5th post!!! Wait... This was posted 5 hours ago.
on
C#, CLI Accepted by ECMA
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I think the number of comments speaks for itself in regards to how big of a ripple this had on everybody perception of an impact.
The question is now: Other than Miquel D'Icaza, is there anybody out there who's going to try to leverage this in someway or another?
Better question: To what extent can Microsoft retrict competition with.NET? Are there key patents on key technologies in.NET, or is it another scenerio entirely?
As for those of you calling the prosecution of Russian citizens committing crimes on American soil unconstitutional and evil, I hope to have your support when I visit Germany and hold pro-Nazi rallies and am arrested for them. After all, I'm from the US and am not bound by the German law even if I'm in Germany, right?
Umm... That would be a great point, IF he broke the law on US soil, but SURPRISINGLY even the DOJ knows he broke this notorious US law on Russian soil.
The reason they arrested Dmitry is because his company TRAFFICKED said illegal software, by targeting the US marking when selling it on the Internet. NOTE: Dmitry did not traffic any software, he just wrote it.
The best analogy for this case is: You wrote some software which accesses porn around firewalls for your employer. Your employer decideds to traffic this software into Saudi Arabia, where for the sake of argument they just enacted a law banning devices from gathering porn off the Internet.
You take a vacation to Saudi Arabia and are arrested.
A. The software you wrote in your country is perfectly legal and should not subject you to other country's laws, unless YOU decide to knownling profit by trafficking to a country you know where this software is illegal.
B. Employees shouldn't be held liable for thier companies actions.
Don't you think this case is setting a horrible precident for other countries to emulate?
If you guys really hate MS, then you should use the service, just...
1. Don't give them any real information. Ex:
a. You live in Afganistan
b. Give them a junk Yahoo email that you use to sign up with other services.
2. Never use passport for any other purpose than authentication for your bogus account.
a. Contacts
b. Wallet
c. You get the point
3. NEVER PAY for passport. If they ever decide they want to force people to pay for it, simply do like everybody else and opt out.
If you think like a cheap bastard, then MS will never get thier grips on you.
If anybody has other any other ideas, or PLAUSIBLE scenerios on how MS can screw you even if you adhere to these rules, then feel more than free to reply.
I really don't think Microsoft is specifically trying to push C# rather than all the other languages that are supported under.NET.
Possible Reasons for having so many C# articles 1. People want know how C# compares and what it can do.
2. C# offers the most functionality for the.NET platform.
3. C# can be compared to Java as a Java like language, plus all the features you wanted in Java.
So why is.NET (and mono) so closely linked to C#?
.NET and C# are usually closely linked, because C# offers a wide range of features that.NET is capable of performing. Microsoft designed it to be an all-purpose language that allows programmers who want to focus on optimization to do so, and allows programmers who want to focus on structure to do so. It tries to do everything better than C++, supporting a range of features that many other.NET languages don't support, like operator-overloading.
Does it really give you big advantages over FORTRAN?
It gives you the same advantages that C++ would over Fortran. I can't say I'm familiar with modern Fortran, but if Fortran doesn't support operator-overloading, and you LOVE operator-overloading, C# is going to have an advantage over Fortran for YOU.
It's basic aim is to replace C++, which for a long time as been the choice of millions of Win32 developers or aspiring developers. So, We can pretty much say that C# is trying to capture the magic C++ did in the early 90's.
1. VB.NET ACTUALLY does compiles as effeciently as C, after the MSIL to 0x86 JIT. (The debugger will actually show 0x86 code for each line of VB code like they didn't in VC++)
2. They don't need to make claims it's fast as hand tuned 0x86.
3. C++ is supported in.NET (Managed C++)
4. They tout C# as Java plus the features you wanted in Java.
5. They now support Java and 1.1 libraries in.NET
6. COBOL and Python are supported too, so no need to bash those languages.
7. Win32 developers don't have to move to another development environment that doesn't have all the menus, keyboard shortcuts, and cute toolbars thier so used to.
Here's what MS is targeted.
