Wow, what an angry post. But I think I see what's going on.
I was at Walmart recently buying something I couldn't find at Target. I happened to stop into the electronics section while my fiancé did some shopping elsewhere.
Read: my fiancé couldn't find that sweater she wanted at Target, so she made me go to Wal-mart, where I killed time looking at DVD-burners while she was in the ladies' apparel.;)
Given just one couple, I doubt that GE could produce a significantly different kid than the "old-fashioned" way. The real danger is that the GE kids would keep getting improved over generations, producing a caste of superhumans. However, I think this scenario is unlikely for the same reason that there is no selective breeding of humans today: it requires an oppressive system that can mandate it, and survive for enough generations to be effective-- not very feasible in today's climate of global politics.
I have the Geko 201. It's a superb little device. It speaks a Garmin protocol that Garmin published here. There are a number of utilities for Linux that implement this protocol; I use gpspoint. The only hurdle is the proprietary serial connector which costs a low double digits $$$; I hacked mine together with a glue gun from a couple of wires.
For laptop-side work I use viking, a very nice GUI based program for managing waypoints and tracks. It's not so much useful for street navigation as it is for trips and geocaching; it can overlay recorded tracks over satellite photos, or create waypoints to be transferred to the GPS for a future trip.
Spaceship One is going up 100km. What happens when you have something sitting a tiny amount above the Earth's surface and let it go? It drops like a rock. To stay up it has to move really fast horizontally, so that by the time it falls to the ground the ground is already gone from under it. If it keeps doing this it ends up circling around the planet.
The orbital speed is in the ballpark of 17000 mph, which these guys are not even close to, and is the main reason for skepticism of cheap access to space. It's not going to the height of space that is hard-- managing to get to 17000 mph is the hard part, and the X-prize is not addressing it. Something tells me that various commercial launch systems like Delta, Soyuz, Arianne, etc. are already as cheap as it gets, and the problem does not get easier no matter how you slice it.
Hey, great idea about old school gadgets. I know, you could carry around a hard drive enclosure, and wear a platter on your head kind of like a halo... oh... wait...
I would like to see improvements in communication systems, and enforcement. Specifically, car-to-car CB-like communication so I can tell newbies they are not supposed to lounge in the fast lane, go ahead at a multi-way stop, thank someone for signaling, etc.
Enforcement: how many times have I wished I could sic a state trooper on some ass that pops into the narrow space between me and the guy ahead of me without any warning. Maybe some trusted video recording system could be used to report that kind of stuff.
The problem is that pouring resources into limited manned space travel *now* instead of a colonization infrastructure could actually delay or hinder long term space exploration. It's kind of like trying to warm yourself with matches instead of using them to light a big fire.
Maybe we will evolve into a species that has no skills or intelligence, but excels at managing and lording over other, more specialized ones. Pakleds from STTNG, or the telepathic Elaigar giants from Telzey Amberdon stories come to mind.
Finally the shuttle boondoggle would die a long deserved death, freeing up resources for real space travel. (as if). A 5-digit number of unique tiles? And they criticize software engineers for bad design. Meanwhile, look how much the Russians spend to put people in LEO!
I was in the same situation until my late 20s. Depressed, lonely, etc. But the one thing that gave me hope were the wise words of one of my CS profs, who put dating in a statistical perspective: there is a certain small probability that you will match ("click with") any potential mate; therefore, to increase your chances of finding one, you have to increase the number of trials.
How you do this is up to you. Join clubs, go on organized trips, volunteer, try the dating services, look online, etc. Don't give up hope! To quote an Office Space character, good things *can* happen.
As far as the college mating opportunities and partying, which I totally missed- I don't regret it. I had a lot of fun doing perfectly geeky stuff like hanging out in computer clubs, playing games, etc. I just wish I'd gotten more sleep- I spent too many days walking around like a zombie. My record was 5 days without sleep (5 days 4 nights).
As far as Russia goes, that's probably the Trans-Siberia Railway. Amazing how development follows transportation routes, right? Reminds me of playing Railroad Tycoon or SimCity:)
People expect a computer to behave like any other normal electronical device, and thus to have a "reasonable" interface, without any traps of the sort above. There is no self-destruct function on a POTS phone. There is no "ruin it" function on a toaster. You can press all the buttons randomly on a blender and it won't blow up. There is an expectation of robustness. With a computer, clicking "Yes" above should similarly have no adverse effect.
On the other hand, there are idiots who will throw rocks into a blender.
