Agreed mathematically. I see two problems with near-light speeds of travel:
1) You need to get around the mass vs acceleration issue -- I recommend a good warping of space: bring your destination to you.
2) Inertial dampening. To accelerate to near c is either going to take a very long time, or it's going to give someone a pretty severe case of whiplash (as in "Get that unrecognizable pulp out of the captain's chair!"). Braking has the same issue.
Perhaps a simple fix is to drive a micro black hole in front of you -- this would warp spacetime, bringing everything closer, and if tweaked properly, might offset acceleration forces (as your ship accelerates, instead of going backwards, you're going towards the black hole's gravity field). For deceleration, just toss the black hole behind your ship.
And since there's a chance the LHC is going to generate a micro black hole, we need to get a Cessna and Chuck Yeager on site, STAT!
The phrase "So this isn't a story about MySpace." is a copyright held by the MySpace corporation. We urge you to cease and desist using said phrase for the next 70 years. If you fail to comply with our...request...we will be forced to take legal action. And possibly destroy your feeble world with our battle station.
Best Wishes,
MySpace Subisidiary of MyGalaxy Antares, Antares 20010
Yah, we save a ton with our Microsoft Campus Agreement. We pay about $4000/year for the ability to install about 300 copies of Windows and Office. Considering the cost of XP is about $150+, it's a pretty good deal, even over the long term.
I'll take a stab: the Stargate mechanism exerts pressure on either side using a sort of surface tension. A person can move through easily but air, even if there is a huge pressure differential between areas, can't pass -- the field acts as a wall unless you actively press against it. Perhaps you could blast air through, but air won't flow through on its own.
Knowing he was the last of his species that had not been subjugated by the warring giants, Jonathan scratched his legs together harder than he'd ever done so before, creating a resonance in the air of such penetrating frequency that its fluctuations were felt not merely in the upper reaches of the planet's atmosphere, but further, deeper into space. And after many years of travel that sound, vibrating off trace molecules of hydrogen and helium floating in the ether, finally reached the highly developed and ultra-sensitive antanae of his forefathers. Upon hearing that screech of anguish, of hopeless tragedy, a world, nay, a galaxy of worlds was moved to arms.
And so, the younger beetles were lifted from their bondage, and the race of humanity was invaded and broken apart like the guy from the last scene in Creepshow. The celebration lasted for years until discovery of the artists behind the White Album caused a moral civil war to break out. Beetlemaniacs ran rampant through the streets and in the walls and between the countertops and woodwork. And such is a species without an enemy -- the enemy comes then from within.
I think if electric cars become the norm, you'll probably have charging stations on the street like parking meters. Electricity is ubiquitous -- why would I go to a particular station to put fuel in when I can just pull into a public parking spot and plug in? And I'm guessing there'll be companies which have city rights to run special power and outlets out to the street in neighborhoods without garages, apartment complexes, etc. That would be a company worth investing in...
While the followers of the world all would like us to shoot our nukes into the sun and be done with it, our fearless leaders still consider them, and likely rightly so, a deterrent against invasion. The only thing that gives the U.S. the ground to deny Iran nuclear weapons is that the U.S. doesn't want a country that opposes our way of life to also have them. It's not moral or righteous -- it's about staying alive and on top.
I'm not sure what sanctions do aside from starve out a portion of the country's populace. While there are likely examples of sanctions doing some good, they seem mostly to punish the followers for having a leader with whom we disagree. It takes a quick Google search to show that sanctions have done a lot more damage against a populace than any attack.
So the trick is to either educate the leaders of the other country to your way (which, in this case, I have to agree with the West...human rights outweighs religion) or just let the cards fall where they may. Perhaps once the country gets nuclear weapons, relations will improve since we're starting on equal ground. If they don't, if there actually is a direct threat of nuclear attack, then take in the bombers and flatten their sites. Don't kill the followers. They don't want to fight anymore than our followers do.
Clippy was too invasive, but a decent idea for a tutorial mode. I'm not sure who invented the "Wizard" (Welcome to the Add Printer Wizard, for example) but Microsoft made it famous and it's a working, intuitive model. Adding advanced modes to Wizards allow the more experienced people to do advanced configuration, but almost anyone can follow 10 YES/NO prompts until software is installed. Works for web apps as well.
You need someone who nobody sympathizes with, like aliens or nazis or corporations.
