Thanks for the post. It must have taken you quite some time to put together a rebuttal that comprehensive but I haven't heard anyone take the time to sum up the criticism of the AGW skeptics arguments based on the CRU hacks. It was nice to read some actual science on slashdot again complete with enough names and keywords that I could start my Google journey successfully. I hope your boss doesn't mind your spending company time doing this =P
In all seriousness though, this is a great post. Thanks for the effort.
I still don't understand this mindset. A mobile phone, bought without a contract, is often upwards of a few hundred dollars here in America. Purchased with a contract, it comes at the price of about $50 with two years worth of monthly payments that you can't get out of without paying, you guessed it, a few hundred dollars. Nowhere in my book does that price put mobile phones in the range of cheap throw away devices. Cheap throw away devices are things like paper towels and flashlights that run under the $20 mark and are trivial to find and purchase just about anywhere. Something as expensive as a mobile phone seems to me like a long term investment. I put a lot of thought into what kind of phone I am going to purchase, what kind of capability it should have, and how much I am willing to pay for that capability. Mobile phone purchases require research and awareness and sometimes even a bit of silver-tongued bartering on the buyer's part. That doesn't seem like a throw away device to me.
I really wish this idea and similar ideas regarding things like computers and video game consoles would cease already. I am sick of having to save up for new multiple hundred dollar purchases every two or three new years because designers and companies refuse to design a product that lasts more than a couple years. That's not to say that I don't see value in upgrading for some new exciting feature. Sure, if a video game console provides a whole new interface or something cool like that, I won't have a problem dropping coin on it. Having to buy a new Xbox 360 every couple years just because a company won't put any money into quality engineer is frustrating though.
The same thing goes with mobile phones. If a company adds some cool new feature, like cameras, to their phone, I will drop coin on buying it if I value the feature. Paying to constantly replace a simple phone that I use primarily for texting or talking on every couple of years seems absurd however. This is especially true when I need to buy a new phone for no other reason than it has problems interfacing with a new battery or because the screen just magically 'wears out.'
I know that wasn't the point of your post, but I don't consider purchases of a few hundred dollars whimsical or cheap. I really wish tech companies would stop pushing these items on us like they were cheap throw away toilet paper to be replaced in a dozen months. I want something that lasts if I am going to buy it damn it. Hell, I am riding a 31 year old motorcycle that functions just fine today. I would be stoked if I could get mobile phone that could do the same....
On a side note, I can also use a land-line telephone that is 31 years old today. Our culture seems to have changed quite a bit when it comes to quality engineering.
In all honesty, I and many folks I know could rig up a cheap explosive using some crap around the house and some chemicals in my garage for less than $50 bucks. The components are far more prevalent than these thermal imaging devices. That doesn't mean I should start using these explosives for fishing or concrete removal. Some technology is inherently dangerous by its very nature. It doesn't matter whether or not it is cheap, widespread, or used in everyday life, it still needs to be handled responsibly to be safe.
Could a police force buy a thermal imager and use it with little configuration? Sure. Does that mean that it should be used without any proper checks for responsibility by another government branch? No. Gathering data on a citizenry, like blasting chunks of my driveway apart with a homemade pipe bomb, is inherently dangerous. Sure, they are dangerous for other reasons and have different consequences, but they are both dangerous. So, yes, the Supreme Court's ruling is still sound. There have to be checks for responsibility for the use of dangerous tech. If a government agency wants to use such tech, then another government agency should provide those checks...like a warrant. It really is that simple. Trying to convince irrational and power hungry folk of that, though, is another matter entirely.
Interesting, I hadn't really thought about it like that. Then again, I was raised under the assumption that legal punishment was developed as a means to keep a society orderly and safe, not to maximize profit....ah the luxury of naive youth, how I miss it sometimes.
Actually, I was on a state highway in Santa Barbara County. Thank you for making a misinformed assumption though. And no, there was no school or work zone within 5 miles of my position.
