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Doesn't this kind of crap ever end? I got this today:

Same here. To me football looks like a bunch of guys standing around waiting for a signal to start steamrolling into each other, and then every time the action starts to get interesting the referee blows the whistle and everyone stands around for too long waiting for the next cue to start. In...

True, although fog is very rare in NYC, and the mercury vapor were a distinct bluish-green which causes more blinding than pure white would. IIRC they replaced a 400W mercury vapor lamp with a 250W sodium vapor one during the energy crisis in the early 1970s. Both allegedly had about the same...

That's probably a good estimate (2250 lm for the Sunshine tubes), although the place I ordered from also has 40W tubes (same specs as the 32W) getting 3600 lumens, or more than the typical 3200 to 3400 lumens of the bulk tubes you mentioned. It all depends on the phosphors used. Anyway, as the...

NYC did that a few years ago, and also replaced the walk/don't walk signs with LED ones using international symbols (don't walk is a red-orange hand, walk is a lunar white person walking). The amber lights weren't replaced (presumably because they're only on a short time). Anyway, since the...

That's actually pretty reasonable for a tube of those specs. I paid $7 + shipping for the full-spectrum tubes that I ordered (32W T-8, 2950 lumens, CCT 5000K, CRI 91), and that was by far the best price I had ever seen on those kind of tubes. Considering that the tubes last at least 20,000...

I'd like to say that's incredible that someone with as much formal education as a lawyer could not know a fact even most third-graders know, but the (albeit limited) contact I've had with people in the legal system leads me to believe this guy's story. Lawyers easily take the prize in the "how...

Speaking of noise, how come electronic noise cancellation has never been used on cars and especially airplanes? This was supposed to be the next big thing in the late 1980s. You could make a car the produces virtually no noise at all as you could cancel engine, wind, and tire noise. It would...

Let's just say the first part (about the TV blowing up) is technical ignorance, and the second part is a definite phobia of some kind. In any case this person has issues. :mrgrn:

Ah yes, punch cards. I remember one computer lab in my school still had input via punch cards. I had to input a whole BASIC program this way. :( This was in the early 1980s. Most of the rest had terminals, but I don't think there were any color terminals.

I know many people are technophobic and/or technologically ignorant, but this person my sister works with has reached a new level of ignorance. First of all, she thinks that when you change the batteries on your remote you need to do in another room because if you don't it can cause the TV to...

Interestingly, I don't have writer's block if it's something factual that I'm writing about (I could literally write a book about trains or LEDs or lighting, for example). However, fiction is another story. I tend to think that the more real life experience you have then the easier writing...

Increased LDL, uric acid, and triglyceride levels in some people, and I think it's more prone to end up as fat than excess glucose. It's also slower to metabolize than glucose, which is both a plus and minus. On the plus side, there's less insulin response. On the minus side, it can't be used...

A good point. One thing I heard about was the use of fructose instead of glucose as a sweetener. And then you have all sorts of additives and preservatives which may interact in as yet unknown ways to contribute to weight gain. Finally, most processed foods these days are far too soft. The...

I'm not one to just run around calling people names. My father is about 100 pounds overweight. My mother and I have explained to him numerous times why it would be good for him to lose weight, especially in light of the fact that he had a heart attack in 1989, and is essentially being kept...

4 ) Sedentary lifestyle because of office jobs, automobiles, TV, and computers. 5 ) Ingesting growth hormones in the foods we eat. 6 ) General acceptance of "fat" as just another body type (in essence this amounts to throwing in the towel on weight loss). 7 ) Easy availability and low cost of...

I'm aware of it, and I don't see how it can possibly be good for you in the long term even if it does cause you to lose weight faster. An all-meat diet is no good (unless you're a cat or dog), too much fat is no good. The Atkins diet basically combines these two things while getting rid of...

I almost peed myself reading the final outcome of your troubles with Sony but I certainly sympathize. I think I'll stay away from Sony products just based on your experiences.

And it'll probably happen sooner than we think. In the event that it doesn't, I've already tasted "veggie" hamburgers, meat balls, ribs, chopped meat, and a few other things. In most cases it was as good as the real thing. The only drawback is that it costs as much or more, so most people...

That's just part of the e-mail address for Bluelight, which is my ISP. You pick a user name, and then your e-mail address is yourusername@mybluelight.com. Only $9.99 per month for unlimited access. :) The only restriction is an automatic timeout after four hours, but then you can just log...

And how lousy this is making the food taste. Store bought tomatoes are completely disgusting which is why I grow my own. Most other foods are getting increasingly bland and "processed" tasting as well. I mentioned in another thread how I'm enjoying most foods less and less. Especially all...

I ended up getting that Seasonic Super Tornado 300w Active PFC Silent Power Supply. Unfortunately, it didn't arrive until yesterday. Very nice supply. I can barely hear it at the power level my PC uses. Total power draw is about 90 watts according to my homemade wattmeter versus 100 or so...

I've had one person whom I really cared about. I understand perfectly where you're coming from, Mercutio. Given my personality (I find it hard to initiate new friendships), the fact that I just don't meet many new people, and my general selectiveness (I'm really specific in the types that I...

It probably won't bother me either, but my reasoning is a bit more involved than yours. First of all, I'm not expecting anything from Social Security. I know what shape the system is in, and I've also alluded to the fact that it is likely the US may fall like the USSR before I'm old enough to...

Sorry, Merc. I know that subject hits a bit too close to home for you. Still, I'm curious if any candidate has even brought up this issue. Maybe some R&D might bring about some miracle cure for the chronically obese. I know the sedentary American lifestyle and calorie-laden foods are a big...

