True...a programmer isn't a scientist. A systems architect however could be. Expecially when researching data structures, new, more efficient ways of doing things (like encryption, compression, the whole quantum computing thing). You can't deny that that's CS...and you can't deny that when you're working on that high a level in the field that you're a scientist...especially as you need to follow the scientific method.
But a 'mere' programmer doesn't, and isn't, that's true.
OK, I'll try to spell it out in nice, simple words. With my comparison between NASA and other countries, I obviously mean NASA's counterparts in thosee countries. NASA is the US' national space agency (doesn't the acronym kinda give it away?)...as far as space research and development goes, NASA/is/ the US, in the same way that the national space agencies of those other countries represent their respective countries.
At most I would have to agree that it says something/against/ NASA when you have to compare them to a country.
Wow...this shows how far Disney has perverted the law; Cinderella is already public domain! It's an old fairy tale! Just like 'Beauty and the Beast' is...you can draw, paint and sell anything you like about those characters:)
Anyway, I think the whole fan art thing goes to show how broken trademark/copyright law is. Something really ought to be done about it.
I know that NASA has developed a lot of new technologies. I also know where to find them (no, not nasa.gov:) ).
Thing is, NASA is a space agency, not a pure research agency. They do the research because they have (had) to, to get satelites into space. I think you mistake 'non-profit' for 'pure research organisation'.
Anyway, I know quite a bit about NASA's multiple idea's for shuttle folow ups. The fact that they have multiple should tell you something about the lack of efficiency there. The fact that they spent millions without actual prototypess should say more. The fact that an aussie built a scramjet for 10.000 dollars and actually flew it, whereas NASA, which had many more people and much more money on their scramjet, couldn't get theirs to fly is an even greater indication. Face it; congress was absolutely right to cut funding for an effort which ran hugely over budget and didn't produce tangible goods, or even cost-savings.
But most telling of all is that many NASA people say the same thing; NASA is a beurocracy which is in the business of perpetuating itself more than doing actual science or innovating in their field. You should go read some scientific journals, and you'd know that.
Sure, they have done and still do amazing things...but how could you not with some amazing people and an amazing budget. But look at China, look at Japan, look at Russia even; all are doing much more to push the boundaries of human experience than NASA is now.
The reason for that though is that NASA is funded by public money; you own all those patents anyway (if you're american, that is). But to avoid a hell of a lot of hassle, NASA just plonks it into the public domain.
Anyway, that's beside the point here; it's a fact that NASA is top-heavy, inefficient and basically just a money sink which doesn't do what it's supposed to do: open up space for the masses.
Personally I think it's a big shame on them that a private individual like Burt Rutan will (very likely) have a (commercial) re-usable shuttle service up in the air, sooner and for less cost than anything NASA has ever dreamed up. The NASA bigwigs should be begging to be bitchslapped for failure to do something similar.
Dunno about the situation in the US, but a lot of newer phones in europe are java enabled...so there should be an avenue for the small fry to sell; over the internet.
Shows you how it pays to buy standardised hardware, though. If you have an intel cpu, a soundblaster sound card and an nvidia gfx card, you'll be surprised at how little games crash.
OTOH, get an amd, a vortex sound card (yeah, better 3d positioning [hey it at least has a z-axis!], but the gravis ultrasound was better than anything in it's time, too [still is better than most cards out there now!]) and a matrox gfx card, and have fun with those BSOD's.
Well, a AAA title has a dev time of anything between 2 and 4 years. I can't give exact figures, but games like UT2k3, NWN and any other top title (I'm talking production values, not gameplay quality) cost anywhere between 2 and 10 million to make. Go read Gamasutra, fatbabies and other sites of the like for exact figures.
"I don't think you are going to learn a whole ton from Unreal 2K (I could be wrong)."
Yeah...to 'try-before-you-buy' warez games before spending your hard earned cash on them.
