"The laser diode emits light pulses with a defined wavelength and pulse repetition frequency. Due to the runtime difference between the internal reference path and the external measurement path, the light pulses, reflected on a target and received from the Leica DISTO™, have experienced a phase shift in relation to the light pulses received through the internal reference path. That phase difference between those two signals is proportional to the distance between instrument and target."
Both "normal" automatic transmissions and the Prius use epicyclic gears. The main difference between the two would be that an automatic transmission in normal operation has one power input (the engine) and one output. As bprater alluded to, any variation in gearing is achieved through fixing different parts of the transmission.
The Prius has two electric motors and a gas engine. It's not a CVT in the traditional sense though, this simulator does a good job of demonstrating how it works(implemented in Flash, not D3...) http://eahart.com/prius/psd/
That simulation is absolutely fascinating. I knew hybrid cars were packed with loads of advanced electronic tech, but the use of epicyclic gears as the PSD is pretty cool.
Toyota's HSD system uses such a scheme, but mechanically, Honda's IMA replaces the flywheel with an electric generator/motor, the remainder of the drivetrain being your typical car (they use either a CVT or a manual stick, depending on models and regions). The key then is entirely in the logic driving the electric motor and the VTEC system.
Strange. I read James' blog (I even linked to it). And I remember posts demonstrating the reverse, that the cost of servers was not dominant in large-scale data centers, but dominant only in medium- and small-scale data centers (think typical enterprise data centers). James was using this data to explain why it made sense for enterprises to benefit from large-scale cost savings by moving to EC2.
Anyway, this does not change my point that the EC2 hourly prices are so high that they eclipse both power & cooling as well as server costs for Amazon.
It's not clear why the author decided to compare a ZestCash loan with credit cart debt when they're clearly different products. And while ZestCash's rates of 242% to 462% are high, they are, under certain circumstances, competitive. For example, in Washington state, MoneyMart charges in the 300s.
The point about credit cards was made because it's advice given to middle class consumers. I assume if 30% is too high for people with money, it's even more so for people without. From the perspective of the business making the loans, of course they're different models. I don't see that as the most important perspective, though.
And the fact that ZestCash is competitive with other usurious lending companies really does nothing to improve my opinion of them.
I don't know much about ISP DNS configurations, but the problem extends to clients as well. For example, until Java 1.6, the default TTL for DNS lookups was forever.