I think we're assuming that we can judge an idea based on a simply-worded article again. (Common issue on Slashdot.) No reliance perpetual motion is needed.
Assume Craft B is in an orbit stable enough to to counteract the thrust, at least over the long term. (Easy enough to do, depending on the orbit.) And/or have Craft B counteract the force on itself with an equal and opposite impulse. Yeah, that'd cut down overall effeciency of the system, but that's not much of an issue, as Craft B could be solar-powered, and you'd still get the major bennie of not needing to carry (much) fuel on Craft A.
I am not a big fan of Microsoft at all, but I do have to take issue with the fact that everyone keeps referring to the fact that Microsoft is trying to hide the fact that they are basically fronting this FIN group.
Read it. Microsoft bluntly claims that it's a "grassroots network of citizens", which heavily implies that they have little or nothing to do with it -- as if at most they're simply responding to the wishes of their hordes of oh-so-outraged fans.
Maybe you find it hard to believe that some people are naive enough to not realize this isn't mostly or entirely Microsoft's baby, but I don't.
A "grassroots network"... based in Redmond and hosted on www.microsoft.com?
Actually, this is pretty typical Microsoft behavior. They take a standard -- in this case, the meaning of the term "grassroots" -- and alter it to benefit themselves and trash it for everyone else.
Sounds like this actually falls under the term "astroturf activism" -- fake grassroots. It's a (relatively) recent, um, innovation by unethical PR departments. Put up a falsely-fronted and supposedly independent "activist" organization to spin things the way you want them spun, while giving the oh-so-wholesome appearance that "concerned citizens" approve of various corporatist policies. It takes cynical manipulation to a whole new level. (Well, it's relatively new for corporations, I think. For gov'ts, this is an old propaganda trick.)
Voices from the FIN: "I fully intend to e-mail my representatives, and I hope they realize the important impact that Microsoft has had on the computing industry alone, and ALL the other industries as well." (supposedly) From a FIN site visitor.
Oh, they do realize the impact MS has had. The Department of Justice in particular is very aware of Microsoft's "impact".
I realize this was a attempt ([grin] successful) at humor, but it's worth pointing out that this would make things worse. Using a Snap-like approach -- controlled de-orbiting of junk -- is a good idea. Playing cosmic billiards would only make things worse.
There have been simulations that suggest that we may be getting to the point where we risk a chain-reaction that could make things very hazardous up there. One satellite getting majorly fragmented would result in even more -- and less easily-tracked -- dangerous-bits-o-stuff, which might trash a couple of other satellites, each of which might trash a couple more, etc.
To counter a couple of other misunderstandings I've seen:
(1) Yup, space is big. But the subset of space that's useful for satellites is less big.
(2) Satellites aren't all tidily lined up one after the other in perfectly circular orbits. Satellites can be in similar orbits and still have closing velocities that can cause damage. And satellites in different orbits can still cross paths, and the closing velocities there can be really nasty.
Lots of people think they're immune to ad saturation. [shrug] Who knows, maybe you're one of the lucky few who aren't fooling themselves.
It's all wrapped up in the heavily-marketed concept of pseudo-individualism that so many people -- especially USians, it seems -- suck up. Gotta be yourself... as long as there's enough other people shelling out cash to be themselves in the same way.
I see you've bought into the silly idea that "advertising-supported = free". It's not free, it's just paid for with a different currency. If that's the way you prefer to pay, knock yourself out, but you should at least have some idea of the price you're paying.
Nobody said it was illegal. Nobody claimed any rights were violated. Are those your only standards of what's right or wrong? Of what's a good idea and what's a bad one?
There are lots of things that I have a "right" to do, that are legal to do, that I nonetheless don't do for various other reasons.
Corporations have a "right" to do this sort of thing. We have have a "right" to bitch about it and to try to discourage this sort of thing in various ways, including making it illegal. If we can make ourselves heard over corporate lobbyists, that is.
