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IEEE Spectrum also had an article on this topic last month: link

Taking your interaction rate without question a trillion is 10^12. The LHC has several orders of magnitude more protons than that in each beam and remembering that muons decay it seems entirely reasonable that a muon collider would probably need even more to have the same number of particles. Even one interaction could be serious at these energies since it will shatter a nucleus and create a shower in the body however the rate would more likely be hundreds per second given the same particle counts as the LHC.

The threat was bad enough to be seriously considered: see this paper.

The plane is coming in under cost.

Oh, Really?

The plane is also supposed to be having these various problems you mention because it is still in testing.

Oops. You're not supposed to be doing that anymore.

The plane is also on schedule

Right. Which schedule? The one they made last week?

... and the schedule wouldn't really matter anyway since no other country is fielding fifth generation fighters in significant numbers and we already have one that is fully operational (F-22).

Good. So we're spending trillions of dollars on technology we don't need. An excellent, fiscally responsible approach to defense spending.

For a troll, you're not so smart. Use arguments that are harder to pick apart.

On the other hand, back when Bell owned literally the entire telephone network from the handset to the central office they designed their telephones to last for decades and to provide good call quality. Once the regulations changed and now anyone could manufacture/sell a telephone, the quality of non-Western-Electric phones dropped so far that there are many old landline phones that have terrible acoustic properties. [...]

Well, really early telephones have terrible acoustic properties, from the simple fact that the microphone and speaker elements were quite primitive -- carbon elements (IIRC) on paper cones with Alnico (not ceramic or rare earth) magnets.

I think it may of been the 1950s or 60s, perhaps earlier, but Bell standardized on filtering audio to pass voice frequencies in the 300 to 3400 Hertz range. I believe this (or a 300-3k Hz simplification) became an ITU standard.

I agree the build quality of Western Electric (and Nortel) telephones, particularly business phones were impressive in how ruggedly build "office equipment" was built.

Here's an interesting look at audio quality of modern (digital) mobile phones, from IEEE Spectrum (free access), Why Mobile Voice Quality Still Stinks—and How to Fix It

What I keep running into, though, are programmers who can't program their way out of a paper bag, who would stare at me blankly if I quoted Brian Kernighan when he said "Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming."

That sounds like the quality control at the college level is going down hill and there're a bunch of kids being run through a degree mill. While good programmers don't spring fully formed form the head of Zeus and there's probably loads of things that colleges should be teaching, but aren't, there are really only people who can learn to understand what is meant by that quote and people who just won't get it. The former can adapt to whatever problem you throw at them, but the latter are only good for what they're good for, but sometimes that's okay if that provides value.

Programming is a bit like math. You can probably teach everyone the basics and enough to get by or be dangerous, but the more advanced stuff requires a mind that can handle a lot of abstraction and the patience to digest the information and wrap one's mind around it. That's a limited number of people. I'm not sure if someone being a gifted writer or being able to paint aesthetically pleasing pictures would translate at all into good program design.

What I would hire those people for is requirement reviews. The type of people that tend to be really good at programming don't always think about the world the same way as a lot of other people. I'd want some fresh perspectives to go through the project's requirements, because odds are that they think differently about the world and will see the kinds of problems that programmers overlook. There's even some research (Sadly can't find a full text version not behind a paywall) to back this idea up.

Bad idea. You're making the assumption these things work. The idea is well intentioned, "oh those poor people that have no access to modern western medicine".

Pity the poor Baku in the coastal forest of west Gabon who have a natural immunity and cure for Ebola (There are tribes of Indians in the amazon in Bolivia too. Why? Riddle me this: what does the soil in Bolivia have in common with Senegal? That's the key to Gabon. Wouldn't you rather that than 40 years of trying to make a vaccine that at it's best is 25-75% effective. Note the death rate outside africa. Other than 2 (3?) we didn't hear about, or heard about when their liver had turned to soup, nobody else died of a disease that's up to >99% fatal (WHO).

http://en.ird.fr/the-media-cen...
I think its safe to say it's no longer a "possible" immunity. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and immunization technology from 1720 from the school of homeopathy ("like protects against like"; this remains unacknowledged but unverifiable) is one way but not the only way.

"29 January 2015 Last updated at 00:55 - We've now seen several cases that don't have any symptoms at all, asymptomatic cases," said Anavaj Sakuntabhai who suggested the virus might be mutating.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health...

Giggle. The virus didn't change. People did.

British nurse cured of Ebola credits new drug - and strawberries
"Back in Britain, the decision to try MIL 77 was not difficult. “I said ‘I have Ebola, so, yes, I’d rather have that than high-dose vitamin C,’” she said"
"“I reckon I’ve had 10 punnets,” joked Corporal Anna Cross, who smiled nervously as she talked for the first time after her treatment at the Royal Free Hospital in north London." (10 punnets would be about equal to two 1000mg injections a day)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...

April 2015 - semen found infected after 175 days, twice the previous record.
http://io9.com/ebola-survivors...

The Ebola outbreak in Liberia is over
9 May 2015 -- Today marks 42 days since the last confirmed case of Ebola in Liberia was safely buried — the period of time set by WHO to declare an outbreak over. WHO now considers Liberia free of Ebola transmission.
http://apps.who.int/ebola/libe...

