or when you
> drive past something that emits too much interference.) So I believe
> that once the engine is running, anybody that wants to can drive off
> with the car.
>

Hmm.. Good point, but would make auto theft rather easy. Not much the 
owner could do if the car thief jumps in, presses start and takes off 
while the owner is distracted.

> My car beeps at you if you try to shut the door with the keys outside
> the car. It also refuses to lock the doors if the keys are inside. It's
> surprising how many times I've put the keys in my bag, pressed the
> button, the doors didn't lock, and 2 hours later my car is still there.
> I guess people don't go around actually /trying/ to get into cars just
> in case they're unlocked. ;-)

Oh, it can tell if the key is inside or outside the car?

>
> I think we all knew that flying cars really weren't just around the
> corner. ;-)
>

Flying cars are impractical. the FAA would never allow it ;) (Sorry, 
this is from a USA perspective, but... you get the point, hopefully)


> It was possible to make a portable solid-state music player for quite
> some time. But with (say) 64MB of flash, why would you bother? That
> would be, like, 6 minutes of music.
>
> MP3 is what made it feasible. Now 64MB is nearer an hour of music...
>

Right... Remember when MP3 came out, computing power wasn't really up to 
task, either. I remember it took hours to encode a single song.

> I wish my car could play compressed CDs. Or even if it just had a CD
> changer like the salesman claimed it had... Or, hell, even just a way to
> plug in an external sound source.

Mine plays MP3's and has an AUX jack.... I mostly use my Zune, nowadays, 
mostly because it's a PITA to burn new CD's when my musical whim 
changes. I wish it had an SD or CF port. Also, it tends to be a bit 
finicky when it comes to playing MP3's that have been ID3 tagged in a 
weird way.

>
> I don't see CD dying anytime soon.
>

Maybe ... Though it will continue on more as CD-R than as pressed CD's. 
DVD and Blu-Ray will continue, though.

>>> I remember seeing the first automatic speed cameras, and thinking this
>>> was a neat idea. Oh how wrong I was... ;-)
>>
>> Terrible, terrible idea.
>
> It's a simple idea, but in practise it doesn't work like it's supposed to.
>

Right. I don't like the idea of a machine determining whether I get a 
ticket or not. The machine can't weigh the circumstances, or let a 
first-time offender slide. The machine treats everyone exactly the same, 
regardless of their situation or offense record.

Now, you could say that's fairness in the most absolute sense, but, 
sometimes its best to allow a human being to intervene.


> The advantage of light is that signals can pass straight through each
> other, significantly shortening signal paths. Plus I gather there are
> power savings, and a lack of capacitance to worry about.
>
> Then again, if this stuff is so great, where is it?

Well, we now have laser diodes that can work at several wavelengths now, 
so ... we're not far off. Before it just wasn't feasible. But yes, the 
beams can cross, and signals can be multiplexed by wavelength.

-- 
~Mike

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