They still have the big (and efficient) boosters to put huge objects into space. The main module can be brought by a big booster (something like a Shuttle-type), the rest - by former "nuke messagers" (Topol'-class boosters).
When I see CNN talking about dot-com bubbles, floating high and blowing up, I laugh. And it is funny, actually. Like yeah, right, a company setup of three undergraduates with mom-and-dads' money setting up a business and going to succeed. Their odds are 1:100, at best. Get some experience, and try again.
Another factor is people. Not only the marketing bullshitters, not only the CEO's from hell, but also the "oh-so-clever-programmers-who-think-they-can-do-al most-anything". First think, then do.
People would use internet for purchases, in their supermarkets already had SQL servers and delivery services (like pizza). People would buy things and cars online, if the companies had a working, not a marasmatically "cool" model of presenting their merchandize.
Internet could have been the coolest entertainment medium (and still can), plus information source, but only if the companies would use their brains correctly and listen to their own engeneers instead of PR whores and consultants.
I'm not only disgusted by Adobe (they seemed to be good...), but looks like it's just about time I would (no, not distribute pirated Adobe Photoshop) give all my friends a copy of GIMP and Linux just to kick Adobe in the "soft spot".
And my regrets to all the hi-tech companies in the US of A - after such publicity no Russian programmer would go to work for you.
In Good Old Europe (namely, the Netherlands, Eindhoven, Philips Electronics) much cooler things are created: mobile phones + bluetooth on one chip, videophones, next generation PDAs, etc. Now imagine how long battery life they would have...
Personally, I think that Japan is ahead on the mobile market because their infractructure is much faster to adapt/be changed to new conditions. Imagine building optical network here in Europe (it's only being done now, in Japan it's been done a LONG time ago).
On the other hand, would you like your phone to speak Japanese only? I didn't think so;)
I hope that my "troll" comment has done more good than damage. Thank you for your insightful reply.
Why I've been so sharp mainly because I try to see a bit further in time. If we can have a mp3 sound in games, flashy colors and crispy monitors, why don't we?
But thank you for proving me wrong - and quite gracefully.
IMO, Nintendo is doomed to go out of the market with its GameBoy. See it as a sort of "last breath".
Alot of hitech evolves and improves, and the games would require more and more adaptive equipment to play them. For example, memory sticks, 3d-goggles, custom input devices, etc.
If GameBoy cannot provide such possibilities, it's end is near. Also alot of crap I hear about Nintendo aiming at adult market - people, who earlier played Nintendo games, would buy one and play one. Well, the young generation is simply bigger plus has more "impulse buying behaviour", plus parents who would have no choice but to buy it for their child.
On the good side, simple inputs and hardware limits make game development use imagination and fantasy more than simple "raw power", which is only good. I wish some linux programmes were so easy to interface with...;)
And hey, anybody wants to port linux to this thing?
ASFIK, the Finns are the same group as Komi, which populate Russia's Urals (dated officially 700 years back to have a city). They came to the Urals from the Polar Ocian, presumably, from Siberia. If from Siberia, then they are one of the most acient nations in the world. The Komi are blond, with blue eyes.
The guy has been buying "soles" (a word in which peasants were counted) of dead peasants in Russia, thus becoming very "rich" and admired. It all blew up, when people discovered that the "soles" were of dead people. Ditto happens today with some Tech shares. Capitalism at its glory...
I guess that if this scenario ever comes to life (and it will), then the "code" companies will be selling... yes, "code". But it'll be your code, signed and encrypted to be decrypted only by your assembly plant.
And it's not only the assembly plants that are going to die, but also transportation companies - nobody will need them to move things anymore. The energy companies, on the other hand, are going to be VERY happy.
And about encryption again - do you think that businesses will allow you to get your own assembly plant in your home? Naaaaaaaaaa....
1. you screw up your autoexec.bat and config.sys files and make it run some sort of norton commander. You can do almost anything from there (like from a shell). When you exit norton, GUI would boot. Or, of course, a multi-level, multi-choice boot sequence.
2. You can create a "link" to "command.com" file, set it to run in ms-dos mode. When double-clicked, you'll reboot into ms-dos (starting your ms-dos application...). You can always exit by typing "exit".
It's amazing how 0.01% of bad information outweights 10% of good and valuable one!
I am sure that in my bookmarks there would be a long list of "smart proxy" servers, "just in case".
It also never stops to amaze me how paranoia drives Congressmen (most of whom are computer-illeterate) to block, rather then cherish information access. The benefits BY FAR exceed the losses and everybody knows that. Well, except the Congress that is...
