And what's your solution? Die? And many already agree that we have probably ireeparable damaged this planet already. Read "The Redemption of Christopher Columbus" by Orson scott card to get an idea of what are future is going to be like. We'll end up with world peace and global conservationism, btu it will come far too late.
"Prevention of environmental disaster"
More like monitoring of onngoing environmental disasters. The money would be better spent on preventing them on the ground rather than just watching them from space.
"Creating a global network for modern communications, entertainment and networking"
I thought that was what M$ was trying to do. So our great space program is about being a slave to the telecoms... Why don't we just put a giant Verizon logo on all the rockets from now on?
"Global education and health services"
Give me a break. What, are we going to try to broadcast PBS to the entire world? The only people who will benefit the satalites and all the other space based comunications are the people who can afford the devices to tap into those communications. Last time I checked the poor in Africa want food, not TV's. The only people that will be able to afford these devices are the people that don't need these services.
"Cheap and environmentally friendly energy"
Let me guess: widespread use of potatoes to power clocks. They have gone a long way to create operational systems but they still need to develope them and they haven't been put into practice? In other words you have a coupel of ideas but you have done jack shit asbout them.
"Transportation safety"
This is part of the the satalite argument. As for the rest, space travel will always be inherently unsafe. The only recourse is to deal with it. When your shuttle explodes, be a man! Face the pain! I didn't hear any of the apollo astronauts whining about safety. They flew with what they had and if that wasn't good enough, tough!
"Emergency warning and recovery systems"
More satalites.
"National defense and strategic security"
And more satalite systems.
"Protection against catastrophic planetary accidents"
Not too useful since it doesn't seem we are seriously developing any of the tech necessary to prevent a strike if one was imminent(sic). And knowing NASA, the mission to save earth will eb pushed back and eventually scraped due to budget cuts. We have to put saving the world on the back burner cause our president wants to go to war with someone else to boost his poll ratings. Plus, unless the asteroid is in low earth orbit, how is NASA ever going to get to it? Satalites again...
"Creation of new jobs and Industries -- a new vision for the 21st century and a mandate to explore truly new frontiers" This is the best and possibly the sole reason to have a space program. This alone makes it worth it. But lets face it: they haven't done anything in this theater since apollo (with the exception of a few probes). NASA and the shuttles is like an old man and his model T. He is constantly fixing the car just so he can go down to the local convience mart. Chuck the jollipe and get a hot rod.
The nice thing about the chinese space program is it isn't bound by this international effort crap. Making the space program about international cooperation was a big mistake. The space program has been hijacked by diplomats. Think back to star trek. When where the diplomats ever a good thing?
The reason they went governement in the first place is becuase they didn't think any one comapny or group of companies could handle it. But that was in the 50's. Large corporation like Pepsi, Phillip Morris, and Sony could probably easily sponsor much of the space program today.
"And oh, I think that russians were ready to send a man to the moon. I think they tried and I think something happened and that they kept the secret."
Yeah, the rocket they were building to send a ship to orbit the moon exploded on the pad, killing a bunch of the scientists responsible for figuring out how to get there. The russian program was a nightmare. If you look at just the unclassified parts, you'll realize that it was crazy. They were losing cosmonauts and rockets right and left. There great rockets would explode possibly as much as 3 out of 4 launches at the begiing with sputnik. I might be mistaken, but Yuri Gegarin was actually not orginally going to be the first man in space but the guy ahead of him was killed when his rocket blew. We lost 3 guys in the space program up to 1970. Only a handful of our rockets exploded and not a single one with people on board. The russians were lossing rockets right and left (more the military pushing them than the scientists fault) and cosmonauts were as replacable. As for your list, it is easy to create such a list of first for the american space program as well check out this.
