Well, the interesting question, at least politically, is now this: what happens if the Ba'athists and other rebels do not cease fighting, but instead US and Iraqi casualities continues and possibly rise? I'm not convinced that capturing Saddam will make all Iraqis happy with the US occupation, regardless of our best intentions, especially not those already attacking the US military. I'll be very interested to see how it shakes out, especially in regards to next November.
I know that one of the biggest problem facing the place I worked this summer (a truely enlightened place for programmers) was trying to teach "old" programmers not to spend so much time trying to write concise, small, effeicient programs. Their time and resources can be better allocated in other ways. Not to say that lazy and bad programming is good of course (wow, that's convincing), but it ceases to be AS important since the hardware is far beyond the software. But this is just one isolated example.
I'm sorry, I modded this down by accident, damn scrolly wheel f*cked me again, I should be more careful. Please mod parent up, I just wish I could mod the same comment twice. I'm sorry polar_bear', good comments should be always rewarded [if not for karma then] so more people will read them.
Legislation is often (and hopefully in this case is) just a threat to force the industry to regulate itself. Even a good liberal like myself can agree that self regulation is preferable to government mandates (read: laws). I think most lawmakers would agree with this, in fact many have indicated just this on several occsaions. Hopefully the industry will wake up and start enforcing its ratings just like you said. Perhaps if they do not, we deserve this new law.
It may be a cliche cop-out, but if you don't like the government, vote in a new one! Yeah, we all don't live in the "inland empire," but we can take action. I personally plan to buy the most violent video game I can for any little kid that wants it. Fight Whitey(tm) I always say. Turnout in France's most recent election was low, coming in at 90%. That's low? We rarely crack 55%. So many good geeks not voting... *wipe a tear*
You also bring up another point: the federalization of crimes. This has been increasingly at an almost allarming level in the past few decades. We (citizens) bitch about the federal government getting too bloated and taking away our rights, yet at the same time we want them to pick up the slack when the states or market drops the ball. Perhaps it is a public good to have less exposure to violence for our young people, it certainally does not increase violent crime to do so. Yes it would be nice if every parent would take the few hours a week to spend time with their kid to show him/her that they are loved and good and what is right and wrong, reality from fiction, but since we can't force that, government has to resort to less noble aims.
These are issues that are not going anywhere any time soon. Heck, if they did,/. would lose at least 10% of its front page!
Slashdot really has to stop taking out my favorite news source (washingtonpost.com) especially because I'm now 3000 miles from home and no longer subscribe!
Let's see how this gets modded:
Rolling Right Along Scooter Meets Few Obstacles, but Safety Issues Grow
By Caroline E. Mayer Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, April 25, 2002; 10:45 AM
Segway, the high-tech scooter that's been hailed as the future of personal transportation, can travel only 12.5 miles per hour, but it has been winning access to the nation's sidewalks with lightning speed.
In the four months since the heavily touted invention was unveiled to the public, 20 states, including Virginia, have passed laws to allow the Human Transporter, as the scooter is sometimes called, to be used on sidewalks.
Similar laws are awaiting the governor's signature in Maryland and two other states, while 16 states and the District are scheduled to consider the issue by the end of the year.
Today, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works also approved on a voice vote a measure that would allow the Segway to be used on sidewalks and bike paths built with federal funds--as long as local authorities agree.
The Segway looks like a rotary lawn mower, but is powered by a battery, stabilized by gyroscopes and has 10 computers that keep it balanced. The rider stands on a platform over its single axle and steers with a set of handlebars, leaning forward to move ahead and leaning back to slow down.
Its inventor, Dean Kamen, is an engineering legend with more than 150 patents, many for medical devices such as the infusion pump that allows diabetics to lead more normal lives, a wheelchair that climbs stairs and a heart stent now used by Vice President Cheney. Kamen was selected to receive the prestigious $500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize for inventors last night.
While Segway is being tested--and heartily applauded--by the Postal Service, the Atlanta police force and General Electric Co., a small but growing number of medical experts, traffic engineers, consumer advocates and community activists are concerned about their use on sidewalks.
"I'm not against Segway devices--they're phenomenally innovative and exciting--but I'm concerned that if we allow [them] onto sidewalks, this will be a major injury waiting to happen," said Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio.
