He's not even interested in going fast, according to the article. Just the lights and the noise? I could give that to him with a flashlight and my hairdryer
If you've ever stood next to a running jet engine (F-15 at full AB) oyu'd understand why.
It was tested, and it worked. They killed a satellite. Then the program, for whatever reason, was dropped.
But it did work. I'd guess, given a real need, no more than 12 months to dust off the plans, upgrade, test, and have a few missiles ready to launch. The launch platform (an F-15) is basically unchanged. The targeting and missile motor worked then, no reason it couldn't work now. Just because there isn't a fleet of them hanging around doesn't mean we can't recreate it.
Yeah...it seems a lot of countries don't agree with that part either. But consider the US in Iraq. If the US military really wanted to...no problem. Turn the entire place into rubble, and damn the civilian casualties. At least now they make an attempt to minimize those.
So, instead of thinking of a better way to defend OUR satellites, they are thinking of ways to obliterate THEIRS? WTF?! If any country stands to lose more from having their satellites blown our of orbit, it's the United States!
Of COURSE! Research into development of a system like this totally precludes any other type of research. Until this laser is up and running, no one in the entire country can be thinking of ways to protect a satellite against a laser or other type of attack. Every single one of them is dedicated to getting this one particular weapon online, to the exclusion of everything else.
[/sarcasm]
Seems to me like it would make more sense not to have the technology at all
Easy! All you have to do is hope no one else makes a baseball bat. You'll be safe forever.
Warfare is not about being equal or fair. You want to win (however a 'win' is defined in any given conflict) as quickly as possible, and with as few casualties as possible. On both sides.
But the kid should be allowd to have it turned off/removed @ age 18 or younger if parents consent)
Once there is a generation or two that have grown up with them...they will see it as normal, and quite possibly won't want to have it turned off/taken out. And also...those 'kids' don't stay kids. They grow up to be politicians.
Right. But which browsers are included? Which version?
I just think that idea is silly. It's not like it's hard to get FF and install it, as evidenced by the X million downloads. Now...if MS prevented you from installing FF or Opera, then we'd have a problem.
It's pretty simple* > If Microsoft unbundles the internet browser from their OS, and makes folks download IE first (and the interface for downloading IE has equal weight given to Mozilla, Opera, etc.),
Here's a conundrum. Preinstalled Windows, or retail disk. No web browser. What do you use to go download IE (or your equal weight alternative)? All the underlying code must be there for you to be able to download (and then install) your browser of choice.
I'm sorry, but $.99 is still way too much for a compressed, restricted pop single from an artist I don't even want to listen to
And $15 was too much for a full CD of uncompressed, DRM free pop 'album' from an artist you didn't even want to listen to. So what. You weren't buying it anyway.
How much WOULD you pay for music you don't want?
How much would you pay for music you DO want? $0.05/track? $0.10? $0.50? How much is music worth to you? Where is your personal dividing line?
I've had netfix for a long time. I tried BB for a couple of months, and even with the instore rentals included, NF was/is a better buy for me. More selection and faster return, even with the so-called throttling.
My son still gets an ocassional movie or game from BB, but our library at home is now large enough to fill the bill for a good instant selection.
Seriously, the complexity associated with modern development tools is way too steep a curve for your average 14 year old to wrap their heads around.
I agree. Back when (VIC-20, C-64, PET, Altair), you turned it on...it did exactly nothing. You HAD to program something, just to get any response onscreen. Even if it was copying code from the back of Run! magazine. Today...you turn it on, and poof..MySpace, minigames.com, gmail, itunes...most anything you want to do or get has already been built, and is there for free. Yes, you can built yet another skinnable mp3 player...but so what?
It takes a special kid to come up with a new idea and build THAT. DVD Jon, for instance. Even these 17 & 18 year old virus puppies. It's almost never something 'new'. Merely a rebadging of someone elses code.
I'm not saying that everything that can be invented has been invented. It's just much, much harder to come up with a new idea that hasn't been done better before.
Just like cars. Back then, you HAD to know about spark advance, top dead center, air/fuel mixture, leather brake linings just to get the thing to move. Today, you're lucky if someone knows which side of the car the filler flap is on. But they do know how to pay someone to install a fartcan muffler, and a playstation in the dash.
I was thinking in terms of read only, there are many sensors that can be checked and parameters that change as equipment ages, and these are often only readable by dealer equipment. Access to diagnostic modes to isolate problem components would be nice too, many cars have this but again, it is locked out except for dealers with the right equipment.
No, it isn't 'locked out'. ODBII scanners are common and cheap. And several of them now have USB interfaces, instead of serial. I've saved several hundred dollars by using mine. The list of parameters that can be read is quite long. Several hundred readings, depending on your car. The one I have reads not just 'now', but you can record a drive, and play back later. If you were that much into it...I guess you could have your laptop or PDA record all the time.
Oh, and it allows you to turn that pesky idiot light off...:)
Electricity doesn't have the insane levels of taxes gasolene and diesel do
And when jurisdictions start getting less and less money from gas taxes, they will attempt to raise that money through other means. They will not readily give up that revenue stream. See Oregon and their proposed tax per mile, instead of per gallon.
Shouldn't said software be tested to something just shy of infinity ?
Then it would never be implemented. You can only test so long before you have to put it in the field. And then, how do you test new people on the line? By running a test exactly like this one.
