There is one small area you appear to be overlooking. In the open source model, if someone releases a piece of software that requires spyware to install, like Kazaa, in less than a week there will be a fork that is spyware-free. Most of the malware business models don't work when the source is available and can be modified.
Your points are valid for things like viruses and worms, but the "you can't use my software unless you install my spyware" model won't work in the open source world.
he Enterprise was built as a test vehicle and is not equipped for space flight.
The study I'm still looking for acknowledged this, but noted that the airframe was almost identical to the one used in static test vehicle that became Endeavor. You would have to replace almost everything else to get it flyable though. Tiles, the cabin, probably the cargo bay doors, etc. The thing is there are spares available for all of those things, or they are still being produced. The airframe line was shut down a long time ago.
I can't find the link right now, but there was a feasibility study done and Enterprise could be converted. The airframe is still solid. It would effectively be a shuttle that had been "used" a few times. After all, Endeavor was built from the frame that was used for static testing, and it was even more abused in the workups.
The problem is that a shuttle based on the Enterprise frame would be the heaviest in the fleet, as the frame was over-engineered, just in case. Also, we don't have faith in the soundness of the STS hardware anymore, so it would be rather pointless to build another one.
Um, to paraphrase Inigo Montoya, I read your link and I don't think it means what you think it means. The report is on the insurance of private payloads, not government ones. In general, the government doesn't take out insurance. If they did, then there would be no problem in coming up with the funding to replace Columbia as the policy would pay for the conversion of the Enterprise frame to a launch-capable vehicle. Instead, they have to ask Congress for the funds.
If NASA didn't insure the Shuttles, that's pretty convincing evidence that they wouldn't have insured the piddling unmanned Mars Rovers. Also, it is an elementary logical fallacy to ask someone to prove a negative. You did know that, didn't you?
Well, I can't find anything about the pronunciation of Egyptian numbers, but 900 and 9000 would be written very differently in Middle Egyptian: http://www.jimloy.com/egypt/numbers.htm
Of course Solon probably couldn't read Egyptian, so if the sign for "hundred" and the sign for "thousand" sound similar, or if the priest's Greek was weak so that he mis-translated, this still could have happened. Greek number systems appear to be at least as confusing as the latter Roman system: http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopic s/Greek_numbers.html
Interestingly enough, Greek and Egyptian number systems both appear to have been base 10.
The Department of Energy report I referred to included oil shales and sands in the proven reserve totals. US domestic reserves are declining, especially since we haven't annexed Canada yet.
Perhaps the best bet for oil shales would be Thermal Depolymerization. The neat thing about it is that once you have the plants up and running, it is trivial to convert them from producing hydrocarbons from oil shale to producing them from agricultural waste. Those hydrocarbons don't contribute to global warming, since the CO2 produced by them was just recently sucked out the atmosphere by the plants that were used as feedstock. It remains to be seen how expensive oil will need to get before TDP becomes economically viable, however.
One final thing -- more research does not necessarily lead to more economical production. That is often more a factor of economies of scale and practical experience during development. I worked in the research arm of a big chem firm for a while, and there is quite a difference between what's on the whiteboard or benchtop and a full scale plant.
Americans don't like futbol. It's not part of our culture. Are you trying to cure us of our cultural insensitivity by trying by ramming your culture down our throats?
I'd argue some of your other examples as well, particularly in auto racing. The number one competition in that field seems to be NASCAR, particularly the Nextel (nee Winston) Cup. Toyota and Honda are both getting ready to field teams, and we'll probably see a BMW car or two by next year. Personally, I can't stand watching hours of hard left turns, but lots and lots of people seem to really love it. From what I hear it has quite a following in Latin America in addition to the USA.
Finally, the US does field internationally recognized basketball and hockey teams, to name two of our better known Olympic teams. You seem to be mostly upset because we don't do soccer. I'd advise you to deal with it and move on. It has as much chance of catching on here as cricket.
Umm, no. You might have to compile the stuff yourself, but it's perfectly kosher to distribute the source of both RHEL and SuSE. That's what the GPL is all about, after all. The big charge on RHEL is for the support package, and is in line with what MS charges for Software Assurance on their server OSes.
Oh, and tone down the damn caps already It's so 80s.
I think that you are thinking a bit too small. If I am a taxicab company and I replace my fleet with diesels five years early, I lose money and will probably hire fewer drivers. Then there's the impact on industries. As an example, if Americans really do start switching to public transit, then fewer vehicles will be sold, and people in that industry will lose their jobs.
That's not to say that its not worth doing, only to point out that we are talking about far more than merely going out and buying a Prius. Industry accounts for an awful lot of our greenhouse output.
I don't disagree with you, but there will be economic disruption as a result of conservation. The US economy is grounded in relatively cheap energy. To move to a different model will cause some pain. The long term gains definitely outweigh the short term losses, but historically voters don't look to the long term.
