What a lot of rot. If we rely on chemical rockets, then yes, Mars will be a one-way trip.
On-orbit assembly of nuclear powered reusable spacecraft would completely change the game.
We need to stop thinking small and start asking, "How big can we build a Mars ship?" Heck, we know how to build a substantial space station in earth orbit.
Beer is consumed subsequent to oral ingestion of a small quantity of sandwich. The combination is masticated them swallowed and the process repeated until no bacon sandwich or beer remain. The sandwich is not toasted. The bacon is lightly grilled with the fat removed and a layer of olive spread applied thinly to the inner surfaces of the bread (granary). Up to eight rashers of bacon and four slices of bread may be consumed in one session.
Look, Mustafa, no herion involved! Blow yourself up somewhere else.
Are you really convinced that the government does a better job of spending your charity dollars than you would?
Yes, because it can ensure that those in need get at least a bare minimum necessary for a dignified life, and do so free of prejudice.
Private charity relies on personal whim and is subject to prejudice (racial, religious, political discrimination). It guarantees nothing, and is often done to assuage personal guilt when the donor is faced with a particular situation (e.g. unwashed beggar in the street, Salvation Army collector at the door).
If the world or my existence became so brutal that it would force me to live under highly undignified or relentlessly painfully circumstances, you can be DAMN sure I'll not stick around to willingly experience it.
What if it's unbearable simply because the Free Market makes it unbearable, as opposed to a painful, lingering death caused by a disease? That was my point.
If you lost your home, your job and your money, and had no food or shelter, would you kill yourself? How more explicit need I be?
Cray has build a modern PeeCee and the Ignorant Masses have their Operating System on it. Further more, said Operating System burdens and cripples said modern hardware just as the ancient OS did in the Prophecy.
Will you feel safer with the police distracted by symbols instead of watching out for real crimes?... Land of the free, home of the brave ring a bell?
The very place where people get scared and offended if a crucifix is depicted upside-down or if they see a five-pointed star.
Others get violent if someone draws a picture of Mohamed. Some go mad if someone writes the word "god."
People are superstitious here in Blighty too. I'm more intimidated by the swastika since that has basis in historical fact. In other cultures it's just a good luck symbol.
The private corporations don't have to care. That's the point of capitalism. The whole thing is based on the idea that if you have something I want and I have something you want, we negotiate until we find some mutually beneficial exchange which leaves us both better off. The crucial point is that I am only worried about my own well-being.
What about the young, the old, the poor, the sick and the crippled who have nothing you want (goods, services, money) but need food, shelter and medicine?
Should your precious Free Market remove them from the face of the earth?
When you grow old and/or sick, and your savings are rendered worthless when the great Free Market has one of its funny turns, should you remove yourself from the face of the earth, or should the Free Market do it as you lie down and starve to death?
fortune -m Cray
%% (fortunes)
Imagine that Cray computer decides to make a personal computer. It has
a 150 MHz processor, 200 megabytes of RAM, 1500 megabytes of disk
storage, a screen resolution of 4096 x 4096 pixels, relies entirely on
voice recognition for input, fits in your shirt pocket and costs $300.
What's the first question that the computer community asks?
Their biology, mathematics and all that would differ: they wouldn't have radiants, they wouldn't use degrees but will have a more firm understanding and derrived knowledge about squares. They won't really know Pi as they might have a hard time conceptualizing circles or spheres.
But we live on a "round" world and we know all about square and circles (and spheres too).
I used to work for BNFL (now the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) and this was exactly their attitude. I tried very hard to explain things and not over-step my authority or sound like I was trying to undermine my superiors but the reply was always patronising, "We'd rather pay for a software license and have support when things go wrong." Note I'm not talking about nuclear safety-related software, merely office and programming tools.
After a few years, I got sick of the stifling environment and lack of direction and left for a better paid job.
I went to work for a big US computer company. Things were totally different there.
After another few years, the office close and I had to get a new job with a smallish British company. They were very open-source friendly although the Director of Software really admired Microsoft. There really was trouble there since as the skill base left due to fascist management, and the Director of Software tightened his grip, things went the other way. I quietly, discretely and politely offered to save the company £1000 that they were going to spend on some backup software for servers that essentially just did a dd of the root disk. I got a flame back telling me to keep my pathetic little minion mouth shut and I resigned like the 16 others before me. Two more resigned during my month's notice.
I'm much happier at my new place. It's a big company again with lots of rules and process, but their hearts are in the right place - the right tool for the job - and they appreciate ideas from their technical staff.
The moral of the story is be prepared to move on if the company doesn't suit you. It may take many months to find something new, but it's worth it. Work is a substantial part of your life. That time is too valuable to waste on something that makes you miserable.
use word of mouth to speak directly to people in a way you know is not monitored
That's becoming increasingly difficult in the UK. We have pervasive CCTV surveillance (with audio) even in quite places like public parks.