According to the story, Jesus did not "pirate" (aka steal) bread. The loaves and fishes did not exist before he miraculously created them. Having created them himself, they were his loaves and fishes. He (and his followers) then choose to give them away.
In addition, there is no report of him doing this on an ongoing and widespread basis, so it's pretty unlikely that any businesses were affected. And even if he had done this a lot, it wouldn't have been pirating. Tough to compete with, but not pirating.
(Heck, he was supposedly a deity, or at least of divine birth. One could argue that as a deity, he had first dibs on everybody's property. But as far as I remember the popular bio, he never tried to take advantage of that.)
(FWIW, I'm an agnostic. But if someone's gonna use the story to make some point, they should at least try to get it right.)
Um, no. According to the story, Jesus created the bread and wine (perhaps you meant bread and fishes?) because there was a (temporary, local) shortage, and he voluntarily gave it away. No mention was made of any industries going out of business -- unlikely to say the least.
Analogy fails, quite badly. If you want to create music, and give it away, go for it.
I love how you assume that we'll have a future. "Past performance is no guarantee of future results." (Not that our past performance has been all that great.)
An assumption of a human future -- any human future -- is simply that, an assumption. If we flame-out, the universe won't notice. Why is it such a mental challenge to most folks to say, "Gee, maybe we should actually think about what we're doing"?
- you have to carry several modules around instead of one full featured unit
Unlike Compact Flash modules which, what, magically appear when needed?
they promise plenty of modules... many will never be produced in the hand
[laugh] Oh the irony of criticizing vaporware in this context. Yup, many Springboards are vaporware and may never see the light of day. But the YOPY itself is vaporware, innit? I've got a Visor sitting here on my desk.
I suggest that we not be so quick to assume that the voice processing capabilities are strictly for voice recognition. This could be their move to run end-around Nextel. Wouldn't that be cool, I mean, with a flip-top case like the Palm III - life will be that much more like living in a star trek episode.
You say that as if it'd be a good thing. [grin]
Really, try listening to the human-computer voice interfacing in Trek. It's screamingly unrealistic. Which makes sense, because they weren't going for realism, they were going for a quick&lazy way of presenting information for the audience.
Voice interface may become useful at some point, for some uses. But it won't be like Trek.
See, hopefully the voice interface will be optional, so it'll only be losers babbling at their PDAs, so it'll be easy to weed them out of the herd before they breed.
Seriously, though, there is for some bizarre reason a perception that voice-interface would be a good thing, so devices with it may sell better than devices without it. Unfortunately.
Not that I want an AOL-only set-top box, but the possibility of AOL sending out millions of under-$100 single-purpose set-top PCs in the mail instead of CDs is kinda kicky.
Ok, so maybe I'm living in fantasy land a little bit. At least they'd be more useful than those stupid CDs...
I'll say. I've already got as many drink coasters as I'll ever need. Maybe AOL set-tops can be used as trivets!
I have been reading dozens of articles from various places that Judge Jacksons *doesn't* want a breakup, that its the corporate equivalent of the death penalty. States didn't want a breakup, either. Now, suddenly, a breakup is part of the plan?
Two words: trial balloons. These possibilities are probably being "leaked" -- aka unofficial PR releases -- to see what reactions which people have to what possible solutions.
Supposedly George was pissed about the so-called Strategic Defense Initiative being nicknamed "Star Wars". I bet he's not real pleased about this, either.
"So far, the Internet seems to be largely amplifying the worst features of television's preoccupation with sex and violence, semi-literate chatter, shortened attention spans, and near-total subservience to commercial marketing," said Billington."
So he'd rather withhold something that'd improve it. Gee, that's smart.
I'm pretty fond of books, too, and I doubt I'll ever go completely digital with my reading. But for some things and for some purposes, digital access is better -- faster, more flexible, more accessible.
[shrug] Mr. Billington does not have the final say. Eventually there will be someone in that job who will understand.
