When I first saw the article, I flashed on Heinlein, then "Destination Moon", the first movie I saw, back in 1951.
Seems to me that what Bill Stone is setting out to do is the kind of thing any real nerd would give his left nut to do, be involved in, or see happen. I may be getting too cynical (I think many here are, or have already arrived) but I'd like to see this work. Wouldn't hurt to have a modern-day Delos Harriman or three backing this. I think too many forget that humans invent their own future. One may observe - avidly or idly, participate, or scoff.
Even now, I find it incomprehensible that anyone was issued patents for any of this stuff. Just reading them is hurtful to the brain. It's nonsense, and amounts to little more than a government-sanctioned extortion scheme. What truly hurts is that I'm not surprised.
I recall reading the constitution of the U.S.S.R circa '73 and noting the wonderful discrepancy between it and what I saw on the news and got from reading Solzhenitsyn.
I find it just as disconcerting these days viz. the U.S.
After successfully getting Civ 5 running under Wine, I screwed something up trying to tweak it, so paid for Crossover Games. Installed Steam, Civ, had no probs (well, the opening movie doesn't work.) That said, I don't know what other Steam games work, other than Silent Hunter IV.
I ditched my last Windows install in March but keep XP as a virtual machine for some odds and ends - mostly to help out folks using it.
I got tired of the licensing hassle and maintenance overhead. I did kinda like Win 7, though, seems a worthy successor to XP.
We arrive at a conundrum: how many people is too many, or, just as telling, how few is too few?
You're right, the planet just is. Ditto the biosphere, absent us. But since we're already here.... as Chris Crawford asked in Balance of Power, "What will you do now, smart person?" I see some interesting choices and few easy actions.
Here and in various other forums there be much discussion, questioning, carping, on immediate stuff, and a fair amount of speculation/longing/aspiring for something better, but that better is more inchoate the further in time. Jerry Brown whilst running for president had a campaign slogan that said, "Protect the Earth, serve the people, and explore the universe.” Nice, but, how? Under what economic, social, political frameworks?
I think it worth exploring, and trying things, given that what we're doing now is working so well.
So, a carbon tax? Ok, let's try it. No offsets, tho.
Perfect quote. Thanks for that link, made great reading. Interesting site, as well.
Credit where due, at least Meg's almost on record about wanting to make a right decision. Could be a first. She seems to have been saying some of the right things recently (appearing thoughtful, balanced, realistic); it remains to see what comes of that.
D'you happen to know of a good study on why any innovative, successful company ends up a bad board? It doesn't seem to be a rare occurrence.
Which goes to show too few investors read good science fiction. Btw, MASER came first. Many in the field despaired for years from having a neat gizmo and no takers. I had laser-assisted surgery in '61 at Walter Reed, so at least I got some use out of it fairly early.
I look forward to nano-NASCAR races. What I really await are the various nanobots not yet built that'll clean the gunk out of my arteries and lungs, for starters.
Seems to me that in engineering form tends to follow function. There's only so many practical ways to design an airplane, for instance: tube, wing, or blend; add propulsion, fuel tanks, controls. Then improve materials, fab methods, and play with it - a practical flying wing needed improved controls not available in the early 1900s, for example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_wing
As to why we went to Luna and quit [downpage], well, that's been lived through, written about, and discussed up the yin-yang. Seems to me it was largely lack of interest and failure of will abetted by the distractions of a bunch of stuff on the front burner. Looking at the past coupla thousand years I get the impression that in the collective, humanity tends to be short-sighted and rather petty. Ditto for many of its members. Which is why, when we do neat things like invent computers, printing press, microwave ovens, nail clippers, and soap, and remove the scourge of polio, smallpox, and such, I applaud and try not to think overmuch about all the things we're _not_ doing. Yeah, I try; not saying it works.
Nice reference. Um, and "interesting" speculation; how does one assign probabilities with so many unknowns versus postulated possibilities?
Yeah, I remember CONELRAD, 640 and 1240 on your dial. Also 'duck and cover' and evac drills, SAC alerts (watching and _hearing_ local bases scramble their B-47s and B-52s was awesome, especially to an eight-year old kid) along with the ADC/TAC scrambles. When you're crouched under your desk and look out the classroom window to see an F-101 zoom past so close you can see the pilot's helmet, yeah, it makes an impression. Almost fun if you don't think about the rest of it.
I prefer DEAD. As in gone, tits up, its constituent particles and policies scattered, sundered, dissipated as unrelated transient sub-atomic particles and vanished in the stellar wind, along with all the mentalities responsible for it. It's only future should be as a precautionary-tale footnote to a "Brief History of the American Republic." Otherwise, that Republic itself will have a brief history.
Meanwhile: Department to Eradicate American Democracy might do.
Maryjane a gateway drug? Well, could be. I smoked weed for six months before ever smoking tobacco - during my first acid trip. Did plenty of the psycho-active, -delic stuff for ten years, '67-'77, picked it up, laid it down. Only stuff to cause any probs at all to date are nicotine, alcohol, caffeine.
