VS2005 targeting Win 2000 through Vista to be exact. Nice product VS2005. I can write very nice apps with c# and the.NET framework.
I adopted MS because the shop I began working IT with served mostly MS customers, and now my shop does as well... just a reality of working in a niche market where MS has been the accesible OS for so many years.
Why, I ask, am I pulling my hair out every other week?
Does a properly run company cause a dedicated client to want to pull his already diminishing supply of hair from his head every time he reads their press releases?
Products that have been *both* delayed and had functionality removed in the last 8 months: Vista Viridian (virtualization) Server 2008 (announced that a major incremental will be released in 2009 to replace the functionality if that actually happens... so who the fuck is going to upgrade in '08?)
I depend on this shit. Why? Because you formed a friggin monopoly and all of my potential customers use your products.
the one against drug re-importation. The drug companies have to make their R&D money back from someone, so people in wealthy nations cannot have the product at the same prices as everyone else.
Doesn't change the fact that while living in this wealthier nation many the people I know cannot afford proper health care or buy the medications at all.
I'm not trying to be bitchy with you. I am just frustrated with the realities of globalization.
"The vibrancy of British music depends on a fair return on the investments that allow British talent to shine.
"This decision is an important step in ensuring that British music has a bright future."
So my question is... Why are the cd's being sold at such low prices in places like Hong Kong, where this company is buying them for resale in England. How are the artists getting a fair return selling their albums for such low prices in Hong Kong?
There is a niche for this thing... a very small one, but it is there.
I, for one, might look into owning one of these. After all, I spend a shitload of time working on client machines trying to isolate and diagnose problems. Being able to plug in a USB key to emulate the hardware firewall the client *should* have would be helpful. Notice, I said emulate, not duplicate.
Just because it is on the front page of/. does not mean it is supposed to save the world.
Firing on a spy satellite is the same as firing on a military communications vessel in international waters.
Both China and the U.S. are signees on the Outer Space Treaty. This means no nation can claim the sovereignty over space or naturally ocurring bodies in space, or place weapons in space for anything other than 'peaceful purposes.'
The treaty specifically states that countries may only act against another nation's interests in space if they believe those interests will actively cause harmful interference with their own activities.
Unless a U.S. spy satellite attempted to ram a Chinese owned space vehicle (just an example) it is not legal for the Chinese to interfere.
Hardcover sales are comping well. Paperbacks are generally not. Large chain profit margin on HC/CL (hardcover) >= 40%.
I guarantee you, though, the major chains are not doing well. See my post elsewhere in this thread. Borders just rolled their entire upper management over AGAIN, began plans to spin off all international operations, and is closing 50% of the Waldenbooks & BX branded stores.
Getting to be a revolving door in Ann Arbor, and with good reason.
but my lady worked @ BGI (Borders/Waldenbooks/Brentanos/Paperchase) for almost ten years, but recently left. The company is in dire straights even though they also sell multimedia.
While many adults buy plenty of product, there is apparently a large decline in teens buying the latest album or DVD box-set.
Hmmmm. I bet all those kids are legally paying for their multimedia on Amazon and E-Bay... wait... no I don't.
Either way, burning books is stupid.
Regards.
P.S. Apparently you will see Borders diversifying heavily over the next couple years. They have already slated 1/2 of the Waldenbook operations for closure even though they are marginally profitable. Apparently not having floor space to diversify into higher tech stock was the death knell for those stores. There is even a rumor of download kiosks & cell phone kiosks slated for test markets. *ROFL* There was a rumor of a partnership w/B&N floating around earlier this year.
If the extent of control descibed in TFA becomes reality the control systems better be OSS or I am gonna hafta take up hacking bigtime.
It's bad enough that my house's alarm system has built in maintenance overrides that I am not supposed to know about. Now magnify the potential impact in the TFA's future world by oh.. a couple orders of magnitude.
This is the sat story I was talking about. It is from back in September. It was reported widely and confirmed by the Pentagon on October 6, 2006.
