Almost seems like a computer's version of hieroglyphics, but could conceivably also be used for hidden messages. Even a sheet of what could be considered as otherwise harmless doodles could be converted with this software into coherant communiques.
It's official, Microsoft supports terrorism! (muah-ha-ha)
Capsella was also one of the few DIY robotics kits that you could use to buid a bot for almost every condition, and didn't cost a small fortune to buy. Water? Add propellers and floatation devices. Snow? Add tracks. Anywhere else, you could use tracks or wheels. This was almost a decade before MindStorms.
One of these days I need to get a debit card, so I can buy a few kits on eBay.
As I recall, nuclear power plants have often gone on alert for false positives resulting from radon exposure in the home.
While the odds are slim, considering the entire length Adirondack and Appalachian mountains range from Georgia to Canada, porions of which contain significant uranium ore veins, there's going to be a considerable amount of radon gas emitted by these veins as they go through the natural process of decay. What does this mean? Inevitably, there will be false positives as well. More people will be detained, more public outcry.
On a momentary tangent, I have difficulty putting too much weight in New Scientist's journalistic integrity. For example, why haven't pacemakers set off the alarms? While they may be shielded to a certain degree for safety, I doubt that they're 100% shielded against detection.
And what of nuclear power plant employees, or students of radiological sciences in college, or radiotherapy doctors in hospitals? All of these pick up marginally higher levels of radiation in their fields, why aren't they setting off alarms either?
To ensure against repeats of that article, the police need to (at least) inform the public of the minimum level of radiation that the sensors will trip on, so that at least innocent people won't be grabbed by police, just because they were picking up an old Radium book they won in an auction online.
First off, without much risk of anthropomorphising extraterrestrial life. You have almost a 33/33/33 spread between likely candidates for intelligent life:
One, they're going to be quite a bit behind us in technology, and haven't developed radio broadcasting technology yet.
Two, they're at parity with us, which means we won't be picking up any broadcasts anytime soon, in fact, we may have to monitor radio signals for the next thousand years (even if we advance to better methods of communication, which then involves using some equipment that'll be centuries obsolete- That takes real determination).
Three, they're considerably ahead of us, and while only a couple hundred light years away, have developed radio communications hundreds of years before we had the technology to listen for it, resulting in the signals being missed by mere decades.
As for the assumptions, what is the possibility that they are using methods that we haven't even tried/discovered yet? Quite high. For the purpose of interstellar communications, you would need a signal that's fairly free of distortion from nearby stellar bodies, and can maintain a fair signal strength over several light years of distance. Also, hypothetically, the signal would have to maintain coherance without significant degradation due to moving at FTL travel, if said hypothetical ETs have such. Radio waves in theory would have this problem, therefore they would be inappropriate for this use.
Now assuming such a technology exists out there, then there's almost zero chance of our picking up a significant trace, because as we ourselves have demonstrated, when a method of communication goes obsolete, why bother going back?
For example, how many still use wireless telephone systems (the old transponder based systems that amounted to an overpriced CB, with a paid operator on the other end to dial the phone numbers for you, in use before the mid 80s)? None. Even though said systems can be used today, it's unlikely anyone would want to, when there are cheaper and easier systems in use.
This, in sum, is the flawed assumption that most ET research is based on. Looking for species as advanced as ours or better, using an outmoded form of communications that have been obsolescent for centuries or more by their standards.
Exactly, the three laws of robotics are the whole basis for "I Robot", see: http://members.evansville.net/bob/robots/laws.html for further information.
Secondly, Will Smith used "Getting Jiggy With It" is a Will Smith song (even though he uses the "getting jiggy with it" line in a lot of his songs, a Will Smith trademark, if you will).
First Law: A robot may not get jiggy with a human being, or, through getting jiggy with it, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law: A robot must get jiggy with it under orders given it by human beings, except where getting jiggy with it would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law: A robot must protect its getting jiggy with it as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
One problem I've been wondering about with most Windows browsers (not sure about Netscape, I haven't trusted them since 4.x, and it's tendacy to completely nuke Win9x with every error): Bonzi, and CometCursor both pop up an ActiveX prompt asking if I want to install their spyware.
My question is pretty simple, why is it that the ActiveX prompt has a checkbox for "Always trust software from such and such", but none for "Never trust software from such and such", or at least a "Never ask me again" checkbox? This just strikes me as remarkably stupid. Especially since there's a lot of cleaning up one would have to do if anyone makes the mistake of checking off the "Always trust" box, when prompted to install spyware into their browser.
