Our space agency has become an outdated dinosaur, capable only of ponderous movement, when it isn't mired in the swamp of bureaucracy. A number of up and coming private companies (including, but not limited to Cerulean, Pioneer, Kistler, and Kelly) are working on inexpensive launch systems. One or more is certain to manage it in the next few years.
Once we have this cheap access to space, there are any number of Entrepeneurs waiting to exploit it. Most well known is Bigelow, but there are others.
Space, and our activities therein are popular with a lot of people. The growth of such private organizations as Permanent, The Mars Society, and Artemis is strong evidence of this.
NASA may not be prepared to go fetch some rocks from Mars anytime soon, but they may find others already there when they do.
After all, didn't those guys INVENT the human genome?
What? They didn't? They discovered it then, huh? That counts for something...
Didn't do that either? You mean all they did was make a record of something that's been around for millions of years, and that we've known about for most of a century?
Sure, that discovery is worth something. Not sure what... A six pack of beer maybe...
the police will want to see the decryption algorythms. Otherwise, they'll throw anyone owning a DVD player, who distributes DVDs, etc. into jail for breaking the encryption laws that Parlement is thinking about now.
NASA won't do it, but people can.
on
On to Mars
·
· Score: 5
There is no technical reason that we could not establish permanent bases on the moon, Mars, or on an asteroid. The fact that we could send manned missions to the moon with less than 10 years lead time (from the idea being first proposed) suggests that we can develop the technology.
It is unlikely that NASA would be able to execute such a mission. Unfortunately, the space agency is no longer the can do group it was in the 1960's. Instead, it has grown into another Bureaucratic monster, more concerned with maintaining its funding that searching out new, expansive goals.
We can expect privately funded space launch services such as Rotary Rocket or Cerulean Freight Forwarding Company within the next five years. With these and other companies providing access to low earth orbit, there will be a ten fold decrease in the cost off access to space. This will allow more activity in space, which in turn will encourage more launchers to provide access. It is quite likely that Space Vacations will be available for the affluent inside the next ten years, with costs as low as $100,000 per person for a two week stay in a space.
There are groups who want to move permanently into space. Eventually, we will be going to the moon, Mars, the Asteroids, and elsewhere. If you are interested in promoting space, I recommend that you join one or more of these organizations.
The BattleBots are coming! Soon, one of these techies are going to do such a good job that the bots will not only battle successfully, but will learn how to reproduce! Then, it is obvious that the robots will decide that they don't need man anymore, and start killing everyone.
Within a year or two, civilization will lie in tatters! Our cityscapes will look like something out of Terminator's future. Escape now, while there is still time!
applications from the other applications in this day and age? Altogether too many applications need access to the internet.
And does this mean that no company can produce an Operating System, Applications, and Internet Software? Or are the reminants of MS to be forever cursed, and handicapped in competition against other companies in this arena?
AOL already has a reputation with the computer knowlegable for not being the best ISP. As a Time Warner Customer, I can state that they don't have any better qualities. I can't see the combination being all that sterling.
It won't help because the credit card companies keep your credit card info in their servers. So if you are going to have a credit card, you might as well use it on line.
If we are able to implement nano-devices inside of cells, it would indeed create some interesting possibilities. Not only could these devices spot treat problems (infections, chemical imbalances, etc.) at their source (eliminating the need to douse the entire body in potentially harmful chemicals), they could take preventative measures against other problems (perhaps even degredation due to aging?).
If a network of these devices were able to communicate with one another, and presumably with an external computer system, doctors could easily diagnose patients unintrusivly. If the nanomedical devices couldn't treat the problem themselves, at least they could ask for help!
Besides the medical applications that nano sized devices have, it makes one wonder about the possibilities of adding computational power/memory to our bodies. If our hypothetical nano-network were able to communicate with our nervous system, think how much information might be stored and manipulated, even if each device individually only contributed a small amount! And it could even allow us to hook into external computer systems!
Forget Y2K... how about Y10K?
on
Apocalypse Not
·
· Score: 2
Y2K is a result of early computers being designed to only record dates as two digits for the year. Now that most of the machines are set up using four digit year fields, Y2K is not too serious of a problem. But what happens when we roll over to 5 digit years? Will our computers be able to handle the new dates, or will everyone suddenly think that we are back at year 0? This is a serious problem, and we better start thinking about it. There are only 8000 years remaining until Y10K!
