That part of the review is, of course, a satire on the Guide entry concerning the size of the universe (in case you didn't know, it's big). While I agree that the review is extremely disappointing, that opening paragraph needs to be taken with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Isn't limited to Ender's Game. As an interface, it's a sci fi staple that goes back at least to the John Campbell days at Amazing Stories. nbsp;
And the real world observance of the phenomenon is quite a bit older. Many people subvocalize while reading -- subconsciously forming each word in their throats, even if the sound never makes it from their mouths.
No, nuclear power can not wean us from oil, because nuclear power does not compete with oil in the US.
Oil produces a tiny and shrinking fraction of electric power in the US. Oil is used in gas tanks.
Nuclear power makes electricity. The majority of electricty in the United States comes from coal, of which we have a 100+ year ready domestic supply, and new clean coal technologies that will allow us to burn the coal with as few pollutants as produced from burning natural gas. Doubt it if you like, but the new plants are more than 100x cleaner than the old plants. The problem with coal is that the "Clear Skies" initiative, along with exemptions to the Clean Air Act, has allowed aging, incredibly dirty plants to keep chugging for years. Replace those plants, and you'll drastically cut pollution from coal.
In any case, make all the nuclear plants you want, and it won't affect our need for oil one bit. The only thing that can affect our need for oil is a better energy storage system for use in vehicles.
I have hybrid engine models (acrylic / NO2) that are larger and go higher. Heck, I had refillable solid engine models that were considerably more powerful -- though with new regulations, getting the refills has become too much of a hassle. I don't see anything to this that wasn't available in dozens, if not hundreds, of High Power Rocketry models available ten years ago.
Standing next to me at the moment (in two pieces, because it's too tall to be assembled indoors) is a 11' tall model on 5.5" tubing (at base, step down to 4" at top). Hybrid engine in the "L" range. It's made half a dozen flights on hybrid power, and a couple before that with solids. Easily clears a mile. Next to it is a LOC Magnum, a standard kit available for nearly a decade, with what has to be a good twenty flights to better than a kilometer on a "J" class hybrid.
What makes these any less "true rockets?"
As you yourself said, 10,000 tons of TNT could do it. So why not? A lot easier to get 10,000 tons of TNT than 20kg of 80% U235.
Acutally, based on the size of the cloud, I'd guess more like 1,000 tons of TNT. Or less. Maybe 100,000 pounds of anfo.
The old US "nuclear simulator" used in Amry drills carried about 200 gal of explosives and napalm and managed a cloud 1 mile across when exploded at altitude.
There's nothing here that requires nuclear.
My white papers are expired, but just off the top of my head, I'd put this explosion equivalent to about 100,000 pounds of Ammonium Nitrate. There's nothing here that suggests the explosion was connected to any moving device. That means the explosive mass could have been any size at all.
Sprinkle on a little powered U235 for effect. Maybe a dash of polonium.
Then start growling at everyone to back off.
North Korea might have joined the club this week, but if I had to guess, I'd guess that they tried to fake it. Seismic profiles should tell the story.
The standard props of the Tolkien universe served for gaming fodder even before D&D (minus the A). In online play, the races and creatures here are used, in dozens of permutations. Haven't we all had a chance to be an elf or halfing? Haven't we all taken a shot at more orcs, trolls, and dragons that we could eat?
Lively story-telling and a deep sense of history set Tolkein appart from other fantasies. Unless Turbine is able to bring this world something other than the appearance of Middle Earth, it's hard to see what will make it more exciting than the possibilities offered by a City of Heroes, or even a solid middle-ages + fantasy setting universe such as Dark Age of Camelot. I certainly want something more than name recognition to make me pick up a sword again.
Bar none, Cabin Fever is the worst thing I've ever seen on film. Compared to Cabin Fever, Troma films are Oscar worthy.
Second runner up would be nearly anything by Jerry Bruckheimer. The Rock. Con Air. And especially the complete godawful Armageddon. Good lord, what a stinker.
