Honestly, I'm not being pedantic here, but exactly what are the "new" commercial applications that'll magically appear in LEO? Earth imaging? Yep, we do that already. Communications relays? Yep, from both LEO and GEO. Tourism? That implies a destination that doesn't exist yet, and obviates the "cargo" bias of the launcher. Note: "scientific research" isn't a commercial application nor is it a business model. It may be a necessary component, but the research phase is usually an expensive precursor to the commercial application.
I toss this out there because I've built satellite hardware, and it really is difficult to answer the question "what are you going to do in LEO?" I understand the Catch-22 that exists - nobody considers orbital apps because you can't get there; consequently, no demand for orbital transport develops because there are no on-orbit applications. However, just creating a transport mechanism won't magically make applications fall out of the sky (so to speak.) And unless several industries are planning applications in lock-step with your launch service, there will be a sever over-capacity that will drive the launch provider into bankruptcy.
Further, if there isn't standardization for the payload-to-vehicle interface, there won't be any competition in the market. You'll choose a launch provider at the beginning of the program, and you'll be locked-in to their infrastructure for the duration. Changing providers would essentially be a "do over" from a programmatic view. This isn't a taxi where you can get out of one and into another, receiving comparable service out of either.
Funny, my state-mandated GPS receiver seems to be on the fritz. No, I don't know how that antenna cable came to be severed. Maybe it accidentally got mashed in the door...
As noted previously, an odometer would serve the "mileage tax" purpose without the unnecessary oversight of GPS position tracking. Just read the damned thing whenever you bring the vehicle in for emissions testing.
We already have laws against hate speech, kiddie porn, etc. Choking off one distribution conduit only makes it move to another. Sometimes I wonder if the politicians intentionally enact symptomatic-relief measures to guarantee that the problem persists. After all, you can't have a Drug Czar if there's no illicit drug trade for him to lord over. Symbiosis in it's worst form.
I'll take care of parenting my kids without the assistance of the government. The world has changed since I was a kid, so my monkeys are being indoctrinated and trained earlier than I'd like, but not doing so leaves them exposed to the ugliness of this world.
I thought the quote "There is content that should just not be available to be viewed." would have been something taken out of context just to be inflammatory. Nope -
"There is content that should just not be available to be viewed. That is my view. Absolutely categorical. This is not a campaign against free speech, far from it; it is simply there is a wider public interest at stake when it involves harm to other people. We have got to get better at defining where the public interest lies and being clear about it."
Content ain't "content" unless you're able to view it. This guy's attitude makes me cringe. You can't have freedom of speech unless you're willing to stand up and support your most vocal opponent's right to say the most offensive things. No one on the planet should tolerate groupthink attitudes like those of Culture Secretary Andy Burnham. Care to engage in a lively debate with him about the subject? Well, not without the necessary oversight, because, well, your statements might be harmful to Mr. Burnham's reputation or to the Office of the Collective Culture Ministry, and we can't have that, now can we?
Do you remember the TV commercials where they desperately plead with you that "This isn't your father's Oldsmobile."? Why would they do that? Because it *is* your father's Oldsmobile, and they know it.
The high cost of equipment creates a barrier to adoption of the devices. Can't afford it? Tough, you'll have to do without. That's a basic free-market element.
As a physician or health-care provider, you'd be faced with a choice - do nothing, and suffer a X% infant mortality rate; or hack something together out of available components that does the job, reducing the infant mortality rate by Y%. What's the correct choice? That'll depend on what X and Y are. Beyond that, there are social implications (like being prosecuted for bypassing health regulation laws.)
Nah, they were just lucky. We had a tornado touch down nearby (various reports claimed it was either a F2 or F3 event.) I got to see the damage first-hand. It picked buildings up and tossed them around like toys. We're talking several hundred tons of building that's bolted to the ground. If any of the TIVs get some air under them, they're going to become aircraft... briefly.
Heavy isn't enough. Tornados regularly toss around "heavy" items like warehouses and locomotives. The original TIV had outrigger arms that were meant to help stabilize the thing during high wind. That "feature" made me laugh, and it demonstrated that the designer doesn't really comprehend the forces involved.
Yeah, you missed the "necessary force" aspect of the parent post. If B&E is your idea of a "prank," you might want to seek professional help. Most folks these days view that as an explicit threat to their safety.