Actually, the world did come to a screaching halt as the clocks struck midnight at the end of 1999. The shock was so great that everyone was instantly sent into a deep hypnotic state of shock in which we have hallucinated that everything is find, with only a few minor glitches on periphial systems.
Any day now, we will begin to wake up to find that our world is in ruins, and that hardly anything is working. We have no electricity, no water, no food, no computers, and no Internet connection.
The east coast does have some areas with concentrations of High Tech/Software companies. The Boston Corridor I here is booming. And closer to (my) home, the Research Triangle in North Carolina is home to hundreds of Computer & Telco firms (ever here of RED HAT?). Around here, we have a shortage of Geeks of whatever age.
Okay, maybe this isn't going to be the brightest moon of all time. I'm sure that the original information upon which the story that this refers to never claimed it would be. However, for those of us who are blessed with a clear sky tonight, the full moon should be brighter than we typically experience during a normal month.
As far as stories of secret indian attacks carried out by the bright light of the full moon, it is about as plausable as the story about the Space Shuttle size being dictated by Roman Chariot wheel spacing. Sure, it sounds like a neat explaination, but that doesn't make it right. I'm not qualified to say whether its wrong.
Regardless of the relative brightness of this full moon, I doubt if I will get to see it, based on the local weather. Anyway, this isn't the full moon I care about. Its Next Month's full moon that is something to look at. That is when we get to see a Total Lunar Eclipse. This event occurs on the evening of January 20, between about 9:30 pm EST and 2:30 am EST., with totality lasting from 78 minutes between about 11:00 pm EST and 12:20 am EST. Be sure not to miss this one, because we won't see another one in the us until May 16, 2003.
If by moving away from the Real Audio format, Yahoo! is no longer supporting non-win-doze machines, then it will in effect be pushing the users of the other machiens away. Perhaps this is intentional, but with O/Ss other than MS eventually becoming more common, it may eventually mean lost market share. THAT will have a greater affect on Yahoo!s future decisions than anything else.
If the forum where the speech is being made is a public one, then everyone has a right to speak publicly. However, that right may be subject to certain terms which the forum provider stipulates (eg, no pornography, racial-hate talk, etc) as a condition to providing the forum. This is not a restriction of Freedom of Speech. It is more a contractual agreement between the forum provider and the person speaking on the forum.
As for the rights of advertisers or others to present content which we may not wish to see, if the general guidelines of the forum where the material is being displayed allow the content of the advertisement, then it should be okay. Noone forces anyone to follow links to sites which they do not want to look at. Hopefully the advertiser would have the good taste to keep excessively obtrusive content out of the advertisement itself, and save the "best" material for the actual site.
In the case of children, there are certain sites on the web that are specifically designed for children. An advertisement for Porography would be inappropriate here, and I believe that the people hosting such a web site would be very concerned with presenting any, even by accident.
Just as advertisers have 1st Amendment rights to put material of their choosing on a public site (subject to the stipulations I mentioned), individuals have a right to privacy. I could picture some bright new company coming up with filtering software that could be installed on the individual's machine that would do the filtering based on the individual's preferences. Your own machine can't be considered a public place.
Our office is right down the street from Red Hat's new HQ. We've noticed a substantial increase in the average value of the car driven by Red Hat employees during the last few months.
I'm sure that this earnings news is going to have some impact on the cost of Red Hat's shares, but I don't think that it will bother option holding employees all that much!
The pictures that you will see displayed for these systems are second generation wearable computers.
I had an opportunity several years ago to work on a first generation wearable computer project at the University of Oregon. You talk about lame! That thing was made from the guts of a notebook PC (I forget what model) stuffed into a heavy duty fishing/hunting vest, with a bulky set of virtual glasses and Dragon Dictate for voice control. Control was problematic, and the darned thing didn't even DO that much, but the department head was happy, which counted for more.
The point is, it was lame and useless, but it served its purpose of proof of concept! That work, and similiar projects, allowed the second generation of wearable computers to be put together as something halfway useful.
As for the next generation of wearable computers, I think that you will find that wearing one will no longer mark you as a dork or dweeb. Screen projectors will routinely be fitted into standard eyeglasses (or sunglasses, for those who are "too cool" to be a four eyed nerd). Controls will probably be by voice and or some sort of control glove that will not be too conspicuous. And noone will be able to tell you are wearing a computer unless they look real close.