And yeah, ingestion works great for boo (takes more but lasts longer and is mellower - mind the dosage); used to powder leaves and buds in blender or pestle and use as ingredient for sauces, dressings, whathaveyou, even Jello. Kept a shaker on the table - great with scrambled eggs, for example. Never tried it on ice cream.
Online petitions at White House? PR, making malcontent lists, safety valve (the illusion of participating, etc.), and even, possibly, useful feedback. Yet, nothing ventured, nothing gained, maybe.
I started learning in the late Sixties that the powers that be don't need to listen, but only need to pretend to do so.
Yup, Lastpass; except I can't justify trying to pay for a safety deposit box right now. I gave my sister and a friend my master password along with relevant account particulars, which they each put in their own bank boxes. I make no automatic payments. Best I can do so far.
Hi, Bill. Thanks; sorry 'bout the snark, was only into second cuppa, and couldn't resist.
I've been using "kermidge" for a decade, there's only one other on the 'net that I've found (and I'm not sure about him), but there are thousands with my "real" name.
Thanks for the link; as mentioned below: [a group in] Europe is....
I saw this a few months back; I'll be much more interested when I see several of these being built and used. Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya might be worthy places to start.
What do you think the odds are that everyone signing unpopular petitions at whitehouse.gov gets put on someone's watch list?
Nope, not paranoid, I've simply read too much history and science fiction (a lot of Heinlein comes to mind) since the '50s. This is gonna get a whole bunch worse before there's even the slim possibility it'll get better.
Gunner Joe AND the Stasi would've loved this. Heydrich and Beria are cackling in their graves. Even if there were a journalist with the perception and integrity of Murrow, or even Cronkite, he'd never get air time. Nope, this'll have to play itself out, rather like a cancer corrupting and killing its host.
Slashdot Mirror
I think it's time to remember not to forget what the bastards did.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend - at least until the battle is done.
When I first saw the article, I flashed on Heinlein, then "Destination Moon", the first movie I saw, back in 1951.
Seems to me that what Bill Stone is setting out to do is the kind of thing any real nerd would give his left nut to do, be involved in, or see happen. I may be getting too cynical (I think many here are, or have already arrived) but I'd like to see this work. Wouldn't hurt to have a modern-day Delos Harriman or three backing this. I think too many forget that humans invent their own future. One may observe - avidly or idly, participate, or scoff.
For those who didn't click through the links: http://www.stoneaerospace.com/news-/news-mining-moon.php
(Thanks for the hippie quiz. It brought back a few memories. 114)
Even now, I find it incomprehensible that anyone was issued patents for any of this stuff. Just reading them is hurtful to the brain. It's nonsense, and amounts to little more than a government-sanctioned extortion scheme. What truly hurts is that I'm not surprised.
I recall reading the constitution of the U.S.S.R circa '73 and noting the wonderful discrepancy between it and what I saw on the news and got from reading Solzhenitsyn.
I find it just as disconcerting these days viz. the U.S.
Good to know. Thanks.
After successfully getting Civ 5 running under Wine, I screwed something up trying to tweak it, so paid for Crossover Games. Installed Steam, Civ, had no probs (well, the opening movie doesn't work.) That said, I don't know what other Steam games work, other than Silent Hunter IV.
I ditched my last Windows install in March but keep XP as a virtual machine for some odds and ends - mostly to help out folks using it.
I got tired of the licensing hassle and maintenance overhead. I did kinda like Win 7, though, seems a worthy successor to XP.
Yes. Like you, I've seen a bit of this in practice. It's not always fair, and it's not always right, but it often works.
Heinlein pointed out, in one of his stories, that 'an armed society is a polite society.'
Third para is right on the money.
We arrive at a conundrum: how many people is too many, or, just as telling, how few is too few?
You're right, the planet just is. Ditto the biosphere, absent us. But since we're already here.... as Chris Crawford asked in Balance of Power, "What will you do now, smart person?" I see some interesting choices and few easy actions.
Here and in various other forums there be much discussion, questioning, carping, on immediate stuff, and a fair amount of speculation/longing/aspiring for something better, but that better is more inchoate the further in time. Jerry Brown whilst running for president had a campaign slogan that said, "Protect the Earth, serve the people, and explore the universe.” Nice, but, how? Under what economic, social, political frameworks?
I think it worth exploring, and trying things, given that what we're doing now is working so well.
So, a carbon tax? Ok, let's try it. No offsets, tho.
Perfect quote. Thanks for that link, made great reading. Interesting site, as well.
Credit where due, at least Meg's almost on record about wanting to make a right decision. Could be a first. She seems to have been saying some of the right things recently (appearing thoughtful, balanced, realistic); it remains to see what comes of that.
