Ah, yes we could, but the rest of this country is to chickenshit to build reactors anymore. Never mind the fact that coal-fired and oil-fired plants are infinitely more dirty...
Having just moved away from California (and thank gawd!), I was able to see a lot of local news shows and newspapers about the power crisis. There's a lot of fingerpointing going on, except all in the wrong direction.
The public is unwilling to realize that they are the problem. I saw a city of San Diego official come on TV last summer and tell her constituents only to "pay what is fair". I don't think I have ever seen such an irresponsible act from any public official ever (in my short and naive 26 years). What does she think? Is the electricity fairy going to come down from heaven and make everything right?
I happened to catch a bit on CNBC (financial television channel) yesterday about the stage three emergency delclared by either the state or Southern California Edison (power company). The reporter said that the emergency was declared for financial reasons and not because there is an actual shortage of supply. SoCalEd also is putting off making an interest payment on a bond they have outstanding (read: that doesn't happen unless the company is in trouble).
Californians think they can just have the power companies bail them out until the current crisis is over. Well, it will never be over, because the power companies can not make any money, because the citizens won't let them make any money. So, thus, SoCalEd cannot afford to increase production, build power plants, etc.
Not only that, no one wants to get into the market there, because they cannot make any money. So then there's not competition.
And now they're all screaming that the power companies are taking advantage of the "high fuel prices" to make a quick buck off of the public.
All I can say to California. You reap what you sow...
The US Air Force has been working on what they call an "Airborne Laser" for years. The idea is to provide a defense against ballistic missiles in a particular theatre of battle. For instance, in the middle east, when Iraq was shooting scuds all over the place. The airborne laser, like the Patriot missile, would be used to shoot down missiles, but unlike the Patriot, which shoots down ballistic missiles as they are approaching their target, the airborne laser would shoot down the missile just after launch. That way, the payload and the missile would fall near the launch site.
If you want more info, go over to FAS, the poor man's Jane's Defense Review.
Re:Another alternative to Gore-Tex?
on
Nano-pants
·
· Score: 2
Isn't gore-tex supposed to breathe? If not, I'm way off base, but based on my experience with Gore-tex, the stuff doesn't breathe too well. I'll believe that this new Nano-tex breathes well when I have an opportunity to try it.
MW is just a bunch of bloodsucking dorksmokers who abuse the class action lawsuit for their own gain. They love the fact that they can sue people and organizations based on the perception that the people/organizations being sued have done wrong. "Well, the stock price went down, so we want you to pay our clients for their loss (read: pay 1,000,000 people $100 each so we can take a 30% commission on $100,000,000).
Re:Another alternative to Gore-Tex?
on
Nano-pants
·
· Score: 2
I agree with you on the Gore-Tex bit. Way too hot, doesn't breathe for shite. Best to buy a garment that has strategically placed zippers, al la under the armpits, to cool one's self. It sounds like this nano-tex stuff will be even less breathable. Perhaps like wearing soft rubber. Of course, if it'll give me a garment that weighs less than three pounds that'll keep me warm when it's 0 degrees F out, I'm all for it!
It's things like this that make things like the Honeynet Project look more and more attractive to me every day. I think that it would behoove more than a few of us to install honeypots on our networks and then prosecute anyone we catch. If there were enough honeypots around, we might start catching a higher percentage of the PFY's and getting Johnny Law knocking on their doors. While we may not be able to get the bastards in Romania, there are quite a few countries that don't look kindly upon this type of thing...
I think that quantum technology can be used for the purpose that you discuss, it will just come in a completely different form than what you are accustomed to.
For instance, routing could be an application where a quantum computer would be beneficial. Building immense and extremely complicated routing tables would be suited to quantum computing. Having a router CPU that could literally analyze ALL of the routes a packet could take from point A to point B could be very beneficial.
Quantum computing, if successfully introduced to gaming, I believe would eliminate the 3D chipset completely. Currently, we have 3D cards in order to take that processor intensive load off of the CPU. Having a quantum CPU would effectively eliminate the need for a second CPU to munge graphics.