Well, perhaps now you understand why I posed the above query in question form rather than in an all caps subject title/rant. I understand my perception was misinformed, that's why I asked a question rather than asserting that all big brother hell was breaking loose in America.
I didn't RTFA because I am on my way out the door, but does anyone know whether or not INTERPOL has to respect our Constitution while operating here? As in, no unlawful searches and seizures, no requirement to house troops (would an international police agency qualify as troops?), protection against self-incrimination, etc. What about Miranda Rights, does INTERPOL know about them? Anyone?
Seriously if downloading one song can have you paying out, for example, $10,000 then surely speeding which can result in death should have a fine of $100,000 at the very least.
Please don't give any legislators new ideas. My last spedding ticket for 10 over cost me $300. I expect that to rise by the next time I get a ticket already.
In all seriousness though, I have thought about the law in the terms you mention often and have been surprised. For instance, I remember the first time I saw a sign that said $1,000 for littering (I live in California). At first I thought nothing of this until I later saw a sign, in the same town, that said $271 fine for running a red light at a busy intersection. Now, This was years ago so the numbers have probably changed but I remember being shocked at this discrepancy. Running a red, which could cost other drivers significantly (as in multiple thousands of dollars of damage as well as potential death) had a lower fine than throwing my straw wrapper out my window which, at worst, could what...kill a bird that was to stupid to tell paper from food and choked on it? Welcome to modern America, where the law doesn't make sense and nobody seems to give a damn. =)
The workshop will: (a) Introduce the research community (industry, academia, and Government) to the TX program vision and objectives;
So who wants to start a pool on which agencies/industry power hitters make the biggest contributions? Lockheed Martin has a great military aircraft record but Boeing seems to work magic in the advanced controls systems. Personally I would put my money on Northrop Gruman or some university coming up with the most significant design contributions. Both of those sources have quite the tenacity for half-crazed cutting edge ideas that the government loves to gobble up.
That's a good point that I think a lot of people miss when it comes to new interfacing technology. Sure, it takes some getting used to, and at first, it's probably going to suck and you are going to want to go back to the old, 'better' way of doing things. However, given consistent use and a bit of patience our minds and bodies are remarkable at learning new interfaces. Think about the the first time you drove a stick shift. You probably popped the clutch a few times and squealed some tires and killed the engine once or twice. However, after a month or two getting a feel for the clutch everyday while driving, you begin to master the motions and, eventually, working the clutch becomes an art form in and of itself.
This is one of the underlying principles of Kung-Fu. Through disciplined, consistent repetition, our bodies develop habits all of our own. Martial arts mastery comes when your body has ritualized so many action-reaction combinations that you can start combining them in new, more inventive, more powerful ways. The same thing goes for an editor like vi. Eventually, you master enough key strokes that you don't even need a mouse anymore. The same thing happened with typing when the keyboard first came about and, now, it is happening again with mobile platform keyboards (I can text with two thumbs as fast as I could type with two hands three years ago).
My bet would be that, as these neuroscience interfaces develop with the future, our 'mental-fu' will start to develop just like the Kung-Fu we practice to learn any number of physical interfaces and actions. Before you know it, we may be living in a world where our very wills could be pitted against one another in mental show downs. I, for one, welcome the idea of interfaces that force humanity to start mastering and disciplining its own mental habits on a wide-scale.
I am not one to typically decry Slashdot antics in general, but I have to say that I am, frankly, appalled at what has come to pass in this thread. This news release, available on very few space news outlets currently, is in regards to the future of a government funded piece of space hardware that Slashdotters have been both decrying and joyously praising since I first started posting on this website more than a year ago. We have discussed every major development of the Ares line of launch vehicles since its inception. We have argued, passionately at times, about how stupid or how great NASA and Congress both are for deciding upon this launch system in the first place. We have followed almost every single news update regarding the Augustine Commission since it was first assigned its task. It seems, to me, that we had quite a bit of interest and excitement for news regarding this particular topic as an online community.