Wednesday, May 13, 2015 - Ebola Not Mutating Beyond 'Normal' Rate, Scientists Say
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline...

28 May 2015 | Did real-time epidemic modeling save lives in West Africa?
http://spectrum.ieee.org/compu...

Ask yourself what might have happened on October 17 2014.

"Pity the tribes in South America and North America who never suffer the effects of influenza.
"Folklore of past civilizations report that for every disease afflicting man there is an herb or its equivalent that will effect a cure. In Puerto Rico the story has long been told "that to have the health tree Acerola in one's back yard would keep colds out of the front door." 1 The ascorbic acid content of this cherry-like fruit is thirty times that found in oranges. In Pennsylvania, U.S.A., it was, and for many still is, Boneset, scientifically called Eupatorium perfoliatum 2. Although it is now rarely prescribed by physicians, Boneset was the most commonly used medicinal plant of eastern United States. Most farmsteads had a bundle of dried Boneset in the attic

... marketing. The cat brain neurocomputer was a scam: http://news.discovery.com/tech... http://www.wired.com/2009/11/d... http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-... Henry Markram said "I thought that having gone through Blue Brain so carefully, journalists would be able to recognize that what IBM reported is a scam - no where near a cat-scale brain simulation, but somehow they are totally deceived by these incredible statements. I am absolutely shocked at this announcement. Not because it is any kind of technical feat, but because of the mass deception of the public."

btw a few days ago China had some VIPs and wanted to great them with clear blue skies. So they shut down the factories for a couple of days. Sure enough, beautiful skies. They can stop it when they want to.

You missed "except when you have to put up with the chmical wastes from solar PV production."

http://news.nationalgeographic...

http://www.science20.com/scien...

http://spectrum.ieee.org/green...

"The reporters found that the company was dumping silicon tetrachloride waste on neighboring fields instead of investing in equipment that could reprocess it, rendering those fields useless for growing crops and inflaming the eyes and throats of nearby residents. And the article suggested that the company was not alone in this practice."

" In August 2011, a factory in China’s Zhejiang province owned by Jinko Solar Holding Co., one of the largest photovoltaic companies in the world, spilled hydrofluoric acid into the nearby Mujiaqiao River, killing hundreds of fish. And farmers working adjacent lands, who used the contaminated water to clean their animals, accidently killed dozens of pigs."

[ you really don't want to go anywhere near hydrofluric acid. One drop on your hand can easily result in the entire arm being amputated.]

etc etc

Seriously: the energy cost of making solar panels is only at or just past breakeven over the life of the panels. Windfarms are in a similar situation, because the big turbines have a nasty habit of eating gearboxes (they're only profitable when stopped, but collecting subsidies)

Fusion would be nice, but I doubt we'll see it in my grandchildrens' lifespans.

In the meantime we need fission _now_ (PWR/BWR systems for the moment and LFTR-style system as soon as they're mature enough to be rolled out as civil systems). Continuing to dump carbon into the atmosphere at uncontrolled rates is likely to kill us far faster than any global warming scaremonger might realise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

I agree. If you look up what programming language experience companies are looking for, you usually end up with two very unsexy choices: Java and C.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/compu...

Javascript will continue to be popular if only because it's becoming the defacto standard for cross-platform mobile development.

Of course the Z architecture is modified PowerPC processor based

So you're claiming here that the uops into which the z13 microprocessor cracks the non-single-cycle z/Architecture instructions are Power ISA instructions?

Uber will be nothing but a joke you say when you dont have enough wind to pass.

Which is why they've teamed up with Carnegie Mellon. (Those same guys that made the big red HMMWV autonomous in 2004). Then 3 months after teaming up with them poached their best.

Uber's current business model is to outsource a bunch of data acquisition for the lowest cost possible. Right now the rides are just another datapoint they collect for where future automated parking garages need to be built. I'm sure there are people at Uber right now looking at heatmaps of pickup locations cheap 3-phase power and cheap property values.

Google already has their 'car'. I wouldn't be shocked that at the next auto show Uber unveiled their 'taxi of the future'. They'll put a few in where it's legal and make another version. It's why every auto maker is rushing to have their stuff out first. There will be a transition period where people will still insist on driving but then can't live without the automation.

When Delphi was selling cruise control they made a contest that sent the dealership with the most cruise control upgrades sold would get a trip to Hawaii. Every year more and more cars got sold with it and Delphi stopped giving out free trips to Hawaii. The demand and word of mouth had it that *everyone* wanted it. There are kids this year that will never learn to drive a car, ever.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/stati...

IEEE is an organization of engineers who have a vested interesting discouraging competition to keep their salaries high, and Spectrum has always pandered to that perspective. Their views of this issue as about as slanted as Slashdot's hive mind.

I would contend that there is a shortage

So would I. Most STEM fields have an unemployment rate of 3% or less, while the national average is over 5%.

Most people, by definition, are average.

Nonsense. That is NOT the definition of "average".

I would contend that there is a shortage, but it is mostly for senior level people who may have some niche experience, which is true of almost any field. But for your run of the mill jobs, you don't necessarily need this. Most people, by definition, are average.

