I see this story as a symptom of a seemingly natural progression in scientific and technical endeavours. The cost of advanced technology in general is being driven down by market forces, so the barrier to entry is lower than it used to be even for space shots. And people are starting to sense economic opportunities in space. So the cost is coming down as the capabilities and sophistication are going up - that's the story of the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath.
It may not be long before there will be a viable business model based on salvaging space junk - especially if man-made objects orbiting Earth continue to proliferate.
Please people, before you mod damn_registrars up, take a look at his comments. He's just harassing samzenpus.
I agree that damn-registrars is being over the top; but I have to say when I read the headline and then read TFS I did a double-take - the two do not jibe.
"Wasting food" is almost universally understood to mean that the food is being used for some other purpose than that of sustaining sentient life. It's NOT generally understood as specifically being 'put into the garbage bin' as opposed to being 'put into the compost bin' - I'm pretty sure most people view either of these fates for food as 'waste'. If I let food spoil when I could have eaten it, or if I take perfectly good food and incinerate it, it is still 'wasted' even though it doesn't "become waste" by virtue of being put into municipal landfill.
If you're goint to take damn_registrars to task for attacking samzenpus I suggest you do it on the basis of his attack and his hyperbole, not on the basis of his otherwise sound reasoning.
for the huge and growing number of people on this planet. I get how wonderful it is that genetic medicine might allow us all to live to the age of 150, eliminate birth defects, and cure Aunt Millie's cancer. But really, just where are we going to put all the people whose lives we save and extend while at the same time the birth rate keeps climbing? How will we feed them? How will we maintain a viable biosphere in an era of rapidly accelerating extinctions?
All that long term data will be meaningless if human society collapses under its own weight. If we're going to invest in keeping data viable so we can maintain and extend our scientific and technological reach, perhaps we should use it to help solve more important problems than our navel-gazing, narcissistic fixation on immortality and eternal youth.
I am truly ashamed right now. I'm pissed off too, at the Canadian government and bureaucracy that are increasingly taking their cues, and sometimes even their orders, from our Big Brother south of the border.
My mid-70s Dremel kicks ass. I'm limited to only two different shank diameters because it has a pin chuck instead of a jaw chuck, but that hasn't limited its usefulness at all. And it seems that back then the bearings had tighter tolerances - the thing runs quieter and smoother than any of the new Dremel tools I've used. It also has speed regulation, so when I load it down it slows down less than newer models. I think they got rid of that feature because too many people were abusing it and burning out the motor; too bad, because the extra grunt really comes in handy sometimes.
...Here, they're making the distinction between "natural sugars" -- substances that are chemically sugars -- and "artificial sweeteners" -- sweet substances that contain no sugar compounds...
It would be interesting to see similar studies performed on stevia. It is a natural sugar, but is ~300 times sweetener than sucrose. Such studies might help to determine if promoting glucose intolerance is a function of artificiality, or a function of sweetness
...I've always wondered (and this is from a hardware-guy's perspective) wouldn't you rather have one big monitor, than two small monitors?
For some use cases, two separate monitors make sense, and I find that I actually like the conceptual separation they provide. When I'm doing PCB design I can have the schematic open on one monitor and the PCB on the other; it's convenient to just click on Maximize on each window and know that they're both going to equally and maximally fill the available real estate. Ditto for mail client and browser. Also, the total width-to-height ratio is greater than it would be on a single big monitor - that's a double-edged sword, but on thw whole I like it.
OTOH some programs don't play well with it - VLC doesn't seem to understand what's going on and I need to resize the window on some videos, and ImageMagick is pretty much unusable.
...neither Local Motors nor anything associated with it are Luddite...
Since you're in correction mode, you may be interested to know that your post should have read: "...neither Local Motors nor anything associated with it is Luddite". The words "neither" and "anything" are singular pronouns.
I'm a part-time grammar Nazi, and sometimes I can't restrain myself; please excuse my pedantic impulse.
Not a problem because Linux comes with all drivers inbox.
Not sure if you're trolling, being sarcastic, or being serious. If it's one of the first two, then "good one". However if you're being serious, then I'll just ask, "Say what?"
Have you tried installing Linux on any up-to-date laptops recently? If WiFi, Bluetooth, and the pointing device all worked straight off after the install was done, count yourself lucky.
I wonder if there any in-place exercises, such as isometrics, that would provide at least some of the benefits of walking without having to leave the desk or workstation. Not that I'm averse to a walk once in a while, but some bosses are averse to employees not being chained to their desks...
