I once wrote a program for my lab group to randomly assign partners. I rigged it to assign partners the way I wanted them to be. Then I put in all this random generation hocum to make people think it was a super powerful program capable of 128K encryption to "randomly" assign partners. I just wanted to work with this girl. I also knew another girl hated someone in the lab. I told her my plan and had the program not pair those two up. She supported my program over pulling names out of the hat. No one else knew my nefarious plan and it worked like a charm.
I seem to remember a story on the History Chanel about a tennis game played on Osciliscopes built out of stray tubes and solenoids. Happened around 1951 I think. Anyone have more info?
The trouble with the larger man-made elements is that when one atom gets so huge it's really friggin unstable. Perhaps it's due to geometry in the nucleus or simple quantum mechanics. In any event I'm saddened by this news... Not! We don't understand squat about Hydrogen, how can we pretend to understand something so big.
It'll be nice when they can build an atom so big the human eye can see it but until then we need to forget building big atoms and spend more time learning about the small ones.
Isn't there a Macintosh emulator that runs under UNIX? Then we could run MacOS on Windows hardware. Then we could run SoftPC and be back where we started.
It seems that we're wasting our time with emulators here. Time to get serious about getting Linux to run on the iPaq.
I think the point is not to win a lottery seat on a space flight but create a SIMPLE reuseable rocket so that everyone who wants to gets a chance to go to space within this lifetime.
There have only been something on the order of 350 people in space. That's all we have to show for 50+ years of serious space research. If it meant all who wanted to go to space could book a flight on the Japanese rocket then it's worth the volunteering.
I just came back from a trip to London. I did get to see LegoLand Windsor. It was great although the place is really geared for small children, the models were worth the trip. However, I need to stress that if you look closely at the Lock systems, they're not actually made from Lego. They're just Lego facades over steel and rubber parts.
Also, the trackless trucks that drive around are not MindStorm creations but Lego shells on small robotic chasis's.
Lego kicks all ass in the building toy market. The Mindstorm sets give the toy a chance to think for itself. Can the Erector set do the same?
The problem of the trains running on time isn't for a lack of quality building toys. It's a problem of Engeneering majors going into computers instead of building actual things when they get out of college.
I'm going to get flamed for saying software isn't an actual thing aren't I?
That's what I mean. Something like the NSF that does make a profit and is self funding after a point. The NSF is afterall drawn from our taxes every year. There's no reason that it couldn't be self funding. Corporations also have to keep an eye on enforcement of royalties. They seem to be able to keep a lid on things.
You said "That said, my greatest shock at seeing how real science is done was the dependence on tin foil. It's unreal. You rap your device in tin foil and you can get an order of magnitude improvement."
Yes that's true. It's called a Farraday Cage. It's the first thing they teach you in Instrumental Analysis. Works wonders. Nothing ruins sensativity in your equipment like having an elevator in your building. The cage just reflects some of that stray energy from the giant dynamo pulling the lift.
Now the fact that we all know about Farraday Cages in science makes it prior art for shielding peoples heads by wraping their cell phones in tinfoil. (or their heads in tinfoil if they're from California.)
The thing is Farraday gave this research away and the world is a better place for it. If he had a NDA with Nokia or Motorola we'd all be paying extra for the tinfoil liscence at Safeway.
I paid for all my research out of my own pocket. Fortunatly I'm an undergrad and my research was something I could do on my own. The only thing the college had to buy for me was a couple tanks of Hydrogen and Helium for the Gas Chromatography machine. Had I accepted corporate funds from an oil company for my research I'm positive they would not have approved of my conclusions. Had I accepted private funds from Greenpeace or MassPIRG then my conclusions although support their general philosophy would have been suspect.
What we need is a general fund for researchers to draw from with only one limitation on how the funds are spent with the benefits to go directly back into the fund. IE royalties on cool technologies which can be made into products by the man should go back into the fund. After a few years I predict the fund could support itself and turn a profit for all Americans to share.