It's very difficult not to let your personality leak out once in a while. If you work for a very straight-laced boss who doesn't appreciate human nature and then are watched constantly for any "subversive" or "eccentric" or "non-mainstream" behaviour at all other times, life becomes an oppressive prison.
We're nearly there now. It's getting pretty claustrophobic in here. Most people don't care. All the little human things are watched. Most are or will be made against the rules eventually. The rules will not be enforced until it suits those in power.
Just as a vindictive employer can sack an employee on a technicality when it suits them (e.g. reading the intarweb news at lunch time in a company computer which is usually tolerated but against the rules) a vindictive and paranoid political regime will do the same to its citizens.
Seen on CCTV peeing discretely behind a bush at midnight in a deserted area? Sex offenders register for you. Didn't vote for a mainstream political party last time around? Wearing a hoodie? Face piercings? Smoking a roll-up?
More than two of you walking along the road at night? Standing chatting? Illegal demonstration. Down the Station for you to sleep in the cells and having to explain yourself.
Why did you leave town last weekend? You don't normally go away at the weekend. What were you doing? Haven't you heard of climate change? Maybe you went to buy drugs! Or meet up with some subversives.
I hear that the first version of Duke Nukem Forever was written for CTOS and that Elvis, Roy and George are basing the next AmigaOS on its source code. Jesus is not available for comment.
Dell is saying that Vista is all but unusable on laptops. Most straight-laced normal business type people are allergic to computers that aren't "Microsoft" so they build two laptops in one. One is useless and runs Vista (runs hot, drains the batteries quickly, is slow etc.) and the other is a very small and efficient one that runs a proper OS.
It's like sewing a cute little kitten onto the side of a fat, asthmatic, lethargic old dog on it's last legs.
No one ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of the PHB or marketing consultant.
Slashdot Mirror
What a lot of rot. If we rely on chemical rockets, then yes, Mars will be a one-way trip.
On-orbit assembly of nuclear powered reusable spacecraft would completely change the game.
We need to stop thinking small and start asking, "How big can we build a Mars ship?" Heck, we know how to build a substantial space station in earth orbit.
Beer is consumed subsequent to oral ingestion of a small quantity of sandwich. The combination is masticated them swallowed and the process repeated until no bacon sandwich or beer remain. The sandwich is not toasted. The bacon is lightly grilled with the fat removed and a layer of olive spread applied thinly to the inner surfaces of the bread (granary). Up to eight rashers of bacon and four slices of bread may be consumed in one session.
Look, Mustafa, no herion involved! Blow yourself up somewhere else.
Are you really convinced that the government does a better job of spending your charity dollars than you would?
Yes, because it can ensure that those in need get at least a bare minimum necessary for a dignified life, and do so free of prejudice.
Private charity relies on personal whim and is subject to prejudice (racial, religious, political discrimination). It guarantees nothing, and is often done to assuage personal guilt when the donor is faced with a particular situation (e.g. unwashed beggar in the street, Salvation Army collector at the door).
The unseen needy get forgotten.
If the world or my existence became so brutal that it would force me to live under highly undignified or relentlessly painfully circumstances, you can be DAMN sure I'll not stick around to willingly experience it.
What if it's unbearable simply because the Free Market makes it unbearable, as opposed to a painful, lingering death caused by a disease? That was my point.
If you lost your home, your job and your money, and had no food or shelter, would you kill yourself? How more explicit need I be?
Producing most of the worlds heroin is just fine and dandy.
Of course it is, when it's intended for selling to the corrupt and evil Infidel. I'll stick to beer and bacon sandwiches thank you very much.
You have all of the answers. Great philosophers have been seeking them since ancient times.
Don't you see? The Prophecy has been fulfilled.
Cray has build a modern PeeCee and the Ignorant Masses have their Operating System on it. Further more, said Operating System burdens and cripples said modern hardware just as the ancient OS did in the Prophecy.
Why does god see fit to test the faith of Fedex when innocent peoples' goods are aboard? Can I get a witness? ImitationEnergy (993881), are you there?
Will you feel safer with the police distracted by symbols instead of watching out for real crimes? ... Land of the free, home of the brave ring a bell?
The very place where people get scared and offended if a crucifix is depicted upside-down or if they see a five-pointed star.
Others get violent if someone draws a picture of Mohamed. Some go mad if someone writes the word "god."
People are superstitious here in Blighty too. I'm more intimidated by the swastika since that has basis in historical fact. In other cultures it's just a good luck symbol.
"My underpants are on fire (give me 200 quid)" - Radio 1 Rap Show ca. 1999.
The private corporations don't have to care. That's the point of capitalism. The whole thing is based on the idea that if you have something I want and I have something you want, we negotiate until we find some mutually beneficial exchange which leaves us both better off. The crucial point is that I am only worried about my own well-being.
