Mr Info

Dislike sleeping but realize it is necessary and try to limit it as much as possible. The idea of sleeping 20 yrs by the time I am 60 was disconcerting. Just so much to do, learn, etc. to lose that to sleep. i sleep lightly but have no problems going to sleep. Prefer to go to bed late & get up early. 5-6 hours seems enough for me. Maybe get 45 minutes in a nap sometime during the day if I feel I need it.

That’s great to see. I have ridden the maglev train in Shanghai which gets to 268 mph but maglev trains can get much faster. Hope faster trains can be deployed to compete with planes for domestic travel someday.

One time e coli breakout there https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/11/14/pa-petting-zoo-linked-to-e-coli-breakout/da508c44-b0ef-44d2-92b0-d92521f4e459/?utm_term=.75834ab74ad3 Internet never forgets

Lex Luthor already did it: Lutherville, Otisburg...

Acantha - I apologize but this reply will not provide any info to your request but is info for anyone looking for jobs in the Raleigh area. Novo Nordisk is expanding a plant and adding a bunch of jobs there: http://www.novonordisk-us.com/careers/working-at-novo-nordisk/careers-clayton.html

I believe you will be satisfied. From what I have been able to discern, it is well done. I am looking forward to seeing it.

Note to self: be careful picking topics to read on OTW during lunch.

Give him some credit...Roy Westerfield.

Same here. I read the whole story behind the Mont Blanc ship and Halifax Explosion...what a story and what a tragedy. Big thanks to Vince Coleman who saved many lives and was eventually inducted into the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame.

Yep, you just dated yourself.

I respectfully disagree. This link ranks property tax by state. I live in VA which has less than half the rate of NY. When people are retired and on a fixed income that savings can be significant. I am not retired yet but certainly appreciate the tax savings. And I do not feel I lack for services. https://taxfoundation.org/how-high-are-property-taxes-your-state/

Carolina Rebellion looks awesome. Lots of great bands and Billy Idol this year. FloydFest is much more mellow. Not sure if this would be to your liking. End of July but on top of a mountain so it's cooler. But lots of single girls from what I can tell so that may be a plus. But, be careful where you poontang as poison ivy is around.

Are you a switch-hitter? Not that there is anything wrong with that.

I will add a US dry county tidbit. FloydFest is an annual music fest in SW Virginia that actually takes place on land in Patrick county, not Floyd county. To 'legally' purchase alcohol, you have to go inside designated tents/areas. However, everyone walks around with cups or bottles that have alcohol of some sort in them and no one checks until you pass out. However, they do check when you are exiting the designated tents. But there are creative ways around that as well. The land where the fest is held actually borders Floyd county and within a 200 yd walk from the fest is Villa Appalachia which produces some nice Italian vino. I will listen to some music, then take a short walk just past the edge of the festival to Villa Appalachia, and do some wine tasting and purchase there. Fortunately, they are that close but that was completely unintended as the winery was there long before FloydFest began. Kinda unusual to be at a somewhat crazy, fun fest and then walk a few minutes to this serene outpost.

PJ O’Rourke fan? http://www.heretical.com/miscella/reptile.html

...curious commode caper... ...bathroom bandit... ...potty-plugger... sheesh

I will give it a shot but this could change if more facts are brought forward. Information has been revealed that two things occurred prior/at the accident: the autonomous car applied brakes but not quickly enough to avoid the accident and the driver was looking down and not ahead. It would have been interesting to determine if the driver would have applied brakes and/or grabbed the wheel quicker than the autonomous driver reacted to the scenario. I believe the result would have been the same even if the driver were looking forward. The fault would have been on the person crossing and not whoever the driver was. But your question is interesting. If one owns an autonomous care and it gets in an accident and it is determined to be 'at fault' due to a software glitch or some other unknown reason, does the vendor become responsible for any resulting extraneous expenses? This question is already being addressed (from this link: https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/26/3-ways-self-driving-cars-will-affect-the-insurance-industry/ ). Google, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz already accept liability in cases where a vehicle’s self-driving system is at fault for a crash. Tesla is taking things a step further by extending an insurance program to purchasers of Tesla vehicles. This offering shows an extraordinary level of confidence in the technology. Current data even indicates that preventable human error is the cause of as many as 94 percent of all accidents.

