Armageddon's psuedo-science aside, reality is that if you place an h-bomb on a porous rock it crumbles it. You need to determine with an amount of precision robots can't provide exactly what you are going to use for deflection. This requires multiple seismic surveys with multiple sensor placements. Our current set of robots can't do this without spending as much as a human mission which will get you better results. I didn't mention lame drilling or a-bomb placement because that is hollywood, not reality.
If you don't know what you are fighting, you can't beat it. Yes, if the team finds the rock is solid, they can find the best placement and surface-or off-surface blast the thing with 20-30 bombs they bring along. They could even set them up for timed, linked detonations. Again, this is the kind of flexibility you can't get from a robot. Of course, you still can't make these decisions till you do a proper survey.
Let's leave the "oil-drilling" team at home and send some geologists if we have to.:)
"Why bother sending people to an Earth-crossing asteroid?"
There is a high likelyhood that within the next 50 years we will detect an asteriod on it's way towards our planet for impact. Once detected, the only way to know how to best deal with it is to go TO it and determine exactly what type of asteroid it is. If it is a solid iron-nickle then we can actually bring the tools along with the survey crew to move it. If it turns out to be porous, there are other methods that can be used. The point is that we will need to determine this, and the most reliable piece of diagnostic equipment you can put in space is still a human. I would sleep a lot better at night knowing that we at least have the capability to intercept one of these beasts before it nukes us. This bit of exploration also becomes a part of survival. I love dual-use designs.
Yep, all the mindless NYT wonks on this site that repeatedly post stories that link to "Join our Site" NYT will glefully run to the site this morning to read all about it. Worldcom has a sense of humor. Yahoo has a sense of humor. Apparently the NYT can only hire plagerizing writers and prosecute a minor break-in of their DB.
"The SCO share price and revenue is up, why would they stop now?"
This will play out on Wall Street before it plays out in the court. SCO's entire case depends on FUD and secrecy. "We have the proof, and you need to pay us". That's why they aren't releasing those "million lines of code". As soon as it's all linked to BSD or other non-SCO/derivative IP, this all comes crashing down. You can't extend a court case that gets thrown out. You can't artifically buoy your stock if it's obvious to Wall Street you have no real hope of winning your claim. This little program (and the results it finds) could strip away the secrecy and FUD permanently. if it does, this whole process could be (mercifully) shortened.
Your assumption that SCO (with an annual income of barely 60 million) can maintain this level of litigation without selling Linux licences and winning some settlement against IBM is foolish at best. If their licence has no credibility, it will generate no income, and the lawsuit will die from lack of money. The Lawyers will ALWAYS get paid.
Here is the real message from Allah Oh' Brother
on
ESR to Shred SCO Claims?
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
Terrorists Suprised to Find Themselves In Hell From: The Onion . com
JAHANNEM, OUTER DARKNESS--The hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon expressed confusion and surprise Monday to find themselves in the lowest plane of Na'ar, Islam's Hell.
Above: Mohammed Atta (top) and Ahmed al-Haznawi. "I was promised I would spend eternity in Paradise, being fed honeyed cakes by 67 virgins in a tree-lined garden, if only I would fly the airplane into one of the Twin Towers," said Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, between attempts to vomit up the wasps, hornets, and live coals infesting his stomach. "But instead, I am fed the boiling feces of traitors by malicious, laughing Ifrit. Is this to be my reward for destroying the enemies of my faith?"
The rest of Atta's words turned to raw-throated shrieks, as a tusked, asp-tongued demon burst his eyeballs and drank the fluid that ran down his face.
According to Hell sources, the 19 eternally damned terrorists have struggled to understand why they have been subjected to soul-withering, infernal torture ever since their Sept. 11 arrival.
"There was a tumultuous conflagration of burning steel and fuel at our gates, and from it stepped forth these hijackers, the blessed name of the Lord already turning to molten brass on their accursed lips," said Iblis The Thrice-Damned, the cacodemon charged with conscripting new arrivals into the ranks of the forgotten. "Indeed, I do not know what they were expecting, but they certainly didn't seem prepared to be skewered from eye socket to bunghole and then placed on a spit so that their flesh could be roasted by the searing gale of flatus which issues forth from the haunches of Asmoday."
