4 minutes of weightlessness isn't much, but it's hard to achieve on earth.
I imagine that 4 minutes could be enough micro-gravity for at lease a couple experiments to make good use - and at a fraction the cost of getting your materials up into orbit.
Also, just the development of these private spacecraft is practical - as it offers a direct route to development of an orbital craft (which would have vastly more practical applications).
and also, yes, you are being paranoid; but I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Debris tend to get going pretty fast in orbit.
Would you feel less worried about privacy if you could be guaranteed that certain information gathered would and could only be evaluated by a computer system - and would never pass before the eyes of an human individual or group of individuals?
If, hypothetically this system were 100% secured with, oh say, perfect quantum encryption.
surely the other teams will continue to test their spacecraft.
Especially as we now have the 50mil prize being offered for orbital flight.
Sadly, these flights won't nab them that nice 10mil, but futher tests will certainly yield data that will help those who wish to pursue orbit (and I'm certain at least some do) in the development of thier orbital spacecraft.
Furthermore, just because Rutan wins the prize and is first doesn't mean that he's developed all the best technology for private spacecraft.
It seems likely that just the effort should yield some valuble research and technologies (which they might just sell to virgin galactic or scaled composites).
It's too big an investment to just toss a spaceship in the trashbin.
I was three years old when St. Helens blew in 1980 (anyone feel old yet?).
Our family lived in Northern Idaho, and my father likes to recount how the hardware store was full of people buying masks and resperators and whatnot. He tells of how the supermarket was jam-packed with people stockpiling for the apocalypse.
He was getting a little nervous, but on his drive home he saw our neighbor (we lived out in the country), a farmer named Mr.Coon, just trolling about on his tractor under the bloody sun and darkened sky;doing his daily work, acting like it was just another day.
Please explain to me why a computer program is not simply a gigantic math problem?
Can it's processing not be broken down into nothing more than binary operations of a function. A formula that some determined individual may write out longhand?
Sure, that blackboard may stretch to the moon (and be made of carbon nanotubes), but it is an equation nonetheless.
is it not?
I mean, it takes input values, and returns output values.
It's just a really useful math problem.
When did we suddenly become able to patent Mathematics?
Wow, those were actually my first two pieces of anime as well.
I even put Akira as a third in place to Ghost in the Shell and Ninja Scroll.
The mix of Raw Vioence, Phenomenal artistry and deep narrative from Ghost in the Shell had my head spinning for a couple of days.
and anytime I think I'm having a tough day at work I just remember Tessai (the stone-body demon) beating the living crap out of Jubei. That makes me remember that things could be a lot worse...if I were a cartoon.
All these differing approaches to the same problem. It seems to me like trying to shove oatmeal into a sprung leak.
Maybe it's time to simplify.
dump email all together in the corporate environment and opt instead for a more secure solution based on PKI or kerberos or any other host of security structure.
If some contact absolutely needs to receive something via email, no problem. "We will gladly send you an email, but you just can't send us one. Unless, of course, you wish to send it to an employee's private email adress; we don't accept email internally anymore."
"Sorry mr. corporate contact, you must log in to our site www.dmail.company.com and submit messages that way. We have had too many problems with spam and viruses.
there is a nice, lightweight client you can install if you don't wish to log in every time."
It seems to me it wouldn't be that difficult to use a non-email solution for your corporate mailing needs (like the aforementined dmail which i've been hearing so much about), and if another company's IT department can't handle that light technical strain, then it would seem that IT department needs a wake up call.
This sounds like a great idea. Sometimes a Hammer works better than a screwdriver at a certain task. Not all Jobs can be preformed as well by a single tool or method.
After all, the human brain has different areas for processing different types of stimuli.
In fact, some parts of our brain are so radically different they are almost considered brains of their own.
like the cerebellem; it's often referred to as "the small brain". This controls motor coordination - and in humans allows us to do amazing things like flips, kung-fu, and cup-stacking.
And forgive me for forgetting the exact names, but the brain has layers as well. the outmost layer being the cortex (where most of the higher-level mamillian processing takes place - correct me if I'm wrong, the frontal lobe is pretty much purely cortical tissue). as you delve deeper you get into the hippocampus and medulla whatever (sorry IANAN I am not a Neurologist) which is where emotion rules - and if I again remember correctly is sometimes referred to as the "reptilian" brain.
