I have been watching Star Trek Since I was a kid, starting with the Original Series through the latest "Enterprise".
It seems that Star Trek inventions become real inventions 20 to 30 years after the original broadcast date. This is not hard-tested theory, but something I am researching.
By my reconning, the weather control systems mentioned in TNG (circa 1995) will be implimented sometime between 2015 and 2025. So as long as we can keep global warming from getting out of hand until them, we should be cool. I mean cool as in "rad" or "ok", not temperature-wise.
Even if other big players like MS do not participate, this could really be cool for cross-platform applications. Imagine a caching JIT for such a language. Now imagine a converter that could take Java or.NET assemblies and convert them to this new "byte-code". I am sure a 3rd party would step-up to write the MS version!
Now we are talking! I want my C# to compile to native code on Linux, Sun, and IBM mainframes. I want to take Java programmers in my firm and have their code call my C# and visa-versa. This could be a big step towards that.
I thought the New Testament was pretty good, but it lacks a lot of the action of the Old Testament. The use of metaphor was nice. Personally, I would have like a better ending. The 4 horseman things has been way overdone...
I agree that Los Alamos and Sandia are centers for the progress of advanced science, engineering and technology. But you either do not have a clue or cannot tell appples from oranges.
With the exclusion of one town (Albuquerque), New Mexico is the least populated state in the union. Businesses do not have major headquarters in NM like they do in Texas. Having worked in NM, I can personally testify that it is mostly sand and sand. Like I said, some very advanced stuff is going on there but most of it has little impact on the business and personal technoloogy markets (or it won't for years to come).
The government is out there 'cause the land is cheap and they could nuke stuff out there without very many people caring in the 50s.
While I am not from Texas and do NOT consider myself a "Texan", I will defend it against your remarks. The state is one of the most populated in the nation and is more than the stereotype of oilfields and cattle ranches.
Austin is the capital, and IS the tech center of the area. Big name companies like IBM, 3M, Motorolla, Sun, Slumberger, URS Corp, and others have major campuses and headquarters here.
I don't think any of us would be surprised to hear that the fine people (and I say that with complete respect) at Los Alamos and Sandia run Linux or Open Office. We know they do! The fact they do will make very little impact outside the extreme technology / defense / physics world. However, the City of Austin will raise some eyebrows in Texas, which will cascade into other areas of the nation.
Living in Austin, I can tell you this is a tech center for the State of Texas and the southwest. I seems like everytime I start talking to some in public, at a store, etc, they are a techie of some sort. There is a huge population of software companies here in Austin, even after the bubble. I think the fact that the City will be switching to Open Office *might* make a statement to the national technology community that Open Source has grown up.
IBM is actually trying to get some facts with their subpoenas, like offending source code. What does SCO think they are going to get out of Linus? Hopefully he doesn't let them look a the Linux source code..... oh wait.
If battery technology isn't going to progress, how about some changes to the building codes to add more public power outlets? Perhaps improvements in power supplies to make them smaller would help as well.
It seems simple, but even with recent inovations in other energy storage (fuel cell, etc), we won't see anything small (battery-wise) coming to market for some time. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
These are really good points. I agree with your point. Record companies and their expertise in marketing new artists have a big influence on the success or failure of the artist.
However, I think that an artist could hire a marketing firm on their own, or do less traditional marketing. Look at the success of the Blair Witch project. Much of their hype started from their web site. I think there will be other ways to get "big" in the future, than going through the Nazis at the RIAA.
And the real point is that if users are even giving up 15% of their take to BitPass (or some other service), they are still way ahead of the current situation. Artists won't have to "hit it big" to make a very good living like they do now. I think we are going to see music diversify much more than it is even now.
Since the moderators, instead of simply leaving some happy comments alone are nailing me, I will add something very much on-topic.
I think "home grown" service like BitPass are just the key for up and coming artists. Offering a service at such a small amount of money is very marketable. This is possible for the artist because the they gets such a large portion of that take. On an average CD, the artist makes much less than a dollar. That is a very small percentage @ $12 to $15 for a new cd!
Imagine a YOUNG Metallica level artist on their way up. Instead of using traditional means, they offer their LP at $2, on BitPass via MP3. They make much more per album than they would through traditional means. They don't have to sell near as many albums to be a huge financial success, and continue to make their music or whatever.
Sounds like success to me! I can think of a few local bands that I wish were still around, but simply could not afford it. A succesful BitPass style service could have really helped them!
With all the grief NASA gets, one should note how much this proto looks like the shuttle. It is nice to know that a bunch of smart US geeks built something cool back in the 1970s that is the model for today's new designs. Hopefully this one's systems are much less complex.
Now why can't we (US) get off our arses and start developing a serious replacement for the shittle (spelling intentional).
Now that Al gore is not doing anything, perhaps he can invent something new for us. I mean, really, he invented the internet some years ago. Isn't it time he got cracking on some new stuff for us?