"Which is strange when you consider the evil with which they ended their lives and those of so many others," added Iblis, absentmindedly twisting the limbs of hijacker Abdul Aziz Alomari into unspeakably obscene shapes.
"I was told that these Americans were enemies of the one true religion, and that Heaven would be my reward for my noble sacrifice," said Alomari, moments before his jaw was sheared away by faceless homunculi. "But now I am forced to suckle from the 16 poisoned leathern teats of Gophahmet, Whore of Betrayal, until I burst from an unwholesome engorgement of curdled bile. This must be some sort of terrible mistake."
Exacerbating the terrorists' tortures, which include being hollowed out and used as prophylactics by thorn-cocked Gulbuth The Rampant, is the fact that they will be forced to endure such suffering in sight of the Paradise they were expecting.
"It might actually be the most painful thing we can do, to show these murderers the untold pleasures that would have awaited them in Paradise, if only they had lived pious lives," said Praxitas, Duke of Those Willingly Led Astray. "I mean, it's tough enough being forced through a wire screen by the callused palms of Halcorym and then having your entrails wound onto a stick and fed to the toothless, foul-breathed swine of Gehenna. But to endure that while watching the righteous drink from a river of wine? That can't be fun."
Underworld officials said they have not yet decided on a permanent punishment for the terrorists.
"Eventually, we'll settle on an eternal and unending task for them," said Lord Androalphus, High Praetor of Excruciations. "But for now, everyone down here wants a crack at them. The legions of fang-wombed hags will take their pleasure on their shattered carcasses for most of this afternoon. Tomorrow, their flesh will be melted from their bones like wax in the burning embrace of the Mother of Cowards. The day after that, they'll be sodomized by the Fallen and their bowels shredded by a demonic ejaculate of burning sand. Then, on Sunday, Satan gets them all day. I can't even imagine what he's got cooked up for them."
No matter how long you make the rails, chances are that if it is a manageable length, your "projectile" will need to have a minimum of about 25g's at the muzzle. Rail guns are fine for cargo and launching ISS modules once you build the gun, but there is no way you can accelerate a human to orbital velocity unless you make a 50-80 mile gun. Remember, the speed at the muzzle has to be more than 18k MPH because you are going to lose speed from drag.
1. The Darl keeps repeating that he supports Open Source. Although he says this, he and his company have threatened to sue Linux end-users. If he supports Open Source and has a problem, hit only action SHOULD be directed at IBM and SGI. If he supports Open Source, why is he considering suing end-users, something that will kill the cow?
2.The Darl tells us that only if we join him on the corporate darkside and let SCO help arbitrate Open Source IP, can we all be successful suits. In other words, SCO is hoping that Open Source will save them by coming to the very people trying to destroy them for help.
3. The Darl thinks everyone in the Open Source community is a hacker. Although the DOS has been questioned, only one guy likely pulled it off, but The Darl paints with a wide brish apparently.
4. The Darl admonishes the Linux community for not being open, yet he has yet to release any real code that is solely SystemV IP. If SCO really wanted their IP back (worthless as it is), the best way is to let the community make a good-faith effort to eliminate it all. It would be done if only The Darl was as open with us as he asks us to be with him.
Sheesh, apparently you never had a physical fault in your life.
Yeah! It's the KID's fault he's fat. Nevermind his parents have been probably shoving food down his throat since childhood. Who cares that he's a teenager, and puberty will take care of most of his problems. Even if he had been slim, this tape would have travelled so long as the sword moves are lame.
Give the kid a break, he's fat, but no one deserves the crap he got. Now sign the damn petition you monkey!
We all did something stupid at 13. A few days learning Kendo with Lucasfilms fight master, and a bit part where he gets to fight in a big battle and get's like ONE closeup won't hurt the film, but it may make this kid's life a little better. Besides, it's the least we can do considering we all had a laugh at his expense. Sign the petition you monkey!!! LOL!
Yes you can make rockets even cheaper. Here is the real kicker...
