Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this just another case of people who want bleeding edge technology getting screwed out of their retirement savings? If they wait three months, won't everyone be able to pick up a PS2 at Walmart for the regular price tag, rather than shelling out $15,000+ on eBay?
Let the parents give their children rain cheques for Xmas. I've gotten those a couple of times. As long as the kid isn't a spoiled brat, will it kill them to wait a few weeks for their gift? Hell, I've sometimes waited 4 months for a rain cheque I got for Xmas to show up. It didn't kill me, just taught me a little patience.
Just so you all know, I apply the same reasoning to computers, as anyone with half a brain will. Three years ago I got an AMD 233MHz with 32MB RAM, 4GB HDD for $1000 new, at a time when 300MHz machines were selling for over $3000. Now, I'm finally considering getting an upgrade (yes, my computer has served me faithfully until now) and I can get 600MHz machines etc. etc. etc. for $1200. Anyone who buys on the bleeding edge should have their heads examined.
Laughing my ass off! Cubemates are giving me funny looks. Who cares. Actually, I'm a Canadian, eh? but with enough exposure to British culture (and dictionaries) to "misinterpret" whenever someone tries to call me homosexual. Gay==happy, queer==odd, fag==cigarette, homo==3.25% milk. This post almost doesn't deserve to be submitted, but now that I've taken the trouble to write it...
Your marvellous and generous reply has relieved approximately one minute of boredom, given that I am now replying. Unfortunately, I do not understand your reference to cigarettes at the end of your post.
Have you ever thought about how funny it would be if you heard someone say "can I bum a fag off of you?"
This part of the faq explains how moderating came to be, and who gets it now. The part that prevents me from getting moderator access is "no obsessive compulsive reloaders." I've got loads of karma (call it whoring if you will) but I'm so bored at work that I can't wait for the next article to come up, and I'm always looking to see if anyone replied to my posts. Anyway, check out the guidelines, and see if you come up short anywhere.
Heinlein always struck me as one of the most reasonable authors when it came to alternate lifestyles. Sure homophobia was expressed in this book, but it was by Ben Caxton, polar opposite to the protagonist. Jubal told him to think about his reaction, and after doing so, Caxton relents.
For other non-homophobic novels, look at the way lesbianism is portrayed in Friday. Just my two cents. I enjoy Heilein as a light read. He has an amusing narrative style, and occasionally his ideas make me say hmmm....
Hey! It's great to know that I can still blow up demons while on the subway to work. Now, everyone imagine a really good motion sensing input device, put on those goggle things, and really freak out everyone on public transit as you dodge fireballs and peek around corners looking for zombies and gatling-gun wielding mechanical spider-brains!
Was that the show with the freaky character that was dressed all in black, and had toilet paper rolls in place of eyes and mouth? I swear to god such a show existed, but no-one believes me. If anyone knows what that show was, please, please, PLEASE tell me.
Ouch. I'd certainly hate to suffer a decapitating injury. However, I would be very impressed if someone wasn't hindered by the loss. Actually, come to think of it, a few of the people I know probably wouldn't be hindered by the loss.
The muscles that move your fingers are all in your forearm. Basically, the prosthetic has senses the muscle twitches in the forearm and uses that to trigger the motors which open/close the hand.
the integrated senses of hot/cold that I saw somewhere a while ago. I think it was on TV. Basically, there was a thermocouple in the fingertips that would trigger a heating/cooling unit at the top of the prosthetic, where existing nerves would pick it up. Response time was remarkably fast, enough so that someone touching the surface of, say, a stove would be able to respond quickly enough to avoid serious damage to the prosthetic. If anyone has a link, I'd appreciate it.
I think that, for the first few days anyways, Salmonella reproduces *much* faster than your body can destroy it. Your body rarely ignores any foreign material that is put inside of it (opening for lame jokes here). Once the immune system gets ramped up, and figures out how to make the antibodies, the salmonella doesn't stand much of a chance.
You know, the standard lamps with the halogen bulbs that you could cook a turkey on. I like mine because all the light from the bulb is directed upwards to the ceiling. This allows for ambient lighting in the room, but is still more than bright enough to read documents on your desk, etc.
These have a couple of other benefits as well. They are relatively inexpensive (I forget how much mine cost, but I got it at walmart:) and the bulbs last a very long time. I've had mine for three years now, and it's still as bright as ever. Plus, being a university student, I move very frequently, and this light breaks down quickly and easily into a 1' X 2' X 4" box. A definite plus in my books.
