Facebookton- Everyone will know everything you do and say. All buildings will be made of perfectly transparant untinted glass so you can peak into anyone's home and see what they're up to. You are given the option to lock your doors- but everytime the city council changes anything your doors will all randomly spring open letting anyone in.
iCity (the new big Apple) will charge double the taxes to residents, a very intuitive way of manoevering the city. No private enterprise will be allowed- the city must run everything.
Kindleville, will charge half the taxes, but not many public services.
Microsoftopolis will be a huge sprawling city- that once had a decent idea, that it stole from iCity. The city will try to do everything, and do badly at most things.
Googolia will be a tax free haven- but every thing you look do or say will be sent to marketers and the streets will one big billboard.
Then there is Linux Angeles, taxes will be low, the city will do more for you, if you know how to get around. The only problem is, every facet of your life will be overly complicated and you will be forced to worship a giant penguin.
Regarding the dome. Even on these earth-like planets you'd probably still need a "dome" (at leastfor the first dozen generations) It would be extremely surprising if we found an environment rich in stable oxygen. (Oxygen is highly reactive- it is only thanks to photosynthesis we have it in it's free form here on earth).
Unless the life on these other planets were almost exactly like ours and even had plant-like photosynthesis producing oxygen we needed. Even then- better hope there is nothing poisonous to us in the air.
"Pure conjecture, and I imagine any biologist would tell you you're wrong."
Actually, I think they would come up with the classic arguments of "we know life can evolve with water, it did here", "panspermia causes all life", "we know what we're looking for when looking at life like ours".
There was once a time our ancestors thought staying warm on a cold day was acomplished by getting in a cave, or snuggling up to a cave woman. Then we found fire, animal hides, clothes from fabric, other insulation techniques, electricity, a glass of brandy... the dozens of ways we know to feel warm today.
The fact that life today requires RNA and water just means we know squat. Instead of looking for life out there that looks like earth-life; we should be looking EVERYWHERE- looking for things that violate what we know about chemistry and physics- and checking out if some life-form could be causing them.
I don't see the obsession with Goldilocks zones...
1) We will have the technology to inhabit "unihabital planets" long before we have the technology to REACH goldilock planets.
2) If the plan is just to find life- I know we look at planets like ours- becuase we know how to look for life similar to ours as oppossed to other theoretical life forms. BUT- odds are- there are probably a thousand life forms that don't appear anything like earth-forms for every one that does.
My wife had a similar problem. Some other woman kept signing up for things with my wife's telephone number- my wife kept getting all the calls from salespeople (and even some requests for money owed) for some chick named Maria.
We're already seeing it though. More apps and data storage are going online to centralised locations. Thin clients are returning. Even home data is getting synced and stored elsewhere in many cases. No surprise Amazon and Microsoft are looking at the clouds.
Yes, data storage will outstrip data requirements- it has been moving that way for a long time. Since the beginning.
More processors will eventually hit the dimminishing returns point- where you get less from every chip you add as the need to manage it- and the gap between processors increase. Even super computers today that have hundreds of CPUs face this problem.
We're already seeing distance between components shrink as it uses less power, and is quicker. Even before a tablet sized device has more or equal power than a desktop sized device- the desktop will still start to fade as the gap becomes close enough that there is little to no advantage in a desktop.
Eventually, I see, not just the desktop, but the tablet die. One day computers will become so small your clothes will be your computer- they will read your movements and brain. There will be no need to carry a special device. The will be no need for touchpads, keyboards or mice.
Computers in the early days took up entire rooms and ran using way more power than today's computers. One might have said back then that a computer could never fit on a desktop due to the power demands.
Some of the home-theatre PCs these days run on very little power- generate very little heat (to minimize need of fans and irritating humming). These PCs are 20 times more powerfull than my first work desktop 11 years ago.