Nonetheless, in the short time since this story has been posted, the number of comments modded up that were completely and 100% offtopic is absolutely atrocious. This story was, by far, the most interesting headline I saw on slashdot today. Rather than getting an interesting look into a group of Nerd's thoughts and ideas regarding this new development, I have watched this thread turn into an absolutely childish monstrosity of political bullshitting regarding everything from healtcare to the fiscal habits of Republicrats and blah blah blah blah blah. If I wanted to know about all that crap I would have turned on CSPAN.
Okay so now I am curious, which company or group did the initial design work for DIRECT and when? I poked about their website a bit and found some discussion of talks with The Aerospace Corporation, but I did not see anything as to where the initial design or idea came from. Was this a NASA research project that never took off, or the pet design of a former employee or something? At the very least, it sounds like a very intriguing option for space access and I am curious who, if anyone, is interested in it. Also, who was interested in it enough to design it? There might be a few commercial companies in the next decade or so that could find benefit in buying what is, according to you, a complete design which utilizes existing components, if said components are available for purchase that is.
[By the way, the number of girls on his engineering tours seem to be between 10% and 20%. In other words, nothing there is changing. My son's solution to the ratio issue is to attend a large university where there are more female students overall.]
You might also recommend that he join his university's Society of Women Engineers (SWE) branch. While the club's mantra is to advocate and strengthen female presence in the engineering workforce, it loves to have male members. At the engineering school that I attended, just about every female in an engineering major was an active participant in that club. I'll admit that quite a few of them were completely bat-shit insane, but there were a few lovely young ladies that stood out as fun and worth getting to know.
Interesting, I have never heard of this system before. Do you know if this system was discussed by the Augustine Commission at all in their recent report by chance?
a new heavy lift launch vehicle would be built "to take astronauts to the moon, asteroids, and the moons of Mars" but it would not be Ares V: "the White House is convinced that scarce NASA funds would be better spent on a simpler heavy-lift vehicle that could be ready to fly as early as 2018";
So I guess the Ares V is not the new HLV, in case anyone was speculating that was the case.
Yeah I was a bit intrigued by this myself. The entire article discusses a new heavy lift vehicle, but has absolutely no specifications or details. Is it liquid, solid, or hybrid? Will it be developed in-house by NASA or contracted out? What exactly do they mean by 'simpler?'
I checked Spaceflightnow,SpaceFellowship, and ParabolicArc and couldn't find anything but a parent of the original ScienceInsider article. Google doesn't reveal a whole lot at cursory glance either. Hell I don't even see anything on NASA's own website. If anyone digs up some particulars, please post some links, I would be very interested in seeing them.
Also, offtopic, but for those who say Slashdot is behind the news release cycle and doesn't post breaking news, considering it just posted a story that 4 other space news websites haven't picked up yet, I'd say you've just been proven wrong =P
Awesome! Thanks for the advice guys. I definitely will scope out more info on Slackware, Xubuntu, and Absolute Linux. This should be a fun hobby for the New Year coming up =)
Making important decisions on the basis of "Eh, our enemies are just ignorant mud farmers anyway, no problem", on the other hand, is colossally arrogant and extremely dangerous
Indeed, after all, the British Empire lost some if its most profitable colonies because they assumed that they were, "Nothing more than ignorant mud farmers." It's amazing how cyclical social development tends to be.
Slashdot Mirror
I've never heard any scientist claim that a black hole sucks anything....Hollywood and TV show makers on the other hand......
Thanks for the post. It must have taken you quite some time to put together a rebuttal that comprehensive but I haven't heard anyone take the time to sum up the criticism of the AGW skeptics arguments based on the CRU hacks. It was nice to read some actual science on slashdot again complete with enough names and keywords that I could start my Google journey successfully. I hope your boss doesn't mind your spending company time doing this =P
In all seriousness though, this is a great post. Thanks for the effort.