"These weigh 69 to 95 pounds, depending on the model, can carry a person up to 250 pounds plus cargo up to 75 pounds. With that much mass, even traveling at 12.5 miles an hour, the virtual laws of physics say they won't be able to stop on a dime."
Charles Trainor, chief traffic engineer for Philadelphia, is equally concerned. "Our sidewalks are pretty crowded now, even without a Segway, and some of our center-city streets aren't wide enough" to accommodate pedestrians and the new scooter, he said.
The District's acting director of transportation, Dan Tangherlini, said, "We'll certainly have to look at all the safety and traffic concerns that are raised. But we look at anything that moves people out of their vehicles and has a potential to reduce congestion as a good thing."
The scooter "is not intended to be used on public roads and highways," said Brian C. Toohey, Segway's vice president for international and regulatory affairs. If it were, it would need turn signals and rear-view mirrors among other features, he said. Rather, "we believe it is primarily a consumer product that should be used on sidewalks."
Toohey concedes that it was unusual for the company to seek regulatory approval--both from U.S. regulators and from state legislatures--before selling the product to the public. "We're simply being proactive and had quite a lot of success," he said. "What we've done is show the product, demonstrate it, and let them [the legislators] experience it. When we've done that, people get big smiles on their faces, and they become very supportive."
Toohey said the company spent less than $1 million to hire lobbyists and get the state approvals passed.
But a coalition of consumer advocates asked the Senate committee to delay a vote on its bill until hearings could be held to weigh the safety issues. "Why are Segways different from bikes, Rollerblades and scooters, which are not permitted on sidewalks in many cities?" the groups asked.
The measure was introduced by Sen. Robert C. Smith, Republican of New Hampshire, where Segway LLC is headquartered. Committee aides said no hearing was needed because the legislation only involves a technical change to complement laws already passed by the states.
Erik Smulson, spokesman for the committee, said it is not unusual for it to vote on bills without holding hearings. Smith said safety issues are the responsibility of the Senate Commerce Committee, not his panel.
Originally known by the code names "It" and "Ginger," the Segway was touted by supporters as a more important development than the personal computer, the Internet, or even the car.
Before the product was publicly unveiled, the company requested--and received--letters from federal safety regulators about how it would be regulated. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that since it would be considered similar to a motorized wheelchair, NHTSA would not regulate it. But the Consumer Product Safety Commission's attorney concluded that the Segway could be considered a consumer product and thus subject to his panel's jurisdiction.
Segway asked the CPSC to review the scooter, and the agency suggested that the handlebars, which were turned up, be reversed so they wouldn't catch the straps of women's purses. It also urged Segway to enclose the wheels so toes and fingers couldn't be caught in the spokes. Both were done.
Ronald Medford, the staff member who made these suggestions, has taken a government-approved sabbatical to work for Kamen's firm, DEKA Research & Development Corp., which created Segway. Medford is the "in-house critic and adviser, having nothing to do with sales and marketing, but only telling us what to do to make products safe," said Gary Bridge, Segway's senior vice president of marketing.
To avoid conflict of interest, Bridge said, the government continues to pay Medford's salary ($138,200 a year) and Medford has promised to recuse himself from any product decisions involving DEKA and Segway when he returns to the CPSC later this year.
This may not be on the topic of Apple, but what exactly does this mean?
"(they conveniently neglect to point out that Darwinistic propaganda equating us with animals might have helped to spread the disease in the first place)." This in reference to part one of the article about the PBS series Evolution and how Darwin's theories helped us to understand AIDS.
Could someone (not just a 'he-is-a-nut' flamer/troll) tell me what this means or what the rationale is for this line? Is the implication that God is punishing us for our evolutionary beliefs and culture?
I'm confused, and just a bit curious.
--I used to have a sig. Then my karma ate my dogma and had my sig for dessert.
"The problem that law enforcement and intelligence agencies face is not insufficient information -- "they are choking on information," Dempsey said. The deficiency is in targeting and analysis. The Patriot Act was based on "the assumption if you pour more data into the system, then the picture would become clearer, and I think that's a false presumption," Dempsey said."