Without delving too far down into flame, are you suggesting that I put a quantum computer on the 3D card of my 700Mhz Athlon system?
To answer your second point, the article said billion, not million. As the late Carl Sagan would have you know, there is a big difference between a billion and a million...say 4 orders of magnitude.
It certainly seems that you understand the value of using snippets of a conversation to make a point, so I don't understand the reason for your reply.
What you say is most likely true (I am not an expert, and therefore cannot register judgement of fact).
You also raise another good question. Will quantum computers replace the current style of computer? Will we reach a point where the CPU's are so cheap and powerful (and RAM is plentiful) where everything can be done by the CPU and RAM? Will quantum computing even be applicable to applications such as web browsing and gaming?
Okay, let's throw out some business jargon and change "paradigms" here. Quantum computers do not have 3D cards, they have no CPU, no RAM, none of that nonesense. Not as I can explain it in 500 words or less, anyhoo.
A quantum computer is literally going to be a new type of computing. Not just as different from a integrated circuit as is a vacuum tube, but as different as an IC is from fire or the wheel. There will be no quantum "chips", no system bus, no SDRAM, no nothing. You will literally have a thing you plug into an interface, probably not even that. Why the hell would any single individual own one of these? If quantum computing is a billion times faster, than one "quantum computer" would take care of the gaming needs of China or India.
Whoa...think of 1 billion people playing Quake all at once...
Okay, so the idea is to make it to Mars in two weeks. What about going to other places in the solar system? Say, Jupiter...Europa...hmmm. We could literally send folks out there and keep sending materials to follow them. Forget about having to recycle every atom one takes to Mars, if the trip is hardly longer than a moon shot, I think we've got it covered.
Right now, the biggest problem with getting to Mars is being able to keep people alive for the 2 years (or something like that) round trip. Watch out, now we'll do it for you in six minutes! Oh, wait....
...I'm gonna buy myself an island....or build a hugemungous oil platform type thing. Somewhere in the Carribean, over 12 miles from any land. Put a resort and a golf course or two up there. Can't cost more than $1bln USD...
My advice would be to get the corporate gig. It doesn't even have to be a "corporate" gig, per se. I work for a small company (5 of us) doing database consulting. Working in such an environment has given me much opportunity to satisfy my creative leanings as well as live comfortably.
The wonderful thing about computer science is that you do not need to live/work at a university in order to do research. You should make enough money to allow you to do whatever you like in your spare time. Get attached to open source projects, distributed.net, or a myriad of other projects. There is no end to all the "unofficial" research to be done out there, and there's no reason to live like a pauper while doing it.
Unless of course, you've got the IQ of Bill Joy and can go to UC Berkeley and create Unix...
I don't know why the author chose to include "automatic watch" on the list. As far as I know, such devices are in wide spread use. In fact, there are even a couple of variations. For instance, Seiko's kinetic watches, which, if I am not mistaken, recharge their battery through arm movement. I've owned a Tag Hauer watch with a counterweight that wound the watchspring every time it moved around. I'm sure there are dozens of other examples. In fact, many companies use the "automaticness" of their watch as a marketing gimmick...Look, here's a fancy watch with all the guts you've come to expect it to have, but guess what, you never have to wind it!
This is not going to become an issue, no more an issue than "bugs" in cars or toasters has become. All companies are going to try to hide information that may damage their reputations in the press, but, exploding gas tanks are still news, and Microsoft won't be able to stop anyone from publishing such information.
I think that Linus should do what Greenspun did when negotiating the rights to his book "Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing". The publisher got to put the book in print, but Greenspun retained the right to put the book online. Brilliant, I say. Linus should do the same.
I think that Linus should do what Greenspun did when negotiating the rights to his book "Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing". The publisher got to put the book in print, but Greenspun retained the right to put the book online. Brilliant, I say. Linus should do the same.