The proven reserves in North America are shrinking. Even Big Oil has begun to wonder if we've peaked. If the paleologic explanation of petroleum formation is correct, and most geologists believe that it is, then there is most definitely a finite amount of the stuff on the planet.
Thomas Gold seems to think that may not be the case, but he also argued forcefully that the moon landers would sink into the lunar dust and/or the astronauts would bring back fatal lunar diseases that would wipe out mankind. He's brilliant, but he's also been wrong as many times as he's been right.
I'd like citations from actual petroleum geologists that these vast undiscovered petroleum reserves actually exist, rather than anonymous Panglossian affirmations that they must.
US domestic petroleum consumption ~= 20.0 Million Barrels/Day in 2003 rising from 19.8 MMBD in 2002. 2003 domestic production ~= 7.9 MMBD. The average estimate for ANWR production = 1.0 to 1.35 MMBD. All numbers from the hippies in Bush's Energy Department. By the way, the same study shows a steady decline in domestic proven reserves, even taking in to account unexploited oil fields.
Do the math. Even if there are a few other unexploited areas in the US that are as rich as the ANWR, domestic demand far outstrips any realistic estimation of domestic production. Even if we put a marginal well in everyone's backyard, we can't keep up with current consumption trends. More drilling might be part of a short term answer, but if our goal is to eliminate our dependency on foreign petroleum then we must find ways to reduce our overall consumption without wrecking the economy at the same time. That's hard.
As long as that person knows what they're doing, I don't see a problem here. Do you do your dentistry as well? After all you wouldn't want to rely on someone else to take care of your teeth!
They also have little to do with the original Chinese design. There's also the matter of applications. The Greeks invented the Steam Engine, but considered it a toy.
That's not to say that modern Chinese rockets are crap. From what I've seen, they have a capable design team over there. They've obviously been inspired by Soviet designs, just like ESA's rockets have a decidedly American appearance, but they seem to work well.
As far as Chinese participation in ISS goes, I don't think their launch facilities are well situated for reaching it. NASA probably also fears an even more complicated political situation when adjustments to the schedule need to be made.
Traditional Chinese rockets have more in common with modern artillery shells and bullets than rockets and missiles. The Chinese didn't invent the liquid fueled rocket. That was done by a mixture of Americans, Germans, and Russians. Traditional Chinese rocket concepts have essentially no bearing on modern spacecraft.
Still, you are correct about the parent poster being an ass.
Did you get a chance to try the Double Bastard while they were still brewing it? It's about the closest thing to a Pan Galatic Gargleblaster that I've ever found (at least in the beer department).
Good stuff. I don't understand their Hop Pocket though, I can't stand that one (but not because it is piss beer, because it is much hoppier than your average human can stand).
If you think that Hop Pocket is hoppy, then you are definitely not worthy!
Somehow I don't think that would be much of a problem. 12V wire isn't likely to handle the mains power for more than a second or two. It would just function as a somewhat slow blowing fuse.
Yes but designing your own OS from scratch does not give you the right to install it on Apples hardware for instance.
If I own the hardware, I sure as hell do have a right to install it. I also have the right to tear off the name plate and paint racing stripes on it, if I so desire. Once I paid Apple for the box, it ceased being Apple's and started being mine.
On the other hand, Apple is under no obligation whatsoever to make it easy for me to this. They are not required to publish technical specs, et al that would allow me to easily develop software to control the hardware they designed.
Something about a patent clerk and theoretical physics seems like it'd be appropriate here...
That patent clerk was already a PhD physicist specializing in theory. How do you think he managed to get published? Without credentials in his field, he would have been ignored.
but no spare change left over to pick up a few Stinger missiles.
The system has an effective range in excess of 100 miles and flies well above the 20,000 foot ceiling of shoulder launched missiles. It is out of SAM range when deployed.
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Your points are valid for things like viruses and worms, but the "you can't use my software unless you install my spyware" model won't work in the open source world.
The study I'm still looking for acknowledged this, but noted that the airframe was almost identical to the one used in static test vehicle that became Endeavor. You would have to replace almost everything else to get it flyable though. Tiles, the cabin, probably the cargo bay doors, etc. The thing is there are spares available for all of those things, or they are still being produced. The airframe line was shut down a long time ago.
The problem is that a shuttle based on the Enterprise frame would be the heaviest in the fleet, as the frame was over-engineered, just in case. Also, we don't have faith in the soundness of the STS hardware anymore, so it would be rather pointless to build another one.
If NASA didn't insure the Shuttles, that's pretty convincing evidence that they wouldn't have insured the piddling unmanned Mars Rovers. Also, it is an elementary logical fallacy to ask someone to prove a negative. You did know that, didn't you?
