The Pioneer 10 & 11 spacecraft used Pu-238 RTGs. The generators initialially provided 155 watts, which diminished to 140 watts by the time the spacecraft encountered Jupiter, 100 watts five years into the mission.
Let us suppose that a hacker is hired by a company, and decides that the "best tool for the job" is not C/C++, but perl. This hacker, shortly thereafter, decides to leave the company.
The next hacker hired will have to know perl as well as C/C++. He is also familiar with Eiffel, and decides that another component of the project is to be coded in Eiffel.
Three years down the road, the company decides to higher more programmers.
Wanted: Programmers. Must be fluent in C/C++, Haskell, Eiffel, perl, Python, Ruby, Oberon and Common Lisp. Experience in Intercal a plus.
A good programmer who knows his perl may be able to replace a lengthy C/C++ program with a few lines of perl, but what happens when that programmer moves on?
To the untrained eye, perl looks like line noise, and may be rather difficult to maintain. Admittedly, perl is rather popular, but suppose that a programmer decides that lisp, haskell, or intercal is apropriate to the job at hand?
And why not? The STS is expensive, aging, and poorly designed. Design defects, combined with pressure to keep down costs, have already contributed to the death of 14 astronauts.
It's time to design a replacement for the STS. If this means shutting down the manned space program, than so be it. Boost the Space Station into a higher orbit for a bit, and redesign.
Boldrin and Levine's original paper is available here (pdf).
Re:Useless size comparisons part 1
on
Building the A380
·
· Score: 1
I would think that the ink would be bleached out long before the books dissolve. The pages might be compressed into a solid brick. Various sediments in the water might reduce mater quality to the point where simply browsing for a book becomes hazardous. A dissolved book still takes up volume.
A better solution for you needs might be an oven. Given enough fuel, many LOCs can be "stored".
TSR just published the rules-- the miniatures could be purchased from third parties.
TSR did license the name "Dungeons & Dragons" to Grenadier, but (I think) that deal postdated 1st edition.
Dungeon's and Dragons began as a extension to the Chainmail miniature rules-- which was also included in the box. The physical quality of the Chainmail rulebook outstripped the quality of the other "role playing" books.
Microsoft plans to offer its software via subscription services-- wouldn't it be just dandy if publication of a document could be made contingent upon payment of subscription fees? A centralized passport server will help implement this feature
The koan is also phrased as "You can make the sound of two hands clapping. Now what is the sound of one hand?" Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769)
One can imagine that the "sound of one hand" question is answerable, while the "sound of one hand" query is nonsense. If one can be enlightened by pondering nonsense, so be it.
Ultimately, it depends on what definitions one assigns to morality. You mention Utilitarianism, I mentioned pragmatism. John Ashcroft evidentally is attached to different ethical system rooted in his version of Christianitity. All these are diferent moral systems, but they may lead to the same ethical guideline or law. All three of those can be used to justify the punishment of (some forms of) homicide, although the justifications may be different.
Christianity justifies it because ultimately the priests and scriptures forbid it. Utilititarianism (Mill's version) because homicide does not contribute to the greatest good of the community. Kant forbids it because universal killing is untenable as a universal law. And the negative effects upon other people will probably give pragmatists pause.
But to jurists, what matters are inaliable rights enumerated in various legal documents--among them the Declaration of Independence. What counts, ultimately, are the moral guidelines embedded in those documents... A person has a inaliable right to life-- therefore murder is proscribed.
The choice of moral code is a personal one--one that, I think, intersects quite nicely with 1st amendment rights. This composite right is often called "freedom of conscience". When states try to impose blue laws, or ban pornography, they are quite often trying to write into law the stricture imposed by a particular morality. A religion may decalare with it's full authority: "You shall not drink EtOH", but the weight of that authority dribbles into nothingness in a courtroom--perhaps replaced by tepid "Commerce Clause" justifications.
If a law can only be justified by religious philosophy, than quite naturally, it attracts a certain amount of 1st Amendment scrutiny. If it conflicts with another religious philosophy, it attracts even more attention.
I said that: "The first amendment allows Americans to remain blessedly free of state-sponsored religion, and state-sponsored morality."
You stipulated that existance of blue laws disproves this assertion.
And I replied that certain individuals are challenging a Coloradan system of blue laws, and there is a "first amendment" argument to made against them.
When such challenges are made, the state will probably not defend such laws with a impassioned exhultation "The Almighty", but on other grounds. A religious/moral argument would not stand up in court today.
Indeed, if "blue laws" remain on the books, they will not remain because they further "state sponsored morality", but for other reasons that do not infringe on the establishment caluse.
This thread originally concerned the CIPA act. It is a contemporary law, not some relic passed before anyone took the establishment clause too seriously.
