It's not even which system screws up the least - it's which system has built in procedures for error correction (which mostly) work, and built in procedures for appeals (which mostly work). The system that relies on some random idiot saying, "Hey, that must be the guy!" lacks both of these key features.
Nobody with any sense won't admit our current justice problems, but you'd have to be seriously biased or ignorant to fail the realize the vast difference between the two systems or to ask questions like "what's the difference between the crowd making a mistale [sic] and the police making a mistake?"
We modify Grandma's shoes with a Sharpie to say "My home number is 555-1234" (or whatever for the nursing home).
Not much help for people searching for her is that? Nor is it much help for those who find her since the shoe is an extremely unlikely place to look for a phone number or other form of ID.
I have a hard time believing that the marker idea isn't better than a shoe that will likely cost hundreds to thousands of dollars ( old people often need custom orthopedics)and a cellular/GPRS/SMS/whatever subscritpion to report the information.
If they already need orthopedic shoes, then adding a GPS to them won't increase the cost much.
Both solutions assume that the altzheimer's patient will remember to put their shoes on before they go walking...
Ambulatory patients are generally dressed and undressed by the caregiver. The patient has no need to remember to put the shoes on. (At night, when the shoes aren't being worn, a wanderer in night clothes is far more likely to be noticed by security while leaving, or wandering down the street.)
NASA has produced a helluva lot of useful technology. The drive to miniaturize onboard guidance systems and other computers in the Apollo program pretty much lead to the blossoming of integrated circuits and microprocessors in the 1970s.
That's what the urban legend says. But it's utter bullshit. The Apollo computers and guidance system were based on those of the Polaris A-1/A-2. The USAF and the USN miniaturized the computers and guidance systems, all NASA did was issue spiffy press releases.
You find the same thing almost universally when you run down the list of technologies 'developed' by NASA. They were first developed by someone else, and then like a technological Sylar NASA sucks them up.
guys like you who just mindlessly go "money shouldn't be wasted on space research" are tragically ignorant of just how important the Unites States' space exploration programs have been to the technological innovations of the last few decades.
The tragically ignorant are people like yourself who endlessly regurgitate NASA press releases. As far as results for dollars expended, the NASA PR department is probably the most efficient in the US government.
Right - I only visit Yahoo several times a day because a toolbar utterly invisible on my machine sends out brainwashing rays forcing me to. The amount of useful content and sites they provide couldn't possibly attract any users.
Most of our records would be worthless in a hundred years. Actually, most of them are nearly worthless in a year. Would it really matter to somebody in the future that I spend $15.19 on June 1st at Lulu.com, for example?
Oh hell yes. Detailed information on the daily life is much more valuable to the archeologist, sociologist, and historian than the 417th copy of the proceedings of $GOVERNMENT.
Without paperwork, they don't know who is in the ER, who is being treated for what, who is allergic to what, who is waiting on what treatment, etc... etc...
There's a lot of data flowing around an ER, and the quality of the data (is the paperwork up to date) may mean the difference between life and death.
there's a tendency, especially among the only-sort-of-technical folks who are involved in a lot of areas of business and economic policy, to trust these computer models as more than they are, as if the fact that a "computer simulation" told you it makes it some sort of neutral third-party truth
And to be fair, a great deal of that tendency comes from technical folks who almost never provide the appropriate disclaimers with their predictions and who often represent their simulations as being of a higher accuracy than warranted.
US WWII subs used analog computers to generate torpedo firing solutions
Yep - and the analog descendants of those didn't start to be replaced with all digital systems until the 1970's. The last of those descendants didn't leave service until Kamehameha and her MK113 were decommissioned in 2002.
With 14 machines built, it must have been one of the more successful analog computers
In the early 80's the USN had over 30 analog computers driving various submarine simulators. Heck, each of the original '41 SSBN's had an analog computer driving the hovering system. Then there was the 100+ analog installations of the CONALOG system.
"Eschewing the traditional startup trappings of two college grads eating ramen, watching Adult Swim and coding until the wee hours of the night"
What a surprise. A company that isn't an IT company doesn't behave like an IT company.