That one limitation would be for spending the funds on research only. Not on salaries or university overhead but on materials and equipment to further science.
I got a ticket in Montanna for going 99 MPH in a car with Massachusetts plates. I was not the fastest car on the road then but I was in the top 3. The other two had Montanna plates. It took the cop 20 minutes to catch up to me (from a dead stop.) The trooper apoligised for having to pull me over, took my AAA bail card and sent me on my way. It was kind of chickenshit of them to set the court date a week away. There was no way I was going to ruin my vacation waiting around Billings for that.
This was back in 1998 when the posted limit was 65 night, 55 trucks, Reasonable and Prudent day. I've heard they've changed it back to posted daytime limits since then.
Oh well. The trooper was a nice guy. If it was a Mass State trooper I'd have had my ass handed to me in jail for going 99 MPH.
If it makes any difference to the story I was in a Mitsubishi Mirage trying to see it pinout at 120. We don't have roads straight enough in New England to get up that speed and then slow down before the curve.
In any event, you can bet I'm never going to get a car with GPS or OnStar. In fact I'm kind of suspicious of Fuel Injection. Give me Dual Carbs any day.
It's called a Farraday Cage. Been around for a Century. How can you patent this thing? Some moron at the Patent Office who only studied Law and never took freshman Physics (or even High School Physics) will think this is a great idea and grant the patent. Then the phone companies will extend the patent to cover any electronic device in a metal box ie. computers or car radios or any of a million other devices.
Plants need a certain amount of gravity to grow shoots up and roots down. There have been studies with magnets and super bright lights but the effect is sketchy with little survival rates (based on the number of seed needed to get a single viable offspring.) Most plants fail to bud. There is also the down side of when plants do grow they lack the mechanism (gravity) that keeps them from growing too long. You'd get super long stems. So what you'd have growing Pot in space is all stem no bud from a huge number (pounds) of seed you'd need to carry up for each crop.
You'd have better results with a concentrated halucinate like Acid, 100 hits on a 20 gram blotter paper.
On the one hand it's a brilliant concept, just build it and let someone else figure out how to cheaply deliver the tourists. The problem is it's useless until someone shows up looking for lodging for the night.
That's why when selling Disney Land packages in Detroit they must always come with cheap airfare.
The Russians are going to beat us up there. Our government just doesn't understand the free market like they do in Moscow.
I believe you might have taken me more seriously than I had the intent to be taken so. I am being very facetious when I say I want those things. It is meant to be satire or at the very least "Devils Advocacy". I didn't think I needed smileys like;-) but perhaps comedy is not always funnier when delivered with a straight face.
I assure you I agree with each of your points 100% and that I am not the kind of asshole who would give up liberty to a corporation for minor convenience.
I would happily volunteer, even pay for, a chip in my ass if it would mean protecting our children from pr0n and violent cartoons, give me better cellular roaming features, enhanced access to MSN Hailstorm technologies and allow 'the man' to know exactly how to market to my every taste and need.
I know this is a troll but I couldn't help myself.
Total space to the mailbox is 5 Megs so I could break up (rar or even winzip) a 3 Meg report but not 19 Megs. Anyway, why waste time when I can just P2P any report regardless of size.
The Power Point file for my Senior Thesis was 19 Megs. Much too large for a floppy disk and the computer I had to present it on didn't have a zip drive. The email system at school has a 1.5 Meg limit for attachments. I used AOL Instant Messenger to P2P the file to school. Problem solved. I cant think of a more legitimate use for P2P.
Slashdot Mirror
I once wrote a program for my lab group to randomly assign partners. I rigged it to assign partners the way I wanted them to be. Then I put in all this random generation hocum to make people think it was a super powerful program capable of 128K encryption to "randomly" assign partners. I just wanted to work with this girl. I also knew another girl hated someone in the lab. I told her my plan and had the program not pair those two up. She supported my program over pulling names out of the hat. No one else knew my nefarious plan and it worked like a charm.
Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon
I seem to remember a story on the History Chanel about a tennis game played on Osciliscopes built out of stray tubes and solenoids. Happened around 1951 I think. Anyone have more info?
