HELL, our entire stealth program is based on an article from a
Russian academic paper from the 60s.
Actually, we were working on reduced-RCS designs earlier than that. The Lockheed A-12 OXCART and it's successor, the SR-71 Blackbird, were both reduced-RCS aircraft designs.
Petr Ufimtsev, the Russian scientist you were talking about, developed a mathematical framework to predict the reflections of lasers. The Soviets informed him that it was useless, and allowed his work to be published internationally because they were deemed to be of no economic or military value. It was the engineers at Lockheed's Skunk Works, who were already working on reduced-RCS designs, that realized Ufimtsev's work could assist in the design of stealth aircraft.
You're not in control of the actual network infrastructure, which is what Net Neutrality is all about. The whole point of the Net Neutrality debate is that the companies that are in control of the wires are starting to discriminate against companies that aren't. Remember the the ISP (I think it was comcast,) that was filtering VoIP providers that competed with their own offerings? Without net neutrality, that kind of thing will only become more common place. As it is now, there are very few incentives for an ISP to not filter low to no cost options that compete with their own offerings, and many incentives for them to do just that.
Wow, I accidentally post as AC (used Konqueror this time instead of Firefox and forgot I'm not set to auto-login,) and still get rated to +3 Interesting.
Anyway, I'll just toss in a personal anecdote here. I used to work at a Radioshack when I was in high school (I know, bad reputation, but the one I worked at was a franchise, not corporate, and actually hired competent people.) For a while, they offered a locked-down internet appliance, which ran WinCE on an AMD Geode platform. The original device was developed for 'emerging markets,' which is exactly what the XO is aimed at, so it was simple, affordable, rugged, and offered basic Web, Email, and Office capability. It worked with most major internet providers, including dial up. It did everything the average user requires. But, here's the kicker; it could only install specially-signed applications. They were only available through download, and the selection was incredibly limited. This was the limiting factor; it made the net appliances virus-free, but nobody liked the fact that they couldn't install their own software on it.
I was a nerd, even back then, so I understood the problems that can occur when an undereducated person gets their hands on a Windows XP computer. I'd try to sell these little appliances to all the grandmas and grandpas that came into our store shopping for a computer. I'd explain all of the virtues of the system. Then, if they were bright, they'd ask if they could install their Kodak EasyShare software or whatever on it. I'd have to answer no. So these people would end up buying a full-fledged computer, then never using it.
I managed to sell a few, but most of them came back. People would get home, then figure out that they couldn't install the "Super Video Poker 3" that they downloaded off the internet. Or they'd get some cheap, off-brand scanner or camera and couldn't use it because the device didn't have a driver for it and the third-party one couldn't be installed. Or any number of other issues. Then the thing was put back in the box and returned. The return rate on this computer was so bad that Radio Shack discontinued it. And it looks like the gPC, and even the Linux version of the eeePC, are going to go the same way. They'll remain what they are now: A niche market.
Well, in a situation where I had to destroy that many drives, I'd pick up an SKS and a 300-round box of military-surplus ammunition, then take the things out to a shooting range and put some holes in them. Something tells me that the drive getting hit by a 7.62mm FMJ round would, for all intents and purposes, make the data it contains unrecoverable.
Okay, this is one of the things that bugs me. OpenOffice and the GIMP do everything that the average user needs them to. I know of a lot of people that use the 'Microsoft Works' bundle that came with their computer and the so-called 'photo editor' that came with their digital camera or scanner. I'd say that most of the 'average users' I know use such products. OO.o and the GIMP are far better than the kind of low-budget software that usually comes with hardware.
Also, you can use the Wysiwyg editors and code everything by hand. It makes it easier to switch back and forth between the code and the design. However, once you do that, you're just spending a bunch of cash for a tool that lets you switch between windows. Actually, one of the best website development tools I've ever used was Quanta+, an open source program for the KDE desktop. No money required.
You're not thinking big enough. I'd take an eight foot tall suit of power armor with smart-guns, a variable-beam-width plasma weapon, bombs, rockets, and tactical nuclear missiles. To top it all off, there would be a jump system and orbital drop pods. In other words, a suit of Marauder power armor from Starship Troopers.
Heinlein was either able to accurately predict the future of the military, or he directly inspired it. In fact, a Marine Corps general stated that the corps' future equipment and organization needed to emulate the Mobile Infantry from Starship Troopers.
