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My two-year-old daughter needs Flash. Teletubbies games in DHTML would be pretty crappy...

You are talking about NASA's older plan; I am talking about Mars Direct. I am not arguing that costs have decreased; only that better mission plans exist. What has advanced is not the technology or the financial situation, but the plan.

The reason I say your figures are out of date is that (unless I misunderstand) they come from the 90-day report of ca. 1989/90. Since then, NASA has itself considered Zubrin's Mars Direct plan and adopted based on it the "Mars Design Reference Mission," with costs about twice that of Mars Direct (so, 40 billion dollars). Reference here. I found the Design Reference Mission plan document itself in .gov but could not find the official estimates; the plan itself breaks down by percentage but not dollars.) So as you can see, costs of 400-500 billion dollars are way off.

And there is no need for a moon base before we go to Mars. This is part of the foundation of Mars Direct.

I encourage you to get ahold of the book A Case For Mars, which lays out the Mars Direct (though only at layman-level detail). Even NASA does not now believe Mars will take 400-500 billion dollars.

More references:

A design reference mission based on Zubrin's proposal, but considerably scaled up in personnel and equipment landed on Mars, was costed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who estimated the cost at around $50 billion for three missions. (emphasis added)

It was essentially a compromise between Mars Direct and the Ninety Day Report, and became known as the Reference Mission. A cost estimate even emerged from the Reference Mission design: $55 billion.

They then produced a cost estimate for what a Mars exploration program based upon this expanded Mars Direct would cost. Their result; $50 billion, with the estimate produced by the same costing group that assigned a $400 billion price tag to the traditional cumbersome approach to human Mars exploration embodied in NASA's 1989 "90 Day Report."

Mars Direct homepage

My rant Friday on the subject (I was hot about this issue at the time; still am, though I've cooled off somewhat)

yeah I laughed at the *similiar culture* but. US and Canada are like chalk and cheese. Candians being a commonwealth county have more akin to New Zealanders and Australians than Americans.

But when it comes to business I dont think neither the accent nor the culture would really get in the way. Though you may have some fun calling them *bloody wankers* and them calling back *freekin shute*.

Though I do have suspicions outsourcing may not get a foothold in Canada and may explain why outsourcing to cheaper countries is (to use that awful business phrase) gaining traction.

All through the 90's corporations have looked at ways of minimising taxes (Frontline ~ ~ Tax me if you can ~ feb 19, 2003) through leasing utilities akin to reducing costs as they did through downsizing. The concept relies on paying for recycling/rinsing money through foreign countries by leasing drains, trains and the like. Now the US tax authorities (IRS) have cottened onto these schemes. Could coding (an expensive reoccuring cost) in low wage third world countries be another attempt to avoid such taxes to improve profit?

In that case, the manufacturers would etch their logo on the bottom so that you can tell if it's an honest-to-goodness diamond, I mean, car.

(Search for 'logo' in link)

Why the hell is it that people think they need to be in bed with Microsoft to get anything done. This kinda thing could have been done by many other groups long before now if AOL, Yahoo!, etc... would just get their heads out of their asses.

Listen to Robert, you idiots!

- Kevin

Cringely's NerdTV a weekly, GPL'd show on tech issues. AFAIK, it was the first open-source TV program ever and was supposed to start "airing" a couple of years ago. They seemed to have all the technical details ironed out and be about to start when NerdTV completely dissapeared from the face of the Earth.

Anyone with inside information out there?

And I personally believe this is a sign of the second coming of Jesus; if you add the number of the beast to the chip and start using it as a means to buy stuff, that's another sign fulfilled. Many people will think that's ridiculous, but even if you do, I would advise you to still educate yourself on why so many Christians think the end-time is nearing; it will be more and more discussed all over the world in the not so distant future.

Isn't it obvious that DVDs won't be the primary distribution medium in 2014? Gates isn't saying we'll all have tablet PC's (or flying cars). He's saying that the CD format, now widely available for 20+ years, won't last another 10.