1. VM which interprets bytecode (HOW HORRIBLE!!!)
2. Sun's lack of support for other languages...
3. Java's higher learning curve
4. Web services aren't built right it and easy to make like.NET
5. Inability to port Win32 code from VB or C++ (I know, I know,.NET doesn't do a great job porting VB code either, but that's not the point.:) )
... plus whatever else they can pull out of thier butt...
How do you think the plans for electricity, running water, etc, etc get financed in a world where they can be copied by freeloaders? Do the words "To promote the useful arts" mean anything to you?
1. Are you suggesting that early plans for water systems were patented and copyrighted?
2. Are you suggesting that nothing of value can be created if creators can't retain it's "intellectual property"?
You know that's the sort of example a corrupt organization would pull out of it's butt to show everybody thier fair, and then screw everybody else when thier not looking...
We're not happy with seeing it happen everyonce in a while. We want one fair and consistant law that applies to everybody equally.
Wasn't this all started to keep cybersquatters from extorting companies??? How hard can it be to prove someone is a cybersquatter anyway???
No plantif wants to choose a fair arbitrator, they want to choose an arbitrator that goes through the motions but will rationalize the decision for the plantif to get the domain name.
These guys weren't getting any business because they were truely objective.
Although the ruling being published in PDF format could be considered ironic by some, the situations described by Alanis Morrisette would probably be best described as unfortunate. Rain on your wedding day and a plane crash are very unfortunate and maybe even improbable, but certainly not ironic.
The reason "Rain on your wedding day" IS ironic is has nothing to do with the unfortunate circumstances as it does with people (particularly women) building unrealistic EXPECTATIONS about having a PERFECT wedding.
While it may seem perfectly reasonable that rain might occur on your wedding day, to many brides this is NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. It's not ironic for you, because you didn't have the unrealistic expectation that wedding days are supposed to be perfect and nothing is going to go wrong.
As far as the plane crash example is concerned: The guy was afraid to fly and it was his first time. We can probably expect he was coerced into flying by having people explain to him that flying is the safest mode of travel and that it is statisically the safest. Well, People tend to look at 1 in a million statistics optimistically as if there is almost a gaurantee. I remember hearing people coercing my mother to fly, gauranteing her that she'll be ok and probably even beleiving the gaurantee herself. Would you honestly expect a first time flying, scared out of his wits to fly, to crash his first time? No! For many people, that sort of cruel joke isn't supposed to happen.
1. Again, Incongruity of what is EXPECTED and what OCCURS.
2. What may be ironic for you may not be for someone else insofar as we all have different EXPECTATIONS.
PS, Webster's includes the same subdefintion as I think MOST English dictionary's would...
Websters:
3a. Incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result
Joe Asian prefers the Motorcyle
on
This is IT?
·
· Score: 1
For about as much, Joe Asian is probably going to spend $3000 on a motorcycle for getting him and his family around the city.
Having lived in Jakarta, I can recall too many times seeing a family of 5 riding a motorcycle.
(Pop + kid in front, mother riding side-saddle with two little ones in each arm)
Uhh... This is a blast from the past article...
on
Electronic Abacus
·
· Score: 1
Considering the article was written in 1954, I think we cut them some slack in the criticism department.
In other words, RTFABP... (You can figure that one out)
Irony 1a. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
1b. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
1c. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at wit1.
2a. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" (Richard Kain).
2b. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. See Usage Note at ironic.
1. If it fits one of the following, it's ironic.
2. In this case we don't expect this odd coincidence (company involved loosing litigation has ruling publishing in format they invented), which is what actually occurs... Hence the irony...
3. Given the liberal defintion of 2a, Alanis Morriset's situations in her song also demonstrates irony...
Having not seen porn for 5 years, I would probably have sudden ejaculation episodes at random intervals throughout the day from the recently engrained image of two seventeen year old Dutch girls sucking on each others supple nipples as one of the girls lightly brushes the inner thigh of her classmate...
Wouldn't you think temperatures underground would fluctuate as much as they do in your attic.
Also, Consider the reliability of 15 year old microchip technology vs. 5-6 year old technology. Remember when your Atari used to reboot and break all the time?
Even if it WAS 15 year old technology, does temperature extremes have to affect ALL TI-99-4/A's?
Live you life as you always have. Go to work, raise your kids, spend your money, and be happy until given a legitimate reason not to be.
