Common people know much more about Tesla's main competitor of that time, Thomas Edison. Ironically Edison pushed towards direct current (DC) devices evrywhere, against Tesla's work on alternative current (AC). Edison didn't understood how a current changing its direction several times per second could be practical. Thus he didn't envision the benefit of AC for economical electric transport in wires through long distance, nor the possibility of electrodeless induction machines it offers. Because of this obstination he tried to discredit Tesla's work. Sad.
Highly energetic varying magnetic fields are unhealthy on long term, which Tesla didn't know. He had some light bulbs illuminated by EM induction (and thus was freely walking around in his lab, carrying these "wireless electric lanterns") using EM induction with a big coil.
But it can even be dangerous instantaneously, if you approach an emissive RF inductive coil while having a closed conducting circuit on you, for example a metalic ring. The ring can heat very quickly (think about induction hob in kitchens cooktop, which rely basically on the same basis) and it can cut your finger like a lightsaber before you notice, if powerful enough. Some married scientists has already been hurt in such a way while working on big induction coils in their labs.
Yes, the comment by PEZ is indeed correct. Air does not conduct electricity normally, or when it occurs at very high voltage the lightning is deviated towards the nearest conductor (and it could be the cop's feet! :-D). But prototypes of effective lightning gun has been made, using a primary ultraviolet laser which ionizes air along its path, then the gun fires an enormous electric discharge and the lightning goes straight forward because it follows the ionized rectilinear line.
... and I forgot National Semiconductor, Analogix Semiconductor, FCI Connect, Foxconn, Redmere Technologies, JAE Electronics, Sure-Fire Electronics, THine Electronics, and the most important: ATI Technologies. Moreover, Intel, NVIDIA and ATI make video-out for the PC graphic cards (but not VESA, Dell, HP nor Lenovo behing DisplayPort). Samsung is the world leader in LCD HDTV market. I think UDI will easily win against DP.
You forgot to talk about UDI (Unified Display Interface) currently beeing developped by Intel to replace both DVI and HDMI, and supported by Silicon Image Inc., Apple, LG, Samsung and NVIDIA.. And UDI is compatible with DVI, HDMI and HDCP. Version 0.8 of the UDI specification has already been published, with version 1.0 due in Q2 2006. Unified Display Interface SIG web site : http://www.udisig.org
Can someone please tell us the WxHxD dimensions of these new TV sets (26" or 32"), in particular the depth without stand? This information cannot be found on the net.
Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"All of these new nettops have me intrigued. I'm looking for a small, quiet and cheap PC to replace my aging tower in my home office, and all it really needs to do is load Microsoft Office, check email and surf the web. Is there a particular nettop that's better (or a better value) than another? I know it's a rather new segment, but hopefully someone has taken a chance on one already. Thanks!"
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