I recommend Thomas M. Disch's marvelous book The Dreams our Stuff is Made Of. It's a thorough study of how science fiction has influenced scientific and social developments in the 20th century.
For example, if it developed a theory that if it killed all humans and piled them up, then in a few days the pile would start to smell bad, would it just go ahead and try that experiment without waiting for human input?
I really like the pocket-sized Russian Geiger counter I bought off the eBays a couple of years back for under $50. It gives off a reassuring click anytime you come near anything remotely radioactive. It even clicks when hit by stray cosmic rays. Here's a current auction for one like mine:
If Hollywood films about 'hackers' have taught us anything, it's that a teenage hacker with a laptop can insert a handwired card into any slot and generate random characters until the proper password is found. I suggest a similar automated approach to this problem.
Scientific research should be published anonymously, with a code to later identify the scientist(s) involved. That would take the 'branding' out of science, and make each paper stand or fall on its own merits.
I was unjustly arrested on a gun charge in Los Angeles fifteen years ago, and I would be just fine with having that information on the web for anyone to Google. Why? Because if it ever comes up as an issue in the future, I can use the same technology to instantly prove my innocence.
The reason such information is public is so that both sides have equal access to the truth. If knowledge that someone has been arrested and charged with a crime becomes secret information, then that will lead to secret prosecutions. That's exactly the sort of thing our founders wanted to avoid.
The Commodore 64 was a better computer (more colors, 3-voice synth, etc.), used fewer chips, had more memory, and was cheaper to make. More software was written for it, and it has a much, much more active enthusiast community which has archived and preserved that software. If you're going to spread retro computing over the surface of the globe, wouldn't it make more sense to use the most popular computer of the day?
But the whole thing would be staged. You'd need a lot of power to get the payload to earth orbit, but not so much to then accelerate the actual payload to match speeds with the ISS. Think of Apollo - the big push was to earth orbit; getting the orbiter and lander to the moon took much less energy.
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I recommend Thomas M. Disch's marvelous book The Dreams our Stuff is Made Of. It's a thorough study of how science fiction has influenced scientific and social developments in the 20th century.
Great! Now we have to prepare for retaliation by Moon Nazis!
I think 'Taconium' is the perfect name. After all, it IS the heaviest of all the elements.
Man, this is unbelievable! Totally amazing!
Bobby Jindal is on the right side of an issue! 8O
Are there any limits on what it's allowed to do?
For example, if it developed a theory that if it killed all humans and piled them up, then in a few days the pile would start to smell bad, would it just go ahead and try that experiment without waiting for human input?
A thick, creamy core of pure unadulterated ego encased in a thin shell of human skin.
But he's right.
Facts can be used to prove anything that's even remotely true. - Homer Simpson
In 1996 you could have visited my personal web site - it's been up since 1993:
http://www.atomicairship.com
Use my Mom's argument:
"If all the other shops in China jumped off a bridge, would you?"
This is not a problem. You just use the Delorean as your zero X-Y-Z axis point and plot the rest of the universe around it.
This is simple relativity, folks.
I'm pretty sure if you have a personality, you can't be hired to work in IT.
This technology wouldn't work for me.
99% of my calls are from girlfriends who only want me to listen to them go on for hours about their problems. I never get a chance to say anything.
No 'Little Lulu'?!?
I really like the pocket-sized Russian Geiger counter I bought off the eBays a couple of years back for under $50. It gives off a reassuring click anytime you come near anything remotely radioactive. It even clicks when hit by stray cosmic rays. Here's a current auction for one like mine:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-RADIATION-DOSIMETER-DRSB-01-Geiger-Counter_W0QQitemZ310098505503
Of course, you'll also need something radioactive to detect. I suggest a bit of uranium from United Nuclear:
http://www.unitednuclear.com/
If Hollywood films about 'hackers' have taught us anything, it's that a teenage hacker with a laptop can insert a handwired card into any slot and generate random characters until the proper password is found. I suggest a similar automated approach to this problem.
The Commodore 64 Kernal* was 8K and lived in ROM... and we LIKED it!**
*Yes, Commodore really spelled it that way.
**We liked it because the C64 booted in about 2 seconds! :)
Pffft! I had 'instant on' applications with my old VIC-20 computer.
Scientific research should be published anonymously, with a code to later identify the scientist(s) involved. That would take the 'branding' out of science, and make each paper stand or fall on its own merits.
Are these guys idiots?
Oh... wait... I see they're lawyers. So my question is redundant.
Never mind.
We just spent a minimum of $25 billion bailing out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. What's another few billion dollars to help save the planet?
So Adam rejected reality and substituted his own?
I was unjustly arrested on a gun charge in Los Angeles fifteen years ago, and I would be just fine with having that information on the web for anyone to Google. Why? Because if it ever comes up as an issue in the future, I can use the same technology to instantly prove my innocence.
The reason such information is public is so that both sides have equal access to the truth. If knowledge that someone has been arrested and charged with a crime becomes secret information, then that will lead to secret prosecutions. That's exactly the sort of thing our founders wanted to avoid.
The Commodore 64 was a better computer (more colors, 3-voice synth, etc.), used fewer chips, had more memory, and was cheaper to make. More software was written for it, and it has a much, much more active enthusiast community which has archived and preserved that software. If you're going to spread retro computing over the surface of the globe, wouldn't it make more sense to use the most popular computer of the day?
But the whole thing would be staged. You'd need a lot of power to get the payload to earth orbit, but not so much to then accelerate the actual payload to match speeds with the ISS. Think of Apollo - the big push was to earth orbit; getting the orbiter and lander to the moon took much less energy.
I really, really hope that the first human to live to be 1,000 will be named 'Aubrey de Grey.' How cool would that be?