If you have to "man" it then it is not autonomous. Someday, perhaps when you are older and your vision and reaction time are not as capable as now, you may want to go somewhere. Your ability to 'man' the vehicle would increase the odds of an accident if you decide to take over. The focus for autonomous vehicles is on safety. People make mistakes...this is being implemented to avoid the distraction, response time, etc. that people incur which leads to accidents. The autonomous system will not be able to read my mind if I come flying out of the dark into an intersection at 20 mph on my bike or run onto a freeway. But that's my bad if I get hit by a car whether with a driver or driverless. Of course, avoiding collisions should be the ultimate goal regardless of whomever/whatever is driving but sometimes people on or near roads are not cautious and do not think through their decisions and something untoward occurs to them. Certainly, the fault should not fall upon the 'driver' in these instances. Anyone that likes to drive should be able to continue to do so even when autonomous cars become commonplace. I expect that when autonomous vehicles become the norm that insurance will become cost prohibitive for most people. Unfortunately, people will make far more driving errors than autonomous vehicles and this will be reflected in their insurance rates.

Please explain. Though long-distance autonomous car travel may not be at the forefront of early deployment design, there are plenty of articles that specifically call out long-distance autonomous car trips and the impact it may have on airline travel.

This. An article about the poor design at the location of the accident and warning signs that were present. Also, as others have pointed out, the darkness at the time of the accident.. https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe-breaking/2018/03/19/woman-dies-fatal-hit-strikes-self-driving-uber-crossing-road-tempe/438256002/ "A large median at the site of the crash has signs warning people not to cross mid-block and to instead use the crosswalk to the north at Curry. But the median also has a brick pathway that cuts through the desert landscaping that accommodates people who do cross at that site." I am an early adopter of technology and would try a fully autonomous vehicle when it is available. As plenzmd points out, too many drivers are distracted and that contributes significantly to accidents. https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving https://newsroom.aaa.com/tag/texting-while-driving/ Teen Driver Cell Phone Statistics 11 teens die every day as a result of texting while driving. According to a AAA poll, 94% of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, but 35% admitted to doing it anyway. 21% of teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their cell phones. Not surprisingly, there is a positive correlation in reaction time to age while driving. Effects of Age and Task Load on Drivers’ Response Accuracy and Reaction Time When Responding to Traffic Lights https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4940374/ As expected, we observed that RT increased along with task difficulty in both the middle-aged and elderly groups. I cannot control the other drivers but I know that there are other things that I would rather be doing most times when I am driving. Heck, I am a remote season ticket holder with a roughly 500 mile trek to the stadium. I would rather surf, snooze, drink, etc. than concentrate on driving. I am looking forward to an autonomous vehicle.

Would you detail car/autonomous platform? There are competitors and not all AI/algorithms used are the same. Curious as to which you used that left you with this impression.

Dorsey expects bitcoin to be world's currency in 10 years. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/21/jack-dorsey-expects-bitcoin-to-become-the-worlds-single-currency-in-about-10-years.html

It appears that will be on April 2 https://www.wxyz.com/news/little-caesars-offering-free-lunch-combo-after-no-16-umbc-stuns-no-1-virginia

That was an outstanding game. Bamba fouling out really hurt them. Cheering for Texas because Shaka Smart was the former VCU coach (I live near Richmond) & he is a good person. Heard him speak & met him at some events. Hope he does well at Texas.

Good point. I would also like to mention that Immunotherapy is being used in combination with other therapies (radiation, chemo, etc.) to determine the most effective treatments. https://www.cancer.gov/research/key-initiatives/immunotherapy If you were to use the link to the clinical trials that was included in my previous post, it will return all types of therapies (chemo, immuno, targeted, radiation, etc., and combinations of these) for treating cancer. A better analysis of these options will be applied by Guardant and Foundation Medicine to determine the best form of treatment based on results achieved. In some cases, especially in new studies, results have not yet been posted but they will still be included as an option if the study criteria are a match.