Even with failsafes, there seems no end to the way humanss can bypass the system. Deadman's switches can be taped down etc.
I heard of an incident, I think in London, where there were two safeguards in the driver's cab: the deadman's switch had to be held and the door had to be shut. Pretty soon, the drivers figured to tape up the switch and open/shut the door as a control mechanism. This was fine until a driver stepped out of the cab at a station and let the door slide shut. Train goes off with no driver!
If you can make a fly hop etc, it isn't too far to making soldiers do stuff, or shooting an enemy with a dart and taking control of their body (eg. make them surrender etc).
The wavelength of 600GHz is only half a millimetre (if I got that right). That means you could make an inverting oscillator by looping the output back to the input with a quarter millimetre piece of wire.
The wavelength issue is going to make design with these in digital circuits a real challenge. It will take a few orders of magnitude in process improvement to exploit these to the max.
The ear mounted microphones have the benefit of being two-way devices. You can talk and listen with them. With a bone microphone you still need some sort of headphones to listen in a high noise environment.
You make the assumption that space flight is going to be cost driven with discounts and frequent flyer plans.
Cost reductions will only happen if there is significant competition from cost consious buyers. The space market will have to change a lot before that happens.
Hoping for a flying car in 20 years is not a plan. As any half-arsed manager will tell you a plan is more than that.
I think there is a fundamental difference in thinking between corporate USA and much of the rest of the world. US corporations are increasingly quarterly driven and "long term" is starting to mean thinking two or three quarters out. I have not RTFA, but I expect the Japanese actually have a planned program.
AFAIK (and I hope the great man's grandson knows better), are mainly solitary beings so I don't really see the point on trying to look the same. It might make sense with hammerheads that often congregate in hundreds.
They also spend a lot of time hunting in waters with shortish range visibility where you'd expect a robot to sound different and send out diferent electrical patterns.
I once saw a recognisable picture of old Abe Lincoln in approx 16x16 pixels IIRC. This is not enough for pron or to driving etc, but is probably enough to make a vast difference to a blind person's life: being able to see some of the local environment can help a lot eg:Where's the coffee cup on the table? Where's the phone? Is the door open/shut? Am I about to fall in a hole? Is the lid up or down when I go for a pee?
Laws are typically not perfectly written and are open to some degree of interpretation. The same with determining guilt etc. One can accept a certain interpretation of the law or not (you are still subject to the law however) eg. "The defendant accepts that he was speeding, but does not accept that this was dangerous at the time".
Perhaps dealing with the EU is new to MS - they're just used to telling the DOJ what to do.
There are some charities that recycle old computers overseas. In many ways these acts of charity are really just a low-cost disposal option. Sure there are some places that could use these, but many can't. You are not going to find a reliable power source in most 3world countires even in hospitals etc. The common man does not have power in his hut.
First off, the Dell outlet isn't in India. Second, a PC uses a lot of power, is big and fragile. A Simputer is, OTOH small and uses only a little power.
Having never been in India, but I did spend a lot of time in third-world Africa, I think the biggest issue is that the third world does not really get a huge gain from computers. The typical third-worlder does not need to write spreadsheets or take digital pics and does not have an urge to contact his buddies over IM. The typical third-worlder does not have a phone (heck hasn't even used one) has no running water or electricity. $200 is a lot of money - might be a whole familie's yearly income. Would you buy a PDA for $50K? Rather spend it on some food/medicine or a new sheet of plastic to put on the roof.
Obviously open source reduces the barrier to entry, but what many don't see is that open source makes for a much more sustainable business too.
Closed source software tends to get the "crown jewel" treatment. It starts of with a high value - often being a company's strategic advantage. But, because it is isolated and cost a lot to originally develop it tends to stagnate. Pretty soon your cutting-edge best-in-the-world software falls behind and the company hurts.
Open source software, on the other hand, tends to stay fresher. Because more people are involved, the boundaries are being pushed a lot harder instead of being hampered by internal corporate politics.
