Most people who use AOL don't need to proficient in the OS they are using. They send email, surf, and (maybe) use a word processor. Putting up big icons for those things is all that is necessary.
Sending two of the same is a bad idea, because they typically fail because of some design flaw - which would hit both of them.
Better to send one at the time. If the mission is successful, you can move on to some new question. If it is a failure, you can figure out what went wrong and fix it.
/Tor
What is the electricity bill?
on
RC5-64 Success
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· Score: 1
I wonder how much the total costs of the electrical power involved in this effort was. I can imagine that it is not very efficient, with people using old power supplies, buzzing hard drives, and even montiors with some cool related screensaver.
As for the research projects, what if they could choose between (A) getting all the money spent on power for the computation or (B) getting the computation itself.
If (A) is true, then this is something that is just a cool but inefficient way of collecting donations. I hope (B) is the case, which would really mean that this is a synergetic and productive effort.
Actually, Intel has not optimized their R&D for overall CPU speed in the last few years, they have focused on maxing the clock frequency.
They realized that the vast majority of consumers see frequency as completely synonymous with computational power. Even my father, an electrical engineer with 17 patents, came home one day bragging on the great deal he got on his new computer with a lot of MHZ. I saw the Celereon label and did not say much...
computer management of cars has obsoleted all auto mechanics....food processors put every chef out of a job....handwriting recognition eliminated postal workers...."eliza" makes George Bush irrelevant.
These three examples (no comment on the last one) all illustrate that as technology improves, you can do a better job in a shorter period of time. Sometimes it leads to better service, sometimes fewer work hours and lower costs. It is called capitalism, and it has made the U.S. the richest country on the planet.
We should expect a similar development for Sysadmins, although any prediction of their imminent demise is obviously exaggerated.
The experiment succeeded in producing amino acids, but scientists have never been able to produce any more complex organic molecules in the lab. No DNA (not even fragments), no RNA, and certainly no proteins. (Do you have any idea how incredibly complex proteins are? They're made up of lots and lots and lots of left-handed amino acids all chained together in exactly the right order. And once a protein is formed, it must be folded in exactly the right way (out of millions of possible foldings) in order to function correctly.)
This is true, and it proves that some of the reactions necessary to form life are too unlikely to occur repeadiately in a table-top experiment. But if the test tube at hand is all the oceans on earth and the experiment lasts for billions of years, then the unlikely turns likely turns certain.
Even if a protein managed to form, it would have broken down while it was waiting for another one to form. Organic molecules tend to break down over time. This process is accelarated by water (didn't life supposedly form in the ocean?) and heat.
Well, if the protein was self-replicating then all it takes is one, right? Simple organisms (bacteria or even more primitive) do not need partners...
...according to Einstein's laws. This is actually stated later in the article, but it deserves a more prominent position.
What these people have done is (at best) to spread information at sub-light speeds that are faster than they were before.
Certain types of waves can seem to go faster than light, but this is not really information that is being spread. For example, if two long beams are crossing at a small angle, then the intersection can move faster than light - but information can't.
Even if they can be recharged overnight by electrolysis, that just moves pollution from the tailpipe to the smokestack, you are still moving over a ton of material to move one person.
This point is valid until the day we stop burning oil to power the electricity grid. In the long run, say 50 or a 100 years, nuclear power is inevitable.
the efficient collective farms of the Soviet Union
Yeah, right. The Soviets where never even close to the US in farm production in spite of much larger farmable areas. The only efficient Soviet farms where the ones that were in the citizens private gardens. These where limited to be very small for political reasons, but in the case of a big war they would have been allowed to expand, thus offering a great boost in output at the time of need.
Fuel cell cars run by generating electricity directly, which in turn drives motors. For this reason, they are much better prepared to drive electrical devices in the car, and they can have higher voltages.
Gasoline cars burn fuel, which drives the car. Any electricity needed comes from a generator, which is a double inefficiency (on in burning fuels, one for driving the generator). It is thus impractical and expensive to have sizable voltages in the car.
While they have not put up a list yet, they used to have a search engine to locate theaters with digital projectors (and other showing theaters as well).
It seems likely that they will do the same once the IMAX version starts playing.