Not only are ISPs and others having a hard time dealing with the flood of requests, but it seems Uncle Sam doesn't have the resources to crunch the data it's currently getting. This might be good in so far as it may someday make law enforcement more selective of the information they collect, or perhaps we'll all just be on file indefinately. Someday when they dig up Indiana's Arc from the storage they'll find thousands of hard drives full of emails and chat sessions.
Since the national budget is a bit tight this year, what with the Bush tax cuts and economy not doing too hot, perhaps they should hire this guy: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/06/125123 2&mode=nested&tid=159 to build it. "The total cost of track, train and associated hardware was $4,070.07, which works out to be $13.57 per foot. One mile of this type of monorail would cost you $71,649.60, a bargain by today's standards!" Let's see NASA beat that!
--offtopic: adj. When a moderator does not get your joke.
I'm with you, but this round time I HAVE the cash so I might finally upgrade. (Hell, for only $75, how could I NOT have the cash?) I know my jaw almost actually hit the floor (I would quote the article, but see below)
On a completely unrelated note, or maybe not so unrelated after all, I can no longer read the article! Perhaps my internet is screwy, or perhaps the tech report was slashdotted in less than 10 minutes. That would be somewhere deliciously between really amazing and really scary. Well,/. DID take out Apple's servers, so I suppose anything is possible...
--Anyone downing on.sigs just can't think of a good one
Perhaps I'm just really wrong (wouldn't be the first time) but do commercial GPS devices still have a small imperfection built in, along the scale of 10 meters (or was it more like 100)? I remember reading that the government did this to prevent terrorists from using GPS to pinpoint landmarks like the white house. This causes problems for some users though, such as being off by a city block or two, depending on the inaccuracy.
--Please, don't waste your moderation points knocking me down. They can be used so much more effectivly elevating a worthy poster elsewhere...
Mod me down for flamebait, but I never thought I'd see the a USA Today article on slashdot. If anyone has not read a copy of USA Today, it is a sad commentary that such a publication is the most read newspaper in America. I was relieved to see that it was simply an AP article but still. Perhaps I'm just not the target audiance, being an NPR, NYTimes, and WashPost junkie. Oh right, and the slashdot thing too. Heck, I just liked that they felt the need to put quotes aroud "nanotechnology." Where's Dr. Evil when you need him?
--Forget about the base Charlie, somebody set us up the bomb!
Wonder how long I could hold off the feds with a couple of thes? Course, one DOES cost about the same as the taxes I owe, but this plan comes with free room and board!
...but this is becoming a reality. An unintentional (I can only hope) loophole in NAFTA (http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/english/index.htm) allows corporations to sue governments whenever they act in ways that hurt profits, even when the governemntal actions are both legal and constitutional. This is done in secret, non-appealable tribunals. For more information look here (http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/CH__11/) or here (http://www.wtoaction.org/greenfield4.phtml) or just search everyone's friend (http://www.google.com/). It is really kind of scarey, even for one such as myself who actually believes in globalization, just not like this.
Finally, some equality in technology! First they threatened to make men obsolete with synthetic sperm and cloning, now they can do it outside of a women. A few more decades and sex, not to mention most of the human race, will no longer be necessary! Yay...oh wait.
I was looking at my friend's Mac using iPhoto (I swear I don't own a Mac, I only run a M$ OS). Anyway, iPhoto can change the size of thumbnails with a slide bar at the bottom of the screen, from literally thumb-sized all the way out to full image size. Its actually pretty cool. So, yeah, where is the line? 5%? 20%? 80%?
Beside the cost and usability, the article also alludes to one of the other obsticles to the technology - the broadcasters. Basically if any consumer is able to record every Simpsons episode ever, sindication becomes pointless. This goes beyond simply being able to fast forward through comercials (though this can't make them happy either).
This is the same reason networks resist putting out series on DVD or VHS (until recently; how long have we waited for season one of the Simpsons, and now the rest?). These "evil" corporations may be holding up progress that would make life better for us consumers, but without a way to turn a profit, there will be no new programs for us to enjoy.
Damned if you do...
--Mmmmm, sigs.... *drool*
You know the real tragedy...
on
Think And Click
·
· Score: 0
...this could be the end for everyone's favorite game (http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/reviews/0,10 867,2699724,00.html).