As for the advantage of a wearable system over a PDA... Well, a PDA has (at best) a 5" screen. I would imagine that the effective size of a projected screen from a wearable could be as large as desired. Can we say 32" monitor?
Not just Human manipulation
on
Planet Gattaca
·
· Score: 2
Several Science Fiction books besides have looked at the same issues explored in Gattaca. On e in particular that comes to mind is Leo Frankowski's Copernik's Rebellion, which describes what could happen if genetic developers introduce "useful" bio-artifacts into the world.
With the increasing complexity of computers, it is becoming possible to make the complex calculations required to do genetic manipulations such as described. And when a thing can be done, you just know that it will be done, sooner or later.
I am not so much worried about someone accidently creating some sort of all destroying life form. Such things aren't realistic, considering the delecate balance of a life form. But I could imagine someone doing it on purpose (someday).
Ethical questions aside, I don't think creating life in a laboratory is going to be a bad thing. It will certainly be interesting.
Using Gnu, or any other method or means to produce something, shouldn't make any difference as to whether someone can package it commercially. The time and creative effort to compose the package has to be worth something.
Giving away a product on the premise that you can sell support is fine, if it can fly. But I'd rather have cash in hand.
Any of the "new" instant messaging services, that is. Currently, the only one I bother to keep up on my desktop is good ol' Yahoo! pager. No, it probably doesn't have all the fancy capabilities of the newer things, but I'm used to it, and it gets me by. Besides, it is what all my Internet contacts use as well.
Privacy concerns aside, the only thing about placing an identification number on a color print that would bother me would be if I could see it. If the ID was scattered about the page as "noise", and unobservable by me, it wouldn't bother me much.
As for the privacy issue... wouldn't such a encoding method be proprietary to the manufacturer? So what happens if I first copy the color image on a Xerox machine, and then take the copy over to a different machine, and copy that. Assuming the quality was not lost, the hidden ID code would not be decipherable by any (one) decryption algorythm.
Slashdot Mirror
Our space agency has become an outdated dinosaur, capable only of ponderous movement, when it isn't mired in the swamp of bureaucracy. A number of up and coming private companies (including, but not limited to Cerulean, Pioneer, Kistler, and Kelly) are working on inexpensive launch systems. One or more is certain to manage it in the next few years.
Once we have this cheap access to space, there are any number of Entrepeneurs waiting to exploit it. Most well known is Bigelow, but there are others.
Space, and our activities therein are popular with a lot of people. The growth of such private organizations as Permanent, The Mars Society, and Artemis is strong evidence of this.
NASA may not be prepared to go fetch some rocks from Mars anytime soon, but they may find others already there when they do.
Gonzo
After all, didn't those guys INVENT the human genome?
What? They didn't? They discovered it then, huh? That counts for something...
Didn't do that either? You mean all they did was make a record of something that's been around for millions of years, and that we've known about for most of a century?
Sure, that discovery is worth something. Not sure what... A six pack of beer maybe...
Gonzo
the police will want to see the decryption algorythms. Otherwise, they'll throw anyone owning a DVD player, who distributes DVDs, etc. into jail for breaking the encryption laws that Parlement is thinking about now.
There is no technical reason that we could not establish permanent bases on the moon, Mars, or on an asteroid. The fact that we could send manned missions to the moon with less than 10 years lead time (from the idea being first proposed) suggests that we can develop the technology.
It is unlikely that NASA would be able to execute such a mission. Unfortunately, the space agency is no longer the can do group it was in the 1960's. Instead, it has grown into another Bureaucratic monster, more concerned with maintaining its funding that searching out new, expansive goals.
We can expect privately funded space launch services such as Rotary Rocket or Cerulean Freight Forwarding Company within the next five years. With these and other companies providing access to low earth orbit, there will be a ten fold decrease in the cost off access to space. This will allow more activity in space, which in turn will encourage more launchers to provide access. It is quite likely that Space Vacations will be available for the affluent inside the next ten years, with costs as low as $100,000 per person for a two week stay in a space.
There are groups who want to move permanently into space. Eventually, we will be going to the moon, Mars, the Asteroids, and elsewhere. If you are interested in promoting space, I recommend that you join one or more of these organizations.
