"Heck, it is far easier to build a city on the ocean floor on Earth, than on the best spot on Mars"
Yes & no.
Yes) the supply chain is shorter, no worry about radiation. No) It is very difficult to maintain anything undersea. Salt water is very corrosive, and it's much harder too defend against perhaps hundreds of atmosphere's of pressure, vs. 1 atmosphere or less on the moon or Mars.
"The sky has been falling on people predicting "overpopulation crisis" for decades. It will take centuries more for the population to increase to dangerous levels"
And, unfortunately, war & disease epidemics also provide a "natural" limit against expansion.
That worked for the little red schoolhouse, but I don't think it would work in a big city environment (specialized academies excepted). Too many bullies, too hard to control. I imagine there was a practical reason for splitting grades into various schools...be it "ages of man", economics or whatever.
I'll 2nd that. I've yet to find any special fx that can fool me into thinking that their rendition of low gravity movement is real. Rarely is it even attempted, no gravity is easier. Even null/micro grav is only convincing for the short cut shots normally seen...what they can patch together from the Vomit Comet & artful film-making. "Apollo 13" did a great job of the latter.
sr ---- There is more stupidity then hydrogen in the universe and it has a longer shelf life. Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)
When browsers first came out, I was thrilled. You could give it a bunch of data, and it would reasonably format it for you. Things were simple & consistent. Once "designers" got into it and got tools to get around html, the simplicity & consistency was gone. Now web pages are like every other custom app I've used.
When Eisenhower was in Europe, he saw how useful logistically it was for the Germans to have a fine network of roads. Amongst the arguments for the interstate system, and perhaps a major impetus in his mind when he was president, was for the ability to quickly move large mechanized forces.
I love owning a car. I've always found it to be liberating. I value the freedom to go where I want & when I want & how I want.
I compare trains vs. cars like this: Donkey Kong vs. 3-D Mario. One has a path that must be followed, the other can explore wherever one wants to. (Granted, not a great analogy)
Whatever supersedes the auto will have to be just as useful as what the auto superseded...the horse.
I know what you mean. I remember back when the local oldies station KRTH started playing classic rock. I said, "No, no, that's not oldies! Oldies are 50's songs, pre-Beatles stuff. We have a quite serviceable classic rock station w/ KLOS. WTF?" I was quite annoyed.
I'll second that. Talked to a Russian once that absolutely saw no difference between Dem & Rep. Similar to ideas I've seen before as to how aliens would see the human race...pretty much all the same w/ a few insignificant differences.
I was somewhat stunned at the hypothetical mgmt responses to the report, but then thought, "ahh, the Merit poster must be one of the mid-level Manglers at BigFirm", and then, put in the right context, the responses made "sense".
Exactly right. McCarthyism that worked. Anyone against the Act or the War was "unpatriotic" and risked being tarred & feathered come election time.
Back then the country was at least 70/30 for "goin' after the evil-doers". It has swung to 30/70 at this point, but could easily swing back given the right conditions.
And then another set of laws & actions would be created. We would let the dogs out. Again.
sr
"Speak the truth, but leave immediately after." ~ Slovenian Proverb ~
Even when people try to cover every situation, it often fails.
Have you ever seen a complex business contract? Lot's of very smart people doing their damndest to cover every possible contingency, leading to hundreds of pages. And when there's disagreement other smart people take it into a court and find ways around all those words.
Or take programming. A limited, finite set of actions...seems simple. Yet producing software is one of the most error-prone activities known to mankind:)
I do agree that there are too many garbage laws, created for obsolete reasons or to benefit only a few. They should be purged. Humans don't seem to do that so well...note the ever increasing growth of data storage.
Also, consider who would be drafting the laws. Every shyster in the area would come running to influence the laws and the votes. I imagine that if we limited the working set to just two people, there would not be 100% agreement on "laws that would cover every necessary situation."
sr -- "The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order." ~ Alfred North Whitehead ~
Yes, this is a failure in leadership, starting at the top. Totally ineffectual management, from the know-nothing CIO to the dev mgr that avoided his responsibility to the petty bureaucrat of a support mgr.
I contracted at a place once that was poorly run. Finger-pointing was rampant. Morale was low.
The company was bought out. Corporate brought in their management and consultants. Shortly thereafter, LOP LOP LOP.
Three(!) levels of IT management were gone. No other staff layoffs. Things improved greatly.
"Not a chance in hell!" is exactly my response. Thanks for pointing this other article out. When reading the original article, I wasn't sure about him but was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Now I have no doubt. He obviously does not want excellent workers, he wants drones who are slavish to the company policy guide.
And to top it off, the co-workers were fine with it. It was not a discipline problem. She often worked overtime.
I can't imagine this guy engendering any loyalty except for the usual office butt-kisser whose primary skill is the ability to watch the clock.
Slashdot Mirror
Some good points.
"Heck, it is far easier to build a city on the ocean floor on Earth, than on the best spot on Mars"
Yes & no.
Yes) the supply chain is shorter, no worry about radiation.
No) It is very difficult to maintain anything undersea. Salt water is very corrosive, and it's much harder too defend against perhaps hundreds of atmosphere's of pressure, vs. 1 atmosphere or less on the moon or Mars.
"The sky has been falling on people predicting "overpopulation crisis" for decades. It will take centuries more for the population to increase to dangerous levels"
And, unfortunately, war & disease epidemics also provide a "natural" limit against expansion.
sr
Make Room, Make Room! (aka Soylent Green :)
That's why we'll need experience in moving planets
-- Nexxus
Yep, I still shake my head at all the aolers & their "me too" threads.