Don't we fight against corporate expansion every day? I might not get to use laser-guided grenades or call in airstrikes (or...bless us...fire the BFG9000). I just think video games are a sort of escapism. I don't think, though I can't be certain, that a game where writing your congressperson and having your avatar jump up and down at virtual rallies to increase your morale bar would appeal to a lot of people. Maybe the jumping part.
PC Gaming may or may not need a shot in the arm, but it isn't because of graphics. It's most likely the plug-and-play nature of games and the dumbing down of controls. Not that ASWD is particularly complex, but if you throw in mouse-look...it's basically like rubbing your tummy and patting your head. Not everyone's up to the challenge.
I can't wait until Mars warms up and gets some moisture. I'm already flipping through astronomy stores for telescopes that will let me watch the penguins from here.
It's like this: just because you say your home PC is a "supercomputer" because it has all the performance of a "supercomputer" doesn't make it one. You need to have a little plastic bar glued to the front wherein is written, in dazzlingly Arial font, "SuperComputer". Otherwise, no one will believe you. Oh, just buy it already.
As a parent, you often work to provide the best for your children, both for when you're alive and after you're gone. I might be a little miffed if I built up a multi-million dollar empire only to have it stripped from me when I die. Is my home not my children's home? Is my money not my family's money?
Granted this is more like a divorce settlement than family legacy. And that's business. When a business partner dies, his family does not necessarily inherit the business, especially when there are shareholders who might say otherwise. They might be entitled to a portion of the net worth of the business as a payout, but they shouldn't be able to claim future profits.
Open Directory By centralizing information about users and network resources, directory services provide the infrastructure required for managing users, groups, and computers on your network. Directory services can benefit organizations with as few as 10 people and are essential for enterprise networks that have thousands of users. Deploying a directory server helps reduce administrative costs, improve security, and provide users with a more productive computing experience.
Remote Desktop Apple Remote Desktop is the best way to manage the Mac computers on your network. Distribute software, provide real-time online help to end users, create detailed software and hardware reports, and automate routine management tasks -- all without leaving your desk. Featuring Automator actions, Remote Spotlight search, and a new Dashboard widget*, Apple Remote Desktop 3 makes your job easier than ever.
* You'll notice Open Directory has no Dashboard widget. It's because it isn't uniquely Apple and therefore isn't polished to a blinding shine.
There are times when I wonder what the world might have been like if we hadn't pushed high speed microwave-based internet access in Nova Scotia. It's not like there weren't other solutions -- satellite, possibly. Cabling if they could have found someone to foot the bill. But there was a rush to make it happen, as usual with big business looking for their next tax haven. Who would have thought the entire world would pay for that bit of greed? Who would have thought we'd never dare look at the sun again.
The end can't be too far away. There aren't many of us left, down here in the caves. All the moss has been eaten. The water may last awhile longer, but without food....No one who's left the caves to search for food, no matter how desperate or self-assured, has ever come back. Perhaps our greatest fear, moreso than even starvation, is that the Garlics will be able to trace one of those people back to our hideout. We've taken precautions, of course, by choosing a tunnel system with a downdraft. At least that way, we can smell them coming.
When Compact Flourescent bulbs first came out, I spent $10 each on two bulbs that were supposed to last 7 years. The first died in less than a month. The next in less than a year. Get back to me in 19 years when your research team isn't less important than your marketing team.
Please read the licensing agreement. [Don't use against own country...Microsoft holds no responsibility...Mutants created by fallout may be used in Halo 4 marketing campaigns without prior consultation of blah blah blah...]
Are you launching towards a position more than 3000 miles from your current location?
Are you launching across the Pacific Ocean?
Are you launching across the Atlantic Ocean?
Ah...going over the North Pole to shorten flight time?
Errr...South Pole?
You aren't, by chance, located on the east coast?
Which would put you more than 3000 miles away from Redmond, Washington?
Slashdot Mirror
Well, sure. But when the captain says, "Warp 5. Engage!"...what if he didn't bring any Winter clothes?
Agreed mathematically. I see two problems with near-light speeds of travel:
1) You need to get around the mass vs acceleration issue -- I recommend a good warping of space: bring your destination to you.
2) Inertial dampening. To accelerate to near c is either going to take a very long time, or it's going to give someone a pretty severe case of whiplash (as in "Get that unrecognizable pulp out of the captain's chair!"). Braking has the same issue.
Perhaps a simple fix is to drive a micro black hole in front of you -- this would warp spacetime, bringing everything closer, and if tweaked properly, might offset acceleration forces (as your ship accelerates, instead of going backwards, you're going towards the black hole's gravity field). For deceleration, just toss the black hole behind your ship.
