I could tell pretty quickly that the cover image (02.04.02) wasn't exactly as it seemed.
It was a nice attempt, and since speedskating ice is really clean, I wouldn't have been all that surprised with the beautifully clear reflection. However, I could tell it is just a mirror image of the top half of the photo. The cones on the inside are what gives it away. Also, when I first looked at the reflection of the top cones and noticed how dimmed/dirty they are, it made me question how the skater's reflection would be so clean.
By the way, you have great articles—I enjoyed this issue's article on the timing mechanisms.
Eddie Cho, Midlothian, VA
Editor's note: Real or illusion? Only our art director knows for sure!!
I know how to cut the cost of an electric dental drill (DN Editorial 01.21.02): send it to China to be manufactured. And if they can't make it send a few American engineers over to teach them, and in two months time any dentist will be able to afford one. The problem will be that the same American engineers will be out of jobs and therefore have no dental coverage, so they will just have to let their teeth rot and fall out (ha).
I have worked in manufacturing accounting most of my career and it is not fair to blame an accounting system for lack of business knowledge by management. I have always included productivity improvements, additional business, customer satisfaction and maintenance costs in capital equipment justification. In fact, most of our expensive equipment is only justified by additional volume.
Your dentist should think of additional time at home or at play in justifying this expense. Another alternative is additional revenue either through more patients or alternative (higher) pricing. Many patients might pay $5 or $10 more for this service.
In closing we must always engage our brains before making decisions.
Although I endorse efforts to develop efficient automobiles, trains, buses etc., I am a little tired of hearing about these so-called "Zero Emission Vehicles" (DN 01.07.02) There is no such thing.
Electric cars can more precisely be described as "displaced emission" vehicles. After all, you don't just plug into your nearest recharging station and get free energy! It comes from somewhere.
Fuel cells have promise for reducing emissions, but they will never eliminate it. Where will the hydrogen come from, the materials to manufacture the cars?
It's sad that so much press is given to these new technologies under the pretense that they will totally eliminate sources of pollution.
Just my two cents!
William J. Mayda P.Eng., Senior Mechanical Engineer, AcceLight Networks
Your story titled "Engineers making a difference" (DN 12.17.01) featured 5 engineers teaching kids that "engineering is cool." Unfortunately, some of the greater weaknesses and stereotypes within the engineering profession are being perpetuated by the article's view.
Each example of fictional "cool" engineers and the professional engineers fostering "coolness" in their respective communities is a Caucasian male. The same National Science Foundation whose statistics were cited in your article has supported many efforts to increase the numbers of women and minorities in engineering. An overwhelming finding has been that women do better in their studies and careers when they are fortunate enough to have other women as professional mentors. Similar evidence exists for minorities.
To increase university enrollment in engineering, perceptions regarding engineering must change both in academia and in the workplace. Please begin this effort with a few articles focused on women and minorities.
Karen Ramsey-Idem, PhD TTU 1999
Editor's note: In an upcoming issue, we will be covering a program that teaches elementary and middle school girls about technology. Many of the engineers who volunteer their time for this project are women.
For all those desktop junkies that miss their old handheld calcs (DN Editorial 12.07.02), there are a string of excellent HP calc emulators for the PC available free. So they will live forever. I just pop the 41CX up on the screen, load my old program files written in the standard HP language, but stored on the PC, and voila!
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