As described on the website, there are some people who aren't 100% computer savvy (mostly worker drones who only know enough to create an Excel document), who assume that the fake user interface is an actual system warning.
This can easily be compared to the Zimbabwe/Zaire/South Africa/etc money scam which a surprising number of people have also fallen for. After all, if they were any more knowlegable, they wouldn't have fallen for it, so it therefore isn't a crime, yes?
Or how about everyone who stupidly opens e-mail attachments, infecting their office system with Klez, Code Red, or whatever Trojan of the week is making the rounds? It isn't the fault of the folks who wrote the virii in the first place, oh nooooo, it's the fault of Microsoft and the users in the first place.
The problem is with the Russian space program and NASA. Back when both organizations started out, it was an extension of the cold war. Both were formed as branches of each country's military forces, and were funded as their research also influenced the nuclear war that in the end never happened. They were in competition with each other for the upper hand, with national pride as the prize. As such, they recieved a massive amount of funding (to the point of bankrupcy on the Russian side). With that threat diminished, if not dispensed with entirely, both programs have been largely gutted. Add to that, a growing public apathy for a program that is largely still dedicated to science, porkbarrelling and what has become, for the most part, a military country club.
For example, even though the Hubble telescope has proven invaluable as a research tool, in it's original deployment, it was a national joke. Even today, it's historical scope pales in comparison to the lunar landings.
What I propose, is an international effort between private and public corporations and civilian space enthusiasts. Currently, what exists is a massively disorganized scattering of individuals and individual groups trying their own thing, truly only sharing two things: A massive interest in space, and a large amount of enthusiasm. What is needed, however, is a common ground to operate on, and the organization to build with.
We need a largely centralized system to incorporate the best of the best concepts in space technology, independant from any government organizations or interferance. Governments beget beaurocracy, and beaurocracy begets stagnation.
As for financing, it isn't THAT difficult. If we could just get 1/10th of the world's population to contribute $10, then that would be sufficient to get the first manned launch vehicle off the ground, complete with launch facilities, administration et al. It wouldn't be a space plane per se, but a manned two or three person capsule. Perhaps one could even sell a seat on the capsule with a raffle system, which would make an incredible incentive for large donations.
Pilots and experienced space veterans are, frankly, a dime a dozen, I'm certain some of them would love the opportunity to be directly involved in a pioneering space program once more, one that'll influence it far more than any government controlled system today.
Experienced scientists are a dime a dozen as well, first off, there's many in aerospace who, while they exceed many requirements of the space programs, aren't taken in due to budget constraints, or because they simply don't know the right people. Additionally, grab as many whistle blowers as you can. Why? Because they not only knew what was wrong with the current system, but they *acted* on it. That is what we need. Instead, NASA and the Russian space administration would fire them or kick them out, resulting in the continuing backslide both organizations have been experiencing. And that, in fact, would give us an edge.
This is what needs to be done. Stop hoping and wishing for "space welfare" to come to the rescue, join forces and start your own space program! At the least, there's 2-3 million people around the world who want to go to space, and want to build rockets so they can do so, at least 1/4-1/3 of which are capable of doing so.
All that NASA and Russia have, is a couple hundred thousand who're hobbled by beaurocracy and ineptitude in the very same government, that, for the ol' Slashdot tie in, consider file swapping as theft and viewing your DVD on another operating system as hacking (and subsequently a major felony deserving of a life sentance, thanks to one of the new riders on the Homeland Security Act). How can anyone in their right mind expect these same people to see any scientific viability in space programs?
Back after Chernobyl went boom, I noticed (since it was only a couple of months after), that many weeds that normally reached as high as my hip, were instead towering over my head (I was 5'8 or so at the time, when I was 16, and living in New York, the Bronx). Just wondering, have anyone else living in the northern latitudes noticed similarly unusual plant growth?
As I recall, the radioactive cloud apparently covered the entire northwestern European continent, but was almost ridiculously downplayed in the US (sorry, if contamination is enough to quarantine planes and kill reindeer herds, I doubt it drops to 0 with just over a day's travel in the jetstream).
Just wondering since we're on the subject of radiation, the US itself is largely contaminated with fallout from the bomb tests, as was recently uncovered over the last few years.
Here's a simple solution: Stick all the doubters and nay sayers into a rocket and shoot it to the moon. Then they'll have all the proof they need (at least as long as their oxygen holds out, nobody says they need to return). Ralph Kramden was a visionary!
Their website will be assimilated (not that I would want to).
