Rather than linking to an old BBC article, you're better off linking to OpenSpace on the Ordinance Survey's website, as the data has already been released. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/opendata/
I'm not entirely hopeful that the Post Office will follow any time soon: the postcode and address data is a real cash cow for them.
"Just strap a sealed chamber onto a grain silo of fuel, surely?"
I'm sure I remember watching this film once where this guy and his dog - his name was Grummit or something - managed to build this pretty cool rocket that ignited using a fuse. It was a bit old fashioned, but it seemed like a really cheap way to get to the moon. They didn't look like millionaires, and they seemed to have built it just using a saw, some metal, and a few household items, so I'm sure it can be done for a lot less than $60m. I think they managed to harvest a lot of cheese from the surface, too, so there could be an exciting business opportunity there for you. If I recall, the film also showed their design plans for this rocket, so perhaps watch it and copy it. Good luck!
What they initially took to be an RPG was actually the camera. I can't find the original news article I read, but it quoted a US military source as admitting as much.
Early in the tape, released by the whistleblowers’ website Wikileaks.org, Mr Noor-Eldeen is seen from the co-pilot’s perspective crouching on a street corner in Baghdad’s Sadr City, partly hidden by a low house but with his telephoto lens visible. “He’s got an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade launcher],” the co-pilot says. “I’m going to fire.”
And as for military procedure, they behaved like a bunch of trigger happy cowboys playing a video game. They were itching to fire and blast away, and were just looking for a reason to do it. There was no desire for clear information; they made assumptions that favoured the desire for action. Instead of verifying that there was an RPG, they immediately decided it was. The van that rocked up to take away the bodies could have been a makeshift ambulance - there was no signs of its occupants being armed - but they just immediately assumed it was hostile, and shot. They were urging the wounded Iraqi to pick up a weapon so they could kill him. Later, when they fired the first missile into the building, it was quite clear that a civilian had come into frame before firing, yet he shot anyway. The second missile was fired even though again, quite clearly, you can see civilians gathering outside the building to try help the wounded. Again, they fired without any consideration to innocents being nearby.
They demonstrate a callous disregard for the very human lives that they were supposedly trying to help/save, and clearly wanted to any excuse to open fire. And I doubt the fog of war really applies here since they weren't being fired on, so they could've taken their time to make good judgements.
I've encountered this type of thinking before. I got onto a train that had arrived at the the last stop, and was about to head back in the opposite direction. I watched all the passengers get off, but there was still a young girl hunched over in her chair. Thinking she was asleep, I got on and tried to wake her up. She was unresponsive, so I tried to shake her awake. Still, no response, just a groan of some sort. Her eyes were fluttering between closed and open. Worried, thinking she could be a diabetic and had fallen into a coma, I went to alert the guard, who promptly told me that she had already been on the train going backwards and forwards on the route for over an hour. Amazed, I asked the guard why hadn't he called for an ambulance, or tried to see if he could wake her up. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Not allowed to touch 'em, health and safety." It was only when I pressed the issue that he agreed to get some police and/or health services to meet the train at the next stop to help her.
I just performed that search, and GP is correct: first result is indeed 'Why are Mac's So Expensive? - Yahoo! Answers'. This result is duplicated when searching with the phrase surrounded by quotes, and without.
Okay, so TFA is arguing that creating a new agency 'that didn’t include the spooks would' avoid conflict and bring about 'acceptance across the government and the private sector'.
But right in the beginning, it says '[Google] wants geeks, but it runs the risk of getting spies' when it contacts the NSA.
If there is no guarantee that Google doesn't end up getting spooks from the NSA, who can say this new agency won't have spooks in there from the NSA?
Am I missing something here, or is there some magical reason why this new agency won't have spooks embedded there, and it should be trusted any more than the NSA?
I didn't see where in the article it said that it opens once it reaches orbit. My understanding was that they can instruct the device remotely. All they say is that the polymer sheet 'is folded for launch to be unfurled once in space'. Also, later on:
CubeSail will endeavour to demonstrate this "propellantless propulsion" by trying to shift the path it takes across the surface of the Earth by just a few degrees over the course of a year... Once its mission is complete, CubeSail will be instructed to take itself out of orbit.