What about the young, the old, the poor, the sick and the crippled who have nothing you want (goods, services, money) but need food, shelter and medicine?
Should your precious Free Market remove them from the face of the earth?
When you grow old and/or sick, and your savings are rendered worthless when the great Free Market has one of its funny turns, should you remove yourself from the face of the earth, or should the Free Market do it as you lie down and starve to death?
This is all you need to know.
fortune -m Cray
%% (fortunes)
Imagine that Cray computer decides to make a personal computer. It has a 150 MHz processor, 200 megabytes of RAM, 1500 megabytes of disk storage, a screen resolution of 4096 x 4096 pixels, relies entirely on voice recognition for input, fits in your shirt pocket and costs $300. What's the first question that the computer community asks?
"Is it PC compatible?"
Their biology, mathematics and all that would differ: they wouldn't have radiants, they wouldn't use degrees but will have a more firm understanding and derrived knowledge about squares. They won't really know Pi as they might have a hard time conceptualizing circles or spheres.
But we live on a "round" world and we know all about square and circles (and spheres too).
*ahem* That's much more polite than my own version.
I used to work for BNFL (now the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) and this was exactly their attitude. I tried very hard to explain things and not over-step my authority or sound like I was trying to undermine my superiors but the reply was always patronising, "We'd rather pay for a software license and have support when things go wrong." Note I'm not talking about nuclear safety-related software, merely office and programming tools.
After a few years, I got sick of the stifling environment and lack of direction and left for a better paid job.
I went to work for a big US computer company. Things were totally different there.
After another few years, the office close and I had to get a new job with a smallish British company. They were very open-source friendly although the Director of Software really admired Microsoft. There really was trouble there since as the skill base left due to fascist management, and the Director of Software tightened his grip, things went the other way. I quietly, discretely and politely offered to save the company £1000 that they were going to spend on some backup software for servers that essentially just did a dd of the root disk. I got a flame back telling me to keep my pathetic little minion mouth shut and I resigned like the 16 others before me. Two more resigned during my month's notice.
I'm much happier at my new place. It's a big company again with lots of rules and process, but their hearts are in the right place - the right tool for the job - and they appreciate ideas from their technical staff.
The moral of the story is be prepared to move on if the company doesn't suit you. It may take many months to find something new, but it's worth it. Work is a substantial part of your life. That time is too valuable to waste on something that makes you miserable.
use word of mouth to speak directly to people in a way you know is not monitored
That's becoming increasingly difficult in the UK. We have pervasive CCTV surveillance (with audio) even in quite places like public parks.
It's very difficult not to let your personality leak out once in a while. If you work for a very straight-laced boss who doesn't appreciate human nature and then are watched constantly for any "subversive" or "eccentric" or "non-mainstream" behaviour at all other times, life becomes an oppressive prison.
We're nearly there now. It's getting pretty claustrophobic in here. Most people don't care. All the little human things are watched. Most are or will be made against the rules eventually. The rules will not be enforced until it suits those in power.
Just as a vindictive employer can sack an employee on a technicality when it suits them (e.g. reading the intarweb news at lunch time in a company computer which is usually tolerated but against the rules) a vindictive and paranoid political regime will do the same to its citizens.
Seen on CCTV peeing discretely behind a bush at midnight in a deserted area? Sex offenders register for you. Didn't vote for a mainstream political party last time around? Wearing a hoodie? Face piercings? Smoking a roll-up?
More than two of you walking along the road at night? Standing chatting? Illegal demonstration. Down the Station for you to sleep in the cells and having to explain yourself.
Why did you leave town last weekend? You don't normally go away at the weekend. What were you doing? Haven't you heard of climate change? Maybe you went to buy drugs! Or meet up with some subversives.
I hear that the first version of Duke Nukem Forever was written for CTOS and that Elvis, Roy and George are basing the next AmigaOS on its source code. Jesus is not available for comment.
Nail on the head.
DRM exists to make money out of disposable content. Nothing more.
That was my point. Times change. I don't know how to take stones out of horse's hooves either.
We are just a war away from Amerikhastan... When God vs. God it's the undoing of man.
... D. Mustaine.
And this is the way that skills are lost.
Dell is saying that Vista is all but unusable on laptops. Most straight-laced normal business type people are allergic to computers that aren't "Microsoft" so they build two laptops in one. One is useless and runs Vista (runs hot, drains the batteries quickly, is slow etc.) and the other is a very small and efficient one that runs a proper OS.
It's like sewing a cute little kitten onto the side of a fat, asthmatic, lethargic old dog on it's last legs.
No one ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of the PHB or marketing consultant.
I wish I'd thought of it.
I prefer the definition of liberalism.
What a lucky little so-and-so. But could he still distinguish flat and sharp keys if all of the instruments were in equal temperament?
That would be an interesting experiment to perform.