Tried it with Avant Browser (http://www.avantbrowser.com). The website detected the popup blocker, so I turned off Java/scripting on the fly, reloaded and dropped off their "maaaaajical" radar.
With service like that, sounds like those out of DSL service areas (who don't want to drop $1,000+ on moving closer to a telco office) would be better off with a DirectPC satellite connection. Sure, the latency sucks, but it can't be any less reliable, and you can take it with you if you move.
That's a tricky one to do sometimes, when you lose your regular phone service (from oversized bills, etc) and cannot afford the ludicrous deposit most telcos require you to pay for either a new line or to cover said prior bill.
For example, say you've moved out of the parent's house for the first time, every penny counts (if they decide not to pay your way for the first couple of months). Say you aren't rolling in dough, shovelling fries at McDonalds just to pay the rent and keep the lights on.
You have two choices: Spend $100+ to get your phone service turned on (and go hungry for two weeks), or spend $50 on a prepaid phone (and have something to eat, even if it's half top ramen). The latter has the added benefit of being a credit builder, which is vital in today's economy.
With the pricing plans, you only really have to pay about $20 more a month on a cel phone, without telemarketers hassling you. If you don't spend more than 2 hours a week on the phone, it's really more beneficial, despite the shortcomings of range or quality.
The problem is, as the prior post noted, is the renewed policy of "expendable experts". It's a pity that laws cannot be written that would truly block the raping and pillaging of companies, as most likely the execs in charge of the CelCos paid off a summer home in Aspen at the cost of several experts' jobs, service quality and customer satisfaction.
Your earlier recordings, such as Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, or Mr. Tamborine Man? Or better still, how about a jam session with Leonard "Bilbo Baggins" Nimoy?
Slashdot Mirror
Almost seems like a computer's version of hieroglyphics, but could conceivably also be used for hidden messages. Even a sheet of what could be considered as otherwise harmless doodles could be converted with this software into coherant communiques.
It's official, Microsoft supports terrorism! (muah-ha-ha)
Capsella was also one of the few DIY robotics kits that you could use to buid a bot for almost every condition, and didn't cost a small fortune to buy. Water? Add propellers and floatation devices. Snow? Add tracks. Anywhere else, you could use tracks or wheels. This was almost a decade before MindStorms.
One of these days I need to get a debit card, so I can buy a few kits on eBay.
"Simple reflex will protect the kid from burning Nerf Balls."
You know, I think they also make an ointment for that, maybe Gold Bond?
As I recall, nuclear power plants have often gone on alert for false positives resulting from radon exposure in the home.
While the odds are slim, considering the entire length Adirondack and Appalachian mountains range from Georgia to Canada, porions of which contain significant uranium ore veins, there's going to be a considerable amount of radon gas emitted by these veins as they go through the natural process of decay. What does this mean? Inevitably, there will be false positives as well. More people will be detained, more public outcry.
On a momentary tangent, I have difficulty putting too much weight in New Scientist's journalistic integrity. For example, why haven't pacemakers set off the alarms? While they may be shielded to a certain degree for safety, I doubt that they're 100% shielded against detection.
And what of nuclear power plant employees, or students of radiological sciences in college, or radiotherapy doctors in hospitals? All of these pick up marginally higher levels of radiation in their fields, why aren't they setting off alarms either?
To ensure against repeats of that article, the police need to (at least) inform the public of the minimum level of radiation that the sensors will trip on, so that at least innocent people won't be grabbed by police, just because they were picking up an old Radium book they won in an auction online.
I mean, after that other AOL CD project, I'm sure they're going to have a couple million CDs lying around. Send them to this guy.
First off, without much risk of anthropomorphising extraterrestrial life. You have almost a 33/33/33 spread between likely candidates for intelligent life:
One, they're going to be quite a bit behind us in technology, and haven't developed radio broadcasting technology yet.
Two, they're at parity with us, which means we won't be picking up any broadcasts anytime soon, in fact, we may have to monitor radio signals for the next thousand years (even if we advance to better methods of communication, which then involves using some equipment that'll be centuries obsolete- That takes real determination).
Three, they're considerably ahead of us, and while only a couple hundred light years away, have developed radio communications hundreds of years before we had the technology to listen for it, resulting in the signals being missed by mere decades.
As for the assumptions, what is the possibility that they are using methods that we haven't even tried/discovered yet? Quite high. For the purpose of interstellar communications, you would need a signal that's fairly free of distortion from nearby stellar bodies, and can maintain a fair signal strength over several light years of distance. Also, hypothetically, the signal would have to maintain coherance without significant degradation due to moving at FTL travel, if said hypothetical ETs have such. Radio waves in theory would have this problem, therefore they would be inappropriate for this use.