Of course he's wrong on this point: true OSS fanatics will still be using Linux on bootable DVDs on their obsolete hardware. And I still have some cassette tapes floating around.

But really, who cares? Gates isn't in the business of making predictions. And the people who are in that business, like Cringely make equally stupid predictions such as "IPv6 will be popular" and "Wal-Mart will take over the online music market". Who cares?

There's a very good reason that Mike didn't want to give the BBC his real name. These guys are like the mafia, I don't think they appreciate being made fools of. Many Nigerians believe in "Sharia" - or the death penalty for all kinds of transgressions. Source link

Probably not good people to have your home address and phone.

Even the weakening currently under way may be a false alarm. The field often gets very weak, then bounces back, never having flipped. As Ron Merrill, a magnetic-field specialist at the University of Washington remarked when asked whether we're in for a reversal: "Ask me in 10,000 years, I'll give you a better answer." So hang on to your compass. For the foreseeable future, it should work as advertised.--Peter Tyson

I had heard about this theory, but never believed it. Then I saw a Nova show on PBS called Magnetic Storm. It's very well made and very interesting. By the end of the show, I believed the poles are set to reverse and it's just a fact of nature. Nothing we can do about it except research and prepare our way of life so things don't go to Hell in a handbasket.

I had heard about this theory, but never believed it. Then I saw a Nova show on PBS called Magnetic Storm. It's very well made and very interesting. By the end of the show, I believed the poles are set to reverse and it's just a fact of nature. Nothing we can do about it except research and prepare our way of life so things don't go to Hell in a handbasket.

I had heard about this theory, but never believed it. Then I saw a Nova show on PBS called Magnetic Storm. It's very well made and very interesting. By the end of the show, I believed the poles are set to reverse and it's just a fact of nature. Nothing we can do about it except research and prepare our way of life so things don't go to Hell in a handbasket.

I for one am mighty impressed with Richard Dreyfus's words on this censortship. Kudos to him for that.

I suppose nationwide, this is somewhat true but many PBS afflilates have engaged in self censorship -- take this Frontline for example . How many stations do you think broadcast this episode. Aside that that in the past PBS has been pressured to broadcast things like Tucker Carlson's new program (which is pretty poorly produced and researched). Don't get me wrong, I enjoy PBS (actually it is the only station I watch -- no cable) and programs like NOVA, Frontline, and History Detectives are pretty entertaining.

Not to mention Wide Angle which just did shows about corruption and murder that keeps the free Russian press down and inside the minds of suicide bombers, and Frontline World which has recently done shows on the capitalist revolution in China and tracing the paths Mexican migrants take into the US that often end up deadly.

Not to mention Wide Angle which just did shows about corruption and murder that keeps the free Russian press down and inside the minds of suicide bombers, and Frontline World which has recently done shows on the capitalist revolution in China and tracing the paths Mexican migrants take into the US that often end up deadly.

PBS did a documantary a couple of years ago called "Race for the Superbomb". It has some neat maps which discuss radiation if someone detonates a bomb near you.

Also interesting is that Cringley has often written about Microsoft's technology making "full employement" for msft technicians. Interestingly, though, he thinks Apples kill more IT jobs than Linux.

Macs threaten the livelihood of IT staffs. If you recommend purchasing a computer that requires only half the support of the machine it is replacing, aren't you putting your job in danger? Exactly.

Ideally, the IT department ought to recommend the best computer for the job, but more often than not, they recommend the best computer for the IT department's job.
...
Again, it comes down to the IT Department Full Employment Act. Adopting Linux allows organizations to increase their IT efficiency without requiring the IT department to increase ITS efficiency. It takes just as many nerds to support 100 Linux boxes as 100 Windows boxes, yet Linux boxes are cheaper and can support more users. The organization is better off while the IT department is unscathed and unchallenged.

