Fred Thompson

Member since: Feb 14th, 2006

Fred Thompson's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
Engadget	15 Comments
Download Squad	6 Comments
Engadget Mobile	6 Comments

Recent Comments:

Barack Obama - President 2.0? (Download Squad)

Nov 8th 2008 10:01AM No, Gameboys are 1989...

However, this is one of my favorite points. Besides the myth of young voters (demographics and numbers in thei election were the same regarding who voted and who did not), the "youth" appeal is very short-lived. Bill Clinton was on MTV (when it was cool) and lots of college kids were excited though very few voted. Four years later (an eternity in student time) Bill Clinton was another adult who lied to them and was one of "them" not "us." Fortunately for him, his opponent was the less-than-vibrant Bob Dole. Obama's got himself in a corner against that demographic given he's promised to absolve college debts. With whose money? In the next Presidential election, he'll be the "establishment" and tribe theory makes him the target, not the Pied Piper. Remember Al Gore's hype about running net cables in schools? Four years later that was incredibly out of touch because WiFi was so much more possible. He'll also have four years of LOTS of web-based documentation of actual actions and results.

Amazon sues NY state over tax collection (Download Squad)

May 2nd 2008 11:48AM That claim is beyond weak. An Amazon affiliate is not an employee. The affiliate gets a finder's fee, not wages or a salary and the physical presence does not belong to Amazon nor is there any form of rent or lease from Amazon. The affiliate, at most, would be required by law to account for the finder's fee as part of their income.

DARPA turns Arthur C. Clarke's Stiletto into MAHEM (Engadget)

Apr 24th 2008 4:07PM This has been in the tech blogs for what, 2 days? Apparently, very few people actually know how a shaped charge works. Look at an RPG. The warhead is, basically, 2 cones, jointed at the base. The front tip is the triggering sensor. The real cone is a a shaped charge whose explosion turns the inner cone into a stream of molten metal that burns through the target armor. It's not that difficult and goes back to WWII. This DARPA project uses that concept just with a difference in explosive power. About 15 years ago, maybe more, there were articles in Scientific American about directed nuclear explosions. IIRC, the idea was to use EMP to direct the blast effects, to "shape" the explosion. This seems similar to my eyes...

Vista SP1 alters WGA behavior (Download Squad)

Feb 12th 2008 9:54PM The only thing I've seen in Vista which seems like a real GUI improvement is the glow for the window buttons.

Hang onto any of my yard signs from this year. You might be able to pick up a few bucks on ebay. :P

Microsoft and MediaCart prepping self-checkout carts, with RFID, video and grocery lists for good measure (Engadget)

Jan 14th 2008 3:00PM This looks like another example of over-enthusiastic computer geeks who don't understand the use environment.

Why are there close-circuit cameras in grocery stores? Why are there people to "help" at the self-checkout areas? Why do many of the self-checkout terminals say to give coupons to the attendant after they are scanned?

Shrinkage (theft) is a very real issue in grocery stores. Only a human being can tell if a coupon is fake, an item is mislabeled or not scanned.

This is a stupid idea.

Researchers using nano-imprint lithography to make LEDs brighter (Engadget)

Dec 31st 2007 4:22PM This reminds me of how the US Govmint "helps" the market. Ten years ago it was huge amounts of copper wires to network schools and now it's outlawing incandescent bulbs (to push CF bulbs.) The market brings wireless to reality and low cost which would have had far less cost than copper wires and now it looks like LED lights will surpass CF. LED has the potential for a full light spectrum, no heat and virtually no toxic components. Lets hope the market outpaces the "leaders" this time...

Senate passes energy bill, hopes to up mileage standards (Engadget)

Jun 22nd 2007 3:33PM @mrz, I said what I said, not what you projected into it.

Many roads in Europe, especially inside cities, won't fit large vehicles. Any cargo hauler, regardless of size, must first propel itself and THEN it has cargo capacity. A higher number of smaller transport vehicle to move the same cargo as a smaller number of larger transport vehicles will consume more fuel because they will have a great amount of inherent mass. Ergo, MORE fuel consumption to move the cargo and MORE COST for the goods.

At 64 years old, if you really are that age, you should be emotionally mature enough to separate disagreement from personal attacks.

Senate passes energy bill, hopes to up mileage standards (Engadget)

Jun 22nd 2007 3:22PM Well, let's see...

I drive in Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Ireland and the UK between 4 and 5 months per year. I've already driven 4,300 miles in June of this year. I don't have a Hummer, truck or SUV.

Simple fact, Europe has a lot of small cars with virtually no real cargo capacity and very limited protection in accidents.

Simple fact, "high" gas prices primarily come from taxes and increased consumption with minimal expansion of production.

Simple fact, distances and cargo capacity affect all prices. Larger capacity = more efficiency in cargo hauling.

If you don't understand those things, learn basic economics.

Senate passes energy bill, hopes to up mileage standards (Engadget)

Jun 22nd 2007 3:10PM Can you provide links to methodology used to create these statements? Apples have to be compared to apples. There are similar claims made for infant mortality in the U.S. but the way the counts are made are very different. The U.S. includes cases which the majority of the world does not count. Your stated ranking smells of that kind of unequal accounting.

Digicam tech goes wafer-thin, cellphones cheer (Engadget Mobile)

Jun 22nd 2007 10:55AM The autofocus is probably done with a liquid lens where the shape of the liquid is electrically controlled.

I was wondering about what "slave off" meant. Was it a typo that should have been "shave off" or are we at the point of neural embeds so our robotic overlords can more easily monitor the breeders?