No, we haven't been programmed to be happy little consumers, have we?
Why do you assume that by coming to this conclusion you have to be a brainwashed product of the media? Is it far fetched that one might come to this conclusion on thier own after weighing against many alternatives?
Can't people go to work, raise kids, spend money, and be happy in addition to being generous with thier time and money for those less fortunate or for a legitimate cause?
After reading in an earlier slashdot article where the California Supreme Court declared that source code is speach regardless of its ability to be compiled, I asked myself:
"If you publish the source code for a patented algorithm, are you violating the patent?"
If this holds up as yes in the US ane EU, does this mean we can scoot around the patents as long as we distribute the software in source-code ONLY form?
You refuse the government to censor the download of MP3 yet you want them to censor Windows.
You hit it right on the head... That's what this whole DOJ vs. MS case was about... Linux users trying to ban commercial technology and censor Windows.
Don't you know that Open Source adovocates want to BAN commercial software so programmers can't feed thier families. Lord, Think of the hungry crying babies! All because Open Source advocates want to BAN AND CENSOR commercial technology (IE, Windows and anything NOT Linux)
Nobody's trying to censor Windows or even ban it. We're just trying to level the playing field by not allowing them to do things like force PC manufacturers to ship Windows with every desktop without modification.
We think competition did great things for the PC hardware industry, because the playing field was a lot more level than most other industries.
Did you think we're just a bunch of liberal hardliners willing to jeopardize the economy for some ideological standards?
"That the source code is capable of such compilation, however, does not destroy the expressive nature of the source code itself. "
It seems to me that if code is considered speech inasmuch as a standard mathematical notation, does this mean I can implement patented algorithms and distribute its source code as long as it is not converted into a device (compiled)?
Code of Patented Algorithm == Free Speech???
Compiled Code of Patented Algorithm == Patent Violation???
You may notice that many people didn't feel insulted or taunted by this remark, especially western cultures, mainly because most westerners don't take these types of remarks serious for a number of different reasons.
1. It is usually impolite to brag in Sweden, (people just call a an asshole in the US) thus a remark like this usually implies some irony.
2. "Everything else is just a toy" is often a parody reference to a sales and advertising culture.
3. Tech people are known for boasting the quality/benefits of a particular technology, whether or not they actually own it. (This is especially true of backbone technology. People will brag about technology it is impossible for them to own) This is also usually one of the most effective ways of advacating a technology when talking shop.
I'm sure the last thing the guy wanted to do by putting up his website was to spark bandwidth envy, but rather inspire people to take on similar projects.
Usually people who undertake projects like this often have utopian dreams and plans on how to wire the world, and I'm sure this guy was just making his point that people shouldn't settle for less than 10 Mps when the technology is clearly available.
"It is a profound and necessary truth that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them." -Robert Oppenheimer
Robert Moody from the Department Mathematical Sciences, University of Alberta illustrates the importance of curiosity based research in his paper using lasers as an example of why curiosity based research is necessary.
Carl Sagan in his book, The Demon Haunted World, also stresses the importance of curiosity based research using James Clark Maxell's discoveries as an example of how it effects our lives today by providing the necessary building blocks for radio, television, computers, lasers, etc.
Basic science is nice, but erstwhile star captains probably wouldn't find the universe's origins very relevant.
It may not seem very relivant at first, but there are those who would argue in order to even begin to piece together data for a theory of everything (which may be vital to even approach the idea of star captains), we need to gather as much data as possible to reduce our error bars of knowledge.
All in all, Good question... I'm sure some of you have better answers...
Slashdot Mirror
I think the number of comments speaks for itself in regards to how big of a ripple this had on everybody perception of an impact.
.NET? Are there key patents on key technologies in .NET, or is it another scenerio entirely?
The question is now: Other than Miquel D'Icaza, is there anybody out there who's going to try to leverage this in someway or another?
Better question: To what extent can Microsoft retrict competition with
As for those of you calling the prosecution of Russian citizens committing crimes on American soil unconstitutional and evil, I hope to have your support when I visit Germany and hold pro-Nazi rallies and am arrested for them. After all, I'm from the US and am not bound by the German law even if I'm in Germany, right?
