If they can put a man on the moon why can't they......

[ERD50]

Yes! I've often thought that I'd like a 30 minute buffer... never enough to try and find one or build one, but enough to think it'd be a good idea.

I remember hearing that some guy 'invented' this idea a couple years ago. It makes sooooo much sense, it would be so easy and cheap to do with todays technology. Heck you can get an mp3 player that holds a couple hours of music for $30 (maybe less). Adding that feature into existing hardware for 30 minutes of audio would cost near nothing.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

The new "what"s??

Why should anyone have to turn on 3-4 machines (computer, monitor, scanner, printer) when ONE will suffice?

Because one machine does NOT suffice.... else you would not have a long list of (valid) complaints about your fax machines.

The fundamental problem with FAX technology is that it is synchronous communication. Unless both ends are up and running at the same time, it fails. Email is a-synchronous. Send it, on failure, it automatically retries several times over a period of hours. And it goes into a buffer, until the receiving end decides to look and retrieve it. It could sit in the buffer for weeks if needed. And it is there until they delete it. And they don't need to print it if they do not care to. It's even 'green'

You don't still listen to disco, do you? Get with the times

enough in there ?

-ERD50

 

[CuppaJoe]

....

There is no alternative to toast. ....

( all in good 'fun')

-ERD50

My New Year's Resolution was to admit when I am wrong. On a previous post I said I learned to make toast in a frying pan. Well, three attempts prove it is just warm greasy English muffins; not even the brand with all the nooks and crannies helps it. Bleah.

 

[samclem]

Why do they make microwave ovens that continue to beep every minute or so after the food is done cooking? With a regular stove, I "get" the urgency--you could burn the house down my leaving that cake in there, so the timer keeps beeping. But when I heat up a cup of coffee in the microwave oven and go do something else, does it need to beep every minute to remind me that the coffee is still in the oven? The beeping doesn't bother me, but it slightly irritates my DW. And when Momma ain't happy . .

And another thing: Why can't somebody make a good "daily-use" drinking cup:
-- Stacks tightly with other cups to take up minimal cabinet space
-- Has an optional lid for the car/keeping the bugs out when outside
-- Dishwasher safe
-- No concave surfaces on the bottom to trap water in the dishwasher


And another thing: How about mounting the oil filters in cars where they can be reached and changed by Joe Cardriver? And maybe mount them so that they can be removed without spilling oil everywhere.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I saw a column from a guy who complained about how every appliance made today for some reason needed to tell everyone whenever it was done with its little task, crying for attention. He wanted appliances that made toast, made his coffee, heated his breakfast and then shut the hell up.

My ford expedition was a horror show to change the oil on. If my hands were half the size they are I might have gotten into that niche behind the control arm, below the exhaust manifold and above some well sharpened piece of frame to get it without cutting the crap out of myself. Our Toyota and Honda have the filter and drain plug right on the bottom of the motor, right up front, both on the left. I can drain and change the filter by sitting down in front of the car and reaching underneath. Piece of cake.

 

[ERD50]

Why do they make microwave ovens that continue to beep every minute or so after the food is done cooking?

Personal preferences come into play. I would prefer that it keeps beeping. If I walk away, and it beeps while I'm out of the room, I miss it and sometimes I prefer to be reminded until I reset it.

Trouble is, there isn't always a rhyme or reason to their choices. I'd love it if I could plug a USB device into these things and change the settings myself, or at least provide a sub-menu for 'advanced' choices.

Cars are worse, every car in the family has locks that respond in different ways to different inputs. Most of them have it 'right' for one mode, and 'wrong' for another. I'd love to re-program them so they all had the best features of all of them, and were all consistent.

And another thing: Why can't somebody make a good "daily-use" drinking cup:
-- Stacks tightly with other cups to take up minimal cabinet space
-- Has an optional lid for the car/keeping the bugs out when outside
-- Dishwasher safe
-- No concave surfaces on the bottom to trap water in the dishwasher

Wow, that list seems so obvious, yet I don't own a single coffee cup with all or even most of those features.

-ERD50

 

[BOBOT]

Aw crap, now my FAX machine leaves crumbs on the counter...