No skills + no experience + no education Not trying to be funny, but do you think that might be why you don't have a high paying job in your chosen field?
All sorts of stuff. Picures for instance. I could put most of my photo album online and let people see it.
Right, but without some structure, YOU need to build an interface. Something that is done free elsewhere. You and I may have no problem doing that...but the rest of the people out there...
Slashdot Mirror
If you've ever stood next to a running jet engine (F-15 at full AB) oyu'd understand why.
But it did work. I'd guess, given a real need, no more than 12 months to dust off the plans, upgrade, test, and have a few missiles ready to launch. The launch platform (an F-15) is basically unchanged. The targeting and missile motor worked then, no reason it couldn't work now. Just because there isn't a fleet of them hanging around doesn't mean we can't recreate it.
"...ways to protect a satellite against a laser or other type of attack..."
A good way to figure out how to protect an asset is figuring out all the ways you can destroy it.
satellites can be disabled cheaply and easily by ground based weapons
I think you have a different definition of 'cheaply' than most of us do.
the US is inviting potential enemies to develop those weapons
They will anyway.
Yeah...it seems a lot of countries don't agree with that part either. But consider the US in Iraq. If the US military really wanted to...no problem. Turn the entire place into rubble, and damn the civilian casualties. At least now they make an attempt to minimize those.
Of COURSE! Research into development of a system like this totally precludes any other type of research. Until this laser is up and running, no one in the entire country can be thinking of ways to protect a satellite against a laser or other type of attack. Every single one of them is dedicated to getting this one particular weapon online, to the exclusion of everything else.
[/sarcasm]
Easy! All you have to do is hope no one else makes a baseball bat. You'll be safe forever.
Warfare is not about being equal or fair. You want to win (however a 'win' is defined in any given conflict) as quickly as possible, and with as few casualties as possible. On both sides.
You did say nothing, right?
Once there is a generation or two that have grown up with them...they will see it as normal, and quite possibly won't want to have it turned off/taken out. And also...those 'kids' don't stay kids. They grow up to be politicians.
I just think that idea is silly. It's not like it's hard to get FF and install it, as evidenced by the X million downloads.
Now...if MS prevented you from installing FF or Opera, then we'd have a problem.
Here's a conundrum. Preinstalled Windows, or retail disk. No web browser.
What do you use to go download IE (or your equal weight alternative)? All the underlying code must be there for you to be able to download (and then install) your browser of choice.
And $15 was too much for a full CD of uncompressed, DRM free pop 'album' from an artist you didn't even want to listen to. So what. You weren't buying it anyway.
How much WOULD you pay for music you don't want?
How much would you pay for music you DO want? $0.05/track? $0.10? $0.50?
How much is music worth to you? Where is your personal dividing line?
My son still gets an ocassional movie or game from BB, but our library at home is now large enough to fill the bill for a good instant selection.
On average, I'm paying $1.50/movie from NF.
And just because you use Netflix does not preclude doing a one-off rental at BB (or anywhere else) for something you have to have tonight.
That's what the Marines stationed there nicknamed it, long ago.
I agree. Back when (VIC-20, C-64, PET, Altair), you turned it on...it did exactly nothing. You HAD to program something, just to get any response onscreen. Even if it was copying code from the back of Run! magazine.
Today...you turn it on, and poof..MySpace, minigames.com, gmail, itunes...most anything you want to do or get has already been built, and is there for free. Yes, you can built yet another skinnable mp3 player...but so what?
It takes a special kid to come up with a new idea and build THAT. DVD Jon, for instance. Even these 17 & 18 year old virus puppies. It's almost never something 'new'. Merely a rebadging of someone elses code.
I'm not saying that everything that can be invented has been invented. It's just much, much harder to come up with a new idea that hasn't been done better before.
Just like cars. Back then, you HAD to know about spark advance, top dead center, air/fuel mixture, leather brake linings just to get the thing to move. Today, you're lucky if someone knows which side of the car the filler flap is on. But they do know how to pay someone to install a fartcan muffler, and a playstation in the dash.
No, it isn't 'locked out'. ODBII scanners are common and cheap. And several of them now have USB interfaces, instead of serial.
I've saved several hundred dollars by using mine. The list of parameters that can be read is quite long. Several hundred readings, depending on your car. The one I have reads not just 'now', but you can record a drive, and play back later. If you were that much into it...I guess you could have your laptop or PDA record all the time.
Oh, and it allows you to turn that pesky idiot light off...:)
And when jurisdictions start getting less and less money from gas taxes, they will attempt to raise that money through other means. They will not readily give up that revenue stream.
See Oregon and their proposed tax per mile, instead of per gallon.
The bad news is that we have to have laws against your employer requiring a chip to be implanted in your body.
And all the goods you buy are delivered to the store how? By airdrop?
And you know what I say to them?
"You go first."
Then it would never be implemented. You can only test so long before you have to put it in the field.
And then, how do you test new people on the line? By running a test exactly like this one.
Inventory control and RFID, to name a couple of reasons
No skills + no experience + no education
Not trying to be funny, but do you think that might be why you don't have a high paying job in your chosen field?
Right, but without some structure, YOU need to build an interface. Something that is done free elsewhere. You and I may have no problem doing that...but the rest of the people out there...