NRO director Donald Kerr indicated that the onboard spy cams were blinded... but I am not finding any specific articles that indicate if the damage was permanent or only in effect while the sat was in some sort of field of fire.
Apparently there was additonal information published in DefenseNews, but I am ont finding it right now, only references to it on other sites.
Your link was interesting as well. I had missed it when it came around.
IF the signature can be altered by a signal why could it not be re-alligned by another? Is the frequency somehow damaging the medium that holds the signature?
If you expose magnetic media to random magnetic forces you lose data... but it does not destroy the medium itself.
OTOH if you pass a Sensormatic EAS tag through an EMF it destroys the medium.
Why would you make a key like that? What's going on here? Who's running this show?
or off topic. When a country develops any sort of new military technology that creates increased competition with American military technology there is a political reappraisal. The dramatic example is nuclear technology, but many others exist. The parent poster is pointing out that these revelations of new military technology will not be handled with regard to China as they would with regard to many other nations.
His comment is not particularly insightful, but his assertions are defendable:
Slashdot has reported on attacks apparently coming from within China (titan rain), and attempts by China to disable U.S. spy sats (ground based laser something or other).
The U.S. government continues to grant China 'Favored Trade Nation' status and facilitate the offshoring of work... esecially in manufacturing despite continued resistance from China to enforce safety/humanitarian regulations in those industries (something we require from our other top trading partners, though not from the poorer ones).
The U.S. government continually ignores international organizations such as Amnesty International who attempt to open dialogue about human rights records.
So now China is creating systems designed to realign the BOP on the net. How will the U.S. react? If it's track record holds true, then the U.S. will not react... which is really puzzling. True, if we have it, then others should not be prohibited... but that is now how we treat the non-chinas of the world.
The only disputable or inflamatory statement made by parent is that he actually feels sick about this.
Maybe they want the story present for multiple days without appearing to have stale news so that more people will become aware of the information.
Maybe they want search engines to return more hits for solid GPL3 related info, so they will pepper the sight with multi-part articles for a while... if a casual browser hits one they will see links to the others w/out having to use more searching.
Maybe they are more concerned about casual users educating themselves on this issue as the hardcore ones are already involved... and they fear a casual user's buffer will fill up half way through the full interview.
Just saying maybe it isn't about profit, which is what a lot of other posters seem to attribute this behavior.
Gore benefits from the fact that he has not been in elected office for some time. During his post White House years Gore has made an impact as an environmental champion. The elected officials of the US government in the White House, House of Representatives, and the Senate have failed to gather a majority advocating participation in global environmental improvement measures, and failed to exert oversight on the agencies responsible for domestic environmental affairs.
Gore was not a part of these failures because he was not in office.
All he needs to do is incorporate the DOI investigation into an argument about changing 'business as usual.' This is a proven technique to gain middle of the road voters during times of turmoil, and political approval numbers show that we are in a time of turmoil.
It is my opinion that Gore could even use this issue to assault pretty much every potential democratic opponent except John Kerry. Kerry raised a stink in 2003 about DOI corruption and the resulting devastation of the Klamath basin fish populations (which hugely affected both the environment and the Yurok tribe, while benefiting major agricultural entities).
Here's a related bit of news that may make you feel better.
An investigation at the Department of the Interior (Manages US wildlands) has resulted in numerous resignations and may result in real domestic reform.
Accusations from leading scientists include: Elimination of data regarding imperiled species in resource rich areas Rubber stamping of logging permits on public lands without due process Improper contact between dept administrators and corporate interests including the allowance of corporate influence on impact assessments
All of the allegations center around administrators who were placed by the Bush administration. Several highly placed scientists have left for the private sector and there may be an expose published. The elimination of data was egregious. Apparently data was not only removed from official reports, but other data was *actually* changed and whistleblowers were railroaded out.
Bet you five bucks this becomes a campaign issue if Gore decides to run.
I just re-read my post and realized that I left out my actual disagreement with your post. Right now we can't even get proper international cooperation for mid-large size projects. The ISS is a disaster, the ESA screwed up their super-rocket project, and NASA is apparently run by accountants.
