OK, but look at this as a starting point. If the volunteers can withstand this, try a more hardcore, dangerous experiment with no help to sweep in and save the day. But if we find people crack under this pressure, we know that the tougher one is right out.
You don't have to start at the hardest, most-likely-to-kill-each-other level. Work up to that.
Sure... but a 500 day "easy" mission? Then what? another 500 day "harder" mission? By the time they're done with their testing they can call us on Mars and let us know they're coming.:-)
Since volunteers is allowed to quit the experiment if they develop a severe ailment or psychological stress, most likely they won't try hard enough to survive the journey.
I agree. Furthermore- the knowledge that you are "safe" if anything goes wrong will grossly affect your behavior. For instance, walk on a three inch wide beam that's resting on the ground. Most people can do it without even flinching. Now do the same thing suspended 20 feet above concrete.
Since a lot of this experiement is to see how well the people cope with being in this environment with each other, I question some of the validity. I'm sure there is data that can be gathered, but I would imagine that most of that isn't long-term stuff. I'm betting that the further into the 500 day mission we get the less accurate the reflection of human behavior in that environment is going to be.
Of course, if the whole idea is just to see how well the food, water, O2, &etc rationing works, then I stand corrected- but it seems that an extrapolation model based on a, oh, 150 day mission would be a little more reasonable. {shrug}
hat has a negative impact on the machine performance, as the requests come regardless of its load. SETI@home uses the computer only when it doesn't work otherwise.
I'll address this. I'm a senior security engineer for a major corporation. We, too, have a policy against running any unapproved software on workstations owned by the company.
There are many, many reasons for this beyond just "negative impact." For instance:
What if a security vulnerability was discovered in Seti@Home (or any other unauthorized software) and it resulted in a compromise of (in this case) private citizens' data?
Who is liable if the software causes an outage on the workstation or the network?
Who is liable if the software causes a breach of security or corrupts the integrity of the data being handled by the state?
You see, in the case of corporate (or government) resources there is more at stake than just whether the software has a measurable impact on the performance of the machine. If the state wanted to run Seti@home on the machines, it would do the approriate dilligance to do so- including a risk evaluation and mitigation plans (like upgrades / patching / &etc) to do so. By running any unauthorized software, especially network software, without the knowledge of the owning party you are putting their property (and in this case the public's property) at an unneccessary risk.
I'm sure this is stated in their computer use policy, as it is in ours. Firing the employee was probably the correct action.
Video games aren't the source! If video games affected children's behavior then after playing pac-man for years our generation would all be sitting in dark rooms, munching pills, and listening to electronic music!
Hell, I'd fly with you at night. Then again, I'm also a pilot and I'm not colorblind- so I'd be there to point out if you were mistaking a cellphone tower for an airport beacon. {smirk}
Realisticly, though, I agree with you. Color-blindness is a hinderance but probably not a severe handicap. It's handy for me to be able to quickly locate things by color- but if I knew that it wasn't an option for me to do so I imagine that I could fairly easily do it by context instead.
That's the nice thing about having a century of procedures, technology, and experience behind us- most of the serious kinks have been ironed out of the system and there are several ways to accomplish nearly anything you may need to do in a cockpit. (Save for flying the plane itself, but that's the easy part isn't it.)
I'd be a bit more apt to insure that my handhelt tranceiver's batteries were charged before each flight if I knew that a light-gun was not an option for me, but aside from that I can't think of any major differences.
Yes I know... that much was obvious. But at least I got to use my grand-standing to get some positive mod points out of it. (And hopefully generate some interest in my favorite non-profit orgs to boot!)
You do realize that for every dollar you bastards spend on hopeless, mis-informed "security measures" we citizens spend twice as much on our consumer advocacy groups and media damage control to maintain our civil liberties, right?
Do me a favor- quit your job. I'm tired of paying you with my taxes and everyoneelsewith what little income I have left.
Doesn't make anything a good idea. Take nuclear weapons, computer virii, adware as examples..
