The FCC may just be putting this up just so that it can be slapped down. I don't know much about the current Chairman, who proposed this and immediately caught Congressional heat and industry outrage. BUT the FCC occasionally gets an enlightened head.
This is a one-time chance to do for radio broadcast what the Internet has done for wires. This is the equivalent of RIAA v MP3. If this proposal crashes, current broadcasters will be smug for a century, while indies will be permanently locked out... short of today's midnight knocks on the door and confiscation. Think about the schlock you hear on most radio stations; think about what it would be like to tune a local station playing what YOU listen to all the time... or owning one...
There weren't any conspiracies in my article. All directly observables. You might choose to so label my speculation that the pattern for microwaves will follow the pattern for hydro and the pattern for nuclear. If you are in a mood for more quick ad-hominems.
Cold fusion may not be "real" but then so far it is just as real as Tokomaks.
Solar has been practically collected by trees since the Beginning. You may not get the energy density you think you need. Give some consideration to storage media to up the available density. For example, check into the economics and capacity of solutions of Glauber's salt.
When they start talking about "safe" levels then we'll start hearing about "acceptable" risks. When Rocky Flats plutonium was discovered in backyards in Denver suburbs exceeding the "acceptible" dosage, the acceptable dosage was multiplied by ten. That solved that problem.
You take a rational tack to discussion, but when you start saying "the only real option" you are backing into the rubric of industry propaganda. Another very real option is more conservation... there is massive room for improvement there. Do all our skyscrapers really need to be lit up at night? Ever seen a nighttime satellite photo of the US? Why are we beaming all those photons up there? How about all those TV tubes to be replaced by flat screens? and so on.
I'm glad people are thinking of the future. But I wouldn't bet the future on any robots, thanks.
It will be safe. It will be clean. It will be too cheap to meter.
The taxpayers will fund the research. The taxpayers will fund the assembly. The taxpayers will fund the launches. And then when that is all accomplished, after the expenditure of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, it will be handed over to private interests.
Sound familiar?
Of course there is already an enormous amount of energy being received on the surface of the earth. There is already a huge nuclear generator in space beaming energy to the earth's surface. It is proven and reliable technology. But noone owns it.
The technology already exists to gather some of it. Much more could be gathered, but the level of research funding has typically been around $15 million per year. There just hasn't been much interest shown in it by the utilities.
What is the problem with that source of energy? The same problem that would exist with cold fusion. It doesn't have to be centralized. You can't channel it through a gate and make an enormous profit selling it. It doesn't require a gigantic infrastructure that funnels billions into private pockets. You can't create a Dependency with such an energy source, because anyone and everyone could tap it.
When you want to create a Dependent nation, maintain a heirarchy, you must control the resources. When you want to enrich private interests, you must design a gigantic infrastructure. And that's the sole desire that keeps such a boondoggle alive in the thinkers minds..
Now all they have to do is train some of those otherwise worthless E-Coli strains to exhude these gates from their butts. Then, what the hey, send some of these E-Coli to oh, Jupiter and let them turn the whole planet into a single CPU. Now that would be the shits.
Musicians band together to form regional website co-ops. The musicians get 90% of profit (after cd & packaging and on-site ads and distribution costs), unlike mp3.com (which gets 50%, a still outrageous cut). 10% goes to people (musicians or lackeys) running the site.
I'm convinced that something like this will eliminate most of the majors, and regional indies can make deals with the co-op for wide-area and international distribution.
Slashdot Mirror
This is a one-time chance to do for radio broadcast what the Internet has done for wires. This is the equivalent of RIAA v MP3. If this proposal crashes, current broadcasters will be smug for a century, while indies will be permanently locked out... short of today's midnight knocks on the door and confiscation. Think about the schlock you hear on most radio stations; think about what it would be like to tune a local station playing what YOU listen to all the time... or owning one...
Cold fusion may not be "real" but then so far it is just as real as Tokomaks.
Solar has been practically collected by trees since the Beginning. You may not get the energy density you think you need. Give some consideration to storage media to up the available density. For example, check into the economics and capacity of solutions of Glauber's salt.
When they start talking about "safe" levels then we'll start hearing about "acceptable" risks. When Rocky Flats plutonium was discovered in backyards in Denver suburbs exceeding the "acceptible" dosage, the acceptable dosage was multiplied by ten. That solved that problem.
You take a rational tack to discussion, but when you start saying "the only real option" you are backing into the rubric of industry propaganda. Another very real option is more conservation... there is massive room for improvement there. Do all our skyscrapers really need to be lit up at night? Ever seen a nighttime satellite photo of the US? Why are we beaming all those photons up there? How about all those TV tubes to be replaced by flat screens? and so on.
I'm glad people are thinking of the future. But I wouldn't bet the future on any robots, thanks.
It will be safe. It will be clean. It will be too cheap to meter.
The taxpayers will fund the research. The taxpayers will fund the assembly. The taxpayers will fund the launches. And then when that is all accomplished, after the expenditure of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, it will be handed over to private interests.
Sound familiar?
Of course there is already an enormous amount of energy being received on the surface of the earth. There is already a huge nuclear generator in space beaming energy to the earth's surface. It is proven and reliable technology. But noone owns it.
The technology already exists to gather some of it. Much more could be gathered, but the level of research funding has typically been around $15 million per year. There just hasn't been much interest shown in it by the utilities.
What is the problem with that source of energy? The same problem that would exist with cold fusion. It doesn't have to be centralized. You can't channel it through a gate and make an enormous profit selling it. It doesn't require a gigantic infrastructure that funnels billions into private pockets. You can't create a Dependency with such an energy source, because anyone and everyone could tap it.
When you want to create a Dependent nation, maintain a heirarchy, you must control the resources. When you want to enrich private interests, you must design a gigantic infrastructure. And that's the sole desire that keeps such a boondoggle alive in the thinkers minds..
Now all they have to do is train some of those otherwise worthless E-Coli strains to exhude these gates from their butts.
Then, what the hey, send some of these E-Coli to oh, Jupiter and let them turn the whole planet into a single CPU. Now that would be the shits.
Here's my idea as a musician:
Musicians band together to form regional website co-ops. The musicians get 90% of profit (after cd & packaging and on-site ads and distribution costs), unlike mp3.com (which gets 50%, a still outrageous cut). 10% goes to people (musicians or lackeys) running the site.
I'm convinced that something like this will eliminate most of the majors, and regional indies can make deals with the co-op for wide-area and international distribution.