-- A sig a day keeps the IT guys away
I don't know about you, but pulling off those ten move combos is such a pain. It would be really nice to just THINK a double backflip kick combo, especially for those of us who get our asses handed to us with disturbing regularity... Would be a different game tho.
Seems like just a natural extention...
on
Transparent Concrete
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
...after all, Scotty already gave us transparent alumnium to replace plexiglas in Star Trek IV...
...is that it will never stop working, no matter how much Guinness you drink. Forgetting to keep a charge is no longer one of the unfortunate side effects (http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/01/23/22322 10&mode=thread), just as soon as we figure out how to shrink the damn thing.
I hate to second guess people (OK, makbe I don't, so sue me), but I just hope they do take this movement into account when they do their measurements, since it will take time to bounce signals back and forth, and more importantly nanometers will add up over several years until they are just a little bit significant. (60 sec x 60 min x 24 hrs x 365 days x 5 yrs x 1 nanometer = 157,680,000 nanometers, or.15768 meters) Feel free to check my math, it's late...
Building on orpheus2000's poast the year will be when the affordable LCDs are bigger AND can run reasonable resolutions. The have them on laptops, why not for the rest of us? (Tho, IMHO, anyone who pulls 1200x1600 on a 15" display is totally nuts, LCD or no.)
"Some day I will rule the world. Until then I will rule this plate of peas." -FB
If you liked Reisner, you should read Norris Huntley Jr.'s The Great Thirst, an amazingly well-researched and thoughtfully written book, and it only really LOOKS like a tome. A more radical, leftist perspective on the issue of water in the American West is Donald Worster's Rivers of Empire; I don't agree with all his conclusions, but he raises several interesting and very fundamental points.
God bless a liberal arts education!
-FB
"Some day I will rule the world. Until then I will rule this plate of peas." -FB
Slashdot Mirror
My favorite news outlet covered this story on Thursday's All Things Considered:
Well, the interesting question, at least politically, is now this: what happens if the Ba'athists and other rebels do not cease fighting, but instead US and Iraqi casualities continues and possibly rise? I'm not convinced that capturing Saddam will make all Iraqis happy with the US occupation, regardless of our best intentions, especially not those already attacking the US military. I'll be very interested to see how it shakes out, especially in regards to next November.
I know that one of the biggest problem facing the place I worked this summer (a truely enlightened place for programmers) was trying to teach "old" programmers not to spend so much time trying to write concise, small, effeicient programs. Their time and resources can be better allocated in other ways. Not to say that lazy and bad programming is good of course (wow, that's convincing), but it ceases to be AS important since the hardware is far beyond the software. But this is just one isolated example.
Lose the battle. Win the war.
I'm sorry, I modded this down by accident, damn scrolly wheel f*cked me again, I should be more careful. Please mod parent up, I just wish I could mod the same comment twice. I'm sorry polar_bear', good comments should be always rewarded [if not for karma then] so more people will read them.
Legislation is often (and hopefully in this case is) just a threat to force the industry to regulate itself. Even a good liberal like myself can agree that self regulation is preferable to government mandates (read: laws). I think most lawmakers would agree with this, in fact many have indicated just this on several occsaions. Hopefully the industry will wake up and start enforcing its ratings just like you said. Perhaps if they do not, we deserve this new law.
/. would lose at least 10% of its front page!
.sig sucks too
It may be a cliche cop-out, but if you don't like the government, vote in a new one! Yeah, we all don't live in the "inland empire," but we can take action. I personally plan to buy the most violent video game I can for any little kid that wants it. Fight Whitey(tm) I always say. Turnout in France's most recent election was low, coming in at 90%. That's low? We rarely crack 55%. So many good geeks not voting... *wipe a tear*
You also bring up another point: the federalization of crimes. This has been increasingly at an almost allarming level in the past few decades. We (citizens) bitch about the federal government getting too bloated and taking away our rights, yet at the same time we want them to pick up the slack when the states or market drops the ball. Perhaps it is a public good to have less exposure to violence for our young people, it certainally does not increase violent crime to do so. Yes it would be nice if every parent would take the few hours a week to spend time with their kid to show him/her that they are loved and good and what is right and wrong, reality from fiction, but since we can't force that, government has to resort to less noble aims.