Okay, sure:
Nuclear Weapons- Yeah, their power is rediculous and the environmental impact is staggering- but would you rather we had lost WWII to the Third Reich? Computer Viruses- Trust me, they are as helpful to information security as a whole as non-fatal diseases are to species as a whole. Without the constant threat of prolific viruses I can promise you we would be completely vulnerable to the first targeted attack against our critical infrastructures. (I work for one. Believe me.) Adware- umm... well, okay. You got me here. Nuclear Weapons and Computer Viruses I can defend. But Adware is truly fucking useless.
people who consider themselves intelligent are suckers for movies, music, and books that make them think they're more intelligent then the next guy; that they're the only ones who "get it". lost in translation is a classic case.
Hey- fuck you man. I loved Lost in Translation and I happen to know that I'm a moron. So there!
The movie studios have been in search of a new DVD encryption scheme since the industry standard, known as CSS, was cracked by Linux programmers in 1999.
Yeah, no kiddin' FF. I mean- to me that comment is just as acceptible as saying "since CSS was cracked by 'spic programmers in 1999." Geez. It's not like you can use the Linux KERNEL to crack CSS... so how exactly were the programmers who cracked CSS "Linux" programmers?
Last I checked, C was still a a valid and viable programming language on multiple platforms.
-PM
Actually, I disagree. The increased low-speed handling (and higher angle of attack) characteristics of wings with vortex generators have been known for a long time. However, traditionally shaped vortex generators tend to increase drag, or at best leave it the same.
What appears to make this shape unique is that it actually increases the lift of the wing, increases the range of angle of attack (= lower stall speeds) AND reduces drag. This means it's more aerodynamically efficent overall, instead of trading one aerodynamic characteristic for another. (ie: increasing drag to lower the stall speed)
We haven't improved the overall efficency of wing design for some time. (That's why a 1967 Cessna 172 and a 2003 Cessna 172 have nearly identical wings.) This may change that.
It's through the operant conditioning of cops chasing you making the game harder, that it pushes the messages of not killing, stealing, and driving responsibly.
Yes, I've been playing that game on a nearly daily basis myself. After leaving work yesterday, I tried to get in a different car because, well- hey- it was a corvette... and there was no one driving it, so I wouldn't get a star for that, right?:-)
I seem to remember that PARC's LambdaMoo "MOOCode" was based partially on Smalltalk. (Oddly enough, I learned about OO programming from MOOcode.) It actually made a good model for learning OO concepts.
It's creepy when I manage to enter an entire URL or complete a sequence of actions without remembering why...
It usually goes something like this:
1. I think "oooh, I need to recompile that kernel module on host foo."
2. I turn on the computer monitor to find Slashdot or something else distracting already up on the screen.
3. I start a MP3 stream, read a couple of articles... get generally distracted.
4. I think "What was I going to do?". I then just relax and let myself do whatever comes naturally, and which point I launch my SSH client, log into the host and get about half way to the task when I remember where I was going with it and "consciously" continue from where I managed to get myself without thinking about it.
I know, that sounds a bit odd.. but I'm serious- that's how it happens! And it happens more and more as I get older. (I'm almost 30.)
I attribute it to "muscle memory"... It feels exactly the same as being able to play the first part of a song on piano or guitar before remembering what it is I'm playing, which I'm sure any musician can relate to.
I figure I started planning the familiar sequence of computer events in my head back when I thought "I need to...", so I'm able to just plow through that sequence naturally and observe it to get clues where it was I was going with that action. God that still sounds odd, but that's exactly how it happens.
Of course, I drive my car in the same fasion... once again more and more as I get older, and it drives my girlfriend CRAZY.
"WHERE are you going? Why do you always turn that way regardless of where we are trying to get to?!?!?!"
"Ooops... sorry... everywhere else I drive starts with that sequence of turns."
I've found a method that has been foolproof for the past three years. I only give out my email address to people I directly know.
That works if you only communicate with a small number of computer literate friends who don't get infected with viruses or ever send out cc:'ed e-mail.
