The Sun Will Explode In Less Than Six Years! Wednesday September 18, 2002
By GEORGE SANFORD
The Sun is overheating and will soon blow up . . . taking Earth and the rest of the solar system with it, scientists warn.
The alert was issued after an international satellite photographed a massive explosion on the surface of the Sun that sent a plume of fire 30 times longer than the diameter of Earth blasting into space.
"It's a sign that the Sun is ready to blow . . . I don't know if I can put it any more plainly than that," says Dutch astrophysicist Dr. Piers Van der Meer, a top expert affiliated with the European Space Agency.
"It will be like a nuclear bomb trillions of times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima going off at the center of our solar system.
"When that happens Earth will be instantly incinerated along with all life on it. It's like when a marshmallow falls into a fire, blackens and melts."
Scientists say the problem is the Sun is literally getting too hot.
The core temperature of the Sun is normally 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. But in recent years it's climbed to an alarming 49 million degrees, says Dr. Van der Meer, leader of a team of Amsterdam-based space scientists who've been tracking the changes in the Sun.
"It's quite similar to when a star goes supernova at the end of its life," Dr. Van der Meer explains. "Over the past 11 years, we've seen our Sun go through changes frighteningly like those that took place in Kepler's Star right before it was observed going supernova in 1604."
Temperatures on the surface of the Sun have been steadily climbing over the past decade, the scientists say.
"This, we believe, not man-made pollution, is responsible for global warming and the alarming effects that we've seen take place on Earth such as the melt-down of the Antarctic ice shelves," asserted Dr. Van der Meer.
The July 1 images were taken by the space-based Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a satellite designed to study the internal structure of the Sun and operated jointly by NASA and the European Space Agency.
"The explosion . . . known technically as an eruptive prominence . . . was colossal," said Dr. Van der Meer. "This is the final warning sign we've all been dreading."
The Dutch scientists calculate that if temperatures keep climbing at the current rate the Sun will be unable to sustain itself.
"It will blow apart like an out-of-control nuclear reactor within six years," predicts Dr. Van der Meer.
NASA refuses to confirm the Euro-pean scientists' assertions and a White House source said, "We don't need anyone spreading more panic now."
I, for one, will take this horrendous news as an opportunity to reevaluate my priorities and stop wasting so much of my precious remaining time reading/.
And Canada is your largest trading partner. Yes, your LARGEST. You depend on us too.
Wow, I couldn't have asked for a more explicit example of the Canadian inferiority complex in action. I'm going to ask you to do something now. It may be hard, but just give it a try. Sit down, close your eyes, and relax. Let go of all your animosity towards America. Clear your mind. Then ask yourself: Is Canada more important to America than America is to Canada?
-US takes the initiative on creating the ISS, contributing the bulk of funding and nearly all technology.
-Canada whines that the US isn't doing it the way Canada wants.
-US takes the initiative to throw off the chains of an obsolete and oppressive monarchy.
-Canada keeps calling said monarch "daddy" for two hundred years.
-Americans call themselves "Americans," as is their right.
-Canadians feel left out.
I think what we can say with certainty, is that Canadians tend to have serious inferiority complexes. I can't say I blame them. If my country's sole export was third rate comedians, I might feel inferior about it, too.
*CENSORSHIP ALERT* Editor Moderation Abuse
on
The Future of Ideas
·
· Score: -1, Offtopic
The parent comment makes a straightforward, on-topic point. It also contains a link to a web-page critical of Michael's past censoring behavior. So, instead of allowing the free-flow of ideas, Michael Sims moderated the comment down. This type of moderation abuse (CENSORSHIP) must end!
I find it unbelievably hypocritcal that Michael would abuse his power like this in a story like this! For shame, Simsy!
One of the major points that Lessig writes about is how powerful corporations and individuals use intellectual property laws to surpress the opinions of those they don't like. Unfortunately, Lessig largely ignores one of the favorite techniques, of late: using the courts to steal domain names and sue dissenters. We all know about cases like walmartsucks.com and nikeuseschildlabor.net, where WIPO stripped the original holders of their domain name and gives it to a powerful corporation. This type of domain name abuse isn't limited to major corporations, though.
