With the way things tend to be handled in trauma units at hospitals (at least the ones I've been to) I will fight for my built in organic trauma preparedness kit any day of the week.....
I am not that familiar with printing in general, but I know the printer company/brand Brother often (if not always) releases Linux compatible drivers for their hardware. They are great for any standard printer. If you can find any label printers that they make, I imagine it would work very well. It is probably at least worth Googling....
A real patriot would take action beyond bitching about it on the internet. A real patriot would start a petition movement at the grassroots level to perform some kind of audit of their state government budget. A real patriot would organize a movement amongst his community to support third parties instead of continually electing the Republicrats that commit the enslavement and thievery you speak of. A real patriot would utilize the awesome power of the internet to network such a movement outside of his/her own community to make it statewide. A real patriot would schedule various rallies and marches on the state capital to bring attention to their grievances. A real patriot would organize a committee to select various powerful and influential speakers to help increase support for their causes instead of just letting any nutjob with an opinion waste the members' time.
Luckily for those in power, 'real patriots' are just content to sit at home from behind their keyboards swearing themselves to idealistic causes and pledging to never give up the guns that they probably never took the time to learn how to properly maintain and use anyway.
Gotta love patriotism.
This was not meant to be a personal attack. Please don't take it as such.
Am I the only one who doesn't even bother to read these "revolutionary energy breakthrough" stories? Seriously, I read them for a year or two back in the day, but stopped after that, and for the last 5 years I don't feel like I missed anything.
Nope, you aren't. This is slashdot. If you don't RTFA, whatever your reasons may be, you shouldn't fool yourself into believing that puts you in any minority, much less an enlightened one.
hat I'd really like to understand (I always ask this and I've never gotten an answer) is why some people are so for it.
Let me try to field this one from a slightly different point of view (Please don't mod this offtopic, it is relevant to the question asked). I am an Aerospace Engineer. Currently I work in trajectory analysis, however, I have worked on space system design projects in the past. When dealing with 'space' missions, one of the most difficult subsystems to design for a given spacecraft (satellite, probe, whatever), is the power subsystem (i.e. the electricity source). For spacecraft missions that involve staying within the asteroid belt (approximately) Solar panels are a sufficient, but somewhat cumbersome solution to the power source problem. While they can provide energy, they decay and cause massive moment arms to be constructed on a spacecraft that makes maneuvering a bitch. They are limited, therefore, in how much power they can provide to a system based on A) launch mass, and B) configuration resulting in large moment arms. Thus, they do well at powering relatively small spacecraft (the kind we have today, things like Comsats that have a 17 kW power budget). However, once you start pushing the 20 kW line, solar panels start giving engineers headaches.
The solution to this problem is to find a power source that provides a LOT of energy, for relatively little mass and appendage construction. Nuclear reactors fill this void. While the fuel sources are heavy, they provide a veritable crap-ton (comparatively) of energy to a spacecraft. Using nuclear power on spacecraft can, and will, allow the development of larger, more complex spacecraft. If we are ever going to make extra-terrestrial, manned planetary expeditions regular, we are going to have to use nuclear power. It is that simple. If we are ever going to explore the outer solar system in detail, we need nuclear power. Developing more complex, safe, and efficient reactors here on the ground will directly spill over into newer, better reactors for space-based applications and, thus, better, more efficient spacecraft.
The only question left to answer is why space exploration is important. Well that one is simple. This planet is limited in its lifespan, resources, and diversity. Eventually, there will be another cataclysmic event the likes of which took out the dinosaurs and trilobites. I, for one, would like to see humanity move beyond its own planet before that event. Eventually, we will exhaust Earth's resources. See Kardashev's discussion of the evolution of civilizations based on energy consumption. Humans will exploit this planet. It is necessary for us to convert the resources of this planet from useful energy into chaotic energy in order to survive and progress. Over time, the amount of useful energy left in this planet will run out (see Second Law of Thermodynamics). Finally, this planet is only one damn speck of dust in an entire universe. The amount of knowledge and experience we can gain on this very limited sample-space is tiny. If we want to continue to grow in our knowledge and realization of this universe, we need to broaden our experience. Just like those who never travel outside of their own country are often culturally biased or foolish, a species that never progresses beyond its own planet will forever remain blind and ignorant of the great experiences and opportunities this universe holds.
Forgive me for the length, but this is the reason I am passionate about nuclear energy. It really is the only (current) modern energy source that will allow humanity to evolve as a species. Also, if that's not enough of a reason...think nuclear powered flying cars (See Back to the Future series).
Unless you are having a totally trivial, meaningless conversation, it's the attention your brain has to give to listening to what the person is saying and how you will respond that screws up driving.
That's exactly what my girlfriend accuses me of doing every time she calls me in the car!