Even the eyes themselves can almost be considered little 'brains' of thier own - considering the amount of pre-processing they do (maybe a co-processor would be more accurate).
they will need the help, but not so much as other events of similar size.
I was present at the first SpaceShipOne manned spaceflight and I must say, the whole experience was so unique.
I've been to many large events/gatherings and I must say that the crowd that gathered for that launch was remarkable: unusual.
Probably the most obvious indicator that this was no ordinary crowd was the state of the portable bathrooms: they were spotless.
Go to any concert and the sanitary conditions of those things is horrific; but here there was nary a corner of toilet tissue on the floor.
Which brings me to the second observation: no litter. There was, seriously, no litter. Even in my extraordinarily beleaguered state I was taken aback at how spotless everything was as the crowd dispersed following the landings.
Another observation of note, the din: there was none. Not that one would expect hooting and hollering of Metallicaesqe magnitude; nevertheless the noise level was so peaceful you could close your eyes and almost believe it was you and a few dozen others - not thousands (well, at least until Paul Allen started speaking inaudibly over the loudspeaker).
Of course this state of pax may have been partially attributed to the fact that so many of us were running on fumes at that time of the morning, after having driven whatever distances we drove (myself 6 hours, northern cali).
And of particular note, the decency. I recall seeing a group of onlookers gladly making room for an elderly gentleman - right at the nylon rope meters from the runway. these half-dozen camera-wearing men simply picked up their chairs and created a spot. those around the perimeter gladly scooted a few feet to allow for this.
For a moment I thought how wonderful it would be to have a society consisting completely of people like this: a veritable techocratic utopia.
and then I wondered, why aren't all societies like this right now?
He should hand the reigns over to Spielberg - at least for one movie.
Seriously. Lucas is a great storyteller, but not the greatest writer.
He's a great filmaker, but not the best director.
He creates wonderful characters - but doesn't flesh them out as it seems they should be.
I'm being a little harsh here; I personally think that episode II was pretty nifty (episode I had about 60% nifty): and I've never written a script nor some of the most renound movies of all time.
But let speilberg take a whack. Lucas created this universe, but I think someone else may be able to wield it in ways never dreamed.
After all, the greatest swordsmith isn't always the best fencer. The greatest composer not always the greatest musician.
Would it apply to a full-form patent application posted publicly?
Meaning, if I present here the idea of a type of list-browsing method where the user is presented with newest added or scanned items inserted into the next selected cursor position in an updateable or actively updating list as they browse arbitrarily sorted or ordered items or values, that this declaration itself constitutes prior art (if, theoretically, the language was legally sound)?
Even if it's not prior art it's still a good idea huh?
I digress.
Is the concept of an "open patent" even applicable legally? I hope so, because I have some ideas that I would like to open up (and I have the feeling i'm not the only one).
It would be great, having this huge database of ideas that any designer or engineer could feel free to impliment or incorporate or merely look into for inspiration.
Competition is good in practice, but cooperation is better in play.
Im often guilty of being a bit offtopic, but I'm curious about slashdotters opinions on this.
Let's say that I create a computer program to compose music.
Can I copyright the original music it creates? I mean, of course I can, right? - I just submit it as created by me.
I ask, because it seems to me, theoretically, that I could create every possible permutation of 4 to 8 bar melody (heck lets even go to 16 bar non-repeating). wouldn't that be neat? I could own the copyright to every possible piece of copyrightable music that could be created (well, maybe not EVERY piece, but a whole crapload).
i suppose my algorithm would need to have the musical notation for every song yet-copyrighted (so as to exclude those possible melodies from generation). But I wouldn't actually need to pay for the copyright on the musical notation for those songs which I am excluding, would I? I mean, it's not a crime to transcribe a song you hear on the radio - so long as you don't preform, distribute or record it. right?
Imagine a fed ex trailer pulling up to the copyright office with millions of pages of musical score.