"Why do the Shuttle crews need to get woken up over the radio?"
Camaraderie. Tradition.
Prolly T1.
sr
That worked for the little red schoolhouse, but I don't think it would work in a big city environment (specialized academies excepted). Too many bullies, too hard to control. I imagine there was a practical reason for splitting grades into various schools...be it "ages of man", economics or whatever.
sr
The Port of Long Beach has some Green initiatives going, supplying dockside power to ships, etc.
A ship runs its diesels even at dock to supply the ~6 mw of power that the ship's systems need.
One of their blurbs says that one large ship running off of dockside power instead of diesels will reduce the same pollution as 133000 cars for a day.
I was pretty astounded...this is just for an idling ship, not one that's under way.
sr
Right about this point I was going to come up w/ some smart-ass comment too. Bravo for beating me to it!
sr
I'll 2nd that. I've yet to find any special fx that can fool me into thinking that their rendition of low gravity movement is real. Rarely is it even attempted, no gravity is easier. Even null/micro grav is only convincing for the short cut shots normally seen...what they can patch together from the Vomit Comet & artful film-making. "Apollo 13" did a great job of the latter.
sr
----
There is more stupidity then hydrogen in the universe and it has a longer shelf life.
Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)
I think Library Science deals with this.
sr
The US was in the black in the late 90's.
sr
When browsers first came out, I was thrilled. You could give it a bunch of data, and it would reasonably format it for you. Things were simple & consistent. Once "designers" got into it and got tools to get around html, the simplicity & consistency was gone. Now web pages are like every other custom app I've used.
sr
When Eisenhower was in Europe, he saw how useful logistically it was for the Germans to have a fine network of roads. Amongst the arguments for the interstate system, and perhaps a major impetus in his mind when he was president, was for the ability to quickly move large mechanized forces.
sr
I love owning a car. I've always found it to be liberating. I value the freedom to go where I want & when I want & how I want.
I compare trains vs. cars like this: Donkey Kong vs. 3-D Mario. One has a path that must be followed, the other can explore wherever one wants to. (Granted, not a great analogy)
Whatever supersedes the auto will have to be just as useful as what the auto superseded...the horse.
sr
I know what you mean. I remember back when the local oldies station KRTH started playing classic rock. I said, "No, no, that's not oldies! Oldies are 50's songs, pre-Beatles stuff. We have a quite serviceable classic rock station w/ KLOS. WTF?" I was quite annoyed.
sr
I'll second that. Talked to a Russian once that absolutely saw no difference between Dem & Rep. Similar to ideas I've seen before as to how aliens would see the human race...pretty much all the same w/ a few insignificant differences.
mp
Exactly!
I agree whole-heartedly. I predict that we, as an industry, will move on, and these articles will die off within 5 years.
sr
Excellent excellent reply to "Merit".
I was somewhat stunned at the hypothetical mgmt responses to the report, but then thought, "ahh, the Merit poster must be one of the mid-level Manglers at BigFirm", and then, put in the right context, the responses made "sense".
sr
3 wheelers are inherently unstable. Ones with a single back wheel triply so.
sr
Exactly right. McCarthyism that worked. Anyone against the Act or the War was "unpatriotic" and risked being tarred & feathered come election time.
Back then the country was at least 70/30 for "goin' after the evil-doers". It has swung to 30/70 at this point, but could easily swing back given the right conditions.
And then another set of laws & actions would be created. We would let the dogs out. Again.
sr
"Speak the truth, but leave immediately after." ~ Slovenian Proverb ~
Even when people try to cover every situation, it often fails.
:)
Have you ever seen a complex business contract? Lot's of very smart people doing their damndest to cover every possible contingency, leading to hundreds of pages. And when there's disagreement other smart people take it into a court and find ways around all those words.
Or take programming. A limited, finite set of actions...seems simple. Yet producing software is one of the most error-prone activities known to mankind
I do agree that there are too many garbage laws, created for obsolete reasons or to benefit only a few. They should be purged. Humans don't seem to do that so well...note the ever increasing growth of data storage.
Also, consider who would be drafting the laws. Every shyster in the area would come running to influence the laws and the votes. I imagine that if we limited the working set to just two people, there would not be 100% agreement on "laws that would cover every necessary situation."
sr
--
"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order." ~ Alfred North Whitehead ~
Yes, this is a failure in leadership, starting at the top. Totally ineffectual management, from the know-nothing CIO to the dev mgr that avoided his responsibility to the petty bureaucrat of a support mgr.
I contracted at a place once that was poorly run. Finger-pointing was rampant. Morale was low.
The company was bought out. Corporate brought in their management and consultants. Shortly thereafter, LOP LOP LOP.
Three(!) levels of IT management were gone. No other staff layoffs. Things improved greatly.
mp
This guy's a petty bureaucrat. My career has always excelled and advanced when I've been able to avoid his type.
mp
"Not a chance in hell!" is exactly my response. Thanks for pointing this other article out. When reading the original article, I wasn't sure about him but was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Now I have no doubt. He obviously does not want excellent workers, he wants drones who are slavish to the company policy guide.
And to top it off, the co-workers were fine with it. It was not a discipline problem. She often worked overtime.
I can't imagine this guy engendering any loyalty except for the usual office butt-kisser whose primary skill is the ability to watch the clock.
mp