Do "nanotechnology" and "molecular machinery" include herbicides and genetically modified plants? (If not, why not?) I'd say those are getting 1000x the reseach that weed-picking robots are.
Personally, I'd love to see macro-sized robots be successful. Doeses of microscopic things can't be removed from the environment, so they have long-term and uninteded consequences. Dumping poison on the fields has gotten us this far, but simply pulling the weeds seems cleaner and more direct, if only automation ever makes it feasible.
In any case, the History of the Compact Disc is the history of subsequent iterations of the technology as well. "In 1978, Polygram, a division of Philips, decided polycarbonate as the material of choice for the CD. Many other decisions were made that year, such as the disc diameter (115m) and the type of laser to be used by CD players. It was also decided that data on a CD would start at the center and spiral outwards to the edge." Most of that still applies to SACD, DVD, and HDDVD/Blu-Ray. DVDs could just as well have been called "Compact Discs" as well. We think of both the Eniac and the laptop I'm now using as "computers," even though they have far less actual technology in common than the various optical storage formats of the last 30 years. It's been great for backwards compatibility, since the newest DVD burner is still a CD reader, too.
The BSD variants have used that differentiation to their advantage over the years. It is sort of like genetic variation.
The open variants aren't the problem, nor are those precluded by the GPL. I'm referring to IRIX, Solaris, etc., where improvments were locked away in proprietary products. I don't have a problem with that, but the fragmentation of UNIX paved the way for Windows to take over.
Just an FYI, governments don't have to worry about licensing. Especially in situations like this. They have the power of eminent domain.
Think about Valve's Steam software for protecting video games (or any software that requires network activation). Just because you're willing to bypass it doesn't mean you can.
Placing an unprecedented 27% increase in his stocks makes his position as the world's richest man all that much more volatile to me.
I think it likely that the world's richest person would have a volatile, risky portfolio (like Gates, who made the vast majority of his wealth from Microsoft). If you want to do well in expectation, you have to balance risk and reward. If you want to be #1 in the whole world, you have to go long and be lucky.
I'm not sure what you're talking about. Outside of certain tech circles, a lot of people love Bill Gates. And outside of the tech world altogether, most people have extremely favorable opinions of Gates.
My own mother thinks Gates is worth every penny because otherwise everybody would still be wasting their time with typewriters. Argh.
It would happen, perhaps later, perhaps in a little bit different way. But it would have happened.
I'd say that strongly applies to Microsoft, but I'm not so sure about Stallman. Maybe BSD would have filled the GNU/Linux market gap, but actually I think not - it's Stallman's ideology that produced the GPL, which kept Linux from becoming fragmented and dissipated like BSD software is.
I agree with your argument, but the irony of the US system is that it doesn't even maximize economic value for most of those who support it - the patients. I do believe there are better reasons for universal health care than money, but the argument can be won on money alone, because the US system is a ripoff. We pay far more than other countries who have equal or better health.
3. idiots who didn't store a single copy of the software that reads the format, together with the archive (not very far from obvious, is it).
That's easier said than done. You'd have to keep multiple copies of everything, including hardware, up to the point where you're confident you have a stable standard - probably the power mains - and that's if you're not worried about violating licenses. Of course, with the advent of online apps, there is no way to snapshot the entire ecosystem of servers and software that actually makes an application run (especially since you never had direct access to it in the first place). The only reasonable solution is to pick some standard, such as jpg and ODF, and consolidate on that.
I hate the idea of everybody being happily drugged up, but it works. I've heard several people say their lives are so much better with antidepressants, and why didn't they start them sooner. I would like to think that life is what you make it, but it seems some do not have an equal shot at happiness because their brains aren't wired for it.
Another thing you said is a big problem of today's movies: All the good scenes are already in the trailers.
I guess by the time you watch the first scene, the transaction is over from the producer's perspective - you paid your money and you're not getting it back, and hardly anybody pays to watch a movie a second time anyways.
Oh well, millions of people per year spend good money on devices that do nothing *but* waste energy, such as elliptical machines, treadmills, and exercycles. And you can't even hack people to pieces with those.
Sure, but that's just because someone further up the chain is making the same mistake. One way or another, it's ultimately caused by some incompetent management or HR person not realising what a good developer is really worth.
I think the root problem is that developer productivity is very hard to measure. Salesmen are easy to measure, hence they work on comission and one can make 10x of what another does. With developers, who's to say that Joe taking 10 hours to do X is better than Jeff taking 20 hours to do Y? Put another way, look at the differences in salary where you already work. Do you feel they perfectly represent merit? If you were a bigwig three levels up, would you really trust your line managers with the discretion to pay one developer 10x of another?
I won't be feeling guilty about "inflated" salaries anytime soon. Productivity and profits have been soaring while compensation is stagnant for years now. There's still plenty of caterwauling from bosses about worker shortages and jobs people won't take (...for what we want to pay, of course), but I've realized that's just normal and not indicative of anything in particular. Bosses will always want lower wages.
It is part of the checks and balances on the Judicial and Legislative branch
I thought checks and balances were entirely optional now. Can't the judiciary just declare they're no longer part of the judicial branch, or claim this has to do with national security, or say they respect the president's right to his own opinion while completely ignoring him? Turnabout is fair play.
