Exactly. It pretty regularly screws us over in the labs since the FAA has a ban on wifi in ALL buildings. Means we simply can't use certain hardware. How are they going to work that out?
Collisions are less likely than with a truck, because the cargo tubes are not independently powered and independently operated, there's a central computer managing traffic routing.
I take it you're not familiar with Denver's automated baggage system, then. It was centrally controlled by a computer, too. Now it's used as an example (along with the Therac-25 radiation machine that killed people and the Ariane 5 that exploded) in ethics/computers in society classes for massive failures and the real-world consequences of bad/unsafe designs. Whenever dealing with a gigantic, complicated, interconnected engineering challenge like what these guys are proposing, the fact that there will be a "central computer managing traffic routing" should concern--not reassure--you.
Bingo. I was going to explain exactly that, but you beat me to it. As a further thing, in addition to increased funding/resource availability, actual security procedures change. Like when I used to work at City Hall, at Orange we got additional guard/police presence... At red every entrance but one is shut down and everyone going in or out of the building has to check in with a security desk.
Now, whether any of this has merit or is even useful is another conversation entirely... But there WAS a well-thought out (if not necessarily well-reasoned) reason for the terror alert levels.
Don't you have something called FEMA and doesn't it have the power to override all State organisations due to it being part of Homeland Security?
No, we don't. FEMA is an organization that provides logistical and organizational support to local disaster response agencies. FEMA has none of its own manpower.
Now President Clinton did sign an executive order that gave FEMA extraordinary powers in the event the President declares a national emergency and SUSPENDS THE CONSTITUTION, but that's not considered a very popular option.
If you'd had a President back then instead of a Playboy Prince on holiday then things would have been done and ruffled feathers sorted out later.
No, they wouldn't have. If the President had tried to depose the duly elected Governor and Mayor responsible for this monumental cockup, who happened to be from the opposing party, you could have stacked the legal filings halfway to the moon.
People are supposed to sit on their arse and point blame after the fact and not while people are dying in a disaster.
Were you there? I was. What you're describing is what Blanco and Nagin did.
I really do not think there is another President in US history that would have handled it as badly - it's not about Republican or Democrat here it's simply about abject failure.
Actually, yes there was. FEMA's response to Katrina was actually BETTER and over a week FASTER than its response to Homestead, Florida following Hurricane Andrew.
The situation of information control being far more important than lives was especially sickening.
And yet you're buying into the "information control". Again, were you there? Do you know what actually happened? I was working in the government in Louisiana at the time. I got to hear firsthand from victims and from people who tried to help exactly how badly the local and state government dropped the ball and even in many cases actively SABOTAGED rescue efforts, literally turning away volunteers and boats saying "We don't need you." and "Everything is under control!" while people died just blocks away. Never mind that local officials threw the evacuation plan for New Orleans in the trash and evacuated themselves and their families while leaving their constituents to drown. Never mind that the local police either abandoned their posts or just started looting and seizing weapons after the storm instead of helping people. Never mind that the local government evacuated the pump operators who were supposed to keep the flood waters down. Never mind that for DECADES the dozen or so "levee boards" had stolen the levee maintenance funds for pet projects like off-ramps for casinos. Never mind that our governor didn't bother to call up the National Guard. Nevermind that when, after the disaster, a flabbergasted President practically begged for permission to deploy the US Military to assist, our Governor's response was "Give me twenty-four hours to think about it..." No, obviously none of that matters. Obviously the only person responsible for the epic failure that was the Hurricane Katrina response is the guy who wasn't willing to violate the Constitution.
At the end of the day, EVERYONE fucked up. But you've got the chain of responsibility backwards here. Local and state officials are infinitely more responsible for what happened during and after Katrina than anyone at the Federal level. Period.
Except there was nothing a sitting president could do about utter incompetence and corruption of local officials during a natural disaster, as virtually all disaster response resources are not controlled by the federal government and Federal powers are extremely limited in that regard. But I'm sure you'd be perfectly fine with President Bush suspending posse comitatus and unseating state and local government officials, right?
And most people still don't have HDTVs. And most HDTVs have input for HDMI, which the default PC doesn't put out audio over, requiring a separate cable and sometimes tricky setup... Never mind that the PC usually isn't in the same room as the family TV.
Stop assuming even a small percentage of the public is even half as tech-savvy as the average slashdotter.
Well, one, are you sure nobody asked them to? I would find it odd for your typical San Diego beat cop to be able to spot PedoBear in a crowd.
No, I'm not sure whether they were asked or not. But I was more questioning your statement, not what actually happened. You seemed to be implying that it would be okay for a police officer to walk up and ask someone to leave an event solely because they were dressed in a bear costume, even though they were breaking no laws.
Two, the Comic-Con organization enlists police to (drumroll please) police the Con. I'm not sure you're aware of the size and magnitude of this event. It's no convention in a hotel lobby; the convention center itself is like a small city. Convention-goers take over all of downtown San Diego for three solid days. It would be impossible for the Con organizers -- who are a nonprofit, volunteer organization -- to police the whole thing themselves.