Speaking for my generation (born in 1981) I can say quite truthfully that if you don't start getting off your asses and start doing something towards those goals then by 2020 when we start getting our say, there won't be a JPL. We'll can you all and set up an institution taht actually produces something of worth. An Analogy: Others are developing magnetic tape, and your still fiddling with making better punchcards. Right now, the chinese are going to kick our asses. They will put a man on the moon before we return. Habitation on the moon in 15 years? I wouldn't be suprised. What I would be suprised about though is if it is anything you helped with.
"Manned space flight is not practical, it only gets in the way. It prevents rather than promotes space exploration."
Human biengs are not pratical, they only get in the way. It prevents rather than promotes any task. There is something known as the dignity of man (or people for the pc), the dignity to be valued as being something more than a machine.
"There are certain things men must
do to remain men." (The Ultimate Computer - ST:TOS)
"I said they were more effecient, not perferable. Computers make excellent and
efficient servants, but I have no
wish to serve under them.
Captain, a starship also runs on
loyalty to one man. And nothing
can replace it or him."
(The Ultimate Computer)
We can send probes to mars. But probes do not inspire. There is more to exploration than effeciency. It is the ability to say that we we're there. Probes can explore strange new worlds, seek out new life, and new civilizations. But they cannot boldy go where no man has gone before. We gain more than knowledge from exploration. We are inspired to look beyond our petty differences to a see a greater reality. No ones imagiens themselves as probes exploring, they imagine themsleves exploring. There is something unique we get from manned exploration, that we don't get from machines.
How about the possibilty that life once existed there? Life that started outside the confines of our own planet. How about the ability to say, "hey, we just became interplanetary explorers!". How about the vikings/columbus issue - columbus's expedition is remember becuase people returned to the new world. How about having a backup world in case we get pulverized by an asteroid? How about the mineral rich asteroid belt just a few (million) more miles out? How about humanities natural curiosity to explore? When you were a kid did you just read about other places in books and then consider that you saw them so you never left home? Curiosity and the need of the spirit to explore is a definite evolutionary advantage. What if we all figured "well, there is just more of the same out there, nothing economically beneficial out there, and so why go there?" when the first humans decided to leave africa? Mars is the next step on the frontier - the only real frontier left.
Personally, I think we shoudl set up two NASA's and have them compete for funding. NASA at the moment has absolutely no competition from anybody. They blow all the money on a bad decision? Fine, just ask for more. If the project doesn't go anywahere or won't for 10 years while you sit on your ass? Fine, what, are they going to fire NASA? A little competetion will help NASA get its act together. Plus NASA needs challanges. They don't have any real deadlines and no real goals (that don't wind up chanaging). They need something to focus on and focus their efforts. As Sean Connery stated in Highlander II - "Nothing like a challange to bring out the best in a person."(paraphrase)
With a deficit of nearly 500 billion this year, 50 million and even 200 million won't make that much of a difference. Plus, the pr the congress/senate/pres could get for funding a project like this would far outweigh the costs.
"(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator for carrying out this Act--
(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and
(2) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2005."
Heck, M$ could pay for the bill. Why not get some sponsorship? Good PR for the company, a mission that wouldn't have been for NASA. Just as long as the given company didn't try to patent any organism it may/may not find on Mars.
As for the bill itself, all I can do is appluad. Finally, some ppl in washington with vision. We fucked this planet up to the point where it is going to take 1000's of years to fix it (if ever). The current attitude that is mostly 'let's fix earth's problems first' simply isn't realistic anymore. In addition, we have wasted enough time in low-earth orbit. Let's really start exploring space now. The space program has been asleep since the end of apollo, the sleeper must awaken. Plus, if an asteroid pulverizes earth, at least any colonies on mars we can set up mmight survive. The time for the future has come!
"...a person needs new experiences, it touches something deep inside us allowing us to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken!"
---Dune (The Movie)
It's sad that people's attention spans have dropped to the point that just the thought of a book being slow is enough to drive ppl away. I bet if someone a hundred years ago picked up the book, they would say it was lightning fast.
I bet some fool will get it for his car...
