Yeah - why not take some exciting untested drugs? We could have all the fun of another thalidomide!
Did I say untested?
Drug testing is pathologically conservative these days and it is keeping potentially effective drugs from the markets and driving prices of the new, approved drugs through the roof. This hurts us much, much more in the long run than anomalies like thalidomide (which is back, by the way).
Demanding human space exploration has nothing to do with sentiment. 1) There are tasks robots can never accomplish (read my post above), 2) The sooner we master the art and science of getting off this planet, the better our chances for survival as a species are. We must colonize other planets - not tomorrow but NOW!
Sending out robots and probes is nice armchair exploration, but it won't help us when (not if) the next extinction level event hits the Earth.
Once the technology is in place, and enough CEOs get it in their heads that it's feasible, you'll start to see off-world resource exploitation.
Yes, but at what cost?
Do we really want a corporate death-grip on space exploration and, in time, resource exploitation? Governments we can change by voting, corporate boards we can't (unless we can afford to buy a crapload of stocks in the said corp).
Ah, I was waiting for the cheapskate argument to show up.
Robots do not have human intuition and a desk-jockey running a probe remotely doesn't have the situational awareness required for innovative on-spot decisions.
Read Man on the Moon and tell me that human mind isn't the most valuable instrument in off world exploration.
Ah, yes, but to the robot-space-exploration mob, who now after two shuttle disasters are unfortunately winning the fight for politicians' hearts, it is heresy to claim that there are tasks that humans do better than robots. It's the classical cheapskate argument that appeals to the PHBs: instead of sending a human up in space we can send so and so many robots for the same money and no risk of a PR fallout.
And then they wonder why the public finds space exploration boring and don't want to pay for their remote controlled "exploration" either.
Everybody has become so obsessed with safety that it's starting to hinder our progress as a species. Not only in the field of exploration but in medical sciences and new drug development, too.
It's cargo is quite minimal, so is it *really* that cheap? Not to mention that it *doesn't* get to orbit, and that most of the challenges concerning taking people to/from space have to do with the orbital velocity.
I'd be inclined to forgive these as inevitable baby-steps in a process towards a platform that can truly provide a cost-effective private launch vehicle.
I am, however, more worried about certain aspects of commercializing space flight such as who owns what? I can see a future when orbits, launch profiles and access to space in general become proprietary IP of a few metanational megacorps who, by definition, are only interested in short-term profit.
Cooking is fun! Trying to get your favourite dish just right should appeal to any geek who has the same drive for perfection when building computers or coding. Get the base right from a book or a magazine and then start tweaking the recipe until it's perfect.
Sauces, in particular, are rewarding. They either make or break your dish.
I used to be like that and still am. I just can't really eat anything in the morning.
As a result, I was damn skinny until I hit my mid-thirties. Before that I could eat just about anything without exercising, but after, well, I just bloated. I gained ~30 kg in two years without changing anything in my diet or (lack of) exercise. Then my weight stabilized again. I was (am) overweight with a BMI of 28.4 kg/m2, but I could eat again just about anything without gaining weight - even if I didn't exercise which I do now.
This spring I began cycling to work (~18 km/day) and going regularly to the gym. Let's see what happens.
That's a pretty funny post, but I'd like to point out the rules for successfully incorporating exercise into your life:
The first rule is "whatever you do, it must be fun".
The second rule is "whatever you do, it must be fun".
Anything else is secondary. Here some kids have found a fun and effective way to exercise and it'd be almost criminal to bring them down by pointing out trivial matters like associated costs.
But the fact is Microsoft is keeping us from adopting things like CSS2, PNG and SVG more than anything else.
Uh. How is Microsoft keeping us from adopting those things?
If people felt that SVG, for instance, is necessary, then they'd download a browser that supports it. Standard HTML, JPGs and PDF download for documents. That's all we need.
WOW! Thats *so* helpful! Just refuse to do the job your employer is paying you to do... DAMN... why didn't I think of that?
How do you know he's getting paid to do it? Some professors have a nasty habit of getting all their nasty, menial and boring stuff done by their students who are already working on their degree projects 12 hours a day, six days a week.
Ok, so for some reason I assumed that the poster is a student so my initial reaction was probably off. I would never assign such a menial, dead-end task to my postgrad students, nor would I have accepted such a task without objections when I was still a student.
