"web 2.0" actually has a pretty specific meaning now. A lot of terms that start out as "buzz word non-sense" end up being used for a very specific meaning.. it's one of the way new words enter the lexicon.
Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed.
Now the politicians are sayin' "send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute, little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink seven and sevens and play slalom with the icebergs and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil, and kills all the sea-life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive so he's got to walk to the job interviews which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue-plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.
So what'd I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure I'll eliminate the middle man. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? Christ, I could be elected President.
Thing is, rocket design is pretty trivial. It's getting the damn thing to work that is the difficulty. But yes, publishing rocket designs will get you in trouble.
There's a whole lot of people interested in it. Musk, however, isn't one them.
Washington, D.C.: Should not NASA be funding research to make Space Solar Power possible in this time of energy crisis as they did in the 1970's?
Elon Musk: No, I don't believe in space solar power. It will never be competitive with ground solar power. The cost of converting the electron energy to photon energy and then back again on the ground overwhelms the 2X increase in solar incidence. And that's before you consider the cost of transporting the solar panels and converters to orbit!
Washington, D.C.: What do you think of the future of Space Solar Power, especially built with Lunar Materials?
Elon Musk: Only good for people living on the Moon.
Oh, don't get me wrong.. I'm not one of these geeks who thinks that SpaceX is going to have flawless launches from here on out and have a human launch capability ready to replace the Shuttle. I don't even think there's enough customers for SpaceX to really change the launch market.. but I do believe they will capture a lot of that market share and be a successful earner, and I believe they will eventually be delivering cargo to the ISS under COTS. As for Musk's long term plans to colonize Mars.. well that's his little pet project:)
So what you're saying is that NASA is going to back out on COTS.. and basically just give SpaceX millions for doing nothing. Well I guess that's a bad thing.
The author, Bob Clarebrough, suggests that the "economic rational" motives proclaimed by Adam Smith are really only surface effects of the greater motivation: passion and vision.
Besides which, who cares about this bar code scanning crap? What's important is that we have an open platform with some decent market penetration that an industry can grow up on.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, really.
"web 2.0" actually has a pretty specific meaning now. A lot of terms that start out as "buzz word non-sense" end up being used for a very specific meaning.. it's one of the way new words enter the lexicon.
They asked him about proprietary computing "in the cloud". Specifically, they asked him about gmail.
He's aquaphobic you insensitive clod.
I sounds like a great idea. So, umm, do it.
without EMACS? Now that is progress.
Cause I'm pretty sure you'd have a good chance at a known plaintext attack... being that it's your freakin' data and all.
Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed.
Now the politicians are sayin' "send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute, little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink seven and sevens and play slalom with the icebergs and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil, and kills all the sea-life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive so he's got to walk to the job interviews which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue-plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.
So what'd I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure I'll eliminate the middle man. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? Christ, I could be elected President.
You might find this interesting:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3367800.ece
He's still on the phone trying to justify why he needs to fly.
Of course, by "sudden" they mean "a mere million years".
There was more telemetry after the 5200m/s report, they just haven't posted it yet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity
Genius.
Thing is, rocket design is pretty trivial. It's getting the damn thing to work that is the difficulty. But yes, publishing rocket designs will get you in trouble.
Painting NASA with the brush of Bush is a little absurd.
There's a whole lot of people interested in it. Musk, however, isn't one them.
Washington, D.C.: Should not NASA be funding research to make Space Solar Power possible in this time of energy crisis as they did in the 1970's?
Elon Musk: No, I don't believe in space solar power. It will never be competitive with ground solar power. The cost of converting the electron energy to photon energy and then back again on the ground overwhelms the 2X increase in solar incidence. And that's before you consider the cost of transporting the solar panels and converters to orbit!
Washington, D.C.: What do you think of the future of Space Solar Power, especially built with Lunar Materials?
Elon Musk: Only good for people living on the Moon.
Oh, don't get me wrong.. I'm not one of these geeks who thinks that SpaceX is going to have flawless launches from here on out and have a human launch capability ready to replace the Shuttle. I don't even think there's enough customers for SpaceX to really change the launch market.. but I do believe they will capture a lot of that market share and be a successful earner, and I believe they will eventually be delivering cargo to the ISS under COTS. As for Musk's long term plans to colonize Mars.. well that's his little pet project :)
So what you're saying is that NASA is going to back out on COTS.. and basically just give SpaceX millions for doing nothing. Well I guess that's a bad thing.
The Space Review has an article on the motives of entrepreneurs:
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1216/1
The author, Bob Clarebrough, suggests that the "economic rational" motives proclaimed by Adam Smith are really only surface effects of the greater motivation: passion and vision.
Next step - open-source space vehicles!
Heard of ITAR?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Orbital_Transportation_Services
Are there any ACs on Slashdot who are not morons?
To develop? That's proprietary.
Want to buy a launch? $7.9 million.
You must go to different stores to me.
Besides which, who cares about this bar code scanning crap? What's important is that we have an open platform with some decent market penetration that an industry can grow up on.
Let's just hope Google (and her telco partners) don't fuck it up.
Kids don't need teachers.