If it takes small projects to get us further toward getting up there then I support that.
Now if someone actually suggested that the money to fund the 'robot golf' would instead be used to address issues like starvation, poverty, medical/financial aid to developing countries I would support killing the moon projects. But it won't.
If these guys can discover one additional thing about what it takes to successfully deploy and operate machinery on the moon then I am all for it.
The moon is a preliminary step toward going anywhere else.
If we establish a moonbase vehicles will not need to re-enter earth atmosphere after their initial launch, thus eliminating the most dangerous and structually damaging aspects of any space mission.
You can retask, refurbish, completely reconfigure or whatever else you want to do without bearing the cost/risk of re-entry and subsequent relaunch. All of this work could be performed in a pressurized environment. The amount of information available through Google on permanent inflatable structures designed for moon use is fantastic. If you are interested you should also search 'micrometeorite protection.' There are some killer systems in development that could seal such a structure after penetration in fractions of a second.
Docking with a space station for any type of heavy duty work would be much riskier and would require EVA. One person/system/tool fucks up and the entire station could be compromised, not to mention that the astronauts would unable to maneuver with their legs, which is apparently one of the more challenging physical aspects of EVA.
A moonbase would also allow some food production to move off planet, which they have already shown can be done through experiments on both MIR and the current station.
With a moonbase a mission to anywhere else in the system becomes much easier as all you need to get out of the gravity well are crew and supplies. We can, and already are, revivng 50 year old rocket technology that does this cheaply and safely.
Finally, the moon does not rotate, it wobbles. This means that emergency back up systems could be stored out of the path of solar flare radiation using the mass of the moon as a shield. Not such a huge deal when the solar flare only takes out some private comm sats... but conventional scientific wisdom says that much larger flares can, and inevitably will occur. Add in the fact that a solar power system would have perpetual sunlight if positioned properly.
The moon is essential to getting us anywhere else in our solar system, and protecting our increasingly space dependent communication systems.
Models of kids are apparently interspersed with friendly looking dinos at the museum... kinda like cigarette companies used to use friendly cartoon animals to promote their agendas to young minds.
Which leads me to wonder...
How similar will the agenda at this high profile (Google News front page, Slashdot front page, BBC front page) museum be? Will there be attempts to assault the scientific data for evolution, or will there be an innocent theme park feel to the whole thing?
Are we looking at religious people expressing their beliefs or a group beginning a new phase of the ongoing war for the minds of American children ala big tobacco through the middle of last century.
One problem I see with your point: The existing donor base for a major uni like OU is gonna be massive because they have been feeding grads into it for about two centuries.
indicates a history of private sector donations going back to 1816. 2006 saw roughly 25 thousand people donate a total of $35 million USD. In 2004 the 'Bicentennial Campaign' concluded after bringing in 221 million USD.
How many successful alumni over the age of 50 are going to be clued into the details of current RIAA battles and tactics. How much do you think OU wants to avoid alienating the old school donors that, given the age of the campus and their long history of massive private sector fundraising, are probably a bit out of the demographic that cares enough to educate themselves on the RIAA related issues.
My grandma thinks downloading multimedia is stealing and would accuse you of trying to sell her snakeoil if you tried to convince her that absence of marginal costs for reproduction of the works changes the arguement. She is also very involved in alumni programs from another uni, including community charity and fund-raising activities. She has spent her retirement 'giving back' to the communities that had supported her throughout her life, and many of her friends did the same.
These people are *worth* more than a couple years of grads leaving with a bitter taste.
Uh.. according to TFA this system must be cooled to -382 degrees farenheit to work properly. Of course they use liquid nitrogen to do the cooling.
So now, instead of having a system that can be patched relatively quickly with stock parts by people wearing goggles and cover-alls you will have a system that depends on a teams able to deal with radical temperatures within the system, cordoning off segments from the liquid cooling system, performing maintenance, and reintroducing additional coolant before the patch can be brought back online.
While they may find a way to make this new power system harder to take down completely, the process of getting it back up after a destructive event would seem to be exponentially more difficult.