You know, you are probably right, the GLXP is pretty much a gimmick probably. But let me tell you about something you forgot to take into account in your analysis of the situation. Across the country, and even in other countries, there are scores of Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Computer, Civil, Structural, Nuclear, and Materials Engineering Students frothing at the mouth and chomping at the bit to get to work on decent projects. Inspired teenagers and young adults at universities have more gumption in one damn finger than 75% of slashdot ranters combined. I know this because last year I spent my whole senior year working on two satellite design projects with 25 other kids. Twenty six of us, and only twenty six of us, did an entire first-iteration design cycle on a complex remote-sensing constellation that provided damn near 100% coverage of the Earth's surface every twelve hours. Was that as complicated as a moon mission? Obviously not. So this year, a design class of 40 students performed the same feat for meeting the mission requirement to land radio telescopes on the dark side of the moon for astronomy missions.
One class, forty aerospace students, 7 months, and they presented a respectable and plausible first iteration mission design to land on the moon...for free.
So why the anecdotes? It's simple, if Company X offers YYYY-illion dollars to something that entrenched scientists and engineers who have been in the business swear is impossible or just plain unreasonable, there will be an overwhelming number of universities that pick up on the news, assign full or partial mission designs to their students as senior projects, individually or in groups. All of that work will be publicized and posted to educational websites (those of the universities). Now Company X has just stimulated the biggest damn brainstorming session in the engineering world in decades. Now engineers in the industry can review and check out ideas that they can either adopt, adapt, or reinvent to do something that was originally thought unreasonable. Now hundreds of 'Cranky Old Men' engineers are inundated with new ideas for systems and subsystems alike. Lunar dust causing a problem for human health? Don't ever let it get into the habitat, mount the moonwalk suits to the outside so that only the internal portion of the suit is exposed to the habitat atmosphere. Students thought of that one, they can and will think of a lot more...
On top of that, now all those engineering students younger siblings hear that their older brother and/or sister helped design something that "astronauts reviewed!" Oh Wow! Now they have some inspiration from the scientific fields that is personal. Now when this 'gimmick' gets publicized, dozens of new engineers with good ideas will be advertised to the job market for up and coming companies like Space X and Bigelow. Now NASA and Company X can go to Congress and say, "See what a little cash can inspire in this industry you douchebags? We offered 1.5 Billion and there are scores of students chomping at the bit to design this mission and go! Give us money!"
Now every school that participated in the project can ask for more money with the excuse of, "Look, our students are talking with industry already! Look how good we are doing!" Now more money gets donated to schools from Company X and any other companies that want recruiting rights at that particular school. Now the world has to sit there and say, "Holy shit, students did that?"
And maybe, just maybe, amongst all of these satellite gains for both schools and industries (pun fully intended) some genius level sonofabitch, or perhaps a whole class of genius level sonsofbitches will pull an idea out of their ass so insane that it just might make the "impossible gimmick mission" possible.
So you are right, there is a lot in this gimmick that is laughable. But frankly, our species needs to inspire technological growth in the space industry. If that takes a piece of bait that will get a few fishes hooked but doesn't taste good, I say its a damn good idea.
...And it is precisely this realization and attitude that makes me hopeful of the future. Societies may rise and fall, governments may dictate and mandate, all hell can break loose politically, but frankly, humans, and the younger generations in general, have tasted the freedom of the internet and the ideas it embraces. Laws can be passed and a whole world can be turned into criminals, but as long as the attitude of the parent post prevails there will always be some group of hackers, some tech junkies, some basement geniuses that will find new ways to connect humanity and laugh flippantly at the established powers.
The power of humanity comes from its ideas, not its technology or biology or whatever, but fundamentally from its ideas. As long as we fan the flames of ideas like those discussed above, even if we do so in a very limited scope by talking only to one person our entire lives, the future will always be a bit brighter.
Thank you for iterating these thoughts so well and concisely girlintraining.
I, for one, welcome our own ideologies and intelligence as overlords.
I hang out with mostly college kids and I have to say that very few of them are wiling or capable to spend $60 on a given title. Even the latest OMGWTFAWESOME titles that have massive cult fanbases (I'm looking at you Halo) can't garner as many sales on a reputation alone when the sequels are just half-assed remakes of the original. As other slashdotters have mentioned, prices are just too high for the crap we are being sold these days.
That being said, I wonder if The EVO can make any headway in this market since, according to that article, games should be roughly $20.00. Start offering gamers a chance to have a new title for the price of a used one and XBox, Nintendo, and Sony may wake up and realize that there is a new kid on the block. Of course, that is assuming that word about the evo gets spread around the population in general.
It's funny, I say the exact same thing about textbook stores for college text books but have to add a 0 to the end of the first and last prices mentioned.
Offtopic I know, but video games aren't the only form of 'intellectual property' that is being used to certifiably rape the consumer base.