A mobile phone is a throw away cheap device
I still don't understand this mindset. A mobile phone, bought without a contract, is often upwards of a few hundred dollars here in America. Purchased with a contract, it comes at the price of about $50 with two years worth of monthly payments that you can't get out of without paying, you guessed it, a few hundred dollars. Nowhere in my book does that price put mobile phones in the range of cheap throw away devices. Cheap throw away devices are things like paper towels and flashlights that run under the $20 mark and are trivial to find and purchase just about anywhere. Something as expensive as a mobile phone seems to me like a long term investment. I put a lot of thought into what kind of phone I am going to purchase, what kind of capability it should have, and how much I am willing to pay for that capability. Mobile phone purchases require research and awareness and sometimes even a bit of silver-tongued bartering on the buyer's part. That doesn't seem like a throw away device to me.
I really wish this idea and similar ideas regarding things like computers and video game consoles would cease already. I am sick of having to save up for new multiple hundred dollar purchases every two or three new years because designers and companies refuse to design a product that lasts more than a couple years. That's not to say that I don't see value in upgrading for some new exciting feature. Sure, if a video game console provides a whole new interface or something cool like that, I won't have a problem dropping coin on it. Having to buy a new Xbox 360 every couple years just because a company won't put any money into quality engineer is frustrating though.
The same thing goes with mobile phones. If a company adds some cool new feature, like cameras, to their phone, I will drop coin on buying it if I value the feature. Paying to constantly replace a simple phone that I use primarily for texting or talking on every couple of years seems absurd however. This is especially true when I need to buy a new phone for no other reason than it has problems interfacing with a new battery or because the screen just magically 'wears out.'
I know that wasn't the point of your post, but I don't consider purchases of a few hundred dollars whimsical or cheap. I really wish tech companies would stop pushing these items on us like they were cheap throw away toilet paper to be replaced in a dozen months. I want something that lasts if I am going to buy it damn it. Hell, I am riding a 31 year old motorcycle that functions just fine today. I would be stoked if I could get mobile phone that could do the same....
On a side note, I can also use a land-line telephone that is 31 years old today. Our culture seems to have changed quite a bit when it comes to quality engineering.
I'm an engineer, redundancy is part of my job. =P
In all honesty, I and many folks I know could rig up a cheap explosive using some crap around the house and some chemicals in my garage for less than $50 bucks. The components are far more prevalent than these thermal imaging devices. That doesn't mean I should start using these explosives for fishing or concrete removal. Some technology is inherently dangerous by its very nature. It doesn't matter whether or not it is cheap, widespread, or used in everyday life, it still needs to be handled responsibly to be safe.
Could a police force buy a thermal imager and use it with little configuration? Sure. Does that mean that it should be used without any proper checks for responsibility by another government branch? No. Gathering data on a citizenry, like blasting chunks of my driveway apart with a homemade pipe bomb, is inherently dangerous. Sure, they are dangerous for other reasons and have different consequences, but they are both dangerous. So, yes, the Supreme Court's ruling is still sound. There have to be checks for responsibility for the use of dangerous tech. If a government agency wants to use such tech, then another government agency should provide those checks...like a warrant. It really is that simple. Trying to convince irrational and power hungry folk of that, though, is another matter entirely.
Interesting, I hadn't really thought about it like that. Then again, I was raised under the assumption that legal punishment was developed as a means to keep a society orderly and safe, not to maximize profit....ah the luxury of naive youth, how I miss it sometimes.
Actually, I was on a state highway in Santa Barbara County. Thank you for making a misinformed assumption though. And no, there was no school or work zone within 5 miles of my position.
No, then congress will have to confiscate more of our hard earned dollars ...
I know right? Posting to slashdot always makes me break a sweat =P
Would I prefer a nice open standard with no DRM? Certainly. Will retailers ever support that? No.
Until Google gets into the eReader business of course....well, then we will at least get a pseudo-open standard...or something.