Arbitration of domain name disputes will be one of the major threads of Intellectual Property law in the 21st century. It's unfortunate that Lessig gave such short shrift to this important area.
Do you really think a few thousand notebook computers is going to help?
Has anyone here ever been to Maine. Imagine a state with millions of people who look just like Steven King, but uglier and with stronger accents. There you have Maine.
Maine is the biggest white trash state in the Union. Their school system is in shambles. It's surprising Steven King can write at all, seeing as how he was brought up there.
Before worrying about computer literacy, how about teaching actual literacy!
I was alarmed by some of the omissions in the previous Sci-Fi Channel mini-series. Among other things, they made no mention of weirding modules, which I thought were integral to the story. I hope this series be more faithful to the book it's based on.
For those interested in the digital transfer mention in the article, "2k" and "4k" refer to the horizontal resolution of the scanned images: 2k means 2048 pixels per line, 4k means 4096 pixels.
The Imagica Imager XE digital film scanner mentioned has a maximum resolution of 4096x3112 pixels. It does a 2k frame scan from 35mm in 4 seconds and a 4k in 6-8 secs, counting speed to a remote disk via Fiber Channel or Gigabit Ethernet. It's about the size of a refrigerator and weighs 400kg. Heavy duty stuff.
--
"Well, to be realistick most Slashdot users have even less of a social life then me."
-CmdrTaco, 12/2/2001 Diary Entry
BioTech will be to the 21st century what the Automobile, Computer, and Internet combined were to the 20th century.
Cloning, human and otherwise, is absolutely essential to the continued progress of science and technology. With Biotech, we could be looking at cures for cancer, AIDs, old-age, the mentally retarded, etc., etc. This is no time to let theocrats like GW Bush and Pat Robertson dictate our public policy.
Ask yourself: do you want the US to become the backwater of the world simply because a bunch of fundies decide that Science is against a nonsensical and outdated code of 'ethics'?
One more thing. I have to applaud Japan's willingness to move forward with science. But, at the same time, can we really trust the Japanese? We know what they tried to do last time they thought they had the jump on us, militarily. It's time for America retool our BioTech infrastructure so we won't be playing catch up if the Japs get shifty on us.
My thought is, if we only get one Pluto mission, so what? It's not as though it will negatively affect anyone on Earth. We need more research into the basic science and technology that will underly future space exploration efforts.
Instead of throwing away money on single-use probes like this, NASA should spend the money to develop REAL interplanetary travel. After all, it doesn't (shouldn't) count as exploration unless humans are there to make the observations. You can't trust a radio feed from across the solar system--not to mention the fact that humans can see much more than unintelligent probes. Until NASA develops Warp Drives, Communicators, Teleporters, and Vulcans, we can't realistically expect to explore the Universe. If any boys from NASA are in the audience, GET CRACKIN!
According to the Star Trek chronogy, we should already be well on our way to Warp Drives. Instead, NASA is throwing money down the drain. It's like the difference between renting a house and buying a house. You can never recover your rent money (throw-away probes), whereas if you buy the house (put the money into fundemental research), you can later reap a profit.
The fundemental problem with NASA is that they throw all their money into dead-ends like the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (both projects are just for show and have yet to produce any tangible benefits), instead of focusing on the type of hard core science research that will make the Warp Drives and Transporters a reality before I'm too old to pass the Starfleet physical. If NASA doesn't get their ass in gear, I'm going to have to focus on my other calling as a Jedi Knight.
I just found this [slashdot.org] at the Slashdot Privacy Watch [slashdot.org] page. This article (and the others posted by Slashdot Privacy Watch) present some seriously scary possibilities. I'm posting this in order to have your comments, CmdrTaco.
What is the Slashdot Customer Profile?