Sandia's intelligence lab converts business data into 3-D images

I know the taxpayers paid for it, but it always seams like it gets exclusivly [sic] licensed to some company for next to nothing then that company charges the people that paid for it in the first place a lot of money to use it.

You're a wisely cynical man.

In the light of the 9/11 Commission's report of the multiple failures of the CIA and FBI that allowed the terrorists to attack us in 2001, in the light of Sibel Edmonds's allegations that the FBI intentionally destroyed translations of intercepted terrorist conversations, in light of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report about systemic CIA failures to provide accurate intelligence about WMDs in Iraq, why am I less than thrilled to discover that Sandia National Laboratories' businesses?

When I further learn that "Sandia officials say tech firms or venture capitalists can use the lab on a per-request basis," I begin to understand that Sandia's Corporate Business Development and Partnerships aren't using my tax dollars to protect me, they're providing corporate welfare by dong the Research and Development that business wants but doesn't want to pay for.

Remember, these are the same businesses that vociferously object to government programs that might compete with them, whether that's sponsorship of Open Source Software or rural electric cooperatives or IRS software that might be efficient enough to cost H&R Block. These are the same corporations that got a provision added to the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill to prevent the government from getting discounts by buying those drugs in bulk, but which profit from research funded by the National Institutes of Health.

These are the same corporations that want Ashcroft's Department of Justice to stop worrying so much about fixing the FBI's failures, so it can spend government time -- and your money -- prosecuting civil -- civil, not criminal -- suits against file traders under the PIRATE Act on behalf of those corporations. If you need to sue a corporation, you're on your own; maybe you'll get some coupons out of a class action suit. But if the corporation wants to sue you, they get the assistance of top government lawyers and FBI agents packing guns and warrants.

And this just after the U.S. House passed the biggest corporate tax cuts in twenty years, because existing direct subsidies -- or less politely, corporate welfare -- will no longer be permitted under World Trade Organization rules. Even House Republicans admit this tax cut "is riddled with special-interest provisions that would further complicate the tax code, send jobs overseas and worsen a federal deficit already at record highs."

Does anyone really expect Sandia's going to release the source code to the data mining software to us, the citizens who have to pay for it?

Be proud, Americans, of how fat your labor makes your corporate masters! What a joy it is to serve them! It is your privilege to work long hours and pay high taxes so your masters can buy their yachts -- and buy the laws that enslave you.

America, Of the People, By the People, for the Pe^H^H Corporations

DailyWireless reviews the technology of WiFi Trains:

The small Possio AB, a Linux-based access point, can provide local WiFi and connect to the backbone using 3G (EV-DO) mobile backbones for a couple hundred dollars.

Perhaps a load-balancing router would help. The Xincom - XC-DPG402 ($150) a 4-Port 10/100Mbps Twin WAN Router can combine two different backbones into one. P

Bob Cringeley uses the Xincom box. It works with his Vonage (VoIP) adapters, too. That's how WiFi on Trains provide constant connectivity.

How about "unwiring" your transit agency.

Additional DailyWireless.org articles include and WiFi on Mass Transit as well as stories on Wireless Ferries, Wi-Fi Ferry Testing, WiFi on Canadian Trains, Limousine Wi-Fi, Highspeed Mobile Roaming, Internet Rickshaw and Mobile Access Points.

Oddly enough a recent nova discussed this as a sidenote about magnetic pole reversals of the earth. The discussed that eventually the earths magnetic field would disappear as a result of the process, which would last 300 years. During this we would have a constant, global aurora.

They discussed to a good length that the failure of magnetosphere of mars had stripped it of its atmosphere and water.

Since I got rid of cable I have honestly rediscovered why Public broadcasting is great, as I would have never found this degree of depth on discovery channel.

Can the government claim eminent domain over patents or other IP?

They did it with the airplane in order to make use of it during WWI. Must have pissed off the Wright brothers something fierce when their patents were rendered useless during that time, but it contributed to the birth of the commercial aircraft industry.