If anything, this technology could inspire terrorist types to try hitting the power grid... something they have not done in America yet.
Focusing on the hypothetical roots of the scientific process may help. Kids know all about imagination, you could help them understand the basics of how their daydreams could change the world using your research as an example of how a dream gets refined into reality.
It would help if you prepared some funny examples of hair-brained failures that eventually led to workable concepts... something like the (now) comical early attempts at flying vehicles that helped refine the field and lead to the first viable aircraft... but preferably related to your field in some way.
You can also use this topic to work in some self-confidence themes... pointing out how some of the biggest dreamers were shunned or whatever but ended up making valuable contributions to the world through perseverence and creative integrity (refusing to sell out to be accepted). If you do this, it would also be nice to point out how lame it is to make fun of others for being different. Kids need to hear more of this type message, or so I deduce from my social interactions.
Not super scientific, but the thought processes are where it all begins. Whatever you do, don't try to do too much. You want to keep the experience light enough that everyone can have fun, while providing just enough 'hook' to start kids with active curiosities down the path the scientific thought. I've been involved in enough educational situations to know that thoughtful yet simple agendas with broad appeal are the most succesful, as they leave the the fewest children left-out.
I was trained to interview and hire by a guy with 15+ years of experience. He taught me that questioning the reason for leaving a prior employer is one of the fastest ways to separate candidates.
The more detailed and impersonal explanations about shortcomings or roadblocks to advancement that existed in a previous workplace typically pointed to a better candidate. Why? Analysing frustrations or failures without integrating personal emotions exhibits political IQ... hugely important in mid to large size companies. Being able to provide detailed explanations about the causes of frustrations or failures demonstrates scope of vision... a massive indicator of an employee's ability to deal with compromise/problem solving in the workplace through an understanding of the pressures and demands that shape production across multiple interrelated divisions.
You might be amazed at the number of job candidates who look great on paper but boil their lack of advancement or success at a prior job down to interpersonal conflicts with management etc... I know I was amazed.
The more wholistic awareness a candidate displays in answering this question, the more secure a prospective employer can be in the candidate's ability to preserve and improve the corporate culture.
I figured out years ago that if you talk shit about your old girlfriend to your new one, then your new one will wonder what you will say about her. Your new company probably doesn't want to hear any bitching.
If you were the fall guy then something obviously went wrong at your last company. Coming up with some *generalized* insight about the failures in *processes* @ the last company you worked for without attributing blame (use non-accusatory language) or personalizing the situation will let your potential employer see you as a bigger picture type candidate.
Use your experience @ your last company as a platform from which to inquire into practices at the new employer. You have a very real interest in not ending up in a situation like your prior one, and *quality* employers appreciate candidates with insightful and even difficult questions about company standards and practices.
Corporations use rebranding all the time. Rebrand 'fall guy' before you go much further in the process even when thinking things over inside your own head. How you approach the issue internally will subtley change the way other people approach the issue.
Will always be more interesting IMO. It is the human element (emotional, political, and intellectual) that dictates our advancement of research, application of technology, and willingness to integrate new understandings of our universe into the social fabric through education.
The human element is what separates a good science fiction story from an excercise in mental masturbation. On many occasions a solid sci-fi short or novella (my preferred lengths) have helped me gain a new angle on modern day issues.
While religious fervor is a huge culprit in the scisms developing in modern society (I only can speak for the American communities I am familiar with), it should be noted that many scientists spurn the importance of popularizers like Sagan. If anything we need more focus on making scientific progress a matter accesible to non-scientists who otherwise have access only to religious cosmologies.
Presenting new science in layman's terms does not have to = dumbing the information down. Good science fiction can accomplish this.
Slashdot Mirror
VS2005 targeting Win 2000 through Vista to be exact. Nice product VS2005. I can write very nice apps with c# and the .NET framework.
I adopted MS because the shop I began working IT with served mostly MS customers, and now my shop does as well... just a reality of working in a niche market where MS has been the accesible OS for so many years.