Stop the conspiracy theories
What conspiracy theory? I was honestly curious.
I didn't RTFA because I am on my way out the door, but does anyone know whether or not INTERPOL has to respect our Constitution while operating here? As in, no unlawful searches and seizures, no requirement to house troops (would an international police agency qualify as troops?), protection against self-incrimination, etc. What about Miranda Rights, does INTERPOL know about them? Anyone?
Seriously if downloading one song can have you paying out, for example, $10,000 then surely speeding which can result in death should have a fine of $100,000 at the very least.
Please don't give any legislators new ideas. My last spedding ticket for 10 over cost me $300. I expect that to rise by the next time I get a ticket already.
In all seriousness though, I have thought about the law in the terms you mention often and have been surprised. For instance, I remember the first time I saw a sign that said $1,000 for littering (I live in California). At first I thought nothing of this until I later saw a sign, in the same town, that said $271 fine for running a red light at a busy intersection. Now, This was years ago so the numbers have probably changed but I remember being shocked at this discrepancy. Running a red, which could cost other drivers significantly (as in multiple thousands of dollars of damage as well as potential death) had a lower fine than throwing my straw wrapper out my window which, at worst, could what...kill a bird that was to stupid to tell paper from food and choked on it? Welcome to modern America, where the law doesn't make sense and nobody seems to give a damn. =)
The workshop will: (a) Introduce the research community (industry, academia, and Government) to the TX program vision and objectives;
So who wants to start a pool on which agencies/industry power hitters make the biggest contributions? Lockheed Martin has a great military aircraft record but Boeing seems to work magic in the advanced controls systems. Personally I would put my money on Northrop Gruman or some university coming up with the most significant design contributions. Both of those sources have quite the tenacity for half-crazed cutting edge ideas that the government loves to gobble up.
Owning a car today is a chore, driving is a necessity but it's far from fun; the moment it becomes fun, you're breaking some law
Buy a motorcycle.....really.
Oh, also, regarding:
and I don't know anybody who has never had a ticket, no matter how careful they are
My mother has never had a ticket. Not a single one. Not even a parking ticket or a fix it ticket.
That's a good point that I think a lot of people miss when it comes to new interfacing technology. Sure, it takes some getting used to, and at first, it's probably going to suck and you are going to want to go back to the old, 'better' way of doing things. However, given consistent use and a bit of patience our minds and bodies are remarkable at learning new interfaces. Think about the the first time you drove a stick shift. You probably popped the clutch a few times and squealed some tires and killed the engine once or twice. However, after a month or two getting a feel for the clutch everyday while driving, you begin to master the motions and, eventually, working the clutch becomes an art form in and of itself.
This is one of the underlying principles of Kung-Fu. Through disciplined, consistent repetition, our bodies develop habits all of our own. Martial arts mastery comes when your body has ritualized so many action-reaction combinations that you can start combining them in new, more inventive, more powerful ways. The same thing goes for an editor like vi. Eventually, you master enough key strokes that you don't even need a mouse anymore. The same thing happened with typing when the keyboard first came about and, now, it is happening again with mobile platform keyboards (I can text with two thumbs as fast as I could type with two hands three years ago).
My bet would be that, as these neuroscience interfaces develop with the future, our 'mental-fu' will start to develop just like the Kung-Fu we practice to learn any number of physical interfaces and actions. Before you know it, we may be living in a world where our very wills could be pitted against one another in mental show downs. I, for one, welcome the idea of interfaces that force humanity to start mastering and disciplining its own mental habits on a wide-scale.
Pssssssh, poles are nothing. Real Men try licking frozen traintracks....
=P seems like the particularly appropriate smiler for this post.