These are issues that are not going anywhere any time soon. Heck, if they did,
--My other
Slashdot really has to stop taking out my favorite news source (washingtonpost.com) especially because I'm now 3000 miles from home and no longer subscribe!
Let's see how this gets modded:
Rolling Right Along
Scooter Meets Few Obstacles, but Safety Issues Grow
By Caroline E. Mayer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 25, 2002; 10:45 AM
Segway, the high-tech scooter that's been hailed as the future of personal transportation, can travel only 12.5 miles per hour, but it has been winning access to the nation's sidewalks with lightning speed.
In the four months since the heavily touted invention was unveiled to the public, 20 states, including Virginia, have passed laws to allow the Human Transporter, as the scooter is sometimes called, to be used on sidewalks.
Similar laws are awaiting the governor's signature in Maryland and two other states, while 16 states and the District are scheduled to consider the issue by the end of the year.
Today, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works also approved on a voice vote a measure that would allow the Segway to be used on sidewalks and bike paths built with federal funds--as long as local authorities agree.
The Segway looks like a rotary lawn mower, but is powered by a battery, stabilized by gyroscopes and has 10 computers that keep it balanced. The rider stands on a platform over its single axle and steers with a set of handlebars, leaning forward to move ahead and leaning back to slow down.
Its inventor, Dean Kamen, is an engineering legend with more than 150 patents, many for medical devices such as the infusion pump that allows diabetics to lead more normal lives, a wheelchair that climbs stairs and a heart stent now used by Vice President Cheney. Kamen was selected to receive the prestigious $500,000 Lemelson-MIT prize for inventors last night.
While Segway is being tested--and heartily applauded--by the Postal Service, the Atlanta police force and General Electric Co., a small but growing number of medical experts, traffic engineers, consumer advocates and community activists are concerned about their use on sidewalks.
"I'm not against Segway devices--they're phenomenally innovative and exciting--but I'm concerned that if we allow [them] onto sidewalks, this will be a major injury waiting to happen," said Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio.
"These weigh 69 to 95 pounds, depending on the model, can carry a person up to 250 pounds plus cargo up to 75 pounds. With that much mass, even traveling at 12.5 miles an hour, the virtual laws of physics say they won't be able to stop on a dime."
Charles Trainor, chief traffic engineer for Philadelphia, is equally concerned. "Our sidewalks are pretty crowded now, even without a Segway, and some of our center-city streets aren't wide enough" to accommodate pedestrians and the new scooter, he said.
The District's acting director of transportation, Dan Tangherlini, said, "We'll certainly have to look at all the safety and traffic concerns that are raised. But we look at anything that moves people out of their vehicles and has a potential to reduce congestion as a good thing."
The scooter "is not intended to be used on public roads and highways," said Brian C. Toohey, Segway's vice president for international and regulatory affairs. If it were, it would need turn signals and rear-view mirrors among other features, he said. Rather, "we believe it is primarily a consumer product that should be used on sidewalks."
Toohey concedes that it was unusual for the company to seek regulatory approval--both from U.S. regulators and from state legislatures--before selling the product to the public. "We're simply being proactive and had quite a lot of success," he said. "What we've done is show the product, demonstrate it, and let them [the legislators] experience it. When we've done that, people get big smiles on their faces, and they become very supportive."
Toohey said the company spent less than $1 million to hire lobbyists and get the state approvals passed.
But a coalition of consumer advocates asked the Senate committee to delay a vote on its bill until hearings could be held to weigh the safety issues. "Why are Segways different from bikes, Rollerblades and scooters, which are not permitted on sidewalks in many cities?" the groups asked.
The measure was introduced by Sen. Robert C. Smith, Republican of New Hampshire, where Segway LLC is headquartered. Committee aides said no hearing was needed because the legislation only involves a technical change to complement laws already passed by the states.
Erik Smulson, spokesman for the committee, said it is not unusual for it to vote on bills without holding hearings. Smith said safety issues are the responsibility of the Senate Commerce Committee, not his panel.
Originally known by the code names "It" and "Ginger," the Segway was touted by supporters as a more important development than the personal computer, the Internet, or even the car.
