"The advent of this kind of thing may indeed precipitate an interesting change in how military personnel dress and expose themselves in combat situations. Mirrored helmets for everyone who could possibly be in range would seem a likely first step..."
Mirrored helmets are sniper bait, but a full-face combat helmet system with auto-darkening lenses would reduce eye damage from reflections. Auto-darkening welding lenses are cheap to produce.
The HMMWV is not ideal for mobility. It is a cheap light tactical truck.
Where a laser would be a good fit is in upcoming hybrid-drive FCS-type tracked vehicles. Tracks give far superior mobility, more usable interior space, and can carry more armor. The hybrid electric system offers plenty of electrical power.
"Do we want to settle for renting a 3rd class berth on Chinese and Russian ships for the next 50 years, after we pretty much pioneered the way?"
Once they develop the tech we can take advantage of it, exactly as those countries have taken advantage of tech developed elsewhere. There is nothing wrong with benefiting from the other fellows R&D.:)
"Actually, the way to bring down the cost of sending humans into space is to simply do it. After the research has been done and the ships have been built, the cost of actually launching humans into space is relatively trivial."
But still not as cheap as saturating areas to be researched with unmanned spacecraft. The idea of meatsploration is a hangover of terrestrial exploration. When the meat is merely a sensor operator, the meat can sit in control centers elsewhere. We need to explore space to exploit it, which doesn't mean we need to send humans for expensive thrill rides.
"How can any grand initiative that takes longer than eight -- or four -- years to implement ever again be achieved?"
By modular initiatives! Yes, really. Break programs down into packages with short-term goals, which as a bonus turns up the pressure to do the job.
This would be easier with unmanned craft. We are already replacing manned aircraft with UAVs, because the meat exists mostly to monitor sensors and meat has poor endurance. There is every reason to do the same thing with spacecraft and send the tourists later.
What we COULD do is dump the manned missions until we, as a society, evolve far beyond our primitive level of technology. Send machines, many machines, which would be both cost effective and expendable. The rush to send meat into space was understandable during the Cold War, but is not wise today.
"Is there a way to get a feeling of what the site's about without creating a fake account?"
I'm old too, but IMO a fake account is the best kind. I want information, not to broadcast information. There are no negatives to using a fake account, and you can always add a legit account later.
"In this state, too many people smell like Old Milwaukee, Copenhagen, ramps (see also leeks/scallions), and plain old funk. Don't believe me? Go to a county fair just once..."
That scent is commonly passed from Mom and Uncle Dad to their offspring.
"Good grief. At least the inhabitants of the Maldives are suggesting to *pay* for the land they're looking at. 385,925 (July 2008 est.) people should be able to find a home somewhere and it saddens me to think that people's first reaction is like yours."
If everyone is equally wonderful and no one is entitled to defend their preferred culture against migration, make room for them in Holland and be morally enriched thereby.
They can be put to work making knife-resistant vests for your playwrights.
"THAT'S how tough it is. We're not all Linux users."
I'll buy the live CD distro churning (BTDT), but among the reasons I enjoy Linux is that there are plenty of helpful folks who DIDN'T give me the "GTFO newfag" treatment.
It's easy to find newbie forums and lurk before posting, and it was easy back in 1999 when I didn't know shit about computers let alone Linux.
"Total time to complete, with downloading images: 9 hours 40 minutes."
Seems reasonable, since learning new stuff is involved. Once ya are edumacated you have many more options at your disposal.
"Total time to reinstall Windows XP, patch, and install games: 5 hours."
No empowerment or tools for future use that way...
If you prefer Win-centric solutions it's worth spending the time to learn Ghost via the Radified tutorial, how to build and use a live WinPE/BartPE CD to rescue your stuff prior to a nuke-and-pave, how to slipstream your XP install disk, how to have your updates handy on DVD by using the offline update tool, etc, etc. That takes longer than 5 hours too.:)
"If you accidentally wipe your root dir, you're all kinds of f'ed."
Yeah, I'd be offline for a few minutes. I'd have to boot from live CD or USB key, and eventually reinstall after backing up my home directory and whatever else I want to save.
"I managed to live off of about @ $300/month. For two and half years I lived like a monk. Even then I owed $8000 to different credit card companies and some $12000 to a bank. I paid that off in four months after getting my first job."
EEEK! A thrifty, competitive foreigner with a work ethic! Cleanse it with fire and legislation!
