Slashdot Mirror

Before the invention of electronic computers, "computer" was a job description, not a machine. Both men and women were employed as computers, but women were more prominent in the field. This was a matter of practicality more than equality. Women were hired because there was a large pool of women with training in mathematics, but they could be hired for much less money than men with comparable training. Despite this bias, some women overcame their inferior status and contributed to the invention of the first electronic computers.

http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/event.php?id=3456967&lid=1

You know what? When I first read your post I thought you must be a freaking whacko nutjob who needed to be protected from the terrible secret of space.

Then, I did some Googling just to see if there actually was any information on SPS.

Whaaaa? TONS. Oops. I was completely wrong about your post. Thanks for an enlightening comment and please let me apologize for almost chucking you in the virtual loonie bin.

than this. http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/even t.php?id=3457012&lid=1 Wef

"Most of the time, with no prompting, the girls will cuddle and mother the trucks that you give them, and the boys will throw the dolls."

Those kids are never fully removed from society. Unless you deny them friends, TV, stories, or anything else that tells them what their gender's place is, you do not have a controlled experiment at all.

"There are inherent differences between girls and boys."

As there are cultural differences between girls and boys. No one is arguing that boys and girls are biologically identical. It is which is more important in determining their interests later in life that is under discussion.

"Think of it this way. If the differences between male and female humans were arbitrarily decided by society, then how is it that every separate human culture on earth arrived at a similar result?"

Well, they didn't. Different cultures determined different roles for the genders. For instance in many societies cooking is considered the man's job. And I can even think of a time when mathematics was considered a woman's job. In the early part of the century long calculations were performed by human 'computers' sitting at desks. Most of those were women due to the fact that they worked for less money and, once WWII started, the men were needed elsewhere.

Sure, many roles end up being commonly filled by one gender or the other due to the obvious differences in reproductive or physical abilities, but that doesn't mean evolution hardwired our brains to prefer different careers based on our gender. Arguing that it does because you see common patterns is no more valid than a creationist arguing that there must be a creator because certain patterns are common in nature.

I may be wrong about this, but it was Edison who accused DC power of being more dangerous ("Westinghoused") only to have AC adopted for the pleasant US custom of humanely frying criminals. From: http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/even t.php?id=3456872&lid=1 Edison was less than thrilled with the emergence of Westinghouse's technology, which threatened his own dominance in a field he virtually created. He also had genuine concerns about the safety of AC. The two men engaged in a public relations battle to determine which system would become the dominant technology. I think you meant to say that "Edison who accused AC power of being more dangerous", but hey whats a letter or two among fiends? ;) http://www.answers.com/topic/fiend

When asked his opinion, the ghost of Thomas Edison was Straight
forward and Direct about the conversion of the IT Closet to DC.

While it has been rumored that Mr. Nikola Tesla is spinning in
his grave and refuses to give a comment

http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/even t.php?id=3456872&lid=1

Wikipedia's article on battery operated vehicles is pretty damn interesting. Why was that technology abandoned? There's no reason why with modern technology we couldn't build an all-electric car that had comparable performance to any hybrid (they already did in every category save range) and similar range (the missing piece). Who here wouldn't own a battery powered electric vehicle if it had about 300-350 miles of range?

The more I hear about Edison, the less inspiring he appears to be. Wasn't he the one that electrocuted animals to disprove the theories of Nikola Tesla?

This is true. wikipedia info including a video of the actual killing.

Also read about the AC vs DC battle. Edison even tried to coin his competitor's name as a verb meaning "electrocution". Quite the sicko.

Ada Lovelace his daughter was pretty cool though.

> The bbc ran the interview. Data. That's evidence so far
What are you talking about? Please be specific. Mutting dark words and meaningful glances do not work very well on the Internet. If you have evidence, explicitly lay it out. If you viewed some BBC program that exposed a dastardly conspiracy, quote from it to back up your assertions. Otherwise you just obscure the light, and end up running from your own shadows.

> In the US the government was running "drills" about airliners crashing into buildings,
> yet later they denied at the commission investigation that they had any idea
> that something like that could happen.
So you're alleging that the US government conducted some drill with a dastardly purpose in mind. Where's your evidence about their intent? Was the drill how to handle an aircraft impact (and what's wrong with that?), or were they practising how to fly aircraft into buildings? Be specific - clarity is the enemy of darkness.

> How is it that up to 9-11, all previous incidents of major planes off course
> had jet fighters on them within minutes, but on 9-11 none of that happened? Coincidence?

No, just wishful thinking on your part causing you to ignore a basic fact. The aircraft transponders had been switched off by the hijackers. And the simple truth is "The use of transponders increases the detection range of the radar, eliminates clutter interference from other reflectors, and provides a means of aircraft identification and altitude reporting."

> You may believe in political coincidences,
> in regards such high stakes endeavors as changing the political
> course of entire nations,not to mention trillions in potential profits,
> but I sure don't, not when they keep happening over and over again and
> *always* in favor of increasing big brother actions.

Powerful and greedy men attempt to make profits in any way possible. But you seem to insist on attributing omniscience and omnipotence to these mere mortals. That's foolish. Other humans are not easily controllled...

> And al queda, what exactly is this al queda thing, where did it come from?
> Oh ya, it means the "base" or database of cia contracted muslim jihadists
> who were organized, trained and supplied to be assymetrical warfare fighters.
> Isn't that interesting.
More allegations without proof. Of course the US funded jihadists when their interests converged when the USSR was alive. But obviously they don't control them now.

What do you make of the Muslim who stood outside Langley CIA headquarters gunning down CIA employees a few years ago. A CIA plant? What do you make about the fact he was executed for his crime? Do men willingly kill themselves to benefit those that they hate? What about the 9/11 bombers who killed themselves? If you think Muslim jihadists are being willingly - or unwillingly - trained by the CIA to kill both themselves, you are extremely foolish. Perhaps you think, contrary to all reason, that the upper echelons of Al-Queda (or jihadists in general) stand implausibly isolated from the foot soldiers below - that these top level jihadists are really filled with love and grace towards the CIA, so that they send their cousins and blood bretheren to their deaths in an effort to fulfill Bush's nefarious agenda. That the obvious hatred toward the West that afflicts the Muslim world has miraculously passed them by. That somehow the US convinced Osama to suffer a life of discomfort, leading a double life among murderous followers, because, you know, he really wanted the money.

Besides your own desire to validate your fantasies, what makes you think that so few can deceive so many for so long?

> The US and the UK have a very long past verified history of supporting coups,
> counter coups, revolutions, take overs, support for tin pot dictators and support
> FROM

It's 12.5cm radius, or 25cm diameter. About the same with as a 16" LCD screen. From images of high resolution radar screens and displays, they would probably have to double the size of the screen.

But would an air traffic controller want to have to walk around such a display, or would he/she get disorientated, if it could spin around?

I know very little about electronics. Can someone explain to me why computers and electronics can't simply run directly on AC? Why always the DC conversion?

Every electronic doodad I can think of has an AC/DC adapter. It's not just an issue with computers.

And it would be nice to get rid of those bulky AC/DC power bricks too...