Before the product was publicly unveiled, the company requested--and received--letters from federal safety regulators about how it would be regulated. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that since it would be considered similar to a motorized wheelchair, NHTSA would not regulate it. But the Consumer Product Safety Commission's attorney concluded that the Segway could be considered a consumer product and thus subject to his panel's jurisdiction.
Segway asked the CPSC to review the scooter, and the agency suggested that the handlebars, which were turned up, be reversed so they wouldn't catch the straps of women's purses. It also urged Segway to enclose the wheels so toes and fingers couldn't be caught in the spokes. Both were done.
Ronald Medford, the staff member who made these suggestions, has taken a government-approved sabbatical to work for Kamen's firm, DEKA Research & Development Corp., which created Segway. Medford is the "in-house critic and adviser, having nothing to do with sales and marketing, but only telling us what to do to make products safe," said Gary Bridge, Segway's senior vice president of marketing.
To avoid conflict of interest, Bridge said, the government continues to pay Medford's salary ($138,200 a year) and Medford has promised to recuse himself from any product decisions involving DEKA and Segway when he returns to the CPSC later this year.
This may not be on the topic of Apple, but what exactly does this mean?
"(they conveniently neglect to point out that Darwinistic propaganda equating us with animals might have helped to spread the disease in the first place)." This in reference to part one of the article about the PBS series Evolution and how Darwin's theories helped us to understand AIDS.
Could someone (not just a 'he-is-a-nut' flamer/troll) tell me what this means or what the rationale is for this line? Is the implication that God is punishing us for our evolutionary beliefs and culture?
I'm confused, and just a bit curious.
--I used to have a sig. Then my karma ate my dogma and had my sig for dessert.
Quoting from the article:
"The problem that law enforcement and intelligence agencies face is not insufficient information -- "they are choking on information," Dempsey said. The deficiency is in targeting and analysis. The Patriot Act was based on "the assumption if you pour more data into the system, then the picture would become clearer, and I think that's a false presumption," Dempsey said."
Not only are ISPs and others having a hard time dealing with the flood of requests, but it seems Uncle Sam doesn't have the resources to crunch the data it's currently getting. This might be good in so far as it may someday make law enforcement more selective of the information they collect, or perhaps we'll all just be on file indefinately. Someday when they dig up Indiana's Arc from the storage they'll find thousands of hard drives full of emails and chat sessions.
Just my $.02
Since the national budget is a bit tight this year, what with the Bush tax cuts and economy not doing too hot, perhaps they should hire this guy: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/06/125123 2&mode=nested&tid=159 to build it. "The total cost of track, train and associated hardware was $4,070.07, which works out to be $13.57 per foot. One mile of this type of monorail would cost you $71,649.60, a bargain by today's standards!" Let's see NASA beat that!
--offtopic: adj. When a moderator does not get your joke.
I'm with you, but this round time I HAVE the cash so I might finally upgrade. (Hell, for only $75, how could I NOT have the cash?) I know my jaw almost actually hit the floor (I would quote the article, but see below)
/. DID take out Apple's servers, so I suppose anything is possible...
.sigs just can't think of a good one
On a completely unrelated note, or maybe not so unrelated after all, I can no longer read the article! Perhaps my internet is screwy, or perhaps the tech report was slashdotted in less than 10 minutes. That would be somewhere deliciously between really amazing and really scary. Well,
--Anyone downing on
Perhaps I'm just really wrong (wouldn't be the first time) but do commercial GPS devices still have a small imperfection built in, along the scale of 10 meters (or was it more like 100)? I remember reading that the government did this to prevent terrorists from using GPS to pinpoint landmarks like the white house. This causes problems for some users though, such as being off by a city block or two, depending on the inaccuracy.
--Please, don't waste your moderation points knocking me down. They can be used so much more effectivly elevating a worthy poster elsewhere...
Mod me down for flamebait, but I never thought I'd see the a USA Today article on slashdot. If anyone has not read a copy of USA Today, it is a sad commentary that such a publication is the most read newspaper in America. I was relieved to see that it was simply an AP article but still. Perhaps I'm just not the target audiance, being an NPR, NYTimes, and WashPost junkie. Oh right, and the slashdot thing too. Heck, I just liked that they felt the need to put quotes aroud "nanotechnology." Where's Dr. Evil when you need him?