Now assuming such a technology exists out there, then there's almost zero chance of our picking up a significant trace, because as we ourselves have demonstrated, when a method of communication goes obsolete, why bother going back?
For example, how many still use wireless telephone systems (the old transponder based systems that amounted to an overpriced CB, with a paid operator on the other end to dial the phone numbers for you, in use before the mid 80s)? None. Even though said systems can be used today, it's unlikely anyone would want to, when there are cheaper and easier systems in use.
This, in sum, is the flawed assumption that most ET research is based on. Looking for species as advanced as ours or better, using an outmoded form of communications that have been obsolescent for centuries or more by their standards.
"The research is being sponsored by ice cream makers Ben & Jerry's and Unilever. "
"Humans feel pain when they hear sounds of 120 decibels, a level typically reached next to the speakers at a rock concert."
So the purpose of this research is to improve on the ice cream headache? Why?
Exactly, the three laws of robotics are the whole basis for "I Robot", see: http://members.evansville.net/bob/robots/laws.html for further information.
Secondly, Will Smith used "Getting Jiggy With It" is a Will Smith song (even though he uses the "getting jiggy with it" line in a lot of his songs, a Will Smith trademark, if you will).
I hate when moderators don't have a clue.
First Law:
A robot may not get jiggy with a human being, or, through getting jiggy with it, allow a human being to come to harm.
Second Law:
A robot must get jiggy with it under orders given it by human beings, except where getting jiggy with it would conflict with the First Law.
Third Law:
A robot must protect its getting jiggy with it as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Too late, I've already patented it: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?cid=4502229&sid=42 927
My lawyerz vill be contactink you zoon, muah hah hah.
One problem I've been wondering about with most Windows browsers (not sure about Netscape, I haven't trusted them since 4.x, and it's tendacy to completely nuke Win9x with every error): Bonzi, and CometCursor both pop up an ActiveX prompt asking if I want to install their spyware.
My question is pretty simple, why is it that the ActiveX prompt has a checkbox for "Always trust software from such and such", but none for "Never trust software from such and such", or at least a "Never ask me again" checkbox? This just strikes me as remarkably stupid. Especially since there's a lot of cleaning up one would have to do if anyone makes the mistake of checking off the "Always trust" box, when prompted to install spyware into their browser.
He almost makes "Clippy" seem like a "good" thing.
As described on the website, there are some people who aren't 100% computer savvy (mostly worker drones who only know enough to create an Excel document), who assume that the fake user interface is an actual system warning.
This can easily be compared to the Zimbabwe/Zaire/South Africa/etc money scam which a surprising number of people have also fallen for. After all, if they were any more knowlegable, they wouldn't have fallen for it, so it therefore isn't a crime, yes?
Or how about everyone who stupidly opens e-mail attachments, infecting their office system with Klez, Code Red, or whatever Trojan of the week is making the rounds? It isn't the fault of the folks who wrote the virii in the first place, oh nooooo, it's the fault of Microsoft and the users in the first place.
Don't forget...
(wait for it)
4. Profit!
The problem is with the Russian space program and NASA. Back when both organizations started out, it was an extension of the cold war. Both were formed as branches of each country's military forces, and were funded as their research also influenced the nuclear war that in the end never happened. They were in competition with each other for the upper hand, with national pride as the prize. As such, they recieved a massive amount of funding (to the point of bankrupcy on the Russian side). With that threat diminished, if not dispensed with entirely, both programs have been largely gutted. Add to that, a growing public apathy for a program that is largely still dedicated to science, porkbarrelling and what has become, for the most part, a military country club.
For example, even though the Hubble telescope has proven invaluable as a research tool, in it's original deployment, it was a national joke. Even today, it's historical scope pales in comparison to the lunar landings.
What I propose, is an international effort between private and public corporations and civilian space enthusiasts. Currently, what exists is a massively disorganized scattering of individuals and individual groups trying their own thing, truly only sharing two things: A massive interest in space, and a large amount of enthusiasm. What is needed, however, is a common ground to operate on, and the organization to build with.
We need a largely centralized system to incorporate the best of the best concepts in space technology, independant from any government organizations or interferance. Governments beget beaurocracy, and beaurocracy begets stagnation.