When NASA killed Saturn, they killed more than the vehicle. Rocketyne engineers did an analysis, and the engines on the Saturn 5 were so overengineered that they could have been re-used 13 times each without overhaul before being refurbished! The Saturn 5 system, if built today with modern technology and some basic return features could be built for about 100 million each after initial investment! That's 100 TONS of lift that could be made reusable (imagine putting a giant deoployable para-sail on the beast) and could lift payloads as wide as 30 ft across. Two of these launches could have put the entire ISS as it currently is configured in orbit!
We need a big dumb booster for cargo, and a smart, nimble man-rated reusable for astronauts. With a BDB this cheap, we could easily put an entire mars-mission into orbit with one launch and have the passengers board it in LEO before departure. We could have a space station 5 times as large as the current station in orbit for the price of a single shuttle launch.
I love the shuttle, but it should be retired as soon as the ISS reaches it's first-stage complete stage. We could launch new additions from the BDD and end up with a 13 member crew if we launch a big enough hab-module (again, with the BDD)
"It's a genuine amphibian which has been an international project, but it's British engineering which has made it possible."
British Engineering...Meaning you'll eventually have to replace the engine with one that actually works, the body panels will be rusted through within 2 years, and the electrical system will start activating the brake-lights when you start the windshield wipers within 6 months.
Engines burning on a test stand, and burning behind a winged, composite sled are two different things. Like I said, my money is on Burt at this time. I think he will be successful, but I am a pessemistic sort. Once they get through the first 2-3 tests, I will be downright optimistic, but until then, he has a glider and an unproven engine that has only been tested on the stand.
When SCO distributes it's "invoices" it will oficially be breaking the law. Without a legal buyer-seller agreeement, and without any court determination as to whether SCO's claims are legitimate, a counter-suit can be filed for extorsion. Get your legal department involved! Talk to your company's lawyers about filing a class-action suit.
SCO has already made it clear that any company getting this "invoice" is likely to be high on theie list to be sued. Companies should look at this as a threat and be pre-emptive. Further, a group of large companies filing a class action against SCO would be the best means of expediting the process and gaining closure.
By not having any buyer-seller agreement, and no legally recognized right to to the code they claim, SCO is no better than the neighborhood mafioso looking for protection money.
Mobster SCO: "I have no service to sell you, and I have no legal right to demand money by law, but I am billing you anyway. If you don't pay up...something "bad" will happen." Isn't this the classic definition of extorsion?
They tested it in glide mode. It still doesn't have an engine. White Knight took it up to 44000ft and dropped it.
It was s very successful test, with the ship behaving just like in the sim, but an engine burn is at least 8 months away, and that's if there are no development problems.
I think the concept of build, test, build again is pretty sound. Most of the groups involved in space don't use this concept, and I think it really fits this industry to a tee. Good for John. Eventually, geeks will rule the world, and the universe with John's help.
Burt can win this. If I had to put my money on someone at this point, I's put it on him. He is a great designer and organizer. As an EAA'er myself, I have a lot of respect for him.
That said, he is having the same problem he had with his helicopter/SSTO project. He doesn't have an engine yet, and time is running pretty short for development. He has two contractors bidding, but the timeline is so tight, that more than one or two major development hiccups will screw the pooch for his project. White Knight and SSO are great looking, and the concept is sound, but it took 3 years to design a decent engine for the x-15, and I have a feeling that designing one for a ship designed for the same flight profile as the x-15 will have similar problems. Don't hand him the check just yet.
Assuming the worst, that RIAA sucessfully shuts down free filesharing networks and everything is pay to play, how would they provide hard to find or out of print selections? I am curious how they envision their library to work.
Many of the items I have downloaded are old or obscure and do not fit in their libraries. There are many like me. Will they try to force us to only select the items they control, or have they addressed the issue of out of print/free stuff another way. A beer band in Cleveland may be the best thing going, but if they silence this band's offerings because they are not "signed with the label" they really are only forcing their control over what the listener can hear. They are offering a less robust product but charging more for it.
Will there be any free venues available if RIAA wins?
Pulse Detonation does well with hydrogen. I believe several companies have talked about combining H and PD in new aircraft within 15 years.
The reason they don't use H in turbine or IC encines is because of the higher compression and faster deteriation of the parts. PD should solve that problem (few moving parts).