"The popular NoScript add-on will also ward off attacks. "
Though I would think that is only true depending on how strict one's NoScript settings are, it might be useful to those with NoScript installed to realize that they can tweak with it to give them a temporary fix until an official update/patch comes out. Also, it might warn some users to pay attention when NoScript pops up a warning about malicious script possibilities, as opposed to just clicking the 'allow anyway' option.
I work in the space industry and, honestly, it feels like an extremely isolated community. Aside from my coworkers and other companies' workers cheering on various satellite launches and successful space walks, it seems like nobody else gives a damn about what I consider to be one of the most exciting scientific endeavors in the history of this planet.
This is, however, why I love slashdot. I come on here one morning on a low-gumption thursday and find a tart complaining about the importance of smart phone communities only to see him doubly rebuked for being such a short-sighted self-obsessed fiend. Thanks to you and the others that have put that tool in his place for continuing to remind a young up and coming space-industry worker bee just how much intelligent people really do care about this realm of progress.
You jest, but I work in satellite remote sensing -- and all the research funding is for environmental monitoring and geoscience (and it always has been, since the 1970s or thereabouts). The primary mission for these sorts of payloads is, in fact, environmental monitoring. Nothing cute about it.
Uuum, I disagree. Forgive me if I am picking nits, but I too work in the space industry (namely launch analysis and verification). I work very closely with ULA to help ensure that a given payload will make it to orbit. To state that all research funding in general or in remote sensing specifically comes from environmental monitoring is simply false. Granted, a lot of geosci and enviro-sats are developed and launched. However, the U.S. government funds a ton of research in this area for detecting certain occurrences that are not of an environmental science nature. These are most commonly referred to as spy satellites and there are plenty of examples of them on orbit right now.
Aside from payloads that monitor military operations, the government also develops a lot of proof of concept payloads and launches. The is also quite a bit of R&D funding dumped into satellites and remote sensing by private companies for all sorts of things; such as testing a new communication method's ability to throughput a certain type of remote sensing data. In fact some of this research even comes at the university level for nothing more than a, "Let's do this cool proof-of-concept work to help industry and give our students experience" reason.
To say that satellite remote sensing is ALL funded for environmental monitoring is just plain false. (Don't forget that the name 'satellite' does not imply Earth orbits, any spacecraft that orbits another body is also a satellite and these include LRO, Cassini, The Mars Recon. Orbiter, and Venus Express. Each of these satellites are also remote sensing satellites used for applications other than simple environmental monitoring).
I've bought a few computers from IBuyPower now and have been very pleased with the results. While they specialize in customizable gaming computers, they do have some precofigured packages available for sale. You can navigate to the third set of customize options when checking out the computer package you want and select a pre-formatted, no OS hard drive. Again, this is more of a customize your own ePeen-computer type site, but they might warrant your attention.
Well tech savvy activists probably know and are doing just that. However you must consider that these protests have gone beyond the realm of the tech saavy user. I can't count how many "Iranian IP proxy in a box" websites I've seen pasted all over various internet forums for the past week. I have clicked at least 4 different links sending me to readme webpages relating to how you can help the digital/cyber/net/insert-internet-buzz-word-here movement against the Iranian government. The actions being taken to support this protest require at least some understanding of networking and security to be conducted usefully and safely. However, these tools are being advertised on numerous social networking sites in such a way that any political trend lover (I am referring to the same 100 people that show up at EVERY protest in your city regarding ANY cause) can at least attempt to use them. This is going to lead to more people participating in this who don't understand the depth or intricacies of what they are doing.
Hell, even I thought about setting up one of my boxes at home to host something useful for Iran, but, being somewhat new to the computer security world, and having just read multiple times in every security book I own that the first rule to security is that, "Security is a mindset, not a state," I realized I do not yet have a developed enough understanding of these things to aid Iran in a way that couldn't be countered or hijacked, or turned against the protesters themselves. It's not that I know there are ways those things could happen, its that I realize I would be dabbling in a game where there are far more dangerous and experienced players. So I decided my best option was to try to learn more first.
Unfortunately, not everyone who has heard about the Iranian protest movement has this security mindset. To them, it is a chance to take actual action in something exciting happening right now. Hell, I had one of my friends who still thinks Linux is a Windows add-on used for IP tracing ask me on an instant messenger the other day if I could help them understand a guide they had found to hosting a proxy for Iranian IP addresses online. I told them I wouldn't dare help them get involved in something like this because they would just be opening themselves, their computers, and their lives up to a world that is much darker than they probably understood.
My reward was being called unpatriotic and paranoid.
We have at least one generation of angstful kids at computers who are itching to take action in the name of liberty. Unfortunately that same generous does not have the time or patience to learn the techniques and tools to do so effectively. Furthermore, few of them want to work hard on that kind of thing because really they would rather just go play X-box. Mix those characteristics in people and you get lazy-idealists who often can, and often do, do more harm than good to themselves and others.