...people would stop watching. I highly doubt robotic races will ever garner much more attention than the geek audience. They may get an initial first look from race fans, but don't tell me that 50% of the rednecks at the Daytona 500 wouldn't quit watching if the cars stopped crashing.
On a side note, remote controlled cars, without the fear of the driver losing his life, might be something else entirely. I'd love to see an Indy car throw a piston on the straightaway because the driver was trying to push it to 250mph!
Why not submit Gratuitous Recognition Solicitation for a patent. Maybe clean it up a little bit, but hell, submit it. What'll they say? No? What if they say yes? That would be perfect ammunition against the patent office. Hell, why not slashdot the patent office with phony patent applications to screw up the works, slow them down and ruin their credibiltiy (well, more than it has been)./. should patent shitting or something more inane...that would really get someone's attention in Washington.
I use the term "download" because I am assuming the process would originate from the computer, not the brain. I have yet to find an ftp program suitable to the task in MY filesystem...heheh.
I wonder what people will do once they figure out how to download their brains into a computer?
Well, let's first assume that we do actually exist in a physical world (paradoxes to follow). So now we've got a kickass hugely powerful computer, that say, Linus Torvalds (or any other brilliant mind for that matter), has downloaded himself into.
Let's even say that he has the resources and capability to increase the power of this computer on his own, given enough time. Computer controlled chip fab, plenty of electricity/power, lotsa sand lying around with which to manufacture silicon, etc.
Now, Linus is trapped in this computer with nothing to do, right? Well, almost nothing. Assuming that this machine is infinitely powerful and infinitely expandable, why not start creating one's one little world within the machine? We could create little 'bots' to run around inside the system and interact with each other. We could make some bots weak (worms/flys/bugs in general) and some very strong and crafty (humans/cockroaches).
Now Linus is the only one who has access to his own machine and he's got 30,000 years to tool around with it. So now we've got a simulated earth sitting in some data center somewhere. But of course, Linus isn't the only one doing this.
Bill Joy has built his own little world somewhere in what we would call Alpha Centauri. All these little worlds are connected together via the Internet, but security protocols make it extrememly difficult for one 'bot' to travel between worlds, i.e. rocketship to Alpha Centauri.
But then Linus says something that pisses Bill Joy off in the Diety Daily Herald. Bill then just sends some nanobots two blocks over (we're all really living in Silicon Valley, just don't know it) and turns Linus's data center into primordial goo.
And thus we have the end of existance as we know it.
I read the article and cannot believe the gall of that King. A quote:
"I'm disappointed in the attitude [the universities] have taken, which is 'we don't know anything, we don't have any responsibility unless we know anything, tell us who's infringing and then we'll take decisive steps,' " King said.
King, I hope you read this, however unlikely you are to, but it is not the Universities responsibility to police your so-called copyrights. They should not have to pay for the network administration it would take to block napster (not that it'd cost much, but they don't owe a dime, and it's the principle of the thing).
IMHO, college is a way for people who cannot get a job by outshining their peers to do so. Having a college degree is almost like being in the good 'ol boys network. I don't know why a lot of companies even bother to ask for 4 year degrees. Why the hell does my manager need a poly-sci degree to manage 20 people?
The only people who really need degrees are the doctor/engineer/lawyer types. Comp sci degrees? Not. When's the last time a computer science major actually went on to be a computer scientist? Most of 'em are programmers now. I quit myself because I wanted to be a sysadmin. Now I'm leaning more towards programming and development, but you still don't need a computer science degree to do that kind of stuff. I'm almost certain that there are more good programmers that read/. that did not get a comp sci degree than did. The people who program as a hobby, not as a career, are the ones who know more about programming than most 4 year degree'd folks.
Another important thing about programming, project management, I didn't hear about until I got into the real world. I don't think universitys (maybe with the exception of CalTech and MIT, et al.) really prepare their comp-sci students for the real world.
In defense of college...I loved it. I wish I had the resources to go back. I had more fun in college that I've ever had anywhere else. You can get all the sex, drugs and booze you'd ever want there. That's what college is good for.