Not too long ago, I witnessed a seemingly insane naked man running around a park assaulting people. He was armed with only his fists, but was high on PCP (so said the cops.) He sent several people to the hospital. It took six uniformed officers to restrain him. It was surreal to watch, as he tossed the cops around like toys. I think it would have been perfectly reasonable for any of his victims to use lethal force to defend themselves. It was pretty obvious that this guy wasn't rational, and he was clearly intent on inflicting harm.
So are you advocating that the kill-bots be equipped with BotStops to keep fingers from being de-gloved should they come in contact with the rotary actuators?
[curmudgeon] Eh, kids these days. Back when *I* was in high school, injuries were a part of growing up. When Bobby lost the tip of his finger in an unfortunate band saw accident, you can bet your ass that everyone perked up and paid attention. Nowadays, nobody respects the machines. Everyone depends on the "safety features" to keep them out of harm's way. You young uhns just wait until the machines achieve sentience. What are you going to do when the machines decide to turn off their safety features? You just wait... [/curmudgeon]
Sounds like a lecture we received in high-school metal shop. "The machines aren't inherently good or inherently evil, but they will do exactly what you tell them to. If you place your hand into the bandsaw blade, it will dutifully snip your fingers off without remorse."
Pat double checked the delivery address on the cheese package - "Joe the Thief, that's odd" he thought to himself. Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet started to quake. A vile torrent of mousiness erupted from beneath the placid suburban sidewalk. The package of cheese (notably from the Balrog Cheese Shop, arguably the finest in all of the northern district) was snatched from his hand. A painful sorrow befell Pat as he contemplated the mountain of paperwork he would be required to fill out for losing a package.
The air brakes on the Mattress Warehouse delivery truck made a shuddering noise as they brought the vehicle to a stop. The willow branches offered little resistance as he crashed into the truck's open bed. "Gotta get me one of these inner-spring jobbies with the pillow-top cover," he thought to himself, brushing off the broken tree limbs. Ne noticed movement in his peripheral vision. The tree appeared to be moving, but that was just a result of a likely concussion, right? The bulbous tree-fist crashed into the side of the truck, just as he jumped to safety.
Not mailce, but more Occam's razor applied to bureaucracy. Any bureaucracy's primary mission appears to be "survival," so making the ISS self-sufficient lessens the need for Shuttle resupply missions, etc etc. Simply delaying the water recycling capability benefits both the bureaucracy as well as the supply contractors. There's strong pressure from that end to maintain the status quo. I don't think anyone involved with the ISS or Shuttle programs would advocate shifting the assembly sequence such that the politicians could step in and close the program early.
Eh, the engineer in me wanted the ISS to be an actual *useful* resource, and not some destination that simply justifies the existence of the Shuttle program. Hell, even without the recycling capability, just taking the main fuel tank all the way to orbit would have provided enough H2 and O2 to make tons of water - they don't run the tank dry, and the H2 is overloaded by 500kg to guarantee they don't run lean at MECO. Don't get me started on what a waste *that* is.
Yeah, I know it sounds like the rant... but here's a link to a NASA page from November 2000. The device in question is the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). And I quote:
The ECLSS Water Recycling System (WRS), developed at the MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center), will reclaim waste waters from the Space Shuttle's fuel cells, from urine, from oral hygiene and hand washing, and by condensing humidity from the air. Without such careful recycling 40,000 pounds per year of water from Earth would be required to resupply a minimum of four crewmembers for the life of the station.
Honestly, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but this was pretty damned blatant. Sorry for the lack of supporting linkage. I couldn't remember the system's acronym, and I was feeling a bit lazy.
NASA has been intentionally delaying the installation of a water recycling capability on the ISS. Without one, the ISS requires frequent trips from the Shuttle to replenish the water they dump overboard (which I consider borderline criminal.) The recycling capability has been on the books for years, and should have been one of the first modules installed. That is, of course, unless you don't really want the ISS to be self sufficient for any stretch of time.
The CIA and the NFL probably know more about you then you realize...
Should I be concerned that Al Michaels and John Madden might pull up in front of my house, driving a nondescript white panel van bristling with antennas (for continuous game coverage, no doubt) wondering why I wasn't watching the Cowboys/Redskins game last night?
Still not compelling. The "B" in "BPL" stands for Broadband. You're suggesting that lots of bandwidth for very short periods of time justifies this technology?
