Jeff

a comment

This was a reply to andybaird...

Also, with the fractions of a watt that cell phones use, especially on standby, sitting in an area lit by fluorescent bulbs, could, if not slowly charge the phone, at the very least extend the battery power.

If you're actively using the phone under fluorescent light (which puts out a small but usable amount of power in the spectrum a PV cell uses) the screen is going to be facing the light.

That would be why it's transparent to visible light, and opaque to UV/IR (where most of the power is in sunlight)

When I was a kid, my brother an I held a 10 foot metal fence post up in air, out in the middle of an open field, on top of the tallest hill for miles.

A bolt hit less than a mile away and we ran for it.

I don't remember being so scared in my life, or so stupid.


/felt like sharing.

What I want is something like that for Windows media center. Is there anything like that?

@TehSilentWolf

Currently we use reservoir lakes for this function. They basically act like massive batteries.

The way they work, is by pumping water into a large manmade (typically) lake, when there is extra power. When there is not enough power they let the water flow out of the reservoir through hydroelectric generators.

These can be made with massive capacity, just by make the reservoir lakes bigger.

27second startup for me.

I have one simple question.

If the problem happens in all smart phones, why does the iPhone 3GS drop only ~15dBm, and keep its data connection, when I tightly grip the phone on all sides, completely surrounding the phone (much less under normal use). Whereas the iPhone 4 drops ~20dBm just sitting on a table, away from my body lightly touching "the gap" with the tip of my finger. When I do that it immediately stops loading pages, or drops a call if I am on one. When I tightly grip the iPhone 4 while touching that spot it loses ~25dBm

When I put a piece of thin transparent scotch tape over the left side of the phone it doesn't do that, and loses less than the 3GS. This is what I did since I am right handed, and hold the phone in my left hand when touching the screen for most things.

Don't get me wrong, I love the iPhone 4 and won't return it.
It works really well, and looks great, now that I put the tape on it (you would never know the tape is there)

If apple has any good looking free cases, I might get one, and take off my tape, but for now the tape works, but it's far from an ideal solution.

I wonder how many they would have sold if they had enough for anyone who wanted one. Like me for instance.