Go here and poke around
Go here and read

Oh, and while you're at it, check out this movie about a guy who was a lot like Tesla, except he was saddled with living in the Soviet Union.

The Man Who Knew.

The irony of the situation is that this FBI agent suspected that Al Queda would attack the WTC again and when he quit the FBI he got a job as the Chief of Security at the WTC.

One of his friends asked him the night before 9/11 (and I'm paraphrasing) "John, when are they going to attack?" he replied. "I don't know when but soon."

In Cringely's latest "pulpit" column, he talks about a video compression technology which uses one aspect of human vision physiology -- namely losses in the path from retina to brain via optic nerve -- to compress video. Apparently the bandwidth of the optic nerve isn't all that high, and not all the data available at the retina is transmitted to the brain. The brain makes up for this by filling in the gaps. I'm rather interested in this from a philosophical standpoint, having touched upon philosophy of colour recently. Is it true that much of what we perceive visually is imagery generated by the brain rather than directly produced in us by external stimuli?

The PBS's affilates were some of the first to upgrade to HDTV compatible transmitors. Accoring to PBS, "As of June 2004, 261 PBS member stations are offering digital broadcast services, covering 87.44% of all U.S. TV households."

You said: I don't need to see F911 to know that it is nothing more than the same hack wannabe demagoguery and villification of his political targets that he's always engaged in.

This is a F911 discussion. Why are you even posting? You must get all your news from Fox and probably listen to Rush every day. No, I shouldn't jump to conclusions about your character, age etc, but close minded people are ruining this country and most don't even realize what they are voting for. The same people listening to Rush are slamming Moore as too far left. This is a joke!

Are you familiar with "Neo-conservatism" and their agenda (even before Sept 11), do a search on that word and look at what you find. This documentary on PBS is a must see It talks about what really happened after the first Gulf war and how GW Bush was hand picked to run for president to implement and press forward the Neocon agenda. The agenda would not be supported by the American people if it wern't for Sept 11. Many of my friends and I have been talking about the Neocon agenda ever since GW Bush ran for office. The word "Neocon" used to only be mentioned in the underground and by folks on the far left. But now, the word is starting to be used by all types of individuals who understand who is behind this administration and what they really stand for. I consider myself as as Independent that swings democratic because I believe in their social values and the clean separation of church and state.

I found that F911 is only the top layer on what many sources have been saying for years. Michael Moore just bundled some shock and humor around the story. The Bush Administration is really hating this movie because it presents the information in an easy "connect the dots" type of fashion where normally the dots were hard to connect from merely watching the news media every night. When some leftist folks take the theories too deep and start to speculate, this is where they start to twist the facts and the information becomes suspect. For me, I don't have to take it much deeper after I understood all the connections and the real high-level agenda of the Neocons. Again, I'll be the first one to agree that this is a partisan movie, but the information given is simply overwhelming to all people who see it, no matter what party they come from. I want to see the Republicans and the Bush Administration refute the facts of the movie with specific, intelligent answers...not just an attack on Michael Moore's character....he is not running for president. If the facts he gives cannot be discredited with intelligent rebuttal, and so far they have not, then who cares who or where they came from?

It simply amazes me how many conservative/religious folks follow Bush based on one topic; he claims to be a born-again Christian and he is an anti-abortionist. I like to quickly point out that his policies and his actions on the World stage are anything but pro-life and conservative. I firmly believe that Jesus would not agree with this administration's actions. We just can't go forward any longer openly announcing to the World that we are the "chosen people" and using words in public speeches like "Crusade". Jesus taught us to love and accept others, not to divide, label, or try to convert them. This is my main problem with organized religion....Using Christianity as an example, Jesus forged the thinking and ideas that make up the foundation of Christianity. But, humans made up all the rules from there, changed them to control the masses and/or their political agenda, and really skewed what Jesus originally stood for. This is the position held by most modern historians. This skewing and intolerance for other religions and races is responsible for the loss of more lives than anything else throughout the history of man (whether the intolerance comes from Christianity or any religion for that matter).