Why, I ask, am I pulling my hair out every other week?
Does a properly run company cause a dedicated client to want to pull his already diminishing supply of hair from his head every time he reads their press releases?
Products that have been *both* delayed and had functionality removed in the last 8 months:
Vista
Viridian (virtualization)
Server 2008 (announced that a major incremental will be released in 2009 to replace the functionality if that actually happens... so who the fuck is going to upgrade in '08?)
I depend on this shit. Why? Because you formed a friggin monopoly and all of my potential customers use your products.
Get your shit together.
Regards.
the one against drug re-importation. The drug companies have to make their R&D money back from someone, so people in wealthy nations cannot have the product at the same prices as everyone else.
Doesn't change the fact that while living in this wealthier nation many the people I know cannot afford proper health care or buy the medications at all.
I'm not trying to be bitchy with you. I am just frustrated with the realities of globalization.
Regards.
From TFA:
"The vibrancy of British music depends on a fair return on the investments that allow British talent to shine.
"This decision is an important step in ensuring that British music has a bright future."
So my question is... Why are the cd's being sold at such low prices in places like Hong Kong, where this company is buying them for resale in England. How are the artists getting a fair return selling their albums for such low prices in Hong Kong?
Regards.
There is a niche for this thing... a very small one, but it is there.
/. does not mean it is supposed to save the world.
I, for one, might look into owning one of these. After all, I spend a shitload of time working on client machines trying to isolate and diagnose problems. Being able to plug in a USB key to emulate the hardware firewall the client *should* have would be helpful. Notice, I said emulate, not duplicate.
Just because it is on the front page of
Regards.
Firing on a spy satellite is the same as firing on a military communications vessel in international waters.
Both China and the U.S. are signees on the Outer Space Treaty. This means no nation can claim the sovereignty over space or naturally ocurring bodies in space, or place weapons in space for anything other than 'peaceful purposes.'
The treaty specifically states that countries may only act against another nation's interests in space if they believe those interests will actively cause harmful interference with their own activities.
Unless a U.S. spy satellite attempted to ram a Chinese owned space vehicle (just an example) it is not legal for the Chinese to interfere.
Regards.
Hardcover sales are comping well. Paperbacks are generally not. Large chain profit margin on HC/CL (hardcover) >= 40%.
I guarantee you, though, the major chains are not doing well. See my post elsewhere in this thread. Borders just rolled their entire upper management over AGAIN, began plans to spin off all international operations, and is closing 50% of the Waldenbooks & BX branded stores.
Getting to be a revolving door in Ann Arbor, and with good reason.
Regards.
but my lady worked @ BGI (Borders/Waldenbooks/Brentanos/Paperchase) for almost ten years, but recently left. The company is in dire straights even though they also sell multimedia.
While many adults buy plenty of product, there is apparently a large decline in teens buying the latest album or DVD box-set.
Hmmmm. I bet all those kids are legally paying for their multimedia on Amazon and E-Bay... wait... no I don't.
Either way, burning books is stupid.
Regards.
P.S. Apparently you will see Borders diversifying heavily over the next couple years. They have already slated 1/2 of the Waldenbook operations for closure even though they are marginally profitable. Apparently not having floor space to diversify into higher tech stock was the death knell for those stores. There is even a rumor of download kiosks & cell phone kiosks slated for test markets. *ROFL* There was a rumor of a partnership w/B&N floating around earlier this year.
If the extent of control descibed in TFA becomes reality the control systems better be OSS or I am gonna hafta take up hacking bigtime.
It's bad enough that my house's alarm system has built in maintenance overrides that I am not supposed to know about. Now magnify the potential impact in the TFA's future world by oh.. a couple orders of magnitude.
Regards.
Link: http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/ 28/126207
This is the sat story I was talking about. It is from back in September. It was reported widely and confirmed by the Pentagon on October 6, 2006.
NRO director Donald Kerr indicated that the onboard spy cams were blinded... but I am not finding any specific articles that indicate if the damage was permanent or only in effect while the sat was in some sort of field of fire.