In Toronto we used to have electric trolley buses powered by overhead wires. I'm not sure why they were discontinued in 1993; but it occurs to me that newer buses could use the same basic idea to operate in a 'tethered' mode for some parts of their route, (long straight runs in urban areas for example), while using battery power for other parts. I know it sounds like a bit of a throwback, but it could offer some real advantages as far as vehicle range and battery longevity are concerned.
Obviously you have never worked with HL7. One message will have hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of data.
Yeah - at least in the US and Canada, even parsing HL7 transactions can be a pain. Different rules and practices in different hospitals, inconsistent rules and practices within the same hospital, apparently contradictory transactions, out of order transactions... I predict a royal mess with NoSQL. With Relational they had at least some assurance that what was read out of the DB was an accurate representation of what was put into it.
Very basic analog and radio circuits, which in my opinion is the best place to start, and at under $30 it won't break the bank. You'll go through all the projects pretty quickly - but then you can start experimenting with your own circuits. No soldering required - just connect the pre-tinned wires to the connector springs. I had a similar kit from Radio Shack when I was young and first getting into electronics, and I loved it. I even ended up stripping it of parts to use in my own projects when I graduated to building circuits on perfboard.
Whatever kit you begin with, analog or digital, you'll want a Digital Multi-Meter, or DMM. It doesn't have to be a good one, and these days a cheap one can be had for 10 or 15 dollars. Because you're just beginning, I suggest not getting an auto-ranging meter - you'll maintain a better sense of where you are and what you're doing if you have to pay attention to the range setting.
Best of luck to you sir; if electronics continues to interest you then you're in for a lot of fun!
What else would we expect when we privatize police activities that should clearly be done by accountable public entites?
What else would we expect when we privatize the entire government and effectively do away with accountable public entites? That's only a slight exaggeration of the current situation - soon it won't be an exaggeration at all.
It's also not entirely an issue of privatization. Even when the DEA didn't have the private-sector taint outlined in the article, they were over-zealous over-enforcers with their own political power and their own obvious vested interest in keeping drugs illegal and penalties harsh.
That said, you are right, and ruthlessly weeding out private-sector parasites like Desert Snow would be a very good place to start - presuming there's enough accountable government power left to do so.
gets both larger, (higher BMI, greater average height), and older, (aging population). Something's gotta give.
I know! How about some shareholders agreeing to make slightly less profit on their investments in order to increase comfort and safety for many millions of people? And how about the food industry agreeing to dial it down on the addictive, fattenning foods they make and push?
Nah, silly idea - forget I said it. What was I thinking?
Another good point - thanks. I guess what it comes down to is what nurb432 said:
I only know that it both scares me and pisses me off that the government can do whatever it wants
Would be a more accurate statement.
Once upon a time, I basically trusted the government to at least try to do the right thing. They were often fuckups, and occasionally larcenous or downright evil, but I never had the constant feeling I have now, that they are the enemy. So at one time I was relatively happy to let them take care of such matters; now I don't trust them as far as I can throw them.
Good question - in the heat of the moment when I posted I didn't think of it. I'm not sure I can give an accurate, or even a final, answer to it right now. But the following points occur to me:
- It's easy to make a grenade and have some confidence that it will work; no testing is required, so the fact that one is breaking the law needn't be obvious. Not so with UAV's.
- One can practise grenade-throwing by throwing a baseball; becoming a competent UAV controller requires a lot of practice with a real UAV under real-world conditions. So it's easier to hide grenade practice than to hide UAV practice.
- There aren't any significant peaceful uses for grenades, whereas UAV's have many peaceful uses.
- Grenades aren't usually used to spy on people.
So no, at first blush I don't feel the same about 'grenades and stuff'. The issue of UAV restrictions seems more complex and nuanced to me. That's not to say I won't eventually decide that they should be similarly regulated - just that it's a more difficult question for me to answer.
On the one hand, UAV's represent a potential danger to people on the ground, and to airplanes - not to mention the privacy implications.
On the other hand, (if my understanding is correct), military and law enforcement agencies are free to fly UAV's whenever and wherever they please. This represents a further un-levelling of the playing field - the government is steadily acquiring powers which make it impossible for citizens to control/hold responsible/overthrow their own elected leaders.
I honestly don't know the answer - I only know that it both scares me and pisses me off that the government can do whatever it wants with UAV's, while my ability to use them is very, very restricted.