Slashdot Mirror
well in this context anyway
I heard of an incident, I think in London, where there were two safeguards in the driver's cab: the deadman's switch had to be held and the door had to be shut. Pretty soon, the drivers figured to tape up the switch and open/shut the door as a control mechanism. This was fine until a driver stepped out of the cab at a station and let the door slide shut. Train goes off with no driver!
If you can make a fly hop etc, it isn't too far to making soldiers do stuff, or shooting an enemy with a dart and taking control of their body (eg. make them surrender etc).
Precisely. Why RMA a drive if you're so worried? Smash it and bin the fragments.
How did they measure this?
The wavelength of 600GHz is only half a millimetre (if I got that right). That means you could make an inverting oscillator by looping the output back to the input with a quarter millimetre piece of wire.
The wavelength issue is going to make design with these in digital circuits a real challenge. It will take a few orders of magnitude in process improvement to exploit these to the max.
The ultimate advertisement would get into your subconcious without you realising it.
The ear mounted microphones have the benefit of being two-way devices. You can talk and listen with them. With a bone microphone you still need some sort of headphones to listen in a high noise environment.
I was under the impression cops need evidence before arresting you. You have this impression because Uncle Sam wants you to have it.
Perhps here is a case where it works.
As a /. reader/commenter, you are supposed to post without RTFA. So what's the point in posting links.
If you're in the USA look around you. They are the people who almost made him president.
That's what most Google searches are for. And all the ad breaks will be infomercials for Viagra etc.
Cost reductions will only happen if there is significant competition from cost consious buyers. The space market will have to change a lot before that happens.
I think there is a fundamental difference in thinking between corporate USA and much of the rest of the world. US corporations are increasingly quarterly driven and "long term" is starting to mean thinking two or three quarters out. I have not RTFA, but I expect the Japanese actually have a planned program.
A moon tourist has spent millions getting there. Surely stumping up for a few worn camera lenses is just going to be hiss...
They also spend a lot of time hunting in waters with shortish range visibility where you'd expect a robot to sound different and send out diferent electrical patterns.
252 pixel grey scale Abe: http://home.earthlink.net/~wlhunt/History/History. html
I once saw a recognisable picture of old Abe Lincoln in approx 16x16 pixels IIRC. This is not enough for pron or to driving etc, but is probably enough to make a vast difference to a blind person's life: being able to see some of the local environment can help a lot eg:Where's the coffee cup on the table? Where's the phone? Is the door open/shut? Am I about to fall in a hole? Is the lid up or down when I go for a pee?
Perhaps dealing with the EU is new to MS - they're just used to telling the DOJ what to do.
There are some charities that recycle old computers overseas. In many ways these acts of charity are really just a low-cost disposal option. Sure there are some places that could use these, but many can't. You are not going to find a reliable power source in most 3world countires even in hospitals etc. The common man does not have power in his hut.
I can see it: "Buy your compressed air and get free gas".
Having never been in India, but I did spend a lot of time in third-world Africa, I think the biggest issue is that the third world does not really get a huge gain from computers. The typical third-worlder does not need to write spreadsheets or take digital pics and does not have an urge to contact his buddies over IM. The typical third-worlder does not have a phone (heck hasn't even used one) has no running water or electricity. $200 is a lot of money - might be a whole familie's yearly income. Would you buy a PDA for $50K? Rather spend it on some food/medicine or a new sheet of plastic to put on the roof.
The DOJ is not being effective at lslowing down MS's monopolistic tactics.
Solar panels are not "free energy". They use a huge amount of energy to make. You only start getting nett output after approx 5-10 years.
Closed source software tends to get the "crown jewel" treatment. It starts of with a high value - often being a company's strategic advantage. But, because it is isolated and cost a lot to originally develop it tends to stagnate. Pretty soon your cutting-edge best-in-the-world software falls behind and the company hurts.
Open source software, on the other hand, tends to stay fresher. Because more people are involved, the boundaries are being pushed a lot harder instead of being hampered by internal corporate politics.