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Ah, yes we could, but the rest of this country is to chickenshit to build reactors anymore. Never mind the fact that coal-fired and oil-fired plants are infinitely more dirty...
Having just moved away from California (and thank gawd!), I was able to see a lot of local news shows and newspapers about the power crisis. There's a lot of fingerpointing going on, except all in the wrong direction.
The public is unwilling to realize that they are the problem. I saw a city of San Diego official come on TV last summer and tell her constituents only to "pay what is fair". I don't think I have ever seen such an irresponsible act from any public official ever (in my short and naive 26 years). What does she think? Is the electricity fairy going to come down from heaven and make everything right?
I happened to catch a bit on CNBC (financial television channel) yesterday about the stage three emergency delclared by either the state or Southern California Edison (power company). The reporter said that the emergency was declared for financial reasons and not because there is an actual shortage of supply. SoCalEd also is putting off making an interest payment on a bond they have outstanding (read: that doesn't happen unless the company is in trouble).
Californians think they can just have the power companies bail them out until the current crisis is over. Well, it will never be over, because the power companies can not make any money, because the citizens won't let them make any money. So, thus, SoCalEd cannot afford to increase production, build power plants, etc.
Not only that, no one wants to get into the market there, because they cannot make any money. So then there's not competition.
And now they're all screaming that the power companies are taking advantage of the "high fuel prices" to make a quick buck off of the public.
All I can say to California. You reap what you sow...
The US Air Force has been working on what they call an "Airborne Laser" for years. The idea is to provide a defense against ballistic missiles in a particular theatre of battle. For instance, in the middle east, when Iraq was shooting scuds all over the place. The airborne laser, like the Patriot missile, would be used to shoot down missiles, but unlike the Patriot, which shoots down ballistic missiles as they are approaching their target, the airborne laser would shoot down the missile just after launch. That way, the payload and the missile would fall near the launch site.
If you want more info, go over to FAS, the poor man's Jane's Defense Review.
Isn't gore-tex supposed to breathe? If not, I'm way off base, but based on my experience with Gore-tex, the stuff doesn't breathe too well. I'll believe that this new Nano-tex breathes well when I have an opportunity to try it.
MW is just a bunch of bloodsucking dorksmokers who abuse the class action lawsuit for their own gain. They love the fact that they can sue people and organizations based on the perception that the people/organizations being sued have done wrong. "Well, the stock price went down, so we want you to pay our clients for their loss (read: pay 1,000,000 people $100 each so we can take a 30% commission on $100,000,000).
I agree with you on the Gore-Tex bit. Way too hot, doesn't breathe for shite. Best to buy a garment that has strategically placed zippers, al la under the armpits, to cool one's self. It sounds like this nano-tex stuff will be even less breathable. Perhaps like wearing soft rubber. Of course, if it'll give me a garment that weighs less than three pounds that'll keep me warm when it's 0 degrees F out, I'm all for it!
It's things like this that make things like the Honeynet Project look more and more attractive to me every day. I think that it would behoove more than a few of us to install honeypots on our networks and then prosecute anyone we catch. If there were enough honeypots around, we might start catching a higher percentage of the PFY's and getting Johnny Law knocking on their doors. While we may not be able to get the bastards in Romania, there are quite a few countries that don't look kindly upon this type of thing...
Eh, so I can't add. Piss off.
I think that quantum technology can be used for the purpose that you discuss, it will just come in a completely different form than what you are accustomed to.
For instance, routing could be an application where a quantum computer would be beneficial. Building immense and extremely complicated routing tables would be suited to quantum computing. Having a router CPU that could literally analyze ALL of the routes a packet could take from point A to point B could be very beneficial.
Quantum computing, if successfully introduced to gaming, I believe would eliminate the 3D chipset completely. Currently, we have 3D cards in order to take that processor intensive load off of the CPU. Having a quantum CPU would effectively eliminate the need for a second CPU to munge graphics.