Bringing in new blood and ideas is fine, new leadership every few years is a good way to get no where as they all step in and prevent the work from the last guy from being completed because this new guy has an entirely different view of the world.
So you're talking about the U.S Presidential Office model?...
Let me know when we have designed a computer chip to interface with the pre- and post- synaptic neurons of our brains so that we can start commanding the development of these memory proteins....In other words, let me know when I can download String Theory into my brain so that it finally makes sense (maybe).
This was before the year 1984, and most of us had read (or were aware of the premise of) Orwell's "1984." This would never happen, we thought.
Unfortunately this, and other data mining crap has been created and 1984 is alive and well and it can't be undone. All because some people - some programmers - thought that getting paid was better than doing what is moral and ethical in a free state. We are no longer free, ladies and gentlemen.
There was a dispute in my school district growing up whether or not 1984 should be allowed to be taught in school. The same went for Fahrenheit 451. In the end, both books were allowed, but all teachers opted not to teach them for fear of doing something too controversial. You ask who could write code that does this sort of thing? Who isn't aware of the implications of being spied on by your government? I can tell you right now that the generation that I am a part of, and those following me (I am 23 btw) will be part of that group. So many of my peers and so many kids younger than me that I know are so willing to accept mindless consumerism and cliche generalities regarding safety and patriotism that they wouldn't even think twice about this government, our government, doing something like this. We are now being trained at a young age to accept things like this. This has been going on for years.
And before anyone decides to take that anecdote to mean that my generation and those just before and just after me will be the end of the world, ask yourselves which generation is allowing those kinds of decisions to be made today.
/End_Lament
ts fascinating that we are watching the world trying to come to terms with the concepts of sharing knowledge. Open source is another one of these battle ground areas where some think it should be closed and so they can maintain control over it (and want to maintain control over it).
I think we really are at a turning point in human history. Which way it goes who knows, but I can't help thinking the people in power don't want the Internet the way it is and would sooner use it to find new ways to control.
I think one of the most fascinating aspects of the whole thing is that no matter which way this conflict/tension swings, it will always be bookmarked in history as a period where this battle was fought. Whether the internet remains open or does, in fact, become closed will be an interesting conclusion. However, I think the history books will still look on this period and say, at that time, a battle was fought, a battle that was significant enough to cause a shift in how people thought. Even though the immediate result was the (open or closure) of the internet, the period represented a time when people finally started changing the way they approached the world. The battle resulted in a willingness and mindset amongst the general population to keep future battles of the same sort moving forward.
As MC Lars put it, "The finger's in the dam, but the crack keeps on growing."
At least, I think future history will have some commentary along those lines
Soon enough someone is going to produce a "Green" watch that consumes even less electricity than those that use the smallest batteries. Someone will also invent a "Green" flashlight that uses so little power it actually makes the room darker! What the hell? Are companies really so retarded that they think cutting back on some of the lowest energy usage appliances are going to save the world? If you really want to save the planet why not invent a water heater that doesn't require heating massive resistance coils to warm water up. Or maybe someone could invent a dishwasher that can clean pots and pans without using superheating coils to melt all forms of food and tupperware. Or perhaps someone could invent an alternative cooking method that doesn't involve superheating coils on a stovetop.
Oh wait, we have things like clothes lines, cauldrons, and BBQs. This is the thing that bugs me. If consumers really wanted to "Go Green," if they really wanted to take drastic action to save the environment, all they need to do that is in place already. Our society existed before mass distribution of electricity, and we could save a crap-ton of kW-hr (because, you know, they have mass too) by cutting back on some of the conveniences that really do drive power bills through the roof. Granted, computers being left on day and night help drive up electricity bills. This pales, in comparison, however, to something like 4 people taking 30 minute hot showers every day. Rather than trying to pinch every bit of energy savings from every friggin' appliance in every household, how about we just start conserving a little bit by cutting back on some of our luxuries. Restricting showers to 10-15 minutes would drastically save on electricity for a 4 person family. It would also save water (which is at least as important a problem as the energy issue these days). The best benefit of that kind of behavior modification: we don't have to buy all the new green trendy BS that marketeers are spamming our lives with everyday.
Granted, this is a rant, but I am sick of seeing stupid "Technological breakthrough" stories that involve skimping on power consumption for every little appliance in the household. Lame.
Simplifying a complex topic generally takes quite a degree of mastery, in order to know which simplifications are justifiable, and which would distort the concept too much.
Which is precisely why men understand the appeal of porn and most women have no clue....
Slashdot Mirror
My AI's level difficulty processing goes to 11...
With the way things tend to be handled in trauma units at hospitals (at least the ones I've been to) I will fight for my built in organic trauma preparedness kit any day of the week.....