Apparently there was additonal information published in DefenseNews, but I am ont finding it right now, only references to it on other sites.
Your link was interesting as well. I had missed it when it came around.
Regards.
IF the signature can be altered by a signal why could it not be re-alligned by another? Is the frequency somehow damaging the medium that holds the signature?
If you expose magnetic media to random magnetic forces you lose data... but it does not destroy the medium itself.
OTOH if you pass a Sensormatic EAS tag through an EMF it destroys the medium.
Why would you make a key like that? What's going on here? Who's running this show?
or off topic. When a country develops any sort of new military technology that creates increased competition with American military technology there is a political reappraisal. The dramatic example is nuclear technology, but many others exist. The parent poster is pointing out that these revelations of new military technology will not be handled with regard to China as they would with regard to many other nations.
His comment is not particularly insightful, but his assertions are defendable:
Slashdot has reported on attacks apparently coming from within China (titan rain), and attempts by China to disable U.S. spy sats (ground based laser something or other).
The U.S. government continues to grant China 'Favored Trade Nation' status and facilitate the offshoring of work... esecially in manufacturing despite continued resistance from China to enforce safety/humanitarian regulations in those industries (something we require from our other top trading partners, though not from the poorer ones).
The U.S. government continually ignores international organizations such as Amnesty International who attempt to open dialogue about human rights records.
So now China is creating systems designed to realign the BOP on the net. How will the U.S. react? If it's track record holds true, then the U.S. will not react... which is really puzzling. True, if we have it, then others should not be prohibited... but that is now how we treat the non-chinas of the world.
The only disputable or inflamatory statement made by parent is that he actually feels sick about this.
Regards.
Maybe they want the story present for multiple days without appearing to have stale news so that more people will become aware of the information.
Maybe they want search engines to return more hits for solid GPL3 related info, so they will pepper the sight with multi-part articles for a while... if a casual browser hits one they will see links to the others w/out having to use more searching.
Maybe they are more concerned about casual users educating themselves on this issue as the hardcore ones are already involved... and they fear a casual user's buffer will fill up half way through the full interview.
Just saying maybe it isn't about profit, which is what a lot of other posters seem to attribute this behavior.
Regards.
Gore benefits from the fact that he has not been in elected office for some time. During his post White House years Gore has made an impact as an environmental champion. The elected officials of the US government in the White House, House of Representatives, and the Senate have failed to gather a majority advocating participation in global environmental improvement measures, and failed to exert oversight on the agencies responsible for domestic environmental affairs.
Gore was not a part of these failures because he was not in office.
All he needs to do is incorporate the DOI investigation into an argument about changing 'business as usual.' This is a proven technique to gain middle of the road voters during times of turmoil, and political approval numbers show that we are in a time of turmoil.
It is my opinion that Gore could even use this issue to assault pretty much every potential democratic opponent except John Kerry. Kerry raised a stink in 2003 about DOI corruption and the resulting devastation of the Klamath basin fish populations (which hugely affected both the environment and the Yurok tribe, while benefiting major agricultural entities).
Regards.
Here's a related bit of news that may make you feel better.
An investigation at the Department of the Interior (Manages US wildlands) has resulted in numerous resignations and may result in real domestic reform.
Accusations from leading scientists include:
Elimination of data regarding imperiled species in resource rich areas
Rubber stamping of logging permits on public lands without due process
Improper contact between dept administrators and corporate interests including the allowance of corporate influence on impact assessments
All of the allegations center around administrators who were placed by the Bush administration. Several highly placed scientists have left for the private sector and there may be an expose published. The elimination of data was egregious. Apparently data was not only removed from official reports, but other data was *actually* changed and whistleblowers were railroaded out.
Bet you five bucks this becomes a campaign issue if Gore decides to run.
I just re-read my post and realized that I left out my actual disagreement with your post. Right now we can't even get proper international cooperation for mid-large size projects. The ISS is a disaster, the ESA screwed up their super-rocket project, and NASA is apparently run by accountants.
If it takes small projects to get us further toward getting up there then I support that.