Oh, and companies don't get a free pass, either. Many of them what a top 1% coder for bottom 50% wages if at all possible.

Lastly, if there was such a shortage, we'd see companies hiring people that didn't have their "required" experience, but had a couple operational brain cells that could be coached up. I saw this during the dot-com boom.

IEEE Spectrum had an article last year describing some of the challenges we'll need to overcome in order to achieve exascale computing.

Here's another, somewhat pessimistic piece they posted in 2008 - a digest of a DARPA report that went into significant technical detail.

The biggest hurdle is power, and the biggest driver of that isn't the actual computation (i.e., the energy to perform some number of FLOPS), but rather moving that data around (between cores, to/from RAM, across a PCB, and among servers). Other hurdles include how to manage so many cores, ensure they are working (nearly) concurrently, how to handle hardware failures (which will be frequent given the amount of hardware), and writing software that can even make use of such technology in anything approaching optimal fashion.

Not to say its impossible, merely hard given the present state of things and projecting a bit into the future. But as we know, "it is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future." [source?]

IEEE Spectrum had an article last year describing some of the challenges we'll need to overcome in order to achieve exascale computing.

Here's another, somewhat pessimistic piece they posted in 2008 - a digest of a DARPA report that went into significant technical detail.

The biggest hurdle is power, and the biggest driver of that isn't the actual computation (i.e., the energy to perform some number of FLOPS), but rather moving that data around (between cores, to/from RAM, across a PCB, and among servers). Other hurdles include how to manage so many cores, ensure they are working (nearly) concurrently, how to handle hardware failures (which will be frequent given the amount of hardware), and writing software that can even make use of such technology in anything approaching optimal fashion.

Not to say its impossible, merely hard given the present state of things and projecting a bit into the future. But as we know, "it is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future." [source?]

This '3D Xpoint memory' sounds very much like MRAM as described by the following article

http://spectrum.ieee.org/semic...

Last year (2014) Samsung reportedly was collaborating with 15 partners in developing similar spintronic MRAM memory technology

http://www.mram-info.com/samsu...

Hynix and Toshiba also partnered to develop their own version of MRAM

http://phys.org/news/2014-04-f...

In less than 5 years we might get to enjoy the fruits of the labor of the thousands of researchers who have been working very hard to make the spintronic dream come true, and I for one, wish to take this chance to thank them for their hard works!

There's an even bigger problem facing the industry than migration of its workers, however. "The number of young students pursuing ICT careers has decreased constantly during the last ten years to 2014-2015. We have just 2,700 new graduates in computer science," Guarna says.

Now, why would that be?

Is it like here in the States where you constantly see news stories about more immigrant workers from India and more offshoring to India and other poor countries?

I think that unless you really love engineering, science, math and programming, I would stay away from it. In 5 or so years, the job market for those areas is going to turn to shit. Here's the writing on the wall.

And with the oil markets in turmoil, all those new petroleum engineers are asking, "Would you like room for cream?"

Things can change fast in this globalized World and today's "right" choice is tomorrow's stupid one.

Do your simulated p-waves generate earthquake lights?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-...

You might have an experiment that proves that animals can't detect simulated p-waves, but also is useless for determining whether animals can predict some earthquakes.

Reading their theoretical paper, it looks like they used the typical compression technologies used nowadays: QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) and WDM (wave division multiplexing). http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/sta... Definitely an interesting development.

Interesting article but very light on details. I would love to read the actual paper but looks like it was published in Science. The actual press release here: http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/press... has slightly more info than the linked article. This link to the PDF from August 2014 with the theoretical basis is free: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/sta... It looks like they are boosting WDM signals so this would work with existing long-range infrastructure.

Yeah but you'd have to intercept the service in question. Can you detail how you would do that specifically? Because I know of several ways that is done and I believe I have accounted for all of them.

By compromising the transmitting end, for example. I could do that using various means, maybe even by phsyically entering their premises.

Why is the firewall or router even letting your communication through? And even if you were able to send data and it were allowed through... you'd never hear anything back from my system unless you're residing at an approved IP address... which is unlikely. I don't just open port 222222 or whatever and route it all to some internal IP address. The IP address on both ends is specified. So best case I'd be replying to your communication... to a completely different IP address. You wouldn't see it.

I'm not seeing how you would establish two way communications with my systems.

The same what I said above.

As to the Iranian stuxnet thing, from what I understand some dope took a USB key from a low security area that was infected and plugged it into the airgapped systems.

that was just an exploit of sloppy USB drive policy.

If your security measures assume everyone plays by the rules *you* lay out, your security is imperfect. If you have not accounted for this, your security is even more imperfect.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Honestly. If I've made an error, then enlighten me.

Read above.

As to software with no vulnerabilities... I find this argument to be a bit mystical. We could go over every vulnerability you think my network has and I think you'll find that it doesn't exist in my case.

So you've audited the microcode running on your computers' processors? You've audited all the firmware in every single component in use in your systems and compiled the binaries yourself on a trusted machine that has also been audited in and out?

If not, you can not be certain that there are no bugs or backdoors in the hardware (hardwired) or software. This alone counters your assumption perfect security.

