Tossing out for the moment comments about Whedon and whining about the fans of Firefly, your comments on the "issues" with the show are not all that on-target.
One: We do not know the method they use for FTL. This makes it silly to complain about the energy needs that science as we know it would require. We don't have FTL science, it is something posited for the purposes of the show. For all we know, something developed a few years from now will show that a small application of enery under the correct circumstances will allow FTL. (No, I don't think it likely. But then again, look at the energy pay off with fusion and research into the quantum foam or whatever. Plenty we don't know yet...) Not the first time sci-fi has had FTL...
Two: "Ancient" projectile weapons are still in use to this very day in many parts of the world even as engineering labs (and home hobby types) are turning out rail guns and electron beam/laser/Kill-O-Zap weapons. Technology is used when it solves problems, not when it is cool. (Okay, mostly not for the cool part.) You can buy modern blackpowder weapons (constructed with modern materials and methods but based on an old design with updates) to this very day. You seem to be hip to complain about energy demands, happen to recall the issue with packing energy weapons? Oh yeah, all the batteries. Rail gun? Recoil & power...
Three: I could be mistaken, but the reason for moving the cattle was stolen right from history... They were bringing new blood in for a herd. Could they have carried frozen fertilized eggs instead? That would require facilities on the target planet which (again IIRC) was pretty early agrarian.
All is not rosy with the realism aspect... But it is far less horrific a treatment of reality than you suggest.
Don't forget the fact that, like all the best businesses, you give away the razor (software) and sell 'em the blades (support)...
We all know where the money is there....
Its a fairly nonpopular point, but this reasoning is why we don't live in a democracy in the US. (Well, why we weren't supposed to. Its been corrupted from its original intent as all human institutions are bound to do when you add humans to the mix.)
We live in republic that has a series of checks and balances on *all* branches of gov't, that includes the representative democratic part. The Founding Fathers' correspondence shows an equal distaste for rule by mob and rule by a king, and I have to agree. A dictator and a popular demagogue both hold large amounts of danger for any nation.
Never did understand why an appeal to popularity as all that attractive method of governing... Other than the fact that there doesn't seem to be a better option available. (Unless you guys wanted to make me King...)
Oh please... Why whine? Are you incapable of holding your own opinion if the Good Lords of Slashdot tell you their opinion? Grab a backbone and stop complaining about how somebody else brought up a topic and gave you their view on it. They didn't stop you, I notice...
And maybe I hadn't noticed, but when did locks on doors become *required*?! AFAIK, they ain't. Nor did the FCC sue Napster. Nor does an industry get to pass laws just to protect itself.
It was no more a pretense than the British protestations of innocence with regards to impressment and their continued claims of stopping. The *north*eastern states were against the war for reasons I mentioned before, not the least of which was that it would hit them in the pocketbook. Prior to the declaration of war, the British were even attempting to board American warships, a always definite no no. The plain as day economic warfare that the British and French engaged in was damaging to the US. The French repealed theirs, the British were unrepentant (They did later say they would repeal them, however, this was right about the same time as the US finally declared war... And news didn't travel quickly in those days.).
The continent I was referring to was not North America, but Europe.
The British didn't even really stop boarding vessels until the War of 1812, even though they had said that they would and wouldn't at various points throught out the period. The War of 1812 had little to do with Napoleon except that the little tyrant made it difficult for the British to fight on both sides of the Atlantic and gave the Americans a chance.
Calling this war anything other than a fairly simple war with complex issues on both sides is ridiculous. And I wouldn't call it a victory for the British, as a world power got its nose bloodied by a third rate backwater ex-colony.
Actually, the US and Russia do/did have ASAT programs that was pretty successful. We mothballed our missile based ASATs, I believe, but we are still playing around with our lasers along with their other capabilities.
And the War of 1812 is hardly not a defense of American Freedoms. At the time, the British had no problem with boarding the vessels of other soverign nations and pulling off whoever they felt like on the grounds that they *might* be deserters. The main shipping states were against the war for several reasons, not the least of which was the interruption of trade and the fact of the internal rivalry with the agrarian states.
Both sides got their nose bloodied (fortunately for the US, the Brits were stupid enough to get involved on the Continent *again*).