It is impossible to enforce the laws when you can catch all the violations.... What will happen when the slumbering public becomes aware that society gives some criminals a free pass?
I think the premise of your argument, (that the primary concern of Three Letter Agencies is stopping crimes of various kinds), is largely false. The prime directive of these agencies, (organisms if you will, because they have many characteristics of living entities), is to grow, to thrive, to gain power, and to become ever more robust and resistant to damage. For example, the last thing the NSA wants is an end to terrorism and various foreign threats. Too much money is at stake, and too many jobs, careers, and personal empires are on the line; if enough enemies don't exist in reality, they will be fabricated as required. (BTW, all that data they're gathering comprises a shitload of raw material for said fabrication). Ditto for the DEA, (that's why you'll never see legalization of drugs), the military, etc.
Wars of various kinds, (including NSA 'intelligence wars'), are simply too profitable to be 'won' or otherwise concluded; the agencies in question will continue to expand their power and reach so they can make damned sure that the wars will never end. As for the "slumbering public", your description of them answers the question you asked.
Only an issue if somewhere down the line this kind of policy becomes compulsory.
Only an issue when somewhere down the line this kind of policy becomes compulsory.
The vast majority of the population believes the "I have nothing to hide so I have nothing to fear" bullshit that the authorities are peddling in oh-so-many propagandistic ways. "Be a good little citizen, and you'll never come to harm!" So soon, almost everybody and his dog will sign up for this "money saving" Trojan horse, and then it will be impossible for anyone to buy insurance without consenting to the insurance companies raping their privacy.
I'm in Canada and have a choice among several ISP's on the same wires - so you have MY condolences...
The last time I tried IMAP was about 8 years ago. I was told it wasn't possible to keep messages on both the server and my computer at the same time. If that's not true, then thanks - I'll definitely look into IMAP.
Slashdot Mirror
I see this story as a symptom of a seemingly natural progression in scientific and technical endeavours. The cost of advanced technology in general is being driven down by market forces, so the barrier to entry is lower than it used to be even for space shots. And people are starting to sense economic opportunities in space. So the cost is coming down as the capabilities and sophistication are going up - that's the story of the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath.
It may not be long before there will be a viable business model based on salvaging space junk - especially if man-made objects orbiting Earth continue to proliferate.
Please people, before you mod damn_registrars up, take a look at his comments. He's just harassing samzenpus.
I agree that damn-registrars is being over the top; but I have to say when I read the headline and then read TFS I did a double-take - the two do not jibe.
"Wasting food" is almost universally understood to mean that the food is being used for some other purpose than that of sustaining sentient life. It's NOT generally understood as specifically being 'put into the garbage bin' as opposed to being 'put into the compost bin' - I'm pretty sure most people view either of these fates for food as 'waste'. If I let food spoil when I could have eaten it, or if I take perfectly good food and incinerate it, it is still 'wasted' even though it doesn't "become waste" by virtue of being put into municipal landfill.
If you're goint to take damn_registrars to task for attacking samzenpus I suggest you do it on the basis of his attack and his hyperbole, not on the basis of his otherwise sound reasoning.
for the huge and growing number of people on this planet. I get how wonderful it is that genetic medicine might allow us all to live to the age of 150, eliminate birth defects, and cure Aunt Millie's cancer. But really, just where are we going to put all the people whose lives we save and extend while at the same time the birth rate keeps climbing? How will we feed them? How will we maintain a viable biosphere in an era of rapidly accelerating extinctions?
All that long term data will be meaningless if human society collapses under its own weight. If we're going to invest in keeping data viable so we can maintain and extend our scientific and technological reach, perhaps we should use it to help solve more important problems than our navel-gazing, narcissistic fixation on immortality and eternal youth.
I am truly ashamed right now. I'm pissed off too, at the Canadian government and bureaucracy that are increasingly taking their cues, and sometimes even their orders, from our Big Brother south of the border.
My country used to be better than this.
What? You don't have a brainwave recorder with filters that pass only the audio portion? Get with the times dude!
My mid-90s Dremel kicks ass.
My mid-70s Dremel kicks ass. I'm limited to only two different shank diameters because it has a pin chuck instead of a jaw chuck, but that hasn't limited its usefulness at all. And it seems that back then the bearings had tighter tolerances - the thing runs quieter and smoother than any of the new Dremel tools I've used. It also has speed regulation, so when I load it down it slows down less than newer models. I think they got rid of that feature because too many people were abusing it and burning out the motor; too bad, because the extra grunt really comes in handy sometimes.