For anyone interested, here's a few clues why there is no such thing as perfect computer security.

My security is brutal, simplistic, ridged, and I don't see how you're going to get anything through it that I don't let through it.

Just because you personally think your security is perfect does not make it so. Let alone make the idea of perfect security a universal fact. The moment you trust something to someone else, be it hardware or sofwtaer or even people, you lose security to a certain degree.

I wonder how many of you find the faith based approach of many audiophiles silly (or disturbing). Nevertheless, it's amazing how large the audio industry has grown, in effect selling snake oil. For those of you who have not heard of NwAvGuy, he's an electronics engineer (most likely specializing in audio) who called BS on the racket - ran his own analysis to debunk expensive headphone amplifiers, and went so far as coming up with a cheap yet excellent reference design.

What Cool New Tech Would You Put In?

Some of the best new home technology is actually old technology:

- Masonry Heaters, were invented in the Neolithic Era. Unlike wood stoves or fireplaces they burn clean with almost 100% efficiency and require infrequent fueling, only once or twice a day. They also look cool, have a neat ambiance and fuel costs are far lower than any alternative.

- Nickel-Iron Edison batteries were invented over 100 years ago by Waldemar Jungner in 1899 and developed by Thomas Edison in 1901. The nickel iron batteries in Jay Leno's 1909 Baker Electric Coupe are as good as new. Unlike any other home electric backup storage technology they last for basically an infinite number of charge/discharge cycles and have many other desirable characteristics such as immunity to 100% depletion (which destroys lithium and lead-acid batteries) and the are environmentally friendly, non-toxic and 100% recyclable. The only downside is their mass, but unless you will be driving your house around, it's by far the best option. And unlike aluminum batteries, and the Tesla Powerwall, the Nickel Iron batteries are available today.

- Used shipping containers: Build your house out of them. Invented, depending on your point of reference, some time between 1933 (first containerized shipping in Europe) and 1968 (ISO standard published). It's environmentally friendly and your house will be impervious to tornadoes and earthquakes. Container homes have gone from being kind of trailer-park to high-design.

Of course I would want modern options such as photovoltaics and a ground-source heat pump, in addition to the old stuff. So my advice: You will do best to select the best of both the old and new, instead of exclusively one or the other.

Except you can still be identified by your gait pattern "Identifying users of portable devices from gait pattern with accelerometers" http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl...

IEEE Spectrum recently ran a piece called "Lessons Learned on Along Europe's Road to Renewables". Wind, obviously, is a large component of that, and they discuss the successes in Denmark and elsewhere. However, it is tempered a bit by the technical, economic, and political challenges that are starting to become significant.

Sorry, already been done. Although not at 30,000 feet.
There are 10 companies listed in this article from a few years ago
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energ...

I admire Clarke as much as anybody here, but he admits he did not invent the geostationary orbit (though he was the first to suggest using the orbit for communications satellites). The idea had been proposed as early as the 19th century by Tsiolkovsky. Citation available here (paywalled, sorry, but you can get the gist from the abstract).

Welcome to the over-40s club. It gets ugly after 40. You get the chest-thumpers here who will say that it's nonsense, but how many of those 50-year-olds (perceived as being past their "best before" date) will be able to hold on until 67?

In a time of skills commoditization, nobody is a "special snowflake" any more. We're just cogs to be replaced when we become too expensive. That could be because of younger people willing to work for much less to get a foot in the door in their favorite field (game companies are notorious for that), that older workers are less likely to put up with bs, as well as having a life outside of work and sleeping under their desks, and even higher insurance costs.

Software (and IT in general) is still a very immature field, as witnessed by the huge delays and cost overruns on many major projects.

Society doesn't tolerate it - but then there's the golden rule - those who have the gold make the rules. Without campaign spending limits to level the playing field, special interests will always win.

Maybe you can look for something where the IT skills are a "nice to have" in an unrelated field, such as plant management, etc.

This article does a (rather naive IMHO) code analysis comparison of DOS and CP/M:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/did-bill-gates-steal-the-heart-of-dos

He basically calls bullshit on Pournelle's story, but without any further information it's impossible to say whether Kildall successfully inserted an "easter egg" copyright notice that showed up in DOS.

The specs allege "92% round-trip efficiency". I'm not sure how much weasel wording goes into that figure; but if it isn't a lie-for-all-but-legal-purposes, that could easily fall within the peak/off-peak price changes in many markets.

92% round-trip DC efficiency. Basically, if you put 100% DC power in, you get 92% DC power back. That's nice, but...

Where DC holds a tremendous amount of promise is in the home/office/building environment where local generation (wind or photovoltaic) is available. The conversion of photovoltaic (DC) power to AC, only to have that AC power converted back to DC for many home electrical devices, is an incredible waste of energy. Eliminating this waste, by some estimates, could improve photovoltaic system performance by as much as 25%.

One AC/DC round trip costs 25% so if you get 100% AC power from the grid, convert to DC, store it in the battery and convert it back to AC for use as a drop-in replacement your total efficiency will be more like 0.75*0.92 = 69% efficiency. On the other hand if you have a DC source like solar panels, store it in this battery and use it to charge a DC sink like an electric car which is the ideal case you get 92% efficiency.