And the Battle of New Orleans was no fault of anybody's but a really good show on the part of the Americans. A ragtag band of Americans dominated the day. At their best when composed of their worst? Wouldn't suprise me at all... *laugh*
2. Super cavitating torpedoes have been in service for several years with the Russian Navy IIRC.
3. The US has said there were 3 SSNs and a SURTASS ship in the area, still being coy about what exactly "area" means I believe. *chuckle*
I'm not sure which kind of torpedo the Kursk was packing but I heard that the Russians were using high test hydrogen peroxide in some of their torpedoes. Something the rest of the world abandoned years and years ago 'cause its just nasty...
And if anybody thinks a Oscar II, coming in at 17,000 tons displacement, can hit a Los Angeles class sub (running about 7,000 tons displacement and obviously with a nutty skipper driving his boat up on a Russian sub in a firing exercise...) with the Oscar coming away shattered and laying on the seafloor but the other sub intact enough to slink away... *boggle*
I second the toast to those no longer among us. We may not have been on the same side but a man willing to give his life for his country deserves a final respect.
Why prefer one with crypto? For me, the choice is to have the option now, even when I don't need it, because if I do need it, its too late...
As for SSL, time moves on and I wouldn't be surprised to see hardware encryption supporting much higher workloads used for common activities in the future. SSL isn't brand new stuff... And as the hardware becomes cheaper, its just like a mouse. Why *not* have it?
With your address and such, its just like encryption these days. Guess what? Pretty much everything available to us is crackable... (I know, I know, you're shocked. *grin*) The question is, how easy do we make it for "them"? My answer? As hard as I reasonably can...
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."
I'm glad you enjoyed the joke. I was suitably amused with myself for coming up with it but then I was worried it might come across too irritating/insulting.
I plan on playing with security more seriously (up to and including using an encrypted filesystem) on my Linux box once I get time to bother to do more than slump in front of my monitor at nites... *chuckle* Gotta love a deadline.
Um, just read some of the other stuff on the Salon site by this author. Her biases, if you couldn't pick them out of the article, come out fairly clearly in some of the other pieces. She definitely has some internal issues that she is projecting, fairly hard IMHO.
As a side note, I think I'm am gonna note down the author's name so I don't end up working with 'em...
If I raise my voice, I too am thought of in negative terms and it happens frequently enough. The negative terms don't bother me all that much and I stand my ground. If I am wrong, the negative stance is reinforced and, if not, I get kudos for standing up. I see this same thing happen to women *but* I also see them cave far more often.
And I have to say that I'm sick and tired of hearing the "PMS/bitch" effect used as an excuse *against* guys... I've heard of women talked about in those terms and I've heard men talked about being a hardass and for the most part, its blowing steam and worth about as much.
If, in the business world, you are told to walk the walk and talk the talk, and the role you play is not one you like... THEN DON'T FREAKIN' PLAY THE ROLE! Men through out time have found it easier to take the easy way out too... And we don't see alot of them being viewed fairly highly. If you play dumb, expect to be treated like you are dumb. If you act like chattel, be prepared to be bought and sold.
As for ERA, laws reflect society, not vice versa. And I don't remember enough about it really but what equality would it grant that is not already (at least in theory) granted?
And women aren't a part of the environment, are they? Lord no, they are just helpless little darlings that have to be rescued from the big bad men... *sigh*
Is the problem that I know too many strong women? Women who are going out and taking the world by the throat and succeeding, not because of ERA or some outdated notion of oppression, but because they jump in with both feet, have opinions, express them, and are just in general GREAT people?!
Are you serious? *rolled eyes* They've been working on that for longer than 2000 years, and the end is not in sight. If you're in a fight, might as well come out on top...
As for electrolytes:
Some good points but two things I wanted to point out. Electrolytes in water? You get water where you can and purify it. That means you'd have to carry a powder and get them to dose themselves. Easier to just say, "Drink your water and wear your patch".
By the same token, transdermal hydration might run into a problem with impurities. See, your digestive tract is a wonderfully nice thing... Drop those little tablets into the water, watch em fizz, drink up and let Mother Nature handle the rest. Don't think you can do similar things easily with the transdermal hydration idea.