I am not that familiar with printing in general, but I know the printer company/brand Brother often (if not always) releases Linux compatible drivers for their hardware. They are great for any standard printer. If you can find any label printers that they make, I imagine it would work very well. It is probably at least worth Googling....
A real patriot would take action beyond bitching about it on the internet. A real patriot would start a petition movement at the grassroots level to perform some kind of audit of their state government budget. A real patriot would organize a movement amongst his community to support third parties instead of continually electing the Republicrats that commit the enslavement and thievery you speak of. A real patriot would utilize the awesome power of the internet to network such a movement outside of his/her own community to make it statewide. A real patriot would schedule various rallies and marches on the state capital to bring attention to their grievances. A real patriot would organize a committee to select various powerful and influential speakers to help increase support for their causes instead of just letting any nutjob with an opinion waste the members' time.
Luckily for those in power, 'real patriots' are just content to sit at home from behind their keyboards swearing themselves to idealistic causes and pledging to never give up the guns that they probably never took the time to learn how to properly maintain and use anyway.
Gotta love patriotism.
This was not meant to be a personal attack. Please don't take it as such.
Am I the only one who doesn't even bother to read these "revolutionary energy breakthrough" stories? Seriously, I read them for a year or two back in the day, but stopped after that, and for the last 5 years I don't feel like I missed anything.
Nope, you aren't. This is slashdot. If you don't RTFA, whatever your reasons may be, you shouldn't fool yourself into believing that puts you in any minority, much less an enlightened one.
hat I'd really like to understand (I always ask this and I've never gotten an answer) is why some people are so for it.
Let me try to field this one from a slightly different point of view (Please don't mod this offtopic, it is relevant to the question asked). I am an Aerospace Engineer. Currently I work in trajectory analysis, however, I have worked on space system design projects in the past. When dealing with 'space' missions, one of the most difficult subsystems to design for a given spacecraft (satellite, probe, whatever), is the power subsystem (i.e. the electricity source). For spacecraft missions that involve staying within the asteroid belt (approximately) Solar panels are a sufficient, but somewhat cumbersome solution to the power source problem. While they can provide energy, they decay and cause massive moment arms to be constructed on a spacecraft that makes maneuvering a bitch. They are limited, therefore, in how much power they can provide to a system based on A) launch mass, and B) configuration resulting in large moment arms. Thus, they do well at powering relatively small spacecraft (the kind we have today, things like Comsats that have a 17 kW power budget). However, once you start pushing the 20 kW line, solar panels start giving engineers headaches.
The solution to this problem is to find a power source that provides a LOT of energy, for relatively little mass and appendage construction. Nuclear reactors fill this void. While the fuel sources are heavy, they provide a veritable crap-ton (comparatively) of energy to a spacecraft. Using nuclear power on spacecraft can, and will, allow the development of larger, more complex spacecraft. If we are ever going to make extra-terrestrial, manned planetary expeditions regular, we are going to have to use nuclear power. It is that simple. If we are ever going to explore the outer solar system in detail, we need nuclear power. Developing more complex, safe, and efficient reactors here on the ground will directly spill over into newer, better reactors for space-based applications and, thus, better, more efficient spacecraft.
The only question left to answer is why space exploration is important. Well that one is simple. This planet is limited in its lifespan, resources, and diversity. Eventually, there will be another cataclysmic event the likes of which took out the dinosaurs and trilobites. I, for one, would like to see humanity move beyond its own planet before that event. Eventually, we will exhaust Earth's resources. See Kardashev's discussion of the evolution of civilizations based on energy consumption. Humans will exploit this planet. It is necessary for us to convert the resources of this planet from useful energy into chaotic energy in order to survive and progress. Over time, the amount of useful energy left in this planet will run out (see Second Law of Thermodynamics). Finally, this planet is only one damn speck of dust in an entire universe. The amount of knowledge and experience we can gain on this very limited sample-space is tiny. If we want to continue to grow in our knowledge and realization of this universe, we need to broaden our experience. Just like those who never travel outside of their own country are often culturally biased or foolish, a species that never progresses beyond its own planet will forever remain blind and ignorant of the great experiences and opportunities this universe holds.
Forgive me for the length, but this is the reason I am passionate about nuclear energy. It really is the only (current) modern energy source that will allow humanity to evolve as a species. Also, if that's not enough of a reason...think nuclear powered flying cars (See Back to the Future series).
"What happened to the can-do, damn-the-torpedoes attitude that got us to the moon?"
We were told to clench and deal because the ISS toilet broke down....
Unless you are having a totally trivial, meaningless conversation, it's the attention your brain has to give to listening to what the person is saying and how you will respond that screws up driving.
That's exactly what my girlfriend accuses me of doing every time she calls me in the car!
...Oh wait, this is slashdot.