If you can string a power line, you can string a phone line on the same poles. A POTS line will run several miles/kilometers without repeaters. Set the demarc point at the bottom of your cabin's driveway, and run the line on your property yourself. A 56k modem will work fine, though might have to back down depending on the distance to the CO.
Ultimately, BPL is an attempt to use an existing wired infrastructure to avoid the cost of installing new media. Unfortunately, the existing medium is horrible at transporting high-bandwidth signals. BPL is a hack in the worst sense of the word. Promoting it for edge-case scenarios like "the cabin in the woods" is a crock.
I suppose that the big "table" lookin' thing over there could be a sacrificial altar, or it could just as easily be the sandwich counter. Hard to tell after a couple millenia of neglect. The big pit o' mayonnaise would've turned foul by now, too.
Did the archaeologist find a gold statue on a counterweighted pedestal? Was he chased from the Sandwich Shop by a giant stone ball? You have to admit though, "Temple of Doom" is much catchier than "Sandwich Shop of Great Intestinal Discomfort."
Sooo... you look forward to "getting away from it all" by going to your cabin in the wilderness and surfing the internet? Couldn't you pull the shade on your condo, pop open a new pine scented air freshener, and do the same thing from the convenience of your current location? Pardon me for pointing this out, but your argument isn't compelling.
Yes, I'm familiar with "the manual." However, my recommendations were specific... for a reason. I figured that references to SPECTRE and Allah and a certain British secret agent would have been pretty blatant clues.
- You'll probably need an inside man in the Air Force. Expect to surgically alter his cornea so that he will pass the retinal scan during the re-jiggering of the aircraft payload orders.
- A one-time payment of $500B is nice, but will only finance SPECTRE operations for a short while, even with proper investment. Consider using the weapon directly. Igniting the arabian oil fields would cause irreparable damage to any country not properly prepared. That would be worth well more than $500B, and would be considered continuous revenue. Consider a project code name invoking Allah, but don't be too obvious.
- Should you encounter a British or US secret agent, politely invite him to lunch on your yacht. He will undoubtedly express interest in a tour, which should culminate with a demo of the ship's control center. At that point, put a bullet in his head. None of your hand-picked crew will think any less of you.
I knew it! All those required "stretching" exercises in high-school PE are just designed to make you weaker and easier to control. Y'all laughed at me... and pushed me around... and beat me up... and took my lunch money... but I was right! Dammit!
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Honestly, I'm not being pedantic here, but exactly what are the "new" commercial applications that'll magically appear in LEO? Earth imaging? Yep, we do that already. Communications relays? Yep, from both LEO and GEO. Tourism? That implies a destination that doesn't exist yet, and obviates the "cargo" bias of the launcher. Note: "scientific research" isn't a commercial application nor is it a business model. It may be a necessary component, but the research phase is usually an expensive precursor to the commercial application.
I toss this out there because I've built satellite hardware, and it really is difficult to answer the question "what are you going to do in LEO?" I understand the Catch-22 that exists - nobody considers orbital apps because you can't get there; consequently, no demand for orbital transport develops because there are no on-orbit applications. However, just creating a transport mechanism won't magically make applications fall out of the sky (so to speak.) And unless several industries are planning applications in lock-step with your launch service, there will be a sever over-capacity that will drive the launch provider into bankruptcy.
Further, if there isn't standardization for the payload-to-vehicle interface, there won't be any competition in the market. You'll choose a launch provider at the beginning of the program, and you'll be locked-in to their infrastructure for the duration. Changing providers would essentially be a "do over" from a programmatic view. This isn't a taxi where you can get out of one and into another, receiving comparable service out of either.
Sorry, with the current governmental climate, I figured all the states would take advantage of doing the emissions testing stealth-tax.
Funny, my state-mandated GPS receiver seems to be on the fritz. No, I don't know how that antenna cable came to be severed. Maybe it accidentally got mashed in the door ...
As noted previously, an odometer would serve the "mileage tax" purpose without the unnecessary oversight of GPS position tracking. Just read the damned thing whenever you bring the vehicle in for emissions testing.
We already have laws against hate speech, kiddie porn, etc. Choking off one distribution conduit only makes it move to another. Sometimes I wonder if the politicians intentionally enact symptomatic-relief measures to guarantee that the problem persists. After all, you can't have a Drug Czar if there's no illicit drug trade for him to lord over. Symbiosis in it's worst form.