Now if someone actually suggested that the money to fund the 'robot golf' would instead be used to address issues like starvation, poverty, medical/financial aid to developing countries I would support killing the moon projects. But it won't.
If these guys can discover one additional thing about what it takes to successfully deploy and operate machinery on the moon then I am all for it.
Regards.
but maybe you were just trying to be funny.
The moon is a preliminary step toward going anywhere else.
If we establish a moonbase vehicles will not need to re-enter earth atmosphere after their initial launch, thus eliminating the most dangerous and structually damaging aspects of any space mission.
You can retask, refurbish, completely reconfigure or whatever else you want to do without bearing the cost/risk of re-entry and subsequent relaunch. All of this work could be performed in a pressurized environment. The amount of information available through Google on permanent inflatable structures designed for moon use is fantastic. If you are interested you should also search 'micrometeorite protection.' There are some killer systems in development that could seal such a structure after penetration in fractions of a second.
Docking with a space station for any type of heavy duty work would be much riskier and would require EVA. One person/system/tool fucks up and the entire station could be compromised, not to mention that the astronauts would unable to maneuver with their legs, which is apparently one of the more challenging physical aspects of EVA.
A moonbase would also allow some food production to move off planet, which they have already shown can be done through experiments on both MIR and the current station.
With a moonbase a mission to anywhere else in the system becomes much easier as all you need to get out of the gravity well are crew and supplies. We can, and already are, revivng 50 year old rocket technology that does this cheaply and safely.
Finally, the moon does not rotate, it wobbles. This means that emergency back up systems could be stored out of the path of solar flare radiation using the mass of the moon as a shield. Not such a huge deal when the solar flare only takes out some private comm sats... but conventional scientific wisdom says that much larger flares can, and inevitably will occur. Add in the fact that a solar power system would have perpetual sunlight if positioned properly.
The moon is essential to getting us anywhere else in our solar system, and protecting our increasingly space dependent communication systems.
Regards.
Models of kids are apparently interspersed with friendly looking dinos at the museum... kinda like cigarette companies used to use friendly cartoon animals to promote their agendas to young minds.
Which leads me to wonder...
How similar will the agenda at this high profile (Google News front page, Slashdot front page, BBC front page) museum be? Will there be attempts to assault the scientific data for evolution, or will there be an innocent theme park feel to the whole thing?
Are we looking at religious people expressing their beliefs or a group beginning a new phase of the ongoing war for the minds of American children ala big tobacco through the middle of last century.
Regards.
One problem I see with your point: The existing donor base for a major uni like OU is gonna be massive because they have been feeding grads into it for about two centuries.
This link: http://www.ohio.edu/foundation/about.cfm
indicates a history of private sector donations going back to 1816. 2006 saw roughly 25 thousand people donate a total of $35 million USD. In 2004 the 'Bicentennial Campaign' concluded after bringing in 221 million USD.
How many successful alumni over the age of 50 are going to be clued into the details of current RIAA battles and tactics. How much do you think OU wants to avoid alienating the old school donors that, given the age of the campus and their long history of massive private sector fundraising, are probably a bit out of the demographic that cares enough to educate themselves on the RIAA related issues.
My grandma thinks downloading multimedia is stealing and would accuse you of trying to sell her snakeoil if you tried to convince her that absence of marginal costs for reproduction of the works changes the arguement. She is also very involved in alumni programs from another uni, including community charity and fund-raising activities. She has spent her retirement 'giving back' to the communities that had supported her throughout her life, and many of her friends did the same.
These people are *worth* more than a couple years of grads leaving with a bitter taste.
Regards.
Uh.. according to TFA this system must be cooled to -382 degrees farenheit to work properly. Of course they use liquid nitrogen to do the cooling.
So now, instead of having a system that can be patched relatively quickly with stock parts by people wearing goggles and cover-alls you will have a system that depends on a teams able to deal with radical temperatures within the system, cordoning off segments from the liquid cooling system, performing maintenance, and reintroducing additional coolant before the patch can be brought back online.