I mean, I could claim me and 10,000 other slashdotters worked together to compose it;)
"only 24 hours in a day. only 12 notes a man can play. "
I think that once someone has fully purchased a good then the creator of that good should have no say whatsoever over what it's used for, (unless that good is some kind of thing whose primary function and purpose is to allow the creator to have say over what it's used for - and the consumer is fully aware of the device's function as such - wouldn't that be a wierd device).
secondly I think that ideas alone are valueless.
time for my rant
Without knowledge one cannot offer service
without service goods cannot be created.
This would seem to point deductively that knowledge is the only real thing of value. However, I posit this example.
Assume that if I am a doctor then the knowledge I have is percieved to have great value. However, unless I actually apply that knowledge it is worthless - example: I am involved in an auto accident. I am bleeding to death on the pavement. A doctor happens to walk by. This doctor has full knowledge of how to stop my bleeding and ease my suffereing - yet, if this doctor does not transform his knowledge into action(a service) then to me his vast knowledge is useless, worthless.
service is the only real commodity.
by my reasoning when you buy the ipod you should be able to modify it to do anything you wish. Even if that function was to be some kind of crazy hacking device with the sole purpose of taking down apple inc. Even if you post a website detailing the design and function of your device, fully disclosing what it could be used for; unless you actually use it for the stated purpose or can be shown to have full intent to use it for such ( like a gun manufacturer can make a gun designed to kill - but you cannot say the designer has intent to kill - it is just what his creation is intended to do, not what he intends to do) you should not be held responsible for any POTENTIAL wrongdoing. ITS YOUR GOODS! You should be able to modify it for any purpose.
services are the only real thing of any real value.
The sooner the world changes it's economic model to suit this truth the sooner things will start working like they are supposed to.
Slashdot Mirror
4 minutes of weightlessness isn't much, but it's hard to achieve on earth.
I imagine that 4 minutes could be enough micro-gravity for at lease a couple experiments to make good use - and at a fraction the cost of getting your materials up into orbit.
Also, just the development of these private spacecraft is practical - as it offers a direct route to development of an orbital craft (which would have vastly more practical applications).
and also, yes, you are being paranoid; but I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Debris tend to get going pretty fast in orbit.
the first one to hit on the pilot ;)
"hey hunk, got any plans for the next 4 minutes?"
Would you feel less worried about privacy if you could be guaranteed that certain information gathered would and could only be evaluated by a computer system - and would never pass before the eyes of an human individual or group of individuals?
If, hypothetically this system were 100% secured with, oh say, perfect quantum encryption.
this is hypothetical, ok.
surely the other teams will continue to test their spacecraft.
Especially as we now have the 50mil prize being offered for orbital flight.
Sadly, these flights won't nab them that nice 10mil, but futher tests will certainly yield data that will help those who wish to pursue orbit (and I'm certain at least some do) in the development of thier orbital spacecraft.
Furthermore, just because Rutan wins the prize and is first doesn't mean that he's developed all the best technology for private spacecraft.
It seems likely that just the effort should yield some valuble research and technologies (which they might just sell to virgin galactic or scaled composites).
It's too big an investment to just toss a spaceship in the trashbin.
This begs the next question, when will the first space pr0n be made?
it's a valid question.
We're all intrigued by the behaviour of fluids in zero G, DONT ACT LIKE YOU'RE NOT!
I was three years old when St. Helens blew in 1980 (anyone feel old yet?).
Our family lived in Northern Idaho, and my father likes to recount how the hardware store was full of people buying masks and resperators and whatnot. He tells of how the supermarket was jam-packed with people stockpiling for the apocalypse.
He was getting a little nervous, but on his drive home he saw our neighbor (we lived out in the country), a farmer named Mr.Coon, just trolling about on his tractor under the bloody sun and darkened sky;doing his daily work, acting like it was just another day.
My father was then able to relax a bit.
when haven't they been happening?
How about Math.
Please explain to me why a computer program is not simply a gigantic math problem?
Can it's processing not be broken down into nothing more than binary operations of a function. A formula that some determined individual may write out longhand?
Sure, that blackboard may stretch to the moon (and be made of carbon nanotubes), but it is an equation nonetheless.
is it not?
I mean, it takes input values, and returns output values.
It's just a really useful math problem.