There's this priesthood, you see, and they've put out a lot of hype about how only they can conduct the rituals....
If you do the rituals -- follow the scientific method, etc -- then you are a scientist. Without the rituals, you aren't one. It's not that scientists poo-poo amateur scientists -- that's fairly rare, in my experience. What scientists have little patience for is the way-too-common nutcases who construct elaborate buzzword-laden "theories" and expect to be taken seriously, and then scream about "elitism" when their "theories" get shredded.
Coming up with a theory does not make one a scientist.
"They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." - Carl Sagan
People, stop fooling yourselves and leave science to the scientists.
Yeah! And no singing unless you've had years of voice lessons. And no dancing unless you've had training. And unless you've got at least a Master's Degree in English Lit, don't try writing anything. No playing chess unless you're a Grand Master.
And most of all, no playing around with computers and programming and stuff like that unless you've got an accredited Computer Science degree, darn it.
Slashdot Mirror
Assume Craft B is in an orbit stable enough to to counteract the thrust, at least over the long term. (Easy enough to do, depending on the orbit.) And/or have Craft B counteract the force on itself with an equal and opposite impulse. Yeah, that'd cut down overall effeciency of the system, but that's not much of an issue, as Craft B could be solar-powered, and you'd still get the major bennie of not needing to carry (much) fuel on Craft A.
Read it. Microsoft bluntly claims that it's a "grassroots network of citizens", which heavily implies that they have little or nothing to do with it -- as if at most they're simply responding to the wishes of their hordes of oh-so-outraged fans.
Maybe you find it hard to believe that some people are naive enough to not realize this isn't mostly or entirely Microsoft's baby, but I don't.
It's not original to me. I dunno who first coined it.
Actually, this is pretty typical Microsoft behavior. They take a standard -- in this case, the meaning of the term "grassroots" -- and alter it to benefit themselves and trash it for everyone else.
Sounds like this actually falls under the term "astroturf activism" -- fake grassroots. It's a (relatively) recent, um, innovation by unethical PR departments. Put up a falsely-fronted and supposedly independent "activist" organization to spin things the way you want them spun, while giving the oh-so-wholesome appearance that "concerned citizens" approve of various corporatist policies. It takes cynical manipulation to a whole new level. (Well, it's relatively new for corporations, I think. For gov'ts, this is an old propaganda trick.)
Voices from the FIN:
"I fully intend to e-mail my representatives, and I hope they realize the important impact that Microsoft has had on the computing industry alone, and ALL the other industries as well."
(supposedly) From a FIN site visitor.
Oh, they do realize the impact MS has had. The Department of Justice in particular is very aware of Microsoft's "impact".
There have been simulations that suggest that we may be getting to the point where we risk a chain-reaction that could make things very hazardous up there. One satellite getting majorly fragmented would result in even more -- and less easily-tracked -- dangerous-bits-o-stuff, which might trash a couple of other satellites, each of which might trash a couple more, etc.
To counter a couple of other misunderstandings I've seen:
(1) Yup, space is big. But the subset of space that's useful for satellites is less big.
(2) Satellites aren't all tidily lined up one after the other in perfectly circular orbits. Satellites can be in similar orbits and still have closing velocities that can cause damage. And satellites in different orbits can still cross paths, and the closing velocities there can be really nasty.
It's all wrapped up in the heavily-marketed concept of pseudo-individualism that so many people -- especially USians, it seems -- suck up. Gotta be yourself ... as long as there's enough other people shelling out cash to be themselves in the same way.
[smirk] The revolution will not be marketed.
I see you've bought into the silly idea that "advertising-supported = free". It's not free, it's just paid for with a different currency. If that's the way you prefer to pay, knock yourself out, but you should at least have some idea of the price you're paying.
Hmmm. I wonder if USian spammers could be nailed under RICO? (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) Nah, probably not.
There are lots of things that I have a "right" to do, that are legal to do, that I nonetheless don't do for various other reasons.