"We're sending her up there, and she'll just claim the whole lot using her sense of geography and nationalism to claim the whole lot. She becomes a national hero to a nation more interested in oil than logic, and she'll be swept into the oval office in 2012, reminding voters that she takes those nucular codes very serious."
Only the harsh, jackbooted Discipline of Alaska Barbie can rescue us from the Putinist Threat and restore the US to comforting post-WWII smalltown niceness. Vote for the She-Wolf of Mayberry!
"We lack upper body strength to do it for prolonged periods of time (say, more than 2 minutes)."
They are a shit idea in terms of precision as well. The people with arguably the best combination of strength/precision optimized for repetitive motion are weldors, and they still have to "brace" to be accurate.
"Quit rambling about your unfounded theories here....we all know damn well that no amount of tequila or diamonds could cause any girl to sleep with a Slashdot reader."
Eventually tequila causes loss of consciousness, as does getting smacked upside the head by a sock full of diamonds.
Given the awkward legal consequences of those methods, it's more sensible to give up and buy a Fleshlight or a few pounds of liver. (Anyone want some paté ? I have lots!)
"ignoring your keychain with its ubiquitous USB key."
You could also take a USB key with a large external housing and stash a small USB key inside the housing, leaving the "distraction" key extended. Fill the distraction key with mundane files, and put your idea for world domination in the concealed key.
Slashdot Mirror
"The advent of this kind of thing may indeed precipitate an interesting change in how military personnel dress and expose themselves in combat situations. Mirrored helmets for everyone who could possibly be in range would seem a likely first step ..."
Mirrored helmets are sniper bait, but a full-face combat helmet system with auto-darkening lenses would reduce eye damage from reflections. Auto-darkening welding lenses are cheap to produce.
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/weldinghelmets/
The hybrid drive train FCS family of tracked vehicles would have the ability to power and haul such gear, and this has been envisioned for many years.
https://www.fcs.army.mil/
HMMWVs are merely light utility trucks.
The HMMWV is not ideal for mobility. It is a cheap light tactical truck.
Where a laser would be a good fit is in upcoming hybrid-drive FCS-type tracked vehicles. Tracks give far superior mobility, more usable interior space, and can carry more armor. The hybrid electric system offers plenty of electrical power.
"Do we want to settle for renting a 3rd class berth on Chinese and Russian ships for the next 50 years, after we pretty much pioneered the way?"
Once they develop the tech we can take advantage of it, exactly as those countries have taken advantage of tech developed elsewhere. There is nothing wrong with benefiting from the other fellows R&D. :)
"Actually, the way to bring down the cost of sending humans into space is to simply do it. After the research has been done and the ships have been built, the cost of actually launching humans into space is relatively trivial."
But still not as cheap as saturating areas to be researched with unmanned spacecraft. The idea of meatsploration is a hangover of terrestrial exploration. When the meat is merely a sensor operator, the meat can sit in control centers elsewhere. We need to explore space to exploit it, which doesn't mean we need to send humans for expensive thrill rides.
"How can any grand initiative that takes longer than eight -- or four -- years to implement ever again be achieved?"
By modular initiatives!
Yes, really. Break programs down into packages with short-term goals, which as a bonus turns up the pressure to do the job.
This would be easier with unmanned craft. We are already replacing manned aircraft with UAVs, because the meat exists mostly to monitor sensors and meat has poor endurance. There is every reason to do the same thing with spacecraft and send the tourists later.
What we COULD do is dump the manned missions until we, as a society, evolve far beyond our primitive level of technology. Send machines, many machines, which would be both cost effective and expendable. The rush to send meat into space was understandable during the Cold War, but is not wise today.
"Is there a way to get a feeling of what the site's about without creating a fake account?"
I'm old too, but IMO a fake account is the best kind. I want information, not to broadcast information.
There are no negatives to using a fake account, and you can always add a legit account later.
"I am sure this will be deadly for some marine brine shrimp, or something, and will be regulated away. All sensible plans are..."
I'M a marine brine shrimp, you insensible clod!
"Tin foil hats are quite the style these days."
I was 0wn3d by demons, then I was Napoleon, then I developed cerebral RF protection, and now the lamers are copying THAT.
People be hatin' on my aluminum beret, and that shit ain't funny. :(
"In this state, too many people smell like Old Milwaukee, Copenhagen, ramps (see also leeks/scallions), and plain old funk. Don't believe me? Go to a county fair just once..."
That scent is commonly passed from Mom and Uncle Dad to their offspring.