Of course, you may need more heat sinks/fans in your computer, because this will raise the ambient temperature in your room a fair amount. Mine is 300W, but I frequently need and am greatful for the extra heat it kicks out (low-budget student housing).
Antibiotics are drugs which kill bacteria. These can be either natural (Pennicillin) or synthetic (like Amoxicillin, or any other variation).
Antibodies are cells(?) produced by the immune system that mark and immobilize antigens (invaders) so that white blood cells can more easily capture and destroy them.
Its sole job is to seek out and destroy foreign organisms in the body. At the very least, I would expect it to attempt to immobilize and then flush out this nano-sub, if it could not destroy it. We've all read Fantastic Voyage, and know the problems those guys had with antibodies... (not to base my theories on a scene in a novel or anything:)
If the only way to avoid this is by taking harsh immuno-suppressant drugs, there had better be huge benefits for me before you can convince me to have these things injected into my bloodstream. That said, cool tech!
The question is: if there are so many intelligences in the universe, where are they?
Sometimes I think that the surest sign that intelligent life exists somewhere else in the universe is that none of them has tried to contact us - Calvin.
As has been said before by many people (Asimov may have been the first), we have build our world for bipedal creatures. For a general purpose robot, it must be humanoid to use our tools. It is also much more efficient to have a humanoid robot be a chauffeur, maid, and cook than to put a brain into every vacuum cleaner, stove, car, fridge, microwave, and toilet plunger that you own.
Why don't we just use the current DNS system to resolve to the hostname, and each host has its own database of object id's? This seems most reasonable to me. Each site can (if it chooses to) migrate to using OID's at its own leisure. Then, we could use this along with the current protocols and filesystems, without having to create a whole new internet. It sounds like this is a good solution for administering a single domain, but not for the entire internet. Can you imagine the size of the database necessary to store id & location of every page on the net? Geez...
I hope I'm not feeding a troll, but x-rays are EM (electro-magnetic) waves, just like visible light, radio waves, ultraviolet, etc. The only difference is that they have a much higher energy due to higher frequency (shorter wavelenght ~1A instead of ~500nm for visible light).
The only way you can claim that x-rays are particles is when using the particle nature of light. In that case, they are photons. However, the currently accepted theory is that light (and everything else, for that matter) has a dual nature, both particle and wave, according to the deBroglie relationship.
It is also true that x-rays aren't particularly related to electricity. However, electricity has very little to do with the fact that we call light Electro-Magnetic waves. We do it because a while ago (anyone correct me if I'm wrong) someone discovered that a lot of the properties of light (and x-rays, UV, IR, etc) could be explained if they were actually waves of an electric field at right angles to, and propagating in the same direction as, waves of a magnetic field. Hence, electro-magnetic fields. I don't think this is the accepted view any more, but the name stuck.
I'm not so sure that modern hard-drives are better at surviving x-ray machines than old ones. I happen to have a Toshiba T3200 LABtop computer with a 40MB HDD in it. The drive and computer are so full of shielding that the whole thing weighs 19lbs. It's been through many x-ray machines (as well as dropped, had coffee spilled in it, and innumerable other "don'ts") and still functions. I think it all depends on what the manufacturer's priorities were when designing the HDD.
As always, watch out for that first step...
on
On Asteroid Mining
·
· Score: 2
it's a doozy.
I agree with you completely. Unfortunately, it's the first step that is the hardest. Hopefully, we will be able to use the ISS Alpha as a base for constructing/deploying the first orbital factories. In this manner, it could provide economic as well as scientific returns.
Two more thoughts before I leave... Why not bring the entire asteroid into earth orbit, then use the leftover slag as a foundation for constructing further industrial plants? Thought #2 - I think that it won't be until we have a sizeable industrial sector based in orbit that we will be able to do any human exploration of our solar system. The gravity well is a killer when it comes to consuming resources. Imagine how much easier it would be to make a lander+orbiter if you didn't have to boost it off the earth first. There would be (virtually) no size limitation, as well as no need for heavy heat shielding, and no necessity to carry thousands of pounds of fuel for the sole purpose of boosting hundreds of pounds of fuel up to where you will need them.
Slashdot Mirror
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this just another case of people who want bleeding edge technology getting screwed out of their retirement savings? If they wait three months, won't everyone be able to pick up a PS2 at Walmart for the regular price tag, rather than shelling out $15,000+ on eBay?
Let the parents give their children rain cheques for Xmas. I've gotten those a couple of times. As long as the kid isn't a spoiled brat, will it kill them to wait a few weeks for their gift? Hell, I've sometimes waited 4 months for a rain cheque I got for Xmas to show up. It didn't kill me, just taught me a little patience.
Just so you all know, I apply the same reasoning to computers, as anyone with half a brain will. Three years ago I got an AMD 233MHz with 32MB RAM, 4GB HDD for $1000 new, at a time when 300MHz machines were selling for over $3000. Now, I'm finally considering getting an upgrade (yes, my computer has served me faithfully until now) and I can get 600MHz machines etc. etc. etc. for $1200. Anyone who buys on the bleeding edge should have their heads examined.
Laughing my ass off! Cubemates are giving me funny looks. Who cares. Actually, I'm a Canadian, eh? but with enough exposure to British culture (and dictionaries) to "misinterpret" whenever someone tries to call me homosexual. Gay==happy, queer==odd, fag==cigarette, homo==3.25% milk. This post almost doesn't deserve to be submitted, but now that I've taken the trouble to write it...
Your marvellous and generous reply has relieved approximately one minute of boredom, given that I am now replying. Unfortunately, I do not understand your reference to cigarettes at the end of your post.
Have you ever thought about how funny it would be if you heard someone say "can I bum a fag off of you?"
This part of the faq explains how moderating came to be, and who gets it now. The part that prevents me from getting moderator access is "no obsessive compulsive reloaders." I've got loads of karma (call it whoring if you will) but I'm so bored at work that I can't wait for the next article to come up, and I'm always looking to see if anyone replied to my posts. Anyway, check out the guidelines, and see if you come up short anywhere.
Heinlein always struck me as one of the most reasonable authors when it came to alternate lifestyles. Sure homophobia was expressed in this book, but it was by Ben Caxton, polar opposite to the protagonist. Jubal told him to think about his reaction, and after doing so, Caxton relents.
For other non-homophobic novels, look at the way lesbianism is portrayed in Friday. Just my two cents. I enjoy Heilein as a light read. He has an amusing narrative style, and occasionally his ideas make me say hmmm....
At least, I assume so, as IE wanted me to download korean text support for my browser.
Hmm, for some reason I just encountered the lameness filter: "Ascii Art. How creative. Not here though." Maybe if I add "Yes" to my subject line...
Hey! It's great to know that I can still blow up demons while on the subway to work. Now, everyone imagine a really good motion sensing input device, put on those goggle things, and really freak out everyone on public transit as you dodge fireballs and peek around corners looking for zombies and gatling-gun wielding mechanical spider-brains!
I just wanted to make the joke at the end. Sorry if I offended you. :(
Hey, I'm a Canadian, eh? There are approximately three days per year that we can take off our sweaters without catching frostbite. :)
I think he had antibodies and antibiotics mixed up. Read his post.
Was that the show with the freaky character that was dressed all in black, and had toilet paper rolls in place of eyes and mouth? I swear to god such a show existed, but no-one believes me. If anyone knows what that show was, please, please, PLEASE tell me.
Ouch. I'd certainly hate to suffer a decapitating injury. However, I would be very impressed if someone wasn't hindered by the loss. Actually, come to think of it, a few of the people I know probably wouldn't be hindered by the loss.
in the exact same way that your fingers are.
The muscles that move your fingers are all in your forearm. Basically, the prosthetic has senses the muscle twitches in the forearm and uses that to trigger the motors which open/close the hand.
the integrated senses of hot/cold that I saw somewhere a while ago. I think it was on TV. Basically, there was a thermocouple in the fingertips that would trigger a heating/cooling unit at the top of the prosthetic, where existing nerves would pick it up. Response time was remarkably fast, enough so that someone touching the surface of, say, a stove would be able to respond quickly enough to avoid serious damage to the prosthetic. If anyone has a link, I'd appreciate it.
I think that, for the first few days anyways, Salmonella reproduces *much* faster than your body can destroy it. Your body rarely ignores any foreign material that is put inside of it (opening for lame jokes here). Once the immune system gets ramped up, and figures out how to make the antibodies, the salmonella doesn't stand much of a chance.
You know, the standard lamps with the halogen bulbs that you could cook a turkey on. I like mine because all the light from the bulb is directed upwards to the ceiling. This allows for ambient lighting in the room, but is still more than bright enough to read documents on your desk, etc.
These have a couple of other benefits as well. They are relatively inexpensive (I forget how much mine cost, but I got it at walmart:) and the bulbs last a very long time. I've had mine for three years now, and it's still as bright as ever. Plus, being a university student, I move very frequently, and this light breaks down quickly and easily into a 1' X 2' X 4" box. A definite plus in my books.
Of course, you may need more heat sinks/fans in your computer, because this will raise the ambient temperature in your room a fair amount. Mine is 300W, but I frequently need and am greatful for the extra heat it kicks out (low-budget student housing).
Antibiotics are drugs which kill bacteria. These can be either natural (Pennicillin) or synthetic (like Amoxicillin, or any other variation).
Antibodies are cells(?) produced by the immune system that mark and immobilize antigens (invaders) so that white blood cells can more easily capture and destroy them.
Its sole job is to seek out and destroy foreign organisms in the body. At the very least, I would expect it to attempt to immobilize and then flush out this nano-sub, if it could not destroy it. We've all read Fantastic Voyage, and know the problems those guys had with antibodies... (not to base my theories on a scene in a novel or anything:)
If the only way to avoid this is by taking harsh immuno-suppressant drugs, there had better be huge benefits for me before you can convince me to have these things injected into my bloodstream. That said, cool tech!
The question is: if there are so many intelligences in the universe, where are they?
Sometimes I think that the surest sign that intelligent life exists somewhere else in the universe is that none of them has tried to contact us - Calvin.
As has been said before by many people (Asimov may have been the first), we have build our world for bipedal creatures. For a general purpose robot, it must be humanoid to use our tools. It is also much more efficient to have a humanoid robot be a chauffeur, maid, and cook than to put a brain into every vacuum cleaner, stove, car, fridge, microwave, and toilet plunger that you own.
Why don't we just use the current DNS system to resolve to the hostname, and each host has its own database of object id's? This seems most reasonable to me. Each site can (if it chooses to) migrate to using OID's at its own leisure. Then, we could use this along with the current protocols and filesystems, without having to create a whole new internet. It sounds like this is a good solution for administering a single domain, but not for the entire internet. Can you imagine the size of the database necessary to store id & location of every page on the net? Geez...
You wake up. The room is spinning very gently round your head. Or at least it would be if you could see it which you can't.
>Turn on light
>Get up
>get gown
Play online Infocom HHGG.
I hope I'm not feeding a troll, but x-rays are EM (electro-magnetic) waves, just like visible light, radio waves, ultraviolet, etc. The only difference is that they have a much higher energy due to higher frequency (shorter wavelenght ~1A instead of ~500nm for visible light).
The only way you can claim that x-rays are particles is when using the particle nature of light. In that case, they are photons. However, the currently accepted theory is that light (and everything else, for that matter) has a dual nature, both particle and wave, according to the deBroglie relationship.
It is also true that x-rays aren't particularly related to electricity. However, electricity has very little to do with the fact that we call light Electro-Magnetic waves. We do it because a while ago (anyone correct me if I'm wrong) someone discovered that a lot of the properties of light (and x-rays, UV, IR, etc) could be explained if they were actually waves of an electric field at right angles to, and propagating in the same direction as, waves of a magnetic field. Hence, electro-magnetic fields. I don't think this is the accepted view any more, but the name stuck.
I'm not so sure that modern hard-drives are better at surviving x-ray machines than old ones. I happen to have a Toshiba T3200 LABtop computer with a 40MB HDD in it. The drive and computer are so full of shielding that the whole thing weighs 19lbs. It's been through many x-ray machines (as well as dropped, had coffee spilled in it, and innumerable other "don'ts") and still functions. I think it all depends on what the manufacturer's priorities were when designing the HDD.
it's a doozy.
I agree with you completely. Unfortunately, it's the first step that is the hardest. Hopefully, we will be able to use the ISS Alpha as a base for constructing/deploying the first orbital factories. In this manner, it could provide economic as well as scientific returns.
Two more thoughts before I leave... Why not bring the entire asteroid into earth orbit, then use the leftover slag as a foundation for constructing further industrial plants? Thought #2 - I think that it won't be until we have a sizeable industrial sector based in orbit that we will be able to do any human exploration of our solar system. The gravity well is a killer when it comes to consuming resources. Imagine how much easier it would be to make a lander+orbiter if you didn't have to boost it off the earth first. There would be (virtually) no size limitation, as well as no need for heavy heat shielding, and no necessity to carry thousands of pounds of fuel for the sole purpose of boosting hundreds of pounds of fuel up to where you will need them.