It wasn't for spy satellites... when you have people on board, why not use them! It was designed as a launch platform for nukes... which is why the Russians copied it with the Buran. They realized that you could launch that thing and it could drop an array of undetectable nukes anywhere on the planet. Some argue that they could simply track it... but that was impossible at the time because the Shuttle can alter it's own orbit.
W3C isn't at all saying that they are trying to invalide the patents in question. What they are asking for is prior art that they might be able to use to develop the new stack on top of, so that they can avoid any infringement of the related patents. And I quote, "Such information could suggest ways to define a specification that can achieve the working group's goals without implementers infringing on the disclosed patent." And further, "By making this call, neither the WARP PAG nor the W3C make nor imply any comment whatsoever on the relevance or validity of Apple's claims."
You do realize, however, that they're almost ready for production now. Their first prototype has already flown and they're now building the first production conforming prototypes right now. They'll be flying by later this year with production beginning next year. So, it seems your 2015 date is way off.
I've been to their facility near Boston and I've seen the progress they are making and I can assure you, they'll be flying and in production way before then.
...big and bulky enough that the addition of a small wing won't make much of a difference...
Actually, that's not true. They are designing it to fit within the US Ultralight category. By adding a wing, you're adding weight, however he is only allowed 254 lbs. The craft is already at 250 lbs. As for speed... again, he is limited to 60mph due to the same restrictions... which he can easily achieve without the addition of a secondary lift device.
There's no magical chemical fuel waiting in the wings. (Excuse the pun.) There's no magical ducted fan or propeller design that will dramatically increase performance. There's no magical material that will dramatically decrease the weight. Etc... etc...
I'm curious... how do you know there isn't?
There are a lot of discoveries that have already been made that do exactly what you said. The ducted fan design can be improved... GE is working on several designs that do exactly that. There are materials that do dramatically decrease weight... Carbon Fiber is an example... and the science behind those materials (and others) is continuing on. Don't underestimate the power of the imagination to think things up. If someone sees a problem, an engineer somewhere is working on a solution to it.
I'm not sure what you mean by diving toward the ground at 2G's... but if you're inverted pulling +2G's it's always going to feel like +2G's regardless of your attitude... not one G. (Earth's gravity isn't magically cancelling one G... it's actually a weak force that is easily overridden by acceleration forces.)
Really? Think about that again, please. The astronauts on board the International Space Station are not accelerating... they're in a continous free fall at a constant speed around the Earth (called orbiting). If there was an acceleration force, anybody on board would feel that force as varying degrees of gravity, however, once a terminal velocity is reached they would become weightless because the aircraft would be falling around them at the same rate they were falling.
Yes, because that.NET 4.0 runtime came up on you so quickly. I mean seriously... it seems like only yesterday that 2.0 (2005), 3.0 (2006) and 3.5 (2007) were released and now the're dropping 4.0 (2010) on us and forcing us to upgrade.
I just wish you had a little more notice that this was going to happen.
Seriously, their tools for upgrading managed code are great. They even document for you APIs that have been deprecated and suggest the new API to use. You're complaining about an upgrade wizard that is trying to figure out what you did 8 years ago and how it relates to Today. Really? What other platforms do that?
You are correct. There are several open source companies that are selling hardware based on the.NET Micro Framework, including TinyCLR (FEZ product line) and the Netduino.
Microsoft's official site on the.NET Micro Framework is at http://www.netmf.com.
I've personally used it for several projects with great success... they really did a nice job on it and you can even use Visual Studio to develop for it, which makes it incredibly easy to debug as well. (Attached debugger to the hardware, for example.)
Right... I guess startups can't afford the $99 it costs to get one of Microsofts small business startup packages. I think it's called BizSpark. If I remember correctly, that $99 isn't due until year three, either!
I agree with the your comment, with one exception. 88000 people can go missing instantly... unfortunatly, it's happend in Japan in the past... twice.
Bill
Is this really offtopic? If Slashdot can post an article on a cheap chinese knockoff device, why can't one of the posters respond with a cheap knockoff handbag to hold it in?
Seriously? Why is Slashdot advertising that piece of crap? It's ANOTHER knockoff Chinese clone... similar to the Augen Tablet and a thousand other clones, but more expensive.
It's still there for me! If you click the link and then click on the "Available voice activated Sync" you will see the Sync Powered By Microsoft logo on the right.
Since day one, Ford has advertised it as "Sync, powered by Microsoft." It's never been any different. I see the picture from your link, but that is not the official logo from Ford and has never been.
I do see that others ads don't have it, but the ad I just watched before my post was a local dealership advertising the Ford Fiesta for 2011 and it also had the same logo I pointed to.
Slashdot Mirror
It wasn't for spy satellites... when you have people on board, why not use them! It was designed as a launch platform for nukes... which is why the Russians copied it with the Buran. They realized that you could launch that thing and it could drop an array of undetectable nukes anywhere on the planet. Some argue that they could simply track it... but that was impossible at the time because the Shuttle can alter it's own orbit.
W3C isn't at all saying that they are trying to invalide the patents in question. What they are asking for is prior art that they might be able to use to develop the new stack on top of, so that they can avoid any infringement of the related patents. And I quote, "Such information could suggest ways to define a specification that can achieve the working group's goals without implementers infringing on the disclosed patent." And further, "By making this call, neither the WARP PAG nor the W3C make nor imply any comment whatsoever on the relevance or validity of Apple's claims."