Have to disagree (and I don't care what the euros think). I had almost daily outages for a two week period. I had to add a bunch of battery backup to keep up. The rest of the time I had weekly brown outs that affected my network for an entire summer. It is true.
All the networks are whining about 11 million people out of power. The feds are jumping to help. California had 42 million people without power for an entire summer and the press yawned while Bush ignored us.
SCO is bleeding money. Darl McBride, a young ambitious twit with no idea how to save the company is preparing for the worst.
Enter Microsoft and their legal department. They "suggest" that SCO make a play for Linux. Of course McBride says "What's in it for me, my stock is in the can, and a lawsuit this big will bankrupt us."
Microsoft's answer (delivered by Ballmer) "Make the play, we'll make sure you and the stockholders get a great deal when we buy you out. In the meantime, it slows the progress of Linux and allows us to test the weaknesses in the GPL (which we hate)".
Darl goes after IBM first because it is following the licencing trail. Next, it goes after users (FUD for Microsoft's cause). Finally, it goes after the GPL. THAT is the real legal test. Even though it looks like a lost cause, SCO doesn't care, the buyout is in place.
When this is all said and done, M$ will buy out SCO (worth $120mill, chump change for M$). Then they will sit around and tell large buyers (i.e goverments and F500s) "SEE all the trouble you can get into with that "free" software? Is it really worth it to you to trust your business to a bunch of immature geeks and their "quaint" licence? This could happen again ANY DAY!!!"
For the cost of lawyers and the $120 million for SCO, M$ gets a great piece of sales FUD to push. They MIGHT get IBM to back off of the Linux train, and they might even cripple Linux for a bit by getting features (NUMA, SMP) removed.
Slashdot Mirror
Armageddon's psuedo-science aside, reality is that if you place an h-bomb on a porous rock it crumbles it. You need to determine with an amount of precision robots can't provide exactly what you are going to use for deflection. This requires multiple seismic surveys with multiple sensor placements. Our current set of robots can't do this without spending as much as a human mission which will get you better results. I didn't mention lame drilling or a-bomb placement because that is hollywood, not reality.
:)
If you don't know what you are fighting, you can't beat it. Yes, if the team finds the rock is solid, they can find the best placement and surface-or off-surface blast the thing with 20-30 bombs they bring along. They could even set them up for timed, linked detonations. Again, this is the kind of flexibility you can't get from a robot. Of course, you still can't make these decisions till you do a proper survey.
Let's leave the "oil-drilling" team at home and send some geologists if we have to.
"Why bother sending people to an Earth-crossing asteroid?"
There is a high likelyhood that within the next 50 years we will detect an asteriod on it's way towards our planet for impact. Once detected, the only way to know how to best deal with it is to go TO it and determine exactly what type of asteroid it is. If it is a solid iron-nickle then we can actually bring the tools along with the survey crew to move it. If it turns out to be porous, there are other methods that can be used. The point is that we will need to determine this, and the most reliable piece of diagnostic equipment you can put in space is still a human. I would sleep a lot better at night knowing that we at least have the capability to intercept one of these beasts before it nukes us. This bit of exploration also becomes a part of survival. I love dual-use designs.
Yep, all the mindless NYT wonks on this site that repeatedly post stories that link to "Join our Site" NYT will glefully run to the site this morning to read all about it. Worldcom has a sense of humor. Yahoo has a sense of humor. Apparently the NYT can only hire plagerizing writers and prosecute a minor break-in of their DB.
"The SCO share price and revenue is up, why would they stop now?"
This will play out on Wall Street before it plays out in the court. SCO's entire case depends on FUD and secrecy. "We have the proof, and you need to pay us". That's why they aren't releasing those "million lines of code". As soon as it's all linked to BSD or other non-SCO/derivative IP, this all comes crashing down. You can't extend a court case that gets thrown out. You can't artifically buoy your stock if it's obvious to Wall Street you have no real hope of winning your claim. This little program (and the results it finds) could strip away the secrecy and FUD permanently. if it does, this whole process could be (mercifully) shortened.
Your assumption that SCO (with an annual income of barely 60 million) can maintain this level of litigation without selling Linux licences and winning some settlement against IBM is foolish at best. If their licence has no credibility, it will generate no income, and the lawsuit will die from lack of money. The Lawyers will ALWAYS get paid.