And since there's a chance the LHC is going to generate a micro black hole, we need to get a Cessna and Chuck Yeager on site, STAT!
But it is one of the more complex science instruments on the planet, not a Delorean at the garage.
Hey, Doc managed it with just 1.21 GW.
Anonymous Coward,
The phrase "So this isn't a story about MySpace." is a copyright held by the MySpace corporation. We urge you to cease and desist using said phrase for the next 70 years. If you fail to comply with our...request...we will be forced to take legal action. And possibly destroy your feeble world with our battle station.
Best Wishes,
MySpace
Subisidiary of MyGalaxy
Antares, Antares 20010
Yah, we save a ton with our Microsoft Campus Agreement. We pay about $4000/year for the ability to install about 300 copies of Windows and Office. Considering the cost of XP is about $150+, it's a pretty good deal, even over the long term.
I'll take a stab: the Stargate mechanism exerts pressure on either side using a sort of surface tension. A person can move through easily but air, even if there is a huge pressure differential between areas, can't pass -- the field acts as a wall unless you actively press against it. Perhaps you could blast air through, but air won't flow through on its own.
Knowing he was the last of his species that had not been subjugated by the warring giants, Jonathan scratched his legs together harder than he'd ever done so before, creating a resonance in the air of such penetrating frequency that its fluctuations were felt not merely in the upper reaches of the planet's atmosphere, but further, deeper into space. And after many years of travel that sound, vibrating off trace molecules of hydrogen and helium floating in the ether, finally reached the highly developed and ultra-sensitive antanae of his forefathers. Upon hearing that screech of anguish, of hopeless tragedy, a world, nay, a galaxy of worlds was moved to arms.
And so, the younger beetles were lifted from their bondage, and the race of humanity was invaded and broken apart like the guy from the last scene in Creepshow. The celebration lasted for years until discovery of the artists behind the White Album caused a moral civil war to break out. Beetlemaniacs ran rampant through the streets and in the walls and between the countertops and woodwork. And such is a species without an enemy -- the enemy comes then from within.
I think if electric cars become the norm, you'll probably have charging stations on the street like parking meters. Electricity is ubiquitous -- why would I go to a particular station to put fuel in when I can just pull into a public parking spot and plug in? And I'm guessing there'll be companies which have city rights to run special power and outlets out to the street in neighborhoods without garages, apartment complexes, etc. That would be a company worth investing in...
Our Group Policy is set to auto-lock the system after 15 minutes of non-use. Everyone gets it, almost no exceptions.
Bring the hammer!
While the followers of the world all would like us to shoot our nukes into the sun and be done with it, our fearless leaders still consider them, and likely rightly so, a deterrent against invasion. The only thing that gives the U.S. the ground to deny Iran nuclear weapons is that the U.S. doesn't want a country that opposes our way of life to also have them. It's not moral or righteous -- it's about staying alive and on top.
I'm not sure what sanctions do aside from starve out a portion of the country's populace. While there are likely examples of sanctions doing some good, they seem mostly to punish the followers for having a leader with whom we disagree. It takes a quick Google search to show that sanctions have done a lot more damage against a populace than any attack.
So the trick is to either educate the leaders of the other country to your way (which, in this case, I have to agree with the West...human rights outweighs religion) or just let the cards fall where they may. Perhaps once the country gets nuclear weapons, relations will improve since we're starting on equal ground. If they don't, if there actually is a direct threat of nuclear attack, then take in the bombers and flatten their sites. Don't kill the followers. They don't want to fight anymore than our followers do.
War on a large scale should be over.
Like Ender (or the Last Starfighter for that matter), convince the populace the game is just a game.
General: Send in the squadron 2 behind squadron 1 to close the gap. We don't want them getting surrounded.
Lieutenant: I'm afraid squadron 2 is unavailable, sir.
General: What?!
Lt.: The date sir, you're forgetting the date.
General: [inspects the calendar] Dammit. Halo 4 release day.
Clippy was too invasive, but a decent idea for a tutorial mode. I'm not sure who invented the "Wizard" (Welcome to the Add Printer Wizard, for example) but Microsoft made it famous and it's a working, intuitive model. Adding advanced modes to Wizards allow the more experienced people to do advanced configuration, but almost anyone can follow 10 YES/NO prompts until software is installed. Works for web apps as well.
You need someone who nobody sympathizes with, like aliens or nazis or corporations.