*sheepish single-status realization*
You know, you are probably right, the GLXP is pretty much a gimmick probably. But let me tell you about something you forgot to take into account in your analysis of the situation. Across the country, and even in other countries, there are scores of Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Computer, Civil, Structural, Nuclear, and Materials Engineering Students frothing at the mouth and chomping at the bit to get to work on decent projects. Inspired teenagers and young adults at universities have more gumption in one damn finger than 75% of slashdot ranters combined. I know this because last year I spent my whole senior year working on two satellite design projects with 25 other kids. Twenty six of us, and only twenty six of us, did an entire first-iteration design cycle on a complex remote-sensing constellation that provided damn near 100% coverage of the Earth's surface every twelve hours. Was that as complicated as a moon mission? Obviously not. So this year, a design class of 40 students performed the same feat for meeting the mission requirement to land radio telescopes on the dark side of the moon for astronomy missions.
One class, forty aerospace students, 7 months, and they presented a respectable and plausible first iteration mission design to land on the moon...for free.
So why the anecdotes? It's simple, if Company X offers YYYY-illion dollars to something that entrenched scientists and engineers who have been in the business swear is impossible or just plain unreasonable, there will be an overwhelming number of universities that pick up on the news, assign full or partial mission designs to their students as senior projects, individually or in groups. All of that work will be publicized and posted to educational websites (those of the universities). Now Company X has just stimulated the biggest damn brainstorming session in the engineering world in decades. Now engineers in the industry can review and check out ideas that they can either adopt, adapt, or reinvent to do something that was originally thought unreasonable. Now hundreds of 'Cranky Old Men' engineers are inundated with new ideas for systems and subsystems alike. Lunar dust causing a problem for human health? Don't ever let it get into the habitat, mount the moonwalk suits to the outside so that only the internal portion of the suit is exposed to the habitat atmosphere. Students thought of that one, they can and will think of a lot more...
On top of that, now all those engineering students younger siblings hear that their older brother and/or sister helped design something that "astronauts reviewed!" Oh Wow! Now they have some inspiration from the scientific fields that is personal. Now when this 'gimmick' gets publicized, dozens of new engineers with good ideas will be advertised to the job market for up and coming companies like Space X and Bigelow. Now NASA and Company X can go to Congress and say, "See what a little cash can inspire in this industry you douchebags? We offered 1.5 Billion and there are scores of students chomping at the bit to design this mission and go! Give us money!"
Now every school that participated in the project can ask for more money with the excuse of, "Look, our students are talking with industry already! Look how good we are doing!" Now more money gets donated to schools from Company X and any other companies that want recruiting rights at that particular school. Now the world has to sit there and say, "Holy shit, students did that?"
And maybe, just maybe, amongst all of these satellite gains for both schools and industries (pun fully intended) some genius level sonofabitch, or perhaps a whole class of genius level sonsofbitches will pull an idea out of their ass so insane that it just might make the "impossible gimmick mission" possible.
So you are right, there is a lot in this gimmick that is laughable. But frankly, our species needs to inspire technological growth in the space industry. If that takes a piece of bait that will get a few fishes hooked but doesn't taste good, I say its a damn good idea.
...And it is precisely this realization and attitude that makes me hopeful of the future. Societies may rise and fall, governments may dictate and mandate, all hell can break loose politically, but frankly, humans, and the younger generations in general, have tasted the freedom of the internet and the ideas it embraces. Laws can be passed and a whole world can be turned into criminals, but as long as the attitude of the parent post prevails there will always be some group of hackers, some tech junkies, some basement geniuses that will find new ways to connect humanity and laugh flippantly at the established powers.
The power of humanity comes from its ideas, not its technology or biology or whatever, but fundamentally from its ideas. As long as we fan the flames of ideas like those discussed above, even if we do so in a very limited scope by talking only to one person our entire lives, the future will always be a bit brighter.
Thank you for iterating these thoughts so well and concisely girlintraining.
I, for one, welcome our own ideologies and intelligence as overlords.
I hang out with mostly college kids and I have to say that very few of them are wiling or capable to spend $60 on a given title. Even the latest OMGWTFAWESOME titles that have massive cult fanbases (I'm looking at you Halo) can't garner as many sales on a reputation alone when the sequels are just half-assed remakes of the original. As other slashdotters have mentioned, prices are just too high for the crap we are being sold these days.
That being said, I wonder if The EVO can make any headway in this market since, according to that article, games should be roughly $20.00. Start offering gamers a chance to have a new title for the price of a used one and XBox, Nintendo, and Sony may wake up and realize that there is a new kid on the block. Of course, that is assuming that word about the evo gets spread around the population in general.
Cheers.
It's funny, I say the exact same thing about textbook stores for college text books but have to add a 0 to the end of the first and last prices mentioned.
Offtopic I know, but video games aren't the only form of 'intellectual property' that is being used to certifiably rape the consumer base.
Craigslist, I swear my loyalty to you.