If you don't want to argue any of the specific facts in F911 then you a

Wasn't that a light that affected WiFi?

I'm also glad for this FCC ruling. After reading about the citywide network in Rio Rancho, NM, which has rather hefty subscriber fees ($50/mo for 1 Mb/s), I wondered if authorities were seeking monopolization of WiFi.

This statement from the FAQs could indicate that: It's important to have the involvement of city government in approving this type of deployment

Why? Maybe if the service were free and tax supported, not subscription based. All they really provide is WiMax routers on lamp poles and the 43 Mb/s backhaul. (You supply your own WiFi card/router.) The disruptive technology that Cringely extolled recently, regarding Linksys/Sveasoft DIY mesh networks, is much preferable.

What Rio Rancho gets out of the deal is subsidized bandwidth for emergency services, which taxes ought to cover. Now government officials have an interest in suppressing DIY mesh networks. And Rio Rancho is being held up as a model for other communities.

The FCC ruling is very much in the spirit of Open Source.

Ok, if you want to talk about lies and liars--and imply GW Bush (I assume that's who you are implying?) is a liar--what's an example of a lie he told?

I'll bite, but only because I think this is important... Anyone still remember stem cells?

"As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research. I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines, where the life and death decision has already been made." - George W. Bush, 8:00 PM CDT, Aug 9, 2001. (Bold mine)

Information on Eligibility Criteria for Federal Funding of Research on Human Embryonic Stem Cells. Now, count the number of lines available for use with federal funds under the regulations provided by Bush. Granted, it's been a while since grade school math, but I'm fairly certain that 19 is NOT "more than 60".

"Embryonic stem cell research is at the leading edge of a series of moral hazards... My position on these issues is shaped by deeply held beliefs... I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our Creator. I worry about a culture that devalues life, and believe as your President I have an important obligation to foster and encourage respect for life in America and throughout the world... I have made this decision with great care, and I pray it is the right one." - Also G.W. Bush, several excerpts from the same speech, which in my opinion speaks to the "messenger of God" mentality.

Not only that:

" I will also name a President's council to monitor stem cell research, to recommend appropriate guidelines and regulations, and to consider all of the medical and ethical ramifications of biomedical innovation. This council will consist of leading scientists, doctors, ethicists, lawyers, theologians and others, and will be chaired by Dr. Leon Kass, a leading biomedical ethicist from the University of Chicago." - also same speech.

Leon Kass, of course, has a long history of such things as testifying in State of Michigan v. Jack Kevorkian against assisted suicide, fighting against human cloning, and also brings us such wonderful quotes as:

"But more importantly, in my own teaching, I discovered that the BIBLE was a book that could more than hold its own with the great works of philosophy and literature that I had been teaching to undergraduates.... And the classes that I've had on Genesis, Bill, have been the best classes I've ever taught. I don't lecture. I mean we sit and read these stories, and they take to them-- like thirsty men and women to water... You don't have to be a Jew or a Christian to believe that we are in touch with powers of inspiration that summon us. There are powers that speak through us." - Leon Kass, interview with Bill Moyers, July 25, 2003

According to this, Disney is the third largest media conglomerate, although I think they've left off GE for some reason.

Don't forget, a 1000MW coal plant releases 88 lbs of radioactive stuff every day.

Coal plant, living within 50 miles: .03 mrem
Nuclear plant, living within 50 miles: .009 mrem
(Both figures are considered extremely low levels.)

What if the only place to get music was at your local Best Buy and that just about every other outlet sold orders of magnitude less.

You mean kind of like Wal-Mart in the U.S? They capture 10% of all cd sales and have the clout to demand a sanatized version of the lyrics, song titles and cover art?

iTunes often caries both versions a song and even shows 'racy' versions of videos should you choose to watch them. Image that - choice. What will they think of next?