"Yeah, officer, I was driving down the highway at 65mph when my phone rang. I have no idea how I ended up in this field! And why is the front of my car all covered in blood?"
"nor would they have the money for an ncage"
Especially considering you can get a ps2 AND a gamecube for the price of a single N-gage. Portability is nice, but not at this price.
"and as for why people buy cellphones.. they need to have it, it's no longer considered an option to have it, everybody has it and is pretty much expected to have one as well."
I am probably the only person in America who doesn't have a cellphone. Why? When I go out and get away from my computer (and my phone) it is usually becuase I don't want to be found. I don't want to be bothered every minute of my life by ppl calling me up. I just want to be left alone. Now you could say 'just turn the thing off when you don't want calls', but for me that accounts for 100% of the time it would be useful. If you want to call me, call me at my house, call me where it old you I would be, and if you don't know where I am it is becuase I don't want to be found. And there are a few other aint-social types like me who just don't want to be bothered.
That being said, the fact that this n-gage thing is a phone certainly doesn't excite me at all; especially since it would be cheaper to just get myself a regualr cellphone and a GBasp. In addition, it is better to have the devices seperate in case its stolen. You go out, talk on your cellphone, and if its stolen it isnt the end of the world. But if you lose a gameboysp or a n-gage, that is a bit more seious a loss. So say I was going out partying. I would much rather take a 50-75 dollar cellphone with me than to take a 300-400 ngage.
Personally, I think waht will make or break this is the games supplied for it. If the ps thing comes out with nearly teh same games, this thing is screwed. As far as competeing against the gameboysp, I don't think it can. Somehow, playing old SuperNes games on a handheld is jsut a lot more appealing to me (possibly and probably nostalagia) than playing the first couple PS titles. With a cost like 300-400 it isn't going to be for the kiddies, so nostalagia to us gamers who grew up playing SNES will definitely be hard to beat. (If they get square/enix to make a few titles for the ngage, I might get it, but as it is how can you compete against link?)
"Finally, tt's the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998, or DMCA, for crying out loud. Spelling it wrong twice is a clear warning flag that you haven't researched it at all and are just regurgitating half-truths and misinformation that you've heard elsewhere."
Actually it is just a clear warning flag that I don't check my spelling.
Simply put, the patron system. If someone wants a work of art like a symphony created, they pay for its creation and then everyone shares in it. The orginal investor gets the honor os saying 'hey, i could afford to pay mozrt to make this for me'.
"Won't you help a tiny company survive?"
I am. It's called Redhat.
"Justice will be done."
Yep, when you go out of business for trying to extort ppl into paying you for something that isn't yours.
"Scotty, one to beam up."
He has already beamed away any ethical standards you had. Or perhaps your referring to the fact your company is out of touch with reality...
Slashdot Mirror
And what's your solution? Die? And many already agree that we have probably ireeparable damaged this planet already. Read "The Redemption of Christopher Columbus" by Orson scott card to get an idea of what are future is going to be like. We'll end up with world peace and global conservationism, btu it will come far too late.
"Prevention of environmental disaster"
More like monitoring of onngoing environmental disasters. The money would be better spent on preventing them on the ground rather than just watching them from space.
"Creating a global network for modern communications, entertainment and networking"
I thought that was what M$ was trying to do. So our great space program is about being a slave to the telecoms... Why don't we just put a giant Verizon logo on all the rockets from now on?
"Global education and health services"
Give me a break. What, are we going to try to broadcast PBS to the entire world? The only people who will benefit the satalites and all the other space based comunications are the people who can afford the devices to tap into those communications. Last time I checked the poor in Africa want food, not TV's. The only people that will be able to afford these devices are the people that don't need these services.
"Cheap and environmentally friendly energy"
Let me guess: widespread use of potatoes to power clocks. They have gone a long way to create operational systems but they still need to develope them and they haven't been put into practice? In other words you have a coupel of ideas but you have done jack shit asbout them.
