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The Hyperloop: BUSTED
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IanMacdonald:
I do think that all these mega-speed transportation ideas are attacking the commuter problem from the wrong angle.

A bunch of electrons are struggling to get through a narrow wire from - to +. This is making the wire hot. You decide to alleviate the problem by fitting a heavier cable. The result? More electrons decide that this would be a great idea, so...  :bullshit:

In the UK we have Stamp Duty, which adds to the already high cost of moving house. It's effective a government fine for relocating.  :wtf:

-Is it any wonder there is such a commuter problem?

If the government wanted to solve this, they would:

* Make it easier, not harder,  for people to move to where there is work.
* Discourage the building of 'dormitory towns' far away from any work or amenities.
* Stop charging city residents a fortune to park outside their house in daytime.
* Encourage remote working.
* Make it more expensive for firms to service huge areas from one central depot.
The problem at the moment is that the government makes huge amounts of revenue from vehicle and road fuel taxation, and parking charges. This could explain why the situation perpetuates itself.
james_s:

--- Quote from: David Hess on January 18, 2018, 01:19:38 pm ---And I know that I did not; expensive bulbs hardly last any longer and not even longer proportional to the increase in cost.  There is nothing to be done about the power short of installing active power conditioning.

Even California concluded that the operating life of LED bulbs was grossly overestimated making their economic savings questionable but of course that did not give them pause in mandating their use.  The whole exercise was for rent seeking as I expected.

--- End quote ---


I can't really say how long they last because so far I've never had one fail except for a cheap one I used in a fully enclosed fixture even though it said not to. The LED bulbs in my porch lights run an average of 12 hours a night on a timer and I labeled them when I installed them in Nov 2011, still going strong. My house was 100% LED (except for the oven and microwave bulbs) as of 2012 and even the early bulbs I was paying $40 each for have paid for themselves by now.

I haven't heard of the data regarding California you mention, but I do know the guys at the BSL in Los Angeles have had an LED streetlight running 24/7 for 5 or 6 years now and last I heard they had not recorded any measurable lumen depreciation.
cdev:
When I was a kid, I remember going to NYC to places like the Empire State Building and seeing that offices there used a pneumatic vacuum tube system to send and receive their mail. It was pretty old at that point, but it was still being used.

They had similar systems in a lot of cities/large businesses.   I don't think any of them are still in use.

james_s:
Banks all had pneumatic tube systems for the drivethrough stations, I don't know if they still do. The Costco near me has one, I'm not sure precisely what it's used for but I think it's for sending cash from the registers back to a central point. There's even one in the kitchen of the food court which is outside the main part of the store.
mtdoc:
Many hospitals have pneumatic tube systems and still use them. The work geat. The local Walmart has one as well that they use for their pharmacy. These systems work well.
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