Of course Solon probably couldn't read Egyptian, so if the sign for "hundred" and the sign for "thousand" sound similar, or if the priest's Greek was weak so that he mis-translated, this still could have happened. Greek number systems appear to be at least as confusing as the latter Roman system: http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopic s/Greek_numbers.html
Interestingly enough, Greek and Egyptian number systems both appear to have been base 10.
Perhaps the best bet for oil shales would be Thermal Depolymerization. The neat thing about it is that once you have the plants up and running, it is trivial to convert them from producing hydrocarbons from oil shale to producing them from agricultural waste. Those hydrocarbons don't contribute to global warming, since the CO2 produced by them was just recently sucked out the atmosphere by the plants that were used as feedstock. It remains to be seen how expensive oil will need to get before TDP becomes economically viable, however.
One final thing -- more research does not necessarily lead to more economical production. That is often more a factor of economies of scale and practical experience during development. I worked in the research arm of a big chem firm for a while, and there is quite a difference between what's on the whiteboard or benchtop and a full scale plant.
When you mug someone for their laptop?
Now if only we could find a team to play basketball in DC...
I'd argue some of your other examples as well, particularly in auto racing. The number one competition in that field seems to be NASCAR, particularly the Nextel (nee Winston) Cup. Toyota and Honda are both getting ready to field teams, and we'll probably see a BMW car or two by next year. Personally, I can't stand watching hours of hard left turns, but lots and lots of people seem to really love it. From what I hear it has quite a following in Latin America in addition to the USA.
Finally, the US does field internationally recognized basketball and hockey teams, to name two of our better known Olympic teams. You seem to be mostly upset because we don't do soccer. I'd advise you to deal with it and move on. It has as much chance of catching on here as cricket.
I'm with you on the metric system, however.
Oh, and tone down the damn caps already It's so 80s.
That's not to say that its not worth doing, only to point out that we are talking about far more than merely going out and buying a Prius. Industry accounts for an awful lot of our greenhouse output.
I don't disagree with you, but there will be economic disruption as a result of conservation. The US economy is grounded in relatively cheap energy. To move to a different model will cause some pain. The long term gains definitely outweigh the short term losses, but historically voters don't look to the long term.
Thomas Gold seems to think that may not be the case, but he also argued forcefully that the moon landers would sink into the lunar dust and/or the astronauts would bring back fatal lunar diseases that would wipe out mankind. He's brilliant, but he's also been wrong as many times as he's been right.
I'd like citations from actual petroleum geologists that these vast undiscovered petroleum reserves actually exist, rather than anonymous Panglossian affirmations that they must.
Do the math. Even if there are a few other unexploited areas in the US that are as rich as the ANWR, domestic demand far outstrips any realistic estimation of domestic production. Even if we put a marginal well in everyone's backyard, we can't keep up with current consumption trends. More drilling might be part of a short term answer, but if our goal is to eliminate our dependency on foreign petroleum then we must find ways to reduce our overall consumption without wrecking the economy at the same time. That's hard.
As long as that person knows what they're doing, I don't see a problem here. Do you do your dentistry as well? After all you wouldn't want to rely on someone else to take care of your teeth!
That's not to say that modern Chinese rockets are crap. From what I've seen, they have a capable design team over there. They've obviously been inspired by Soviet designs, just like ESA's rockets have a decidedly American appearance, but they seem to work well.
As far as Chinese participation in ISS goes, I don't think their launch facilities are well situated for reaching it. NASA probably also fears an even more complicated political situation when adjustments to the schedule need to be made.
Still, you are correct about the parent poster being an ass.
Did you get a chance to try the Double Bastard while they were still brewing it? It's about the closest thing to a Pan Galatic Gargleblaster that I've ever found (at least in the beer department).
If you think that Hop Pocket is hoppy, then you are definitely not worthy!
Optimist.
Somehow I don't think that would be much of a problem. 12V wire isn't likely to handle the mains power for more than a second or two. It would just function as a somewhat slow blowing fuse.
If I own the hardware, I sure as hell do have a right to install it. I also have the right to tear off the name plate and paint racing stripes on it, if I so desire. Once I paid Apple for the box, it ceased being Apple's and started being mine.
On the other hand, Apple is under no obligation whatsoever to make it easy for me to this. They are not required to publish technical specs, et al that would allow me to easily develop software to control the hardware they designed.
That patent clerk was already a PhD physicist specializing in theory. How do you think he managed to get published? Without credentials in his field, he would have been ignored.
The system has an effective range in excess of 100 miles and flies well above the 20,000 foot ceiling of shoulder launched missiles. It is out of SAM range when deployed.
And corporations don't? The only difference is that they're well funded enough to hire the police or the army to do their headbreaking.