Phi for All

DC tends to be easier on the devices it powers (Edison made DC powered light bulbs with filaments that are still burning today), but AC can be pushed much further away (we could never have power plants supplying DC current). I remember hearing that Edison's original idea was to have everybody generate their electricity personally from small home generators so we could use DC current. I wish someone would come up with an affordable unit that was environmentally friendly but it would probably topple the economy since you wouldn't have to replace bulbs and blow dryers all the time.

"I always get in the fastest moving line (queue)." "Oh, I'd never want to be as good-looking as In My Memory. I do admire her modesty, though." "My internet connection is almost too fast for me." "AzurePhoenix is much too timid and can't seem to assert herself in a confrontation." "When I talk physics with swansont, Severian and Martin I get the feeling most of it is going right over their heads." "Dave, you made a mistake here in your checkbook."

Spanking is like white-water rafting. Your enjoyment of the experience depends on who is wielding the paddle.

"I wish my boss would figure out how to micromanage me a little more." "This job doesn't have enough paperwork!" "I've just come up with three new sitcom plots that have never been done before." "I think winning the lottery would just screw my whole life up." "I don't mind sitting behind this person doing 45 on the highway. It gives me time to think." "I don't mind being inconvenienced personally if it means society as a whole will benefit." From George Carlin (who started this a long time ago): "Please saw my legs off." "Hand me that piano."

I've been a bad poster! And I deserve a good spanking....

For that much weight you'd need more like 8"-10". Remember, standard gooseneck cables are usually around 1/2" thick to support microphones and lamps that weigh half a kilo or less. And attaching that to a single point on your TV would create it's own stress problems. I doubt the TV casing is made tough enough to handle it. You could try multiple thinner cables but now you're back to the aesthetic question. Twenty standard gooseneck cables would look kind of weird sprouting from the base of your TV and leading to a base. And one more time, why do you need the ability to offset from the base? Wouldn't it be much easier and cheaper to get one of the standard floor stands which tilt, swivel and telescope and just move the whole thing on the rare occasions when it's range of motion wasn't sufficient?

Science is not in the business of ruling things out. It merely assigns lower probability to those things which aren't testable and falsifiable. Logically, a good scientist recognizes improbable occurences are not impossible ones. Also, a creator is not incompatible with evolution, as long as the creator is not an impatient one. I actually enjoy the thought of a creator who does the least amount of effort possible to start the ball rolling and is willing to let time and process take care of the rest. When ID starts talking about a creator who can't be observed due to the nature of faith, it is not science and does not belong in the classroom alongside science. Those seeking religious instruction or faith-based solutions have other venues for such information.

Yes, if you lend me the side of your head.

Another reason why we moderate the news posts is so we can check to make sure it's science related. We're not allowed to run the story without permission. We ARE allowed to link and even excerpt from it if we are discussing it. The News Forum is there to debate about the news, not to view it. There are other outlets for that (that's why we give the links to the stories). The News Forum is not your news source, it's a place to talk about the news that's relevant. That's why we jump all over people who post links (in all fora) and then just say "Hey, did you see this?" We want your opinions on the stories, not a guide to what's in the news. Whenever you link to another site, you should be commenting on what's said there, not simply calling it out. If you simply think it was a fascinating article, tell us why, give us some direction for discussion.

Anything you made with a gooseneck design might start out tight and springy, but would quickly become loose and floppy with that kind of wieght on it. Add the fact that there's nothing standard like this and you've just quadrupled your costs. There are some standard floor mounts that will tilt, swivel and telescope up and down. Gooseneck-bendy will only add being able to acheive odd angles without moving the base. How often are you going to need that? There have been times when I've come to realize that the elaborate measures I'm taking on a project are not worth the rewards. Perhaps if you could elaborate on why the standard mounts won't work for you we could figure a fix. I swear, one of my clients has a Project Manager who's just like you. He gives me the bare bones of a problem and can't understand why I need more info to solve it. Every conversation with him is like pulling teeth.

The detector doesn't create the sound, but there isn't a detector I know of that won't have some type of sound accompanying it (microphone vibration, electric hum, blood pumping near the eardrum, etc.). Whether the tree makes a sound when it falls in a forest bereft of those capable of hearing it, well, that's another thread. If Buck had been outside the ship he wouldn't have heard it. If the rock would've hit his helmet he would hear it because the helmet is full of oxygen. As Glider points out, the outer part of the ear is for focus. You could still hear without the flappy parts.

Did one of the wall-mounts from either of those sites I gave you spark any interest? How many seats are you going to be sitting in? Can't the TV be positioned to face the ones you use most often? And how much will you need it to move if all the seats are filled? And if all the seats are filled isn't somebody going to end up with a side view no matter where you move the TV? The wall mounts from the links are for motels and hospitals where multiple users will have multiple preferences. Chances are you're going to set up the TV and maybe need to move it once or twice in several months time. Are you sure it's worth it?

Why bendy? Are you really needing to move it to different angles? Or is it because you want to move it out of the way when you're not watching?

If you insist on a bendy floor mount I'm not sure you can do it. There are some great wall mounts with a great deal of range that can handle 3-4 times the load you've got. Try tray TV mounts or this place for some more. The second site has floor mounts but they didn't look very bendy.

Not only does sound require a medium, it also requires a detector. Anything you use to detect sound is going to produce some sound as well, whether it's a microphone or the human ear.

For a homemade device, how about suspending it rather than supporting it? If your need for range of motion is not great you could attach a short 2x4 to the ceiling to pivot 360 degrees, then attach a simple pulley to the arm for vertical motion. Not as rigid as you may like but doable with inexpensive materials. I have to say, it's a real PITA having to get little bits on info on what you would like to do. If you could describe exactly what you're attempting and why you want to attempt it we could probably think outside as well as inside the box.

Please use the Search function. There are several threads on this and I don't want to waste everyone's time on the same debate. Here are some: http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18477&highlight=%22intelligent+design%22 http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18628&highlight=%22intelligent+design%22

Start at the beginning and tell us what you're trying to do. Nothing in the bendy cable category is going to support that much weight. Chances are there is something out there already you can use that will be cheaper than trying to make it yourself.

What about televangelism? I feel like I need some soap after flipping past one of those channels.

I'm betting if something organic is sitting on a bar of soap it'll cause mold. Soap isn't magically cleaner than anything else, but the glycerine in it breaks the surface tension of water to make it... wetter. When I first heard about anti-bacterial soap, I remember thinking, "Hasn't soap ALWAYS been killing bacteria?" Rude awakening, believe me.

Could the mousetrap arms be extended and used to pull a loose collar down a threaded propeller shaft? Something along these lines only smaller and lighter weight. Carved and waxed balsa wood comes to mind. You could even cut most of the mousetrap away (at least the metal U part) if that's legal.

Don't they taste like honey mustard and ranch dressing?

Ah, but when said paste is molded into dinosaurs, the resulting educational value seems to overcome any gastronomical objections. At least from kids....

I don't eat burgers much anymore. Grinding tougher cuts of meat to make them palatable is what ground beef is all about. Quality over quantity has become my new motto in the last several years. I'm no longer in stressful daily situations where I have to resort to filling up quickly on fast foods. I spend the same amount of money, time and effort and have a more enjoyable experience, better health and am less of a "consumer" by cutting down on portions and buying better goods. I also hate being ripped off, and many people don't realize that fast food places sell their main menu items at a slight markup so they can really cash in on the side items. Fries and soft drinks have the highest markups of any foodstuffs in the industry. Ten years ago I used to get glares from assistant managers when I would order two burgers and nothing else.