I'll take care of parenting my kids without the assistance of the government. The world has changed since I was a kid, so my monkeys are being indoctrinated and trained earlier than I'd like, but not doing so leaves them exposed to the ugliness of this world.
Content ain't "content" unless you're able to view it. This guy's attitude makes me cringe. You can't have freedom of speech unless you're willing to stand up and support your most vocal opponent's right to say the most offensive things. No one on the planet should tolerate groupthink attitudes like those of Culture Secretary Andy Burnham. Care to engage in a lively debate with him about the subject? Well, not without the necessary oversight, because, well, your statements might be harmful to Mr. Burnham's reputation or to the Office of the Collective Culture Ministry, and we can't have that, now can we?
Do you remember the TV commercials where they desperately plead with you that "This isn't your father's Oldsmobile."? Why would they do that? Because it *is* your father's Oldsmobile, and they know it.
Oh yes it is.
The high cost of equipment creates a barrier to adoption of the devices. Can't afford it? Tough, you'll have to do without. That's a basic free-market element.
As a physician or health-care provider, you'd be faced with a choice - do nothing, and suffer a X% infant mortality rate; or hack something together out of available components that does the job, reducing the infant mortality rate by Y%. What's the correct choice? That'll depend on what X and Y are. Beyond that, there are social implications (like being prosecuted for bypassing health regulation laws.)
Nah, they were just lucky. We had a tornado touch down nearby (various reports claimed it was either a F2 or F3 event.) I got to see the damage first-hand. It picked buildings up and tossed them around like toys. We're talking several hundred tons of building that's bolted to the ground. If any of the TIVs get some air under them, they're going to become aircraft ... briefly.
Heavy isn't enough. Tornados regularly toss around "heavy" items like warehouses and locomotives. The original TIV had outrigger arms that were meant to help stabilize the thing during high wind. That "feature" made me laugh, and it demonstrated that the designer doesn't really comprehend the forces involved.
Yeah, you missed the "necessary force" aspect of the parent post. If B&E is your idea of a "prank," you might want to seek professional help. Most folks these days view that as an explicit threat to their safety.
Not too long ago, I witnessed a seemingly insane naked man running around a park assaulting people. He was armed with only his fists, but was high on PCP (so said the cops.) He sent several people to the hospital. It took six uniformed officers to restrain him. It was surreal to watch, as he tossed the cops around like toys. I think it would have been perfectly reasonable for any of his victims to use lethal force to defend themselves. It was pretty obvious that this guy wasn't rational, and he was clearly intent on inflicting harm.
So are you advocating that the kill-bots be equipped with BotStops to keep fingers from being de-gloved should they come in contact with the rotary actuators?
... [/curmudgeon]
[curmudgeon] Eh, kids these days. Back when *I* was in high school, injuries were a part of growing up. When Bobby lost the tip of his finger in an unfortunate band saw accident, you can bet your ass that everyone perked up and paid attention. Nowadays, nobody respects the machines. Everyone depends on the "safety features" to keep them out of harm's way. You young uhns just wait until the machines achieve sentience. What are you going to do when the machines decide to turn off their safety features? You just wait
Sounds like a lecture we received in high-school metal shop. "The machines aren't inherently good or inherently evil, but they will do exactly what you tell them to. If you place your hand into the bandsaw blade, it will dutifully snip your fingers off without remorse."
Looks remarkably similar to something from Space 1999.
Pat double checked the delivery address on the cheese package - "Joe the Thief, that's odd" he thought to himself. Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet started to quake. A vile torrent of mousiness erupted from beneath the placid suburban sidewalk. The package of cheese (notably from the Balrog Cheese Shop, arguably the finest in all of the northern district) was snatched from his hand. A painful sorrow befell Pat as he contemplated the mountain of paperwork he would be required to fill out for losing a package.
The air brakes on the Mattress Warehouse delivery truck made a shuddering noise as they brought the vehicle to a stop. The willow branches offered little resistance as he crashed into the truck's open bed. "Gotta get me one of these inner-spring jobbies with the pillow-top cover," he thought to himself, brushing off the broken tree limbs. Ne noticed movement in his peripheral vision. The tree appeared to be moving, but that was just a result of a likely concussion, right? The bulbous tree-fist crashed into the side of the truck, just as he jumped to safety.
