It's recently dawned on me that there more than seven continents taught to you at school, which are N. America, S. America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica. In fact, there is an eighth: the Internet.
Consider: the empires that colonized the Americas knew about them for years before there was serious Europeanization (E-ization from now on, because it is so hard to spell out.). Once they started becoming seriously interested in expanding into the Americas, they reacted in the following ways: they first began settling the regions and using what they could to be more efficient. Second, they vilified the natives, decrying what they learned was necessary to survive and the culture that sprang from it as barbaric and savage. Third, they imposed their culture on the natives, forcing them to submit to their laws until everything that was native was now part of Europe. Anything they keep is seen as a novelty.
I see this happening with the Internet. People have known about it for a long time, but haven't really cared about it. Now it's becoming more and more necessary for them to operate within it. So, in recent years, they have begun using what we have had, like e-mail and online news sources. Now they are saying our websites are bad, like the article on CNN. In it, the author implies that our culture is savage, cruel, and callous. Now again, they have begun imposing their laws upon us, barging into our 'continent' and claiming it is theirs because we aren't responsible enough. By the time they realize that they are wrong, it will be too late; our culture will be long gone. I propose the following: we, as a culture, begin mass-migrating to another medium, or we fight for our lands and keep out the intruders. I vote for the latter. It is not their right to steal what is ours, nor is it their 'responsibility' to use it the way it was 'supposed' to be used. But don't listen to me. Think for yourselves, before it is too late.
As a member of this country's education system, I have to say that any change is good change. Even on the off chance that McCain wins. The only thing that could possibly make this worse is if Palin becomes President. Then we're screwed no matter what we do. But seriously, No Child Left Behind is another way to say No Child Gets Ahead. I personally have no challenge and no drive to go to school other than to get into college. I actually haven't learned all that much in the last few years, I'm sorry to say. My only hope is that the next president will stop the tests and stop the competition. When you can afford to lose some people, competition works; it helps innovation. But this is not a business. The stakes are too high to be risking MY future, and the future of my generation.
This just in: Physicists have just now revealed that String Theory has nothing to do with the fabric of our universe, and everything to do with teaching toddlers how to tie their shoes.
Oh dear God you're right! Could you imagine what would happen if they start regulating EVERYTHING? First we wouldn't be able to drive fast, then we wouldn't be able to J-Walk, then we wouldn't be able to take guns onto airplanes...they might even stop lenders from destroying the economy!
Oh, Google's being sued. I thought Google was suing the UK. For $100 billion canadian...I've got to stop reading this at five in the morning. Don't ask me how many times it took me to type that sentence. Please.
What? I stayed up for an hour waiting for something about PATENTS??? Come on man, if you're going to make me wait that long, it'd better be something like, "Three-Headed Man Forms A Capella Group" or "ETs Land at Verizon HQ to Phone Home." Now I'm pissed off. Thank's for nothing Zonk!
I didn't know you could actually get the 'exact date' it was built. I bet they built it on a thursday. Not monday, because nobody wants to do any serious work after the weekend. I know I don't. Not tuesday because that's Take Your Kid to Work day, so they can only make little Stonehenges. Maybe Woodhenges. Then they spend all wednesday cleaning up after the kids and deciding never to do that again (even though they always have another one). On friday, everyone leaves early so they can't get yelled at all weekend by their bosses and clubbed to death. And nobody works on Saturday and Sunday. Only crazy people. That just leaves thursday because they eventually get guilty about not doing any work and decide to do something.
So what if Titan has an ocean for a mantle. That doesn't mean it could be a better habitat for humans. At least in the short term, anyway. The crust is hundreds of kilometers thick on Titan. We can't drill that deep on Earth, where we can carry huge things around. If we wanted to get the water out of Titan, or Ganymede or Enceladus or Europa or any other water-filled moon, for that matter, we'd need to bring huge drills that weigh millions of kilograms; given our present technology, that is impossible, technologically, logistically, and economically.
That doesn't mean Titan isn't a lucrative place to colonize; it's entire surface composition is very rich in potential rocket fuel. Once we establish an infrastructure on to harvest methane from its atmosphere or scoop stuff out of its seas and lakes, it would take half of the problem out of colonizing the outer solar system. But we'd still need to build an extremely expensive infrastructure, first.