Without delving too far down into flame, are you suggesting that I put a quantum computer on the 3D card of my 700Mhz Athlon system?
To answer your second point, the article said billion, not million. As the late Carl Sagan would have you know, there is a big difference between a billion and a million...say 4 orders of magnitude.
It certainly seems that you understand the value of using snippets of a conversation to make a point, so I don't understand the reason for your reply.
What you say is most likely true (I am not an expert, and therefore cannot register judgement of fact).
You also raise another good question. Will quantum computers replace the current style of computer? Will we reach a point where the CPU's are so cheap and powerful (and RAM is plentiful) where everything can be done by the CPU and RAM? Will quantum computing even be applicable to applications such as web browsing and gaming?
Okay, let's throw out some business jargon and change "paradigms" here. Quantum computers do not have 3D cards, they have no CPU, no RAM, none of that nonesense. Not as I can explain it in 500 words or less, anyhoo.
A quantum computer is literally going to be a new type of computing. Not just as different from a integrated circuit as is a vacuum tube, but as different as an IC is from fire or the wheel. There will be no quantum "chips", no system bus, no SDRAM, no nothing. You will literally have a thing you plug into an interface, probably not even that. Why the hell would any single individual own one of these? If quantum computing is a billion times faster, than one "quantum computer" would take care of the gaming needs of China or India.
Whoa...think of 1 billion people playing Quake all at once...
Okay, so the idea is to make it to Mars in two weeks. What about going to other places in the solar system? Say, Jupiter...Europa...hmmm. We could literally send folks out there and keep sending materials to follow them. Forget about having to recycle every atom one takes to Mars, if the trip is hardly longer than a moon shot, I think we've got it covered.
Right now, the biggest problem with getting to Mars is being able to keep people alive for the 2 years (or something like that) round trip. Watch out, now we'll do it for you in six minutes! Oh, wait....
...I'm gonna buy myself an island....or build a hugemungous oil platform type thing. Somewhere in the Carribean, over 12 miles from any land. Put a resort and a golf course or two up there. Can't cost more than $1bln USD...
Of course, there will be a data haven too.
My advice would be to get the corporate gig. It doesn't even have to be a "corporate" gig, per se. I work for a small company (5 of us) doing database consulting. Working in such an environment has given me much opportunity to satisfy my creative leanings as well as live comfortably.
The wonderful thing about computer science is that you do not need to live/work at a university in order to do research. You should make enough money to allow you to do whatever you like in your spare time. Get attached to open source projects, distributed.net, or a myriad of other projects. There is no end to all the "unofficial" research to be done out there, and there's no reason to live like a pauper while doing it.
Unless of course, you've got the IQ of Bill Joy and can go to UC Berkeley and create Unix...
I don't know why the author chose to include "automatic watch" on the list. As far as I know, such devices are in wide spread use. In fact, there are even a couple of variations. For instance, Seiko's kinetic watches, which, if I am not mistaken, recharge their battery through arm movement. I've owned a Tag Hauer watch with a counterweight that wound the watchspring every time it moved around. I'm sure there are dozens of other examples. In fact, many companies use the "automaticness" of their watch as a marketing gimmick...Look, here's a fancy watch with all the guts you've come to expect it to have, but guess what, you never have to wind it!
This is not going to become an issue, no more an issue than "bugs" in cars or toasters has become. All companies are going to try to hide information that may damage their reputations in the press, but, exploding gas tanks are still news, and Microsoft won't be able to stop anyone from publishing such information.
I think that Linus should do what Greenspun did when negotiating the rights to his book "Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing". The publisher got to put the book in print, but Greenspun retained the right to put the book online. Brilliant, I say. Linus should do the same.
I think that Linus should do what Greenspun did when negotiating the rights to his book "Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing". The publisher got to put the book in print, but Greenspun retained the right to put the book online. Brilliant, I say. Linus should do the same.