Geez, can we get a little more exaggeration please?
Man's inhumanity to man isn't anything the military has to instill in people, its something they usually have to work on controlling in people... A cohesive unit is NOT, I repeat, NOT a mob. It is a collection of people relying on each other and working together towards a common goal. Yes, they can't take a break to have a good cry... Mostly because a soldier who is dead is no good, and often harmful, to the rest of his unit.
Wartime is filled with times where you are on the move (read: run) with no time to sleep, much less have a lovely turkey dinner. These patches could keep the men alive and healthy. A good thing, most of us will agree. That being said, is there a potential for misuse? Sure... But then again, I think that all those guns, explosives, etc could be misused also..
This is offtopic, so keeping on truckin'... Forwarned...
I wanted to take issue with this comment that there is some magical subtle message that that the women have nothing worth saying.... If I (male, case you'd not guessed.. *smile*) am attempting to talk and somebody does try to talk over me, I don't in the least get the impression that I should shut up... Ignoring the pointed glances and rising volume, I'm game. I got volume just like they do. Or I'll wait a moment and then take my turn. The key here is that *I* have the self-assurance to stand my ground.
So the question becomes, is the problem in the environment or the way you are dealing with it?
PS: If the environment is really crappy, leave it... You're only doing a favor for yourself and everybody involved. You don't have to deal with it and the situation you left behind will at least get a heads up that things are rotten. Or they will decide you were wrong, but either way, you're better off. Done it myself...
Sidenote: I love conversations sprinkled with comments like 'moron' and such... Keeps the house warm...
Anyways, I was referring to public or private undertaking where it wasn't incremental, wasn't assured, and wasn't a random outgrowth of something else. The Hoover Dam and the Interstate system were designed and built for the purposes they are being used for.
The Internet is something completely different, being the accidental outgrowth of another project. It didn't start out as a way to connect everybody and allow an unprecedented level of expression and communication, or whatever its supposed to be doing today. It doesn't detract from the 'awe and majesty' of the whole thing but its a different way of accomplishing something.
The Hoover Dam? They wanted a big dam. They built one. It was big and hard and took lots of time and money. They built the dam.
As somebody else mentioned on this topic, you don't explore and expect no failures. You don't send mechanical things (or humans, I'd bet) any significant distance and expect things to always go right. Triple redundancy on triply redundant parts, backup plans for those, and a jigger factor of about 2-3X... And you get prepared to do it more than once. You are a long walk from a repair... And screwups on the way to Mars are usually gonna be a bit difficult to correct.
All that being said, I volunteer... I'll take a one way ticket, I'll take that risky ride to Mars. Why? Its something new and exciting, and you need fools for that sort of thing... All the smart ones stayed home... (Having been said all through history, why leave Africa (or where ever they say the migrations started), why leave Europe? Why Leave Earth?..)
A death of the pioneer spirit... But thats nothing new, its as old as man.
The hardware needs to be developed, obviously, but its sorta hard to have it in advance if you aren't working on it.
You seem to imply that the space program is not going to help problems on Earth... You mean like the fuel cell and solar technology bringing clean water, food, and power to remote areas, communications technology helping us tie the world together, plastics (need I say more?), etc etc etc. The space program has generated so much more in the way of advances in earthbound applications than it ever consumed in funding.
As for club swinging, speak for yourself... I've moved up to the axe.
I'll volunteer to replace 'em... Gimme da budget! *chuckle*
I think the answer is private money. We already have private companies working on good workhorse lifters to orbit. Get the heck out of LEO as a place to work, add a decent space station for a handy orbital construction and operations base, get your hands dirty with some good "no immediate payoff" research... Lets get the ball rolling... Anybody willing to ante up 5% of their aftertax income to fund a startup? We'll add a dotcom and make a mint on the IPO...
A few Hollywood flicks and a good advertising campaign later, I'd have me a fleet of Mars bound Space Winnebagoes...