Umm... That would be a great point, IF he broke the law on US soil, but SURPRISINGLY even the DOJ knows he broke this notorious US law on Russian soil.
The reason they arrested Dmitry is because his company TRAFFICKED said illegal software, by targeting the US marking when selling it on the Internet. NOTE: Dmitry did not traffic any software, he just wrote it.
The best analogy for this case is: You wrote some software which accesses porn around firewalls for your employer. Your employer decideds to traffic this software into Saudi Arabia, where for the sake of argument they just enacted a law banning devices from gathering porn off the Internet.
You take a vacation to Saudi Arabia and are arrested.
A. The software you wrote in your country is perfectly legal and should not subject you to other country's laws, unless YOU decide to knownling profit by trafficking to a country you know where this software is illegal.
B. Employees shouldn't be held liable for thier companies actions.
Don't you think this case is setting a horrible precident for other countries to emulate?
If you guys really hate MS, then you should use the service, just...
1. Don't give them any real information. Ex:
a. You live in Afganistan
b. Give them a junk Yahoo email that you use to sign up with other services.
2. Never use passport for any other purpose than authentication for your bogus account.
a. Contacts
b. Wallet
c. You get the point
3. NEVER PAY for passport. If they ever decide they want to force people to pay for it, simply do like everybody else and opt out.
If you think like a cheap bastard, then MS will never get thier grips on you.
If anybody has other any other ideas, or PLAUSIBLE scenerios on how MS can screw you even if you adhere to these rules, then feel more than free to reply.
I really don't think Microsoft is specifically trying to push C# rather than all the other languages that are supported under .NET.
.NET platform.
.NET (and mono) so closely linked to C#?
.NET is capable of performing. Microsoft designed it to be an all-purpose language that allows programmers who want to focus on optimization to do so, and allows programmers who want to focus on structure to do so. It tries to do everything better than C++, supporting a range of features that many other .NET languages don't support, like operator-overloading.
Possible Reasons for having so many C# articles
1. People want know how C# compares and what it can do.
2. C# offers the most functionality for the
3. C# can be compared to Java as a Java like language, plus all the features you wanted in Java.
So why is
.NET and C# are usually closely linked, because C# offers a wide range of features that
Does it really give you big advantages over FORTRAN?
It gives you the same advantages that C++ would over Fortran. I can't say I'm familiar with modern Fortran, but if Fortran doesn't support operator-overloading, and you LOVE operator-overloading, C# is going to have an advantage over Fortran for YOU.
It's basic aim is to replace C++, which for a long time as been the choice of millions of Win32 developers or aspiring developers. So, We can pretty much say that C# is trying to capture the magic C++ did in the early 90's.
Microsoft doesn't need to say any of that...
.NET (Managed C++)
.NET
.NET
.NET doesn't do a great job porting VB code either, but that's not the point. :) )
1. VB.NET ACTUALLY does compiles as effeciently as C, after the MSIL to 0x86 JIT. (The debugger will actually show 0x86 code for each line of VB code like they didn't in VC++)
2. They don't need to make claims it's fast as hand tuned 0x86.
3. C++ is supported in
4. They tout C# as Java plus the features you wanted in Java.
5. They now support Java and 1.1 libraries in
6. COBOL and Python are supported too, so no need to bash those languages.
7. Win32 developers don't have to move to another development environment that doesn't have all the menus, keyboard shortcuts, and cute toolbars thier so used to.
Here's what MS is targeted.
1. VM which interprets bytecode (HOW HORRIBLE!!!)
2. Sun's lack of support for other languages...
3. Java's higher learning curve
4. Web services aren't built right it and easy to make like
5. Inability to port Win32 code from VB or C++ (I know, I know,
... plus whatever else they can pull out of thier butt...
How do you think the plans for electricity, running water, etc, etc get financed in a world where they can be copied by freeloaders? Do the words "To promote the useful arts" mean anything to you?
1. Are you suggesting that early plans for water systems were patented and copyrighted?
2. Are you suggesting that nothing of value can be created if creators can't retain it's "intellectual property"?
You know that's the sort of example a corrupt organization would pull out of it's butt to show everybody thier fair, and then screw everybody else when thier not looking...