Slashdot is owned by VA Linux, and VA Linux is a for-profit Corporation. This means that, like other corporations, Slashdot must maintain a customer profile for every user (yes, even you Anonymous Cowards!). These customer profiles are kept in Slashdot's master MySQL database, which is archived on a frequent basis to preserve VA Linux's valuable Intellectual Property rights to its' customer information. The Customer Profile contains many fields, such as the email address you used to register your Slashdot account. In addition, it contains these fields [slashdot.org] which are accessed in users.pl [slashcode.com], line 1898.
They're Tracking WHAT?
You may have noticed that the Customer Profile contains a field called $iplist. You're not dreaming, this is a list of every IP address anyone has used to access Slasdot - ever. Slashdot has a perfectly legitimate reason [slashdot.org] for maintaining these detailed records on every customer. However, while every Slashdot user understands that the privacy of each Slashdot user is paramount to the current management of Slashdot, we must also understand that Slashdot is property, and that it has been bought - and sold - before. Therefore we must not consider the implication of the existence of Slashdot Customer Profiling under the existing management, but rather the implications under any future management.
Who Would Want my IP?
Let's assume, for the sake of argument only, that VA Linux decides to sell Slashdot to DoubleClick [doubleclick.com] in order to boost its' short-term cash supply. Doubeclick would be looking at Slashdot mainly as an Intellectual Property asset, and its' customer database as the primary portion of that asset (because Slaschode is GPL'd). How, then, can VA Linux maximize the resale value of Slashdot's Intellectual Property assets? By tracking every possible piece of information. The list of IP addresses used by every Slashdot user, reverse-correlated by email, would provide a very lucrative marketing tool to a would-be buyer of Slashdot. Doubleclick could use this Intellectual Property to:
Correlate web hits to member sites by IP address, sending an email to every Slashdot user who visits a target site.
Correlate web hits by IP address and present customized content to each Slashdot user who visits a target site, for instance: "Welcome to Superdomains.com, Slashdot user Jamie!"
It is easy to see why recording the IP profiles of every Slashdot customer maximizes the value of the Slashdot Customer Database. The question is, should you be given the option to opt-out?
Last time I posted this, I was immediately censored. Please distribute this and other Slashdot Privacy Watch publications extensively until CmdrTaco responds satisfactorily.
I just found this at the Slashdot Privacy Watch page. This article (and the others posted by Slashdot Privacy Watch) present some seriously scary possibilities. I'm posting this in order to have your comments, CmdrTaco.
What is the Slashdot Customer Profile?
Slashdot is owned by VA Linux, and VA Linux is a for-profit Corporation. This means that, like other corporations, Slashdot must maintain a customer profile for every user (yes, even you Anonymous Cowards!). These customer profiles are kept in Slashdot's master MySQL database, which is archived on a frequent basis to preserve VA Linux's valuable Intellectual Property rights to its' customer information. The Customer Profile contains many fields, such as the email address you used to register your Slashdot account. In addition, it contains these fields which are accessed in users.pl, line 1898.
They're Tracking WHAT?
You may have noticed that the Customer Profile contains a field called $iplist. You're not dreaming, this is a list of every IP address anyone has used to access Slasdot - ever. Slashdot has a perfectly legitimate reason for maintaining these detailed records on every customer. However, while every Slashdot user understands that the privacy of each Slashdot user is paramount to the current management of Slashdot, we must also understand that Slashdot is property, and that it has been bought - and sold - before. Therefore we must not consider the implication of the existence of Slashdot Customer Profiling under the existing management, but rather the implications under any future management.
Who Would Want my IP?
Let's assume, for the sake of argument only, that VA Linux decides to sell Slashdot to DoubleClick in order to boost its' short-term cash supply. Doubeclick would be looking at Slashdot mainly as an Intellectual Property asset, and its' customer database as the primary portion of that asset (because Slaschode is GPL'd). How, then, can VA Linux maximize the resale value of Slashdot's Intellectual Property assets? By tracking every possible piece of information. The list of IP addresses used by every Slashdot user, reverse-correlated by email, would provide a very lucrative marketing tool to a would-be buyer of Slashdot. Doubleclick could use this Intellectual Property to:
Correlate web hits to member sites by IP address, sending an email to every Slashdot user who visits a target site.