At the dawn of the 15th century, China ruled the seas. An armada of Chinese ships explored Japan, Tiawan, and the islands of the Pacific. Turning west, they reached Arabia and sailed all the way to the east coast of Africa. The ships were much larger than anything that had sailed the seas before. The largest were 400 feet long and 150 wide and carried nine masts. They were larger than anything that would be seen in the west for centuries to come.
The Chinese fleets were fabulously successful. They carried loads of Chinese silk and porcelain to western ports and returned with all the riches of Africa and Arabia. Between the turn of the century and 1433, the treasure fleets sailed seven times. These expeditions established a vast trade network for China. They also included military conquests that brought a huge amount of land under Chinese control. At the conclusion of the last expedition, the Chinese Empire reached the Persian Gulf.
The next expedition might had rounded the horn of Africa. China might have "discovered" and even colonized Europe. The ships held unmatched technology and were easily capable of reaching the Americas. China stood at the brink of dominating the world.
But there was no next expedition.
Instead, there was a change in political control. The new Ming emperors pulled back the fleets. The treasure ships were allowed to rot or deliberately burned to prevent their use. China turned inward, became insular, abandoned its distant colonies. It would be the Europeans that went on to discover the New World. And Europeans who would reach, and dominate, much of China for centuries to come.
In 1969, Neil Armstrong placed his foot in a slightly gritty powder and left the first human mark on the moon. The United States had conducted a series of expeditions into space, using successively more capable craft. The rocket that delivered men to the moon was 363' long, the largest ever made. They were the most technologically advanced devices of their time. Under Democratic leadership, they had reached another world.
Seven times, from 1969 to 1972, craft from the United States reached the moon. They were fabulously successful. They delivered a bounty of knowledge, a peaceful explosion of technology, and a focus for the world. America stood at the brink of endless possibilities. Another push might have established colonies, it might have lead to clean and endless energy, it might have...
There was no next time.
I'll make no claims when it comes to oil and gas. I've no real experience there and only know what I read from textbooks that are now old enough to be fossils themselves.
But the idea that coal is abiotic is lunacy. I've been a coal geologist for more than 20 years. I've thin sectioned enough of the stuff to fuel a small city through a bitter winter. I've cored and logged coal from America to Australia. And I can tell you what is in every sample of coal I ever examined: plant material. Spores. Leaves. Resins. Even the portions that are nearly pure carbon often preserve the details of floral microstructures. Coal is not only made from plants, I can, from deposit to deposit, tell you exactly what kind of environment and mixture of flora was involved.
Further, we well understand the stages of coal deposition and development. We have models for most every ancient coal bed in current depositional environments (go to Indonesia if you want to see really spiffy examples). The chemical makeup of coal can be used to "reverse engineer" the pressures, depths, and time involved in it's production. There is no fricking mystery here.
Abiotic coal. Jesus.
When it comes to the cuckoo meter, turn this one up to eleven.
I understood the writing game well enough, or thought I did until one of my series sold to TV. Then I learned the hard way that neither I, nor my literary agent, was equipped to play in this ballpark. One little phrase that had special meaning only in the TV business cost me all of my per show royalties.
I'll know better next time, but it was one hell of a costly lesson.
I wrote six complete novels on Palm machines. The longest of these was over 600 pages when finally carted over to my PC and printed out. Heck, I even did the first one back on the original Palm Pilot where writing meant breaking up each chapter into 4K memos.
While I might be able to type faster than I can write, I can write as fast as I can think up decent text, so that wasn't a limit. Any additional effort required was easily offset by the ablity to write while sitting beside a waterfall or standing in line at the movies.
Your Axim does not have a 320x320 screen. It has a 320 by 240 screen. At 320 x 480, the Sony has twice the resolution. This makes a huge difference if you use the device as either an ebook reader, picture viewer, or video player. On video, it's like the difference between watching an old VHS tape and a crisp DVD. (And Sony's movie player is much smoother than the one on my Axim). And, of course, the Clie does play MP3, and supports both MS and CF for memory, and you don't need to add the camera.
When editing text, you can have many more lines of clear text on the Clie screen. If you write as much on your handheld as I do, you'll really appreciate this feature.