The BattleBots are coming! Soon, one of these techies are going to do such a good job that the bots will not only battle successfully, but will learn how to reproduce! Then, it is obvious that the robots will decide that they don't need man anymore, and start killing everyone.
Within a year or two, civilization will lie in tatters! Our cityscapes will look like something out of Terminator's future. Escape now, while there is still time!
applications from the other applications in this day and age? Altogether too many applications need access to the internet.
And does this mean that no company can produce an Operating System, Applications, and Internet Software? Or are the reminants of MS to be forever cursed, and handicapped in competition against other companies in this arena?
AOL already has a reputation with the computer knowlegable for not being the best ISP. As a Time Warner Customer, I can state that they don't have any better qualities. I can't see the combination being all that sterling.
It won't help because the credit card companies keep your credit card info in their servers. So if you are going to have a credit card, you might as well use it on line.
BOINK!
Okay, moments up. You may all resume your normal, crass, undeserving lives.
All you need to do to make it impossible to hijack an RDS radio would be put an "off" button to the feature.
I look at it this way. If they are able to get elected to office, it automatically disqualifies them from being worthy of the office.
If we are able to implement nano-devices inside of cells, it would indeed create some interesting possibilities. Not only could these devices spot treat problems (infections, chemical imbalances, etc.) at their source (eliminating the need to douse the entire body in potentially harmful chemicals), they could take preventative measures against other problems (perhaps even degredation due to aging?).
If a network of these devices were able to communicate with one another, and presumably with an external computer system, doctors could easily diagnose patients unintrusivly. If the nanomedical devices couldn't treat the problem themselves, at least they could ask for help!
Besides the medical applications that nano sized devices have, it makes one wonder about the possibilities of adding computational power/memory to our bodies. If our hypothetical nano-network were able to communicate with our nervous system, think how much information might be stored and manipulated, even if each device individually only contributed a small amount! And it could even allow us to hook into external computer systems!
Hey, they are not slow to change! Why, just last year my bank traded in their mechanical calculators for ones made with transistors!
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Y2K is a result of early computers being designed to only record dates as two digits for the year. Now that most of the machines are set up using four digit year fields, Y2K is not too serious of a problem. But what happens when we roll over to 5 digit years? Will our computers be able to handle the new dates, or will everyone suddenly think that we are back at year 0? This is a serious problem, and we better start thinking about it. There are only 8000 years remaining until Y10K!
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Actually, the world did come to a screaching halt as the clocks struck midnight at the end of 1999. The shock was so great that everyone was instantly sent into a deep hypnotic state of shock in which we have hallucinated that everything is find, with only a few minor glitches on periphial systems.
Any day now, we will begin to wake up to find that our world is in ruins, and that hardly anything is working. We have no electricity, no water, no food, no computers, and no Internet connection.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
The east coast does have some areas with concentrations of High Tech/Software companies. The Boston Corridor I here is booming. And closer to (my) home, the Research Triangle in North Carolina is home to hundreds of Computer & Telco firms (ever here of RED HAT?). Around here, we have a shortage of Geeks of whatever age.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Okay, maybe this isn't going to be the brightest moon of all time. I'm sure that the original information upon which the story that this refers to never claimed it would be. However, for those of us who are blessed with a clear sky tonight, the full moon should be brighter than we typically experience during a normal month.
As far as stories of secret indian attacks carried out by the bright light of the full moon, it is about as plausable as the story about the Space Shuttle size being dictated by Roman Chariot wheel spacing. Sure, it sounds like a neat explaination, but that doesn't make it right. I'm not qualified to say whether its wrong.
Regardless of the relative brightness of this full moon, I doubt if I will get to see it, based on the local weather. Anyway, this isn't the full moon I care about. Its Next Month's full moon that is something to look at. That is when we get to see a Total Lunar Eclipse. This event occurs on the evening of January 20, between about 9:30 pm EST and 2:30 am EST., with totality lasting from 78 minutes between about 11:00 pm EST and 12:20 am EST. Be sure not to miss this one, because we won't see another one in the us until May 16, 2003.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
If by moving away from the Real Audio format, Yahoo! is no longer supporting non-win-doze machines, then it will in effect be pushing the users of the other machiens away. Perhaps this is intentional, but with O/Ss other than MS eventually becoming more common, it may eventually mean lost market share. THAT will have a greater affect on Yahoo!s future decisions than anything else.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
If the forum where the speech is being made is a public one, then everyone has a right to speak publicly. However, that right may be subject to certain terms which the forum provider stipulates (eg, no pornography, racial-hate talk, etc) as a condition to providing the forum. This is not a restriction of Freedom of Speech. It is more a contractual agreement between the forum provider and the person speaking on the forum.