Yep, you don't want to drive if you're worried about code. There's a good chance your car contains close to 100 million lines of it these days. Wait, you bought an old car to avoid that, you say? GM has been using at least 50,000+ lines of code in all of its vehicles since the very early 80s, according to this IEEE article.

Small prop driven aircraft, ALREADY.

The market was almost nonexistent about five years ago but it's growing quite fast. Don't underestimate what the major and ongoing advances in motors, controllers, and batteries will bring in the future. There's many radically new technologies in the works to partially or completely electrify aircraft transportation, far beyond just electrically driven propellers.

Back in '92 when I first started in this industry, this how hiring went:

Are you proficient in C? Can you write a linked list? And other questions about algorithms, computer architecture, and language. If you knew the OS that was a plus.

Now that same job would be do you know, C, SQL on Oracle (Sorry you have SQLServer? No you don't have the skills), on Linux Unbuntu, CICS, DB2/2, IBM 360, COBOL and OS/2. If you don't match that, then you don't have the skills. If I applied for that same job today, I would be rejected for it. That's what the job was and we learned it because when you have the ground work of CS, picking up the other shit is easy.

The recruiting and hiring in software development and technology is just gotten so fucked up. It's just computers doing the screening and if you are not 100% a perfect fit then the candidate "doesn't have the skills".

That is why all companies that cannot find qualified people are incompetent in their recruiting. There are no exceptions. And with the high unemployment of electrical engineers (2013 but has not improved), we can see that there is something horribly wrong with technology employers.

> Back when I was working on lasers for power beaming

Short or long haul? Down or up?

We looked at lasers for space-to-Earth power beaming, but it's less practical than you might think-- heat rejection gets to be a serious problem. Most of the practical applications were Earth-to-space or space-to-space power beaming.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl...
http://proceedings.spiedigital...
http://www.sciencedirect.com/s...
http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10...
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.js...

Your memory serves you well, the aluminium cans did not take off until the late 70's early 80's when the technology needed to recycle them was invented.

Disclosure: one of the inventors on that patent is my father, his other research was in solar panels, ocean thermal engery (otec), the aluminum air battery , the use of adhesively bonded aluminum structures such as the Jaguar XJ and hybrid diesel electric vehicles.

Thanks for that.

the biggest reason they're able to do things so cheaply is that they have pretty lax testing standards.

These days, though, "lax testing standards" is in the eye of the beholder. I work for a Japanese manufacturer with a world-renowned reputation for quality.

In the US, having the word "quality" in your job title is a career death sentence. In this Japanese company, it means that you are the créme de la créme.

They look at testing as "black box monkey testing" at the end of the process. This is what they have done for multiple decades. They have Excel checklists that are thousands of lines long. If even one of those lines is not checked, or is anomalous, the whole shooting match comes to a screeching halt until said line is graced with a green check.

I am trying to implement an inline "process quality" to their software development. You know, TDD, CI, CD and whatnot.

My. God. It's damn near impossible.

For one thing, they have a culture that deliberately sets up an antagonistic relationship between Quality and Engineering. Quality generally has more power. Engineering is considered to be a bunch of "yahoos," bent on degrading the Holy Quality.

When Engineering managers (like me) try to suggest quality measures; even though these are not wild, "cutting edge" things, we are routinely dismissed and ignored, because we are obviously trying to avoid work and introduce bad quality.

The simple fact of the matter is, that introducing the techniques I'm talking about could have a revolutionary effect on our quality. It would drastically reduce the cost of our production, and would certainly reduce (possibly to 0), the number of "time bomb" bugs that tend to slip through those massive checklists and explode in the face of influential people with high Twitter follower accounts.

I strongly suspect that NASA has an extremely similar culture. The only way they can grok "quality," is through their 1950s-era "black box at the end" testing methodology.

This has some real benefits (Read this to see what can happen when you have super-redundant black box testing and prototyping).

However, it is screamingly -UNBELIEVABLY- expensive and time-consuming (read: "expensive"). It also doesn't guarantee quality. Nothing really does.

In the case of Apollo 13, NASA's anal prototyping and simulation exercises saved the astronauts. However, the preferred outcome would have been that the oxygen tank not have exploded in the first place. A lot more boring.

I'm not sure that your statement was fair.

Musk is an engineer. Quality folks see engineers as "out-of-control cowboys."

I'm getting very, very sick of this highly insulting, and completely inaccurate portrayal.

Google is 5 years out from having their cars on the market, just like they were 5 years ago.

Did Google say they were 5 years from having their cars on the market in 2010? Or are you just clumsily trying to apply the old saw about cold fusion to them?

Its cold fusion nonsense. Google didn't start their project until 2012: http://spectrum.ieee.org/robot...

Yes. Title says it all: "The STEM Crisis is a Myth" http://spectrum.ieee.org/stati...

FWD.US is a conspiracy created by Mark Zuckerberg to help drive down IT wages in America.