We're not happy with seeing it happen everyonce in a while. We want one fair and consistant law that applies to everybody equally.
Wasn't this all started to keep cybersquatters from extorting companies??? How hard can it be to prove someone is a cybersquatter anyway???
It surprises us that halls of State are still
standing on their foundations, not having been burned to the ground.
It surprises us that the Heads of State are still attached to the necks.
The sheer tolerance displayed by the general public, and the levels they will be pushed to before they revolt, surprise us.
Try to outlaw Drew Carry, Friends, or Jerry Springer and THEN you'll see people revolt! Oh yeah, heads will fly...
Oh Well... Life isn't fair, might as well be apathetic.
No plantif wants to choose a fair arbitrator, they want to choose an arbitrator that goes through the motions but will rationalize the decision for the plantif to get the domain name.
These guys weren't getting any business because they were truely objective.
Although the ruling being published in PDF format could be considered ironic by some, the situations described by Alanis Morrisette would probably be best described as unfortunate. Rain on your wedding day and a plane crash are very unfortunate and maybe even improbable, but certainly not ironic.
The reason "Rain on your wedding day" IS ironic is has nothing to do with the unfortunate circumstances as it does with people (particularly women) building unrealistic EXPECTATIONS about having a PERFECT wedding.
While it may seem perfectly reasonable that rain might occur on your wedding day, to many brides this is NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. It's not ironic for you, because you didn't have the unrealistic expectation that wedding days are supposed to be perfect and nothing is going to go wrong.
As far as the plane crash example is concerned: The guy was afraid to fly and it was his first time. We can probably expect he was coerced into flying by having people explain to him that flying is the safest mode of travel and that it is statisically the safest. Well, People tend to look at 1 in a million statistics optimistically as if there is almost a gaurantee. I remember hearing people coercing my mother to fly, gauranteing her that she'll be ok and probably even beleiving the gaurantee herself. Would you honestly expect a first time flying, scared out of his wits to fly, to crash his first time? No! For many people, that sort of cruel joke isn't supposed to happen.
1. Again, Incongruity of what is EXPECTED and what OCCURS.
2. What may be ironic for you may not be for someone else insofar as we all have different EXPECTATIONS.
PS, Webster's includes the same subdefintion as I think MOST English dictionary's would...
Websters:
3a. Incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result
For about as much, Joe Asian is probably going to spend $3000 on a motorcycle for getting him and his family around the city.
Having lived in Jakarta, I can recall too many times seeing a family of 5 riding a motorcycle.
(Pop + kid in front, mother riding side-saddle with two little ones in each arm)
Considering the article was written in 1954, I think we cut them some slack in the criticism department.
In other words, RTFABP... (You can figure that one out)
Irony
1a. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
1b. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
1c. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See Synonyms at wit1.
2a. Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs: "Hyde noted the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" (Richard Kain).
2b. An occurrence, result, or circumstance notable for such incongruity. See Usage Note at ironic.
1. If it fits one of the following, it's ironic.
2. In this case we don't expect this odd coincidence (company involved loosing litigation has ruling publishing in format they invented), which is what actually occurs... Hence the irony...
3. Given the liberal defintion of 2a, Alanis Morriset's situations in her song also demonstrates irony...
After 5 years of not even catching a glimpse of CHEEKBONE, I would consider myself one gay-homosexual if I the first website I visited wan't www.17-year-old-dutch--lolitas-locked-in-a-69-lapp ing-each-others-little-hairy-peach-fishes.com
Having not seen porn for 5 years, I would probably have sudden ejaculation episodes at random intervals throughout the day from the recently engrained image of two seventeen year old Dutch girls sucking on each others supple nipples as one of the girls lightly brushes the inner thigh of her classmate...
CAN YOU IMAGINE NOT SEEING PORN FOR 5 YEARS!!!
Wouldn't you think temperatures underground would fluctuate as much as they do in your attic.
Also, Consider the reliability of 15 year old microchip technology vs. 5-6 year old technology. Remember when your Atari used to reboot and break all the time?
Even if it WAS 15 year old technology, does temperature extremes have to affect ALL TI-99-4/A's?
I agree too...