Slashdot Mirror
Did I say untested?
Drug testing is pathologically conservative these days and it is keeping potentially effective drugs from the markets and driving prices of the new, approved drugs through the roof. This hurts us much, much more in the long run than anomalies like thalidomide (which is back, by the way).
And the reason for the boredom couldn't just happen to be that we're still loitering around in LEO?
Demanding human space exploration has nothing to do with sentiment. 1) There are tasks robots can never accomplish (read my post above), 2) The sooner we master the art and science of getting off this planet, the better our chances for survival as a species are. We must colonize other planets - not tomorrow but NOW!
Sending out robots and probes is nice armchair exploration, but it won't help us when (not if) the next extinction level event hits the Earth.
Yes, but at what cost?
Do we really want a corporate death-grip on space exploration and, in time, resource exploitation? Governments we can change by voting, corporate boards we can't (unless we can afford to buy a crapload of stocks in the said corp).
Robots do not have human intuition and a desk-jockey running a probe remotely doesn't have the situational awareness required for innovative on-spot decisions.
Read Man on the Moon and tell me that human mind isn't the most valuable instrument in off world exploration.
And then they wonder why the public finds space exploration boring and don't want to pay for their remote controlled "exploration" either.
Everybody has become so obsessed with safety that it's starting to hinder our progress as a species. Not only in the field of exploration but in medical sciences and new drug development, too.
I'd be inclined to forgive these as inevitable baby-steps in a process towards a platform that can truly provide a cost-effective private launch vehicle.
I am, however, more worried about certain aspects of commercializing space flight such as who owns what? I can see a future when orbits, launch profiles and access to space in general become proprietary IP of a few metanational megacorps who, by definition, are only interested in short-term profit.
Enron, RIAA/MPAA, Exxon, Halliburton,...
Just a bunch of people working together, yes, but what is the cause they are working for?
Perhaps, although I'm not so sure we should be so happy about corporations owning the space.
I thought DMCA made it illegal.
Why would you want compatibility with extermal packages if your entire business target segment is the corporate market?
Cooking is fun! Trying to get your favourite dish just right should appeal to any geek who has the same drive for perfection when building computers or coding. Get the base right from a book or a magazine and then start tweaking the recipe until it's perfect.
Sauces, in particular, are rewarding. They either make or break your dish.
Like the click-and-point management of a Windows NT/W2K/WinXP domain of our department?
Indeed. As I said, IT has become more of a blue collar job.
IT hasn't lost its value. It has just become more of a blue-collar job.
I used to be like that and still am. I just can't really eat anything in the morning.
As a result, I was damn skinny until I hit my mid-thirties. Before that I could eat just about anything without exercising, but after, well, I just bloated. I gained ~30 kg in two years without changing anything in my diet or (lack of) exercise. Then my weight stabilized again. I was (am) overweight with a BMI of 28.4 kg/m2, but I could eat again just about anything without gaining weight - even if I didn't exercise which I do now.
This spring I began cycling to work (~18 km/day) and going regularly to the gym. Let's see what happens.
Me too. I still find it somewhat distracting when someone starts talking about going out to buy some more "DDR memory" for his computer.
BTW, nice links.
The first rule is "whatever you do, it must be fun".
The second rule is "whatever you do, it must be fun".
Anything else is secondary. Here some kids have found a fun and effective way to exercise and it'd be almost criminal to bring them down by pointing out trivial matters like associated costs.
Uh. How is Microsoft keeping us from adopting those things?
If people felt that SVG, for instance, is necessary, then they'd download a browser that supports it. Standard HTML, JPGs and PDF download for documents. That's all we need.
Actually the residual radioactive materials last 50-100 years so we'll still have a waste problem with decommissioned plants.
A fusion reactor can't "go Chernobyl".
How do you know he's getting paid to do it? Some professors have a nasty habit of getting all their nasty, menial and boring stuff done by their students who are already working on their degree projects 12 hours a day, six days a week.
Ok, so for some reason I assumed that the poster is a student so my initial reaction was probably off. I would never assign such a menial, dead-end task to my postgrad students, nor would I have accepted such a task without objections when I was still a student.
Uh. How about telling your prof. to get stuffed and get a real secretary.
Maybe - just maybe - there is still some hope.