--Forget about the base Charlie, somebody set us up the bomb!
Wonder how long I could hold off the feds with a couple of thes? Course, one DOES cost about the same as the taxes I owe, but this plan comes with free room and board!
.sig can beat up your .sig
--my
I really feel for the people who got ripped off yet...
.sig lunch-lady Dorris?" "Yes, yes we do." "Then .sig me up woman!" "Okey dokey."
Isn't the first rule of life, on the internet especially, is that if it says it is free, you DO NOT give out your credit card number? Just a thought.
--"Do you have any
...but this is becoming a reality. An unintentional (I can only hope) loophole in NAFTA (http://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/english/index.htm) allows corporations to sue governments whenever they act in ways that hurt profits, even when the governemntal actions are both legal and constitutional. This is done in secret, non-appealable tribunals. For more information look here (http://www.citizen.org/trade/nafta/CH__11/) or here (http://www.wtoaction.org/greenfield4.phtml) or just search everyone's friend (http://www.google.com/). It is really kind of scarey, even for one such as myself who actually believes in globalization, just not like this.
Finally, some equality in technology! First they threatened to make men obsolete with synthetic sperm and cloning, now they can do it outside of a women. A few more decades and sex, not to mention most of the human race, will no longer be necessary! Yay...oh wait.
I was looking at my friend's Mac using iPhoto (I swear I don't own a Mac, I only run a M$ OS). Anyway, iPhoto can change the size of thumbnails with a slide bar at the bottom of the screen, from literally thumb-sized all the way out to full image size. Its actually pretty cool. So, yeah, where is the line? 5%? 20%? 80%?
--sig me up woman!
Beside the cost and usability, the article also alludes to one of the other obsticles to the technology - the broadcasters. Basically if any consumer is able to record every Simpsons episode ever, sindication becomes pointless. This goes beyond simply being able to fast forward through comercials (though this can't make them happy either). This is the same reason networks resist putting out series on DVD or VHS (until recently; how long have we waited for season one of the Simpsons, and now the rest?). These "evil" corporations may be holding up progress that would make life better for us consumers, but without a way to turn a profit, there will be no new programs for us to enjoy. Damned if you do... --Mmmmm, sigs.... *drool*
...this could be the end for everyone's favorite game (http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/reviews/0,10 867,2699724,00.html).
-- A sig a day keeps the IT guys away
I don't know about you, but pulling off those ten move combos is such a pain. It would be really nice to just THINK a double backflip kick combo, especially for those of us who get our asses handed to us with disturbing regularity... Would be a different game tho.
...after all, Scotty already gave us transparent alumnium to replace plexiglas in Star Trek IV...
...is that it will never stop working, no matter how much Guinness you drink. Forgetting to keep a charge is no longer one of the unfortunate side effects (http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/01/23/22322 10&mode=thread), just as soon as we figure out how to shrink the damn thing.
I hate to second guess people (OK, makbe I don't, so sue me), but I just hope they do take this movement into account when they do their measurements, since it will take time to bounce signals back and forth, and more importantly nanometers will add up over several years until they are just a little bit significant. (60 sec x 60 min x 24 hrs x 365 days x 5 yrs x 1 nanometer = 157,680,000 nanometers, or .15768 meters) Feel free to check my math, it's late...
Building on orpheus2000's poast the year will be when the affordable LCDs are bigger AND can run reasonable resolutions. The have them on laptops, why not for the rest of us? (Tho, IMHO, anyone who pulls 1200x1600 on a 15" display is totally nuts, LCD or no.)
"Some day I will rule the world. Until then I will rule this plate of peas." -FB
If you liked Reisner, you should read Norris Huntley Jr.'s The Great Thirst, an amazingly well-researched and thoughtfully written book, and it only really LOOKS like a tome. A more radical, leftist perspective on the issue of water in the American West is Donald Worster's Rivers of Empire; I don't agree with all his conclusions, but he raises several interesting and very fundamental points.
God bless a liberal arts education!
-FB
"Some day I will rule the world. Until then I will rule this plate of peas." -FB