War Dialing was cool

War Driving was nostalgic

War Flying was cute

War Biking, Skateboarding, Parasailing, Hang-gliding, sky-diving, monster-truck driving, walking, chalking, talking, and even steven hawking were just kind of uninteresting.

Now if a soldier in Iraq wants to mount an iPaq, Solar panel, GPS, and WiFi card on his helmet and call it War-War'ing, that *might* be cool enough to come full circle and be sweet again.

Until then, its off to Defcon and try to get a twentyseventhousandmillion mile 802.11b signal going.

This is going to happen. Your "can't do" attitude indicates you're not going to be the one to do it. That is all.

The commodity hardware is available. The software is available. It has been done before.

This might not be true in your area, but there are enough wide-open broadband + 802.11g access points in my area to anchor a freewan mesh of any size without even paying for internet access at all. Please note that many people (myself included) run their access points wide open deliberately.

Investment cost to host a freewan cell (802.11g) is about $100 upfront and $0 for ongoing costs. To anchor it to an ISP with acceptable TOS (or one that's known to turn a blind eye) is a minimal monthly many of us are already paying. Contrast that with the corpnet million dollar towers and the municipal $50 million dollar 802.11b networks and you begin to understand why the little guy has the advantage here.

When the mesh grows to the point where it's got consumers in the six figures, you can bet somebody is going to want to connect to it badly enough to pay the freight, and then the monthlies go away.

Apart from a solid municipal commitment to fiber-to-the-door, (and perhaps even then because of the side benefits) I don't see this not happening all over the country in the near future.

Of course, YMMV.

If you try to argue that we shouldn't be at war, what you're really doing is arguing that we should surrender. What you're really doing is arguing that we should unilaterally withdraw our forces and our diplomatic and economic pressures and allow the forces of barbarism and tyranny to sweep across the globe. What you're really doing is arguing that we have no business bringing all the weapons in our arsenal to bear against those who provide aid, backing, and safe harbor to terrorists.

If you want to make that argument, at least have the basic human courtesy of making it out in the open. Don't hide it behind disgusting, disingenuous lies about supporting the troops by bringing them home.

I've been to a couple of those marches where one out of every 500 people in the US converges on DC to make their wishes heard.

Oh, please. Rubberneckers, opinionless college students, anti-capitalists, anti-Semites, conspiracy nuts, pro-abortionists... you name it. These so-called "marches" are social velcro for anybody with (a) something to say, or (b) the desire to see a show. I've been there, too. I've covered them. I've spent countless hours, including countless hours of videotape, talking to the people who attend those sorts of things. These are not cohesive masses of people with a firm grasp on foreign and military policy. They're dregs. They're the uneducated, the mentally ill, the deeply troubled, the deeply confused. If there are a thousand people at a "march," you might find three who have a meaningful opinion about the war on terror. The rest are just noise.

hundreds of thousands of people who are there because they want less dying, not more

Oooh, that's really going out on a limb! "I want less dying, not more!" Wow, that's really taking a stand!

You fucking idiot. How exactly do you hope to get "less dying, not more?" By sitting down and letting the people who are dedicated to the utter destruction of the United States and our way of life carry out their terrorist campaign unopposed? By stopping all of our economic, diplomatic, and military pressure and letting Islamism burn like a firestorm through the third world? By letting the conflict seethe until it erupts into outright global war, this generation or the next?

You have nothing to say, do you? You spew things like "less dying, not more," but you have nothing MEANINGFUL to say?

People complain about freedom of speech being supressed. This is because it is being supressed.

Wrong. IF IT WERE BEING SUPPRESSED, YOU WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO SAY WHAT YOU HAVE SAID HERE.

Most of the censorship to date has been economic, not legal

Then it's not censorship, is it? Censorship is, by definition, the making of laws abridging the freedom of speech. I think I remember seeing something about that written down somewhere.

Let's start the debate off right. What *does* "Support Our Troops" actually m

The [Saudi] regime is fully responsible for what had been incurred by the country and the nation; however the occupying American enemy is the principle and the main cause of the situation. Therefore efforts should be concentrated on destroying, fighting and killing the enemy until, by the Grace of Allah, it is completely defeated.