Isn't it likely to get passed anyway since the US is really a plutocracy? I'm not sure the American public have as much say on it as you think; the public mouthpieces (i.e. the media) would make sure they argue the case for it to sway public opinion. Maybe there'll be one or two minor concessions, but I doubt it. And what do you mean "it is scary is that we have a president who stands with them on it"? Did you really expect Obama be different to any other US president that have all continually been pro-corporate? That's where their bread is buttered.
Please tell me, does your reasoning extend to individuals i.e. if I am amoral, then you have no right to call me either good or evil when I decide to go and rob your house?
Comments left on Chinese website sina.com.cn include "Google, out of China" and "Go away, we have Baidu".
Internet and mobile company TOM Online, which is run by Hong Kong's wealthiest man Li Ka-shing, said that it would stop using Google.
The companies have an agreement which will not be renewed, claimed TOM.
A Google spokesperson insisted that the firm would fulfil existing contractual obligations.
"I think Chinese people are offended by Google's action," said BBC journalist Jasmin Gu, who is based in China. "It has aroused nationalistic fervour. Many people choose to stop using Google and support Chinese search engine Baidu."
Also, this article was interesting http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8582556.stm: "There is sharp division between the reactions from Chinese internet users on websites that lie inside and outside Chinese government censorship. The vast majority of the comments and blogs on Chinese mainland websites appear to express hate and anger towards Google. But tweets and comments that appear to come from users in mainland China on websites based outside the country express sympathy and support towards Google, and anger towards the Chinese government."
(Each of the titles below has a link, so go check the document itself).
Hardware
Icarus Payload Hardware Setup Guide
This is a guide on how to set up the hardware in the Icarus payload. Currently the payload contains a Canon A560 camera and a custom designed PCB which does the tracking and communication. This PCB will probably be available from me should you wish to have a one at cost.
Timble Lassen IQ
This is an excellent GPS with a reasonable price tag. It uses the AND clause before shutdown making it perfect for high altitude work, provided your payload is not moving like a missile:-) The AND / OR clause refers to the manufacturers having to restrict GPS's from being used for missile guidance. Some manufacturers use a rule that is based on altitude OR speed and HAB often exceeds the altitude limit and the GPS shuts down. We favor GPS's that use the altitude AND speed restriction as the payload never excees the speed limits and hence the GPS keeps functioning.
Radiometrix
Established in 1985 Radiometrix specialise in the design and manufacture of low power radio products for rapid implementation of high-reliability, cable-free data links. Radiometrix is the industry's leading developer of off the-shelf, licence-exempt miniature radio modules.
ATMega8
The ATMega8 is an excellent microchip for this kind of work. There are plenty of good tools for programing this chip using Linux, Windows or the Mac see the software pages for links. An excellent website for information about programming the avr micros, as they are commonly called is AVR Freaks.
DS1821
This is a superb low temperature sensor from Dallas Semiconductor (now subsidiary of Maxim-ic). The temperature range is from -55 deg C to 150 deg C making it a good choice for HAB.
Trimble Lassen SK II
This is an alternative to the Lassen iQ and was my first GPS. If you want to work at 5v rather than 3.3v then this might be the GPS for you. Once again this uses the the Alt & Velocity rule before shtting down. This is basically to prevent people using these modules in missile guidence systems.
Gumstix Verdex
Gumstix develops and sells small, inexpensive, highly functional Linux computers for outstanding development and production systems.
Which means they're idiots. Seriously. Wikileaks is likely to be under surveillance all the time. To come out and openly say, "We have classified material, and we'll show it to you in a couple weeks' time", what the hell did they expect would happen? It'd be like Daniel Ellsberg announcing at a press conference that he's got secret documents called the Pentagon papers, and that he'll release them in a week later.
That was exactly the point I was trying to make - SA has one of the worst crime rates in the world, and yet my Dad's perception was that the UK was worse because of Sky's media coverage.