I have the same policy and practices as you. Unfortunately, I use my email address to communicate with a larger number of people, some of which have done "stupid things" with my email address. Keeping seperate email addresses for "smart" and "dumb" people proved not to be feasible, as people like to share emails and addresses with each other.
Nosirree... I was spam free for FIVE years (1996 - 2001), and then the NIMDA virus came along, harvested my email address from god knows how many of my less computer literate friend's inboxes, and POW- now I receive lots of spam.
{sigh} I wish I was unpopular. Then I wouldn't have this problem. And before you respond with "you should tell them how to use the Internet"... I have. Many times. Some people don't want to think about that kind of stuff regularly. I know, it's a hard concept for the/. crowd to swallow, but it's true.
Slashdot Mirror
Sure... but a 500 day "easy" mission? Then what? another 500 day "harder" mission? By the time they're done with their testing they can call us on Mars and let us know they're coming. :-)
I agree. Furthermore- the knowledge that you are "safe" if anything goes wrong will grossly affect your behavior. For instance, walk on a three inch wide beam that's resting on the ground. Most people can do it without even flinching. Now do the same thing suspended 20 feet above concrete.
Since a lot of this experiement is to see how well the people cope with being in this environment with each other, I question some of the validity. I'm sure there is data that can be gathered, but I would imagine that most of that isn't long-term stuff. I'm betting that the further into the 500 day mission we get the less accurate the reflection of human behavior in that environment is going to be.
Of course, if the whole idea is just to see how well the food, water, O2, &etc rationing works, then I stand corrected- but it seems that an extrapolation model based on a, oh, 150 day mission would be a little more reasonable. {shrug}
-PM
I'll address this. I'm a senior security engineer for a major corporation. We, too, have a policy against running any unapproved software on workstations owned by the company.
There are many, many reasons for this beyond just "negative impact." For instance:
What if a security vulnerability was discovered in Seti@Home (or any other unauthorized software) and it resulted in a compromise of (in this case) private citizens' data?
Who is liable if the software causes an outage on the workstation or the network?
Who is liable if the software causes a breach of security or corrupts the integrity of the data being handled by the state?
You see, in the case of corporate (or government) resources there is more at stake than just whether the software has a measurable impact on the performance of the machine. If the state wanted to run Seti@home on the machines, it would do the approriate dilligance to do so- including a risk evaluation and mitigation plans (like upgrades / patching / &etc) to do so. By running any unauthorized software, especially network software, without the knowledge of the owning party you are putting their property (and in this case the public's property) at an unneccessary risk.
I'm sure this is stated in their computer use policy, as it is in ours. Firing the employee was probably the correct action.
-pm
Oh, wait...
nevermind.
Didja see the new Boeing 777 cockpit design?
There are two cockpit crewmembers: A pilot and a dog.
The pilot's job is to watch the plane fly itself.
The dog's job is to bite the pilot if he touches anything.
{As told to me by a Delta pilot.}
- pm
Realisticly, though, I agree with you. Color-blindness is a hinderance but probably not a severe handicap. It's handy for me to be able to quickly locate things by color- but if I knew that it wasn't an option for me to do so I imagine that I could fairly easily do it by context instead.
That's the nice thing about having a century of procedures, technology, and experience behind us- most of the serious kinks have been ironed out of the system and there are several ways to accomplish nearly anything you may need to do in a cockpit. (Save for flying the plane itself, but that's the easy part isn't it.)
I'd be a bit more apt to insure that my handhelt tranceiver's batteries were charged before each flight if I knew that a light-gun was not an option for me, but aside from that I can't think of any major differences.
You again? Didn't I get mod points for arguing with you yesterday?
Thanks!
- pm
Do me a favor- quit your job. I'm tired of paying you with my taxes and everyone else with what little income I have left.
Sheesh.
Okay, sure:
Nuclear Weapons- Yeah, their power is rediculous and the environmental impact is staggering- but would you rather we had lost WWII to the Third Reich?