Don't we fight against corporate expansion every day? I might not get to use laser-guided grenades or call in airstrikes (or...bless us...fire the BFG9000). I just think video games are a sort of escapism. I don't think, though I can't be certain, that a game where writing your congressperson and having your avatar jump up and down at virtual rallies to increase your morale bar would appeal to a lot of people. Maybe the jumping part.
PC Gaming may or may not need a shot in the arm, but it isn't because of graphics. It's most likely the plug-and-play nature of games and the dumbing down of controls. Not that ASWD is particularly complex, but if you throw in mouse-look...it's basically like rubbing your tummy and patting your head. Not everyone's up to the challenge.
I can't wait until Mars warms up and gets some moisture. I'm already flipping through astronomy stores for telescopes that will let me watch the penguins from here.
It's like this: just because you say your home PC is a "supercomputer" because it has all the performance of a "supercomputer" doesn't make it one. You need to have a little plastic bar glued to the front wherein is written, in dazzlingly Arial font, "SuperComputer". Otherwise, no one will believe you. Oh, just buy it already.
Regards,
SGI Marketing and Management.
Other side of the coin:
As a parent, you often work to provide the best for your children, both for when you're alive and after you're gone. I might be a little miffed if I built up a multi-million dollar empire only to have it stripped from me when I die. Is my home not my children's home? Is my money not my family's money?
Granted this is more like a divorce settlement than family legacy. And that's business. When a business partner dies, his family does not necessarily inherit the business, especially when there are shareholders who might say otherwise. They might be entitled to a portion of the net worth of the business as a payout, but they shouldn't be able to claim future profits.
Open Directory
By centralizing information about users and network resources, directory services provide the infrastructure required for managing users, groups, and computers on your network. Directory services can benefit organizations with as few as 10 people and are essential for enterprise networks that have thousands of users. Deploying a directory server helps reduce administrative costs, improve security, and provide users with a more productive computing experience.
Remote Desktop
Apple Remote Desktop is the best way to manage the Mac computers on your network. Distribute software, provide real-time online help to end users, create detailed software and hardware reports, and automate routine management tasks -- all without leaving your desk. Featuring Automator actions, Remote Spotlight search, and a new Dashboard widget*, Apple Remote Desktop 3 makes your job easier than ever.
* You'll notice Open Directory has no Dashboard widget. It's because it isn't uniquely Apple and therefore isn't polished to a blinding shine.
Sometimes "they" will set you up such that, when failure happens, they blame you not themselves.
IT: "But I TOLD you it wouldn't work!"
MGMT: "Yes. You told me. But you did not CONVINCE me."
Paraphrased from The Last King of Scotland.
Clouds are translucent.
Generic, I think. I just wrote it but it sounds like any other Hollywood scifi monologue. :-)
There are times when I wonder what the world might have been like if we hadn't pushed high speed microwave-based internet access in Nova Scotia. It's not like there weren't other solutions -- satellite, possibly. Cabling if they could have found someone to foot the bill. But there was a rush to make it happen, as usual with big business looking for their next tax haven. Who would have thought the entire world would pay for that bit of greed? Who would have thought we'd never dare look at the sun again.
The end can't be too far away. There aren't many of us left, down here in the caves. All the moss has been eaten. The water may last awhile longer, but without food....No one who's left the caves to search for food, no matter how desperate or self-assured, has ever come back. Perhaps our greatest fear, moreso than even starvation, is that the Garlics will be able to trace one of those people back to our hideout. We've taken precautions, of course, by choosing a tunnel system with a downdraft. At least that way, we can smell them coming.
When Compact Flourescent bulbs first came out, I spent $10 each on two bulbs that were supposed to last 7 years. The first died in less than a month. The next in less than a year. Get back to me in 19 years when your research team isn't less important than your marketing team.
Welcome to the Launch Nuclear Weapons Wizard
Please read the licensing agreement.
[Don't use against own country...Microsoft holds no responsibility...Mutants created by fallout may be used in Halo 4 marketing campaigns without prior consultation of blah blah blah...]
Are you launching towards a position more than 3000 miles from your current location?
Are you launching across the Pacific Ocean?
Are you launching across the Atlantic Ocean?
Ah...going over the North Pole to shorten flight time?
Errr...South Pole?
You aren't, by chance, located on the east coast?
Which would put you more than 3000 miles away from Redmond, Washington?
Bummer.
Will game designers use this information to tweak video games for gender, either to make the games more or less frightening?
Tweak video games for gender? You mean like Sims 4 with the man-eating toilet seat?
Wow. I just freaked myself out.