When did we suddenly become able to patent Mathematics?
you get a saving throw against overclocking damage.
you'll need windows XP
there is no formula for success, but there is one for failure: try to please everyone.
"I care" - Luke
Wow, those were actually my first two pieces of anime as well.
I even put Akira as a third in place to Ghost in the Shell and Ninja Scroll.
The mix of Raw Vioence, Phenomenal artistry and deep narrative from Ghost in the Shell had my head spinning for a couple of days.
and anytime I think I'm having a tough day at work I just remember Tessai (the stone-body demon) beating the living crap out of Jubei. That makes me remember that things could be a lot worse...if I were a cartoon.
Besides the Geek Factor? What else is there besides the Geek Factor? :)
All these differing approaches to the same problem. It seems to me like trying to shove oatmeal into a sprung leak.
Maybe it's time to simplify.
dump email all together in the corporate environment and opt instead for a more secure solution based on PKI or kerberos or any other host of security structure.
If some contact absolutely needs to receive something via email, no problem. "We will gladly send you an email, but you just can't send us one. Unless, of course, you wish to send it to an employee's private email adress; we don't accept email internally anymore."
"Sorry mr. corporate contact, you must log in to our site www.dmail.company.com and submit messages that way. We have had too many problems with spam and viruses.
there is a nice, lightweight client you can install if you don't wish to log in every time."
It seems to me it wouldn't be that difficult to use a non-email solution for your corporate mailing needs (like the aforementined dmail which i've been hearing so much about), and if another company's IT department can't handle that light technical strain, then it would seem that IT department needs a wake up call.
where are the flaws in this reasoning?
after all, no boot, no crash!
This sounds like a great idea. Sometimes a Hammer works better than a screwdriver at a certain task. Not all Jobs can be preformed as well by a single tool or method.
After all, the human brain has different areas for processing different types of stimuli.
In fact, some parts of our brain are so radically different they are almost considered brains of their own.
like the cerebellem; it's often referred to as "the small brain". This controls motor coordination - and in humans allows us to do amazing things like flips, kung-fu, and cup-stacking.
And forgive me for forgetting the exact names, but the brain has layers as well. the outmost layer being the cortex (where most of the higher-level mamillian processing takes place - correct me if I'm wrong, the frontal lobe is pretty much purely cortical tissue). as you delve deeper you get into the hippocampus and medulla whatever (sorry IANAN I am not a Neurologist) which is where emotion rules - and if I again remember correctly is sometimes referred to as the "reptilian" brain.
Even the eyes themselves can almost be considered little 'brains' of thier own - considering the amount of pre-processing they do (maybe a co-processor would be more accurate).
make
they will need the help, but not so much as other events of similar size.
I was present at the first SpaceShipOne manned spaceflight and I must say, the whole experience was so unique.
I've been to many large events/gatherings and I must say that the crowd that gathered for that launch was remarkable: unusual.
Probably the most obvious indicator that this was no ordinary crowd was the state of the portable bathrooms: they were spotless.
Go to any concert and the sanitary conditions of those things is horrific; but here there was nary a corner of toilet tissue on the floor.
Which brings me to the second observation: no litter. There was, seriously, no litter. Even in my extraordinarily beleaguered state I was taken aback at how spotless everything was as the crowd dispersed following the landings.
Another observation of note, the din: there was none. Not that one would expect hooting and hollering of Metallicaesqe magnitude; nevertheless the noise level was so peaceful you could close your eyes and almost believe it was you and a few dozen others - not thousands (well, at least until Paul Allen started speaking inaudibly over the loudspeaker).
Of course this state of pax may have been partially attributed to the fact that so many of us were running on fumes at that time of the morning, after having driven whatever distances we drove (myself 6 hours, northern cali).
And of particular note, the decency. I recall seeing a group of onlookers gladly making room for an elderly gentleman - right at the nylon rope meters from the runway. these half-dozen camera-wearing men simply picked up their chairs and created a spot. those around the perimeter gladly scooted a few feet to allow for this.
For a moment I thought how wonderful it would be to have a society consisting completely of people like this: a veritable techocratic utopia.
and then I wondered, why aren't all societies like this right now?
To clarify. I think the poster is a Wired editor.
He's talking about the internet being 35.
the Internet, however, is 25.