Technology will continue to push for better battery longevity- a big push for this is lower power consumption. Look at eReaders- they can last for a month or more between recharging even for an avid reader. Similar advances will occur for tablets and other devices. Don't get me wrong- I'm not one of those who think the PC is going bye-bye anytime soon. I see it around for at least the next 20 years.
Beyond 20 years who knows... people have never been very good predicting technology that far out. We either over estimate, or underestimate where we will be.
That is true for the next few years. It is a very narrow vision to see it always to be that way.
When the day comes (admittedly, it won't any time soon) that you can store all the data you will ever need in a lifetime on a device the size of a postage stamp- what would it matter if you can store more of those devices in a larger box?
Do you really think 10 years from now most *new* devices will even have a harddrive? I don't.
Also, the further we push processing power- the more space between CPUs/the more CPUs you use- may actually HURT performance. Bigger isn't necessarily better. It takes less time for a beam of light (or electrical impulse) to go a fraction of a millimeter then it does to travel 10cm. Ultimately, when we get good enough- the smaller processors will perform better than the bigger ones.
People pushing for landspeed records in cars don't build vehicles the size of ocean-liners so that there is more room for a more powerful engine- there is a negative return from increasing the size... eventually we will witness the same with computing power.
There will one day be a time when tablets ARE as powerfull as a PC. They will project an image- or hook (dock) to a monitor- and allow interaction with keyboard and mouse - or whatever replaces said devices.
There will one day be a time when there is no need for a bulky desktop. No reason why eventually super-powerful graphics cards and memory can't be the size of an SD card and just plug into the side of the tablet.
However- that time is not here. Desktops ARE more powerfull than tablets- and will be for the near future. Even when tablets catch up. There will be the legacy users with desktops- and for a while desktops will be cheaper.
None of us know how fast such tech will move- but I think it is fair to say for at least the next 20 years newegg doesn't need to worry that the desktop will die.
Will Toyota survive in a post-car world? It seems obvious to me that scooters are going to replace cars. Scooter sales are up over the last 5 years and car sales are down. Therefore no more cars in a few years. How will mechanics survive?
OK- I'll give a slightly less stupid answer too: Newegg will do just fine- we are a LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG way from being free of the desktop. Most people have a desktop computer at work (and home). Most people do NOT have a tablet at work (or at home).
Sure the number of tablets are growing- and I'm sure the tablet will, in some homes replace the desktop in the way the cell phone replaced the home phone in some households. Most households still have a home phone- and it will be decades before the desktop is gone (at least)- plenty of time for new-egg to transition.
I have an old PC and no tablet. My next purchase won't be a new tablet- it will be a new PC. My next purchase after that... perhaps a laptop. I'd LOOOOOOVE to have a tablet- but at this point my priority is getting something I actually need instead of a cool toy. I can get by without a tablet (as can everyone)- taking away my PC would alter my life-quality.
1) Spotify is not going to get my business. 2) Facebook is going to get a bogus account against their terms-of-service with a fake name.
Multiply this by every other person who wanted to try Spotify but refuses to sign up for Facebook.
For me- I'm leaning towards #1. I've got Sirius, MP3s, CDs, Cassettes, Pandora, and FM. If I have to live without Spotify because of their rediculous sign-up requirements... so be it.
But scary in a whole bigger array when they get this perfected and can scan your brain from distance. If they got this perfected I'm sure law enforcement would love this... would they need a warrant? I'm not going to start a political war by naming individuals- but I can think of certain presidents who would allow this to go ahead without a warrant.
I'm agnostic (don't believe in God- but don't have evidence to say there isn't one) from an atheist family.
I celebrate Christmas. Purely secular for me.
Maybe we should take the "Christ" out of Christmas- and start calling it Yule again? Removing the religious aspect out of the holiday will get rid of all the animosity and hatred in our society.
After all, it isn't really a Christian holiday anyway- they just gave a pagan holiday a Christian meaning to help convert people. The bible even specifically says not to bring evergreen trees into the house- yet that's what all these Christians do on Christmas.