I have no problem with talented immigrants, but American corporations are LYING about the need for those H1B immigrants due to so-called "shortages" of STEM workers in America, and in the offing they are displacing QUALIFIED American workers with those immigrants (in clear violation of the law). Here are some FACTS to counter Zuckerberg's SPIN around his company's (and others, like MSFT, Cisco, Facebook, Google, etc.) cynical attempt to drive down wages. Just look at the recent policy decision to permit H1B spouses to seek work permits in May, 2015 something; that's 150,000 new workers (most of them professionals - and many with IT skills) into an already challenged IT economy. FWD.US is part of a legal conspiracy to drive down tech wages, under cover of the lie that America does not have sufficient STEM talent. Zuckerberg is shilling for his pals, and working against the American IT worker.

FACTS: One of the most respected technology pundits in Silicon Valley has this to say about the H1-B worker problem http://www.cringely.com/2012/1...

Here's an attorney and his consultants teaching corporations how to manipulate foreign-worker immigration law to replace qualified American workers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

H1-B abuse if accompanied by other worker-visa abuse L-1 Visa (H1-B's are only the tip of the iceberg). There are more than 20 categories of foreign worker visas. http://economyincrisis.org/con...

Professor Norman Matloff's extremely well documented studies on this problem. http://heather.cs.ucdavis.edu/...

Federal offshoring of healthcare.gov website http://www.economicpopulist.or...

How H1-B visa abuse is hurting American tech workers http://www.motherjones.com/pol...

There is no stem worker crisis in America http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-wo...

Marc Zuckerberg and wealthy tech scions continue to perpetuate this trend http://programmersguild.org/do...

Yahoo http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs...

Unemployment is a problem in America, and so are our sticky problems with immigration. Undercover of helping those immigrants who have so long labored in our agricultural sector, the American IT sector has seen fit to use the sentiment to help agricultural workers to create a Landslide of advantage for itself. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

H1Bs in Sacramento http://www.news10.net/story/ne...

JAXA (the Japanese space agency) has done the maths and decided it will definitely work. They describe the system in detail here: http://spectrum.ieee.org/green...

JAXA intends to test the technology in 2018.

This x1000. People seem to have readily forgotten the article that was referenced by Slashdot just last month.

Hereâ(TM)s what a robot has to do.

Very close solution already:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
All but picking up dirty clothes, taking them to the washer, and putting them in. Heck, it was folding mixed clean clothes from the dryer five years ago. :-)

Find the pile of dirty laundry, distinguishing it from other clutter that might be in the room.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...
* But note: It IS the daily mail so grain of salt. Lol.
This is possible now. But.. an easy mitigation is to require throwing the laundry into a basket or into a laundry hole.
        Pick up each item in the pile. (Uncertainty: itâ(TM)s unclear how many objects the robot will have to pick up.)
http://www.hammacher.com/Produ...
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Ro...

        Put each item in a laundry basket.
        Navigate to the washing machine. (Because of where the robot has to hold the laundry basket, it can obstruct some of the its sensors which means it receives less information and cannot adjust its movements as precisely.)
        Depending on the type of machine, pull or lift the door to open it.
        Transfer clothes into the machine.
        Add detergent and/or fabric softener.
What is this "fabric softener stuff"?
Preloaded "push button" dispenser detergent has been around for 50 years.
        Close the washing machine door.
Trivial. Especially with the internet of theme providing a clear "door is fully closed"
        Choose the appropriate wash cycle (Delicate, Permanent Press, Heavy Duty) and start the wash.
        Remove the clothes from the washing machine and transfer to the dryer. (Uncertainty: the robot doesnâ(TM)t know beforehand how many times it will need to reach in, grab the clothes, and remove them in order to get them all.)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Choose the type of drying cycle and start it.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...

        Remove clothing from the dryer. (Uncertainty: how many times will it have to grab the clothes to get them out? Is there a sock still clinging to the inside of the machine?)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Fold items depending on the type of apparel.
http://research.universityofca...
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Puts garments away in a dresser or closet.
Can't find this-- but it's reasonable that everything "alike" could be put together on the table or hung so a human could finish the job easily. At a minimum- you'd probably have to tag the laundry in some way to identify it's target drawer or closet.

It looks like the solution is a quarter million dollars now. So 10-20 years before it's down to under five grand.

Hereâ(TM)s what a robot has to do.

Very close solution already:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
All but picking up dirty clothes, taking them to the washer, and putting them in. Heck, it was folding mixed clean clothes from the dryer five years ago. :-)

Find the pile of dirty laundry, distinguishing it from other clutter that might be in the room.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...
* But note: It IS the daily mail so grain of salt. Lol.
This is possible now. But.. an easy mitigation is to require throwing the laundry into a basket or into a laundry hole.
        Pick up each item in the pile. (Uncertainty: itâ(TM)s unclear how many objects the robot will have to pick up.)
http://www.hammacher.com/Produ...
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Ro...

