I was reading about it somewhere eariler today, it's not so much that it's now too far away to get a signal from it...more that it's long out lived it's useful life. Most of the onboard systems used to provide telemetry are now dead...I *think*, there was only one of the original 12 readings still available. The project was officially terminated in 1997, they were just tracking it as long as they could really.
It isn't just about porn though. Not everyone on the internet publishes "the facts". There's a lot of bullshit out there written by a)the clueless b)people with a set agenda or c)just plain mental cases.
I suppose this isn't the issue though, AFAIK there isn't a bullshit filter available yet. Maybe we should be teaching kids how to make informed decisions using all the evidence. Maybe then we'll have a society that doesn't mindlessly follow the media.
I've thought that a few times too, although the music on a MD is compressed so it's capacity for data is maybe a little deceptive. They're quite hardy little things too. I guess Sony has exclusive rights like you mention. It probably doesn't really make much sense to introduce them now though with CDR, DVDR, zip discs, yada yada yada.
I don't think it's going to ground the US space programme for long. As someone else has already mentioned, the ISS will need a shuttle mission to it in the near future. I think, the remains of the fleet will be throughly checked over and NASA's plans for a replacement for the shuttle will be unshelved and brought forward. Columbia was 20 years old, it was due to be pulled out of service I believe...IMO, it was just an unlucky accident caused by out of date equipment...not a major design fault as was the case with the Challenger. Then again, I'm not a NASA scientist...so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
I completely agree, some of the independent stuff that is being put out right is easily of better quality than most of the recycled crap being churned out by Hollywood or the record companies. I'd happily pay for some indie stuff, because I know my money is going to the people responsable for it...not into the back pocket of some executive.
If I remember rightly, the first CD-ROMs had IDE like connectors that weren't actually IDE (if you get me)...so they had to have their own ISA interface cards. Since CDROMs and soundcards often ended up bundled together in "mulitmedia kits" it made sense to stick the interface on the sound card.
I've found SMS 100% reliable here in the UK. Occasionally though messages seem to disappear into a black hole, turning up a few hours later.
With regard to the possibility of SMS spam, it just seems to be starting out here...some of it the typical "you've won a prize, call this [premium rate] number now!", although I've found that I occasionally get "local messages". Something such as "show this SMS at the door of such and such a club to get in for half price". The volume is nowhere near as bad as email, I get maybe 2 or 3 a month.
Slashdot Mirror
They already have! :-)
I was reading about it somewhere eariler today, it's not so much that it's now too far away to get a signal from it...more that it's long out lived it's useful life. Most of the onboard systems used to provide telemetry are now dead...I *think*, there was only one of the original 12 readings still available. The project was officially terminated in 1997, they were just tracking it as long as they could really.
It isn't just about porn though. Not everyone on the internet publishes "the facts". There's a lot of bullshit out there written by a)the clueless b)people with a set agenda or c)just plain mental cases.
I suppose this isn't the issue though, AFAIK there isn't a bullshit filter available yet. Maybe we should be teaching kids how to make informed decisions using all the evidence. Maybe then we'll have a society that doesn't mindlessly follow the media.
I've thought that a few times too, although the music on a MD is compressed so it's capacity for data is maybe a little deceptive. They're quite hardy little things too. I guess Sony has exclusive rights like you mention. It probably doesn't really make much sense to introduce them now though with CDR, DVDR, zip discs, yada yada yada.
I don't think it's going to ground the US space programme for long. As someone else has already mentioned, the ISS will need a shuttle mission to it in the near future. I think, the remains of the fleet will be throughly checked over and NASA's plans for a replacement for the shuttle will be unshelved and brought forward. Columbia was 20 years old, it was due to be pulled out of service I believe...IMO, it was just an unlucky accident caused by out of date equipment...not a major design fault as was the case with the Challenger. Then again, I'm not a NASA scientist...so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
I completely agree, some of the independent stuff that is being put out right is easily of better quality than most of the recycled crap being churned out by Hollywood or the record companies. I'd happily pay for some indie stuff, because I know my money is going to the people responsable for it...not into the back pocket of some executive.
If I remember rightly, the first CD-ROMs had IDE like connectors that weren't actually IDE (if you get me)...so they had to have their own ISA interface cards. Since CDROMs and soundcards often ended up bundled together in "mulitmedia kits" it made sense to stick the interface on the sound card.
I've found SMS 100% reliable here in the UK. Occasionally though messages seem to disappear into a black hole, turning up a few hours later. With regard to the possibility of SMS spam, it just seems to be starting out here...some of it the typical "you've won a prize, call this [premium rate] number now!", although I've found that I occasionally get "local messages". Something such as "show this SMS at the door of such and such a club to get in for half price". The volume is nowhere near as bad as email, I get maybe 2 or 3 a month.