The following are a couple of paragraphs from her bio. I'm already dizzy.
Since 1994, Parry has been leading online communities and creating places and opportunities for people to help each other online. Her first foray into providing online help, using unpaid expert volunteers, was when she created AOL's Legal Information Network's Legal Discussions. Hundreds of lawyers joined her to provide legal information, without charge, to people who visited their discussion boards. AOL's Legal Help model was soon replicated by Parry and her volunteers for Court TV's Legal Helpline, where the same volunteers would answer questions on the Web. You can read more about that from her intro to her first book.
One thing led to another, and Parry became one of the first cyberlawyers in the world. She was also was hooked on the Internet and all its promise. But to deliver upon that promise, the Internet needed to be safe, private and secure, and Internet users needed a place and people they could turn to when they needed help online, or they found themselves being victimized.
Imagine that. She uses AOL for a while in 94, and all of a sudden she is a "cyber expert" competent enough to decide for all of us that "the Internet" needs to be safe and private and whatever. It is enough to make an engineer's stomach turn inside out. What a repulsive, arrogant, slimy person. The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if she were involved in creating "cyberlegislation." Ugh.
I should've said "building materials in the US," since the parent comment was asking about Americans. Obviously, if they come in metric, knowing it will be much more useful. Still, having grown up in Europe, I found the decimal subdivision annoying.
I agree that it is a superior system for scientific applications, and I believe it a standard system in use by scientists, even in the US. However, we have a case of optimizing the most common case here; I think it makes sense to use whatever system of measures is most convenient for the majority of uses out there. Given that the scientific uses are probably miniscule compared to personal ones, I just don't see a good reason to switch.
I grew up in a metric society. I used to think metric units were superior until I lived in the US for a while, and found myself doing plenty of carpentry and DIY stuff where the most common units are inches and feet. I think the subdivision of a foot into 12 inches is fantastic; it allows one to easily divide dimensions into thirds, something that's a PITA in the metric world. In addition, the canonical subdivision of the inch into powers of 2 (1/2, 1/4, 1/8...) is convenient as well.
Regarding your point about doing without metric, note that virtually all building materials come in imperial sizes. There is no need to know metric units in that environment.
Slashdot Mirror
Wow, what an angry post. But I think I see what's going on.
;)
I was at Walmart recently buying something I couldn't find at Target. I happened to stop into the electronics section while my fiancé did some shopping elsewhere.
Read: my fiancé couldn't find that sweater she wanted at Target, so she made me go to Wal-mart, where I killed time looking at DVD-burners while she was in the ladies' apparel.
Given just one couple, I doubt that GE could produce a significantly different kid than the "old-fashioned" way. The real danger is that the GE kids would keep getting improved over generations, producing a caste of superhumans. However, I think this scenario is unlikely for the same reason that there is no selective breeding of humans today: it requires an oppressive system that can mandate it, and survive for enough generations to be effective-- not very feasible in today's climate of global politics.
I have the Geko 201. It's a superb little device. It speaks a Garmin protocol that Garmin published here. There are a number of utilities for Linux that implement this protocol; I use gpspoint. The only hurdle is the proprietary serial connector which costs a low double digits $$$; I hacked mine together with a glue gun from a couple of wires.
For laptop-side work I use viking, a very nice GUI based program for managing waypoints and tracks. It's not so much useful for street navigation as it is for trips and geocaching; it can overlay recorded tracks over satellite photos, or create waypoints to be transferred to the GPS for a future trip.
If I had mod points, I would give them to you.
No worries, I gave him some of mine.
Go out for coffee? But it's only 11!
That makes sense. I just wish I could see asteroid belt colonies in my lifetime :)
Spaceship One is going up 100km. What happens when you have something sitting a tiny amount above the Earth's surface and let it go? It drops like a rock. To stay up it has to move really fast horizontally, so that by the time it falls to the ground the ground is already gone from under it. If it keeps doing this it ends up circling around the planet.
The orbital speed is in the ballpark of 17000 mph, which these guys are not even close to, and is the main reason for skepticism of cheap access to space. It's not going to the height of space that is hard-- managing to get to 17000 mph is the hard part, and the X-prize is not addressing it. Something tells me that various commercial launch systems like Delta, Soyuz, Arianne, etc. are already as cheap as it gets, and the problem does not get easier no matter how you slice it.
The name Tolkien gave to his deepest cave seems like no coincidence.
