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The Best of What's New From Popular Science
Wrathie writes ""The top 100 technological innovations of 2003, from aviation to defibrillation, GPS to Wi-Fi, rotary to rockets. The year and the gear that was." This article from Popular Science magazine is quite extensive."
Everyone knows the good issues of Popular Science are long gone. Remember projects/experiments, rather than just news? Yeah, Popular Mechanics used to have them too, ones relating to mechanics.
Printed news is now effectively obsolete, they don't even stay curren on the happenings in Soviet Russia like slashdot does.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
that which opens the door to future developments. I don't think a skinny TV, or even the beautiful maglev train contribute half as much as the entrants to the X-Prize. I don't think any of the others will stimulate further invention as much as a commercial space travel. Next I'd like to see the Y-Prize - first commercial hotel on Mars ;)
Though that Mag-train is beautiful.
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
The patent system works quite well wherever tangible things are concerned.
It's only when we start trying to patent abstract things like algorithms or business practices that it starts to look like a bit of a mess.
Remember projects/experiments, rather than just news? Yeah, Popular Mechanics used to have them too, ones relating to mechanics.
But not anymore. Technology has shot so far ahead that what already surrounds is far more impressive than anything we can quickly whip up from readily available materials. The classic science projects have fallen by the wayside.
The coolest voice ever.
You forgot to add the part where they found the stash of invisible WMDs.
Apple delivers the first 64-bit computer.
Amazing.
Sure make your point, and no-one is claiming that Saddam Hussein wasn't a complete bastard put there by the west to try and control the Islamic fundamentalists in places like Iran.
The point is that NONE of the element you talk about actually represented a clear and present threat to any countries around Iraq, and certainly not to the US or Britain. Definately they were hiding somethings, but what they were NOT hiding were long range WMDs that could be launched in 45 minutes. Which was the implication of the UK dossier.
Saddam Hussein was a rabid nutter who commited acts of genocide on his people... the MAJORITY of these were conducted BEFORE the first war in Iraq and during a time where he was supported by the West. There is almost no doubt that some people in Iraq were still looking at chemical and biological agents (as they are in the UK and US) but nothing to suggest this was being manufactured on a large scale or presented an immediate threat... which was the justification for war.
My joke was refering to acutal WEAPONS of Mass Destruction not Hard Disks of information than could be used when combinded with a large scale industrial plant and several technologies that Iraq no-longer has to produce, potentially, Weapons of Mass Destruction. As has been said on radio before, the BBC has more capacity to create WMDs than Iraq.
And even though its a gag it is still getting mods down on the right-wing side.
It was a joke, lighten up.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
I wonder how many innovations were made by ordinary people slaving and sweating everyday to figure out how to do something better? I wonder how many spent more money just during the "concept" phase to get things rolling than many of us could every make?
There's a balance to the issue with Patents, as with nearly anything. Having no patents on anything is just more of the Internet generation sucking in everything for free... it's a really intense vacuum.
So what exactly is the technological innovation of itunes? I mean, it's a nice service and works fairly well - but I don't see it as much of a leap ahead of what we had before.
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
The renesis design might be slightly improved over the older rotaries, but this car's performance is terrible. It doesn't make 238 HP, Mazda even says so and has derated it, and based on what people who dyno test it, it's even lower than Mazda's new figures. And it has less than 160 lb-ft of torque! Yeah, the NA rotary might have improved a little bit since it's last generation, but look around at everything else, they have improved MUCH more. From 4 cylinders like the Subaru and Honda on up to 8 cyclinders like LS1/LS6 V8s in Corvette/Camaro/Firebirds/GTOs, everything else has improved much more and left the rotary in the dust. Take that thing off the list, it doesn't belong.
I'm glad to see the new Prius made the list. I took delivery of mine last month (first in Tucson!) and am still amazed by the car. I'm averaging 48.5 MPG right now, due to engine break-in and having to run the air conditioner for most of that time due to a recent warm spell.
What's so amazing is that, after the car has started, it's just like any other well-built japanese car. It accelerates smartly, stops easily, and handles well. All that technology and the user interface is more or less that of a standard car (UI designers take note!).
The only down side I've seen is backing up. Since the internal combustion engine does not start in reverse, the car is dead quiet. I've had to honk to get people out of the way of the car. They're so used to hearing a car before seeing it move they don't realize the car is rolling.
Oh, as for speed, it's no BMW, but I did catch a Z28 Camaro with its pants down a couple weeks back. Every time the poor guy shifted, the Prius would pull a few more feet ahead.
And, unlike some of the other technology mentioned, this one is avalilable (more or less) right now.