I'm glad you're happy to live in a society where underaged thugs can and do intimidate old ladies, little children, and the less well off as a matter of course.
As a matter of course? Wow. It's really funny that this is your perception. A small anecdote for you. I'm South African, and I'm living in the UK (have been here for 9 years). My parents still live in South Africa. A recent phone conversation from my dad went something like this:
Dad: Where's [your wife]?
Me: She's out in [local city], she'll be back tonight at 11.
Dad: Good grief, will she be okay?
Me: What do you mean?
Dad: I mean, is it safe?
Me: Of course, she'll be fine.
Dad: But crime is so bad over there, are you sure?
* A brief pause while I ponder on the amazing situation of my Dad living in South Africa telling me crime is bad in the UK *
Me: Umm, it's really not that bad Dad.
Dad: God, I watch Sky news all the time, it sounds like a war zone. People getting stabbed all the time...
Me: Uh, Dad, do you watch the news about South Africa at all?
Dad: Yeah, but it sounds much worse over there!
And that's the crux really: it seems much worse than it is because its sensationalised. Here's a tip: stop reading rags like The Sun, or the Daily Mail, and stop watching Sky News, or at the very least start analysing the "facts" these news outlets trot out. Most of the major news outlets in the UK rely on xenophobia and fear to sell their papers. It's really peculiar that people seem to lap it up and create this world of fear that really doesn't exist. Yes, I've seen "mindless" intimidation from a hoodie. I can probably count the number of instances on one hand, and that's having lived here for 9 years, some of them in some fairly "dodgy" parts of London. But that's hardly representative of life in the UK to generate the irrational fear you're exhibiting.
Urm, if you had RTFA, you would have noticed "The UKSA's name, logo and remit were announced at a conference in London". Surprisingly, the logo consists of white, red and blue with a leaning towards the Union Jack. So I guess they've got the logo and colour scheme before the website. Are you flabbergasted?
Really fascinating, thanks for posting that. Wasn't aware of this effect. Would give you mod points if I had them. For anyone too lazy to click on the link provided:
The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity whereby subjects improve an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they are being studied, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation.
The term was coined in 1955 by Henry A. Landsberger when analyzing older experiments from 1924-1932 at the Hawthorne Works (a Western Electric factory outside Chicago). Hawthorne Works had commissioned a study to see if its workers would become more productive in higher or lower levels of light. The workers' productivity seemed to improve when changes were made and slumped when the study was concluded. It was suggested that the productivity gain was due to the motivational effect of the interest being shown in them. Although illumination research of workplace lighting formed the basis of the Hawthorne effect, other changes such as maintaining clean work stations, clearing floors of obstacles, and even relocating workstations resulted in increased productivity for short periods. Thus the term is used to identify any type of short-lived increase in productivity.
Slashdot Mirror
Rather than linking to an old BBC article, you're better off linking to OpenSpace on the Ordinance Survey's website, as the data has already been released. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/opendata/
I'm not entirely hopeful that the Post Office will follow any time soon: the postcode and address data is a real cash cow for them.
"Content recognition detects you are masturbating. Share? Yes/No"
I'm sure I remember watching this film once where this guy and his dog - his name was Grummit or something - managed to build this pretty cool rocket that ignited using a fuse. It was a bit old fashioned, but it seemed like a really cheap way to get to the moon. They didn't look like millionaires, and they seemed to have built it just using a saw, some metal, and a few household items, so I'm sure it can be done for a lot less than $60m. I think they managed to harvest a lot of cheese from the surface, too, so there could be an exciting business opportunity there for you. If I recall, the film also showed their design plans for this rocket, so perhaps watch it and copy it. Good luck!
What they initially took to be an RPG was actually the camera. I can't find the original news article I read, but it quoted a US military source as admitting as much.