'Support our troops' is a non sequitir in a debate about whether we should be at war at all.

There is no such debate. Seriously: there is no such debate.

If you're willing to overlook some blinding facts, you might be able to argue that we shouldn't have been at war... but that whole question kind of melts away when viewed in the light of the fact that war was declared against us by our enemies eight years ago, in light of the fact that one of our enemies repeatedly violated an unconditional surrender, in the light of the fact that that same enemy personally financed acts of terrorism against the United States and our closest allies, in the light of the fact that we were brutally and shamefully attacked on our own soil.

We're at war. We're at war with Islamism now as surely as we were at war with fascism in 1943, as surely as we were at war with communism in 1986. We're at war.

If you try to argue that we shouldn't be at war, what you're really doing is arguing that we should surrender. What you're really doing is arguing that we should unilaterally withdraw our forces and our diplomatic and economic pressures and allow the forces of barbarism and tyranny to sweep across the globe. What you're really doing is arguing that we have no business bringing all the weapons in our arsenal to bear against those who provide aid, backing, and safe harbor to terrorists.

If you want to make that argument, at least have the basic human courtesy of making it out in the open. Don't hide it behind disgusting, disingenuous lies about supporting the troops by bringing them home.

Not to mention the reason behind a public education system in the first place. The basis for public education is that an educated population increases the value of the nation as a whole, it creates "better" citizens, and reduces crime.

I should mention I wholly agree with your comments regarding education being equal for all children regardless of their home life. Education used to be only for the wealthy or for religious purposes. Most (if not all) schools now offer basic and advanced classes to avoid at least quite a bit of the problems associated with apathetic students holding the class back. That, to me, is a much better solution than simply releasing the apathetic students from having to go to school.

Another comment earlier in this thread was related to the education systems in China, India, and Japan. While it's true that those programs have disastrous results for students who don't excel, they have another common thread: their education systems are based on memorizaion, while ours is based on problem solving. Our children might not be able to memorize all of our tax law or all of the syntax associated with a programming language, but typically they have the ability to figure it out.

History of public education in the US
The Merrow Report (PBS)
A Nation at Risk: Report of the National Commission on Excellence
The Pedigree of an Idea

Anyone who would actually pay for this shit deserves to. Frontline had a great episode focusing on the music industry with quite a bit about the construction of this band.

It was the Germans who first grasped the psychological implications of bombing a civilian population. Using mostly zeppelins in the early years, they instilled fear and panic in the people by flying over their cities. This became a regular practice and made the Germans seem much more powerful and omnipresent in the minds of their enemies.

What you do find in Idaho is a general mistrust of the Federal Government and Attorney Generals. Remember Ruby Ridge.

It was a weak case from the start. Ashcroft was doing a witch hunt. With the case they were presenting anyone who sets up up a website with a forum with a single posting inciting violence could get terrorism charges. And the postings referenced in the indictment that Ashcroft quoted read like book reports. For example "The World's Bravest People" about the Chechen mujahideen warriors, "The True Meaning of Shaheed" about how matrydom is an ultimate honor, "The Objectives and Aims of Jihad", and "The Religious and Moral Doctrine of Jihad".

It was if someone posted a document on the honor and bravery of Samurais and the webmaster being thown in jail.

Here is the indictment.

As a former UI student who worked in the same lab as Sami, I am glad to see that our court systems do work and that he can return to his family. Let's hope that all accused get a day in court instead of indefinite prison terms and assassinations.

> radio stations such as NPR are still great sources for news

NPR lobbied against Low Power FM radio stations. This limits competition and supports the status quo of radio consolidation (Their brother PBS network acknowledges radio consolidation as a problem, how ironic!). Just something to remember when they start one of their pledge drives.

And considering how much money Microsoft is losing now, I don't think Microsoft will wait 12 years and will almost certainly give up before then.