This could actually turn out to be a good thing. Even if the live action movie isn't as good as the orignal.
If the film is good enough it could be used to garner more interest in the anime and manga. You know, "If you thought that was good, check out the original!"
What kind of economy are you proposing? A purely free market has a hard time providing services that are of benefit to a large number of people, but are not profitable to an individual business. Take, for example, public roads; a necessity of modern life. Since it is not feasible to have multiple road systems, a monopoly would end up existing. Roads also need to be accessible to everyone to fully benefit society. So the government provides these services and, since everybody uses them, bills the entire population for them.
Back to the general scientific research; even if a private company somehow managed to properly fund such research projects, everybody would benefit from the advancement. That means that, if you didn't directly pay the research company, you would be stealing from those that did, since you did not pay for any of it.
Somebody isn't quite rational. You equate taxation with theft? Do you realize that publicly-funded research projects are typically of such a nature that the benefits outweigh the costs for society as a whole, but not for any single company? In other words, the free market cannot provide them. Sure, there are private research projects, but they are typically very limited in scope, and cannot provide the same amount of benefit to society as a public research project can. Are you suggesting that we stay where we are, and cease making progress, just so you can save a few dollars on your taxes?
I'd assume he's one of the people that thinks private funding would actually work for all scientific research. However, there's a major problem there; most private corporations with the kind of money to fund large scientific research projects aren't patient enough. They want quick results so they can get on with the money making. Because of this, they're far more likely to fund very specific research subjects than the kind of general, long-term research that is necessary for progress but will not see results for years, even decades.
You'd have to do some serious mental gymnastics to convince yourself that the U.S. was founded on secular principles (or maybe not - they do tend to gloss over our religious heritage in public school these days). The US was founded by deists as a secular state. It was not founded as a christian state.
If doctors did that, they would be barred from practice, and I think this comingling of a vendor with a solution provider is flat out wrong. Doctors do just that. Prescription drug companies give doctors a lot of perks and, in exchange, the doctors will often sell brand-name drugs over the generic variants. Sad but true.
The only caveat is that if someone wants it from you they can buy the whole damn thing from you for the price you claimed it was worth - UNLESS you immediately raise the value and pay a penalty for undervaluing it. I think that "you cannot sell it for more than your value assessment without backdating that value and paying the difference" would be a better solution.
Slashdot Mirror
HELL, our entire stealth program is based on an article from a Russian academic paper from the 60s.
Actually, we were working on reduced-RCS designs earlier than that. The Lockheed A-12 OXCART and it's successor, the SR-71 Blackbird, were both reduced-RCS aircraft designs. Petr Ufimtsev, the Russian scientist you were talking about, developed a mathematical framework to predict the reflections of lasers. The Soviets informed him that it was useless, and allowed his work to be published internationally because they were deemed to be of no economic or military value. It was the engineers at Lockheed's Skunk Works, who were already working on reduced-RCS designs, that realized Ufimtsev's work could assist in the design of stealth aircraft.
IIRC, current nuke development is going towards shrinking the devices and minimizing fallout.
Personally, mine at home are named after mythological deities.
Same here! I'm naming boxes after the Greek pantheon at the moment.
You're not in control of the actual network infrastructure, which is what Net Neutrality is all about. The whole point of the Net Neutrality debate is that the companies that are in control of the wires are starting to discriminate against companies that aren't. Remember the the ISP (I think it was comcast,) that was filtering VoIP providers that competed with their own offerings? Without net neutrality, that kind of thing will only become more common place. As it is now, there are very few incentives for an ISP to not filter low to no cost options that compete with their own offerings, and many incentives for them to do just that.
Whatcha talkin 'bout Willis?
Wow, I accidentally post as AC (used Konqueror this time instead of Firefox and forgot I'm not set to auto-login,) and still get rated to +3 Interesting.
Anyway, I'll just toss in a personal anecdote here. I used to work at a Radioshack when I was in high school (I know, bad reputation, but the one I worked at was a franchise, not corporate, and actually hired competent people.) For a while, they offered a locked-down internet appliance, which ran WinCE on an AMD Geode platform. The original device was developed for 'emerging markets,' which is exactly what the XO is aimed at, so it was simple, affordable, rugged, and offered basic Web, Email, and Office capability. It worked with most major internet providers, including dial up. It did everything the average user requires. But, here's the kicker; it could only install specially-signed applications. They were only available through download, and the selection was incredibly limited. This was the limiting factor; it made the net appliances virus-free, but nobody liked the fact that they couldn't install their own software on it.