If only Slashdot/GNU/Linux users could prove to the whole nation how lame the system is and how easy it is to "go around" it, then we'd get somewhere!
is for money only. I guess they are going to charge for their so-called "invention" some sort of "legal developer fee". I don't want to see this happen. Do you?
In Russia about 5 years ago a small team of Doctor Hackers have developed a small patch for your NIC. You boot from "NIC" chip, it asks for password, then encrypts all traffic AND your harddisk contents. Easy and elegant, and costs you 5 bucks to reprogramme your NIC. HA!
I am using Opera right now. Evaluating the Win95 version, and hey, it is much faster then Netscape 4.73 or 6 on my Pentium100.
I think making Opera free (but not ads-free) is a good idea - it makes sence, since people would like to have a nice fast neat browser on the same (almost) conditions as Netscape (e.g. quazi-free).
One thing... If only Opera Software made Javascript work a bit better in their browser, everything would be just great!
The people I know are happy with their macs MAINLY because of the GUI ease of use.
(Just kidding! DTP people are using Macs because their photoshop plugins have been optimized for RISC routines. Without the optimization working on a Mac would suck big time).
As soon as Linux has gained some self-respect, you see people making different and (in some cases) useless beautifications of the gui, instead of going for making ease of use for the Joe the User.
While BSD enjoyes Apple's support (which will in the best case scenario last for at least 10 years on), Linux may have some aces up its sleeve.
My guess is that although Apple has Aqua running on BSD kernel, Linux users will have no real difficulty either porting Aqua to Linux or just making Quazi-Aqua on Linux.
It will take some time to educate all those cocky (IMO) mac-admins to use the REAL system such as FreeBSD. I do not think that Apple can get away with simply building a gui around "hands-on" system administration. Thus - it will be necessary to educate users a little bit to go over to "Anti-Mac User Interface".
But here is a chance for Linux - it can be more agile to offer new things (although sometimes not particularly stable). And I know plenty of Mac users who have already tried ppclinux.
To my mind, ISP's, who are doing this file deletion, are violating some of the user's right. The clause "we reserve the right to delete your files without any notice..." is normally just a security buffer in case the entire RAID array goes down.
Any ISP, that has at least any concern about its users, should either block the download of these files "chmod -r somename.mp3" (I hope I've spelled that right) or give some notice about their actions, so that the matter can be settled.
The station is almost 20 years old. The "construction-calculated" life of a space craft, even a station is not more then 8-12 years. Long time spent on the orbit has its consequences:
1. The hull is not what it used to be anymore (micrometiorites and space dust). Even though the hull is made of special steel (20 to 40 times stronger then normal steel, can take alot of damage), it gets hit, radiated, etc.
2. The equipment is outdated. The spacestation navigation computer has been changed, but the rest of the sub-systems, the wiring, etc. are out of date and show the signs of decay (if the toilet breaks down, there'll be alot of trouble).
3. The simple calculation of training and bringing up the repair crews, material, etc. are more then sinking the station and getting a new one on the orbit. And that's the main reason right there.
Slashdot Mirror
Another factor is people. Not only the marketing bullshitters, not only the CEO's from hell, but also the "oh-so-clever-programmers-who-think-they-can-do-al most-anything". First think, then do.
People would use internet for purchases, in their supermarkets already had SQL servers and delivery services (like pizza). People would buy things and cars online, if the companies had a working, not a marasmatically "cool" model of presenting their merchandize.
Internet could have been the coolest entertainment medium (and still can), plus information source, but only if the companies would use their brains correctly and listen to their own engeneers instead of PR whores and consultants.
and some of the best programmers are coming from Urals and St. Petersburg.
And my regrets to all the hi-tech companies in the US of A - after such publicity no Russian programmer would go to work for you.
(Note to myself: Better stick to Europe)
I use one ISP to read /., another one - "The Economist", and by girlfriend's login to read "Gamespot". Damn! No more "click-throughs"!
But in the end this system will not work. For the business isps - ok, companies need real-time content. But for consumers surfing the web - NEVER!
It will put internet back to the 1990's - BBS (paid access) and free hobby and scientific sites. Do you want that?
Personally, I think that Japan is ahead on the mobile market because their infractructure is much faster to adapt/be changed to new conditions. Imagine building optical network here in Europe (it's only being done now, in Japan it's been done a LONG time ago).
On the other hand, would you like your phone to speak Japanese only? I didn't think so ;)
Why I've been so sharp mainly because I try to see a bit further in time. If we can have a mp3 sound in games, flashy colors and crispy monitors, why don't we?
But thank you for proving me wrong - and quite gracefully.