As for financing, it isn't THAT difficult. If we could just get 1/10th of the world's population to contribute $10, then that would be sufficient to get the first manned launch vehicle off the ground, complete with launch facilities, administration et al. It wouldn't be a space plane per se, but a manned two or three person capsule. Perhaps one could even sell a seat on the capsule with a raffle system, which would make an incredible incentive for large donations.
Pilots and experienced space veterans are, frankly, a dime a dozen, I'm certain some of them would love the opportunity to be directly involved in a pioneering space program once more, one that'll influence it far more than any government controlled system today.
Experienced scientists are a dime a dozen as well, first off, there's many in aerospace who, while they exceed many requirements of the space programs, aren't taken in due to budget constraints, or because they simply don't know the right people. Additionally, grab as many whistle blowers as you can. Why? Because they not only knew what was wrong with the current system, but they *acted* on it. That is what we need. Instead, NASA and the Russian space administration would fire them or kick them out, resulting in the continuing backslide both organizations have been experiencing. And that, in fact, would give us an edge.
This is what needs to be done. Stop hoping and wishing for "space welfare" to come to the rescue, join forces and start your own space program! At the least, there's 2-3 million people around the world who want to go to space, and want to build rockets so they can do so, at least 1/4-1/3 of which are capable of doing so.
All that NASA and Russia have, is a couple hundred thousand who're hobbled by beaurocracy and ineptitude in the very same government, that, for the ol' Slashdot tie in, consider file swapping as theft and viewing your DVD on another operating system as hacking (and subsequently a major felony deserving of a life sentance, thanks to one of the new riders on the Homeland Security Act). How can anyone in their right mind expect these same people to see any scientific viability in space programs?
Need I say more?
Sorry, I meant to say "to justify killing off" reindeer herds.
Back after Chernobyl went boom, I noticed (since it was only a couple of months after), that many weeds that normally reached as high as my hip, were instead towering over my head (I was 5'8 or so at the time, when I was 16, and living in New York, the Bronx). Just wondering, have anyone else living in the northern latitudes noticed similarly unusual plant growth?
As I recall, the radioactive cloud apparently covered the entire northwestern European continent, but was almost ridiculously downplayed in the US (sorry, if contamination is enough to quarantine planes and kill reindeer herds, I doubt it drops to 0 with just over a day's travel in the jetstream).
Just wondering since we're on the subject of radiation, the US itself is largely contaminated with fallout from the bomb tests, as was recently uncovered over the last few years.
Here's a simple solution: Stick all the doubters and nay sayers into a rocket and shoot it to the moon. Then they'll have all the proof they need (at least as long as their oxygen holds out, nobody says they need to return). Ralph Kramden was a visionary!
Or we could recycle it into a giant "laser" on the "moon", or at least graft the "lasers" onto some fricking shark heads...
Their website will be assimilated (not that I would want to).
Tried it with Avant Browser (http://www.avantbrowser.com). The website detected the popup blocker, so I turned off Java/scripting on the fly, reloaded and dropped off their "maaaaajical" radar.
With service like that, sounds like those out of DSL service areas (who don't want to drop $1,000+ on moving closer to a telco office) would be better off with a DirectPC satellite connection. Sure, the latency sucks, but it can't be any less reliable, and you can take it with you if you move.
That's a tricky one to do sometimes, when you lose your regular phone service (from oversized bills, etc) and cannot afford the ludicrous deposit most telcos require you to pay for either a new line or to cover said prior bill.
For example, say you've moved out of the parent's house for the first time, every penny counts (if they decide not to pay your way for the first couple of months). Say you aren't rolling in dough, shovelling fries at McDonalds just to pay the rent and keep the lights on.
You have two choices: Spend $100+ to get your phone service turned on (and go hungry for two weeks), or spend $50 on a prepaid phone (and have something to eat, even if it's half top ramen). The latter has the added benefit of being a credit builder, which is vital in today's economy.
With the pricing plans, you only really have to pay about $20 more a month on a cel phone, without telemarketers hassling you. If you don't spend more than 2 hours a week on the phone, it's really more beneficial, despite the shortcomings of range or quality.
The problem is, as the prior post noted, is the renewed policy of "expendable experts". It's a pity that laws cannot be written that would truly block the raping and pillaging of companies, as most likely the execs in charge of the CelCos paid off a summer home in Aspen at the cost of several experts' jobs, service quality and customer satisfaction.
Your earlier recordings, such as Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, or Mr. Tamborine Man? Or better still, how about a jam session with Leonard "Bilbo Baggins" Nimoy?
You're getting an infestation!