That's why, though I own both devices (and an older Palm and an Ipaq), it's the Clie that rests in its cradle and the Axim that lives in a drawer. I agree the Axim has a good price, but give these Sonys a couple of months. Sony churns out new models like nobody else, and the previous generation is always available at a much reduced price.
A very similar thing happened with The Chronicle. Though the show had not been on for as long as Farscape, it developed quite good ratings for SciFi. In weeks where new episodes aired, it was (with a couple of exceptions) the top show on the network. Then it was moved around, stuck on hiatus, brought back in fits and spurts, and finally strangled after a single season.
The constant changes to the schedule and the lack of support for any program has effectively destroyed SciFi's ratings. When it started, The Chronicle pulled in over 2 ratings. Ratings in that range were a given for new episodes of Farscape just a year or two back. But as fans have learned that they can't trust SciFi, they've stopped watching. Why get invested in a series when a single season of episodes will be spread over a year or halted without warning?
Science Fiction fans are more loyal than any other viewers on television, yet the SciFi Channel has managed to send them running in droves. SciFi is an perfect example of management to the point of destruction.
Part one: Palm is Better
Part two: Palm is poised at the brink of failure
Drone on all you want about the Pocket PC's superior specifications. Even the latest machines can not perform simple functions as quickly and easily as a Palm OS device. The Palm interface is just flat-out cleaner and easier -- even for people that spend all day on Windows machines.
I have a new IPaq. It proudly illuminates the little square of desk in front of its machine. I have a Palm. It's a constant companion. The Ipaq is faster. It has more memory. It plays MP3. It yada yada yada.
The Palm is better.
Pocket PC users make fun of the tiny differences in interface (what's another click or two, eh?) Those tiny changes are the difference between a machine that can be used as a small computer, and a machine that can be used as a pure extension of your mind. I refer to the Palm as my back up memory, and that's not far from the truth. The Palm interface is clean enough that I can switch to memo pad, take notes in a meeting, save those notes, and start a new note, all without ever taking my eyes off the other people in the meeting. I can manage my calendar, my contacts, and perform a search with barely a glance. The Windows interface is poorly suited to this environment, and despite several iterations, doesn't come close to the directness of the Palm experience.
This is why, despite a hundred Gartner group predictions to the contrary, and an equal number of me-too Pocket PC devices touting better specifications than Palm's most advanced device, Palm still holds a commanding lead.
For all that, I'm finally coming to the reluctant conclusion that Palm is doomed. If not to utter failure, at least to niche status.
The sheer weight of the consumer electronics companies now lined up on the Pocket PC side makes Palm's outlook as hopeful as Luxemberg vs. the U.S. Soon enough, the forces of checkbox marketing will win out ("Look, this one runs at 1000 schmeagles a second and has a button that tilts in 11 directions. It must be better."), Palm's percentage will slip, and all the Pocket PC pundits will crow in triumph.
And when we're all tapping tiny start menus and searching for options on some Pocket PC with more bumps on its surface than a Klingon's forehead, just remember: Palm really was better.
Ah, yes. Obviously, the government should never involve itself in basic research, since so many companies are willing to fund baseline development that has no immediate, obvious return. Instead, the government should restrict itself to funding work that has fast and sure commercial potential -- private industry never cares about that stuff.
Actually, The Chronicle did quite well, often turning in numbers that were better than Farscape in the same time slot. It did even better in the original Saturday night slot.
And I can say with certainty that The Chronicle was not an expensive show to produce.
However, Sci Fi Channel seems intent on eliminating all original production. Two years ago, they were following a path of turning the channel into a "real" network, with several nights of their own shows. Once new management took over, they retreated, chopping shows and nights with abandon.
It's quit tempting to look on Windows as the Nazis, or the Mongol Horde -- a force that must be crushed if civilization is to be saved. If this is your working analogy, then there is only total victory or inglorious death.
However, much as we might like it, the world is not populated by dragons and operating systems are not the tools of St. George.
Linux is not dead. Not now, nor is that a likely event any time in the near future. It's equally unlikely that Linux will soon drive Windows into the sea.