...people would stop watching. I highly doubt robotic races will ever garner much more attention than the geek audience. They may get an initial first look from race fans, but don't tell me that 50% of the rednecks at the Daytona 500 wouldn't quit watching if the cars stopped crashing.
On a side note, remote controlled cars, without the fear of the driver losing his life, might be something else entirely. I'd love to see an Indy car throw a piston on the straightaway because the driver was trying to push it to 250mph!
Why not submit Gratuitous Recognition Solicitation for a patent. Maybe clean it up a little bit, but hell, submit it. What'll they say? No? What if they say yes? That would be perfect ammunition against the patent office. Hell, why not slashdot the patent office with phony patent applications to screw up the works, slow them down and ruin their credibiltiy (well, more than it has been). /. should patent shitting or something more inane...that would really get someone's attention in Washington.
I use the term "download" because I am assuming the process would originate from the computer, not the brain. I have yet to find an ftp program suitable to the task in MY filesystem...heheh.
I wonder what people will do once they figure out how to download their brains into a computer?
Well, let's first assume that we do actually exist in a physical world (paradoxes to follow). So now we've got a kickass hugely powerful computer, that say, Linus Torvalds (or any other brilliant mind for that matter), has downloaded himself into.
Let's even say that he has the resources and capability to increase the power of this computer on his own, given enough time. Computer controlled chip fab, plenty of electricity/power, lotsa sand lying around with which to manufacture silicon, etc.
Now, Linus is trapped in this computer with nothing to do, right? Well, almost nothing. Assuming that this machine is infinitely powerful and infinitely expandable, why not start creating one's one little world within the machine? We could create little 'bots' to run around inside the system and interact with each other. We could make some bots weak (worms/flys/bugs in general) and some very strong and crafty (humans/cockroaches).
Now Linus is the only one who has access to his own machine and he's got 30,000 years to tool around with it. So now we've got a simulated earth sitting in some data center somewhere. But of course, Linus isn't the only one doing this.
Bill Joy has built his own little world somewhere in what we would call Alpha Centauri. All these little worlds are connected together via the Internet, but security protocols make it extrememly difficult for one 'bot' to travel between worlds, i.e. rocketship to Alpha Centauri.
But then Linus says something that pisses Bill Joy off in the Diety Daily Herald. Bill then just sends some nanobots two blocks over (we're all really living in Silicon Valley, just don't know it) and turns Linus's data center into primordial goo.
And thus we have the end of existance as we know it.
I read the article and cannot believe the gall of that King. A quote:
"I'm disappointed in the attitude [the universities] have taken, which is 'we don't know anything, we don't have any responsibility unless we know anything, tell us who's infringing and then we'll take decisive steps,' " King said.
King, I hope you read this, however unlikely you are to, but it is not the Universities responsibility to police your so-called copyrights. They should not have to pay for the network administration it would take to block napster (not that it'd cost much, but they don't owe a dime, and it's the principle of the thing).
...up your arse.
/. that did not get a comp sci degree than did. The people who program as a hobby, not as a career, are the ones who know more about programming than most 4 year degree'd folks.
IMHO, college is a way for people who cannot get a job by outshining their peers to do so. Having a college degree is almost like being in the good 'ol boys network. I don't know why a lot of companies even bother to ask for 4 year degrees. Why the hell does my manager need a poly-sci degree to manage 20 people?
The only people who really need degrees are the doctor/engineer/lawyer types. Comp sci degrees? Not. When's the last time a computer science major actually went on to be a computer scientist? Most of 'em are programmers now. I quit myself because I wanted to be a sysadmin. Now I'm leaning more towards programming and development, but you still don't need a computer science degree to do that kind of stuff. I'm almost certain that there are more good programmers that read
Another important thing about programming, project management, I didn't hear about until I got into the real world. I don't think universitys (maybe with the exception of CalTech and MIT, et al.) really prepare their comp-sci students for the real world.
In defense of college...I loved it. I wish I had the resources to go back. I had more fun in college that I've ever had anywhere else. You can get all the sex, drugs and booze you'd ever want there. That's what college is good for.