Thank you, Keith! Ever since I found steampunk, it's seemed natural. And I've always spelled "grey" this way, instead of "gray". Drove my second-grade teacher at PS 23 in Noo Yawk City crazy. Even moreso when I found a dictionary to back me up.
On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 2:36 PM, Keith Johnson <[email protected]>wrote: > > > Martin, > > I have to give big ups for someone who still uses the classical spelling > "(a)ether", with the leading "a". I do that all the time in words like > "(a)eon", which always gives the Microsoft of Firefox spellcheckers fits. I > also love to use British spellings like "gr(ey" or "humo(u)r", instead of > the American versions, which also freaks out the computer! > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Martin Baxter" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 2:27:33 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Burning Question: Why Do We Still Have Power > Cords? > > > > I see your logic there, Tracy. If there were energy out there in the > aether, some mad genius (pointing at self) would puzzle out a way to get > more of it without paying full freight. > > On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 1:22 PM, Tracy Curtis <[email protected]>wrote: > >> >> >> There's probably a little of the "If it ain't broke. . ." idea. But I >> imagine the biggest reason is to protect billing. >> >> On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 5:41 AM, Martin Baxter >> <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> Something I've wondered about many a day, Mr Worf. Here's hoping that >>> this comes to light. >>> >>> >>> On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 5:58 AM, Mr. Worf <[email protected]>wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Burning Question: Why Do We Still Have Power Cords? >>>> >>>> - By Bryan Gardiner [image: Email Author] <[email protected]> >>>> - May 24, 2010 | >>>> - 12:00 pm | >>>> - Wired June 2010 <http://www.wired.com/magazine/18-06/> >>>> - >>>> >>>> [image: Illustration: Don Clark] >>>> >>>> Illustration: Don Clark >>>> >>>> It’s a good thing Nikola Tesla <http://www.pbs.org/tesla/> never >>>> figured out how to time travel, because that cord jungle behind your >>>> entertainment center would break his heart—again. It’s been more than a >>>> century since he lit incandescent bulbs wirelessly in his lab, and yet >>>> you’re still plugging into the wall. >>>> >>>> Even your three-pronged socket looks surprised. >>>> >>>> There are plenty of ways to beam volts through the air. Unfortunately, >>>> none of them are as cheap, efficient, convenient, or, well, safe as a cord. >>>> Radio waves can carry electromagnetic radiation to your devices, but >>>> radiation tends to peter out over long distances, leaving a thirsty gadget >>>> on the receiving end. Sure, you can crank up the amps to compensate for the >>>> loss, but then you end up frying passersby. Not good. >>>> >>>> Lasers provide a better long-distance solution—but only if there is >>>> direct line of sight between source and device. Hey… down in front! >>>> >>>> MIT spinoff >>>> WiTricity<http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/wireless-0607.html>has worked >>>> out how to transmit juice to any gadget that enters a certain >>>> magnetic field. Using two magnetically resonant coils that operate at the >>>> same frequency—one in the transmitter and one in the device—the company has >>>> successfully transferred watts of electricity over a couple of meters. >>>> Unfortunately, when you increase the space between the coils, charging >>>> efficiency goes down the toilet. This solution also litters your house with >>>> magnetic fields. While the company says these fields are orders of >>>> magnitude >>>> weaker than those found in an MRI machine, your tinfoil-hat-wearing >>>> neighbor >>>> is likely already imagining exploding pacemakers and brain tumors. >>>> >>>> Other firms are banking on magnetic induction. You might already have a >>>> gadget that charges this way: Electric toothbrushes have used the >>>> technology >>>> for years. Recently PowerMat >>>> <http://www.powermat.com/us/how-it-works/>started using it for a charging >>>> pad that lets you gas up any gadget for >>>> which the company makes a compatible adaptor. But magnetic induction is >>>> barely wireless: It relies on superclose proximity between two coils to >>>> transfer power. It’s also unclear whether it can supply enough power for >>>> the >>>> amp-hungry gadgets in your living room. >>>> >>>> Bottom line? Get used to gear with tails. While we can definitely cut >>>> down on a few of the cords in our lives, slicing through that final wire >>>> may >>>> take a sharper technological knife that we currently have. >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! >>>> Mahogany at: >>>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody >>> hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant >>> >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik >>> >> >> > > > -- > "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell > wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > -- "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