I love the Windows 200 style interface. I get around in it very well, and as long as I am not doing anything too useful (like compiling, etc), it is very responsive.
It is all the stuff UNDER the hood that suck-didly-ucks. I don't mind Linux grabbing a Windows look at all. If nothing else, it will make it easier to get users to move over to Linux from their Windows machines.
Police, fire, etc are services which are better funded by government for several reasons.
First, if funding is from the government then all people should be covered equally by these services (theoretically).
Additionally, government services should only be those things that the individual cannot provide for themselves (roads, police, etc). I think that the individual has plenty of access to software. It isn't like there is no software out there to choose!
Third, let's be careful with the common good argument. It didn't work out to well for the people in the USSR.
On a personal note, I am a small government, low taxes kind of guy. No, I am not a republican (which is not bad). I just don't believe government should be involved in anything that it doesn't NEED to be involved in. Linux (and other projects) are receiving a lot of private funding and support. As a US Taxpayer and supporter of Linux, and would prefer that my tax dollars go to other things. I could probably agree with an occasional grant:-)
I am not a EE, but having a power Co-Op as a major client I know there is a significant line loss (power loss) associated with transmitting power over long distances. There are also major financial, political and citizen factors to overcome when building new transmission lines.
The technology looks cool. I think getting the power from a to b will be a bigger issue.
Despite the fact I think the photos look like a hoax, I can't believe that this thing is too stable in water. It would appear to be very long and narrow. Sea sickness is probably a big problem with this one.
SOAP is somewhat nailed down. I like SOAP, but it is hard enough convincing some old timers (our mainframe is so cool, why would anyone want more than TurboImage) to use XML, that I don't even try to go further and get them to run SOAP.
Thanks for the info. I am mostly using XML for data transfer between systems. My primary client has set XML as a standard for data transfer. They actually threatened to drop a vendor with which they do $50 million business a year, because they could not provide SOAP XML integration. They have programmers writing an interface now.... (hehe)
I always find it amusing when people try to tell me XML is not a big deal.
Slashdot Mirror
I have been watching Star Trek Since I was a kid, starting with the Original Series through the latest "Enterprise".
It seems that Star Trek inventions become real inventions 20 to 30 years after the original broadcast date. This is not hard-tested theory, but something I am researching.
By my reconning, the weather control systems mentioned in TNG (circa 1995) will be implimented sometime between 2015 and 2025. So as long as we can keep global warming from getting out of hand until them, we should be cool. I mean cool as in "rad" or "ok", not temperature-wise.
Even if other big players like MS do not participate, this could really be cool for cross-platform applications. Imagine a caching JIT for such a language. Now imagine a converter that could take Java or .NET assemblies and convert them to this new "byte-code". I am sure a 3rd party would step-up to write the MS version!
Now we are talking! I want my C# to compile to native code on Linux, Sun, and IBM mainframes. I want to take Java programmers in my firm and have their code call my C# and visa-versa. This could be a big step towards that.
I thought the New Testament was pretty good, but it lacks a lot of the action of the Old Testament. The use of metaphor was nice. Personally, I would have like a better ending. The 4 horseman things has been way overdone...
I agree that Los Alamos and Sandia are centers for the progress of advanced science, engineering and technology. But you either do not have a clue or cannot tell appples from oranges.
With the exclusion of one town (Albuquerque), New Mexico is the least populated state in the union. Businesses do not have major headquarters in NM like they do in Texas. Having worked in NM, I can personally testify that it is mostly sand and sand. Like I said, some very advanced stuff is going on there but most of it has little impact on the business and personal technoloogy markets (or it won't for years to come).
The government is out there 'cause the land is cheap and they could nuke stuff out there without very many people caring in the 50s.
While I am not from Texas and do NOT consider myself a "Texan", I will defend it against your remarks. The state is one of the most populated in the nation and is more than the stereotype of oilfields and cattle ranches.
Austin is the capital, and IS the tech center of the area. Big name companies like IBM, 3M, Motorolla, Sun, Slumberger, URS Corp, and others have major campuses and headquarters here.
I don't think any of us would be surprised to hear that the fine people (and I say that with complete respect) at Los Alamos and Sandia run Linux or Open Office. We know they do! The fact they do will make very little impact outside the extreme technology / defense / physics world. However, the City of Austin will raise some eyebrows in Texas, which will cascade into other areas of the nation.
Living in Austin, I can tell you this is a tech center for the State of Texas and the southwest. I seems like everytime I start talking to some in public, at a store, etc, they are a techie of some sort. There is a huge population of software companies here in Austin, even after the bubble. I think the fact that the City will be switching to Open Office *might* make a statement to the national technology community that Open Source has grown up.
I am sure there is some SCO code in the solution. They'll just get sued. Congrats, Defendants!
IBM is actually trying to get some facts with their subpoenas, like offending source code. What does SCO think they are going to get out of Linus? Hopefully he doesn't let them look a the Linux source code..... oh wait.