The holiday was originally to celebrate the winter solsitice. Let's take it back to it's true roots. Call it Yule not Christmas.
Evolutionary speaking- humans are a young species that derived from a small seed population estimated to be about 12. We have had a comparatively very low mortality rate before breeding.
There is less genetic variation between any two humans in the world then there would be between two chimpanzees within the same troup.
Think about that- in a population of 7 billion- less genetic variation than in a population of 25. If there were any science showing major differences in race- perhaps I would believe it- but test and test again show that intelligence is more correlated to your parent's station in society than race. I do not for one minute buy that race influences intelligence in any major way.
I don't disagree. I think it is culture that unforunately holds many African American blacks back. There is absolutely no reason they can't be as successfull at attaining degrees and careers.
Bill Cosby is someone I respect in this regards- he is always campaigning for blacks to drop the "rap-gangsta" social regime. It doesn't mean "conforming to whitie", it means remove the cultural negativity.
If you look at the successfull blacks at any corporation- they don't wear loose baggy pants and lots "of bling".
HOWEVER- the blacks submitting papers for peer review are not going to be part of the sub-culture that belittles itself with stupidity. That they are not getting grants must mean some kind of racial bias. UNLESS they start their grant requst with "Yo! Gimme some Bling for this here paper"- something I HIGHLY DOUBT. I'm the last person to call the race card... but this time it seems completely justified.
Slashdot Mirror
Almost forgot...
Facebookton- Everyone will know everything you do and say. All buildings will be made of perfectly transparant untinted glass so you can peak into anyone's home and see what they're up to. You are given the option to lock your doors- but everytime the city council changes anything your doors will all randomly spring open letting anyone in.
Cities Of the future:
iCity (the new big Apple) will charge double the taxes to residents, a very intuitive way of manoevering the city. No private enterprise will be allowed- the city must run everything.
Kindleville, will charge half the taxes, but not many public services.
Microsoftopolis will be a huge sprawling city- that once had a decent idea, that it stole from iCity. The city will try to do everything, and do badly at most things.
Googolia will be a tax free haven- but every thing you look do or say will be sent to marketers and the streets will one big billboard.
Then there is Linux Angeles, taxes will be low, the city will do more for you, if you know how to get around. The only problem is, every facet of your life will be overly complicated and you will be forced to worship a giant penguin.
Regarding the dome. Even on these earth-like planets you'd probably still need a "dome" (at leastfor the first dozen generations) It would be extremely surprising if we found an environment rich in stable oxygen. (Oxygen is highly reactive- it is only thanks to photosynthesis we have it in it's free form here on earth).
Unless the life on these other planets were almost exactly like ours and even had plant-like photosynthesis producing oxygen we needed. Even then- better hope there is nothing poisonous to us in the air.
"Pure conjecture, and I imagine any biologist would tell you you're wrong."
Actually, I think they would come up with the classic arguments of "we know life can evolve with water, it did here", "panspermia causes all life", "we know what we're looking for when looking at life like ours".
There was once a time our ancestors thought staying warm on a cold day was acomplished by getting in a cave, or snuggling up to a cave woman. Then we found fire, animal hides, clothes from fabric, other insulation techniques, electricity, a glass of brandy... the dozens of ways we know to feel warm today.
The fact that life today requires RNA and water just means we know squat. Instead of looking for life out there that looks like earth-life; we should be looking EVERYWHERE- looking for things that violate what we know about chemistry and physics- and checking out if some life-form could be causing them.
Hmmmm Edolphus Towns is an anagram for:
Lust-Phoned Sow.
Just saying.
[quote]Write your House representative. I just did.[/quote]
Better yet, call his cell phone!
I don't see the obsession with Goldilocks zones...
1) We will have the technology to inhabit "unihabital planets" long before we have the technology to REACH goldilock planets.