D'you happen to know of a good study on why any innovative, successful company ends up a bad board? It doesn't seem to be a rare occurrence.
Which goes to show too few investors read good science fiction. Btw, MASER came first. Many in the field despaired for years from having a neat gizmo and no takers. I had laser-assisted surgery in '61 at Walter Reed, so at least I got some use out of it fairly early.
I look forward to nano-NASCAR races. What I really await are the various nanobots not yet built that'll clean the gunk out of my arteries and lungs, for starters.
Yup. Might neat stuff, indeed. I'd like to see this integrated with Google Earth.
This.
Seems to me that in engineering form tends to follow function. There's only so many practical ways to design an airplane, for instance: tube, wing, or blend; add propulsion, fuel tanks, controls. Then improve materials, fab methods, and play with it - a practical flying wing needed improved controls not available in the early 1900s, for example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_wing
As for the deprecating discussion of the J-2X above, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-2_(rocket_engine) seems a reasonable place to start.
As to why we went to Luna and quit [downpage], well, that's been lived through, written about, and discussed up the yin-yang. Seems to me it was largely lack of interest and failure of will abetted by the distractions of a bunch of stuff on the front burner. Looking at the past coupla thousand years I get the impression that in the collective, humanity tends to be short-sighted and rather petty. Ditto for many of its members. Which is why, when we do neat things like invent computers, printing press, microwave ovens, nail clippers, and soap, and remove the scourge of polio, smallpox, and such, I applaud and try not to think overmuch about all the things we're _not_ doing. Yeah, I try; not saying it works.
Thanks.
Rocket surgery? I like it.
Nice reference. Um, and "interesting" speculation; how does one assign probabilities with so many unknowns versus postulated possibilities?
Yeah, I remember CONELRAD, 640 and 1240 on your dial. Also 'duck and cover' and evac drills, SAC alerts (watching and _hearing_ local bases scramble their B-47s and B-52s was awesome, especially to an eight-year old kid) along with the ADC/TAC scrambles. When you're crouched under your desk and look out the classroom window to see an F-101 zoom past so close you can see the pilot's helmet, yeah, it makes an impression. Almost fun if you don't think about the rest of it.
I prefer DEAD. As in gone, tits up, its constituent particles and policies scattered, sundered, dissipated as unrelated transient sub-atomic particles and vanished in the stellar wind, along with all the mentalities responsible for it. It's only future should be as a precautionary-tale footnote to a "Brief History of the American Republic." Otherwise, that Republic itself will have a brief history.
Meanwhile: Department to Eradicate American Democracy might do.
True enough, but just because he's "got a dog in this race" doesn't preclude him from having a useful view, no?
Maryjane a gateway drug? Well, could be. I smoked weed for six months before ever smoking tobacco - during my first acid trip. Did plenty of the psycho-active, -delic stuff for ten years, '67-'77, picked it up, laid it down. Only stuff to cause any probs at all to date are nicotine, alcohol, caffeine.
And yeah, ingestion works great for boo (takes more but lasts longer and is mellower - mind the dosage); used to powder leaves and buds in blender or pestle and use as ingredient for sauces, dressings, whathaveyou, even Jello. Kept a shaker on the table - great with scrambled eggs, for example. Never tried it on ice cream.
Thank you Pete and Lexx for explaining more stuff more succinctly than anything I've seen ere now.
Thanks for link.
Online petitions at White House? PR, making malcontent lists, safety valve (the illusion of participating, etc.), and even, possibly, useful feedback. Yet, nothing ventured, nothing gained, maybe.
I started learning in the late Sixties that the powers that be don't need to listen, but only need to pretend to do so.
Yup, Lastpass; except I can't justify trying to pay for a safety deposit box right now. I gave my sister and a friend my master password along with relevant account particulars, which they each put in their own bank boxes. I make no automatic payments. Best I can do so far.
Hi, Bill. Thanks; sorry 'bout the snark, was only into second cuppa, and couldn't resist.
I've been using "kermidge" for a decade, there's only one other on the 'net that I've found (and I'm not sure about him), but there are thousands with my "real" name.
Thanks for the link; as mentioned below: [a group in] Europe is....
I saw this a few months back; I'll be much more interested when I see several of these being built and used. Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya might be worthy places to start.
Man up? Might be a more credible exhortation if not posted AC, no?
What do you think the odds are that everyone signing unpopular petitions at whitehouse.gov gets put on someone's watch list?
Nope, not paranoid, I've simply read too much history and science fiction (a lot of Heinlein comes to mind) since the '50s. This is gonna get a whole bunch worse before there's even the slim possibility it'll get better.
Gunner Joe AND the Stasi would've loved this. Heydrich and Beria are cackling in their graves. Even if there were a journalist with the perception and integrity of Murrow, or even Cronkite, he'd never get air time. Nope, this'll have to play itself out, rather like a cancer corrupting and killing its host.
I hope that I'm wrong, but it's slim pickens'.