 

[Nords]

Why do they make microwave ovens that continue to beep every minute or so after the food is done cooking?

Man, I thought I was the only human in my hemisphere annoyed by this. I notice our microwave not only whines about it, but it won't even keep the coffee warm until I have the time to get back to it!

And another thing: How about mounting the oil filters in cars where they can be reached and changed by Joe Cardriver? And maybe mount them so that they can be removed without spilling oil everywhere.

Like CFB says, our Toyota Prius is designed to do that. It's one of the world's smallest filters, too.

Just don't drive over any well-placed boulders...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Same here. The rav4 and pilot filters are smaller than my fist. I almost missed the pilot filter the first time I went looking for it. It was black, blended in with everything else and it was so small it didnt register as a possible candidate for being an oil filter.

Very oddly, the smallest oil filter I think I've ever seen was the one on the V8 on my Infinity Q45. And to give the american car companies a challenge in the 'who thought of this?' maintenance area, the little @#%@#'s put it on the front of the motor among all the fan belts and the only way to reach it was from underneath. So basically every time you changed the oil you were gonna be having some fun keeping the oil off the belts.

 

[Khan]

And to give the american car companies a challenge in the 'who thought of this?' maintenance area, the little @#%@#'s put it on the front of the motor among all the fan belts and the only way to reach it was from underneath. So basically every time you changed the oil you were gonna be having some fun keeping the oil off the belts.

Reminds me of USAF jet (F-4 I think) where the radio was located under the pilot seat, right next to the device that ejected the pilot seat.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Yeah, theres at least two problems with that setup...

 

[ls99]

Bread & beer used to be an important part of my routine, but as soon as I stopped consuming them I lost weight and still had room left for chocolate...

I'll second and third that. Feel better too.

At times OD on dark chocolate.

 

[Lazarus]

Reminds me of USAF jet (F-4 I think) where the radio was located under the pilot seat, right next to the device that ejected the pilot seat.

Yep the radio was on the left side of the ejection seat. You had to have the seat removed in order to change it! Even better the relay to change the radio antenna from top to bottom antenna was on the rail of the ejection seat in the back. No way to see it or reach it.

 

[samclem]

An F-4C crew chief also told me about a particularly pesky aileron linkage located about 2 feet from the nearest (small) access panel on the wing. To inspect/lube it required a special setup and only a tech with a particularly small and nimble arm could do it.

These things led to a program whereby the USAF "invited" the folks who designed these machines to come work on the flightline and in the depots for awhile. "Here, you jam your arm in there and lube that linkage." In 100 degree heat. Wearing chem gear.

Things are a lot better on today's jets, and serviceability/MX factors are taken into account in the design process. Still, there are issues.

I wish car manufacturers would take this seriously-I think it would be a major selling point for some buyers. I would love to buy a car that could be easily serviced. Even if I still had to/wanted to take it to the shop, the number of hours spent getting the work done would be less.

 

[NW-Bound]

If we can put a man on the moon, why can they not invent a mutual fund that beats all other mutual funds at least 70% of the time?

...Oh, they have?

Never mind.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

I want a MF that guarantees me the 10% return, as averaged over the last 100 years or whatever period they have kept record.

Every year a STEADY 10%. I don't want any of this up/down stuff, and rebalancing blah blah blah..

Perhaps our honorable Congress can pass a law mandating that.

Oh, they are working on that? Nevermind.

Hmm... They are gonna give me a guaranteed 10%, but before inflation?

 

[cantlogin]

Is everyone really confident that we could put a man on the moon again? That almost seems like the good old days… never to be repeated.

 

[clifp]

The 40th anniversary is coming up and I fear that NASA is so dysfunctional that they'd be hard press to put a Man on the Moon in less than a decade.

 

[ERD50]

Is everyone really confident that we could put a man on the moon again? That almost seems like the good old days… never to be repeated.

I'd really question if we should, even if we could. I'd rather see a 'space race' for energy conservation and reduced-pollution sources of energy and energy storage. I think we would benefit more from that.

If you are interested in space stuff (I am, though not as much as I once was), check out the Science Friday podcasts. Just about every-time some space event occurs, the host will interview some people from NASA. It's interesting to get the inside view on these missions.

-ERD50