Computer Viruses- Trust me, they are as helpful to information security as a whole as non-fatal diseases are to species as a whole. Without the constant threat of prolific viruses I can promise you we would be completely vulnerable to the first targeted attack against our critical infrastructures. (I work for one. Believe me.)
Adware- umm... well, okay. You got me here. Nuclear Weapons and Computer Viruses I can defend. But Adware is truly fucking useless.
Yeah, I used to co-locate a server there. Neat place. {sniff, sniff.} I seem to remember it dating back to about 1997.
Remember the Air Canada Boeing 767 that ran out of fuel? Story at http://www.wadenelson.com/gimli.html
Yeah, no kiddin' FF. I mean- to me that comment is just as acceptible as saying "since CSS was cracked by 'spic programmers in 1999." Geez. It's not like you can use the Linux KERNEL to crack CSS... so how exactly were the programmers who cracked CSS "Linux" programmers?
Last I checked, C was still a a valid and viable programming language on multiple platforms.
-PM
What appears to make this shape unique is that it actually increases the lift of the wing, increases the range of angle of attack (= lower stall speeds) AND reduces drag. This means it's more aerodynamically efficent overall, instead of trading one aerodynamic characteristic for another. (ie: increasing drag to lower the stall speed)
We haven't improved the overall efficency of wing design for some time. (That's why a 1967 Cessna 172 and a 2003 Cessna 172 have nearly identical wings.) This may change that.
- pm
Yes, I've been playing that game on a nearly daily basis myself. After leaving work yesterday, I tried to get in a different car because, well- hey- it was a corvette... and there was no one driving it, so I wouldn't get a star for that, right?
Too bad it was locked.
-P.M.
It usually goes something like this:
1. I think "oooh, I need to recompile that kernel module on host foo."
2. I turn on the computer monitor to find Slashdot or something else distracting already up on the screen.
3. I start a MP3 stream, read a couple of articles... get generally distracted.
4. I think "What was I going to do?". I then just relax and let myself do whatever comes naturally, and which point I launch my SSH client, log into the host and get about half way to the task when I remember where I was going with it and "consciously" continue from where I managed to get myself without thinking about it.
I know, that sounds a bit odd.. but I'm serious- that's how it happens! And it happens more and more as I get older. (I'm almost 30.)
I attribute it to "muscle memory"... It feels exactly the same as being able to play the first part of a song on piano or guitar before remembering what it is I'm playing, which I'm sure any musician can relate to.
I figure I started planning the familiar sequence of computer events in my head back when I thought "I need to...", so I'm able to just plow through that sequence naturally and observe it to get clues where it was I was going with that action. God that still sounds odd, but that's exactly how it happens.
Of course, I drive my car in the same fasion... once again more and more as I get older, and it drives my girlfriend CRAZY.
"Ooops... sorry... everywhere else I drive starts with that sequence of turns."
{sigh}
I have the same policy and practices as you. Unfortunately, I use my email address to communicate with a larger number of people, some of which have done "stupid things" with my email address. Keeping seperate email addresses for "smart" and "dumb" people proved not to be feasible, as people like to share emails and addresses with each other.
Nosirree... I was spam free for FIVE years (1996 - 2001), and then the NIMDA virus came along, harvested my email address from god knows how many of my less computer literate friend's inboxes, and POW- now I receive lots of spam.
{sigh} I wish I was unpopular. Then I wouldn't have this problem. And before you respond with "you should tell them how to use the Internet"... I have. Many times. Some people don't want to think about that kind of stuff regularly. I know, it's a hard concept for the /. crowd to swallow, but it's true.
Ummm... which base? binary based people? octal based people? freebased people? I must not be sorting my pr0n the same way you are.
-pm
The same thing that keeps a fighter from shooting down anything over the U.S.: We'll bomb the hell out of your country if you do it!
"If God had meant for men to fly, he would have given us ball-jointed wrists." - unknown
(Hint: Watch a pilot bragging about a flight maneuver sometime.)
I knew I liked curvy women for a reason! :-)