You know, we're coming even closer to Minority Report tech with this. Presumably you could shoot videos with this stuff and you could get that cool projection tech that makes hologram-type videos. Plus you can modify Wii controllers to make those awesome multi-touch screens. With a bit of money, we could even clone Tom Cruise and have him fight crime with jetpacks and sonic blasters. I'm telling you, 2054 man, just a few decades away...
So if we don't look at something, it must not be there? What would happen if we did look? If I turn around and I hadn't seen a large hawaiian pizza there, that means that when I turn around it must be there. Hey look! A dead cat!
You know, this shows how badly we're going to do in the upcoming Second Cold War. China beats us to the moon, they have awesome subs, and they're slowly poisoning our children with lead and drugs. That's why we should all move to Canada.
Carbon nanotubes are oudated even before they're new. Superpaper is better. Also, if you've ever tried a spaceflight simulator such as Orbiter, you know how hard it is to lift any weight into space.
I've been on slashdot for a few months, and I'm kind of wondering why we're still doing these kinds of things. We appear to be perfecting the technology for this and we'll be able to make a space elevator in 5-10 years. Graphene oxide super paper, that radiation-absorbing mineral thingie, nuclear power, etc. all make this possible.
Nothing in the universe can destroy information. That is one of the few things I'm sure of in this field. Black holes just take a huge amount of information from over a huge distance and make it very, very, very, very...
Eventually I got to the end of it and ended with very small. Anyway, yeah. Black holes can't destroy information.
As for the launching your body to the edge of the universe, good luck with that if this brane stuff is right.
Nice theory. I have my own theory, but it's so good I don't want anybody stealing it. Suffice to say it would make a Theory of Everything impossible and explain things like Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
Slashdot Mirror
It's recently dawned on me that there more than seven continents taught to you at school, which are N. America, S. America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica. In fact, there is an eighth: the Internet. Consider: the empires that colonized the Americas knew about them for years before there was serious Europeanization (E-ization from now on, because it is so hard to spell out.). Once they started becoming seriously interested in expanding into the Americas, they reacted in the following ways: they first began settling the regions and using what they could to be more efficient. Second, they vilified the natives, decrying what they learned was necessary to survive and the culture that sprang from it as barbaric and savage. Third, they imposed their culture on the natives, forcing them to submit to their laws until everything that was native was now part of Europe. Anything they keep is seen as a novelty. I see this happening with the Internet. People have known about it for a long time, but haven't really cared about it. Now it's becoming more and more necessary for them to operate within it. So, in recent years, they have begun using what we have had, like e-mail and online news sources. Now they are saying our websites are bad, like the article on CNN. In it, the author implies that our culture is savage, cruel, and callous. Now again, they have begun imposing their laws upon us, barging into our 'continent' and claiming it is theirs because we aren't responsible enough. By the time they realize that they are wrong, it will be too late; our culture will be long gone. I propose the following: we, as a culture, begin mass-migrating to another medium, or we fight for our lands and keep out the intruders. I vote for the latter. It is not their right to steal what is ours, nor is it their 'responsibility' to use it the way it was 'supposed' to be used. But don't listen to me. Think for yourselves, before it is too late.
As a member of this country's education system, I have to say that any change is good change. Even on the off chance that McCain wins. The only thing that could possibly make this worse is if Palin becomes President. Then we're screwed no matter what we do. But seriously, No Child Left Behind is another way to say No Child Gets Ahead. I personally have no challenge and no drive to go to school other than to get into college. I actually haven't learned all that much in the last few years, I'm sorry to say. My only hope is that the next president will stop the tests and stop the competition. When you can afford to lose some people, competition works; it helps innovation. But this is not a business. The stakes are too high to be risking MY future, and the future of my generation.
I smell hormones! Someone's headed to the Youtube comments.
This just in: Physicists have just now revealed that String Theory has nothing to do with the fabric of our universe, and everything to do with teaching toddlers how to tie their shoes.
Oh dear God you're right! Could you imagine what would happen if they start regulating EVERYTHING? First we wouldn't be able to drive fast, then we wouldn't be able to J-Walk, then we wouldn't be able to take guns onto airplanes...they might even stop lenders from destroying the economy!