Not mailce, but more Occam's razor applied to bureaucracy. Any bureaucracy's primary mission appears to be "survival," so making the ISS self-sufficient lessens the need for Shuttle resupply missions, etc etc. Simply delaying the water recycling capability benefits both the bureaucracy as well as the supply contractors. There's strong pressure from that end to maintain the status quo. I don't think anyone involved with the ISS or Shuttle programs would advocate shifting the assembly sequence such that the politicians could step in and close the program early.
Eh, the engineer in me wanted the ISS to be an actual *useful* resource, and not some destination that simply justifies the existence of the Shuttle program. Hell, even without the recycling capability, just taking the main fuel tank all the way to orbit would have provided enough H2 and O2 to make tons of water - they don't run the tank dry, and the H2 is overloaded by 500kg to guarantee they don't run lean at MECO. Don't get me started on what a waste *that* is.
Honestly, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but this was pretty damned blatant. Sorry for the lack of supporting linkage. I couldn't remember the system's acronym, and I was feeling a bit lazy.
NASA has been intentionally delaying the installation of a water recycling capability on the ISS. Without one, the ISS requires frequent trips from the Shuttle to replenish the water they dump overboard (which I consider borderline criminal.) The recycling capability has been on the books for years, and should have been one of the first modules installed. That is, of course, unless you don't really want the ISS to be self sufficient for any stretch of time.
Should I be concerned that Al Michaels and John Madden might pull up in front of my house, driving a nondescript white panel van bristling with antennas (for continuous game coverage, no doubt) wondering why I wasn't watching the Cowboys/Redskins game last night?
Still not compelling. The "B" in "BPL" stands for Broadband. You're suggesting that lots of bandwidth for very short periods of time justifies this technology?
If you can string a power line, you can string a phone line on the same poles. A POTS line will run several miles/kilometers without repeaters. Set the demarc point at the bottom of your cabin's driveway, and run the line on your property yourself. A 56k modem will work fine, though might have to back down depending on the distance to the CO.
Ultimately, BPL is an attempt to use an existing wired infrastructure to avoid the cost of installing new media. Unfortunately, the existing medium is horrible at transporting high-bandwidth signals. BPL is a hack in the worst sense of the word. Promoting it for edge-case scenarios like "the cabin in the woods" is a crock.
I suppose that the big "table" lookin' thing over there could be a sacrificial altar, or it could just as easily be the sandwich counter. Hard to tell after a couple millenia of neglect. The big pit o' mayonnaise would've turned foul by now, too.
Did the archaeologist find a gold statue on a counterweighted pedestal? Was he chased from the Sandwich Shop by a giant stone ball? You have to admit though, "Temple of Doom" is much catchier than "Sandwich Shop of Great Intestinal Discomfort."
Actually, the Hebrew version lost some meaning when translated from the original Klingon.
Sooo ... you look forward to "getting away from it all" by going to your cabin in the wilderness and surfing the internet? Couldn't you pull the shade on your condo, pop open a new pine scented air freshener, and do the same thing from the convenience of your current location? Pardon me for pointing this out, but your argument isn't compelling.
Yes, I'm familiar with "the manual." However, my recommendations were specific ... for a reason. I figured that references to SPECTRE and Allah and a certain British secret agent would have been pretty blatant clues.
Don't forget to do the details.
- You'll probably need an inside man in the Air Force. Expect to surgically alter his cornea so that he will pass the retinal scan during the re-jiggering of the aircraft payload orders.
- A one-time payment of $500B is nice, but will only finance SPECTRE operations for a short while, even with proper investment. Consider using the weapon directly. Igniting the arabian oil fields would cause irreparable damage to any country not properly prepared. That would be worth well more than $500B, and would be considered continuous revenue. Consider a project code name invoking Allah, but don't be too obvious.
- Should you encounter a British or US secret agent, politely invite him to lunch on your yacht. He will undoubtedly express interest in a tour, which should culminate with a demo of the ship's control center. At that point, put a bullet in his head. None of your hand-picked crew will think any less of you.
I knew it! All those required "stretching" exercises in high-school PE are just designed to make you weaker and easier to control. Y'all laughed at me ... and pushed me around ... and beat me up ... and took my lunch money ... but I was right! Dammit!