I remember DOS games like Red Storm Rising that came with a keyboard overlay because you needed that many different commands. Heck, imagine how much easier it would've been to play games like System Shock if you could've issued commands by thought.
Of course, this could be a problem in The Sims. I can see my wife accidentally screwing up in the game because she briefly thought about cooking dinner or playing with the dog. Of course, if her sims kept accidentally getting it on, then I would have a good signal she was in the mood!
already has had bad effects on society
on
NASA Fires Astronaut
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· Score: 2, Interesting
One of the officers I work with has coined a new phrase: "I've got astronaut love for you, man!" I can't being to express how wrong that is. Just wrong.
See the word "battlespace" in the description - that's DoD-ese for "battleground." They're talking about being able to go back and rapidly review/search recordings from satellites and other sensors monitoring combat zones. It's a very good idea - if you could track a car back to a house, you can then see who went in a out, and so forth. You could backtrack a small boat coming out of a sheltered hiding spot, and so forth. It's about time someone thought of this, frankly.
This isn't domestic surveillance that they're talking about.
A tortured argument on Olson's part. By that logic, it's ok for me to distribute child porn to people in other countries via CD. At that point, they're just inert electrons. Only when the recipient opens the file do the bits resolve themselves into an actual image. So the offender is not the person who sent the CD, because it the images weren't executable, but rather the person who received it and opened it for viewing. Staggering.
A bit OT, I'm stunned by the poor performance on the part of this Joseffer person. Asst SGs aren't what they used to be, I guess. You cannot win a case during oral arguments before the Court, but you can lose. Seven years ago, I watched the AG of North Carolina throw away states' rights to sell the data from their DMV databases through a truly incompetent argument. Here we go again.
We Americans focus on the profit issue because we live in a market economy. Here's the reasoning:
1. Innovation can lead to a product that people find useful
2. People will pay for useful products
3. Other people see this, and try to innovate in that same area
4. Competition forces more innovation, or at least lower prices
5. Society gets better stuff at a lower price, and innovators make money
The "European stance" (not applicable in more market-oriented states like Ireland, I suspect) ignores this reality, thus chopping incentives for innovation off at the knees. Your stance will restrict innovation to large, established, conservative companies, and create a disincentive for the entry of small businesses (which often are founded around a single, innovative idea or product and are the primary drivers of employment and economic dynamism).
What causes you to look down your nose at us is the fact that some established market participants have found ways to game the system thanks to the general uselessness of our federal government. But this happens everywhere. Consider that our market economy continues to innovate despite this, compare the results to your own, and marvel.
Um...any company that gains an overwhelmingly dominant market position can be Microsoft in that area. Once a company has totally squashed the competition, there's nothing left to do but play defense against potential rivals. That is a disincentive for innovation, good customer service, good value for money, etc.
IAANAT (I Am A Navy Acquisition Type). Don't give me the "ditching the peacetime acquisition system would fix this" argument - innumerable, half-assed products are developed and dumped on the troops during wartime in the name of getting things to the field quickly. They get fixed only after it catches fire and kills the crew. Or they don't work after falling in salt water. Or something like that. Wartime is no better. Troops in the field always want the latest and greatest Right Now; they don't care that 79 other guys are asking for the same thing, but a little different, resulting in 80 incompatible systems that each carry their own, unique logistics tail.
I also can say that the big contractors are indispensable for some things. Lockheed Martin maintains and updates the monster that is Aegis, for example. David has no ability to do this. Maybe an army of Davids overseen by LockMart acting as lead integrator, but otherwise no.
The acquisition process has serious problems, don't get me wrong. But anecdotes don't make a good argument.
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I remember DOS games like Red Storm Rising that came with a keyboard overlay because you needed that many different commands. Heck, imagine how much easier it would've been to play games like System Shock if you could've issued commands by thought.
Of course, this could be a problem in The Sims. I can see my wife accidentally screwing up in the game because she briefly thought about cooking dinner or playing with the dog. Of course, if her sims kept accidentally getting it on, then I would have a good signal she was in the mood!
One of the officers I work with has coined a new phrase: "I've got astronaut love for you, man!" I can't being to express how wrong that is. Just wrong.
See the word "battlespace" in the description - that's DoD-ese for "battleground." They're talking about being able to go back and rapidly review/search recordings from satellites and other sensors monitoring combat zones. It's a very good idea - if you could track a car back to a house, you can then see who went in a out, and so forth. You could backtrack a small boat coming out of a sheltered hiding spot, and so forth. It's about time someone thought of this, frankly.
This isn't domestic surveillance that they're talking about.
A tortured argument on Olson's part. By that logic, it's ok for me to distribute child porn to people in other countries via CD. At that point, they're just inert electrons. Only when the recipient opens the file do the bits resolve themselves into an actual image. So the offender is not the person who sent the CD, because it the images weren't executable, but rather the person who received it and opened it for viewing. Staggering.
A bit OT, I'm stunned by the poor performance on the part of this Joseffer person. Asst SGs aren't what they used to be, I guess. You cannot win a case during oral arguments before the Court, but you can lose. Seven years ago, I watched the AG of North Carolina throw away states' rights to sell the data from their DMV databases through a truly incompetent argument. Here we go again.
We Americans focus on the profit issue because we live in a market economy. Here's the reasoning: 1. Innovation can lead to a product that people find useful 2. People will pay for useful products 3. Other people see this, and try to innovate in that same area 4. Competition forces more innovation, or at least lower prices 5. Society gets better stuff at a lower price, and innovators make money The "European stance" (not applicable in more market-oriented states like Ireland, I suspect) ignores this reality, thus chopping incentives for innovation off at the knees. Your stance will restrict innovation to large, established, conservative companies, and create a disincentive for the entry of small businesses (which often are founded around a single, innovative idea or product and are the primary drivers of employment and economic dynamism). What causes you to look down your nose at us is the fact that some established market participants have found ways to game the system thanks to the general uselessness of our federal government. But this happens everywhere. Consider that our market economy continues to innovate despite this, compare the results to your own, and marvel.
Um...any company that gains an overwhelmingly dominant market position can be Microsoft in that area. Once a company has totally squashed the competition, there's nothing left to do but play defense against potential rivals. That is a disincentive for innovation, good customer service, good value for money, etc.
Competition is good, all else being equal.
IAANAT (I Am A Navy Acquisition Type). Don't give me the "ditching the peacetime acquisition system would fix this" argument - innumerable, half-assed products are developed and dumped on the troops during wartime in the name of getting things to the field quickly. They get fixed only after it catches fire and kills the crew. Or they don't work after falling in salt water. Or something like that. Wartime is no better. Troops in the field always want the latest and greatest Right Now; they don't care that 79 other guys are asking for the same thing, but a little different, resulting in 80 incompatible systems that each carry their own, unique logistics tail.
I also can say that the big contractors are indispensable for some things. Lockheed Martin maintains and updates the monster that is Aegis, for example. David has no ability to do this. Maybe an army of Davids overseen by LockMart acting as lead integrator, but otherwise no.
The acquisition process has serious problems, don't get me wrong. But anecdotes don't make a good argument.