While they may find a way to make this new power system harder to take down completely, the process of getting it back up after a destructive event would seem to be exponentially more difficult.
If anything, this technology could inspire terrorist types to try hitting the power grid... something they have not done in America yet.
Let's hope not.
Regards.
Focusing on the hypothetical roots of the scientific process may help. Kids know all about imagination, you could help them understand the basics of how their daydreams could change the world using your research as an example of how a dream gets refined into reality.
It would help if you prepared some funny examples of hair-brained failures that eventually led to workable concepts... something like the (now) comical early attempts at flying vehicles that helped refine the field and lead to the first viable aircraft... but preferably related to your field in some way.
You can also use this topic to work in some self-confidence themes... pointing out how some of the biggest dreamers were shunned or whatever but ended up making valuable contributions to the world through perseverence and creative integrity (refusing to sell out to be accepted). If you do this, it would also be nice to point out how lame it is to make fun of others for being different. Kids need to hear more of this type message, or so I deduce from my social interactions.
Not super scientific, but the thought processes are where it all begins. Whatever you do, don't try to do too much. You want to keep the experience light enough that everyone can have fun, while providing just enough 'hook' to start kids with active curiosities down the path the scientific thought. I've been involved in enough educational situations to know that thoughtful yet simple agendas with broad appeal are the most succesful, as they leave the the fewest children left-out.
Good Luck.
Regards.
That this is a sign of things to come.
Nothing too insightful to write, but worth saying in today's volatile political climate. Centralization makes me nervous.
Regards.
I was trained to interview and hire by a guy with 15+ years of experience. He taught me that questioning the reason for leaving a prior employer is one of the fastest ways to separate candidates.
The more detailed and impersonal explanations about shortcomings or roadblocks to advancement that existed in a previous workplace typically pointed to a better candidate. Why? Analysing frustrations or failures without integrating personal emotions exhibits political IQ... hugely important in mid to large size companies. Being able to provide detailed explanations about the causes of frustrations or failures demonstrates scope of vision... a massive indicator of an employee's ability to deal with compromise/problem solving in the workplace through an understanding of the pressures and demands that shape production across multiple interrelated divisions.
You might be amazed at the number of job candidates who look great on paper but boil their lack of advancement or success at a prior job down to interpersonal conflicts with management etc... I know I was amazed.
The more wholistic awareness a candidate displays in answering this question, the more secure a prospective employer can be in the candidate's ability to preserve and improve the corporate culture.
Regards.
I figured out years ago that if you talk shit about your old girlfriend to your new one, then your new one will wonder what you will say about her. Your new company probably doesn't want to hear any bitching.
If you were the fall guy then something obviously went wrong at your last company. Coming up with some *generalized* insight about the failures in *processes* @ the last company you worked for without attributing blame (use non-accusatory language) or personalizing the situation will let your potential employer see you as a bigger picture type candidate.
Use your experience @ your last company as a platform from which to inquire into practices at the new employer. You have a very real interest in not ending up in a situation like your prior one, and *quality* employers appreciate candidates with insightful and even difficult questions about company standards and practices.
Corporations use rebranding all the time. Rebrand 'fall guy' before you go much further in the process even when thinking things over inside your own head. How you approach the issue internally will subtley change the way other people approach the issue.
Regards.
Will always be more interesting IMO. It is the human element (emotional, political, and intellectual) that dictates our advancement of research, application of technology, and willingness to integrate new understandings of our universe into the social fabric through education.
The human element is what separates a good science fiction story from an excercise in mental masturbation. On many occasions a solid sci-fi short or novella (my preferred lengths) have helped me gain a new angle on modern day issues.
While religious fervor is a huge culprit in the scisms developing in modern society (I only can speak for the American communities I am familiar with), it should be noted that many scientists spurn the importance of popularizers like Sagan. If anything we need more focus on making scientific progress a matter accesible to non-scientists who otherwise have access only to religious cosmologies.
Presenting new science in layman's terms does not have to = dumbing the information down. Good science fiction can accomplish this.
Regards.