Perhaps some fringe groups will write amicus curiae briefs invoking religious morals, but the serious defenders of such a law will replace such rhetoric with attempts to link porn exposure to all sorts of nasty ills-- a pragmatic, rather than a moral argument.
Actually, there is a group that is challenging Coloradan Blue Laws on first amendment grounds. Blue laws permit liquor shop owners to attend church on sundays, without suffering economic loss. However, if a Muslim, Jew, or a Seventh Day Adventist were to close shop on their holy day, they would suffer economic damages.
Although I am most fond of the religious and moral values imparted by Lord Summerisle, religious arguments for pornography are admittedly rare.
Most first amendment arguments are based on "freedom of the press"-- if government fiat declares that persons will not be able to read such materials, the rights of the publisher are infringed. Even if there is a legitimate reason for culling out pornographic materials, the censoring agent is often a computer program incaple of correctly determineing whether such material is properly labeled as "pornographic".
Sure, why don't we allow print pornography in public libraries too? My college library has a collection of Playboy (and it's not alone). Some people consider it to be pornographic. Traditional libaries are constrained by budget limitations-- so pornography is usually not aquired because other books and journals are considered to be more important. In addition, pornography might present a bit of a theft risk. This is not about the first amendment. It is about moral values. Are you trolling here? The first amendment allows Americans to remain blessedly free of state-sponsored religion, and state-sponsored morality.
Slashdot Mirror
Are you going to be dead in 2020? The New Horizons project aims to launch a probe in 2006 to explore Pluto and the Kuiper belt.
The Voyager 1 probe is more distant than Pioneer 10, and will probably expire within 20 years.
Buzzcuts and string ties? I have a copy of NASA's history, Pioneer Odyssey and few, if any of the many engineers pictured fit your stereotype.
The Pioneer 10 & 11 spacecraft used Pu-238 RTGs. The generators initialially provided 155 watts, which diminished to 140 watts by the time the spacecraft encountered Jupiter, 100 watts five years into the mission.
Let us suppose that a hacker is hired by a company, and decides that the "best tool for the job" is not C/C++, but perl. This hacker, shortly thereafter, decides to leave the company.
The next hacker hired will have to know perl as well as C/C++. He is also familiar with Eiffel, and decides that another component of the project is to be coded in Eiffel.
Three years down the road, the company decides to higher more programmers.
Wanted: Programmers. Must be fluent in C/C++, Haskell, Eiffel, perl, Python, Ruby, Oberon and Common Lisp. Experience in Intercal a plus.
A good programmer who knows his perl may be able to replace a lengthy C/C++ program with a few lines of perl, but what happens when that programmer moves on?
To the untrained eye, perl looks like line noise, and may be rather difficult to maintain. Admittedly, perl is rather popular, but suppose that a programmer decides that lisp, haskell, or intercal is apropriate to the job at hand?
Anonymous Coward wrote
12345678
wow 64 bits
That's only 23.557507 bits. It fits well within a uint32 (and if I'm not mistaken, a float.)
His "Idiocy of the Week" schtick got old rather quickly. Salon used to run David Horowitz, but I think he left for ideological reasons.
And why not?
The STS is expensive, aging, and poorly designed. Design defects, combined with pressure to keep down costs, have already contributed to the death of 14 astronauts.
It's time to design a replacement for the STS. If this means shutting down the manned space program, than so be it. Boost the Space Station into a higher orbit for a bit, and redesign.
Boldrin and Levine's original paper is available here (pdf).
I would think that the ink would be bleached out long before the books dissolve. The pages might be compressed into a solid brick. Various sediments in the water might reduce mater quality to the point where simply browsing for a book becomes hazardous. A dissolved book still takes up volume.
A better solution for you needs might be an oven. Given enough fuel, many LOCs can be "stored".
Quick reference: 1 Nelson Column = 185 ft
1 Washington Monument = 169 m
1 football pitch = 360 ft * 246 ft
1 football field = 110 m * 49 m
1 Wales = ~8000 square miles
1 Texas = 700,000 square kilometers
The Independant is a British newspaper. I'm sure that the majority of its readers can relate to the szie of a football pitch.
You store your books in a pool? Doesn't the chlorinated water destroy the books after a while?
TSR just published the rules-- the miniatures could be purchased from third parties.
TSR did license the name "Dungeons & Dragons" to Grenadier, but (I think) that deal postdated 1st edition.
Dungeon's and Dragons began as a extension to the Chainmail miniature rules-- which was also included in the box. The physical quality of the Chainmail rulebook outstripped the quality of the other "role playing" books.