If battery technology isn't going to progress, how about some changes to the building codes to add more public power outlets? Perhaps improvements in power supplies to make them smaller would help as well.
It seems simple, but even with recent inovations in other energy storage (fuel cell, etc), we won't see anything small (battery-wise) coming to market for some time. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
nurb,
These are really good points. I agree with your point. Record companies and their expertise in marketing new artists have a big influence on the success or failure of the artist.
However, I think that an artist could hire a marketing firm on their own, or do less traditional marketing. Look at the success of the Blair Witch project. Much of their hype started from their web site. I think there will be other ways to get "big" in the future, than going through the Nazis at the RIAA.
And the real point is that if users are even giving up 15% of their take to BitPass (or some other service), they are still way ahead of the current situation. Artists won't have to "hit it big" to make a very good living like they do now. I think we are going to see music diversify much more than it is even now.
Since the moderators, instead of simply leaving some happy comments alone are nailing me, I will add something very much on-topic.
I think "home grown" service like BitPass are just the key for up and coming artists. Offering a service at such a small amount of money is very marketable. This is possible for the artist because the they gets such a large portion of that take. On an average CD, the artist makes much less than a dollar. That is a very small percentage @ $12 to $15 for a new cd!
Imagine a YOUNG Metallica level artist on their way up. Instead of using traditional means, they offer their LP at $2, on BitPass via MP3. They make much more per album than they would through traditional means. They don't have to sell near as many albums to be a huge financial success, and continue to make their music or whatever.
Sounds like success to me! I can think of a few local bands that I wish were still around, but simply could not afford it. A succesful BitPass style service could have really helped them!
Me so sad I am off topic. Me bad ./ user. Me never do it again, have learned me less. How dare me be happy about anything...
Wow, my first post to the /. front page!
I think ./ is a little late to the party on this one. This story has been around at least since the begining of the week.
On related news, congress passed the DMCA.
The Story is also here at News.com.com
Man, you people are stupid. Obviously I just left off a zero in my rush to defend windows any way I could...
With all the grief NASA gets, one should note how much this proto looks like the shuttle. It is nice to know that a bunch of smart US geeks built something cool back in the 1970s that is the model for today's new designs. Hopefully this one's systems are much less complex. Now why can't we (US) get off our arses and start developing a serious replacement for the shittle (spelling intentional). Now that Al gore is not doing anything, perhaps he can invent something new for us. I mean, really, he invented the internet some years ago. Isn't it time he got cracking on some new stuff for us?
I love the Windows 200 style interface. I get around in it very well, and as long as I am not doing anything too useful (like compiling, etc), it is very responsive.
It is all the stuff UNDER the hood that suck-didly-ucks. I don't mind Linux grabbing a Windows look at all. If nothing else, it will make it easier to get users to move over to Linux from their Windows machines.
Police, fire, etc are services which are better funded by government for several reasons.
:-)
First, if funding is from the government then all people should be covered equally by these services (theoretically).
Additionally, government services should only be those things that the individual cannot provide for themselves (roads, police, etc). I think that the individual has plenty of access to software. It isn't like there is no software out there to choose!
Third, let's be careful with the common good argument. It didn't work out to well for the people in the USSR.
On a personal note, I am a small government, low taxes kind of guy. No, I am not a republican (which is not bad). I just don't believe government should be involved in anything that it doesn't NEED to be involved in. Linux (and other projects) are receiving a lot of private funding and support. As a US Taxpayer and supporter of Linux, and would prefer that my tax dollars go to other things. I could probably agree with an occasional grant
I am not a EE, but having a power Co-Op as a major client I know there is a significant line loss (power loss) associated with transmitting power over long distances. There are also major financial, political and citizen factors to overcome when building new transmission lines. The technology looks cool. I think getting the power from a to b will be a bigger issue.
Despite the fact I think the photos look like a hoax, I can't believe that this thing is too stable in water. It would appear to be very long and narrow. Sea sickness is probably a big problem with this one.
I use NetFlix, and enjoy their service. Here is to Wal-Mart driving down the prices a little. I love living in a free market.
Disclaimer: 20 million other posts are probably say the same thing, but I had to get my $0.02 in.
SOAP is somewhat nailed down. I like SOAP, but it is hard enough convincing some old timers (our mainframe is so cool, why would anyone want more than TurboImage) to use XML, that I don't even try to go further and get them to run SOAP.
Thanks for the info. I am mostly using XML for data transfer between systems. My primary client has set XML as a standard for data transfer. They actually threatened to drop a vendor with which they do $50 million business a year, because they could not provide SOAP XML integration. They have programmers writing an interface now.... (hehe) I always find it amusing when people try to tell me XML is not a big deal.
I assume you are stupid.
Other than MythTV (which I am going to check out later), are there any other video recorder projects out there one should know about?