Also from the article:
"The popular NoScript add-on will also ward off attacks. "
Though I would think that is only true depending on how strict one's NoScript settings are, it might be useful to those with NoScript installed to realize that they can tweak with it to give them a temporary fix until an official update/patch comes out. Also, it might warn some users to pay attention when NoScript pops up a warning about malicious script possibilities, as opposed to just clicking the 'allow anyway' option.
Cheers.
I work in the space industry and, honestly, it feels like an extremely isolated community. Aside from my coworkers and other companies' workers cheering on various satellite launches and successful space walks, it seems like nobody else gives a damn about what I consider to be one of the most exciting scientific endeavors in the history of this planet.
This is, however, why I love slashdot. I come on here one morning on a low-gumption thursday and find a tart complaining about the importance of smart phone communities only to see him doubly rebuked for being such a short-sighted self-obsessed fiend. Thanks to you and the others that have put that tool in his place for continuing to remind a young up and coming space-industry worker bee just how much intelligent people really do care about this realm of progress.
Cheers.
You jest, but I work in satellite remote sensing -- and all the research funding is for environmental monitoring and geoscience (and it always has been, since the 1970s or thereabouts). The primary mission for these sorts of payloads is, in fact, environmental monitoring. Nothing cute about it.
Uuum, I disagree. Forgive me if I am picking nits, but I too work in the space industry (namely launch analysis and verification). I work very closely with ULA to help ensure that a given payload will make it to orbit. To state that all research funding in general or in remote sensing specifically comes from environmental monitoring is simply false. Granted, a lot of geosci and enviro-sats are developed and launched. However, the U.S. government funds a ton of research in this area for detecting certain occurrences that are not of an environmental science nature. These are most commonly referred to as spy satellites and there are plenty of examples of them on orbit right now.
Aside from payloads that monitor military operations, the government also develops a lot of proof of concept payloads and launches. The is also quite a bit of R&D funding dumped into satellites and remote sensing by private companies for all sorts of things; such as testing a new communication method's ability to throughput a certain type of remote sensing data. In fact some of this research even comes at the university level for nothing more than a, "Let's do this cool proof-of-concept work to help industry and give our students experience" reason.
To say that satellite remote sensing is ALL funded for environmental monitoring is just plain false. (Don't forget that the name 'satellite' does not imply Earth orbits, any spacecraft that orbits another body is also a satellite and these include LRO, Cassini, The Mars Recon. Orbiter, and Venus Express. Each of these satellites are also remote sensing satellites used for applications other than simple environmental monitoring).
I've bought a few computers from IBuyPower now and have been very pleased with the results. While they specialize in customizable gaming computers, they do have some precofigured packages available for sale. You can navigate to the third set of customize options when checking out the computer package you want and select a pre-formatted, no OS hard drive. Again, this is more of a customize your own ePeen-computer type site, but they might warrant your attention.
Well tech savvy activists probably know and are doing just that. However you must consider that these protests have gone beyond the realm of the tech saavy user. I can't count how many "Iranian IP proxy in a box" websites I've seen pasted all over various internet forums for the past week. I have clicked at least 4 different links sending me to readme webpages relating to how you can help the digital/cyber/net/insert-internet-buzz-word-here movement against the Iranian government. The actions being taken to support this protest require at least some understanding of networking and security to be conducted usefully and safely. However, these tools are being advertised on numerous social networking sites in such a way that any political trend lover (I am referring to the same 100 people that show up at EVERY protest in your city regarding ANY cause) can at least attempt to use them. This is going to lead to more people participating in this who don't understand the depth or intricacies of what they are doing.
/End Rant
Hell, even I thought about setting up one of my boxes at home to host something useful for Iran, but, being somewhat new to the computer security world, and having just read multiple times in every security book I own that the first rule to security is that, "Security is a mindset, not a state," I realized I do not yet have a developed enough understanding of these things to aid Iran in a way that couldn't be countered or hijacked, or turned against the protesters themselves. It's not that I know there are ways those things could happen, its that I realize I would be dabbling in a game where there are far more dangerous and experienced players. So I decided my best option was to try to learn more first.
Unfortunately, not everyone who has heard about the Iranian protest movement has this security mindset. To them, it is a chance to take actual action in something exciting happening right now. Hell, I had one of my friends who still thinks Linux is a Windows add-on used for IP tracing ask me on an instant messenger the other day if I could help them understand a guide they had found to hosting a proxy for Iranian IP addresses online. I told them I wouldn't dare help them get involved in something like this because they would just be opening themselves, their computers, and their lives up to a world that is much darker than they probably understood.
My reward was being called unpatriotic and paranoid.
We have at least one generation of angstful kids at computers who are itching to take action in the name of liberty. Unfortunately that same generous does not have the time or patience to learn the techniques and tools to do so effectively. Furthermore, few of them want to work hard on that kind of thing because really they would rather just go play X-box. Mix those characteristics in people and you get lazy-idealists who often can, and often do, do more harm than good to themselves and others.