Correlate web hits by IP address and present customized content to each Slashdot user who visits a target site, for instance: "Welcome to Superdomains.com, Slashdot user Jamie!"
It is easy to see why recording the IP profiles of every Slashdot customer maximizes the value of the Slashdot Customer Database. The question is, should you be given the option to opt-out?
For me at least, my computer came with a fan. The fan works. Why do I need a new fan? Why do I need to know anything about fan performance when THE FAN WORKS? And if my fan ever stops working, I can get a new computer.
Perhaps for system builders like Dell and Gateway, this type of article can be of some use. But for the average slashdotter, it is too technical and too specialized. And as a great man once said, "specialization is for insects".
Sure, you should. Don't you know anything about the history of the Personal Computer? Don't you remember VisiCalc?
The 1978 release of VisiCalc, an electronic spreadsheet and the first personal productivity application, changed software development from a hobbyist's pursuit to a burgeoning industry. Personal Software, the publisher of VisiCalc, bought Tiny Troll from Mr. Kapor as a companion product to VisiCalc and hired him to be a product manager in Silicon Valley. Wanting more autonomy, he left Personal after only six months to found his own company.
Although users loved the concept of the VisiCalc spreadsheet, they were bumping their heads against its limitations. Realizing this, Mr. Kapor cofounded Lotus Development in 1982 with Jonathan Sachs, a programmer from Data General, and came up with Lotus 1-2-3, a second-generation spreadsheet that better addressed the needs of business users.
To get the new company off the ground, Mr. Kapor convinced the former Morgan Stanley analyst andthen-novice venture capitalist Ben Rosen (who had cofounded Sevin Rosen Funds theprevious year) to put $1 million into the startup. Mr. Kapor admits that he in fact knew very little then about running a business; nevertheless, as an executive at Lotus until 1987, he developed what are now considered standard business practices for software companies. Lotus executed the first big advertising campaign for 1-2-3 in the business press and was the first to train computer dealers on a large scale. In 1983, the year it was released, 1-2-3 generated staggering revenues of $53 million and propelled Lotus through its initial public offering. In 1984 the company tripled its revenues, to $156 million. But when Lotus became a big business, Mr. Kapor jumped ship. "Because of Lotus's hypergrowth, the company was soon dominated by the details of day-to-day management," he says. "But I wanted to think long term and bring big ideas to market."
After Lotus, Mr. Kapor rediscovered his interest in the future of technology. He became enamored of the precommercial Internet and the social possibilities of virtual communities. But he was equally horrified by some of the government's early attempts to sanitize Internet content. In 1990, to protect the organic and unregulated potential of the Net, Mr. Kapor and the social activist John Perry Barlow cofounded the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), thefirst grassroots coalition to call attention to both the social andpolitical dimensions of networked communications. (For more on Mr. Barlow,see "What Does John Perry Barlow Do?,"March 1998.)
In 1994, once the EFF was going strong, Mr. Kapor decided to turn his full attention to financing and advising technology startups. Although as an entrepreneur he had been suspicious of venture capitalists, he became a limited partner in VC funds and also made direct investments in startups, working closely with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and AccelPartners. Mr. Kapor believes he is finally using his strengths --identifying ideas with staying power and getting them off the ground -- andnot getting bogged down in the politics of large organizations. Hecurrently sits on the boards of RealNetworks, which develops real-timestreaming audio and video software; Allaire, which makes Web applicationdevelopment software; and several younger startups he declines to name.
Looking back at his 20-year involvement in the technology industry, Mr. Kapor says that "the days of the Apple II and Tiny Troll feel like Jurassic Park, especially if you count in Internet years." Speaking like a former teacher of meditation, he adds, "I try to send the message that business does not have to be ruthless and self-interested -- that even in the frenzied pace of the technology market, a fundamentally long-term approach still matters."