"If he is a smart and enterprising fellow, which he usually is, he quickly discovers there that hooey pleases the boobs a great deal more than sense. Indeed, he finds that sense really disquiets and alarms them - that it makes them, at best, intolerably uncomfortable, just as a tight collar makes them uncomfortable, or a speck of dust in the eye, or a the thought of Hell. The truth, to the overwhelming majority of mankind, is indistinguishable from a headache." H.L. Mencken lecture at Columbia University January 4, 1940
I wish we would put *SOMEBODY* on Mars anytime soon... I'm 25 and I'm pretty sure that I can give up on that. I grew up on science fiction (Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, among others..) and the concepts and such are already here. Get some good engineers working on it, give 'em a decent budget, and lord knows what miracles they can perform. NASA with its safety (not human life, job/income/political) at any cost mentality and a populace that increasingly doesn't attempt the large scale project (where are our Hoover Dams, interstate systems, etc) has taken a country that put people on the moon and made them barely able to manage LEO decently. International Space Station, what a joke... *sigh*
"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Slashdot Mirror
One: We do not know the method they use for FTL. This makes it silly to complain about the energy needs that science as we know it would require. We don't have FTL science, it is something posited for the purposes of the show. For all we know, something developed a few years from now will show that a small application of enery under the correct circumstances will allow FTL. (No, I don't think it likely. But then again, look at the energy pay off with fusion and research into the quantum foam or whatever. Plenty we don't know yet...) Not the first time sci-fi has had FTL...
Two: "Ancient" projectile weapons are still in use to this very day in many parts of the world even as engineering labs (and home hobby types) are turning out rail guns and electron beam/laser/Kill-O-Zap weapons. Technology is used when it solves problems, not when it is cool. (Okay, mostly not for the cool part.) You can buy modern blackpowder weapons (constructed with modern materials and methods but based on an old design with updates) to this very day. You seem to be hip to complain about energy demands, happen to recall the issue with packing energy weapons? Oh yeah, all the batteries. Rail gun? Recoil & power...
Three: I could be mistaken, but the reason for moving the cattle was stolen right from history... They were bringing new blood in for a herd. Could they have carried frozen fertilized eggs instead? That would require facilities on the target planet which (again IIRC) was pretty early agrarian.
All is not rosy with the realism aspect... But it is far less horrific a treatment of reality than you suggest.
Yes, horrible how those other sodas aren't on the market any more...
'Scuse me why I have my RC Cola and moonpie...
Don't forget the fact that, like all the best businesses, you give away the razor (software) and sell 'em the blades (support)...
We all know where the money is there....
We live in republic that has a series of checks and balances on *all* branches of gov't, that includes the representative democratic part. The Founding Fathers' correspondence shows an equal distaste for rule by mob and rule by a king, and I have to agree. A dictator and a popular demagogue both hold large amounts of danger for any nation.
Never did understand why an appeal to popularity as all that attractive method of governing... Other than the fact that there doesn't seem to be a better option available. (Unless you guys wanted to make me King...)
Oh please... Why whine? Are you incapable of holding your own opinion if the Good Lords of Slashdot tell you their opinion? Grab a backbone and stop complaining about how somebody else brought up a topic and gave you their view on it. They didn't stop you, I notice...
And maybe I hadn't noticed, but when did locks on doors become *required*?! AFAIK, they ain't. Nor did the FCC sue Napster. Nor does an industry get to pass laws just to protect itself.
Hmph! Obviously a bogus article... no Slashdot poster would have gone and read the article! Who do you take us for, sheesh...
The continent I was referring to was not North America, but Europe.
The British didn't even really stop boarding vessels until the War of 1812, even though they had said that they would and wouldn't at various points throught out the period. The War of 1812 had little to do with Napoleon except that the little tyrant made it difficult for the British to fight on both sides of the Atlantic and gave the Americans a chance.
Calling this war anything other than a fairly simple war with complex issues on both sides is ridiculous. And I wouldn't call it a victory for the British, as a world power got its nose bloodied by a third rate backwater ex-colony.
Links of interest on FAS
Some stuff on Russia's programs
Some general stuff on all sides
Both sides got their nose bloodied (fortunately for the US, the Brits were stupid enough to get involved on the Continent *again*).
And the Battle of New Orleans was no fault of anybody's but a really good show on the part of the Americans. A ragtag band of Americans dominated the day. At their best when composed of their worst? Wouldn't suprise me at all... *laugh*
Machiavelli didn't warn *us*, silly boy...