I mean, I tried it for part of one level, and just deleted it from my HD; same-ol', same-ol' fps shit. GTA3:VC I played for ten minutes and then ran out to buy it (well, actually after 5 minutes of playing I knew I would buy it, so I played on for the rest of teh night and bought it the next day, but you get the picture:) ).
Then a week later I installed Alpha Centauri again (from my original cd) and have been playing that and Vice City in turns, between work, beach and going out.
What I want is a PDA which happens to have a phone in there, not a phone which also has a pda.
Reason for this is the fact that a phone is a phone, but a PDA has to have a certain size screen to be a real pda (ie usefull as such). A PDA with a phone would be damn handy...a phone with a pda in it is half-hearted and doesn't do the pda part well, whilst a pda with a phone in it will do both fine.
I have a IIIc. The screen is large and has colours...I can do my reading in true black and white (easy on the eyes...and I read a hell of a lot), and all my appointments fit perfectly on one screen (as they should). I don't need or want a keyboard; I do my data entry on a pc, or graffitti short stuff into it.
My ideal PDA would have the formfactor of one of those low end sony's, but with a virtual graffiti area (so I'd have a 480x320 screen; perfect for books, better for to-do-lists and appointments), with the phone speakers on the other side, so I don't get my screen all smudgy from my cheek when talking.
Man, I've been complaining about this all for years...but somehow no-one seems to make the pda/phone which will make me want to upgrade from my trusty IIIc.
The thing about private contributions is that they can come from people who stand behind the idealogical viewpoints of the candidate. A business however, by it's very reason for being, is out for profit.
What I would recomend is outlawing business contributions and making private contributions anonymous. Problem solved. Hell, even you could have thought of that.
I've always wondered why it is legal for a company to contribute towards a campaign. What else can it be construed as except a bribe for better business conditions?
No. Copyprotection is a timedelay deterent. This is the case in the music industry, the computer industry and hell, car alarms/protection serve the same purpose in the auto-industry.
What copy protection tries to do is to delay the release of a product on the black market by a number of weeks or months, thus forcing people to buy the legitemate product (and in the case of the auto-industry, forcing the criminal to spend extra time next to a screaming car, thus elevating his chanc3es of being caught).
Even people in the copy protection business will tell you this: copy protection is a time delay mechanism.
However, with music/programs popping up in the black market right after release, if not !before!, copy protection is a waste of money and time. But companies like macrovision et al won't say that, of course.
I'm thankfull I haven't seen any CNC lathes or mills yet which run on WinCE. I think I'd laugh at the workshop administrator if he ever bought one. On second thought, I think he'd laugh at me if I suggested it:)
...as well as a lot of easy to make, but equally uninformed points aside, this could have been a perfect case study, if only it had been set up as such.
Any behavioural psychologist worth his or her salt should have read the the news that Bhutan was introducing cable tv to their society, gotten a grant and flown the fsck over there.
Point being, society is getting more violent on a day to day basis. Sure, society has always been violent (and one could make the case that we're only more informed about it due to mass media), but I think (or at least pretend to see) that it is getting slightly more so.
Now is that due to tv, as Micheal Moore would have it (and he does make a pretty compelling case), or is that total bollocks?
Well, we can all philosophise, but we've missed a perfect chance to get some real, valid answers. Which, it strikes me, is kind of stupid of us, to miss this oppertunity.
Slashdot Mirror
True...a programmer isn't a scientist. A systems architect however could be. Expecially when researching data structures, new, more efficient ways of doing things (like encryption, compression, the whole quantum computing thing). You can't deny that that's CS...and you can't deny that when you're working on that high a level in the field that you're a scientist...especially as you need to follow the scientific method.
But a 'mere' programmer doesn't, and isn't, that's true.
WTF? Are you really that out of touch of reality?
/is/ the US, in the same way that the national space agencies of those other countries represent their respective countries.
/against/ NASA when you have to compare them to a country.