Corporations have a "right" to do this sort of thing. We have have a "right" to bitch about it and to try to discourage this sort of thing in various ways, including making it illegal. If we can make ourselves heard over corporate lobbyists, that is.
If all it took was bribing some officials, they could stay in the US.
According to the story, Jesus did not "pirate" (aka steal) bread. The loaves and fishes did not exist before he miraculously created them. Having created them himself, they were his loaves and fishes. He (and his followers) then choose to give them away.
In addition, there is no report of him doing this on an ongoing and widespread basis, so it's pretty unlikely that any businesses were affected. And even if he had done this a lot, it wouldn't have been pirating. Tough to compete with, but not pirating.
(Heck, he was supposedly a deity, or at least of divine birth. One could argue that as a deity, he had first dibs on everybody's property. But as far as I remember the popular bio, he never tried to take advantage of that.)
(FWIW, I'm an agnostic. But if someone's gonna use the story to make some point, they should at least try to get it right.)
Analogy fails, quite badly. If you want to create music, and give it away, go for it.
(Geez, talk about messiah complexes ...)
An assumption of a human future -- any human future -- is simply that, an assumption. If we flame-out, the universe won't notice. Why is it such a mental challenge to most folks to say, "Gee, maybe we should actually think about what we're doing"?
Sure, knowledge is good. So is wisdom.
Unlike Compact Flash modules which, what, magically appear when needed?
they promise plenty of modules... many will never be produced in the hand
[laugh] Oh the irony of criticizing vaporware in this context. Yup, many Springboards are vaporware and may never see the light of day. But the YOPY itself is vaporware, innit? I've got a Visor sitting here on my desk.
How about a Slashdot interview with Jeff Hawkins?
The PDA formerly known as Palm ...
You say that as if it'd be a good thing. [grin]
Really, try listening to the human-computer voice interfacing in Trek. It's screamingly unrealistic. Which makes sense, because they weren't going for realism, they were going for a quick&lazy way of presenting information for the audience.
Voice interface may become useful at some point, for some uses. But it won't be like Trek.
See, hopefully the voice interface will be optional, so it'll only be losers babbling at their PDAs, so it'll be easy to weed them out of the herd before they breed.
Seriously, though, there is for some bizarre reason a perception that voice-interface would be a good thing, so devices with it may sell better than devices without it. Unfortunately.
Ok, so maybe I'm living in fantasy land a little bit. At least they'd be more useful than those stupid CDs...
I'll say. I've already got as many drink coasters as I'll ever need. Maybe AOL set-tops can be used as trivets!
Two words: trial balloons. These possibilities are probably being "leaked" -- aka unofficial PR releases -- to see what reactions which people have to what possible solutions.
Supposedly George was pissed about the so-called Strategic Defense Initiative being nicknamed "Star Wars". I bet he's not real pleased about this, either.
So he'd rather withhold something that'd improve it. Gee, that's smart.
I'm pretty fond of books, too, and I doubt I'll ever go completely digital with my reading. But for some things and for some purposes, digital access is better -- faster, more flexible, more accessible.
[shrug] Mr. Billington does not have the final say. Eventually there will be someone in that job who will understand.
If you do the rituals -- follow the scientific method, etc -- then you are a scientist. Without the rituals, you aren't one. It's not that scientists poo-poo amateur scientists -- that's fairly rare, in my experience. What scientists have little patience for is the way-too-common nutcases who construct elaborate buzzword-laden "theories" and expect to be taken seriously, and then scream about "elitism" when their "theories" get shredded.
Coming up with a theory does not make one a scientist.
"They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." - Carl Sagan
Yeah! And no singing unless you've had years of voice lessons. And no dancing unless you've had training. And unless you've got at least a Master's Degree in English Lit, don't try writing anything. No playing chess unless you're a Grand Master.
And most of all, no playing around with computers and programming and stuff like that unless you've got an accredited Computer Science degree, darn it.
Sheesh.
"I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time." - Steven Wright