"Good grief. At least the inhabitants of the Maldives are suggesting to *pay* for the land they're looking at. 385,925 (July 2008 est.) people should be able to find a home somewhere and it saddens me to think that people's first reaction is like yours."
If everyone is equally wonderful and no one is entitled to defend their preferred culture against migration, make room for them in Holland and be morally enriched thereby.
They can be put to work making knife-resistant vests for your playwrights.
"THAT'S how tough it is. We're not all Linux users."
I'll buy the live CD distro churning (BTDT), but among the reasons I enjoy Linux is that there are plenty of helpful folks who DIDN'T give me the "GTFO newfag" treatment.
It's easy to find newbie forums and lurk before posting, and it was easy back in 1999 when I didn't know shit about computers let alone Linux.
"Total time to complete, with downloading images: 9 hours 40 minutes."
Seems reasonable, since learning new stuff is involved. Once ya are edumacated you have many more options at your disposal.
"Total time to reinstall Windows XP, patch, and install games: 5 hours."
No empowerment or tools for future use that way...
If you prefer Win-centric solutions it's worth spending the time to learn Ghost via the Radified tutorial, how to build and use a live WinPE/BartPE CD to rescue your stuff prior to a nuke-and-pave, how to slipstream your XP install disk, how to have your updates handy on DVD by using the offline update tool, etc, etc. That takes longer than 5 hours too. :)
"If you accidentally wipe your root dir, you're all kinds of f'ed."
Yeah, I'd be offline for a few minutes.
I'd have to boot from live CD or USB key, and eventually reinstall after backing up my home directory and whatever else I want to save.
Inconvenienced? Slightly.
F'd? Nope. :)
"Do not recommend Linux for it's "not there yet." I will give KDE a few more years."
It would appear that certain free AV software is also "not there yet". :)
"I managed to live off of about @ $300/month. For two and half years I lived like a monk. Even then I owed $8000 to different credit card companies and some $12000 to a bank. I paid that off in four months after getting my first job."
EEEK! A thrifty, competitive foreigner with a work ethic! Cleanse it with fire and legislation!
"I am not aware of anything that would require a condom for its movement."
I do, now. Yuck...
"We're sending her up there, and she'll just claim the whole lot using her sense of geography and nationalism to claim the whole lot. She becomes a national hero to a nation more interested in oil than logic, and she'll be swept into the oval office in 2012, reminding voters that she takes those nucular codes very serious."
Only the harsh, jackbooted Discipline of Alaska Barbie can rescue us from the Putinist Threat and restore the US to comforting post-WWII smalltown niceness. Vote for the She-Wolf of Mayberry!
"We lack upper body strength to do it for prolonged periods of time (say, more than 2 minutes)."
They are a shit idea in terms of precision as well. The people with arguably the best combination of strength/precision optimized for repetitive motion are weldors, and they still have to "brace" to be accurate.
"Quit rambling about your unfounded theories here....we all know damn well that no amount of tequila or diamonds could cause any girl to sleep with a Slashdot reader."
Eventually tequila causes loss of consciousness, as does getting smacked upside the head by a sock full of diamonds.
Given the awkward legal consequences of those methods, it's more sensible to give up and buy a Fleshlight or a few pounds of liver. (Anyone want some paté ? I have lots!)
"That being said, why should the government care if someone wants to get right to the point and exchange money directly for sex?"
Because many Americans are religious nutters, and any pleasure not gotten through suffering for Republican Jesus is verboten.
"Well, I for one welcome our new SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED overlords!"
I for one lubs my utterly reliable SUBSCRIPTION FREE m0n0wall box.
On constantly since 2000, when I built it from an old Asus P55T2P4 and leftovers.
"I dunno. Why do most consumers run back to a company that cheated them like a battered woman to her abuser?"
Because the sex is terrific, and they really WANT to change!
"the MinTV Digital Tuner Card I bought yesterday which the salesman *assured* me ran Linux, but actually didn't."
First mistake, trusting a salesman!
I always buy online after searching for information and reviews. I don't trust salesman to know shit or tell the truth.
"What's the age of consent of a sheep? ;)"
Who cares? Lamb chops tell no tales.
"ignoring your keychain with its ubiquitous USB key."
You could also take a USB key with a large external housing and stash a small USB key inside the housing, leaving the "distraction" key extended. Fill the distraction key with mundane files, and put your idea for world domination in the concealed key.