WinCE still exists and is active. It's just been rebranded to Windows Embedded Compact
In spite of the re-naming, I bet it still makes people wince...
...Here, they're making the distinction between "natural sugars" -- substances that are chemically sugars -- and "artificial sweeteners" -- sweet substances that contain no sugar compounds...
It would be interesting to see similar studies performed on stevia. It is a natural sugar, but is ~300 times sweetener than sucrose. Such studies might help to determine if promoting glucose intolerance is a function of artificiality, or a function of sweetness
...I've always wondered (and this is from a hardware-guy's perspective) wouldn't you rather have one big monitor, than two small monitors?
For some use cases, two separate monitors make sense, and I find that I actually like the conceptual separation they provide. When I'm doing PCB design I can have the schematic open on one monitor and the PCB on the other; it's convenient to just click on Maximize on each window and know that they're both going to equally and maximally fill the available real estate. Ditto for mail client and browser. Also, the total width-to-height ratio is greater than it would be on a single big monitor - that's a double-edged sword, but on thw whole I like it.
OTOH some programs don't play well with it - VLC doesn't seem to understand what's going on and I need to resize the window on some videos, and ImageMagick is pretty much unusable.
...neither Local Motors nor anything associated with it are Luddite...
Since you're in correction mode, you may be interested to know that your post should have read: "...neither Local Motors nor anything associated with it is Luddite". The words "neither" and "anything" are singular pronouns.
I'm a part-time grammar Nazi, and sometimes I can't restrain myself; please excuse my pedantic impulse.
Not a problem because Linux comes with all drivers inbox.
Not sure if you're trolling, being sarcastic, or being serious. If it's one of the first two, then "good one". However if you're being serious, then I'll just ask, "Say what?"
Have you tried installing Linux on any up-to-date laptops recently? If WiFi, Bluetooth, and the pointing device all worked straight off after the install was done, count yourself lucky.
[mercola.com]
According to recent information and studies there seems to something to the Low Carb High Fat diet, not just for weight loss, but for much better serum cholesterol numbers and lower inflammation markers. But citing Joe Mercola probably isn't convincing anybody of the credibility of what you're saying.
I wonder if there any in-place exercises, such as isometrics, that would provide at least some of the benefits of walking without having to leave the desk or workstation. Not that I'm averse to a walk once in a while, but some bosses are averse to employees not being chained to their desks...
In Toronto we used to have electric trolley buses powered by overhead wires. I'm not sure why they were discontinued in 1993; but it occurs to me that newer buses could use the same basic idea to operate in a 'tethered' mode for some parts of their route, (long straight runs in urban areas for example), while using battery power for other parts. I know it sounds like a bit of a throwback, but it could offer some real advantages as far as vehicle range and battery longevity are concerned.
Obviously you have never worked with HL7. One message will have hundreds, if not thousands of pieces of data.
Yeah - at least in the US and Canada, even parsing HL7 transactions can be a pain. Different rules and practices in different hospitals, inconsistent rules and practices within the same hospital, apparently contradictory transactions, out of order transactions... I predict a royal mess with NoSQL. With Relational they had at least some assurance that what was read out of the DB was an accurate representation of what was put into it.
If you have no background in electronics at all, this might be a good place to start:
http://www.innovatoys.com/kits-labs/50-in-one-electronic-project-lab/165
Very basic analog and radio circuits, which in my opinion is the best place to start, and at under $30 it won't break the bank. You'll go through all the projects pretty quickly - but then you can start experimenting with your own circuits. No soldering required - just connect the pre-tinned wires to the connector springs. I had a similar kit from Radio Shack when I was young and first getting into electronics, and I loved it. I even ended up stripping it of parts to use in my own projects when I graduated to building circuits on perfboard.
Whatever kit you begin with, analog or digital, you'll want a Digital Multi-Meter, or DMM. It doesn't have to be a good one, and these days a cheap one can be had for 10 or 15 dollars. Because you're just beginning, I suggest not getting an auto-ranging meter - you'll maintain a better sense of where you are and what you're doing if you have to pay attention to the range setting.
Best of luck to you sir; if electronics continues to interest you then you're in for a lot of fun!
What else would we expect when we privatize police activities that should clearly be done by accountable public entites?
What else would we expect when we privatize the entire government and effectively do away with accountable public entites? That's only a slight exaggeration of the current situation - soon it won't be an exaggeration at all.