He taught them. *grin* You forget your place.
*laugh*
Maybe it might pay for you to do some research into why its now called Russia and not still the Soviet Union.
And of course, its the IMF/USA/Western Imperialist bastards because they come in and try to help.
(No, I'm not naive enough to think that the West and the IMF are doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.)
1. Kursk was a SSGN, Oscar II class.
2. Super cavitating torpedoes have been in service for several years with the Russian Navy IIRC.
3. The US has said there were 3 SSNs and a SURTASS ship in the area, still being coy about what exactly "area" means I believe. *chuckle*
I'm not sure which kind of torpedo the Kursk was packing but I heard that the Russians were using high test hydrogen peroxide in some of their torpedoes. Something the rest of the world abandoned years and years ago 'cause its just nasty...
And if anybody thinks a Oscar II, coming in at 17,000 tons displacement, can hit a Los Angeles class sub (running about 7,000 tons displacement and obviously with a nutty skipper driving his boat up on a Russian sub in a firing exercise...) with the Oscar coming away shattered and laying on the seafloor but the other sub intact enough to slink away... *boggle*
I second the toast to those no longer among us. We may not have been on the same side but a man willing to give his life for his country deserves a final respect.
As for SSL, time moves on and I wouldn't be surprised to see hardware encryption supporting much higher workloads used for common activities in the future. SSL isn't brand new stuff... And as the hardware becomes cheaper, its just like a mouse. Why *not* have it?
With your address and such, its just like encryption these days. Guess what? Pretty much everything available to us is crackable... (I know, I know, you're shocked. *grin*) The question is, how easy do we make it for "them"? My answer? As hard as I reasonably can...
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."
I'm glad you enjoyed the joke. I was suitably amused with myself for coming up with it but then I was worried it might come across too irritating/insulting.
I plan on playing with security more seriously (up to and including using an encrypted filesystem) on my Linux box once I get time to bother to do more than slump in front of my monitor at nites... *chuckle* Gotta love a deadline.
Have a cellphone? You won't mind me listening in then... Since you don't believe in hiding, I mean, encrypting that data...
<sarcastic> if only you were the tinman instead of the scarecrow...</sarcastic>
As a side note, I think I'm am gonna note down the author's name so I don't end up working with 'em...
If I raise my voice, I too am thought of in negative terms and it happens frequently enough. The negative terms don't bother me all that much and I stand my ground. If I am wrong, the negative stance is reinforced and, if not, I get kudos for standing up. I see this same thing happen to women *but* I also see them cave far more often.
And I have to say that I'm sick and tired of hearing the "PMS/bitch" effect used as an excuse *against* guys... I've heard of women talked about in those terms and I've heard men talked about being a hardass and for the most part, its blowing steam and worth about as much.
If, in the business world, you are told to walk the walk and talk the talk, and the role you play is not one you like... THEN DON'T FREAKIN' PLAY THE ROLE! Men through out time have found it easier to take the easy way out too... And we don't see alot of them being viewed fairly highly. If you play dumb, expect to be treated like you are dumb. If you act like chattel, be prepared to be bought and sold.
As for ERA, laws reflect society, not vice versa. And I don't remember enough about it really but what equality would it grant that is not already (at least in theory) granted?
And women aren't a part of the environment, are they? Lord no, they are just helpless little darlings that have to be rescued from the big bad men... *sigh*
Is the problem that I know too many strong women? Women who are going out and taking the world by the throat and succeeding, not because of ERA or some outdated notion of oppression, but because they jump in with both feet, have opinions, express them, and are just in general GREAT people?!
Are you serious? *rolled eyes* They've been working on that for longer than 2000 years, and the end is not in sight. If you're in a fight, might as well come out on top...
As for electrolytes:
Some good points but two things I wanted to point out. Electrolytes in water? You get water where you can and purify it. That means you'd have to carry a powder and get them to dose themselves. Easier to just say, "Drink your water and wear your patch".
By the same token, transdermal hydration might run into a problem with impurities. See, your digestive tract is a wonderfully nice thing... Drop those little tablets into the water, watch em fizz, drink up and let Mother Nature handle the rest. Don't think you can do similar things easily with the transdermal hydration idea.