Alot of hitech evolves and improves, and the games would require more and more adaptive equipment to play them. For example, memory sticks, 3d-goggles, custom input devices, etc.
If GameBoy cannot provide such possibilities, it's end is near. Also alot of crap I hear about Nintendo aiming at adult market - people, who earlier played Nintendo games, would buy one and play one. Well, the young generation is simply bigger plus has more "impulse buying behaviour", plus parents who would have no choice but to buy it for their child.
On the good side, simple inputs and hardware limits make game development use imagination and fantasy more than simple "raw power", which is only good. I wish some linux programmes were so easy to interface with... ;)
And hey, anybody wants to port linux to this thing?
ASFIK, the Finns are the same group as Komi, which populate Russia's Urals (dated officially 700 years back to have a city). They came to the Urals from the Polar Ocian, presumably, from Siberia. If from Siberia, then they are one of the most acient nations in the world. The Komi are blond, with blue eyes.
How about "brainf*ck"? Plain and simple language.
The guy has been buying "soles" (a word in which peasants were counted) of dead peasants in Russia, thus becoming very "rich" and admired. It all blew up, when people discovered that the "soles" were of dead people. Ditto happens today with some Tech shares. Capitalism at its glory...
And it's not only the assembly plants that are going to die, but also transportation companies - nobody will need them to move things anymore. The energy companies, on the other hand, are going to be VERY happy.
And about encryption again - do you think that businesses will allow you to get your own assembly plant in your home? Naaaaaaaaaa....
It can be done via 2 ways:
1. you screw up your autoexec.bat and config.sys files and make it run some sort of norton commander. You can do almost anything from there (like from a shell). When you exit norton, GUI would boot. Or, of course, a multi-level, multi-choice boot sequence.
2. You can create a "link" to "command.com" file, set it to run in ms-dos mode. When double-clicked, you'll reboot into ms-dos (starting your ms-dos application...). You can always exit by typing "exit".
But seriously, Bush has given an impression of political whore, who is willing to be ignorant enough just for the sake of winning.
Good bye, USA. You are not a super-nation anymore!
It's amazing how 0.01% of bad information outweights 10% of good and valuable one!
I am sure that in my bookmarks there would be a long list of "smart proxy" servers, "just in case".
It also never stops to amaze me how paranoia drives Congressmen (most of whom are computer-illeterate) to block, rather then cherish information access. The benefits BY FAR exceed the losses and everybody knows that. Well, except the Congress that is...
If only Slashdot/GNU/Linux users could prove to the whole nation how lame the system is and how easy it is to "go around" it, then we'd get somewhere!
- Iridium will not burn in vain
- The world will still have its own satellite telephone network
Bad:
- The astronomers will still curse Iridium for its "flare" effect
- Normal people will never use Iridium again...
I'd expect Opera to merge with some tech company like Real and kick butt on their Opera imbedded or similar products.
I think making Opera free (but not ads-free) is a good idea - it makes sence, since people would like to have a nice fast neat browser on the same (almost) conditions as Netscape (e.g. quazi-free).
One thing... If only Opera Software made Javascript work a bit better in their browser, everything would be just great!
(Just kidding! DTP people are using Macs because their photoshop plugins have been optimized for RISC routines. Without the optimization working on a Mac would suck big time).
I guess that's the price of popularity...
My guess is that although Apple has Aqua running on BSD kernel, Linux users will have no real difficulty either porting Aqua to Linux or just making Quazi-Aqua on Linux.
It will take some time to educate all those cocky (IMO) mac-admins to use the REAL system such as FreeBSD. I do not think that Apple can get away with simply building a gui around "hands-on" system administration. Thus - it will be necessary to educate users a little bit to go over to "Anti-Mac User Interface".
But here is a chance for Linux - it can be more agile to offer new things (although sometimes not particularly stable). And I know plenty of Mac users who have already tried ppclinux.
Time will show what's best, anyway.
Any ISP, that has at least any concern about its users, should either block the download of these files "chmod -r somename.mp3" (I hope I've spelled that right) or give some notice about their actions, so that the matter can be settled.
Anyone knows of such ISP?
1. The hull is not what it used to be anymore (micrometiorites and space dust). Even though the hull is made of special steel (20 to 40 times stronger then normal steel, can take alot of damage), it gets hit, radiated, etc.
2. The equipment is outdated. The spacestation navigation computer has been changed, but the rest of the sub-systems, the wiring, etc. are out of date and show the signs of decay (if the toilet breaks down, there'll be alot of trouble).
3. The simple calculation of training and bringing up the repair crews, material, etc. are more then sinking the station and getting a new one on the orbit. And that's the main reason right there.