Oh, also, don't forget to dig up as much Audio/Video goodies around the internet from our old friend Richard Feynman, some people look on him as dated, but there is no such thing as dated from a miraculous mind like that. He's all over YouTube and other spots. Feynman, incidentally a very funny man as well, will really knock science leaning kids' socks off...imho...
I have to second Michio Kaku for the stimulation of young minds, he's an astoundingly great communicator, quite funny and he "bottom-lines" things so well. Also, though, I think you should look into a few scientists who play the wider field, so to speak, of what is possible on the edges of mainstream science. I am speaking, in this case, about Russell Targ, also maybe Hal Putoff. These guys, although pretty rigorously qualified, tend to take a fairly broad view of reality and all of the wonderful things that the great "formalists" may be overlooking in some areas. Try not to inculcate youngsters too strongly in the status quo, I'm not advocating pseudo-science...necessarily;); but allow them to sense that not only is science fascinating, but that there may yet be great mysteries out there still waiting for them. Put an enormous juicy carrot on the end of the stick that is your hope for your children's science future...
I understand your reason for pointing out language barriers, but I think it is not an insurmountable problem by any means, especially for an individual who alludes to having the resources to relocate arbitrarily. There are many immigrants, to the United States, for instance (my nation of residence), who emigrate without much more knowledge of the English language than, say, a common phrasebook.
If the idea of expatriating on the account of politics doesn't, in itself, seem "radical", why should a language barrier be so eerily foreboding. Let's not underestimate the significance of a life adventure here; as befits a "liberty-minded" individual with a little drive...
...to the edge. Try to pull a stunt like that and you are dead to me; dead!
There are plenty of good books to read and I am, impolitely, going to mention the commercial-free, dvd-quality availability of virtually anything via Usenet, to which the subscription fee for a decent server would be vastly preferable.
Hulu.com, count your blessings and quit while you are ahead. To a man standing on the edge of a cliff, wise advice is to take two steps backward...
'nuff said...
Doesn't the power required to operate a "super-powerful" laser, somewhat mitigate the power "savings" you might resultingly implement on the lightbulb?
Is the middle of a drastic recession the proper time to go on a wrist-slapping mission through one of the only avenues that is propping up what little consumer spending we currently have going for us?
That's not governance, that's vampirism!
...virtualize. I wasn't even thinking that until I read jonbryce's comment, but I think he is correct.
Build yourself a nice rock solid, inexpensive, cool running multi-core system, say ASUS MoBo, and AMD Phenom CPU.
Slap a nice, rock solid Debian or Ubuntu no-frills install on there, and virtualize the database and it's software front-end. Though I would bring him into the XP era with the virtual machine.
Put in a nice DVD-ROM drive, so that he can backup to disc. Any current series mobo will have usb out the wazoo for further backup options which will be backward compatible with the upcoming USB 3.0 Standard, which should cover forthcoming peripheral devices for backup going forward.
Noting that this machine won't have to run the software of the future, but is actually task specific to running the software of the past.
I would not stockpile hardware, just keep the data rigorously backed up and play the hardware market going forward. Good luck with that, sounds fun actually.
Cheers...
Mark my dark, cynical, Orwellian words...
You do not, n o t, want Pharmaceutical companies, NGO's and the "unnamed whomever else", to broach the technology of using insects to deliver vaccines.
It takes little imagination to envision, how swarms of biological creatures carrying, already dubious, chemical formulations for "wet injection" into human beings, could go terribly, terribly wrong.
Let's focus on the happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care, flying cars and 50% efficient solar; and leave the technologies of the technocrat-demon-overlords, in the adjacent Blade Runner-like dimensions, mmmmmkay?
This wouldn't be a problem for a sufficiently motivated photographer who had the time and unsettling desire to follow one home.
Stalkers: 7 Stalkees: 0
What processor is this thing running on?
How much RAM does it support (Max)?
If it pleases me on these points, which I can't seem to find the data on, I have many interesting ideas for a machine like this. Has anyone "seen under the hood" on this thing?
I'll give it a whirl, that is after their warehouse grows dusty and they realize it's cheaper to lower the price-point than hire hundreds of janitorial staff to keep peeling away the cobwebs for the occasional sale...
I am not going to try and refute the puerile comments extended in these threads toward the man. The fact remains though that when it comes to the stated criteria:
"...when it comes to representing issues Slashdot readers might care about? Eg: privacy, 'total information awareness', Internet regulation and taxation, net neutrality, copyright/patent reform, the right to read, the right to secure communications, the right to tinker.
Ron Paul is, actually, your candidate.
I'm not a conservative, I'm not a Democrat and will not spend time trying to leverage this candidates "better qualities" it's very simple and doesn't need a lot of exposition. He is among a handful of the trustworthy people in the cess that is the U.S. Congress.
If you're of a (open) mind, check him out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAt6Pf7jZjA
If you think this man misguided, or sinister and prefer Attilla the Hillary, or Rudy "911" Giuliani or any of these other creatures, then you are simply not understanding the dynamic.
The (very) close second is Democrat Mike Gravel of Alaska:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=gravel2008
An excellent elder statesman of resounding integrity.
It's not about Left and Right, it's about right and wrong.