Turning a normal monitor or TV into a projector is nice idea, if it works. I'm fairly concerned about the quality. I strongly suspect the picture will end up grainy and will perhaps be distorted.
Still, it would be cool for gaming. Can you imagine playing Quake III with this? And it would be more suited to gaming than an LCD projector, because the refresh rate is going to be whatever your monitor uses, rather than the dismal LCD refresh rate. All in all, a pretty cool idea.
Email has it's downside as well. Ever seen Demolition Man? Well we're heading in that direction quickly. In the next ten years we're going to become more and more dependant on computers for everyday tasks and simple communication. People are so focused on convenience and instant gratification that we're forgetting the art of conversation, and basic social skills. Mark my word, one day, during our lifetimes, people will spend their entire lives staring at a monitor, only leaving to fulfill their most basic bodily needs such as eating and sleeping. Even today, we have people that do all their work, shopping, and dating on-line. These people are simply not prepared to lead a meaningful life, and use their computer as a way to escape social situations that they never learned to properly cope with.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the convenience that email offers, but I think we should limit it's use so that our "digital addiction" does not progress to unhealthy levels. We need to learn how to balance our computer usage with genuine person-to-person communication, lest we become totally dependant on computers.
Also, Katz spelled email wrong. There is no hyphen in email.
Funny, I've never been paranoid about installing/patching anything, regardless of the operating system. It seems to me that a GOOD ADMIN would have any important data backed up prior to installing/upgrading any mission critical servers. Just because you're a negligent moron doesn't mean that Windows sucks.
"Oh, and for all of those Euro's who are going to post "well, we've had them for a few years now..." Please, save it. You don't really know what's going on with all of that data that the gov't collects."
As a European, I can honestly tell you that I trust my government to handle my personal information in a responsible manner, and protect myself and my family from criminals. I think most Brits will agree that we have no reason to be paranoid, because our government is truly representative of the people, unlike your capitalist regime which is almost entirely controlled by big business. Because of this, it is in the best interest of government officials to look out for their constituents if they wish to remain in office.
Perhaps you're right to be paranoid. You're hopelessly corrupt politicians care more about lining their fat pockets than the citizens they were elected to represent. That's why you never hear about militant separatist cults or school shootings over here, when you're culture is being eaten alive by violence and moral degradation.
Slashdot Mirror
I just read this. Unbelievable . . .
I, for one, will take this horrendous news as an opportunity to reevaluate my priorities and stop wasting so much of my precious remaining time reading
Hell, doesn't everybody have at least 100 gigs of DivX?
Also, we're seeing more people using their computers as Digital Video Recorders. You can never have too much HD space for that.
And Canada is your largest trading partner. Yes, your LARGEST. You depend on us too.
Wow, I couldn't have asked for a more explicit example of the Canadian inferiority complex in action. I'm going to ask you to do something now. It may be hard, but just give it a try. Sit down, close your eyes, and relax. Let go of all your animosity towards America. Clear your mind. Then ask yourself: Is Canada more important to America than America is to Canada?
I think we both know the answer to that question.
-US takes the initiative on creating the ISS, contributing the bulk of funding and nearly all technology.
-Canada whines that the US isn't doing it the way Canada wants.
-US takes the initiative to throw off the chains of an obsolete and oppressive monarchy.
-Canada keeps calling said monarch "daddy" for two hundred years.
-Americans call themselves "Americans," as is their right.
-Canadians feel left out.
I think what we can say with certainty, is that Canadians tend to have serious inferiority complexes. I can't say I blame them. If my country's sole export was third rate comedians, I might feel inferior about it, too.
This is a HOAX people!
I find it unbelievably hypocritcal that Michael would abuse his power like this in a story like this! For shame, Simsy!
Arbitration of domain name disputes will be one of the major threads of Intellectual Property law in the 21st century. It's unfortunate that Lessig gave such short shrift to this important area.
Has anyone here ever been to Maine. Imagine a state with millions of people who look just like Steven King, but uglier and with stronger accents. There you have Maine.
