I'm sorry, next time I'll also demonstrate using this shorter version of a seatbelt.;)
...until of course the captain turns off the seatbelt sign so you can use approved electronics devices (listed in the back of your in-flight magazine). I thought we could all start off on the same page with that one.
Let them spend all the money to get the infrastructure in place to snoop everything... and THEN start encypting it.
If you start encrypting now, all they're going to do is work out a way (technically, legally, underhandedly, whatever) to "solve" the "problem" you've created...
At least you can buy a little time by delaying, and have them light fire to a little more money. Either way, you know they're coming for you.
For ages, "turn off your mobile phones and other electronic devices" has been the golden rule whilst in-flight, until of course the captain turns off the seatbelt sign so you can use approved electronics devices (listed in the back of your in-flight magazine).
FTA:
Qantas says it will offer wireless internet throughout the A380s -- even in economy -- as well as web and email access via seat-back inflight entertainment systems if you don't have a laptop with you. I can only wonder if, having been "educated" that a cell phone turned on while in flight can bring the entire plane crashing down in flames, some customers might feel a slight bit uneasy when they see everyone firing up their laptops and connecting to the free wireless.
On the one hand, I imagine some people might make the connection that both phone and laptops send them new fangled electronical signals through the air, without any wires (devils!)... while others will simply say "Oh, phones aren't laptops" and never give it a second thought.
How long will it be until we see the first story of a customer going crazy on a Quantas plane because they think their life is about to end in a mess of wreckage and flaming jetfuel because Johnny is checking his email.
Harnessing mechanical energy is fine, but the real breakthrough is going to happen when a "filter" system can be placed inline with major arteries... which actually pulls chemicals out of the blood and uses them to power a fuel cell/charge a battery/whatever. Imagine burning 1000 calories an hour just by cranking the knob up. Weight loss with the added benefit of producing power usfeul for mobile devices.
You may not need the system to be wired up in series... which could cause some problems if it fails or clogs. It would probably be best to replace sections of artery with an artificial tube, which has a specifically designed membrane wall allowing the glucose and whatever else you need to permeate through to the fuel cell/reactor side.
The dream of a "built in" personal computer connected directly to your brain is going to require such a power source...
Plus, imagine personal mobile computing then... forget USB charging, plug your Ipod into your spleen!
all from the comfort of a US Air Force base in Nevada First thing across my gaming mind: ping. Is the network latency over a satellite connection bad enought that it would hinder remote operation of these things? What's the round trip time between issuing a command in Nevada, bouncing it off a sat to the bird, and getting results back to see the changes?
Maybe they've got some handoff system between remote and local control... "cargo" pilots on the other side of the world would fly the plane to it's mission area, then control would hand off to a "fighter pilot", who is local to the region and can get a better "ping".
You don't need the same reaction time when you're just commuting, and the local fighter pilots would be more intimately aware of the mission area.
Replace the cargo pilots with an onboard computer and you're cooking with gas... ("Fly to mission area, request pilot control, loiter until he takes you over and releases you to return to base or loiter again")
We are talking about a group of humans with a superhuman capacity for destruction. I believe the phrase you're looking for is "Squad of Ultimate Badasses".
Now, I'm not seeking to excuse anyone's short attention span, but keep in mind your 30 minute time slot only has 20 minutes of content (which is part fluff itself)... and ~10 minutes of advertisements.
If even 50% of the "content" is useful... you're already starting at 10 minutes of actually useful stuff...
The point is, moreso than short attention spans, we just don't want to have to invest 30 minutes of time for 10 minutes of value.
Am I the only one who noticed that he was connecting the blades to the hub with worm-gear hose clamps? They're not even t-clamps, they're worm gears.
Granted, he should be perfectly safe (the blade will be ejected tangentally when the worm-gear gives out)... but sooner or later the angry mob is going to catch up with him.
I agree... the YAL-1 ABL (Airborne Laser, think 747 with a frickin' laser on the nose cone)... made it's first cross country flight last week... and they've already tested targeting systems while in-flight. They even think they can use it to shoot down satellites...
Trick is, she's got to tote around the chemicals used to power the laser... the current design allows for appx 20x 5-second shots. This is on a Boeing 747-400 "freight" aircraft... but I haven't been able to find out how much the chemical fuel will weigh. Probably more than you'd want to carry around on a Mach 6 stealth spy plane.