Windows will continue to be dominant on the consumer desktop for the immediate future. Windows has the applications, the games, and the thousands of developers grinding out the product. Could they do better work on Linux? Possibly, but it's not going to happen. Not with a relatively tiny marketplace further divided by flavors of installation and interface.
Linux will continue to drive servers and as the desktop of enthusiasts. It's a niche operating system, now, and likely forever.
For those that gnash their teeth over the evil empire, fear not! All empires crumble with time. But when something comes to push back the dark forces of Mordor, it will almost certainly NOT be Linux. It will be something clean and new, something that has a Vision (upper case "V") of computer interaction that goes past the creaky, cranky interfaces we have now and gives us a new way to relate to our machines. When it happens, Windows will go into the C/PM bin before Bill Gates can debug his digital living room.
And Linux will still be there, clanking along, doing it's job.
There is some space between death and triumph. Kind of like Switzerland.
The small speaker at the top acts as phone speaker (which can either be held against your ear or used as a speakerphone). Microphone is concealed in the direction pad (as the speaker is concealed in the direction pad of some PocketPCs). The LED is the activation LED for the phone. Dialing is on screen, ala Samsung. Star icon brings up the new browser Palm just purchased.
Use closed for standard phone features, slide open to use Grafitti with Palm apps or in websites.
Ask yourself why it's codenamed Oslo.
Why should human interference play a factor? Are you saying that we should only restore species out of guilt?
Establishing a smoking gun on many extinct species is going to be quite difficult.
Yes, it's quite easy to smack your opponents around when you build the strawmen yourself, isn't it?
I'd like to know how you're confident that the "wild" (whatever that is) "no longer needs" the Thylacine. Extinction is a natural and vital process, but retrieving a species done in by guns, traps, and poisons fails to offend me.
Slashdot Mirror
That part of the review is, of course, a satire on the Guide entry concerning the size of the universe (in case you didn't know, it's big). While I agree that the review is extremely disappointing, that opening paragraph needs to be taken with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Isn't limited to Ender's Game. As an interface, it's a sci fi staple that goes back at least to the John Campbell days at Amazing Stories.
nbsp;
And the real world observance of the phenomenon is quite a bit older. Many people subvocalize while reading -- subconsciously forming each word in their throats, even if the sound never makes it from their mouths.
Kite trains, or stacks, readily soar to heights greater than what can be attained with a single kite.
The record, set back in 1969, is 10,830 m abg. So the 30,000 ft mark has already been surpassed.
The single kite record stands at around 13K feet.
No, nuclear power can not wean us from oil, because nuclear power does not compete with oil in the US.
Oil produces a tiny and shrinking fraction of electric power in the US. Oil is used in gas tanks.
Nuclear power makes electricity. The majority of electricty in the United States comes from coal, of which we have a 100+ year ready domestic supply, and new clean coal technologies that will allow us to burn the coal with as few pollutants as produced from burning natural gas. Doubt it if you like, but the new plants are more than 100x cleaner than the old plants. The problem with coal is that the "Clear Skies" initiative, along with exemptions to the Clean Air Act, has allowed aging, incredibly dirty plants to keep chugging for years. Replace those plants, and you'll drastically cut pollution from coal.
In any case, make all the nuclear plants you want, and it won't affect our need for oil one bit. The only thing that can affect our need for oil is a better energy storage system for use in vehicles.
I have hybrid engine models (acrylic / NO2) that are larger and go higher. Heck, I had refillable solid engine models that were considerably more powerful -- though with new regulations, getting the refills has become too much of a hassle. I don't see anything to this that wasn't available in dozens, if not hundreds, of High Power Rocketry models available ten years ago. Standing next to me at the moment (in two pieces, because it's too tall to be assembled indoors) is a 11' tall model on 5.5" tubing (at base, step down to 4" at top). Hybrid engine in the "L" range. It's made half a dozen flights on hybrid power, and a couple before that with solids. Easily clears a mile. Next to it is a LOC Magnum, a standard kit available for nearly a decade, with what has to be a good twenty flights to better than a kilometer on a "J" class hybrid. What makes these any less "true rockets?"