Terrorists Suprised to Find Themselves In Hell
From: The Onion . com
JAHANNEM, OUTER DARKNESS--The hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon expressed confusion and surprise Monday to find themselves in the lowest plane of Na'ar, Islam's Hell.
Above: Mohammed Atta (top) and Ahmed al-Haznawi.
"I was promised I would spend eternity in Paradise, being fed honeyed cakes by 67 virgins in a tree-lined garden, if only I would fly the airplane into one of the Twin Towers," said Mohammed Atta, one of the hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, between attempts to vomit up the wasps, hornets, and live coals infesting his stomach. "But instead, I am fed the boiling feces of traitors by malicious, laughing Ifrit. Is this to be my reward for destroying the enemies of my faith?"
The rest of Atta's words turned to raw-throated shrieks, as a tusked, asp-tongued demon burst his eyeballs and drank the fluid that ran down his face.
According to Hell sources, the 19 eternally damned terrorists have struggled to understand why they have been subjected to soul-withering, infernal torture ever since their Sept. 11 arrival.
"There was a tumultuous conflagration of burning steel and fuel at our gates, and from it stepped forth these hijackers, the blessed name of the Lord already turning to molten brass on their accursed lips," said Iblis The Thrice-Damned, the cacodemon charged with conscripting new arrivals into the ranks of the forgotten. "Indeed, I do not know what they were expecting, but they certainly didn't seem prepared to be skewered from eye socket to bunghole and then placed on a spit so that their flesh could be roasted by the searing gale of flatus which issues forth from the haunches of Asmoday."
"Which is strange when you consider the evil with which they ended their lives and those of so many others," added Iblis, absentmindedly twisting the limbs of hijacker Abdul Aziz Alomari into unspeakably obscene shapes.
"I was told that these Americans were enemies of the one true religion, and that Heaven would be my reward for my noble sacrifice," said Alomari, moments before his jaw was sheared away by faceless homunculi. "But now I am forced to suckle from the 16 poisoned leathern teats of Gophahmet, Whore of Betrayal, until I burst from an unwholesome engorgement of curdled bile. This must be some sort of terrible mistake."
Exacerbating the terrorists' tortures, which include being hollowed out and used as prophylactics by thorn-cocked Gulbuth The Rampant, is the fact that they will be forced to endure such suffering in sight of the Paradise they were expecting.
"It might actually be the most painful thing we can do, to show these murderers the untold pleasures that would have awaited them in Paradise, if only they had lived pious lives," said Praxitas, Duke of Those Willingly Led Astray. "I mean, it's tough enough being forced through a wire screen by the callused palms of Halcorym and then having your entrails wound onto a stick and fed to the toothless, foul-breathed swine of Gehenna. But to endure that while watching the righteous drink from a river of wine? That can't be fun."
Underworld officials said they have not yet decided on a permanent punishment for the terrorists.
"Eventually, we'll settle on an eternal and unending task for them," said Lord Androalphus, High Praetor of Excruciations. "But for now, everyone down here wants a crack at them. The legions of fang-wombed hags will take their pleasure on their shattered carcasses for most of this afternoon. Tomorrow, their flesh will be melted from their bones like wax in the burning embrace of the Mother of Cowards. The day after that, they'll be sodomized by the Fallen and their bowels shredded by a demonic ejaculate of burning sand. Then, on Sunday, Satan gets them all day. I can't even imagine what he's got cooked up for them."
Clueless
Where did I say otherwise? If you require me to spell it out, how bout this...FINDING COMMON CODE THAT IS SOLELY SYSTEM V IP.
You can always correct my spelling next if you want, I am sure you could find hours of anal retentive pleasure there too.
No matter how long you make the rails, chances are that if it is a manageable length, your "projectile" will need to have a minimum of about 25g's at the muzzle. Rail guns are fine for cargo and launching ISS modules once you build the gun, but there is no way you can accelerate a human to orbital velocity unless you make a 50-80 mile gun. Remember, the speed at the muzzle has to be more than 18k MPH because you are going to lose speed from drag.