OK, I'll try to spell it out in nice, simple words. With my comparison between NASA and other countries, I obviously mean NASA's counterparts in thosee countries. NASA is the US' national space agency (doesn't the acronym kinda give it away?)...as far as space research and development goes, NASA
At most I would have to agree that it says something
Wow...this shows how far Disney has perverted the law; Cinderella is already public domain! It's an old fairy tale! Just like 'Beauty and the Beast' is...you can draw, paint and sell anything you like about those characters :)
Anyway, I think the whole fan art thing goes to show how broken trademark/copyright law is. Something really ought to be done about it.
The big difference here is that in one case, no money is made, and in the other, you sell and make money from that cd.
I'd call that a mayor difference.
I think this is a perfect example of where trademark/copyright law abjectly fails.
I know that NASA has developed a lot of new technologies. I also know where to find them (no, not nasa.gov :) ).
Thing is, NASA is a space agency, not a pure research agency. They do the research because they have (had) to, to get satelites into space. I think you mistake 'non-profit' for 'pure research organisation'.
Anyway, I know quite a bit about NASA's multiple idea's for shuttle folow ups. The fact that they have multiple should tell you something about the lack of efficiency there. The fact that they spent millions without actual prototypess should say more. The fact that an aussie built a scramjet for 10.000 dollars and actually flew it, whereas NASA, which had many more people and much more money on their scramjet, couldn't get theirs to fly is an even greater indication.
Face it; congress was absolutely right to cut funding for an effort which ran hugely over budget and didn't produce tangible goods, or even cost-savings.
But most telling of all is that many NASA people say the same thing; NASA is a beurocracy which is in the business of perpetuating itself more than doing actual science or innovating in their field. You should go read some scientific journals, and you'd know that.
Sure, they have done and still do amazing things...but how could you not with some amazing people and an amazing budget. But look at China, look at Japan, look at Russia even; all are doing much more to push the boundaries of human experience than NASA is now.
No, the 'teacher in space' program was a PR program. Anyway, what do you think she would have done up there...more than Tito did?
Hell, I know /I/ am :(
What, you didn't like Black Adder? Or The Thin Blue Line? Or any of the many other series he (co)wrote?
Wow...
The reason for that though is that NASA is funded by public money; you own all those patents anyway (if you're american, that is). But to avoid a hell of a lot of hassle, NASA just plonks it into the public domain.
Anyway, that's beside the point here; it's a fact that NASA is top-heavy, inefficient and basically just a money sink which doesn't do what it's supposed to do: open up space for the masses.
Personally I think it's a big shame on them that a private individual like Burt Rutan will (very likely) have a (commercial) re-usable shuttle service up in the air, sooner and for less cost than anything NASA has ever dreamed up. The NASA bigwigs should be begging to be bitchslapped for failure to do something similar.
Heh...I bet you're right :(
:)
Ah, well...I hope by that time I can mix'n'match my PDA to my specifications, just like a pc
Dunno about the situation in the US, but a lot of newer phones in europe are java enabled...so there should be an avenue for the small fry to sell; over the internet.
Shows you how it pays to buy standardised hardware, though. If you have an intel cpu, a soundblaster sound card and an nvidia gfx card, you'll be surprised at how little games crash.
OTOH, get an amd, a vortex sound card (yeah, better 3d positioning [hey it at least has a z-axis!], but the gravis ultrasound was better than anything in it's time, too [still is better than most cards out there now!]) and a matrox gfx card, and have fun with those BSOD's.
Well, a AAA title has a dev time of anything between 2 and 4 years. I can't give exact figures, but games like UT2k3, NWN and any other top title (I'm talking production values, not gameplay quality) cost anywhere between 2 and 10 million to make. Go read Gamasutra, fatbabies and other sites of the like for exact figures.
"I don't think you are going to learn a whole ton from Unreal 2K (I could be wrong)."
:) ).
Yeah...to 'try-before-you-buy' warez games before spending your hard earned cash on them.