As you yourself said, 10,000 tons of TNT could do it. So why not? A lot easier to get 10,000 tons of TNT than 20kg of 80% U235. Acutally, based on the size of the cloud, I'd guess more like 1,000 tons of TNT. Or less. Maybe 100,000 pounds of anfo. The old US "nuclear simulator" used in Amry drills carried about 200 gal of explosives and napalm and managed a cloud 1 mile across when exploded at altitude. There's nothing here that requires nuclear.
My white papers are expired, but just off the top of my head, I'd put this explosion equivalent to about 100,000 pounds of Ammonium Nitrate. There's nothing here that suggests the explosion was connected to any moving device. That means the explosive mass could have been any size at all. Sprinkle on a little powered U235 for effect. Maybe a dash of polonium. Then start growling at everyone to back off. North Korea might have joined the club this week, but if I had to guess, I'd guess that they tried to fake it. Seismic profiles should tell the story.
The standard props of the Tolkien universe served for gaming fodder even before D&D (minus the A). In online play, the races and creatures here are used, in dozens of permutations. Haven't we all had a chance to be an elf or halfing? Haven't we all taken a shot at more orcs, trolls, and dragons that we could eat?
Lively story-telling and a deep sense of history set Tolkein appart from other fantasies. Unless Turbine is able to bring this world something other than the appearance of Middle Earth, it's hard to see what will make it more exciting than the possibilities offered by a City of Heroes, or even a solid middle-ages + fantasy setting universe such as Dark Age of Camelot. I certainly want something more than name recognition to make me pick up a sword again.
Bar none, Cabin Fever is the worst thing I've ever seen on film. Compared to Cabin Fever, Troma films are Oscar worthy. Second runner up would be nearly anything by Jerry Bruckheimer. The Rock. Con Air. And especially the complete godawful Armageddon. Good lord, what a stinker.
At the dawn of the 15th century, China ruled the seas. An armada of Chinese ships explored Japan, Tiawan, and the islands of the Pacific. Turning west, they reached Arabia and sailed all the way to the east coast of Africa. The ships were much larger than anything that had sailed the seas before. The largest were 400 feet long and 150 wide and carried nine masts. They were larger than anything that would be seen in the west for centuries to come. The Chinese fleets were fabulously successful. They carried loads of Chinese silk and porcelain to western ports and returned with all the riches of Africa and Arabia. Between the turn of the century and 1433, the treasure fleets sailed seven times. These expeditions established a vast trade network for China. They also included military conquests that brought a huge amount of land under Chinese control. At the conclusion of the last expedition, the Chinese Empire reached the Persian Gulf. The next expedition might had rounded the horn of Africa. China might have "discovered" and even colonized Europe. The ships held unmatched technology and were easily capable of reaching the Americas. China stood at the brink of dominating the world. But there was no next expedition. Instead, there was a change in political control. The new Ming emperors pulled back the fleets. The treasure ships were allowed to rot or deliberately burned to prevent their use. China turned inward, became insular, abandoned its distant colonies. It would be the Europeans that went on to discover the New World. And Europeans who would reach, and dominate, much of China for centuries to come. In 1969, Neil Armstrong placed his foot in a slightly gritty powder and left the first human mark on the moon. The United States had conducted a series of expeditions into space, using successively more capable craft. The rocket that delivered men to the moon was 363' long, the largest ever made. They were the most technologically advanced devices of their time. Under Democratic leadership, they had reached another world. Seven times, from 1969 to 1972, craft from the United States reached the moon. They were fabulously successful. They delivered a bounty of knowledge, a peaceful explosion of technology, and a focus for the world. America stood at the brink of endless possibilities. Another push might have established colonies, it might have lead to clean and endless energy, it might have... There was no next time.