2) If the plan is just to find life- I know we look at planets like ours- becuase we know how to look for life similar to ours as oppossed to other theoretical life forms. BUT- odds are- there are probably a thousand life forms that don't appear anything like earth-forms for every one that does.
Last time a robot called me all I heard was the sound of the heavy processor fan-whirling.
My wife had a similar problem. Some other woman kept signing up for things with my wife's telephone number- my wife kept getting all the calls from salespeople (and even some requests for money owed) for some chick named Maria.
Probably- but the $2000 legal fees to collect the $500 will put him further in debt.
We're already seeing it though. More apps and data storage are going online to centralised locations. Thin clients are returning. Even home data is getting synced and stored elsewhere in many cases. No surprise Amazon and Microsoft are looking at the clouds.
Yes, data storage will outstrip data requirements- it has been moving that way for a long time. Since the beginning.
More processors will eventually hit the dimminishing returns point- where you get less from every chip you add as the need to manage it- and the gap between processors increase. Even super computers today that have hundreds of CPUs face this problem.
We're already seeing distance between components shrink as it uses less power, and is quicker. Even before a tablet sized device has more or equal power than a desktop sized device- the desktop will still start to fade as the gap becomes close enough that there is little to no advantage in a desktop.
Eventually, I see, not just the desktop, but the tablet die. One day computers will become so small your clothes will be your computer- they will read your movements and brain. There will be no need to carry a special device. The will be no need for touchpads, keyboards or mice.
For some of the birds the drunkeness makes them angry and so they catapault themselves at pigs.
Why?
Computers in the early days took up entire rooms and ran using way more power than today's computers. One might have said back then that a computer could never fit on a desktop due to the power demands.
Some of the home-theatre PCs these days run on very little power- generate very little heat (to minimize need of fans and irritating humming). These PCs are 20 times more powerfull than my first work desktop 11 years ago.
Technology will continue to push for better battery longevity- a big push for this is lower power consumption. Look at eReaders- they can last for a month or more between recharging even for an avid reader. Similar advances will occur for tablets and other devices. Don't get me wrong- I'm not one of those who think the PC is going bye-bye anytime soon. I see it around for at least the next 20 years.
Beyond 20 years who knows... people have never been very good predicting technology that far out. We either over estimate, or underestimate where we will be.
That is true for the next few years. It is a very narrow vision to see it always to be that way.
When the day comes (admittedly, it won't any time soon) that you can store all the data you will ever need in a lifetime on a device the size of a postage stamp- what would it matter if you can store more of those devices in a larger box?
Do you really think 10 years from now most *new* devices will even have a harddrive? I don't.
Also, the further we push processing power- the more space between CPUs/the more CPUs you use- may actually HURT performance. Bigger isn't necessarily better. It takes less time for a beam of light (or electrical impulse) to go a fraction of a millimeter then it does to travel 10cm. Ultimately, when we get good enough- the smaller processors will perform better than the bigger ones.
People pushing for landspeed records in cars don't build vehicles the size of ocean-liners so that there is more room for a more powerful engine- there is a negative return from increasing the size... eventually we will witness the same with computing power.
No, there won't ALWAYS be a traditional tower PC.
There will one day be a time when tablets ARE as powerfull as a PC. They will project an image- or hook (dock) to a monitor- and allow interaction with keyboard and mouse - or whatever replaces said devices.
There will one day be a time when there is no need for a bulky desktop. No reason why eventually super-powerful graphics cards and memory can't be the size of an SD card and just plug into the side of the tablet.
However- that time is not here. Desktops ARE more powerfull than tablets- and will be for the near future. Even when tablets catch up. There will be the legacy users with desktops- and for a while desktops will be cheaper.
None of us know how fast such tech will move- but I think it is fair to say for at least the next 20 years newegg doesn't need to worry that the desktop will die.
Ask a stupid question get a stupid answer:
Will Toyota survive in a post-car world? It seems obvious to me that scooters are going to replace cars. Scooter sales are up over the last 5 years and car sales are down. Therefore no more cars in a few years. How will mechanics survive?