Junis, a computer geek obsessed with Linux, had first e-mailed me years ago while I was writing for Hotwired.
The subject is all I wanted to say...
Live you life as you always have. Go to work, raise your kids, spend your money, and be happy until given a legitimate reason not to be.
No, we haven't been programmed to be happy little consumers, have we?
Why do you assume that by coming to this conclusion you have to be a brainwashed product of the media? Is it far fetched that one might come to this conclusion on thier own after weighing against many alternatives?
Can't people go to work, raise kids, spend money, and be happy in addition to being generous with thier time and money for those less fortunate or for a legitimate cause?
After reading in an earlier slashdot article where the California Supreme Court declared that source code is speach regardless of its ability to be compiled, I asked myself:
"If you publish the source code for a patented algorithm, are you violating the patent?"
If this holds up as yes in the US ane EU, does this mean we can scoot around the patents as long as we distribute the software in source-code ONLY form?
You refuse the government to censor the download of MP3 yet you want them to censor Windows.
You hit it right on the head... That's what this whole DOJ vs. MS case was about... Linux users trying to ban commercial technology and censor Windows.
Don't you know that Open Source adovocates want to BAN commercial software so programmers can't feed thier families. Lord, Think of the hungry crying babies! All because Open Source advocates want to BAN AND CENSOR commercial technology (IE, Windows and anything NOT Linux)
Nobody's trying to censor Windows or even ban it. We're just trying to level the playing field by not allowing them to do things like force PC manufacturers to ship Windows with every desktop without modification.
We think competition did great things for the PC hardware industry, because the playing field was a lot more level than most other industries.
Did you think we're just a bunch of liberal hardliners willing to jeopardize the economy for some ideological standards?
"That the source code is capable of such compilation, however, does not destroy the expressive nature of the source code itself. "
It seems to me that if code is considered speech inasmuch as a standard mathematical notation, does this mean I can implement patented algorithms and distribute its source code as long as it is not converted into a device (compiled)?
Code of Patented Algorithm == Free Speech???
Compiled Code of Patented Algorithm == Patent Violation???
What do you guys think?
Actually, you made it more complicated and confusing...
Last time I checked, software is a word which generally refers to a collection of instructions which is executed on a hardware or software device.
IE, If a DVD movie includes a game you can play on your TV, it's software. If a DVD just consists of encoded pixels for a movie, it's data.
Lets not make this more complicated than it really is or redefine things which have been properly defined for the past 50 years.
Everything slower than 10 Mbps is just a toy!
You may notice that many people didn't feel insulted or taunted by this remark, especially western cultures, mainly because most westerners don't take these types of remarks serious for a number of different reasons.
1. It is usually impolite to brag in Sweden, (people just call a an asshole in the US) thus a remark like this usually implies some irony.
2. "Everything else is just a toy" is often a parody reference to a sales and advertising culture.
3. Tech people are known for boasting the quality/benefits of a particular technology, whether or not they actually own it. (This is especially true of backbone technology. People will brag about technology it is impossible for them to own) This is also usually one of the most effective ways of advacating a technology when talking shop.
I'm sure the last thing the guy wanted to do by putting up his website was to spark bandwidth envy, but rather inspire people to take on similar projects.
Usually people who undertake projects like this often have utopian dreams and plans on how to wire the world, and I'm sure this guy was just making his point that people shouldn't settle for less than 10 Mps when the technology is clearly available.
"It is a profound and necessary truth that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them." -Robert Oppenheimer
Robert Moody from the Department Mathematical Sciences, University of Alberta illustrates the importance of curiosity based research in his paper using lasers as an example of why curiosity based research is necessary.
Carl Sagan in his book, The Demon Haunted World, also stresses the importance of curiosity based research using James Clark Maxell's discoveries as an example of how it effects our lives today by providing the necessary building blocks for radio, television, computers, lasers, etc.
Basic science is nice, but erstwhile star captains probably wouldn't find the universe's origins very relevant.
It may not seem very relivant at first, but there are those who would argue in order to even begin to piece together data for a theory of everything (which may be vital to even approach the idea of star captains), we need to gather as much data as possible to reduce our error bars of knowledge.
All in all, Good question... I'm sure some of you have better answers...