I'll make no claims when it comes to oil and gas. I've no real experience there and only know what I read from textbooks that are now old enough to be fossils themselves. But the idea that coal is abiotic is lunacy. I've been a coal geologist for more than 20 years. I've thin sectioned enough of the stuff to fuel a small city through a bitter winter. I've cored and logged coal from America to Australia. And I can tell you what is in every sample of coal I ever examined: plant material. Spores. Leaves. Resins. Even the portions that are nearly pure carbon often preserve the details of floral microstructures. Coal is not only made from plants, I can, from deposit to deposit, tell you exactly what kind of environment and mixture of flora was involved. Further, we well understand the stages of coal deposition and development. We have models for most every ancient coal bed in current depositional environments (go to Indonesia if you want to see really spiffy examples). The chemical makeup of coal can be used to "reverse engineer" the pressures, depths, and time involved in it's production. There is no fricking mystery here. Abiotic coal. Jesus. When it comes to the cuckoo meter, turn this one up to eleven.
I understood the writing game well enough, or thought I did until one of my series sold to TV. Then I learned the hard way that neither I, nor my literary agent, was equipped to play in this ballpark. One little phrase that had special meaning only in the TV business cost me all of my per show royalties. I'll know better next time, but it was one hell of a costly lesson.
I wrote six complete novels on Palm machines. The longest of these was over 600 pages when finally carted over to my PC and printed out. Heck, I even did the first one back on the original Palm Pilot where writing meant breaking up each chapter into 4K memos. While I might be able to type faster than I can write, I can write as fast as I can think up decent text, so that wasn't a limit. Any additional effort required was easily offset by the ablity to write while sitting beside a waterfall or standing in line at the movies.
Nope. Cromagnon is pure H. sapiens.
They are us.
Your Axim does not have a 320x320 screen. It has a 320 by 240 screen. At 320 x 480, the Sony has twice the resolution. This makes a huge difference if you use the device as either an ebook reader, picture viewer, or video player. On video, it's like the difference between watching an old VHS tape and a crisp DVD. (And Sony's movie player is much smoother than the one on my Axim). And, of course, the Clie does play MP3, and supports both MS and CF for memory, and you don't need to add the camera.
When editing text, you can have many more lines of clear text on the Clie screen. If you write as much on your handheld as I do, you'll really appreciate this feature.
That's why, though I own both devices (and an older Palm and an Ipaq), it's the Clie that rests in its cradle and the Axim that lives in a drawer. I agree the Axim has a good price, but give these Sonys a couple of months. Sony churns out new models like nobody else, and the previous generation is always available at a much reduced price.
A very similar thing happened with The Chronicle. Though the show had not been on for as long as Farscape, it developed quite good ratings for SciFi. In weeks where new episodes aired, it was (with a couple of exceptions) the top show on the network. Then it was moved around, stuck on hiatus, brought back in fits and spurts, and finally strangled after a single season. The constant changes to the schedule and the lack of support for any program has effectively destroyed SciFi's ratings. When it started, The Chronicle pulled in over 2 ratings. Ratings in that range were a given for new episodes of Farscape just a year or two back. But as fans have learned that they can't trust SciFi, they've stopped watching. Why get invested in a series when a single season of episodes will be spread over a year or halted without warning? Science Fiction fans are more loyal than any other viewers on television, yet the SciFi Channel has managed to send them running in droves. SciFi is an perfect example of management to the point of destruction.