Maine is the biggest white trash state in the Union. Their school system is in shambles. It's surprising Steven King can write at all, seeing as how he was brought up there.
Before worrying about computer literacy, how about teaching actual literacy!
I was alarmed by some of the omissions in the previous Sci-Fi Channel mini-series. Among other things, they made no mention of weirding modules, which I thought were integral to the story. I hope this series be more faithful to the book it's based on.
For those interested in the digital transfer mention in the article, "2k" and "4k" refer to the horizontal resolution of the scanned images: 2k means 2048 pixels per line, 4k means 4096 pixels.
The Imagica Imager XE digital film scanner mentioned has a maximum resolution of 4096x3112 pixels. It does a 2k frame scan from 35mm in 4 seconds and a 4k in 6-8 secs, counting speed to a remote disk via Fiber Channel or Gigabit Ethernet. It's about the size of a refrigerator and weighs 400kg. Heavy duty stuff.
--
"Well, to be realistick most Slashdot users have even less of a social life then me."
-CmdrTaco, 12/2/2001 Diary Entry
Cloning, human and otherwise, is absolutely essential to the continued progress of science and technology. With Biotech, we could be looking at cures for cancer, AIDs, old-age, the mentally retarded, etc., etc. This is no time to let theocrats like GW Bush and Pat Robertson dictate our public policy.
Ask yourself: do you want the US to become the backwater of the world simply because a bunch of fundies decide that Science is against a nonsensical and outdated code of 'ethics'?
One more thing. I have to applaud Japan's willingness to move forward with science. But, at the same time, can we really trust the Japanese? We know what they tried to do last time they thought they had the jump on us, militarily. It's time for America retool our BioTech infrastructure so we won't be playing catch up if the Japs get shifty on us.
--
My Favorite Slashdot Poll
Instead of throwing away money on single-use probes like this, NASA should spend the money to develop REAL interplanetary travel. After all, it doesn't (shouldn't) count as exploration unless humans are there to make the observations. You can't trust a radio feed from across the solar system--not to mention the fact that humans can see much more than unintelligent probes. Until NASA develops Warp Drives, Communicators, Teleporters, and Vulcans, we can't realistically expect to explore the Universe. If any boys from NASA are in the audience, GET CRACKIN!
According to the Star Trek chronogy, we should already be well on our way to Warp Drives. Instead, NASA is throwing money down the drain. It's like the difference between renting a house and buying a house. You can never recover your rent money (throw-away probes), whereas if you buy the house (put the money into fundemental research), you can later reap a profit.
--
My Favorite Slashdot Poll of All Time
The fundemental problem with NASA is that they throw all their money into dead-ends like the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (both projects are just for show and have yet to produce any tangible benefits), instead of focusing on the type of hard core science research that will make the Warp Drives and Transporters a reality before I'm too old to pass the Starfleet physical. If NASA doesn't get their ass in gear, I'm going to have to focus on my other calling as a Jedi Knight.
--
My Favorite Slashdot Poll of All Time
Last time I posted this, I was immediately censored. Please distribute this and other Slashdot Privacy Watch publications extensively until CmdrTaco responds satisfactorily.
Perhaps for system builders like Dell and Gateway, this type of article can be of some use. But for the average slashdotter, it is too technical and too specialized. And as a great man once said, "specialization is for insects".
Sure, you should. Don't you know anything about the history of the Personal Computer? Don't you remember VisiCalc?
The 1978 release of VisiCalc, an electronic spreadsheet and the first personal productivity application, changed software development from a hobbyist's pursuit to a burgeoning industry. Personal Software, the publisher of VisiCalc, bought Tiny Troll from Mr. Kapor as a companion product to VisiCalc and hired him to be a product manager in Silicon Valley. Wanting more autonomy, he left Personal after only six months to found his own company.
Although users loved the concept of the VisiCalc spreadsheet, they were bumping their heads against its limitations. Realizing this, Mr. Kapor cofounded Lotus Development in 1982 with Jonathan Sachs, a programmer from Data General, and came up with Lotus 1-2-3, a second-generation spreadsheet that better addressed the needs of business users.