I wonder what it take to power a laser that could take out the ultimate soft target... a human being. Don't walk outside, Kim.;)
So, in summary, if we want to have colonies on the moon or mars in the next 10-20 years, open it to private companies and let them plant flags? First one there gets to stake a claim and keep it.
Just because one or more computers communicating over the Internet is involved, it does not magically change the nature of what's going on. Quick, somebody notify the patent office!
MTHEL has been shooting down rockets since 2000, and mortar shells since 2002. It's been on my personal list of Cool Shit(tm) for quite a while.
Here's a video of it in action. Not great quality, but cool 50's style advertising: "MTHEL: Stops Mortars!"
Not to mention, they're working on an airborne version mounted in the nose of a 747.
I'd be interested in seeing what implications such a system would have on the spy plane. Laser systems are LOS... and lose power based on range. If you can get over the horizon, you're safe... but @ 100k ft you've got quite a horizon. They also have to stay concentrated on a small area of the target for a specific time, easy to do when you're shooting at a ballistic object such as a mortar shell, but much harder when your target can realize it's being fired upon and manuever to evade.
The new jet -- being referred to by some as the SR-72 -- is likely to be unmanned and, while intended for reconnaissance, could eventually trade its sensors for weapons. I'd be interested to see what kind of weapon they're planning to pop out the bottom of this thing @ Mach 6. Doesn't seem like a terribly bright idea...
Second, friction at high speeds could reduce stealth. At some point, you don't need the stealth, because by the time anyone realizes you're coming and gets some sort of weapon 100k ft into the air, you'll probably have already landed.
I hate to state the obvious, but the article is pretty sensational... I can summarize:
Cower before our unmanned 6000mph stealthy black aircraft! If the Mach 6 shockwave doesn't get you, the nuclear handgrenades it carries will!
Thank you sir, I believe you are the only person who got my post.
It's WEED! I was talking about WEED!
And I'm willing to bet that a few hardcore stoners would damn well figure out a way to grow the stuff in space, if they were left there without a supply of the doobie.;)
Plus, you wouldn't have to pay for some guy with a pHD in Hydroponicism... you could just slip them a few bags of cheetos every now and then.
The job market is looking up for those with "hydroponics" listed as a hobby on their resume....
I'm already surprised NASA doesn't hire them to come up with effective ways to grow things in space. If you want revolutionary science, send a group of them to the space station with a few seeds, some PVC pipe, and a light bulb. The place will look like the Amazon freakin' jungle before the next resupply shuttle docks.
I don't see a new source of energy orders of magnitude above previous ones Methinks you proved the parent's point.
If you were to see such a new source of energy, you'd think it was "magic". You might be able to grasp how it works after some explanation and hyperspace-whiteboarding, and you might be able to tie it back to some current far-fetched concept ("Oh, it's vaccuum energy")... but until someone spoon fed it to you, you'd be looking for the man behind the curtain.
I spoke to a guy who does DRM for an online game publisher. Once, they rewrote their algorithm which instantly rendered all existing cracks for the games useless. Sales jumped by 40% that month. Why? surely none of those who cracked the stuff would have bought it anyway? The question you have to ask yourself here is this: How many of those sales were driven by people who pirated the full version of the game, got hooked on it, then bought it once their copy was rendered useless?
I've never understood anyone who buys anything on ebay and bids any time sooner than 5-15 seconds before the auction closes (depending on your personal tube health)...
Sure, it's not as good for the sellers, but it sure is good for the buyer. Why drive the price up beforehand?
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...until of course the captain turns off the seatbelt sign so you can use approved electronics devices (listed in the back of your in-flight magazine). I thought we could all start off on the same page with that one.Let them spend all the money to get the infrastructure in place to snoop everything... and THEN start encypting it.
If you start encrypting now, all they're going to do is work out a way (technically, legally, underhandedly, whatever) to "solve" the "problem" you've created...
At least you can buy a little time by delaying, and have them light fire to a little more money. Either way, you know they're coming for you.
FTA:
Qantas says it will offer wireless internet throughout the A380s -- even in economy -- as well as web and email access via seat-back inflight entertainment systems if you don't have a laptop with you. I can only wonder if, having been "educated" that a cell phone turned on while in flight can bring the entire plane crashing down in flames, some customers might feel a slight bit uneasy when they see everyone firing up their laptops and connecting to the free wireless.On the one hand, I imagine some people might make the connection that both phone and laptops send them new fangled electronical signals through the air, without any wires (devils!)... while others will simply say "Oh, phones aren't laptops" and never give it a second thought.