What you describe isn't unusual within Linux at all. If you have a problem with a module, you can often visit a developer's page, and fairly often get a later version of the driver which is still compatible with the kernel version you're running (e.g. IVTV). Then you either patch your kernel tree or compile the modules outside the kernel tree (for instance the pcmcia subsystem) and load it in. As for competing subsystems, think about oss vs alsa, or ipfwadm vs ipchains vs iptables, or udev vs devfs. It's just that all this is usually left to distro maintainers, because most people don't care. Maybe what you think you want is rock-steady kernel interfaces so a given driver is compatible with more versions of the kernel - but then you can kiss progress goodbye. I think Linux has it right: support the current way of doing things, plus the outmoded way of doing the same thing for a year or two, then get rid of it. Otherwise you're going to replicate the 20 year transition period it took Microsoft to get from DOS to XP.
all sorts of medical treatments would be available, everything from teeth straightening to IQ enhancements and drugs that make you look healthy or age less quickly. In which case, you wouldn't meet anyone stupid or ugly.
Sure you would; poor people who didn't quite get all the upgrades.
And, even if eugenics really caught on and we managed to eliminate 90% or 99% of the variation in humanity, there will still be a little variation left. I suppose the "top" 0.01% (probably defined in some very silly way) would still be in People magazine or whatever.
Personally I doubt the insurers can be eliminated from health care in the US, they're too entrenched. I think it more likely something like the California plan will be implemented on a national level.
no one is willing to have their freedom taken away, and their taxes increased, in order to be significantly worse off, even if it benefits others
OK, nice theory. So where are all the countries who adopted universal health care and then went back? Among dozens of democratic countries (Canada, Europe, Australia...), none have chosen to scrap it. What are you basing your opinion on?
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Personally, I'd love to see macro-sized robots be successful. Doeses of microscopic things can't be removed from the environment, so they have long-term and uninteded consequences. Dumping poison on the fields has gotten us this far, but simply pulling the weeds seems cleaner and more direct, if only automation ever makes it feasible.
It was mainly conservatives who killed Bush's so-called amnesty bill. Nationalism vs. cheap labor, so hard to choose...
In any case, the History of the Compact Disc is the history of subsequent iterations of the technology as well. "In 1978, Polygram, a division of Philips, decided polycarbonate as the material of choice for the CD. Many other decisions were made that year, such as the disc diameter (115m) and the type of laser to be used by CD players. It was also decided that data on a CD would start at the center and spiral outwards to the edge." Most of that still applies to SACD, DVD, and HDDVD/Blu-Ray. DVDs could just as well have been called "Compact Discs" as well. We think of both the Eniac and the laptop I'm now using as "computers," even though they have far less actual technology in common than the various optical storage formats of the last 30 years. It's been great for backwards compatibility, since the newest DVD burner is still a CD reader, too.
I agree with your argument, but the irony of the US system is that it doesn't even maximize economic value for most of those who support it - the patients. I do believe there are better reasons for universal health care than money, but the argument can be won on money alone, because the US system is a ripoff. We pay far more than other countries who have equal or better health.
I hate the idea of everybody being happily drugged up, but it works. I've heard several people say their lives are so much better with antidepressants, and why didn't they start them sooner. I would like to think that life is what you make it, but it seems some do not have an equal shot at happiness because their brains aren't wired for it.
Oh well, millions of people per year spend good money on devices that do nothing *but* waste energy, such as elliptical machines, treadmills, and exercycles. And you can't even hack people to pieces with those.
Programming is a craft. There's a lot to know, but not much to teach.
I won't be feeling guilty about "inflated" salaries anytime soon. Productivity and profits have been soaring while compensation is stagnant for years now. There's still plenty of caterwauling from bosses about worker shortages and jobs people won't take (...for what we want to pay, of course), but I've realized that's just normal and not indicative of anything in particular. Bosses will always want lower wages.
Though losing your remaining balance every time they whack another mole is some deterrent.
What you describe isn't unusual within Linux at all. If you have a problem with a module, you can often visit a developer's page, and fairly often get a later version of the driver which is still compatible with the kernel version you're running (e.g. IVTV). Then you either patch your kernel tree or compile the modules outside the kernel tree (for instance the pcmcia subsystem) and load it in. As for competing subsystems, think about oss vs alsa, or ipfwadm vs ipchains vs iptables, or udev vs devfs. It's just that all this is usually left to distro maintainers, because most people don't care. Maybe what you think you want is rock-steady kernel interfaces so a given driver is compatible with more versions of the kernel - but then you can kiss progress goodbye. I think Linux has it right: support the current way of doing things, plus the outmoded way of doing the same thing for a year or two, then get rid of it. Otherwise you're going to replicate the 20 year transition period it took Microsoft to get from DOS to XP.
So what happens when these gurus take one more step up the ladder and OSS becomes overburdened with PHB who make life miserable for everybody :)
And, even if eugenics really caught on and we managed to eliminate 90% or 99% of the variation in humanity, there will still be a little variation left. I suppose the "top" 0.01% (probably defined in some very silly way) would still be in People magazine or whatever.
Personally I doubt the insurers can be eliminated from health care in the US, they're too entrenched. I think it more likely something like the California plan will be implemented on a national level.