Where are all of the/. libertarians? What, are you people on vacation today? This is the stupidest idea so far this year! How could a libertarian possibly even consider this? What next, a license to use a cell phone? A license to operate the computer itself? A license to operate household appliances? A license to use a garden hose?
Let alone the negative connotations they infer about off-copyright materials. It doesn't even make sense to most people, and they think what is most sensible is for copyright to last forever. People have the quaint idea that this allows the original authors to retire and survive old age.
The brainwashing is complete. Long live the brainwashing.
Hear, hear!
I'm astonished and profoundly disconcerted that so many citizens can't see the extent to which this fucks us all over. What next? "Commercial speech" will be protected by the First Amendment and truth in advertising/lending laws and anti-fraud laws will be eliminated? SEC regulations will now run afoul of protection from unreasonable search and seizure, so publicly traded corporations will then be able to conceal all information about their books and corporate operations?
This is very bad.
I agree with the notion that corporations are not people, and do not have the same rights as people. They are not protected by constitutional rights given to people.
A multi-megawatt infrared laser beam aimed at a small location on earth from a free-falling object a couple hundred miles away. All together now: What could possibly go wrong?
Humans are a small niche in biological evolution. Most creatures are very well adapted for specific environments and life strategies, which I presume is the underlying point you are making about how robots should be designed. If you have a recent model new car that is midrange or higher in price, you have a robot. Roombas, appliances with computers in them, washing machines, dishwashers, robots all. We just haven't been calling them that.
Since they are talking about brain waves, it doesn't necessarily need to be inside the skull. I'm not clear on why they call it an implant, unless they absolutely positively want it to always stay in the same place, a somewhat dubious requirement.
Imagine being able to surf the Web with the power of your thoughts.
And there you have it. Why would we want to set up a direct connection between the human mind and a 64-bit multicore computer with many gigabytes of RAM, over a terabyte of storage, and a high-speed connection to the international network of computing machinery? To do large-scale science? To create art as it has never been created before? To help throw off the shackles of oppression and exploitation? Shit, to manage your budget and do your taxes? No. To surf the web.
Well, at least they're not kidding themselves over at the ever-practical Intel.
I am not arguing against space exploration. On the contrary, in arguing against manned space flight and in favor of unmanned, I am arguing against the single greatest obstacle to space exploration by the human race: manned space flight and its colossal cost. Manned space flight prevents space exploration.
No offense, but beliefs in "get off this rock", "get our asses to Mars", "get He fusion fuel from the moon", and "let's mine the asteroids" are, shall we say, not based on an informed and pragmatic analysis of the facts. They are scams designed to loot the treasury, while distracting citizens with sappy sci fi dreams. I sincerely hope you are not one of the believers...
Peak gullibility, peak sci-fi space adventure magical religious cults, peak political cluelessness.
There is absolutely no compelling reason to send humans to space in the foreseeable future. There is nothing of value in manned space exploration that cannot be done sooner, much more cheaply, and on a far larger scale by unmanned missions, and I challenge anyone to demonstrate the contrary with hard data and credible budgets.
At the top of the list is space exploration itself. A miniscule fraction of humanity's space exploration to date has been done by humans, the rest, including exploration of most of our solar system, has been done by unmanned missions. We have been exploring the surface of Mars for several years straight with unmanned vehicles, unimaginable if a physical human presence is factored in.
Credible, sustainable, affordable manned space exploration is so far into the future as to be impossible to foresee. This means several generations, perhaps a century or more. Currently unimaginable advances in propulsion need to occur in order to cheaply transport equipment, supplies, and crew in the complex missions needed to safely and productively carry out manned interplanetary missions, or even a manned base on our moon.
Lies! Nuclear power is the best and the cleanest source of energy, and it will last forever because of breeder reactors! It doesn't pollute or produce greenhouse gases! It is cheaper than anything else! It is safer than any other power source! It protects our national security because we wouldn't have to import oil! We can supply the energy needs of our entire economy forever on nuclear power!
Those are all of the foaming-at-the-mouth claims I can remember at the moment. Any more?
I agree. If you can, have Akamai do it. You will save yourself a thousand man-years of headaches. They have people in Spain, BTW. Also, AFAIK Flash servers are 1) proprietary and have licensing costs, and 2) run only on Windows. Somebody would end up having to be the local FMS expert, and at least one other person would have to be competent for when the expert is not available.
Slashdot Mirror
Where are all of the /. libertarians? What, are you people on vacation today? This is the stupidest idea so far this year! How could a libertarian possibly even consider this? What next, a license to use a cell phone? A license to operate the computer itself? A license to operate household appliances? A license to use a garden hose?
...and shouts to the four winds "I'm an Idiot!"
There will never be a war between Open Source and Public Domain. It would be nonsensical.
For all of you trivia freaks, SQLite is an example of high quality source code that is widely used and is in the Public Domain.
Let alone the negative connotations they infer about off-copyright materials. It doesn't even make sense to most people, and they think what is most sensible is for copyright to last forever. People have the quaint idea that this allows the original authors to retire and survive old age.