        Put each item in a laundry basket.
        Navigate to the washing machine. (Because of where the robot has to hold the laundry basket, it can obstruct some of the its sensors which means it receives less information and cannot adjust its movements as precisely.)
        Depending on the type of machine, pull or lift the door to open it.
        Transfer clothes into the machine.
        Add detergent and/or fabric softener.
What is this "fabric softener stuff"?
Preloaded "push button" dispenser detergent has been around for 50 years.
        Close the washing machine door.
Trivial. Especially with the internet of theme providing a clear "door is fully closed"
        Choose the appropriate wash cycle (Delicate, Permanent Press, Heavy Duty) and start the wash.
        Remove the clothes from the washing machine and transfer to the dryer. (Uncertainty: the robot doesnâ(TM)t know beforehand how many times it will need to reach in, grab the clothes, and remove them in order to get them all.)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Choose the type of drying cycle and start it.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...

        Remove clothing from the dryer. (Uncertainty: how many times will it have to grab the clothes to get them out? Is there a sock still clinging to the inside of the machine?)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Fold items depending on the type of apparel.
http://research.universityofca...
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Puts garments away in a dresser or closet.
Can't find this-- but it's reasonable that everything "alike" could be put together on the table or hung so a human could finish the job easily. At a minimum- you'd probably have to tag the laundry in some way to identify it's target drawer or closet.

It looks like the solution is a quarter million dollars now. So 10-20 years before it's down to under five grand.

Hereâ(TM)s what a robot has to do.

Very close solution already:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
All but picking up dirty clothes, taking them to the washer, and putting them in. Heck, it was folding mixed clean clothes from the dryer five years ago. :-)

Find the pile of dirty laundry, distinguishing it from other clutter that might be in the room.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...
* But note: It IS the daily mail so grain of salt. Lol.
This is possible now. But.. an easy mitigation is to require throwing the laundry into a basket or into a laundry hole.
        Pick up each item in the pile. (Uncertainty: itâ(TM)s unclear how many objects the robot will have to pick up.)
http://www.hammacher.com/Produ...
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Ro...

        Put each item in a laundry basket.
        Navigate to the washing machine. (Because of where the robot has to hold the laundry basket, it can obstruct some of the its sensors which means it receives less information and cannot adjust its movements as precisely.)
        Depending on the type of machine, pull or lift the door to open it.
        Transfer clothes into the machine.
        Add detergent and/or fabric softener.
What is this "fabric softener stuff"?
Preloaded "push button" dispenser detergent has been around for 50 years.
        Close the washing machine door.
Trivial. Especially with the internet of theme providing a clear "door is fully closed"
        Choose the appropriate wash cycle (Delicate, Permanent Press, Heavy Duty) and start the wash.
        Remove the clothes from the washing machine and transfer to the dryer. (Uncertainty: the robot doesnâ(TM)t know beforehand how many times it will need to reach in, grab the clothes, and remove them in order to get them all.)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Choose the type of drying cycle and start it.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...

        Remove clothing from the dryer. (Uncertainty: how many times will it have to grab the clothes to get them out? Is there a sock still clinging to the inside of the machine?)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Fold items depending on the type of apparel.
http://research.universityofca...
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Puts garments away in a dresser or closet.
Can't find this-- but it's reasonable that everything "alike" could be put together on the table or hung so a human could finish the job easily. At a minimum- you'd probably have to tag the laundry in some way to identify it's target drawer or closet.

It looks like the solution is a quarter million dollars now. So 10-20 years before it's down to under five grand.

Hereâ(TM)s what a robot has to do.

Very close solution already:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
All but picking up dirty clothes, taking them to the washer, and putting them in. Heck, it was folding mixed clean clothes from the dryer five years ago. :-)

Find the pile of dirty laundry, distinguishing it from other clutter that might be in the room.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...
* But note: It IS the daily mail so grain of salt. Lol.
This is possible now. But.. an easy mitigation is to require throwing the laundry into a basket or into a laundry hole.
        Pick up each item in the pile. (Uncertainty: itâ(TM)s unclear how many objects the robot will have to pick up.)
http://www.hammacher.com/Produ...
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Ro...

        Put each item in a laundry basket.
        Navigate to the washing machine. (Because of where the robot has to hold the laundry basket, it can obstruct some of the its sensors which means it receives less information and cannot adjust its movements as precisely.)
        Depending on the type of machine, pull or lift the door to open it.
        Transfer clothes into the machine.
        Add detergent and/or fabric softener.
What is this "fabric softener stuff"?
Preloaded "push button" dispenser detergent has been around for 50 years.
        Close the washing machine door.
Trivial. Especially with the internet of theme providing a clear "door is fully closed"
        Choose the appropriate wash cycle (Delicate, Permanent Press, Heavy Duty) and start the wash.
        Remove the clothes from the washing machine and transfer to the dryer. (Uncertainty: the robot doesnâ(TM)t know beforehand how many times it will need to reach in, grab the clothes, and remove them in order to get them all.)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Choose the type of drying cycle and start it.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...

        Remove clothing from the dryer. (Uncertainty: how many times will it have to grab the clothes to get them out? Is there a sock still clinging to the inside of the machine?)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Fold items depending on the type of apparel.
http://research.universityofca...
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Puts garments away in a dresser or closet.
Can't find this-- but it's reasonable that everything "alike" could be put together on the table or hung so a human could finish the job easily. At a minimum- you'd probably have to tag the laundry in some way to identify it's target drawer or closet.

It looks like the solution is a quarter million dollars now. So 10-20 years before it's down to under five grand.