"Transportation safety"
This is part of the the satalite argument. As for the rest, space travel will always be inherently unsafe. The only recourse is to deal with it. When your shuttle explodes, be a man! Face the pain! I didn't hear any of the apollo astronauts whining about safety. They flew with what they had and if that wasn't good enough, tough!
"Emergency warning and recovery systems"
More satalites.
"National defense and strategic security"
And more satalite systems.
"Protection against catastrophic planetary accidents"
Not too useful since it doesn't seem we are seriously developing any of the tech necessary to prevent a strike if one was imminent(sic). And knowing NASA, the mission to save earth will eb pushed back and eventually scraped due to budget cuts. We have to put saving the world on the back burner cause our president wants to go to war with someone else to boost his poll ratings. Plus, unless the asteroid is in low earth orbit, how is NASA ever going to get to it? Satalites again...
"Creation of new jobs and Industries -- a new vision for the 21st century and a mandate to explore truly new frontiers"
This is the best and possibly the sole reason to have a space program. This alone makes it worth it. But lets face it: they haven't done anything in this theater since apollo (with the exception of a few probes). NASA and the shuttles is like an old man and his model T. He is constantly fixing the car just so he can go down to the local convience mart. Chuck the jollipe and get a hot rod.
"Reader, suppose you were an idiot; and suppose you were a memer of Congress; but I repeat myself."
------------Mark Twain
The nice thing about the chinese space program is it isn't bound by this international effort crap. Making the space program about international cooperation was a big mistake. The space program has been hijacked by diplomats. Think back to star trek. When where the diplomats ever a good thing?
The reason they went governement in the first place is becuase they didn't think any one comapny or group of companies could handle it. But that was in the 50's. Large corporation like Pepsi, Phillip Morris, and Sony could probably easily sponsor much of the space program today.
"And oh, I think that russians were ready to send a man to the moon. I think they tried and I think something happened and that they kept the secret."
Yeah, the rocket they were building to send a ship to orbit the moon exploded on the pad, killing a bunch of the scientists responsible for figuring out how to get there. The russian program was a nightmare. If you look at just the unclassified parts, you'll realize that it was crazy. They were losing cosmonauts and rockets right and left. There great rockets would explode possibly as much as 3 out of 4 launches at the begiing with sputnik. I might be mistaken, but Yuri Gegarin was actually not orginally going to be the first man in space but the guy ahead of him was killed when his rocket blew. We lost 3 guys in the space program up to 1970. Only a handful of our rockets exploded and not a single one with people on board. The russians were lossing rockets right and left (more the military pushing them than the scientists fault) and cosmonauts were as replacable. As for your list, it is easy to create such a list of first for the american space program as well check out this.
Speaking for my generation (born in 1981) I can say quite truthfully that if you don't start getting off your asses and start doing something towards those goals then by 2020 when we start getting our say, there won't be a JPL. We'll can you all and set up an institution taht actually produces something of worth. An Analogy: Others are developing magnetic tape, and your still fiddling with making better punchcards. Right now, the chinese are going to kick our asses. They will put a man on the moon before we return. Habitation on the moon in 15 years? I wouldn't be suprised. What I would be suprised about though is if it is anything you helped with.
"Manned space flight is not practical, it only gets in the way. It prevents rather than promotes space exploration."
Human biengs are not pratical, they only get in the way. It prevents rather than promotes any task. There is something known as the dignity of man (or people for the pc), the dignity to be valued as being something more than a machine.
"There are certain things men must do to remain men." (The Ultimate Computer - ST:TOS)
"I said they were more effecient, not perferable. Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them. Captain, a starship also runs on loyalty to one man. And nothing can replace it or him." (The Ultimate Computer)
We can send probes to mars. But probes do not inspire. There is more to exploration than effeciency. It is the ability to say that we we're there. Probes can explore strange new worlds, seek out new life, and new civilizations. But they cannot boldy go where no man has gone before. We gain more than knowledge from exploration. We are inspired to look beyond our petty differences to a see a greater reality. No ones imagiens themselves as probes exploring, they imagine themsleves exploring. There is something unique we get from manned exploration, that we don't get from machines.