You're all (most of you anyway) extremely intelligent people, let's please apply some of this rigor to something perhaps more fundamental than technology.
p.s. An array of issues that might make this whole point, well, moot... :
http://blackboxvoting.org/
Slashdot Mirror
Oh, also, don't forget to dig up as much Audio/Video goodies around the internet from our old friend Richard Feynman, some people look on him as dated, but there is no such thing as dated from a miraculous mind like that. He's all over YouTube and other spots. Feynman, incidentally a very funny man as well, will really knock science leaning kids' socks off...imho...
I have to second Michio Kaku for the stimulation of young minds, he's an astoundingly great communicator, quite funny and he "bottom-lines" things so well. Also, though, I think you should look into a few scientists who play the wider field, so to speak, of what is possible on the edges of mainstream science. I am speaking, in this case, about Russell Targ, also maybe Hal Putoff. These guys, although pretty rigorously qualified, tend to take a fairly broad view of reality and all of the wonderful things that the great "formalists" may be overlooking in some areas. Try not to inculcate youngsters too strongly in the status quo, I'm not advocating pseudo-science...necessarily ;); but allow them to sense that not only is science fascinating, but that there may yet be great mysteries out there still waiting for them. Put an enormous juicy carrot on the end of the stick that is your hope for your children's science future...
I understand your reason for pointing out language barriers, but I think it is not an insurmountable problem by any means, especially for an individual who alludes to having the resources to relocate arbitrarily. There are many immigrants, to the United States, for instance (my nation of residence), who emigrate without much more knowledge of the English language than, say, a common phrasebook. If the idea of expatriating on the account of politics doesn't, in itself, seem "radical", why should a language barrier be so eerily foreboding. Let's not underestimate the significance of a life adventure here; as befits a "liberty-minded" individual with a little drive...
Doesn't the power required to operate a "super-powerful" laser, somewhat mitigate the power "savings" you might resultingly implement on the lightbulb?
Is the middle of a drastic recession the proper time to go on a wrist-slapping mission through one of the only avenues that is propping up what little consumer spending we currently have going for us? That's not governance, that's vampirism!
...virtualize. I wasn't even thinking that until I read jonbryce's comment, but I think he is correct. Build yourself a nice rock solid, inexpensive, cool running multi-core system, say ASUS MoBo, and AMD Phenom CPU. Slap a nice, rock solid Debian or Ubuntu no-frills install on there, and virtualize the database and it's software front-end. Though I would bring him into the XP era with the virtual machine. Put in a nice DVD-ROM drive, so that he can backup to disc. Any current series mobo will have usb out the wazoo for further backup options which will be backward compatible with the upcoming USB 3.0 Standard, which should cover forthcoming peripheral devices for backup going forward. Noting that this machine won't have to run the software of the future, but is actually task specific to running the software of the past. I would not stockpile hardware, just keep the data rigorously backed up and play the hardware market going forward. Good luck with that, sounds fun actually. Cheers...
Amen brother, amen...
Mark my dark, cynical, Orwellian words... You do not, n o t, want Pharmaceutical companies, NGO's and the "unnamed whomever else", to broach the technology of using insects to deliver vaccines. It takes little imagination to envision, how swarms of biological creatures carrying, already dubious, chemical formulations for "wet injection" into human beings, could go terribly, terribly wrong. Let's focus on the happy-go-lucky, devil-may-care, flying cars and 50% efficient solar; and leave the technologies of the technocrat-demon-overlords, in the adjacent Blade Runner-like dimensions, mmmmmkay?
This wouldn't be a problem for a sufficiently motivated photographer who had the time and unsettling desire to follow one home. Stalkers: 7 Stalkees: 0
What processor is this thing running on? How much RAM does it support (Max)?
If it pleases me on these points, which I can't seem to find the data on, I have many interesting ideas for a machine like this. Has anyone "seen under the hood" on this thing?
I'll give it a whirl, that is after their warehouse grows dusty and they realize it's cheaper to lower the price-point than hire hundreds of janitorial staff to keep peeling away the cobwebs for the occasional sale...
prometx42
I am not going to try and refute the puerile comments extended in these threads toward the man. The fact remains though that when it comes to the stated criteria: "...when it comes to representing issues Slashdot readers might care about? Eg: privacy, 'total information awareness', Internet regulation and taxation, net neutrality, copyright/patent reform, the right to read, the right to secure communications, the right to tinker. Ron Paul is, actually, your candidate. I'm not a conservative, I'm not a Democrat and will not spend time trying to leverage this candidates "better qualities" it's very simple and doesn't need a lot of exposition. He is among a handful of the trustworthy people in the cess that is the U.S. Congress. If you're of a (open) mind, check him out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAt6Pf7jZjA If you think this man misguided, or sinister and prefer Attilla the Hillary, or Rudy "911" Giuliani or any of these other creatures, then you are simply not understanding the dynamic. The (very) close second is Democrat Mike Gravel of Alaska: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=gravel2008 An excellent elder statesman of resounding integrity. It's not about Left and Right, it's about right and wrong. You're all (most of you anyway) extremely intelligent people, let's please apply some of this rigor to something perhaps more fundamental than technology. p.s. An array of issues that might make this whole point, well, moot... : http://blackboxvoting.org/