Microsoft plans to offer its software via subscription services-- wouldn't it be just dandy if publication of a document could be made contingent upon payment of subscription fees? A centralized passport server will help implement this feature
Heroin, "crack" cocaine, and MPTP are all to be found in MoPI. Rock is still missing, although I think it's implied.
Should have been" One can imagine that the "sound of one hand" question is answerable, while the "sound of one hand clapping" query is nonsense. "
Ah well...
The koan is also phrased as "You can make the sound of two hands clapping. Now what is the sound of one hand?"
Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769)
One can imagine that the "sound of one hand" question is answerable, while the "sound of one hand" query is nonsense. If one can be enlightened by pondering nonsense, so be it.
Ultimately, it depends on what definitions one assigns to morality. You mention Utilitarianism, I mentioned pragmatism. John Ashcroft evidentally is attached to different ethical system rooted in his version of Christianitity. All these are diferent moral systems, but they may lead to the same ethical guideline or law. All three of those can be used to justify the punishment of (some forms of) homicide, although the justifications may be different.
Christianity justifies it because ultimately the priests and scriptures forbid it. Utilititarianism (Mill's version) because homicide does not contribute to the greatest good of the community. Kant forbids it because universal killing is untenable as a universal law. And the negative effects upon other people will probably give pragmatists pause.
But to jurists, what matters are inaliable rights enumerated in various legal documents--among them the Declaration of Independence. What counts, ultimately, are the moral guidelines embedded in those documents... A person has a inaliable right to life-- therefore murder is proscribed.
The choice of moral code is a personal one--one that, I think, intersects quite nicely with 1st amendment rights. This composite right is often called "freedom of conscience". When states try to impose blue laws, or ban pornography, they are quite often trying to write into law the stricture imposed by a particular morality. A religion may decalare with it's full authority: "You shall not drink EtOH", but the weight of that authority dribbles into nothingness in a courtroom--perhaps replaced by tepid "Commerce Clause" justifications.
If a law can only be justified by religious philosophy, than quite naturally, it attracts a certain amount of 1st Amendment scrutiny. If it conflicts with another religious philosophy, it attracts even more attention.
I said that:
"The first amendment allows Americans to remain blessedly free of state-sponsored religion, and state-sponsored morality."
You stipulated that existance of blue laws disproves this assertion.
And I replied that certain individuals are challenging a Coloradan system of blue laws, and there is a "first amendment" argument to made against them.
When such challenges are made, the state will probably not defend such laws with a impassioned exhultation "The Almighty", but on other grounds. A religious/moral argument would not stand up in court today.
Indeed, if "blue laws" remain on the books, they will not remain because they further "state sponsored morality", but for other reasons that do not infringe on the establishment caluse.
This thread originally concerned the CIPA act. It is a contemporary law, not some relic passed before anyone took the establishment clause too seriously.
Perhaps some fringe groups will write amicus curiae briefs invoking religious morals, but the serious defenders of such a law will replace such rhetoric with attempts to link porn exposure to all sorts of nasty ills-- a pragmatic, rather than a moral argument.
Actually, there is a group that is challenging Coloradan Blue Laws on first amendment grounds. Blue laws permit liquor shop owners to attend church on sundays, without suffering economic loss. However, if a Muslim, Jew, or a Seventh Day Adventist were to close shop on their holy day, they would suffer economic damages.
Although I am most fond of the religious and moral values imparted by Lord Summerisle, religious arguments for pornography are admittedly rare.
Most first amendment arguments are based on "freedom of the press"-- if government fiat declares that persons will not be able to read such materials, the rights of the publisher are infringed. Even if there is a legitimate reason for culling out pornographic materials, the censoring agent is often a computer program incaple of correctly determineing whether such material is properly labeled as "pornographic".
Sure, why don't we allow print pornography in public libraries too?
My college library has a collection of Playboy (and it's not alone). Some people consider it to be pornographic.
Traditional libaries are constrained by budget limitations-- so pornography is usually not aquired because other books and journals are considered to be more important. In addition, pornography might present a bit of a theft risk.
This is not about the first amendment. It is about moral values.
Are you trolling here? The first amendment allows Americans to remain blessedly free of state-sponsored religion, and state-sponsored morality.
You'll save ~ $30 per month by not taking the bus.
Ah, but there are maintanance costs and capital costs associated with commutting by bike. In addition, you can read on the bus.
Why make it so easy?
EB: "Baldrick, have you no idea what irony is?"
BA: "Yes, it's like goldy and bronzy only it's made out of iron.
It was even more of a downer than Greg Bear's Forge of God, which at least left me with a little hope in my heart.
Downer? Why would you say that? I think Bear took the Alien Invasion theme to its logical conclusion. Anvil of Stars might cheer you up, though.