He should hand the reigns over to Spielberg - at least for one movie.
Seriously. Lucas is a great storyteller, but not the greatest writer.
He's a great filmaker, but not the best director.
He creates wonderful characters - but doesn't flesh them out as it seems they should be.
I'm being a little harsh here; I personally think that episode II was pretty nifty (episode I had about 60% nifty): and I've never written a script nor some of the most renound movies of all time.
But let speilberg take a whack. Lucas created this universe, but I think someone else may be able to wield it in ways never dreamed.
After all, the greatest swordsmith isn't always the best fencer. The greatest composer not always the greatest musician.
Wondering.
This "prior Art" of which everyone is speaking.
Would it apply to a full-form patent application posted publicly?
Meaning, if I present here the idea of a type of list-browsing method where the user is presented with newest added or scanned items inserted into the next selected cursor position in an updateable or actively updating list as they browse arbitrarily sorted or ordered items or values, that this declaration itself constitutes prior art (if, theoretically, the language was legally sound)?
Even if it's not prior art it's still a good idea huh?
I digress.
Is the concept of an "open patent" even applicable legally? I hope so, because I have some ideas that I would like to open up (and I have the feeling i'm not the only one).
It would be great, having this huge database of ideas that any designer or engineer could feel free to impliment or incorporate or merely look into for inspiration.
Competition is good in practice, but cooperation is better in play.
TheirSQL
*snicker snicker*
Im often guilty of being a bit offtopic, but I'm curious about slashdotters opinions on this.
;)
Let's say that I create a computer program to compose music.
Can I copyright the original music it creates? I mean, of course I can, right? - I just submit it as created by me.
I ask, because it seems to me, theoretically, that I could create every possible permutation of 4 to 8 bar melody (heck lets even go to 16 bar non-repeating). wouldn't that be neat? I could own the copyright to every possible piece of copyrightable music that could be created (well, maybe not EVERY piece, but a whole crapload).
i suppose my algorithm would need to have the musical notation for every song yet-copyrighted (so as to exclude those possible melodies from generation). But I wouldn't actually need to pay for the copyright on the musical notation for those songs which I am excluding, would I? I mean, it's not a crime to transcribe a song you hear on the radio - so long as you don't preform, distribute or record it. right?
Imagine a fed ex trailer pulling up to the copyright office with millions of pages of musical score.
I mean, I could claim me and 10,000 other slashdotters worked together to compose it
"only 24 hours in a day. only 12 notes a man can play. "
ah, but we can always build more packbots.
Using that button: not legal.
I think that once someone has fully purchased a good then the creator of that good should have no say whatsoever over what it's used for, (unless that good is some kind of thing whose primary function and purpose is to allow the creator to have say over what it's used for - and the consumer is fully aware of the device's function as such - wouldn't that be a wierd device).
secondly I think that ideas alone are valueless.
time for my rant
Without knowledge one cannot offer service
without service goods cannot be created.
This would seem to point deductively that knowledge is the only real thing of value. However, I posit this example.
Assume that if I am a doctor then the knowledge I have is percieved to have great value. However, unless I actually apply that knowledge it is worthless - example: I am involved in an auto accident. I am bleeding to death on the pavement. A doctor happens to walk by. This doctor has full knowledge of how to stop my bleeding and ease my suffereing - yet, if this doctor does not transform his knowledge into action(a service) then to me his vast knowledge is useless, worthless.
service is the only real commodity.
by my reasoning when you buy the ipod you should be able to modify it to do anything you wish. Even if that function was to be some kind of crazy hacking device with the sole purpose of taking down apple inc. Even if you post a website detailing the design and function of your device, fully disclosing what it could be used for; unless you actually use it for the stated purpose or can be shown to have full intent to use it for such ( like a gun manufacturer can make a gun designed to kill - but you cannot say the designer has intent to kill - it is just what his creation is intended to do, not what he intends to do) you should not be held responsible for any POTENTIAL wrongdoing. ITS YOUR GOODS! You should be able to modify it for any purpose.
services are the only real thing of any real value.
The sooner the world changes it's economic model to suit this truth the sooner things will start working like they are supposed to.
was that a rant or what!?