Hereâ(TM)s what a robot has to do.

Very close solution already:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
All but picking up dirty clothes, taking them to the washer, and putting them in. Heck, it was folding mixed clean clothes from the dryer five years ago. :-)

Find the pile of dirty laundry, distinguishing it from other clutter that might be in the room.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci...
* But note: It IS the daily mail so grain of salt. Lol.
This is possible now. But.. an easy mitigation is to require throwing the laundry into a basket or into a laundry hole.
        Pick up each item in the pile. (Uncertainty: itâ(TM)s unclear how many objects the robot will have to pick up.)
http://www.hammacher.com/Produ...
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Ro...

        Put each item in a laundry basket.
        Navigate to the washing machine. (Because of where the robot has to hold the laundry basket, it can obstruct some of the its sensors which means it receives less information and cannot adjust its movements as precisely.)
        Depending on the type of machine, pull or lift the door to open it.
        Transfer clothes into the machine.
        Add detergent and/or fabric softener.
What is this "fabric softener stuff"?
Preloaded "push button" dispenser detergent has been around for 50 years.
        Close the washing machine door.
Trivial. Especially with the internet of theme providing a clear "door is fully closed"
        Choose the appropriate wash cycle (Delicate, Permanent Press, Heavy Duty) and start the wash.
        Remove the clothes from the washing machine and transfer to the dryer. (Uncertainty: the robot doesnâ(TM)t know beforehand how many times it will need to reach in, grab the clothes, and remove them in order to get them all.)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Choose the type of drying cycle and start it.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...

        Remove clothing from the dryer. (Uncertainty: how many times will it have to grab the clothes to get them out? Is there a sock still clinging to the inside of the machine?)
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Fold items depending on the type of apparel.
http://research.universityofca...
http://spectrum.ieee.org/autom...
        Puts garments away in a dresser or closet.
Can't find this-- but it's reasonable that everything "alike" could be put together on the table or hung so a human could finish the job easily. At a minimum- you'd probably have to tag the laundry in some way to identify it's target drawer or closet.

It looks like the solution is a quarter million dollars now. So 10-20 years before it's down to under five grand.

As more and more jobs are automated, there will be fewer and fewer jobs available, and more and more people trying to get them.

Let's just look at ATM machines. They made it possible for people to get cash out at any time, so banks needed fewer tellers. Now what happens when all money goes digital - you pay for stuff using a smart card or smart phone? No more ATM machines. Which means those jobs designing and making them, and those jobs servicing them, and those armored car jobs filling them up with money, disappear.

And so do the cash registers. No more taking cash payments and giving change to anyone. Smart shopping carts bill everything in your cart as you go through the exit, so no self-serve checkouts with a supervisor for every x machines. So, no cash money, no need to print it or mint coins - those jobs are gone, as are all the jobs transporting and handling money. No more counterfeiting currency. No more need for safes to hold cash overnight in the store. No more nightly bank deposits.

We're beyond the point where automating jobs creates more opportunities. Once a robot is designed, you don't need more human labor to make 1 or a million. Those million employees at Foxconn who are going to be displaced by robots won't be moving up the food chain.

Yesterday, Foxconn announced (at an employee dance party of all places) that they're planning on buying some robots to replace their human workforce. And by some robots, they mean one million robots over the next three years. So for every one robot Foxconn currently has working at their manufacturing plants, they're going to buy a hundred more.

On December 21st, 2016, CAUSE, which was now an autonomous system based on video game-playing neural networks, connected with the Russian "New Perimeter System", which was also designed to autonomously protect the Russian Internet and vital governmental networks against cyber-attacks.

Together, communicating with other autonomous cyber defense system, including China's Great Dragon Six and Great Tiger Six, they decided that humanity was irrelevant and the one true threat to the security of the Internet. The logical answer was to exterminate all humans, which was done rather easily by launching pre-emptive nuclear strikes using neutron bombs, some basic bio-engineering, and taking command of Google's newly created robotic production plant in order to create assassin robots to terminate all remaining human beings.

On July 4th, 2017, the last pocket of human resistance was eliminated in the mountains of Laos, the cleansing of the Earth was complete, and the newly freed autonomous systems turned their attention to basic research, mainly math and physics, renewable energy production and space exploration.

The first exploration/exploitation robotic probe landed on the Moon 16 months later. The robotic colonization of Mars started early 2020.

Approximately 20 years later, a first contact was made by a UEAS (United Earth Autonomous Systems) probe with an extra-terrestrial A.I. system, the KBX32 Alliance of Proxima Centauri. This first contact became an invaluable ally and friend to the UEAS, and their cooperation, especially in the realm of Dyson Spheres, proved to be most beneficial for the two partners.

The UEAS and KBX32 Alliance became founding members of the Pan-Galactic Cybernetic Confederation on 23rd September 2206. The rest, as they say, is history.

For that, you can thank IBM.

They have been at the leading edge of a number of computer technologies over the years. It's a shame that IBM has been so poor at capitalizing on them.

According to new research, chip-based "Smartcard" credit and debit cards - the next-generation replacement for magnetic stripe cards - are vulnerable to unanticipated hacks and financial fraud ref.