Unprotected memory was the standard at the time. Processors didn't have MMU's. OS's weren't designed with virtual addressing in mind. It's not like the DOS world had it.
It's not slashdotted, it's just the latency you get when you download a movie from Saturn. The round trip takes more than two hours, please be patient.
Adapting another quote: "If you want to create a better computer, you'll you'll end up with an Amiga". It's more or less what they're describing here. Amiga made heavy use of coprocessors back in the days. It could do some quite heavy stuff (well, at the time), while the CPU usage stayed below 10%.
One cool thing I discovered while I was learning to program was that you could make one of the coprocessors interrupt when the electon beam of the monitor was at a certain position. Pretty nifty.
BTW, for those who are too young/old to remember, those were the days of dos, and friends of mine were bragging with their 16 color EGA cards. Amiga had 4096 colors at the time.
A few months ago I was wondering how deep mankind has drilled, and found some interestingstuff. Basically, you should read "barely" as "didn't".
As always, when you think something's easy (make_small_hole(); while(1) { make_hole_deeper(); } ), it's just because your ignorance doesn't let you appreciate the problems, like the extreme temperature and pressure. For example, I didn't realize that the pressure compresses the rocks and when you drill a hole that deep, the rocks around it want to expand, causing engineering nightmares.
And while measuring the straightness of a hole seems quite doable (or put otherwise, I accept the assumption that there exists technology to do that), I still wonder how they can adjust the drilling direction.
Something I've never quite understood is how it is determined that an invention is "innovative". If it's just an interpretation, then an idiot would consider a tri-state checkbox innovative, while a genius might consider a fusion reactor trivial (slightly exagerated). Is it voted upon? Or is it a single guy, following some guidelines?
I thought I saw some movies a few years ago from a Dutch university showing off their dynamically balancing robot? It was pneumatic IIRC. Someone else remembers this?
When I first read the summary, I thought "the selfish bastard!". But after thinking about it for a while, I've changed my mind. I'm all for science (scientia vincere tenebras), but in this case, what mind-boggling discoveries will we miss? What earth-changing technologies will we fail to develop? Most likely, none. Someone will write a paper about it that most likely will be lost in the vast ocean of scientific publications, and that's it. Just leave the man his toy.
That's possibly because there were no humans left post-impact to make those written accounts... Well, that's their own stupid fault, if they had paid any attention to those "duck and cover" movies, they would have been left unharmed now would they?
Pop Quiz - what are the top three causes of death in the civilized world? I don't know about the second or third, but according to the news, the first one must be terrorism.
So they built a bubble chamber? Impressive. I still can't see how that could just invalidate the effect of greenhouse gasses. And a regional coldening could well be the result of changing sea currents, for example. I don't see how that would be a counter-indication of global warming either. Global temperatures are rising. Glaciers are melting. So basically, it smells like FUD to me.
Ever since I've been riding to work with my bicycle, I'm a big fan of online weather radars. You can see where it's raining in real-time and where the rain is heading. It's only predictable up to a few hours but many times that's all I need. It has kept me dry on many occasions.
Of course, if a rain zone develops right above your head you're out of luck. But most of the time, when it rains it's just an active rain zone passing over your head.
If you live in the Benelux, chek out http://www.buienradar.nl/. It's the best radar I found, with images only a few minutes old.
- Some residents get into some trouble, e.g. their rover breaks down and they have to find their way back/sit out a lunar night. Make it something typically lunar. - Some significant discovery is made, e.g. a tunnel system leading far into the moon's interior. Possibly by people trying to survive a lunar night after their rover broke down. More extreme: in one of the tunnels, they find a skeleton. Where did it came from? - On earth, political changes/(nuclear) war/a pandemia causes the budget for the moon base to be scrapped. You're on your own! How will that douchebag of a leader respond? Will he be able to handle the stress? I think not!
One more thing: why is the base covered with 3m of regolith? Is that a number you researched? I ask because I recently read an article that radiation on mars would kill all live up to 7m below the surface. I guess the moon has more radiation, being closer to the sun and having no athmosphere at all (well, not anything significant anyway). But since I can't find the article anymore, I might be wrong.
PS: If your story gets nominated for "worst novel ever", don't blame me.:-)
Scientists, essentially, believe they know everything, and that their theories are perfect and complete, and how dare anyone suggest that perhaps we should look under unturned stones So that's why there hasn't been any real progress since Newton postulated his three laws of gravity! Except for some crackpots like Einstein and the like. Really, you just pulled that out of your ass and presented it as a fact. The current laws of physics are constantly being re-examined and tested. E.g. if scientists really were so sure of themselves, why would they build a satelite to measure how space and time are warped around the orbiting earth [1]? I just stopped reading your post right there. I hope I didn't miss anything interesting.
And one more thing: if you really want to make things better, why don't you siphon some money from the military? Their budget seems without limit, yet all they accomplish is the destruction of any country they invade. Take money meant for destruction -> turn it into construction -> humanity wins 2X.
I also moved to be able to ride a bicycle to work. The advantages are huge: A daily dosis of sport (good for the condition), enourmous savings on gas and a car, a good feeling because I actually do something about the greenhouse gasses, and - according to my doctor - an additional 6 years of my life in good health (statistically) (if I don't end up under a truck).