Part one: Palm is Better Part two: Palm is poised at the brink of failure Drone on all you want about the Pocket PC's superior specifications. Even the latest machines can not perform simple functions as quickly and easily as a Palm OS device. The Palm interface is just flat-out cleaner and easier -- even for people that spend all day on Windows machines. I have a new IPaq. It proudly illuminates the little square of desk in front of its machine. I have a Palm. It's a constant companion. The Ipaq is faster. It has more memory. It plays MP3. It yada yada yada. The Palm is better. Pocket PC users make fun of the tiny differences in interface (what's another click or two, eh?) Those tiny changes are the difference between a machine that can be used as a small computer, and a machine that can be used as a pure extension of your mind. I refer to the Palm as my back up memory, and that's not far from the truth. The Palm interface is clean enough that I can switch to memo pad, take notes in a meeting, save those notes, and start a new note, all without ever taking my eyes off the other people in the meeting. I can manage my calendar, my contacts, and perform a search with barely a glance. The Windows interface is poorly suited to this environment, and despite several iterations, doesn't come close to the directness of the Palm experience. This is why, despite a hundred Gartner group predictions to the contrary, and an equal number of me-too Pocket PC devices touting better specifications than Palm's most advanced device, Palm still holds a commanding lead. For all that, I'm finally coming to the reluctant conclusion that Palm is doomed. If not to utter failure, at least to niche status. The sheer weight of the consumer electronics companies now lined up on the Pocket PC side makes Palm's outlook as hopeful as Luxemberg vs. the U.S. Soon enough, the forces of checkbox marketing will win out ("Look, this one runs at 1000 schmeagles a second and has a button that tilts in 11 directions. It must be better."), Palm's percentage will slip, and all the Pocket PC pundits will crow in triumph. And when we're all tapping tiny start menus and searching for options on some Pocket PC with more bumps on its surface than a Klingon's forehead, just remember: Palm really was better.
Ah, yes. Obviously, the government should never involve itself in basic research, since so many companies are willing to fund baseline development that has no immediate, obvious return. Instead, the government should restrict itself to funding work that has fast and sure commercial potential -- private industry never cares about that stuff.
Actually, The Chronicle did quite well, often turning in numbers that were better than Farscape in the same time slot. It did even better in the original Saturday night slot.
And I can say with certainty that The Chronicle was not an expensive show to produce.
However, Sci Fi Channel seems intent on eliminating all original production. Two years ago, they were following a path of turning the channel into a "real" network, with several nights of their own shows. Once new management took over, they retreated, chopping shows and nights with abandon.
This was my first reaction: think God it won't affect my regular dose of Das!
It's quit tempting to look on Windows as the Nazis, or the Mongol Horde -- a force that must be crushed if civilization is to be saved. If this is your working analogy, then there is only total victory or inglorious death.
However, much as we might like it, the world is not populated by dragons and operating systems are not the tools of St. George.
Linux is not dead. Not now, nor is that a likely event any time in the near future. It's equally unlikely that Linux will soon drive Windows into the sea.
Windows will continue to be dominant on the consumer desktop for the immediate future. Windows has the applications, the games, and the thousands of developers grinding out the product. Could they do better work on Linux? Possibly, but it's not going to happen. Not with a relatively tiny marketplace further divided by flavors of installation and interface.
Linux will continue to drive servers and as the desktop of enthusiasts. It's a niche operating system, now, and likely forever.
For those that gnash their teeth over the evil empire, fear not! All empires crumble with time. But when something comes to push back the dark forces of Mordor, it will almost certainly NOT be Linux. It will be something clean and new, something that has a Vision (upper case "V") of computer interaction that goes past the creaky, cranky interfaces we have now and gives us a new way to relate to our machines. When it happens, Windows will go into the C/PM bin before Bill Gates can debug his digital living room.
And Linux will still be there, clanking along, doing it's job.
There is some space between death and triumph. Kind of like Switzerland.
The small speaker at the top acts as phone speaker (which can either be held against your ear or used as a speakerphone). Microphone is concealed in the direction pad (as the speaker is concealed in the direction pad of some PocketPCs). The LED is the activation LED for the phone. Dialing is on screen, ala Samsung. Star icon brings up the new browser Palm just purchased. Use closed for standard phone features, slide open to use Grafitti with Palm apps or in websites. Ask yourself why it's codenamed Oslo.
Why should human interference play a factor? Are you saying that we should only restore species out of guilt? Establishing a smoking gun on many extinct species is going to be quite difficult.
By this reasoning, 99.9% of the species on Earth are not needed. Personally, I'm okay with a few animals that aren't on the McMenu.
Yes, it's quite easy to smack your opponents around when you build the strawmen yourself, isn't it? I'd like to know how you're confident that the "wild" (whatever that is) "no longer needs" the Thylacine. Extinction is a natural and vital process, but retrieving a species done in by guns, traps, and poisons fails to offend me.