Get your head out of your ass Wired, that's only 'traditional' for companies whose products rely on code. Caterers don't code all night. Cabinetmakers don't code all night. Organic farmers don't code all night. Graphic artists don't code all night. And that's only a handful of the startups by friends and family over the years - not one of which involved coding all night. Only two of them are college grads too... The caterer graduated from culinary school and the organic farmer just got her doctorate - in history. And not one of them was under thirty.
There's a hell of a lot more to the business world than IT. There's a hell of a lot more people in the business world than college graduates.
if you can't communicate complex ideas to interested parties outside your field then you don't properly understand your field
That depends greatly on the background of the interested party and whether you mean "given them a Saturday morning cartoon version" or "lead them to understanding the complete picture". The former is trivially easy. The latter, much harder because it depends greatly on the background of the interested party - if they lack sufficient background you end up "teaching them your field" as opposed to "communicating your idea".
Intelligence comes into it but only to a point
Horseshit. If the person to whom I am trying to communicate the idea lacks the requisite background, then they don't have the requisite background. Period. We're back to the "Saturday morning cartoon" versions which leaves the interested party with the false belief that they understand something.
why use three syllables when one will do!
Because all too often, one syllable won't do if actual understanding is your goal.
Word is (AIUI) that anechoic coatings will work until another couple generations of Moore's Law work their magic and torpedo designers can pack better amplifiers and signal processors into the fish.
While true that it's useless for submarine detection - torpedo ranging and homing sonars use higher frequencies. Making yourself less visible or invisible in these frequencies is a Big Win.
High power emitters (AFAIK/IIRC) pretty much work on only one frequency, which means (currently) that you have to carry two sets. Also, the transmitter arrays are pretty good sized, and there is only so much room available in a submarines nose or a ship's sonar dome. So while it's doable, there is going to be some pretty big impacts on design.
But, as posted elsewhere, passive sonar still works and is actually the preferred method for tracking.
Even so, reducing or eliminating the vessels visibility to active sonar is still a pretty big deal - active sonar is sometimes used for range confirmation prior to firing, and damn near all torpedoes use active sonar for ranging and homing.
If you proceed from the mistaken assumption that these are cheap ass vanilla laptops from a dodgy computer store... then, yeah. This is a 'victory' for DRM.
But that's not the situation here - these are configuration controlled laptops specifically prepared for use on the Shuttle. Odds are the prelaunch checklist didn't include 'test entertainment capabilities' and thus the lack of a codec or driver went unnoticed.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not even which system screws up the least - it's which system has built in procedures for error correction (which mostly) work, and built in procedures for appeals (which mostly work). The system that relies on some random idiot saying, "Hey, that must be the guy!" lacks both of these key features.
Nobody with any sense won't admit our current justice problems, but you'd have to be seriously biased or ignorant to fail the realize the vast difference between the two systems or to ask questions like "what's the difference between the crowd making a mistale [sic] and the police making a mistake?"
[citation needed]
A GPS unit of the type described will likely come in at under $150 or so.
Not much help for people searching for her is that? Nor is it much help for those who find her since the shoe is an extremely unlikely place to look for a phone number or other form of ID.
If they already need orthopedic shoes, then adding a GPS to them won't increase the cost much.
Ambulatory patients are generally dressed and undressed by the caregiver. The patient has no need to remember to put the shoes on. (At night, when the shoes aren't being worn, a wanderer in night clothes is far more likely to be noticed by security while leaving, or wandering down the street.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon#History
I didn't suggest it, I stated it.
Atlas, Titan, Minuteman, Polaris...
That's what the urban legend says. But it's utter bullshit. The Apollo computers and guidance system were based on those of the Polaris A-1/A-2. The USAF and the USN miniaturized the computers and guidance systems, all NASA did was issue spiffy press releases.
You find the same thing almost universally when you run down the list of technologies 'developed' by NASA. They were first developed by someone else, and then like a technological Sylar NASA sucks them up.
The tragically ignorant are people like yourself who endlessly regurgitate NASA press releases. As far as results for dollars expended, the NASA PR department is probably the most efficient in the US government.