Hey, great idea about old school gadgets. I know, you could carry around a hard drive enclosure, and wear a platter on your head kind of like a halo... oh... wait...
I would like to see improvements in communication systems, and enforcement. Specifically, car-to-car CB-like communication so I can tell newbies they are not supposed to lounge in the fast lane, go ahead at a multi-way stop, thank someone for signaling, etc.
Enforcement: how many times have I wished I could sic a state trooper on some ass that pops into the narrow space between me and the guy ahead of me without any warning. Maybe some trusted video recording system could be used to report that kind of stuff.
Everyone knows that records sound better than CDs. Too bad they don't sell video content on records.
The problem is that pouring resources into limited manned space travel *now* instead of a colonization infrastructure could actually delay or hinder long term space exploration. It's kind of like trying to warm yourself with matches instead of using them to light a big fire.
Maybe we will evolve into a species that has no skills or intelligence, but excels at managing and lording over other, more specialized ones. Pakleds from STTNG, or the telepathic Elaigar giants from Telzey Amberdon stories come to mind.
Finally the shuttle boondoggle would die a long deserved death, freeing up resources for real space travel. (as if). A 5-digit number of unique tiles? And they criticize software engineers for bad design. Meanwhile, look how much the Russians spend to put people in LEO!
I was in the same situation until my late 20s. Depressed, lonely, etc. But the one thing that gave me hope were the wise words of one of my CS profs, who put dating in a statistical perspective: there is a certain small probability that you will match ("click with") any potential mate; therefore, to increase your chances of finding one, you have to increase the number of trials.
How you do this is up to you. Join clubs, go on organized trips, volunteer, try the dating services, look online, etc. Don't give up hope! To quote an Office Space character, good things *can* happen.
As far as the college mating opportunities and partying, which I totally missed- I don't regret it. I had a lot of fun doing perfectly geeky stuff like hanging out in computer clubs, playing games, etc. I just wish I'd gotten more sleep- I spent too many days walking around like a zombie. My record was 5 days without sleep (5 days 4 nights).
As far as Russia goes, that's probably the Trans-Siberia Railway. Amazing how development follows transportation routes, right? Reminds me of playing Railroad Tycoon or SimCity :)
Guess what, the Olympics started like two weeks ago. Does that speak volumes about their relevance or what???
Given this dialog:
Ruin your computer?
Yes No
How many users are going to click "Yes"?
People expect a computer to behave like any other normal electronical device, and thus to have a "reasonable" interface, without any traps of the sort above. There is no self-destruct function on a POTS phone. There is no "ruin it" function on a toaster. You can press all the buttons randomly on a blender and it won't blow up. There is an expectation of robustness. With a computer, clicking "Yes" above should similarly have no adverse effect.
On the other hand, there are idiots who will throw rocks into a blender.
I think of open well-known ports as putting your stuff out on the sidewalk, and entering the unlocked front door more like a port scan.
Greg Raleigh
Wow, what an apt last name for a MIMO CEO... I wonder if he's related to the guy who came up with the Raleigh fading model.
Imagine that. She uses AOL for a while in 94, and all of a sudden she is a "cyber expert" competent enough to decide for all of us that "the Internet" needs to be safe and private and whatever. It is enough to make an engineer's stomach turn inside out. What a repulsive, arrogant, slimy person. The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if she were involved in creating "cyberlegislation." Ugh.
Complex men use BSD, just like real men, but also have girlfriends (that's the imaginary part).
Speaking of download speeds, this is something I saw on a university link
I should've said "building materials in the US," since the parent comment was asking about Americans. Obviously, if they come in metric, knowing it will be much more useful. Still, having grown up in Europe, I found the decimal subdivision annoying.
I agree that it is a superior system for scientific applications, and I believe it a standard system in use by scientists, even in the US. However, we have a case of optimizing the most common case here; I think it makes sense to use whatever system of measures is most convenient for the majority of uses out there. Given that the scientific uses are probably miniscule compared to personal ones, I just don't see a good reason to switch.
I grew up in a metric society. I used to think metric units were superior until I lived in the US for a while, and found myself doing plenty of carpentry and DIY stuff where the most common units are inches and feet. I think the subdivision of a foot into 12 inches is fantastic; it allows one to easily divide dimensions into thirds, something that's a PITA in the metric world. In addition, the canonical subdivision of the inch into powers of 2 (1/2, 1/4, 1/8...) is convenient as well.
Regarding your point about doing without metric, note that virtually all building materials come in imperial sizes. There is no need to know metric units in that environment.