MATH: IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO?: We’re fond of learning about ways to stick it to The Man here at PFD, which is why we were tickled pink to read how somebody successfully fought a speed camera ticket. Ostensibly there for the safety of the public, speed cameras and red light cameras are essentially a dubious revenue generation scheme for localities. So how do you defeat them? With math! Here’s a firsthand account of how to do it from somebody who received a speeding ticket from the camera:
The first thing I noticed were the timestamps. The first photo was marked 04:14:19.7 PM, and the second photo 04:14:20.2 PM. That means it took 0.5 seconds for the camera to take two successive pictures of my car. In order for me to verify if the speed camera was accurate, I needed to know the distance my car traveled in that time period. But, that information wasn’t provided in the citation.
The second thing I noticed was the poor quality of the photos. The angle and the lighting make it very difficult to determine how far my car traveled. Based on a landmark (a parked car), it appears as if I traveled about one car-length in 0.5 seconds. The type of car I drive is typically about 15 feet long, so that means, based solely on the crude photographic evidence, that I was traveling 30 feet per second. Crunching the numbers, that converts to 20 mph. In other words, the photographic evidence didn’t support their case that I was speeding.
The officer actually showed up for the trial, and here’s what happened:
“You said the device calculates speed by dividing distance by time. Do you know how far my car traveled?”
“No,” he responded.
“Do you know the margin of error for the device?”
“No.”
0 for 2. That’s good for me. The city attorney then submitted documentation showing that the speed camera was certified to work accurately. The judge noted, however, that the documentation didn’t actually provide much detail, and she also wasn’t familiar with the certification process described. I made sure to hammer that point home: “While it’s nice that the camera has been shown to work, the relevant point of how far my car traveled and the margin of error of the device hasn’t been provided.”
I felt the tide turning my way. Then came the coup de grace. The city attorney, presumably not intentionally trying to undermine her own case, asked if the officer was certified to use the device that took a photo of my car.
“No.”
The judge ruled for the defendant, and a $189 ticket was avoided. A happy ending for everybody except the cash-strapped Seattle city government!
ODD EBAY LISTING OF THE DAY: We stumbled upon this eBay listing:
It’s an expired Visa gift card from an Australian promotion, and it can be yours for only $230 American dollars!
ARE LED LIGHT BULBS WORTH THE MONEY?: LED light bulbs, in theory, are awesome, since they convert most of the electricity they use to light, which means they’re very cheap to run. What’s not awesome is the price tag, as you can drop fifty dollars on a single bulb. The good news is that prices are coming down and the light quality is getting better. The New York Times has a great rundown on the current state of LED light bulbs for the consumer market. The cheapest bulbs are now around $10 each, which sounds expensive, except:
LEDs last about 25 times as long as incandescents and three times as long as CFLs; we’re talking maybe 25,000 hours of light. Install one today, and you may not own your house, or even live, long enough to see it burn out. (Actually, LED bulbs generally don’t burn out at all; they just get dimmer.)
You know how hot incandescent bulbs become. That’s because they convert only 5 to 10 percent of your electricity into light; they waste the rest as heat. LED bulbs are far more efficient. They convert 60 percent of their electricity into light, so they consume far less electricity. You pay less, you pollute less.
But wait, there’s more: LED bulbs also turn on to full brightness instantly. They’re dimmable. The light color is wonderful; you can choose whiter or warmer bulbs. They’re rugged, too. It’s hard to break an LED bulb, but if the worst should come to pass, a special coating prevents flying shards.
The bottom line?
LED bulbs last decades, save electricity, don’t shatter, don’t burn you, save hundreds of dollars, and now offer plummeting prices and blossoming features. What’s not to like? You’d have to be a pretty dim bulb not to realize that LED light is the future.
We mostly agree with that, although we’d caveat that with our own experience. We bought several LED bulbs last year during a promotion. Two of them burned out within a few months, and two of them are still going strong a year later despite being on several hours a day every day. (For the record, we’ve had some quality issues with CFLs as well).
The light quality is not great, though it is better than CFLs, but from what we’ve read elsewhere it’s improved a lot in the newer bulbs. We’ll try out some of the new bulbs and report back later. If you’re considering LED bulbs for your house, the whole article is worth a read.
Recent Comments