I'm well aware of the size of ComicCon. That has no bearing on my point. All I was questioning was your seeming acceptance of the idea that police asking someone who isn't breaking any laws to leave an event without the request of event organizers is okay.
PedoBear may be a joke, but dressing like PedoBear in a mask and costume and handing out candy is an inappropriate joke to play on young children (or their parents)
Why? I can understand the organizers of ComicCon asking the guy to go away, but why should the police be able to tell someone to go away if the organizers haven't asked them to? I coulda sworn we had freedom of speech around here...
What I find most interesting is that its biggest proponents are people within the software industry itself, but usually not the real innovators.
Tim Berners Lee? John Carmack? DONALD FREAKING KNUTH? These people aren't innovators? REALLY?
Hell, if anything, software shouldn't be patentable because Knuth probably already published the damn algorithm 30 years ago!
Are you saying software simply can't be inventive? That you can't possibly think of something in software that anyone else couldn't have thought of, even given the exact same problem set?
No, what I'M saying is that math shouldn't be patentable. Anyone who says otherwise is probably a patent attorney or an MBA, not a Computer Scientist.
Stop trying to completely break what you don't understand, because despite the problems, there are a number of true innovators in software. And I won't say that they deserve patent protection, because that's not the point. But they should be given patent protection because we need to encourage that level of innovation, and you can tell where this innovation is most needed from those areas where huge gaps exist in FOSS offerings.
Stop expecting me to support a system that directly threatens my very livelihood. Carving up portions of a domain of math and saying that use of them without a license fee is illegal is disgusting. It's even gotten to the point now that MPEG-LA triumphantly claims that no one can create any video codec without infringing upon their patents. How is this encouraging and protecting innovation? It's actively preventing it!
There's only one party to place the blame on for Orange Box being as unmaintained as it is, and that is Valve.
"While the Windows and Xbox 360 versions of The Orange Box were developed and published by Valve, the development of the PlayStation 3 port was outsourced to Electronic Arts."
Disclaimer: I'm not a pilot, but I do work with the FAA, primarily on simulating 'terminal' (ie: airport) airspaces.
I'd guess that the ATC would tell you to enter the ILS autoland codes into the flight computer, which I believe is the screen to the right of the pilot's control stick with the large keypad. Then again, I'm not familiar with the 737's cockpit layout (only one I screwed around in recently was an A321), so I could be wrong about the placement. But they'd find someone who DID know and could walk you through doing it. The person you're responding to is telling the truth, you could literally be talked through entering the proper commands into the computer to land an airliner at a properly equipped airport. Up until just recently, people at my Boss's level and above who worked with the FAA were required to go through training on how to use an autoland system in case they were on a flight in trouble. According to him, all you really need to know is the right number(s) to punch in and you're set.
Also, I can't believe I'm defending someone's description of the plot of Airplane!...
Slashdot Mirror
Before he was against them, of course...
Under what regulatory definition is a lobby not part of the building? Nevermind that my building's lobby doesn't have walls, you insensitive clod! :)
Exactly. It pretty regularly screws us over in the labs since the FAA has a ban on wifi in ALL buildings. Means we simply can't use certain hardware. How are they going to work that out?
I take it you're not familiar with Denver's automated baggage system, then. It was centrally controlled by a computer, too. Now it's used as an example (along with the Therac-25 radiation machine that killed people and the Ariane 5 that exploded) in ethics/computers in society classes for massive failures and the real-world consequences of bad/unsafe designs. Whenever dealing with a gigantic, complicated, interconnected engineering challenge like what these guys are proposing, the fact that there will be a "central computer managing traffic routing" should concern--not reassure--you.
Bingo. I was going to explain exactly that, but you beat me to it. As a further thing, in addition to increased funding/resource availability, actual security procedures change. Like when I used to work at City Hall, at Orange we got additional guard/police presence... At red every entrance but one is shut down and everyone going in or out of the building has to check in with a security desk.
Now, whether any of this has merit or is even useful is another conversation entirely... But there WAS a well-thought out (if not necessarily well-reasoned) reason for the terror alert levels.
Oh come on now, you write Java code, you can't be trusted with unsigned types...
No! I'm not going back! I'M NOT going BACK! MOTIF IS DEAD TO ME!
And then there was Aaron Broussard...
No, we don't. FEMA is an organization that provides logistical and organizational support to local disaster response agencies. FEMA has none of its own manpower.
Now President Clinton did sign an executive order that gave FEMA extraordinary powers in the event the President declares a national emergency and SUSPENDS THE CONSTITUTION, but that's not considered a very popular option.
No, they wouldn't have. If the President had tried to depose the duly elected Governor and Mayor responsible for this monumental cockup, who happened to be from the opposing party, you could have stacked the legal filings halfway to the moon.
Were you there? I was. What you're describing is what Blanco and Nagin did.
Actually, yes there was. FEMA's response to Katrina was actually BETTER and over a week FASTER than its response to Homestead, Florida following Hurricane Andrew.