It's also not entirely an issue of privatization. Even when the DEA didn't have the private-sector taint outlined in the article, they were over-zealous over-enforcers with their own political power and their own obvious vested interest in keeping drugs illegal and penalties harsh.
That said, you are right, and ruthlessly weeding out private-sector parasites like Desert Snow would be a very good place to start - presuming there's enough accountable government power left to do so.
gets both larger, (higher BMI, greater average height), and older, (aging population). Something's gotta give.
I know! How about some shareholders agreeing to make slightly less profit on their investments in order to increase comfort and safety for many millions of people? And how about the food industry agreeing to dial it down on the addictive, fattenning foods they make and push?
Nah, silly idea - forget I said it. What was I thinking?
Another good point - thanks. I guess what it comes down to is what nurb432 said:
I only know that it both scares me and pisses me off that the government can do whatever it wants
Would be a more accurate statement.
Once upon a time, I basically trusted the government to at least try to do the right thing. They were often fuckups, and occasionally larcenous or downright evil, but I never had the constant feeling I have now, that they are the enemy. So at one time I was relatively happy to let them take care of such matters; now I don't trust them as far as I can throw them.
Good question - in the heat of the moment when I posted I didn't think of it. I'm not sure I can give an accurate, or even a final, answer to it right now. But the following points occur to me:
- It's easy to make a grenade and have some confidence that it will work; no testing is required, so the fact that one is breaking the law needn't be obvious. Not so with UAV's.
- One can practise grenade-throwing by throwing a baseball; becoming a competent UAV controller requires a lot of practice with a real UAV under real-world conditions. So it's easier to hide grenade practice than to hide UAV practice.
- There aren't any significant peaceful uses for grenades, whereas UAV's have many peaceful uses.
- Grenades aren't usually used to spy on people.
So no, at first blush I don't feel the same about 'grenades and stuff'. The issue of UAV restrictions seems more complex and nuanced to me. That's not to say I won't eventually decide that they should be similarly regulated - just that it's a more difficult question for me to answer.
On the one hand, UAV's represent a potential danger to people on the ground, and to airplanes - not to mention the privacy implications.
On the other hand, (if my understanding is correct), military and law enforcement agencies are free to fly UAV's whenever and wherever they please. This represents a further un-levelling of the playing field - the government is steadily acquiring powers which make it impossible for citizens to control/hold responsible/overthrow their own elected leaders.
I honestly don't know the answer - I only know that it both scares me and pisses me off that the government can do whatever it wants with UAV's, while my ability to use them is very, very restricted.
It is impossible to enforce the laws when you can catch all the violations.... What will happen when the slumbering public becomes aware that society gives some criminals a free pass?
I think the premise of your argument, (that the primary concern of Three Letter Agencies is stopping crimes of various kinds), is largely false. The prime directive of these agencies, (organisms if you will, because they have many characteristics of living entities), is to grow, to thrive, to gain power, and to become ever more robust and resistant to damage. For example, the last thing the NSA wants is an end to terrorism and various foreign threats. Too much money is at stake, and too many jobs, careers, and personal empires are on the line; if enough enemies don't exist in reality, they will be fabricated as required. (BTW, all that data they're gathering comprises a shitload of raw material for said fabrication). Ditto for the DEA, (that's why you'll never see legalization of drugs), the military, etc.
Wars of various kinds, (including NSA 'intelligence wars'), are simply too profitable to be 'won' or otherwise concluded; the agencies in question will continue to expand their power and reach so they can make damned sure that the wars will never end. As for the "slumbering public", your description of them answers the question you asked.
Only an issue if somewhere down the line this kind of policy becomes compulsory.
Only an issue when somewhere down the line this kind of policy becomes compulsory.
The vast majority of the population believes the "I have nothing to hide so I have nothing to fear" bullshit that the authorities are peddling in oh-so-many propagandistic ways. "Be a good little citizen, and you'll never come to harm!" So soon, almost everybody and his dog will sign up for this "money saving" Trojan horse, and then it will be impossible for anyone to buy insurance without consenting to the insurance companies raping their privacy.
If I didn't maintain burner email accounts with them out of sheer inertia, they wouldn't even be on my radar.
I'm in Canada and have a choice among several ISP's on the same wires - so you have MY condolences...
The last time I tried IMAP was about 8 years ago. I was told it wasn't possible to keep messages on both the server and my computer at the same time. If that's not true, then thanks - I'll definitely look into IMAP.