It will have to come to the desktop since we will be running short on electrons soon. Photons, storing bits in single electrons,... Why do you think all this is being researched these days? They don't want to admit it, but you just have to read between the lines.
Slashdot Mirror
here --> . --
Indeed, that was the point you missed.
Unprotected memory was the standard at the time. Processors didn't have MMU's. OS's weren't designed with virtual addressing in mind. It's not like the DOS world had it.
It's not slashdotted, it's just the latency you get when you download a movie from Saturn. The round trip takes more than two hours, please be patient.
Adapting another quote: "If you want to create a better computer, you'll you'll end up with an Amiga". It's more or less what they're describing here. Amiga made heavy use of coprocessors back in the days. It could do some quite heavy stuff (well, at the time), while the CPU usage stayed below 10%.
One cool thing I discovered while I was learning to program was that you could make one of the coprocessors interrupt when the electon beam of the monitor was at a certain position. Pretty nifty.
BTW, for those who are too young/old to remember, those were the days of dos, and friends of mine were bragging with their 16 color EGA cards. Amiga had 4096 colors at the time.
A few months ago I was wondering how deep mankind has drilled, and found some interesting stuff. Basically, you should read "barely" as "didn't".
As always, when you think something's easy (make_small_hole(); while(1) { make_hole_deeper(); } ), it's just because your ignorance doesn't let you appreciate the problems, like the extreme temperature and pressure. For example, I didn't realize that the pressure compresses the rocks and when you drill a hole that deep, the rocks around it want to expand, causing engineering nightmares.
And while measuring the straightness of a hole seems quite doable (or put otherwise, I accept the assumption that there exists technology to do that), I still wonder how they can adjust the drilling direction.
Fascinating!
Something I've never quite understood is how it is determined that an invention is "innovative". If it's just an interpretation, then an idiot would consider a tri-state checkbox innovative, while a genius might consider a fusion reactor trivial (slightly exagerated). Is it voted upon? Or is it a single guy, following some guidelines?
I thought I saw some movies a few years ago from a Dutch university showing off their dynamically balancing robot? It was pneumatic IIRC. Someone else remembers this?
Was that before or after the ad in question was aired?
When I first read the summary, I thought "the selfish bastard!". But after thinking about it for a while, I've changed my mind. I'm all for science (scientia vincere tenebras), but in this case, what mind-boggling discoveries will we miss? What earth-changing technologies will we fail to develop? Most likely, none. Someone will write a paper about it that most likely will be lost in the vast ocean of scientific publications, and that's it. Just leave the man his toy.
I guess that barcode I tatoo'd on my forehead is now obsolete :(.
So they built a bubble chamber? Impressive. I still can't see how that could just invalidate the effect of greenhouse gasses. And a regional coldening could well be the result of changing sea currents, for example. I don't see how that would be a counter-indication of global warming either. Global temperatures are rising. Glaciers are melting. So basically, it smells like FUD to me.
Ever since I've been riding to work with my bicycle, I'm a big fan of online weather radars. You can see where it's raining in real-time and where the rain is heading. It's only predictable up to a few hours but many times that's all I need. It has kept me dry on many occasions.
Of course, if a rain zone develops right above your head you're out of luck. But most of the time, when it rains it's just an active rain zone passing over your head.
If you live in the Benelux, chek out http://www.buienradar.nl/. It's the best radar I found, with images only a few minutes old.
The pictures in the last link are really amazing.
Thanks.
:-).
I'll just add "shovel" to my packing list
Some random ideas:
:-)
- Some residents get into some trouble, e.g. their rover breaks down and they have to find their way back/sit out a lunar night. Make it something typically lunar.
- Some significant discovery is made, e.g. a tunnel system leading far into the moon's interior. Possibly by people trying to survive a lunar night after their rover broke down. More extreme: in one of the tunnels, they find a skeleton. Where did it came from?
- On earth, political changes/(nuclear) war/a pandemia causes the budget for the moon base to be scrapped. You're on your own! How will that douchebag of a leader respond? Will he be able to handle the stress? I think not!
One more thing: why is the base covered with 3m of regolith? Is that a number you researched? I ask because I recently read an article that radiation on mars would kill all live up to 7m below the surface. I guess the moon has more radiation, being closer to the sun and having no athmosphere at all (well, not anything significant anyway). But since I can't find the article anymore, I might be wrong.
PS: If your story gets nominated for "worst novel ever", don't blame me.
And one more thing: if you really want to make things better, why don't you siphon some money from the military? Their budget seems without limit, yet all they accomplish is the destruction of any country they invade. Take money meant for destruction -> turn it into construction -> humanity wins 2X.
[1]: http://einstein.stanford.edu/
PS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paragraph (yes, this is a hint).
A hard disk crash on my cellphone. Yay.
I fear I might have to rebase my login name..
I also moved to be able to ride a bicycle to work. The advantages are huge: A daily dosis of sport (good for the condition), enourmous savings on gas and a car, a good feeling because I actually do something about the greenhouse gasses, and - according to my doctor - an additional 6 years of my life in good health (statistically) (if I don't end up under a truck).
It will have to come to the desktop since we will be running short on electrons soon. Photons, storing bits in single electrons, ... Why do you think all this is being researched these days? They don't want to admit it, but you just have to read between the lines.
Indeed. Let's turn it around: People who live longer have more chance of winning a Nobel prize.