Denmark is well connected with it's neighbors (Sweden, Germany) which use more traditional methods for energy. The energy market is increasingly integrated, so that excess energy can be exported and if they have to turn off the wind mills they can import energy as well.
The US is in general not a better place for wind power. While there certainly are specific locations that are very suitable, reaching 50% is completely unrealistic. This is not the case in Denmark, which is basically a couple of flat islands in the ocean.
Passenger traffic will probably be the last application.
But there are tons of military possibilities: Bomber/ spyplane that not only gets to the target extremely fast, but can outrun all antiaircraft weapons (including missiles).
>Am I to believe that every evolutionary stage between Entity A and Entity B died without leaving a single fossil?
Yes. For example, in the dinosaur era, we have found say a dozen each of the most common species, which existed in large numbers for millions of years. It is quite unlikely that we will ever find every intermediate variation that existed for say hundreds or thousands of years in small numbers.
Tor - did evolutionary research at Caltech
If the cable breaks anywhere (except at or near the outer end) the piece closer to earth will invariably fall down.
I could see quite a few scenarios (collisions, space debris, undetected cracks, etc) making it break.
Making contingency plans for a broken cable should be the least of the constructors concerns, however. Making and lifting this cable is far beyond any engineering task ever attempted (having studied physics at Caltech I am highly sceptic of the project, and especially the timeframe).
If they really could build the cable, then putting in, say, explosives or rockets to make it fall the right way should not be too difficult.
Tor
Slashdot Mirror
Most people who use AOL don't need to proficient in the OS they are using. They send email, surf, and (maybe) use a word processor. Putting up big icons for those things is all that is necessary.
Tor
One DVD worth of littering is truly insignificant next to the lander itself.
If this PR idea can fire people's imagination and draw more attention to the project then that's great. It does not matter if you can't read the DVD.
Tor
Sending two of the same is a bad idea, because they typically fail because of some design flaw - which would hit both of them.
/Tor
Better to send one at the time. If the mission is successful, you can move on to some new question. If it is a failure, you can figure out what went wrong and fix it.
I wonder how much the total costs of the electrical power involved in this effort was. I can imagine that it is not very efficient, with people using old power supplies, buzzing hard drives, and even montiors with some cool related screensaver.
As for the research projects, what if they could choose between (A) getting all the money spent on power for the computation or (B) getting the computation itself.
If (A) is true, then this is something that is just a cool but inefficient way of collecting donations. I hope (B) is the case, which would really mean that this is a synergetic and productive effort.
Tor
Actually, Intel has not optimized their R&D for overall CPU speed in the last few years, they have focused on maxing the clock frequency.
/Tor
They realized that the vast majority of consumers see frequency as completely synonymous with computational power. Even my father, an electrical engineer with 17 patents, came home one day bragging on the great deal he got on his new computer with a lot of MHZ. I saw the Celereon label and did not say much...
I can't wait for the Death Star...
Tor
Iff I dun't understund svedeesh, I vun't understund svedeesh murse-a cude-a. Dues uny trunsletur knoo svedeesh?
Translation: Om du inte förstår svenska, så förstår jag inte svensk Morse-kod. Finns det någon översättare som kan svenska?
Oh, yes there are.
Translation: Jo, det finns det.
Tor
computer management of cars has obsoleted all auto mechanics. ...food processors put every chef out of a job. ...handwriting recognition eliminated postal workers. ..."eliza" makes George Bush irrelevant.
These three examples (no comment on the last one) all illustrate that as technology improves, you can do a better job in a shorter period of time. Sometimes it leads to better service, sometimes fewer work hours and lower costs. It is called capitalism, and it has made the U.S. the richest country on the planet.
We should expect a similar development for Sysadmins, although any prediction of their imminent demise is obviously exaggerated.
Tor
Everything around us has "Intelligent Design" behind it.. EVERYTHING
So, who created the creator?
Tor
The experiment succeeded in producing amino acids, but scientists have never been able to produce any more complex organic molecules in the lab. No DNA (not even fragments), no RNA, and certainly no proteins. (Do you have any idea how incredibly complex proteins are? They're made up of lots and lots and lots of left-handed amino acids all chained together in exactly the right order. And once a protein is formed, it must be folded in exactly the right way (out of millions of possible foldings) in order to function correctly.)