It'll be nice when they can build an atom so big the human eye can see it but until then we need to forget building big atoms and spend more time learning about the small ones.
It seems that we're wasting our time with emulators here. Time to get serious about getting Linux to run on the iPaq.
That's more storage than my first laptop computer had and still plenty of storage to run Linux (even WinMe instead of WinCE) in a handheld device.
There have only been something on the order of 350 people in space. That's all we have to show for 50+ years of serious space research. If it meant all who wanted to go to space could book a flight on the Japanese rocket then it's worth the volunteering.
I know I would.
So exactly where does Microsoft fit in?
Also, the trackless trucks that drive around are not MindStorm creations but Lego shells on small robotic chasis's.
The problem of the trains running on time isn't for a lack of quality building toys. It's a problem of Engeneering majors going into computers instead of building actual things when they get out of college.
I'm going to get flamed for saying software isn't an actual thing aren't I?
NSF is good but could be better.
Yes that's true. It's called a Farraday Cage. It's the first thing they teach you in Instrumental Analysis. Works wonders. Nothing ruins sensativity in your equipment like having an elevator in your building. The cage just reflects some of that stray energy from the giant dynamo pulling the lift.
Now the fact that we all know about Farraday Cages in science makes it prior art for shielding peoples heads by wraping their cell phones in tinfoil. (or their heads in tinfoil if they're from California.)
The thing is Farraday gave this research away and the world is a better place for it. If he had a NDA with Nokia or Motorola we'd all be paying extra for the tinfoil liscence at Safeway.
What we need is a general fund for researchers to draw from with only one limitation on how the funds are spent with the benefits to go directly back into the fund. IE royalties on cool technologies which can be made into products by the man should go back into the fund. After a few years I predict the fund could support itself and turn a profit for all Americans to share.
That one limitation would be for spending the funds on research only. Not on salaries or university overhead but on materials and equipment to further science.
Just my opinion.
This was back in 1998 when the posted limit was 65 night, 55 trucks, Reasonable and Prudent day. I've heard they've changed it back to posted daytime limits since then.
Oh well. The trooper was a nice guy. If it was a Mass State trooper I'd have had my ass handed to me in jail for going 99 MPH.
If it makes any difference to the story I was in a Mitsubishi Mirage trying to see it pinout at 120. We don't have roads straight enough in New England to get up that speed and then slow down before the curve.
In any event, you can bet I'm never going to get a car with GPS or OnStar. In fact I'm kind of suspicious of Fuel Injection. Give me Dual Carbs any day.
So does this mean the cops can't use their Psychic Friends anymore?
It's called a Farraday Cage. Been around for a Century. How can you patent this thing? Some moron at the Patent Office who only studied Law and never took freshman Physics (or even High School Physics) will think this is a great idea and grant the patent. Then the phone companies will extend the patent to cover any electronic device in a metal box ie. computers or car radios or any of a million other devices.
You'd have better results with a concentrated halucinate like Acid, 100 hits on a 20 gram blotter paper.
Why do you need a pool. Can't you just float around the capsule? It would be just like swimming.
That's why when selling Disney Land packages in Detroit they must always come with cheap airfare.
The Russians are going to beat us up there. Our government just doesn't understand the free market like they do in Moscow.
Now I'm trolling in two stories at once.
I assure you I agree with each of your points 100% and that I am not the kind of asshole who would give up liberty to a corporation for minor convenience.
I know this is a troll but I couldn't help myself.
Total space to the mailbox is 5 Megs so I could break up (rar or even winzip) a 3 Meg report but not 19 Megs. Anyway, why waste time when I can just P2P any report regardless of size.
The Power Point file for my Senior Thesis was 19 Megs. Much too large for a floppy disk and the computer I had to present it on didn't have a zip drive. The email system at school has a 1.5 Meg limit for attachments. I used AOL Instant Messenger to P2P the file to school. Problem solved. I cant think of a more legitimate use for P2P.