I mean, I tried it for part of one level, and just deleted it from my HD; same-ol', same-ol' fps shit. GTA3:VC I played for ten minutes and then ran out to buy it (well, actually after 5 minutes of playing I knew I would buy it, so I played on for the rest of teh night and bought it the next day, but you get the picture
Then a week later I installed Alpha Centauri again (from my original cd) and have been playing that and Vice City in turns, between work, beach and going out.
What I want is a PDA which happens to have a phone in there, not a phone which also has a pda.
Reason for this is the fact that a phone is a phone, but a PDA has to have a certain size screen to be a real pda (ie usefull as such). A PDA with a phone would be damn handy...a phone with a pda in it is half-hearted and doesn't do the pda part well, whilst a pda with a phone in it will do both fine.
I have a IIIc. The screen is large and has colours...I can do my reading in true black and white (easy on the eyes...and I read a hell of a lot), and all my appointments fit perfectly on one screen (as they should).
I don't need or want a keyboard; I do my data entry on a pc, or graffitti short stuff into it.
My ideal PDA would have the formfactor of one of those low end sony's, but with a virtual graffiti area (so I'd have a 480x320 screen; perfect for books, better for to-do-lists and appointments), with the phone speakers on the other side, so I don't get my screen all smudgy from my cheek when talking.
Man, I've been complaining about this all for years...but somehow no-one seems to make the pda/phone which will make me want to upgrade from my trusty IIIc.
The thing about private contributions is that they can come from people who stand behind the idealogical viewpoints of the candidate. A business however, by it's very reason for being, is out for profit.
What I would recomend is outlawing business contributions and making private contributions anonymous. Problem solved. Hell, even you could have thought of that.
Tough: it's his job to look at legislation like that and spot how it can be mis-applied.
So he's screwed either way: if he's telling the truth, he didn't do his job, and if he's lying...
I've always wondered why it is legal for a company to contribute towards a campaign. What else can it be construed as except a bribe for better business conditions?
"Non gratis rodentus anus"
A rat's arse isn't free?
No. Copyprotection is a timedelay deterent. This is the case in the music industry, the computer industry and hell, car alarms/protection serve the same purpose in the auto-industry.
What copy protection tries to do is to delay the release of a product on the black market by a number of weeks or months, thus forcing people to buy the legitemate product (and in the case of the auto-industry, forcing the criminal to spend extra time next to a screaming car, thus elevating his chanc3es of being caught).
Even people in the copy protection business will tell you this: copy protection is a time delay mechanism.
However, with music/programs popping up in the black market right after release, if not !before!, copy protection is a waste of money and time. But companies like macrovision et al won't say that, of course.
Cheap products with DRM? How do you think the development costs of that DRM are going to be recouped?
That's right: by making the new product more expensive...remember when DVD's whgere going to be cheaper than VHS?
If one stuck to the old formats, the dev costs would have been recouped, and you would have cheap media...
I'm thankfull I haven't seen any CNC lathes or mills yet which run on WinCE. I think I'd laugh at the workshop administrator if he ever bought one. On second thought, I think he'd laugh at me if I suggested it :)
"Every time I have to work on the old QNX project I want to bang my head against the monitor."
Why?
...as well as a lot of easy to make, but equally uninformed points aside, this could have been a perfect case study, if only it had been set up as such.
Any behavioural psychologist worth his or her salt should have read the the news that Bhutan was introducing cable tv to their society, gotten a grant and flown the fsck over there.
Point being, society is getting more violent on a day to day basis. Sure, society has always been violent (and one could make the case that we're only more informed about it due to mass media), but I think (or at least pretend to see) that it is getting slightly more so.
Now is that due to tv, as Micheal Moore would have it (and he does make a pretty compelling case), or is that total bollocks?
Well, we can all philosophise, but we've missed a perfect chance to get some real, valid answers. Which, it strikes me, is kind of stupid of us, to miss this oppertunity.