Bringing in new blood and ideas is fine, new leadership every few years is a good way to get no where as they all step in and prevent the work from the last guy from being completed because this new guy has an entirely different view of the world.
So you're talking about the U.S Presidential Office model?...
Let me know when we have designed a computer chip to interface with the pre- and post- synaptic neurons of our brains so that we can start commanding the development of these memory proteins....In other words, let me know when I can download String Theory into my brain so that it finally makes sense (maybe).
This was before the year 1984, and most of us had read (or were aware of the premise of) Orwell's "1984." This would never happen, we thought. Unfortunately this, and other data mining crap has been created and 1984 is alive and well and it can't be undone. All because some people - some programmers - thought that getting paid was better than doing what is moral and ethical in a free state. We are no longer free, ladies and gentlemen.
There was a dispute in my school district growing up whether or not 1984 should be allowed to be taught in school. The same went for Fahrenheit 451. In the end, both books were allowed, but all teachers opted not to teach them for fear of doing something too controversial. You ask who could write code that does this sort of thing? Who isn't aware of the implications of being spied on by your government? I can tell you right now that the generation that I am a part of, and those following me (I am 23 btw) will be part of that group. So many of my peers and so many kids younger than me that I know are so willing to accept mindless consumerism and cliche generalities regarding safety and patriotism that they wouldn't even think twice about this government, our government, doing something like this. We are now being trained at a young age to accept things like this. This has been going on for years.
/End_Lament
And before anyone decides to take that anecdote to mean that my generation and those just before and just after me will be the end of the world, ask yourselves which generation is allowing those kinds of decisions to be made today.
ts fascinating that we are watching the world trying to come to terms with the concepts of sharing knowledge. Open source is another one of these battle ground areas where some think it should be closed and so they can maintain control over it (and want to maintain control over it). I think we really are at a turning point in human history. Which way it goes who knows, but I can't help thinking the people in power don't want the Internet the way it is and would sooner use it to find new ways to control.
I think one of the most fascinating aspects of the whole thing is that no matter which way this conflict/tension swings, it will always be bookmarked in history as a period where this battle was fought. Whether the internet remains open or does, in fact, become closed will be an interesting conclusion. However, I think the history books will still look on this period and say, at that time, a battle was fought, a battle that was significant enough to cause a shift in how people thought. Even though the immediate result was the (open or closure) of the internet, the period represented a time when people finally started changing the way they approached the world. The battle resulted in a willingness and mindset amongst the general population to keep future battles of the same sort moving forward.
As MC Lars put it, "The finger's in the dam, but the crack keeps on growing."
At least, I think future history will have some commentary along those lines
Soon enough someone is going to produce a "Green" watch that consumes even less electricity than those that use the smallest batteries. Someone will also invent a "Green" flashlight that uses so little power it actually makes the room darker! What the hell? Are companies really so retarded that they think cutting back on some of the lowest energy usage appliances are going to save the world? If you really want to save the planet why not invent a water heater that doesn't require heating massive resistance coils to warm water up. Or maybe someone could invent a dishwasher that can clean pots and pans without using superheating coils to melt all forms of food and tupperware. Or perhaps someone could invent an alternative cooking method that doesn't involve superheating coils on a stovetop.
Oh wait, we have things like clothes lines, cauldrons, and BBQs. This is the thing that bugs me. If consumers really wanted to "Go Green," if they really wanted to take drastic action to save the environment, all they need to do that is in place already. Our society existed before mass distribution of electricity, and we could save a crap-ton of kW-hr (because, you know, they have mass too) by cutting back on some of the conveniences that really do drive power bills through the roof. Granted, computers being left on day and night help drive up electricity bills. This pales, in comparison, however, to something like 4 people taking 30 minute hot showers every day. Rather than trying to pinch every bit of energy savings from every friggin' appliance in every household, how about we just start conserving a little bit by cutting back on some of our luxuries. Restricting showers to 10-15 minutes would drastically save on electricity for a 4 person family. It would also save water (which is at least as important a problem as the energy issue these days). The best benefit of that kind of behavior modification: we don't have to buy all the new green trendy BS that marketeers are spamming our lives with everyday.
Granted, this is a rant, but I am sick of seeing stupid "Technological breakthrough" stories that involve skimping on power consumption for every little appliance in the household. Lame.
Simplifying a complex topic generally takes quite a degree of mastery, in order to know which simplifications are justifiable, and which would distort the concept too much.
Which is precisely why men understand the appeal of porn and most women have no clue....
As always....xkcd explains it best here.
America's classic redneck, blow-hard, compensation-for-a-little-something vehicle is being sold to China?
...It's official, America has truly collapsed and is now on the third-world countries list.