Right - I only visit Yahoo several times a day because a toolbar utterly invisible on my machine sends out brainwashing rays forcing me to. The amount of useful content and sites they provide couldn't possibly attract any users.
Oh hell yes. Detailed information on the daily life is much more valuable to the archeologist, sociologist, and historian than the 417th copy of the proceedings of $GOVERNMENT.
Not just lawyers - doctors.
Without paperwork, they don't know who is in the ER, who is being treated for what, who is allergic to what, who is waiting on what treatment, etc... etc...
There's a lot of data flowing around an ER, and the quality of the data (is the paperwork up to date) may mean the difference between life and death.
LOL! :)
And to be fair, a great deal of that tendency comes from technical folks who almost never provide the appropriate disclaimers with their predictions and who often represent their simulations as being of a higher accuracy than warranted.
Yep - and the analog descendants of those didn't start to be replaced with all digital systems until the 1970's. The last of those descendants didn't leave service until Kamehameha and her MK113 were decommissioned in 2002.
In the early 80's the USN had over 30 analog computers driving various submarine simulators. Heck, each of the original '41 SSBN's had an analog computer driving the hovering system. Then there was the 100+ analog installations of the CONALOG system.
Etc... Etc...
It must be a nice world you live in - because it sure as hell isn't ours.
"Eschewing the traditional startup trappings of two college grads eating ramen, watching Adult Swim and coding until the wee hours of the night"
What a surprise. A company that isn't an IT company doesn't behave like an IT company.
Get your head out of your ass Wired, that's only 'traditional' for companies whose products rely on code. Caterers don't code all night. Cabinetmakers don't code all night. Organic farmers don't code all night. Graphic artists don't code all night. And that's only a handful of the startups by friends and family over the years - not one of which involved coding all night. Only two of them are college grads too... The caterer graduated from culinary school and the organic farmer just got her doctorate - in history. And not one of them was under thirty.
There's a hell of a lot more to the business world than IT. There's a hell of a lot more people in the business world than college graduates.
That depends greatly on the background of the interested party and whether you mean "given them a Saturday morning cartoon version" or "lead them to understanding the complete picture". The former is trivially easy. The latter, much harder because it depends greatly on the background of the interested party - if they lack sufficient background you end up "teaching them your field" as opposed to "communicating your idea".
Horseshit. If the person to whom I am trying to communicate the idea lacks the requisite background, then they don't have the requisite background. Period. We're back to the "Saturday morning cartoon" versions which leaves the interested party with the false belief that they understand something.
Because all too often, one syllable won't do if actual understanding is your goal.
Word is (AIUI) that anechoic coatings will work until another couple generations of Moore's Law work their magic and torpedo designers can pack better amplifiers and signal processors into the fish.
I hadn't thought about the freqs for submarine detection - but torpedo sonars use pretty short freqs, so it may be useful there.
While true that it's useless for submarine detection - torpedo ranging and homing sonars use higher frequencies. Making yourself less visible or invisible in these frequencies is a Big Win.
Harder to do than it sounds (pardon the pun).
High power emitters (AFAIK/IIRC) pretty much work on only one frequency, which means (currently) that you have to carry two sets. Also, the transmitter arrays are pretty good sized, and there is only so much room available in a submarines nose or a ship's sonar dome. So while it's doable, there is going to be some pretty big impacts on design.
But, as posted elsewhere, passive sonar still works and is actually the preferred method for tracking.
Even so, reducing or eliminating the vessels visibility to active sonar is still a pretty big deal - active sonar is sometimes used for range confirmation prior to firing, and damn near all torpedoes use active sonar for ranging and homing.
(Former submariner.)
That too.
If you proceed from the mistaken assumption that these are cheap ass vanilla laptops from a dodgy computer store... then, yeah. This is a 'victory' for DRM.
But that's not the situation here - these are configuration controlled laptops specifically prepared for use on the Shuttle. Odds are the prelaunch checklist didn't include 'test entertainment capabilities' and thus the lack of a codec or driver went unnoticed.