Oh, Google's being sued. I thought Google was suing the UK. For $100 billion canadian...I've got to stop reading this at five in the morning. Don't ask me how many times it took me to type that sentence. Please.
What? I stayed up for an hour waiting for something about PATENTS??? Come on man, if you're going to make me wait that long, it'd better be something like, "Three-Headed Man Forms A Capella Group" or "ETs Land at Verizon HQ to Phone Home." Now I'm pissed off. Thank's for nothing Zonk!
August 8th, 2500 B.C.? No way! That's the day my great, great.....(some very long time later)...great granddad's brother was born?
I didn't know you could actually get the 'exact date' it was built. I bet they built it on a thursday. Not monday, because nobody wants to do any serious work after the weekend. I know I don't. Not tuesday because that's Take Your Kid to Work day, so they can only make little Stonehenges. Maybe Woodhenges. Then they spend all wednesday cleaning up after the kids and deciding never to do that again (even though they always have another one). On friday, everyone leaves early so they can't get yelled at all weekend by their bosses and clubbed to death. And nobody works on Saturday and Sunday. Only crazy people. That just leaves thursday because they eventually get guilty about not doing any work and decide to do something.
So what if Titan has an ocean for a mantle. That doesn't mean it could be a better habitat for humans. At least in the short term, anyway. The crust is hundreds of kilometers thick on Titan. We can't drill that deep on Earth, where we can carry huge things around. If we wanted to get the water out of Titan, or Ganymede or Enceladus or Europa or any other water-filled moon, for that matter, we'd need to bring huge drills that weigh millions of kilograms; given our present technology, that is impossible, technologically, logistically, and economically. That doesn't mean Titan isn't a lucrative place to colonize; it's entire surface composition is very rich in potential rocket fuel. Once we establish an infrastructure on to harvest methane from its atmosphere or scoop stuff out of its seas and lakes, it would take half of the problem out of colonizing the outer solar system. But we'd still need to build an extremely expensive infrastructure, first.
You know, we're coming even closer to Minority Report tech with this. Presumably you could shoot videos with this stuff and you could get that cool projection tech that makes hologram-type videos. Plus you can modify Wii controllers to make those awesome multi-touch screens. With a bit of money, we could even clone Tom Cruise and have him fight crime with jetpacks and sonic blasters. I'm telling you, 2054 man, just a few decades away...
What about western washington? We suffered little better. This is a picture of I-5: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2004054526.html
So what are we going to do? Throw a bunch of acid everywhere and hope it saves the world?
So if we don't look at something, it must not be there? What would happen if we did look? If I turn around and I hadn't seen a large hawaiian pizza there, that means that when I turn around it must be there. Hey look! A dead cat!
Yeah. They get to set up a moon base a few years before we do.
You know, this shows how badly we're going to do in the upcoming Second Cold War. China beats us to the moon, they have awesome subs, and they're slowly poisoning our children with lead and drugs. That's why we should all move to Canada.
Aren't these the chips that give you cancer? Should we be worried about that at all?
If there's nothing behind him, ignore him. Maybe make fun of him. Maybe file something against him.
Carbon nanotubes are oudated even before they're new. Superpaper is better. Also, if you've ever tried a spaceflight simulator such as Orbiter, you know how hard it is to lift any weight into space.
I've been on slashdot for a few months, and I'm kind of wondering why we're still doing these kinds of things. We appear to be perfecting the technology for this and we'll be able to make a space elevator in 5-10 years. Graphene oxide super paper, that radiation-absorbing mineral thingie, nuclear power, etc. all make this possible.
Nothing in the universe can destroy information. That is one of the few things I'm sure of in this field. Black holes just take a huge amount of information from over a huge distance and make it very, very, very, very... Eventually I got to the end of it and ended with very small. Anyway, yeah. Black holes can't destroy information. As for the launching your body to the edge of the universe, good luck with that if this brane stuff is right.
Nice theory. I have my own theory, but it's so good I don't want anybody stealing it. Suffice to say it would make a Theory of Everything impossible and explain things like Dark Matter and Dark Energy.