I was a nerd, even back then, so I understood the problems that can occur when an undereducated person gets their hands on a Windows XP computer. I'd try to sell these little appliances to all the grandmas and grandpas that came into our store shopping for a computer. I'd explain all of the virtues of the system. Then, if they were bright, they'd ask if they could install their Kodak EasyShare software or whatever on it. I'd have to answer no. So these people would end up buying a full-fledged computer, then never using it.
I managed to sell a few, but most of them came back. People would get home, then figure out that they couldn't install the "Super Video Poker 3" that they downloaded off the internet. Or they'd get some cheap, off-brand scanner or camera and couldn't use it because the device didn't have a driver for it and the third-party one couldn't be installed. Or any number of other issues. Then the thing was put back in the box and returned. The return rate on this computer was so bad that Radio Shack discontinued it. And it looks like the gPC, and even the Linux version of the eeePC, are going to go the same way. They'll remain what they are now: A niche market.
It looks like the "Linux/Mac fanboys" aren't the ones with the angst problem...
yellow goo
Don't you mean Tang?
F: Tried and True. If I remember correctly, the US Army took some prodding to adopt a semiautomatic rifle, even after the technology was quite mature.
well before the reset of the world
Wait... They reset the world? Why wasn't I informed?
Well, in a situation where I had to destroy that many drives, I'd pick up an SKS and a 300-round box of military-surplus ammunition, then take the things out to a shooting range and put some holes in them. Something tells me that the drive getting hit by a 7.62mm FMJ round would, for all intents and purposes, make the data it contains unrecoverable.
Okay, this is one of the things that bugs me. OpenOffice and the GIMP do everything that the average user needs them to. I know of a lot of people that use the 'Microsoft Works' bundle that came with their computer and the so-called 'photo editor' that came with their digital camera or scanner. I'd say that most of the 'average users' I know use such products. OO.o and the GIMP are far better than the kind of low-budget software that usually comes with hardware.
You're not thinking big enough. I'd take an eight foot tall suit of power armor with smart-guns, a variable-beam-width plasma weapon, bombs, rockets, and tactical nuclear missiles. To top it all off, there would be a jump system and orbital drop pods. In other words, a suit of Marauder power armor from Starship Troopers.
Stay on the bounce, ape.
Heinlein was either able to accurately predict the future of the military, or he directly inspired it. In fact, a Marine Corps general stated that the corps' future equipment and organization needed to emulate the Mobile Infantry from Starship Troopers.
This could actually turn out to be a good thing. Even if the live action movie isn't as good as the orignal. If the film is good enough it could be used to garner more interest in the anime and manga. You know, "If you thought that was good, check out the original!"
What kind of economy are you proposing? A purely free market has a hard time providing services that are of benefit to a large number of people, but are not profitable to an individual business. Take, for example, public roads; a necessity of modern life. Since it is not feasible to have multiple road systems, a monopoly would end up existing. Roads also need to be accessible to everyone to fully benefit society. So the government provides these services and, since everybody uses them, bills the entire population for them. Back to the general scientific research; even if a private company somehow managed to properly fund such research projects, everybody would benefit from the advancement. That means that, if you didn't directly pay the research company, you would be stealing from those that did, since you did not pay for any of it.
Somebody isn't quite rational. You equate taxation with theft? Do you realize that publicly-funded research projects are typically of such a nature that the benefits outweigh the costs for society as a whole, but not for any single company? In other words, the free market cannot provide them. Sure, there are private research projects, but they are typically very limited in scope, and cannot provide the same amount of benefit to society as a public research project can. Are you suggesting that we stay where we are, and cease making progress, just so you can save a few dollars on your taxes?
I'd assume he's one of the people that thinks private funding would actually work for all scientific research. However, there's a major problem there; most private corporations with the kind of money to fund large scientific research projects aren't patient enough. They want quick results so they can get on with the money making. Because of this, they're far more likely to fund very specific research subjects than the kind of general, long-term research that is necessary for progress but will not see results for years, even decades.
Wait... Your dad did programming work for the DoD, and he used the suggested password for an internet filter?!
Or you could just claim that "hell" was referring to the town in Michigan.
This comment makes me sad there isn't an "idiot" moderation tag.