As for the rights of advertisers or others to present content which we may not wish to see, if the general guidelines of the forum where the material is being displayed allow the content of the advertisement, then it should be okay. Noone forces anyone to follow links to sites which they do not want to look at. Hopefully the advertiser would have the good taste to keep excessively obtrusive content out of the advertisement itself, and save the "best" material for the actual site.
In the case of children, there are certain sites on the web that are specifically designed for children. An advertisement for Porography would be inappropriate here, and I believe that the people hosting such a web site would be very concerned with presenting any, even by accident.
Just as advertisers have 1st Amendment rights to put material of their choosing on a public site (subject to the stipulations I mentioned), individuals have a right to privacy. I could picture some bright new company coming up with filtering software that could be installed on the individual's machine that would do the filtering based on the individual's preferences. Your own machine can't be considered a public place.
Just my 2 cents.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Our office is right down the street from Red Hat's new HQ. We've noticed a substantial increase in the average value of the car driven by Red Hat employees during the last few months.
I'm sure that this earnings news is going to have some impact on the cost of Red Hat's shares, but I don't think that it will bother option holding employees all that much!
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
The pictures that you will see displayed for these systems are second generation wearable computers.
I had an opportunity several years ago to work on a first generation wearable computer project at the University of Oregon. You talk about lame! That thing was made from the guts of a notebook PC (I forget what model) stuffed into a heavy duty fishing/hunting vest, with a bulky set of virtual glasses and Dragon Dictate for voice control. Control was problematic, and the darned thing didn't even DO that much, but the department head was happy, which counted for more.
The point is, it was lame and useless, but it served its purpose of proof of concept! That work, and similiar projects, allowed the second generation of wearable computers to be put together as something halfway useful.
As for the next generation of wearable computers, I think that you will find that wearing one will no longer mark you as a dork or dweeb. Screen projectors will routinely be fitted into standard eyeglasses (or sunglasses, for those who are "too cool" to be a four eyed nerd). Controls will probably be by voice and or some sort of control glove that will not be too conspicuous. And noone will be able to tell you are wearing a computer unless they look real close.
As for the advantage of a wearable system over a PDA... Well, a PDA has (at best) a 5" screen. I would imagine that the effective size of a projected screen from a wearable could be as large as desired. Can we say 32" monitor?
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Several Science Fiction books besides have looked at the same issues explored in Gattaca. On e in particular that comes to mind is Leo Frankowski's Copernik's Rebellion , which describes what could happen if genetic developers introduce "useful" bio-artifacts into the world.
With the increasing complexity of computers, it is becoming possible to make the complex calculations required to do genetic manipulations such as described. And when a thing can be done, you just know that it will be done, sooner or later.
I am not so much worried about someone accidently creating some sort of all destroying life form. Such things aren't realistic, considering the delecate balance of a life form. But I could imagine someone doing it on purpose (someday).
Ethical questions aside, I don't think creating life in a laboratory is going to be a bad thing. It will certainly be interesting.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Using Gnu, or any other method or means to produce something, shouldn't make any difference as to whether someone can package it commercially. The time and creative effort to compose the package has to be worth something.
Giving away a product on the premise that you can sell support is fine, if it can fly. But I'd rather have cash in hand.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Any of the "new" instant messaging services, that is. Currently, the only one I bother to keep up on my desktop is good ol' Yahoo! pager. No, it probably doesn't have all the fancy capabilities of the newer things, but I'm used to it, and it gets me by. Besides, it is what all my Internet contacts use as well.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com
Privacy concerns aside, the only thing about placing an identification number on a color print that would bother me would be if I could see it. If the ID was scattered about the page as "noise", and unobservable by me, it wouldn't bother me much.
As for the privacy issue... wouldn't such a encoding method be proprietary to the manufacturer? So what happens if I first copy the color image on a Xerox machine, and then take the copy over to a different machine, and copy that. Assuming the quality was not lost, the hidden ID code would not be decipherable by any (one) decryption algorythm.
Mike Eckardt meckardt@spam.yahoo.com