And yet you're buying into the "information control". Again, were you there? Do you know what actually happened? I was working in the government in Louisiana at the time. I got to hear firsthand from victims and from people who tried to help exactly how badly the local and state government dropped the ball and even in many cases actively SABOTAGED rescue efforts, literally turning away volunteers and boats saying "We don't need you." and "Everything is under control!" while people died just blocks away. Never mind that local officials threw the evacuation plan for New Orleans in the trash and evacuated themselves and their families while leaving their constituents to drown. Never mind that the local police either abandoned their posts or just started looting and seizing weapons after the storm instead of helping people. Never mind that the local government evacuated the pump operators who were supposed to keep the flood waters down. Never mind that for DECADES the dozen or so "levee boards" had stolen the levee maintenance funds for pet projects like off-ramps for casinos. Never mind that our governor didn't bother to call up the National Guard. Nevermind that when, after the disaster, a flabbergasted President practically begged for permission to deploy the US Military to assist, our Governor's response was "Give me twenty-four hours to think about it..." No, obviously none of that matters. Obviously the only person responsible for the epic failure that was the Hurricane Katrina response is the guy who wasn't willing to violate the Constitution.
At the end of the day, EVERYONE fucked up. But you've got the chain of responsibility backwards here. Local and state officials are infinitely more responsible for what happened during and after Katrina than anyone at the Federal level. Period.
Except there was nothing a sitting president could do about utter incompetence and corruption of local officials during a natural disaster, as virtually all disaster response resources are not controlled by the federal government and Federal powers are extremely limited in that regard. But I'm sure you'd be perfectly fine with President Bush suspending posse comitatus and unseating state and local government officials, right?
You know what? I'd vote for Lex Luthor. At least I'd know what I was getting.
And yet he's right...
Which is a bald-faced lie. Fully automatic weapons require a Federal Firearms License, which overrides any more permissive state law regarding them.
Unless you're referring to a semi-automatic rifle that shares parts with an AK-47? If so, then why should you have to show an ID?
And most people still don't have HDTVs. And most HDTVs have input for HDMI, which the default PC doesn't put out audio over, requiring a separate cable and sometimes tricky setup... Never mind that the PC usually isn't in the same room as the family TV.
Stop assuming even a small percentage of the public is even half as tech-savvy as the average slashdotter.
Welfare, or charity?
Says the guy trolling around with a 'Jesus is a liberal.' sig. :)
Yeah, except some of us don't even want to be in a guild... :)
Yep, just keep moving those goal posts...
Honestly, taking account your nickname, I'm wondering if you're just purposely trolling. No one could really be this big of an idiot, can they?
Drop The Foot in the Arabian Sea and drown them?
No, I'm not sure whether they were asked or not. But I was more questioning your statement, not what actually happened. You seemed to be implying that it would be okay for a police officer to walk up and ask someone to leave an event solely because they were dressed in a bear costume, even though they were breaking no laws.
I'm well aware of the size of ComicCon. That has no bearing on my point. All I was questioning was your seeming acceptance of the idea that police asking someone who isn't breaking any laws to leave an event without the request of event organizers is okay.
Why? I can understand the organizers of ComicCon asking the guy to go away, but why should the police be able to tell someone to go away if the organizers haven't asked them to? I coulda sworn we had freedom of speech around here...
Tim Berners Lee? John Carmack? DONALD FREAKING KNUTH? These people aren't innovators? REALLY?
Hell, if anything, software shouldn't be patentable because Knuth probably already published the damn algorithm 30 years ago!
No, what I'M saying is that math shouldn't be patentable. Anyone who says otherwise is probably a patent attorney or an MBA, not a Computer Scientist.
Stop expecting me to support a system that directly threatens my very livelihood. Carving up portions of a domain of math and saying that use of them without a license fee is illegal is disgusting. It's even gotten to the point now that MPEG-LA triumphantly claims that no one can create any video codec without infringing upon their patents. How is this encouraging and protecting innovation? It's actively preventing it!
"While the Windows and Xbox 360 versions of The Orange Box were developed and published by Valve, the development of the PlayStation 3 port was outsourced to Electronic Arts."
Try again...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Box#PlayStation_3_version
Disclaimer: I'm not a pilot, but I do work with the FAA, primarily on simulating 'terminal' (ie: airport) airspaces.
I'd guess that the ATC would tell you to enter the ILS autoland codes into the flight computer, which I believe is the screen to the right of the pilot's control stick with the large keypad. Then again, I'm not familiar with the 737's cockpit layout (only one I screwed around in recently was an A321), so I could be wrong about the placement. But they'd find someone who DID know and could walk you through doing it. The person you're responding to is telling the truth, you could literally be talked through entering the proper commands into the computer to land an airliner at a properly equipped airport. Up until just recently, people at my Boss's level and above who worked with the FAA were required to go through training on how to use an autoland system in case they were on a flight in trouble. According to him, all you really need to know is the right number(s) to punch in and you're set.
Also, I can't believe I'm defending someone's description of the plot of Airplane!...
And the uranium in that nuke plant came out of a mine in the ground...