The truth is out there, we will finally get to it without signing a SCO NDA. This should end the case before it begins. SHRED ON!
Four sentences pretty much can sum it up.
1. The Darl keeps repeating that he supports Open Source. Although he says this, he and his company have threatened to sue Linux end-users. If he supports Open Source and has a problem, hit only action SHOULD be directed at IBM and SGI. If he supports Open Source, why is he considering suing end-users, something that will kill the cow?
2.The Darl tells us that only if we join him on the corporate darkside and let SCO help arbitrate Open Source IP, can we all be successful suits. In other words, SCO is hoping that Open Source will save them by coming to the very people trying to destroy them for help.
3. The Darl thinks everyone in the Open Source community is a hacker. Although the DOS has been questioned, only one guy likely pulled it off, but The Darl paints with a wide brish apparently.
4. The Darl admonishes the Linux community for not being open, yet he has yet to release any real code that is solely SystemV IP. If SCO really wanted their IP back (worthless as it is), the best way is to let the community make a good-faith effort to eliminate it all. It would be done if only The Darl was as open with us as he asks us to be with him.
Sheesh, apparently you never had a physical fault in your life.
Yeah! It's the KID's fault he's fat. Nevermind his parents have been probably shoving food down his throat since childhood. Who cares that he's a teenager, and puberty will take care of most of his problems. Even if he had been slim, this tape would have travelled so long as the sword moves are lame.
Give the kid a break, he's fat, but no one deserves the crap he got. Now sign the damn petition you monkey!
We all did something stupid at 13. A few days learning Kendo with Lucasfilms fight master, and a bit part where he gets to fight in a big battle and get's like ONE closeup won't hurt the film, but it may make this kid's life a little better. Besides, it's the least we can do considering we all had a laugh at his expense. Sign the petition you monkey!!! LOL!
Yes you can make rockets even cheaper. Here is the real kicker...
When NASA killed Saturn, they killed more than the vehicle. Rocketyne engineers did an analysis, and the engines on the Saturn 5 were so overengineered that they could have been re-used 13 times each without overhaul before being refurbished! The Saturn 5 system, if built today with modern technology and some basic return features could be built for about 100 million each after initial investment! That's 100 TONS of lift that could be made reusable (imagine putting a giant deoployable para-sail on the beast) and could lift payloads as wide as 30 ft across. Two of these launches could have put the entire ISS as it currently is configured in orbit!
We need a big dumb booster for cargo, and a smart, nimble man-rated reusable for astronauts. With a BDB this cheap, we could easily put an entire mars-mission into orbit with one launch and have the passengers board it in LEO before departure. We could have a space station 5 times as large as the current station in orbit for the price of a single shuttle launch.
I love the shuttle, but it should be retired as soon as the ISS reaches it's first-stage complete stage. We could launch new additions from the BDD and end up with a 13 member crew if we launch a big enough hab-module (again, with the BDD)
"It's a genuine amphibian which has been an international project, but it's British engineering which has made it possible."
British Engineering...Meaning you'll eventually have to replace the engine with one that actually works, the body panels will be rusted through within 2 years, and the electrical system will start activating the brake-lights when you start the windshield wipers within 6 months.
Engines burning on a test stand, and burning behind a winged, composite sled are two different things. Like I said, my money is on Burt at this time. I think he will be successful, but I am a pessemistic sort. Once they get through the first 2-3 tests, I will be downright optimistic, but until then, he has a glider and an unproven engine that has only been tested on the stand.
When SCO distributes it's "invoices" it will oficially be breaking the law. Without a legal buyer-seller agreeement, and without any court determination as to whether SCO's claims are legitimate, a counter-suit can be filed for extorsion. Get your legal department involved! Talk to your company's lawyers about filing a class-action suit.
SCO has already made it clear that any company getting this "invoice" is likely to be high on theie list to be sued. Companies should look at this as a threat and be pre-emptive. Further, a group of large companies filing a class action against SCO would be the best means of expediting the process and gaining closure.
By not having any buyer-seller agreement, and no legally recognized right to to the code they claim, SCO is no better than the neighborhood mafioso looking for protection money.