To get the new company off the ground, Mr. Kapor convinced the former Morgan Stanley analyst andthen-novice venture capitalist Ben Rosen (who had cofounded Sevin Rosen Funds theprevious year) to put $1 million into the startup. Mr. Kapor admits that he in fact knew very little then about running a business; nevertheless, as an executive at Lotus until 1987, he developed what are now considered standard business practices for software companies. Lotus executed the first big advertising campaign for 1-2-3 in the business press and was the first to train computer dealers on a large scale. In 1983, the year it was released, 1-2-3 generated staggering revenues of $53 million and propelled Lotus through its initial public offering. In 1984 the company tripled its revenues, to $156 million. But when Lotus became a big business, Mr. Kapor jumped ship. "Because of Lotus's hypergrowth, the company was soon dominated by the details of day-to-day management," he says. "But I wanted to think long term and bring big ideas to market."
After Lotus, Mr. Kapor rediscovered his interest in the future of technology. He became enamored of the precommercial Internet and the social possibilities of virtual communities. But he was equally horrified by some of the government's early attempts to sanitize Internet content. In 1990, to protect the organic and unregulated potential of the Net, Mr. Kapor and the social activist John Perry Barlow cofounded the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), thefirst grassroots coalition to call attention to both the social andpolitical dimensions of networked communications. (For more on Mr. Barlow,see "What Does John Perry Barlow Do?,"March 1998.)
In 1994, once the EFF was going strong, Mr. Kapor decided to turn his full attention to financing and advising technology startups. Although as an entrepreneur he had been suspicious of venture capitalists, he became a limited partner in VC funds and also made direct investments in startups, working closely with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and AccelPartners. Mr. Kapor believes he is finally using his strengths --identifying ideas with staying power and getting them off the ground -- andnot getting bogged down in the politics of large organizations. Hecurrently sits on the boards of RealNetworks, which develops real-timestreaming audio and video software; Allaire, which makes Web applicationdevelopment software; and several younger startups he declines to name.
Looking back at his 20-year involvement in the technology industry, Mr. Kapor says that "the days of the Apple II and Tiny Troll feel like Jurassic Park, especially if you count in Internet years." Speaking like a former teacher of meditation, he adds, "I try to send the message that business does not have to be ruthless and self-interested -- that even in the frenzied pace of the technology market, a fundamentally long-term approach still matters."
Still, it would be cool for gaming. Can you imagine playing Quake III with this? And it would be more suited to gaming than an LCD projector, because the refresh rate is going to be whatever your monitor uses, rather than the dismal LCD refresh rate. All in all, a pretty cool idea.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the convenience that email offers, but I think we should limit it's use so that our "digital addiction" does not progress to unhealthy levels. We need to learn how to balance our computer usage with genuine person-to-person communication, lest we become totally dependant on computers.
Also, Katz spelled email wrong. There is no hyphen in email.
Pervert.
Looks like Slashdot put a space in the url, but the end is supposed to be "/12COLTAN.html". Sorry.
http://archive.nytimes.com/2001/08/12/magaz ine/12C OLTAN.html
I've never had a NYTimes account and this works for me.
Funny, I've never been paranoid about installing/patching anything, regardless of the operating system. It seems to me that a GOOD ADMIN would have any important data backed up prior to installing/upgrading any mission critical servers. Just because you're a negligent moron doesn't mean that Windows sucks.
As a European, I can honestly tell you that I trust my government to handle my personal information in a responsible manner, and protect myself and my family from criminals. I think most Brits will agree that we have no reason to be paranoid, because our government is truly representative of the people, unlike your capitalist regime which is almost entirely controlled by big business. Because of this, it is in the best interest of government officials to look out for their constituents if they wish to remain in office.
Perhaps you're right to be paranoid. You're hopelessly corrupt politicians care more about lining their fat pockets than the citizens they were elected to represent. That's why you never hear about militant separatist cults or school shootings over here, when you're culture is being eaten alive by violence and moral degradation.