Geez, can we get a little more exaggeration please?
Man's inhumanity to man isn't anything the military has to instill in people, its something they usually have to work on controlling in people... A cohesive unit is NOT, I repeat, NOT a mob. It is a collection of people relying on each other and working together towards a common goal. Yes, they can't take a break to have a good cry... Mostly because a soldier who is dead is no good, and often harmful, to the rest of his unit.
Wartime is filled with times where you are on the move (read: run) with no time to sleep, much less have a lovely turkey dinner. These patches could keep the men alive and healthy. A good thing, most of us will agree. That being said, is there a potential for misuse? Sure... But then again, I think that all those guns, explosives, etc could be misused also..
I wanted to take issue with this comment that there is some magical subtle message that that the women have nothing worth saying.... If I (male, case you'd not guessed.. *smile*) am attempting to talk and somebody does try to talk over me, I don't in the least get the impression that I should shut up... Ignoring the pointed glances and rising volume, I'm game. I got volume just like they do. Or I'll wait a moment and then take my turn. The key here is that *I* have the self-assurance to stand my ground.
So the question becomes, is the problem in the environment or the way you are dealing with it?
PS: If the environment is really crappy, leave it... You're only doing a favor for yourself and everybody involved. You don't have to deal with it and the situation you left behind will at least get a heads up that things are rotten. Or they will decide you were wrong, but either way, you're better off. Done it myself...
Anyways, I was referring to public or private undertaking where it wasn't incremental, wasn't assured, and wasn't a random outgrowth of something else. The Hoover Dam and the Interstate system were designed and built for the purposes they are being used for.
The Internet is something completely different, being the accidental outgrowth of another project. It didn't start out as a way to connect everybody and allow an unprecedented level of expression and communication, or whatever its supposed to be doing today. It doesn't detract from the 'awe and majesty' of the whole thing but its a different way of accomplishing something.
The Hoover Dam? They wanted a big dam. They built one. It was big and hard and took lots of time and money. They built the dam.
As somebody else mentioned on this topic, you don't explore and expect no failures. You don't send mechanical things (or humans, I'd bet) any significant distance and expect things to always go right. Triple redundancy on triply redundant parts, backup plans for those, and a jigger factor of about 2-3X... And you get prepared to do it more than once. You are a long walk from a repair... And screwups on the way to Mars are usually gonna be a bit difficult to correct.
All that being said, I volunteer... I'll take a one way ticket, I'll take that risky ride to Mars. Why? Its something new and exciting, and you need fools for that sort of thing... All the smart ones stayed home... (Having been said all through history, why leave Africa (or where ever they say the migrations started), why leave Europe? Why Leave Earth?..)
A death of the pioneer spirit... But thats nothing new, its as old as man.
You seem to imply that the space program is not going to help problems on Earth... You mean like the fuel cell and solar technology bringing clean water, food, and power to remote areas, communications technology helping us tie the world together, plastics (need I say more?), etc etc etc. The space program has generated so much more in the way of advances in earthbound applications than it ever consumed in funding.
As for club swinging, speak for yourself... I've moved up to the axe.
"Nature abhors a moron." - H.L. Mencken
I'll volunteer to replace 'em... Gimme da budget! *chuckle*
I think the answer is private money. We already have private companies working on good workhorse lifters to orbit. Get the heck out of LEO as a place to work, add a decent space station for a handy orbital construction and operations base, get your hands dirty with some good "no immediate payoff" research... Lets get the ball rolling... Anybody willing to ante up 5% of their aftertax income to fund a startup? We'll add a dotcom and make a mint on the IPO...
A few Hollywood flicks and a good advertising campaign later, I'd have me a fleet of Mars bound Space Winnebagoes...
"If he is a smart and enterprising fellow, which he usually is, he quickly discovers there that hooey pleases the boobs a great deal more than sense. Indeed, he finds that sense really disquiets and alarms them - that it makes them, at best, intolerably uncomfortable, just as a tight collar makes them uncomfortable, or a speck of dust in the eye, or a the thought of Hell. The truth, to the overwhelming majority of mankind, is indistinguishable from a headache." H.L. Mencken lecture at Columbia University January 4, 1940
"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken