Getting the materials to the factory?
on
On Asteroid Mining
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· Score: 5
Why not get the factory to the materials? Considering the size of most asteroids, it wouldn't take much to anchor a refinery to it, and just launch the refined metal back to the earth. Of course, we could also leave it in orbit and use it to build the structural components of (long-haul ships|space stations|satellites) outside of the gravity well, thus saving millions of dollars.
Holy Christ! They make it sound like the whole thing is about to fall apart! I really do hope that the (astro|cosmo)nauts are getting danger pay for this!
Maybe they should use Alpha as the location for the next "Survivor" show. The person who can live the longest without getting electrocuted, explosively decompressed, or killed by buggy software (Dr. Chandra taught me a song today, would you like to hear it?) wins $1,000,000 and gets to come home. I don't think I'd even apply for a place in that show.
B.- Do you throw a pie at me sir?
L.- I do throw a pie, sir.
B.- But do you throw a pie at me, sir?
L.- Of course not, sir!
B.- I should hope not, for I program as good an OS as you.
L.- No better, though.
I don't know, I'd kind of enjoy meeting Marvin the Paranoid Android, or Eddie the Overprotective Shipboard Computer. Go Sirius Cybernetics Corporation! Yay!
This is why I think something closer to a short-term (ie not 75 years) copyright is a better form of protection for software developers. You can't protect the concept, just the code that you use to do it. If someone else wants to go through all of the trouble to develop their own code that does the exact same thing as yours, good for them. If they can produce that code more efficiently, and at a lower cost to the end-user, then that stands by all the principles of free enterprise and healthy competition in the marketplace.
Besides, this patent would never get through the application process. Too much prior art. Think of all the MCSE's out there that think because they are "certified engineers" (note the small 'e') they know how to program, even if it is just in VB and VBA.
Check this link. Gives a good simple explanation of what plasma is, as well as containing links to where you can find it, and what its current practical uses are.
Specifically, plasma is a "collection of free electrons and ionized atoms." They remain in a homogeneous mixture, so the electrical charges are balanced, but the particles have *way* too much energy for the electrons to "reattach" themselves to the atoms. Check it out, this stuff is pretty interesting.
As the P4 and the K7 recognized each other, each would vie for more and more system resources. This would cause a radical increase in power consumption, which is of course eventually released as heat. The intense heat from the resource battle would strip all electrons from your video card, essentially reducing it to a glob of molten plasma. Due to the strange interactions between the Intel and AMD products, both would begin feeding off of this plasma as a power source, and it would grow, eventually consuming everything it comes in contact with, including, but not limited to, your house, your pet cat, and your neighbour's swimming pool. Essentially, you will be accelerating the eventual heat death of the universe by approximately 82%.
Actually, you are right. There are ways to do this. The physics aren't too hard either.
Basically, sound is waves in the air. You can think of them just like water waves if you want, with high spots and low spots (in actual fact, it's areas of denser and rarer air). It is possible to set up sound cancellors. All you have to do is send a "high" signal when the noise wave is "low" and vice versa. The two add up to become nothing, otherwise known as destructive interference.
I haven't read it all (crappy colour/font scheme) but I think that this article talks about noise filtering in DSPs, but the same concepts can easily be applied to audio noise. Record the noise, create and output the opposite, and bingo! Theoretically perfect silence.
It's not vapourware, either. Varga Air is selling several models of headphones that cancel out background noise, using this method.
It has syntax highlighting for just about every language available, as well as the ability to create your own, by writing a.syn file.
TextPad has actually become my text editor of choice. I use it for everything from writing/compiling Java to viewing log files. There is a free trial version (full version costs $27, I think) at the TextPad Site.
Those who do not remember history are forced to repeat it.
Allow the selling of Nazi memerobilia(sp?), but make sure that it is sold with the correct connotations. "This Nazi dinnerware was from the personal collection of the man who mercilessly slaughtered over 7,000 jewish women and children. He was later executed for his war crimes." Does anyone see a problem with that?
I think this is the perfect answer to my AskSlashdot Article Is Early Exposure to Computers Good for Kids. I question the benefit of computers if all kids are doing is playing games. When I think about it, my first experience with computers was playing Hard Hat Mack on our Apple IIe. Less than a month later, I came out with the wonderful gem of a program:
10 print "My brother is a jerk!!!!!"
20 goto 10
From there it was a short hop to making real programs that did useful and/or fun stuff. This is what people being introduced to computers need, an easy way to express themselves on a popular platform. It will give them the incentive and opportunity to explore more how things work, rather than bragging about how many frags they got on Quake.
Hell, in grade 11 I programmed a blackjack game (with graphics for dealing cards etc). I was really proud of the "score calculator" subroutine. It was a little twisted to figure out which aces were 1 and which were 11. Anyway, the entire thing was original code, and I'm sure with a little bit of reading now, I could get mouse support and make it fully GUI, instead of "h"(it) and "s"(tand).
Actually, there is another accepted origin for the term as well:
"Hat trick" originated from the English game of Cricket. The term originally referred to a bowler retiring three consecutive batsman with three consecutive balls. This is roughly equivalent to a pitcher in baseball striking out three consecutive batters using only three pitches to each! This was considered quite an accomplishment and was traditionally rewarded with a hat.
The term is now used for other sports, always referring to an accomplishment of three. A popular use today is three goals by a single player in one game of hockey or soccer.
If people don't know that crimes are committed, they won't occur!
Wasn't that one of the themes of the book? With Newspeak, there wasn't enough vocabulary to commit thoughtcrime, thus thoughtcrime would be abolished when Newspeak was completely adopted as the only language for communication.
A story from the science section of slashdot states that organic matter can survive atmospheric re-entry. Now, this is just the organic compounds surviving, but if the little bits that make up organic life can survive, the odds can't be that long that a robust fungus makes it through re-entry, especially if shielded by metal walls etc.
That's great! I assume you take the pull-strip out of the crackers, and tape them (duct tape?) between, for example, the desk and the chair. I will be sure to pick up a box of cheap xmas crackers as soon as possible! Thanx!:)
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Why not get the factory to the materials? Considering the size of most asteroids, it wouldn't take much to anchor a refinery to it, and just launch the refined metal back to the earth. Of course, we could also leave it in orbit and use it to build the structural components of (long-haul ships|space stations|satellites) outside of the gravity well, thus saving millions of dollars.
Every time I put more threads to sleep() in my java programs, my manager tries to tell me that I'm losing memory, not the other way around.
It's an allusion to Romeo and Juliet:
"Two houses, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we set our scene."
Please excuse me if this is not the exact quote. It's been quite a while since I've read that particular play.
Holy Christ! They make it sound like the whole thing is about to fall apart! I really do hope that the (astro|cosmo)nauts are getting danger pay for this!
Maybe they should use Alpha as the location for the next "Survivor" show. The person who can live the longest without getting electrocuted, explosively decompressed, or killed by buggy software (Dr. Chandra taught me a song today, would you like to hear it?) wins $1,000,000 and gets to come home. I don't think I'd even apply for a place in that show.
B.- Do you throw a pie at me sir?
L.- I do throw a pie, sir.
B.- But do you throw a pie at me, sir?
L.- Of course not, sir!
B.- I should hope not, for I program as good an OS as you.
L.- No better, though.
I don't know, I'd kind of enjoy meeting Marvin the Paranoid Android, or Eddie the Overprotective Shipboard Computer. Go Sirius Cybernetics Corporation! Yay!
This is why I think something closer to a short-term (ie not 75 years) copyright is a better form of protection for software developers. You can't protect the concept, just the code that you use to do it. If someone else wants to go through all of the trouble to develop their own code that does the exact same thing as yours, good for them. If they can produce that code more efficiently, and at a lower cost to the end-user, then that stands by all the principles of free enterprise and healthy competition in the marketplace.
Besides, this patent would never get through the application process. Too much prior art. Think of all the MCSE's out there that think because they are "certified engineers" (note the small 'e') they know how to program, even if it is just in VB and VBA.
Check this link. Gives a good simple explanation of what plasma is, as well as containing links to where you can find it, and what its current practical uses are.
Specifically, plasma is a "collection of free electrons and ionized atoms." They remain in a homogeneous mixture, so the electrical charges are balanced, but the particles have *way* too much energy for the electrons to "reattach" themselves to the atoms. Check it out, this stuff is pretty interesting.
As the P4 and the K7 recognized each other, each would vie for more and more system resources. This would cause a radical increase in power consumption, which is of course eventually released as heat. The intense heat from the resource battle would strip all electrons from your video card, essentially reducing it to a glob of molten plasma. Due to the strange interactions between the Intel and AMD products, both would begin feeding off of this plasma as a power source, and it would grow, eventually consuming everything it comes in contact with, including, but not limited to, your house, your pet cat, and your neighbour's swimming pool. Essentially, you will be accelerating the eventual heat death of the universe by approximately 82%.
Actually, you are right. There are ways to do this. The physics aren't too hard either.
Basically, sound is waves in the air. You can think of them just like water waves if you want, with high spots and low spots (in actual fact, it's areas of denser and rarer air). It is possible to set up sound cancellors. All you have to do is send a "high" signal when the noise wave is "low" and vice versa. The two add up to become nothing, otherwise known as destructive interference.
I haven't read it all (crappy colour/font scheme) but I think that this article talks about noise filtering in DSPs, but the same concepts can easily be applied to audio noise. Record the noise, create and output the opposite, and bingo! Theoretically perfect silence.
It's not vapourware, either. Varga Air is selling several models of headphones that cancel out background noise, using this method.
It has syntax highlighting for just about every language available, as well as the ability to create your own, by writing a .syn file.
TextPad has actually become my text editor of choice. I use it for everything from writing/compiling Java to viewing log files. There is a free trial version (full version costs $27, I think) at the TextPad Site.
PS - Windows only, methinks.
Those who do not remember history are forced to repeat it.
Allow the selling of Nazi memerobilia(sp?), but make sure that it is sold with the correct connotations. "This Nazi dinnerware was from the personal collection of the man who mercilessly slaughtered over 7,000 jewish women and children. He was later executed for his war crimes." Does anyone see a problem with that?
I think this is the perfect answer to my AskSlashdot Article Is Early Exposure to Computers Good for Kids. I question the benefit of computers if all kids are doing is playing games. When I think about it, my first experience with computers was playing Hard Hat Mack on our Apple IIe. Less than a month later, I came out with the wonderful gem of a program:
10 print "My brother is a jerk!!!!!"
20 goto 10
From there it was a short hop to making real programs that did useful and/or fun stuff. This is what people being introduced to computers need, an easy way to express themselves on a popular platform. It will give them the incentive and opportunity to explore more how things work, rather than bragging about how many frags they got on Quake.
Hell, in grade 11 I programmed a blackjack game (with graphics for dealing cards etc). I was really proud of the "score calculator" subroutine. It was a little twisted to figure out which aces were 1 and which were 11. Anyway, the entire thing was original code, and I'm sure with a little bit of reading now, I could get mouse support and make it fully GUI, instead of "h"(it) and "s"(tand).
Of course not. It'll be done in VBA. You know, that thing that MCSE's put on their resume to show that they know how to program...
Actually, there is another accepted origin for the term as well:
"Hat trick" originated from the English game of Cricket. The term originally referred to a bowler retiring three consecutive batsman with three consecutive balls. This is roughly equivalent to a pitcher in baseball striking out three consecutive batters using only three pitches to each! This was considered quite an accomplishment and was traditionally rewarded with a hat.
The term is now used for other sports, always referring to an accomplishment of three. A popular use today is three goals by a single player in one game of hockey or soccer.
To build the holy hand grenade, you will need a piece with three pips. Two is too few, and four is too many. Five is completely out of the question.
Now I'm forced to ask the question, what do others call the little sticky up bits that cause lego to stick together?
Too true. I'll take care of that right now.
If people don't know that crimes are committed, they won't occur!
Wasn't that one of the themes of the book? With Newspeak, there wasn't enough vocabulary to commit thoughtcrime, thus thoughtcrime would be abolished when Newspeak was completely adopted as the only language for communication.
Don't look at me, I voted for the purple fungus!
A story from the science section of slashdot states that organic matter can survive atmospheric re-entry. Now, this is just the organic compounds surviving, but if the little bits that make up organic life can survive, the odds can't be that long that a robust fungus makes it through re-entry, especially if shielded by metal walls etc.
you're actually a German, and you used "the fish" to translate your post :)
I think that puts them out of the jurisdiction of any pansy-ass country that wants it banned, too!
That's great! I assume you take the pull-strip out of the crackers, and tape them (duct tape?) between, for example, the desk and the chair. I will be sure to pick up a box of cheap xmas crackers as soon as possible! Thanx! :)