I am not one to typically decry Slashdot antics in general, but I have to say that I am, frankly, appalled at what has come to pass in this thread. This news release, available on very few space news outlets currently, is in regards to the future of a government funded piece of space hardware that Slashdotters have been both decrying and joyously praising since I first started posting on this website more than a year ago. We have discussed every major development of the Ares line of launch vehicles since its inception. We have argued, passionately at times, about how stupid or how great NASA and Congress both are for deciding upon this launch system in the first place. We have followed almost every single news update regarding the Augustine Commission since it was first assigned its task. It seems, to me, that we had quite a bit of interest and excitement for news regarding this particular topic as an online community.
Nonetheless, in the short time since this story has been posted, the number of comments modded up that were completely and 100% offtopic is absolutely atrocious. This story was, by far, the most interesting headline I saw on slashdot today. Rather than getting an interesting look into a group of Nerd's thoughts and ideas regarding this new development, I have watched this thread turn into an absolutely childish monstrosity of political bullshitting regarding everything from healtcare to the fiscal habits of Republicrats and blah blah blah blah blah. If I wanted to know about all that crap I would have turned on CSPAN.
For shame slashdotters. For. Fucking. Shame.
Okay so now I am curious, which company or group did the initial design work for DIRECT and when? I poked about their website a bit and found some discussion of talks with The Aerospace Corporation, but I did not see anything as to where the initial design or idea came from. Was this a NASA research project that never took off, or the pet design of a former employee or something? At the very least, it sounds like a very intriguing option for space access and I am curious who, if anyone, is interested in it. Also, who was interested in it enough to design it? There might be a few commercial companies in the next decade or so that could find benefit in buying what is, according to you, a complete design which utilizes existing components, if said components are available for purchase that is.
The RIAA and MPAA are terrorizing the youth of the world with the threat of financial ruin.
[By the way, the number of girls on his engineering tours seem to be between 10% and 20%. In other words, nothing there is changing. My son's solution to the ratio issue is to attend a large university where there are more female students overall.]
You might also recommend that he join his university's Society of Women Engineers (SWE) branch. While the club's mantra is to advocate and strengthen female presence in the engineering workforce, it loves to have male members. At the engineering school that I attended, just about every female in an engineering major was an active participant in that club. I'll admit that quite a few of them were completely bat-shit insane, but there were a few lovely young ladies that stood out as fun and worth getting to know.
Interesting, I have never heard of this system before. Do you know if this system was discussed by the Augustine Commission at all in their recent report by chance?
a new heavy lift launch vehicle would be built "to take astronauts to the moon, asteroids, and the moons of Mars" but it would not be Ares V: "the White House is convinced that scarce NASA funds would be better spent on a simpler heavy-lift vehicle that could be ready to fly as early as 2018";
So I guess the Ares V is not the new HLV, in case anyone was speculating that was the case.
Yeah I was a bit intrigued by this myself. The entire article discusses a new heavy lift vehicle, but has absolutely no specifications or details. Is it liquid, solid, or hybrid? Will it be developed in-house by NASA or contracted out? What exactly do they mean by 'simpler?'
I checked Spaceflightnow, SpaceFellowship, and ParabolicArc and couldn't find anything but a parent of the original ScienceInsider article. Google doesn't reveal a whole lot at cursory glance either. Hell I don't even see anything on NASA's own website. If anyone digs up some particulars, please post some links, I would be very interested in seeing them.
Also, offtopic, but for those who say Slashdot is behind the news release cycle and doesn't post breaking news, considering it just posted a story that 4 other space news websites haven't picked up yet, I'd say you've just been proven wrong =P
Awesome! Thanks for the advice guys. I definitely will scope out more info on Slackware, Xubuntu, and Absolute Linux. This should be a fun hobby for the New Year coming up =)
Making important decisions on the basis of "Eh, our enemies are just ignorant mud farmers anyway, no problem", on the other hand, is colossally arrogant and extremely dangerous
Indeed, after all, the British Empire lost some if its most profitable colonies because they assumed that they were, "Nothing more than ignorant mud farmers." It's amazing how cyclical social development tends to be.