OK- I'll give a slightly less stupid answer too:
Newegg will do just fine- we are a LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG way from being free of the desktop. Most people have a desktop computer at work (and home).
Most people do NOT have a tablet at work (or at home).
Sure the number of tablets are growing- and I'm sure the tablet will, in some homes replace the desktop in the way the cell phone replaced the home phone in some households. Most households still have a home phone- and it will be decades before the desktop is gone (at least)- plenty of time for new-egg to transition.
I have an old PC and no tablet. My next purchase won't be a new tablet- it will be a new PC. My next purchase after that... perhaps a laptop. I'd LOOOOOOVE to have a tablet- but at this point my priority is getting something I actually need instead of a cool toy. I can get by without a tablet (as can everyone)- taking away my PC would alter my life-quality.
1) Spotify is not going to get my business.
2) Facebook is going to get a bogus account against their terms-of-service with a fake name.
Multiply this by every other person who wanted to try Spotify but refuses to sign up for Facebook.
For me- I'm leaning towards #1. I've got Sirius, MP3s, CDs, Cassettes, Pandora, and FM. If I have to live without Spotify because of their rediculous sign-up requirements... so be it.
I own the patent owning the idea of writing absurd patents,
Since this patent is blatantly absurd they need to pay me millions of simolians.
Scary in a way...
But scary in a whole bigger array when they get this perfected and can scan your brain from distance. If they got this perfected I'm sure law enforcement would love this... would they need a warrant? I'm not going to start a political war by naming individuals- but I can think of certain presidents who would allow this to go ahead without a warrant.
That's fantastic...
Now can they make it work for people who are too cheap to have smart phones, GPS, or any mobile device?
I'm agnostic (don't believe in God- but don't have evidence to say there isn't one) from an atheist family.
I celebrate Christmas. Purely secular for me.
Maybe we should take the "Christ" out of Christmas- and start calling it Yule again? Removing the religious aspect out of the holiday will get rid of all the animosity and hatred in our society.
After all, it isn't really a Christian holiday anyway- they just gave a pagan holiday a Christian meaning to help convert people. The bible even specifically says not to bring evergreen trees into the house- yet that's what all these Christians do on Christmas.
The holiday was originally to celebrate the winter solsitice. Let's take it back to it's true roots. Call it Yule not Christmas.
If enough people refuse to buy it- they'll stop selling it.
So whites are better at Tennis and Golf then because almost all professional tennis and golf players are white?
I think Tiger, Venus, and Selena would disagree with that statement.
Culturally blacks are not as drawn to tennis and golf... just as culturally our schools push blacks into sports and whites into education.
Evolutionary speaking- humans are a young species that derived from a small seed population estimated to be about 12. We have had a comparatively very low mortality rate before breeding.
There is less genetic variation between any two humans in the world then there would be between two chimpanzees within the same troup.
Think about that- in a population of 7 billion- less genetic variation than in a population of 25.
If there were any science showing major differences in race- perhaps I would believe it- but test and test again show that intelligence is more correlated to your parent's station in society than race. I do not for one minute buy that race influences intelligence in any major way.
I don't disagree. I think it is culture that unforunately holds many African American blacks back. There is absolutely no reason they can't be as successfull at attaining degrees and careers.
Bill Cosby is someone I respect in this regards- he is always campaigning for blacks to drop the "rap-gangsta" social regime. It doesn't mean "conforming to whitie", it means remove the cultural negativity.
If you look at the successfull blacks at any corporation- they don't wear loose baggy pants and lots "of bling".
HOWEVER- the blacks submitting papers for peer review are not going to be part of the sub-culture that belittles itself with stupidity. That they are not getting grants must mean some kind of racial bias. UNLESS they start their grant requst with "Yo! Gimme some Bling for this here paper"- something I HIGHLY DOUBT. I'm the last person to call the race card... but this time it seems completely justified.