Mobster SCO: "I have no service to sell you, and I have no legal right to demand money by law, but I am billing you anyway. If you don't pay up...something "bad" will happen." Isn't this the classic definition of extorsion?
They tested it in glide mode. It still doesn't have an engine. White Knight took it up to 44000ft and dropped it.
It was s very successful test, with the ship behaving just like in the sim, but an engine burn is at least 8 months away, and that's if there are no development problems.
I think the concept of build, test, build again is pretty sound. Most of the groups involved in space don't use this concept, and I think it really fits this industry to a tee. Good for John. Eventually, geeks will rule the world, and the universe with John's help.
Burt can win this. If I had to put my money on someone at this point, I's put it on him. He is a great designer and organizer. As an EAA'er myself, I have a lot of respect for him.
That said, he is having the same problem he had with his helicopter/SSTO project. He doesn't have an engine yet, and time is running pretty short for development. He has two contractors bidding, but the timeline is so tight, that more than one or two major development hiccups will screw the pooch for his project. White Knight and SSO are great looking, and the concept is sound, but it took 3 years to design a decent engine for the x-15, and I have a feeling that designing one for a ship designed for the same flight profile as the x-15 will have similar problems. Don't hand him the check just yet.
Didn't they post this story about 2 weeks ago?
Forget reality folks, let's make a boogeyman and blame him him. They are beginning to sound like the South Park Undewear Gnomes...
SCO's 3 phase South Park business strategy:
Phase1: Collect underwear
Phase2: ?
Phase3: World Domination!
Today IBM, tomorrow...they will write a check to Hillary Clinton and Gray Davis to join the victims of the Vast Republican Conspiracy Club.
Assuming the worst, that RIAA sucessfully shuts down free filesharing networks and everything is pay to play, how would they provide hard to find or out of print selections? I am curious how they envision their library to work.
Many of the items I have downloaded are old or obscure and do not fit in their libraries. There are many like me. Will they try to force us to only select the items they control, or have they addressed the issue of out of print/free stuff another way. A beer band in Cleveland may be the best thing going, but if they silence this band's offerings because they are not "signed with the label" they really are only forcing their control over what the listener can hear. They are offering a less robust product but charging more for it.
Will there be any free venues available if RIAA wins?
Pulse Detonation does well with hydrogen. I believe several companies have talked about combining H and PD in new aircraft within 15 years.
The reason they don't use H in turbine or IC encines is because of the higher compression and faster deteriation of the parts. PD should solve that problem (few moving parts).
Have to disagree (and I don't care what the euros think). I had almost daily outages for a two week period. I had to add a bunch of battery backup to keep up. The rest of the time I had weekly brown outs that affected my network for an entire summer. It is true.
All the networks are whining about 11 million people out of power. The feds are jumping to help. California had 42 million people without power for an entire summer and the press yawned while Bush ignored us.
Buy a flashlight New Yorkers, get over it.
SCO is bleeding money. Darl McBride, a young ambitious twit with no idea how to save the company is preparing for the worst.
Enter Microsoft and their legal department. They "suggest" that SCO make a play for Linux. Of course McBride says "What's in it for me, my stock is in the can, and a lawsuit this big will bankrupt us."
Microsoft's answer (delivered by Ballmer) "Make the play, we'll make sure you and the stockholders get a great deal when we buy you out. In the meantime, it slows the progress of Linux and allows us to test the weaknesses in the GPL (which we hate)".
Darl goes after IBM first because it is following the licencing trail. Next, it goes after users (FUD for Microsoft's cause). Finally, it goes after the GPL. THAT is the real legal test. Even though it looks like a lost cause, SCO doesn't care, the buyout is in place.
When this is all said and done, M$ will buy out SCO (worth $120mill, chump change for M$). Then they will sit around and tell large buyers (i.e goverments and F500s) "SEE all the trouble you can get into with that "free" software? Is it really worth it to you to trust your business to a bunch of immature geeks and their "quaint" licence? This could happen again ANY DAY!!!"
For the cost of lawyers and the $120 million for SCO, M$ gets a great piece of sales FUD to push. They MIGHT get IBM to back off of the Linux train, and they might even cripple Linux for a bit by getting features (NUMA, SMP) removed.
This is getting so obvious.