And as for military procedure, they behaved like a bunch of trigger happy cowboys playing a video game. They were itching to fire and blast away, and were just looking for a reason to do it. There was no desire for clear information; they made assumptions that favoured the desire for action. Instead of verifying that there was an RPG, they immediately decided it was. The van that rocked up to take away the bodies could have been a makeshift ambulance - there was no signs of its occupants being armed - but they just immediately assumed it was hostile, and shot. They were urging the wounded Iraqi to pick up a weapon so they could kill him. Later, when they fired the first missile into the building, it was quite clear that a civilian had come into frame before firing, yet he shot anyway. The second missile was fired even though again, quite clearly, you can see civilians gathering outside the building to try help the wounded. Again, they fired without any consideration to innocents being nearby.
They demonstrate a callous disregard for the very human lives that they were supposedly trying to help/save, and clearly wanted to any excuse to open fire. And I doubt the fog of war really applies here since they weren't being fired on, so they could've taken their time to make good judgements.
I suspect it'll be ID4-2-3D ...
Not until the one kid gets the nickname Sir Gay Gaylord.
If Peter's Pirate Party pillages a peck of private papers, how many private papers did Peter's Pirate Party pillage?
I've encountered this type of thinking before. I got onto a train that had arrived at the the last stop, and was about to head back in the opposite direction. I watched all the passengers get off, but there was still a young girl hunched over in her chair. Thinking she was asleep, I got on and tried to wake her up. She was unresponsive, so I tried to shake her awake. Still, no response, just a groan of some sort. Her eyes were fluttering between closed and open. Worried, thinking she could be a diabetic and had fallen into a coma, I went to alert the guard, who promptly told me that she had already been on the train going backwards and forwards on the route for over an hour. Amazed, I asked the guard why hadn't he called for an ambulance, or tried to see if he could wake her up. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Not allowed to touch 'em, health and safety." It was only when I pressed the issue that he agreed to get some police and/or health services to meet the train at the next stop to help her.
I just performed that search, and GP is correct: first result is indeed 'Why are Mac's So Expensive? - Yahoo! Answers'. This result is duplicated when searching with the phrase surrounded by quotes, and without.
That's Rusty the Fire Horse.
Okay, so TFA is arguing that creating a new agency 'that didn’t include the spooks would' avoid conflict and bring about 'acceptance across the government and the private sector'.
But right in the beginning, it says '[Google] wants geeks, but it runs the risk of getting spies' when it contacts the NSA.
If there is no guarantee that Google doesn't end up getting spooks from the NSA, who can say this new agency won't have spooks in there from the NSA?
Am I missing something here, or is there some magical reason why this new agency won't have spooks embedded there, and it should be trusted any more than the NSA?
FTA: "The group also envisages that a mature system would even be sent to rendezvous and dock with redundant spacecraft to clean them from orbit."
Isn't it likely to get passed anyway since the US is really a plutocracy? I'm not sure the American public have as much say on it as you think; the public mouthpieces (i.e. the media) would make sure they argue the case for it to sway public opinion. Maybe there'll be one or two minor concessions, but I doubt it. And what do you mean "it is scary is that we have a president who stands with them on it"? Did you really expect Obama be different to any other US president that have all continually been pro-corporate? That's where their bread is buttered.
Please tell me, does your reasoning extend to individuals i.e. if I am amoral, then you have no right to call me either good or evil when I decide to go and rob your house?
Wait ... what? The British didn't bomb Hiroshima? Puh-leeaze. Next you'll tell me the earth isn't flat or something.
Well, the BBC has been looking at Chinese reactions, and their opinion is that the Chinese people are very angry. There have been calls for a boycott against Google. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8584985.stm
Also, this article was interesting http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8582556.stm: "There is sharp division between the reactions from Chinese internet users on websites that lie inside and outside Chinese government censorship. The vast majority of the comments and blogs on Chinese mainland websites appear to express hate and anger towards Google. But tweets and comments that appear to come from users in mainland China on websites based outside the country express sympathy and support towards Google, and anger towards the Chinese government."
(Each of the titles below has a link, so go check the document itself).
Hardware
Icarus Payload Hardware Setup Guide
This is a guide on how to set up the hardware in the Icarus payload. Currently the payload contains a Canon A560 camera and a custom designed PCB which does the tracking and communication. This PCB will probably be available from me should you wish to have a one at cost.