This is true, and it proves that some of the reactions necessary to form life are too unlikely to occur repeadiately in a table-top experiment. But if the test tube at hand is all the oceans on earth and the experiment lasts for billions of years, then the unlikely turns likely turns certain.
Even if a protein managed to form, it would have broken down while it was waiting for another one to form. Organic molecules tend to break down over time. This process is accelarated by water (didn't life supposedly form in the ocean?) and heat.
Well, if the protein was self-replicating then all it takes is one, right? Simple organisms (bacteria or even more primitive) do not need partners...
Tor
...according to Einstein's laws. This is actually stated later in the article, but it deserves a more prominent position.
What these people have done is (at best) to spread information at sub-light speeds that are faster than they were before.
Certain types of waves can seem to go faster than light, but this is not really information that is being spread. For example, if two long beams are crossing at a small angle, then the intersection can move faster than light - but information can't.
Tor
Even if they can be recharged overnight by electrolysis, that just moves pollution from the tailpipe to the smokestack, you are still moving over a ton of material to move one person.
This point is valid until the day we stop burning oil to power the electricity grid. In the long run, say 50 or a 100 years, nuclear power is inevitable.
the efficient collective farms of the Soviet Union Yeah, right. The Soviets where never even close to the US in farm production in spite of much larger farmable areas. The only efficient Soviet farms where the ones that were in the citizens private gardens. These where limited to be very small for political reasons, but in the case of a big war they would have been allowed to expand, thus offering a great boost in output at the time of need.
Tor
Fuel cell cars run by generating electricity directly, which in turn drives motors. For this reason, they are much better prepared to drive electrical devices in the car, and they can have higher voltages.
Gasoline cars burn fuel, which drives the car. Any electricity needed comes from a generator, which is a double inefficiency (on in burning fuels, one for driving the generator). It is thus impractical and expensive to have sizable voltages in the car.
Tor
What is the improvement over having the player of your choice inside the garment of your choice?
A padded pouch????
The only advantage seems to be that it has a big textile control pad - and the value of those could be captured better if they were sold separately.
Tor
Check out starwars.com.
While they have not put up a list yet, they used to have a search engine to locate theaters with digital projectors (and other showing theaters as well).
It seems likely that they will do the same once the IMAX version starts playing.
Tor
An alternative to regulation is transparency.
Slashdot and other sites can have an enormous impact on businesses.
If everybody knows that Paypal sucks, there is no need for a new law preventing Paypal from sucking.
Tor
Denmark is well connected with it's neighbors (Sweden, Germany) which use more traditional methods for energy. The energy market is increasingly integrated, so that excess energy can be exported and if they have to turn off the wind mills they can import energy as well.
The US is in general not a better place for wind power. While there certainly are specific locations that are very suitable, reaching 50% is completely unrealistic. This is not the case in Denmark, which is basically a couple of flat islands in the ocean.
Tor
This is a great point.
/Tor
Furthermore, once you make your music popular and well-known, they will start playing it on commercial radio stations.
And they will not be able to do it for free.
Passenger traffic will probably be the last application.
But there are tons of military possibilities: Bomber/ spyplane that not only gets to the target extremely fast, but can outrun all antiaircraft weapons (including missiles).
-Tor
>Am I to believe that every evolutionary stage between Entity A and Entity B died without leaving a single fossil?
Yes. For example, in the dinosaur era, we have found say a dozen each of the most common species, which existed in large numbers for millions of years. It is quite unlikely that we will ever find every intermediate variation that existed for say hundreds or thousands of years in small numbers.
Tor - did evolutionary research at Caltech
If the cable breaks anywhere (except at or near the outer end) the piece closer to earth will invariably fall down. I could see quite a few scenarios (collisions, space debris, undetected cracks, etc) making it break. Making contingency plans for a broken cable should be the least of the constructors concerns, however. Making and lifting this cable is far beyond any engineering task ever attempted (having studied physics at Caltech I am highly sceptic of the project, and especially the timeframe). If they really could build the cable, then putting in, say, explosives or rockets to make it fall the right way should not be too difficult. Tor