How long will it be until we see the first story of a customer going crazy on a Quantas plane because they think their life is about to end in a mess of wreckage and flaming jetfuel because Johnny is checking his email.
MKAYTHXBYE
You may not need the system to be wired up in series... which could cause some problems if it fails or clogs. It would probably be best to replace sections of artery with an artificial tube, which has a specifically designed membrane wall allowing the glucose and whatever else you need to permeate through to the fuel cell/reactor side.
The dream of a "built in" personal computer connected directly to your brain is going to require such a power source...
Plus, imagine personal mobile computing then... forget USB charging, plug your Ipod into your spleen!
Good thing I read /. I was getting ready to plow into Blue Mars... just finished Red. Thanks!
Maybe they've got some handoff system between remote and local control... "cargo" pilots on the other side of the world would fly the plane to it's mission area, then control would hand off to a "fighter pilot", who is local to the region and can get a better "ping".
You don't need the same reaction time when you're just commuting, and the local fighter pilots would be more intimately aware of the mission area. Replace the cargo pilots with an onboard computer and you're cooking with gas... ("Fly to mission area, request pilot control, loiter until he takes you over and releases you to return to base or loiter again")
I find it intriguing that your comment doesn't mention anyone other than the RIAA. ;)
If even 50% of the "content" is useful... you're already starting at 10 minutes of actually useful stuff...
The point is, moreso than short attention spans, we just don't want to have to invest 30 minutes of time for 10 minutes of value.
There's bound to be a joke in that drug name, it ends in a freakin' "lol"
Granted, he should be perfectly safe (the blade will be ejected tangentally when the worm-gear gives out)... but sooner or later the angry mob is going to catch up with him.
It was bad enough to just get your shiny new needlenose pliers welded together. =/
Trick is, she's got to tote around the chemicals used to power the laser... the current design allows for appx 20x 5-second shots. This is on a Boeing 747-400 "freight" aircraft... but I haven't been able to find out how much the chemical fuel will weigh. Probably more than you'd want to carry around on a Mach 6 stealth spy plane.
I wonder what it take to power a laser that could take out the ultimate soft target... a human being. Don't walk outside, Kim. ;)
So, in summary, if we want to have colonies on the moon or mars in the next 10-20 years, open it to private companies and let them plant flags? First one there gets to stake a claim and keep it.
Behold the Northrup-Grumman M-THEL.
MTHEL has been shooting down rockets since 2000, and mortar shells since 2002. It's been on my personal list of Cool Shit(tm) for quite a while.
Here's a video of it in action. Not great quality, but cool 50's style advertising: "MTHEL: Stops Mortars!"
Not to mention, they're working on an airborne version mounted in the nose of a 747.
I'd be interested in seeing what implications such a system would have on the spy plane. Laser systems are LOS... and lose power based on range. If you can get over the horizon, you're safe... but @ 100k ft you've got quite a horizon. They also have to stay concentrated on a small area of the target for a specific time, easy to do when you're shooting at a ballistic object such as a mortar shell, but much harder when your target can realize it's being fired upon and manuever to evade.
I hate to state the obvious, but the article is pretty sensational... I can summarize:
Cower before our unmanned 6000mph stealthy black aircraft! If the Mach 6 shockwave doesn't get you, the nuclear handgrenades it carries will!It's WEED! I was talking about WEED!
And I'm willing to bet that a few hardcore stoners would damn well figure out a way to grow the stuff in space, if they were left there without a supply of the doobie. ;)
Plus, you wouldn't have to pay for some guy with a pHD in Hydroponicism... you could just slip them a few bags of cheetos every now and then.
I'm already surprised NASA doesn't hire them to come up with effective ways to grow things in space. If you want revolutionary science, send a group of them to the space station with a few seeds, some PVC pipe, and a light bulb. The place will look like the Amazon freakin' jungle before the next resupply shuttle docks.
Ender's Game. I can't remember if the starship captains were aware they were taking orders from young children.
I haven't been the victim of one of these spam-porn attacks. Am I missing out?
Sure, it's not as good for the sellers, but it sure is good for the buyer. Why drive the price up beforehand?