Bill
So... they made a Frostruder... which you can buy here: http://store.makerbot.com/toolheads/makerbot-frostruder.html
Bill
Since when does a General Aviation pilot get searched?
Bill
You do realize, however, that they're almost ready for production now. Their first prototype has already flown and they're now building the first production conforming prototypes right now. They'll be flying by later this year with production beginning next year. So, it seems your 2015 date is way off.
I've been to their facility near Boston and I've seen the progress they are making and I can assure you, they'll be flying and in production way before then.
Bill
What is a "moran?"
Ah... here it is: moran [ máwrn ]
Masai warrior: a young unmarried male warrior of the Masai people.
Why would you call him that???
Bill
Since you complained about his incorrect English, I assume it is okay for me to complain about your incorrect capitalization. :-)
Bill
Actually, if you knew anything about the CLR, you'd know that the last major change to the system was in 4.0!
.NET 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 all share the 2.0 CLR... 4.0 doesn't, it has it's own called CLR 4.0!
Bill
...big and bulky enough that the addition of a small wing won't make much of a difference...
Actually, that's not true. They are designing it to fit within the US Ultralight category. By adding a wing, you're adding weight, however he is only allowed 254 lbs. The craft is already at 250 lbs. As for speed... again, he is limited to 60mph due to the same restrictions... which he can easily achieve without the addition of a secondary lift device.
Bill
There's no magical chemical fuel waiting in the wings. (Excuse the pun.) There's no magical ducted fan or propeller design that will dramatically increase performance. There's no magical material that will dramatically decrease the weight. Etc... etc...
I'm curious... how do you know there isn't?
There are a lot of discoveries that have already been made that do exactly what you said. The ducted fan design can be improved... GE is working on several designs that do exactly that. There are materials that do dramatically decrease weight... Carbon Fiber is an example... and the science behind those materials (and others) is continuing on. Don't underestimate the power of the imagination to think things up. If someone sees a problem, an engineer somewhere is working on a solution to it.
Bill
Wish I could mod you up... that was funny! (However, it doesn't look like anyone else caught it!)
Bill
I'm not sure what you mean by diving toward the ground at 2G's... but if you're inverted pulling +2G's it's always going to feel like +2G's regardless of your attitude... not one G. (Earth's gravity isn't magically cancelling one G... it's actually a weak force that is easily overridden by acceleration forces.)
Bill
Really? Think about that again, please. The astronauts on board the International Space Station are not accelerating... they're in a continous free fall at a constant speed around the Earth (called orbiting). If there was an acceleration force, anybody on board would feel that force as varying degrees of gravity, however, once a terminal velocity is reached they would become weightless because the aircraft would be falling around them at the same rate they were falling.
Bill
Yes, because that .NET 4.0 runtime came up on you so quickly. I mean seriously... it seems like only yesterday that 2.0 (2005), 3.0 (2006) and 3.5 (2007) were released and now the're dropping 4.0 (2010) on us and forcing us to upgrade.
I just wish you had a little more notice that this was going to happen.
Seriously, their tools for upgrading managed code are great. They even document for you APIs that have been deprecated and suggest the new API to use. You're complaining about an upgrade wizard that is trying to figure out what you did 8 years ago and how it relates to Today. Really? What other platforms do that?
Bill
You are correct. There are several open source companies that are selling hardware based on the .NET Micro Framework, including TinyCLR (FEZ product line) and the Netduino.
.NET Micro Framework is at http://www.netmf.com.
Microsoft's official site on the
I've personally used it for several projects with great success... they really did a nice job on it and you can even use Visual Studio to develop for it, which makes it incredibly easy to debug as well. (Attached debugger to the hardware, for example.)
Bill
puts a man on the moon, we'll stick with our proven measurement system.
Bill
Microsoft has NOT "dropped" support for IE 10 on Vista... they never had it to begin with!
Bill
"IBM's BOCA RATON : created the first PC"
And here all this time I thought the Apple computer was out before the IBM... silly me.
Bill
Right... I guess startups can't afford the $99 it costs to get one of Microsofts small business startup packages. I think it's called BizSpark. If I remember correctly, that $99 isn't due until year three, either!
Bill
I agree with the your comment, with one exception. 88000 people can go missing instantly... unfortunatly, it's happend in Japan in the past... twice. Bill
A "pc with legal software" is more like a firearm. At least in the States, it's legal to own.
That would be all of them, since it is, after all, a Constitutional Amendment that gives us that right!
Bill
Wow... I thought Scaled Composites got the first one for their flights back in 2004!
Here is MSNBC's article on SpaceShipOne talking about the launch and re-entry permit.
Bill
Is this really offtopic? If Slashdot can post an article on a cheap chinese knockoff device, why can't one of the posters respond with a cheap knockoff handbag to hold it in?
Seriously? Why is Slashdot advertising that piece of crap? It's ANOTHER knockoff Chinese clone... similar to the Augen Tablet and a thousand other clones, but more expensive.
Bill
It's still there for me! If you click the link and then click on the "Available voice activated Sync" you will see the Sync Powered By Microsoft logo on the right.
Since day one, Ford has advertised it as "Sync, powered by Microsoft." It's never been any different. I see the picture from your link, but that is not the official logo from Ford and has never been.
I do see that others ads don't have it, but the ad I just watched before my post was a local dealership advertising the Ford Fiesta for 2011 and it also had the same logo I pointed to.
Bill