Agreed, many good uses. It would put all the valets out of work and solve a lot of downtown parking problems since it could drop you off, go park in whatever ramp has space, then come pick you up again when you use an app to call for it. Hmm, now that I think of it, it could make car sharing much more practical. I still worry about the bad uses though. Like any power, government control of the transportation system will be abused. If you happen to have a name similar to someone who talked to someone who works with a terrorist suspect you may find yourself being driven in for questioning when you thought you were on your way to work.
Hard to maintain focus through the atmosphere. You could focus well enough to hit a collection array in LEO but probably not well enough to vaporize rock at distances measured in AU. It also occurs to me that the charging beam could be constant while the ablation beam could be pulsed for energy density.
You're missing the point. Any authority which grants permission can also not grant permission. Services are sold off and shut down. Games and ebooks can be and have been "unsold" retroactively. If you want the software you buy to remain functional, it must operate without the need to call home for permission. There was a recent article about PSP games becoming unavailable for download, even if you already paid for them. No refund was offered. Similarly, you could buy this new version of SimCity only to find that the publisher has decided to discontinue it, rendering your purchase inoperable.
Agreed. I will not buy games which require connection like this. No Starcraft 2, no Diablo 3, no SimCity 2013. The only way to keep this stuff from continuing is to show the game companies that they won't make money with it.
I believe the supposition is that the lasers could act over a long time and at very long ranges when compared to kinetic methods which would have to wait until the thing got close before acting. The earlier you start pushing on the object the less you have to push in order to change its course sufficiently. As far as supplying power, in addition to solar and onboard reactors there is also the possibility of beaming energy from the ground. It would be inefficient, but then you just send way more energy than is needed at the other end.
The dust and vapor going in the opposite direction would likely miss Earth on the other side, and would be relatively insignificant even if it did hit. We get dust and vapor hitting us all the time. Or were you talking about the satellites being space junk? In that case I'd say if we have only so many orbital slots to allocate, using several of them to stave off extinction is a better use than more spy and com sats.
Slashdot Mirror
From their site: "Take off roll 540 ft."
Airplanes have wheels; does that make them flying cars? This is basically just a gyrocopter with fold-up flight parts.
Only if your wheels are off the ground. Although, I wonder if you're supposed to take off and land under the speed limit?
They usually get helos on site fairly quickly in car chases. Take off and you're asking to be shot down.
28mpg claimed on their page.
I'd say also that a flying car needs to not have big dangerous spinning things sticking out.
Hot grits heated by lasers on sharks swimming in it.
Their utility gave them value. Speculators inflated the price.
Agreed, many good uses. It would put all the valets out of work and solve a lot of downtown parking problems since it could drop you off, go park in whatever ramp has space, then come pick you up again when you use an app to call for it. Hmm, now that I think of it, it could make car sharing much more practical. I still worry about the bad uses though. Like any power, government control of the transportation system will be abused. If you happen to have a name similar to someone who talked to someone who works with a terrorist suspect you may find yourself being driven in for questioning when you thought you were on your way to work.
Just make your magnetic tape on a nitrocellulose base.
Hook a ZPM up to the Promethius' shield generater and put it between us and the prominence!
Now try to filter out all the false signals. People are always moving; scratching, twitching, shifting, stretching, etc.
Keyboards are very good for data input. Mice and trackballs are nearly perfect for 2D input. If you want 3D input get a Space Pilot. http://www.3dconnexion.com/products/spacepilot-pro.html
...it can broadcast a signal to brake and a whole row of cars can instantly come to a halt...
Insert hack here.
There are industry standards for CNC machines, which are a form of robot that's been in use for decades. Probably not particularly applicable though.
Hard to maintain focus through the atmosphere. You could focus well enough to hit a collection array in LEO but probably not well enough to vaporize rock at distances measured in AU. It also occurs to me that the charging beam could be constant while the ablation beam could be pulsed for energy density.
They also offer something significant in exchange for operating online. You can log in from any computer anywhere, download and play your games.
I played Mechwarrior 4 Mercs last night. Still works on Win 7.
Amazon Kindle anyone? They did "unsell" certain books retroactively, and actively erased them from people's Kindle's remotely.
You're missing the point. Any authority which grants permission can also not grant permission. Services are sold off and shut down. Games and ebooks can be and have been "unsold" retroactively. If you want the software you buy to remain functional, it must operate without the need to call home for permission. There was a recent article about PSP games becoming unavailable for download, even if you already paid for them. No refund was offered. Similarly, you could buy this new version of SimCity only to find that the publisher has decided to discontinue it, rendering your purchase inoperable.
Agreed. I will not buy games which require connection like this. No Starcraft 2, no Diablo 3, no SimCity 2013. The only way to keep this stuff from continuing is to show the game companies that they won't make money with it.
Good idea. Target practice that cleans up litter. Slow the junk down so it drops out of orbit.
I believe the supposition is that the lasers could act over a long time and at very long ranges when compared to kinetic methods which would have to wait until the thing got close before acting. The earlier you start pushing on the object the less you have to push in order to change its course sufficiently. As far as supplying power, in addition to solar and onboard reactors there is also the possibility of beaming energy from the ground. It would be inefficient, but then you just send way more energy than is needed at the other end.
The dust and vapor going in the opposite direction would likely miss Earth on the other side, and would be relatively insignificant even if it did hit. We get dust and vapor hitting us all the time. Or were you talking about the satellites being space junk? In that case I'd say if we have only so many orbital slots to allocate, using several of them to stave off extinction is a better use than more spy and com sats.
They should call the satellites S.H.A.R.K.S.