Timble Lassen IQ
This is an excellent GPS with a reasonable price tag. It uses the AND clause before shutdown making it perfect for high altitude work, provided your payload is not moving like a missile :-) The AND / OR clause refers to the manufacturers having to restrict GPS's from being used for missile guidance. Some manufacturers use a rule that is based on altitude OR speed and HAB often exceeds the altitude limit and the GPS shuts down. We favor GPS's that use the altitude AND speed restriction as the payload never excees the speed limits and hence the GPS keeps functioning.
Radiometrix
Established in 1985 Radiometrix specialise in the design and manufacture of low power radio products for rapid implementation of high-reliability, cable-free data links. Radiometrix is the industry's leading developer of off the-shelf, licence-exempt miniature radio modules.
ATMega8
The ATMega8 is an excellent microchip for this kind of work. There are plenty of good tools for programing this chip using Linux, Windows or the Mac see the software pages for links. An excellent website for information about programming the avr micros, as they are commonly called is AVR Freaks .
DS1821
This is a superb low temperature sensor from Dallas Semiconductor (now subsidiary of Maxim-ic). The temperature range is from -55 deg C to 150 deg C making it a good choice for HAB.
Trimble Lassen SK II
This is an alternative to the Lassen iQ and was my first GPS. If you want to work at 5v rather than 3.3v then this might be the GPS for you. Once again this uses the the Alt & Velocity rule before shtting down. This is basically to prevent people using these modules in missile guidence systems.
Gumstix Verdex
Gumstix develops and sells small, inexpensive, highly functional Linux computers for outstanding development and production systems.
Pololu Servo Controller
Futaba S3003 Servo Standard
Canon Digital Ixus 400
... can be found here: http://www.robertharrison.org/icarus/wordpress/?page_id=36
Which means they're idiots. Seriously. Wikileaks is likely to be under surveillance all the time. To come out and openly say, "We have classified material, and we'll show it to you in a couple weeks' time", what the hell did they expect would happen? It'd be like Daniel Ellsberg announcing at a press conference that he's got secret documents called the Pentagon papers, and that he'll release them in a week later.
That was exactly the point I was trying to make - SA has one of the worst crime rates in the world, and yet my Dad's perception was that the UK was worse because of Sky's media coverage.
As a matter of course? Wow. It's really funny that this is your perception. A small anecdote for you. I'm South African, and I'm living in the UK (have been here for 9 years). My parents still live in South Africa. A recent phone conversation from my dad went something like this:
Dad: Where's [your wife]? ...
Me: She's out in [local city], she'll be back tonight at 11.
Dad: Good grief, will she be okay?
Me: What do you mean?
Dad: I mean, is it safe?
Me: Of course, she'll be fine.
Dad: But crime is so bad over there, are you sure?
* A brief pause while I ponder on the amazing situation of my Dad living in South Africa telling me crime is bad in the UK *
Me: Umm, it's really not that bad Dad.
Dad: God, I watch Sky news all the time, it sounds like a war zone. People getting stabbed all the time
Me: Uh, Dad, do you watch the news about South Africa at all?
Dad: Yeah, but it sounds much worse over there!
And that's the crux really: it seems much worse than it is because its sensationalised. Here's a tip: stop reading rags like The Sun, or the Daily Mail, and stop watching Sky News, or at the very least start analysing the "facts" these news outlets trot out. Most of the major news outlets in the UK rely on xenophobia and fear to sell their papers. It's really peculiar that people seem to lap it up and create this world of fear that really doesn't exist. Yes, I've seen "mindless" intimidation from a hoodie. I can probably count the number of instances on one hand, and that's having lived here for 9 years, some of them in some fairly "dodgy" parts of London. But that's hardly representative of life in the UK to generate the irrational fear you're exhibiting.
Urm, if you had RTFA, you would have noticed "The UKSA's name, logo and remit were announced at a conference in London". Surprisingly, the logo consists of white, red and blue with a leaning towards the Union Jack. So I guess they've got the logo and colour scheme before the website. Are you flabbergasted?
Only in comic format.