The brainwashing is complete. Long live the brainwashing.
Hear, hear!
I'm astonished and profoundly disconcerted that so many citizens can't see the extent to which this fucks us all over. What next? "Commercial speech" will be protected by the First Amendment and truth in advertising/lending laws and anti-fraud laws will be eliminated? SEC regulations will now run afoul of protection from unreasonable search and seizure, so publicly traded corporations will then be able to conceal all information about their books and corporate operations?
This is very bad.
I agree with the notion that corporations are not people, and do not have the same rights as people. They are not protected by constitutional rights given to people.
A multi-megawatt infrared laser beam aimed at a small location on earth from a free-falling object a couple hundred miles away. All together now:
What could possibly go wrong?
with all respect to evolution
Humans are a small niche in biological evolution. Most creatures are very well adapted for specific environments and life strategies, which I presume is the underlying point you are making about how robots should be designed. If you have a recent model new car that is midrange or higher in price, you have a robot. Roombas, appliances with computers in them, washing machines, dishwashers, robots all. We just haven't been calling them that.
Several sets of dentures and a floss waxing machine, for starters. And can we please have some flavors besides "minty fresh?"
No! It's clean, I tell you! Clean! It's the cleanest one of all! Clean! Clean! Clean!
Aaaaaaaaargh.....
[fades out into oblivion]
I hope he was never in Philadelfia...
It once published an article about a Philadelphia physician who supposedly used X-rays to turn blacks into whites...
Actually, he turned white people into charcoal, which is technically black.
Popular Mechanics was not about science at all. It was mainly engineering and technology. Science is something else entirely.
It's been done.
Hear that crackling sound inside your head? Hello? Are you still there?
Not to be an alarmist, but I'll bet money that you'll be worried well before that.
Since they are talking about brain waves, it doesn't necessarily need to be inside the skull. I'm not clear on why they call it an implant, unless they absolutely positively want it to always stay in the same place, a somewhat dubious requirement.
Imagine being able to surf the Web with the power of your thoughts.
And there you have it. Why would we want to set up a direct connection between the human mind and a 64-bit multicore computer with many gigabytes of RAM, over a terabyte of storage, and a high-speed connection to the international network of computing machinery? To do large-scale science? To create art as it has never been created before? To help throw off the shackles of oppression and exploitation? Shit, to manage your budget and do your taxes? No. To surf the web.
Well, at least they're not kidding themselves over at the ever-practical Intel.
I am not arguing against space exploration. On the contrary, in arguing against manned space flight and in favor of unmanned, I am arguing against the single greatest obstacle to space exploration by the human race: manned space flight and its colossal cost. Manned space flight prevents space exploration.
Manned space flight is a scam, pure and simple.
No offense, but beliefs in "get off this rock", "get our asses to Mars", "get He fusion fuel from the moon", and "let's mine the asteroids" are, shall we say, not based on an informed and pragmatic analysis of the facts. They are scams designed to loot the treasury, while distracting citizens with sappy sci fi dreams. I sincerely hope you are not one of the believers...
All the world's a scam, and we are but its suckers.
Peak gullibility, peak sci-fi space adventure magical religious cults, peak political cluelessness.
There is absolutely no compelling reason to send humans to space in the foreseeable future. There is nothing of value in manned space exploration that cannot be done sooner, much more cheaply, and on a far larger scale by unmanned missions, and I challenge anyone to demonstrate the contrary with hard data and credible budgets.
At the top of the list is space exploration itself. A miniscule fraction of humanity's space exploration to date has been done by humans, the rest, including exploration of most of our solar system, has been done by unmanned missions. We have been exploring the surface of Mars for several years straight with unmanned vehicles, unimaginable if a physical human presence is factored in.
Credible, sustainable, affordable manned space exploration is so far into the future as to be impossible to foresee. This means several generations, perhaps a century or more. Currently unimaginable advances in propulsion need to occur in order to cheaply transport equipment, supplies, and crew in the complex missions needed to safely and productively carry out manned interplanetary missions, or even a manned base on our moon.
Lies! Nuclear power is the best and the cleanest source of energy, and it will last forever because of breeder reactors! It doesn't pollute or produce greenhouse gases! It is cheaper than anything else! It is safer than any other power source! It protects our national security because we wouldn't have to import oil! We can supply the energy needs of our entire economy forever on nuclear power! Those are all of the foaming-at-the-mouth claims I can remember at the moment. Any more?
Because the guy obviously has balls. Cut him some slack, that's how big dreams com to life. Or violently crash and burn, whatever.
I agree. If you can, have Akamai do it. You will save yourself a thousand man-years of headaches. They have people in Spain, BTW. Also, AFAIK Flash servers are 1) proprietary and have licensing costs, and 2) run only on Windows. Somebody would end up having to be the local FMS expert, and at least one other person would have to be competent for when the expert is not available.
Just goes to show that high energy physicists can be as sappy and superstitious as the next guy.
I agree completely. Forgery, blackmail, fraud, all have existed since time immemorial. It gets more sophisticated, but not fundamentally different.