They raised it again? Ugh. :( I think there's a grain of truth to what I said about never collecting. :cry:

For some purposes 55 is the cutoff, but it's usually based on the age at which you are eligible for full Social Security benefits (this is 65 for my mom's generation). Many so-called senior citizen discounts (like half-fare on mass transit) start at age 65. I'm sure the definition will remain...

I think every candidate for public office gives at least lip service to improving education, but in the end they all make little difference. Right now New York's Mayor Bloomberg is fighting the unions tooth and nail to try to get rid of stupid union work rules that make firing bad teachers next...

As strange as it seems, both my parents are now senior citizens (my Dad turned 65 on October 2, 1999). For what it's worth, they generally don't look the part, although my Dad is about 100 pounds overweight. If I'm still posting here in 24 years, you'll all know when I become a senior...

I'm too young to be personally familiar with Ike but from those who were alive during the time it was frequently regarded as one of the high points of the 20th Century. WWII was over, people enjoyed unheard of prosperity, courts and public services really worked, crime was very low, there was...

I finally saw the first two parts on cable when I had the flu. In fact, I probably watched them about five times each. I think I might break my self-imposed cinema boycott (last movie I saw was in 1997) and see Return of the King. BTW, Gollum is by far my favorite character. I've even...

Exactly what I said about designing on the bleeding edge, only in this case I would say the accountants were more responsible than the engineers. After all, if you get rid of one $0.40 cap and make 100,000 boards you save $40,000. I'm sure the engineers weren't thrilled to go along, but they...

I know what you mean about money. Mercutio. I'm in the same boat as you are because I don't yet feel comfortable managing my money in stocks or even mutual funds (well, at least two of my IRAs are in mutual funds). However, nothing is stopping me from learning, even though I'll admit I hear...

I'm under the impression if you're really destitute Medicaid takes care of you. If not, what is New York State spending $40 billion per year on it for? To pay for the health care of the rich? My biggest problem isn't that I'm against this (or public education) in principle. The problem is...

If any of the other choices had really great environmental plans that I thought they would follow through on, I might vote against Bush even if I didn't much care for the rest of their platform. However, when the shit hits the fan, no candidate from either party will really stand up to the oil...

Clark is about the only one of the pack that I would find palatable. Generals usually make good Presidents. They have a can do attitude and an excellent sense of organization. One of the candidates (I think it was Clark) came out for getting rid of income taxes on everyone making under...

That's not a marking. That's a pressure relief "valve". They purposely weaken the top of the cap so that if it overheats the gasses will force the cap open at the weak point before pressure gets so dangerously high as to make a violent explosion. At least that's the way it works in thoery...

A higher internal resistance at a given ripple current means more heat in this case. Remember V=IR and P=IV? At least that's what I learned. You're thinking of a resistor across a fixed voltage, and here you are correct. I'm talking about filter caps whose purpose is to smooth the ripple...

Looks to me like they're using capacitors with too high an internal series resistance. At the high currents observed when filtering the microprocessor power supply (this could be tens of amps), the capacitors get too hot, and eventually fail. I also wonder if the fact that many boards just...

My outdoor thermometer read -1° F last night. I heard with the wind chills it felt like -35° F. I walked a few blocks when it was about 10°. The wind made it brutal, sort of like being on a mountain during a whiteout. This is the coldest NYC has been since 1994. I can only imagine what...

Cycling when the weather allows (which it hasn't for two weeks if you count that I'm also still getting over the flu) and walking at least a mile (frequently much more) each day. Other than that, not much on a consistent basis. Digging in the garden is a great workout, but that's a seasonal...

I have 2 20MB MFM drives in an 8086 which I'm basically keeping as a working "museum piece", but they're not for sale obviously. However, I do occasionally find old stuff by the curb. If I come across a working MFM drive in the course of my travels I'll give you a PM. In the meantime, you...

A short summer? Seriously, though, love of warm or hot weather certainly isn't universal. While I'll admit -31°C might be a bit too cold for me, I'd be very happy if it never got warmer than about 50°F in NYC. I just don't see any point to warm weather.

It's a stretch but you could be picking of 60 Hz line noise because of the speaker wire acting as an antenna. Only thing that might help is changing all the connections to shielded wire, and even then I'm not sure. The amp should have had filters to reject 60 Hz to prevent just this sort of...

Sure, I have A/C also, but I like to go out for walks, bike rides, touring around Manhattan. In the summer I just can't do any of those things without feeling very uncomfortable most of the time, so in effect I'm trapped indoors for three months and/or forced to do everything after the sun...

Funny how quickly people forget the horribly hot summers and then complain how cold it is. It was 3°F here this morning-beautiful winter weather. If I had a proper sleeping bag I even would have slept outside in the yard. This cold weather is helping to clear up my flu. I can't say hot...

:mrgrn: Actually, I try to let the bullets enter my ear so they just come out the other ear. It's mostly empty space in between so that usually works. I think it was pretty obvious which sentence was a tall story, wasn't it? Now I have seen people who were shot (this is NYC, after all), but...

If it wasn't smallpox it was chicken pox. Smallpox happened to come to mind first. I know it was some sort of pox. My memory isn't too good these days for diseases I had 30+ years ago. I wasn't aware that the last case of smallpox in the US was that long ago, or that it had such a high...

Isn't SARS much worse than smallpox? Lots of kids had smallpox in NYC back in the 1960s when I was a kid IIRC, and it wasn't any worse than the flu. It certainly wasn't unusual or anything that would raise an alarm with the CDC, but at least they have a vaccine for it now. I had measles, too...

Well, my temperature has been 97.7°F (normal for me) for two days in a row but I still feel horribly weak. I did manage to get out Tuesday but only felt well enough to walk about two miles. I really hope I get my strength back soon. I really can't do anything for more than an hour, and then I...