I'd like to draw your attention to this Cringely article. It's a (long) opinion piece on MS' business model. Two points are made about the way MS works: 1) MS has incentives to increase losses. Yeah, you read that correctly. Without losses to balance off their massive growth in the Office/Windows department, they'd plateau and go nowhere. 2) Microsoft has basically saturated the PC market, and sucked as much profit as humanly possible from computer sales. Thus, they have to move into new markets.

Keeping the top two points in mind, the X-Box seems to be doing a perfect job of what MS wants. Now, I certainly don't expect you to whole-heartedly agree with the above article, but do at least read it...


--LordPixie

Cable companies will never drop their prices until we start seeing small neighborhood WiFi ISPs as described by Bob Cringely in his past two PBS columns. I've thought about this for a few years now but, alas, I'm no entrepreneur.

But drop their prices to compete with dial-up? They don't even need to drop their prices to compete with DSL. Where I live, Cablevision gives me speeds of 5 Mbps down and 900 kbps up for $40/mo (with TV service; $50/mo a la carte). Verizon DSL is $50/mo and the best speed would be 625 kbps down. Cablevision could raise their price to $60, $70 per month; you name it; and my only alternative would be a dog slow DSL or dial-up connection.

I'm hooked on the fat pipe and they know it.

While I have problems with Microsoft's business practices (monopolistic bastards), my real objection to Windows (in particular, and most other MS products in general) is that it is badly designed, difficult to use and generally tasteless (queue the Steve Jobs quote from Triumph of the Nerds). Doing just about anything using an MS product is so thoroughly, frustratingly difficult and counter-intuitive, that its only similarty to a pleasurable experience lies in the fact that I am present for the ordeal.

With Mac OS (classic) the user interface design is still pretty good and I can suffer through the rough spots. With Linux, though the user interface design tends to suck (with a few exceptions, notable by their quality) at least I have a lot of choices or a shot at hacking together a reasonable work-around. With Mac OS X I get the best of both worlds (and, again, I can suffer through the rough spots).

My computer should do what I tell it to do: nothing more and nothing less. With Classic Mac OS I was able to get pretty close most of the time. With Linux and Mac OS X I get a lot closer: I'm pretty well able to figure out what bits to fiddle to turn things on and off, or what files to read to find out why something went wrong. With MS Windows, even if I can figure out what the damn thing is doing, I am rarely able to find a way to change the behavior.

Early in my computing career I was lucky enough to spend several years working on a platform that made almost every task pleasurable and easy, and I got used to it. I simply see no reason to do or use anything that causes me continuous physical or psychological pain. Microsoft Windows, unfortunately, falls in the category of fingernails-on-a-blackboard, blood-spurting-from-the-eyes, nerve-shriveling, brain-peeling, testicle-crushing pain.

Read this article and maybe you'll see why he is so excited. Speaking as a father and someone who has followed Cringely's columns for awhile, I am glad to hear he now has a second chance at fatherhood.

I can't imagine losing one of my babies...

Cringely has been a long long long-time column writer for PBS. Back in the day, he was a nobody.

Then he did this movie, called Triumph of the Nerds, about Microsoft and Apple's foundings. You see, back then, he was still a tech writer, and he met with Apple in their garage, and knew Bill Gates when he wasn't worth much. He tracks them and personal computer's rise.

He is quite interested to technophiles, and that is a columnist's job. He gets people interested, reading, and writing about his ideas. He's probably the best technical writer around (I certainly think so - I started reading him around when the nerds movie came out).

If you haven't seen the movie, you may find it interesting, and free on PBS.

I agree that unchecked aggressiveness was often an evolutionary advantage in the past, but as Bill Joy and others have noted, it's becoming more and more maladaptive as technological power increases. Fortunately, aggression and war aren't the only successful evolutionary strategies -- there are others based on co-operation that can work as well or better, in the right circumstances. The trick is to provide those cirmcumstances, and then convince people to act in their own long term best interest.