How about the possibilty that life once existed there? Life that started outside the confines of our own planet. How about the ability to say, "hey, we just became interplanetary explorers!". How about the vikings/columbus issue - columbus's expedition is remember becuase people returned to the new world. How about having a backup world in case we get pulverized by an asteroid? How about the mineral rich asteroid belt just a few (million) more miles out? How about humanities natural curiosity to explore? When you were a kid did you just read about other places in books and then consider that you saw them so you never left home? Curiosity and the need of the spirit to explore is a definite evolutionary advantage. What if we all figured "well, there is just more of the same out there, nothing economically beneficial out there, and so why go there?" when the first humans decided to leave africa? Mars is the next step on the frontier - the only real frontier left.
Personally, I think we shoudl set up two NASA's and have them compete for funding. NASA at the moment has absolutely no competition from anybody. They blow all the money on a bad decision? Fine, just ask for more. If the project doesn't go anywahere or won't for 10 years while you sit on your ass? Fine, what, are they going to fire NASA? A little competetion will help NASA get its act together. Plus NASA needs challanges. They don't have any real deadlines and no real goals (that don't wind up chanaging). They need something to focus on and focus their efforts. As Sean Connery stated in Highlander II - "Nothing like a challange to bring out the best in a person."(paraphrase)
With a deficit of nearly 500 billion this year, 50 million and even 200 million won't make that much of a difference. Plus, the pr the congress/senate/pres could get for funding a project like this would far outweigh the costs.
"(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator for carrying out this Act--
(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and
(2) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2005."
Heck, M$ could pay for the bill. Why not get some sponsorship? Good PR for the company, a mission that wouldn't have been for NASA. Just as long as the given company didn't try to patent any organism it may/may not find on Mars.
As for the bill itself, all I can do is appluad. Finally, some ppl in washington with vision. We fucked this planet up to the point where it is going to take 1000's of years to fix it (if ever). The current attitude that is mostly 'let's fix earth's problems first' simply isn't realistic anymore. In addition, we have wasted enough time in low-earth orbit. Let's really start exploring space now. The space program has been asleep since the end of apollo, the sleeper must awaken. Plus, if an asteroid pulverizes earth, at least any colonies on mars we can set up mmight survive. The time for the future has come!
"...a person needs new experiences, it touches something deep inside us allowing us to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken!"
---Dune (The Movie)
"Two legs better!"
Four legs are better than two!
It's sad that people's attention spans have dropped to the point that just the thought of a book being slow is enough to drive ppl away. I bet if someone a hundred years ago picked up the book, they would say it was lightning fast.
I bet some fool will get it for his car...
"Yeah, officer, I was driving down the highway at 65mph when my phone rang. I have no idea how I ended up in this field! And why is the front of my car all covered in blood?"
Actually, it just gives me headaches.
"nor would they have the money for an ncage"
Especially considering you can get a ps2 AND a gamecube for the price of a single N-gage. Portability is nice, but not at this price.
Didn't IBM try this with languages back in the 60's? They created a langauge that tried to be everything and it turned out to be crap.
"and as for why people buy cellphones.. they need to have it, it's no longer considered an option to have it, everybody has it and is pretty much expected to have one as well."
I am probably the only person in America who doesn't have a cellphone. Why? When I go out and get away from my computer (and my phone) it is usually becuase I don't want to be found. I don't want to be bothered every minute of my life by ppl calling me up. I just want to be left alone. Now you could say 'just turn the thing off when you don't want calls', but for me that accounts for 100% of the time it would be useful. If you want to call me, call me at my house, call me where it old you I would be, and if you don't know where I am it is becuase I don't want to be found. And there are a few other aint-social types like me who just don't want to be bothered.
That being said, the fact that this n-gage thing is a phone certainly doesn't excite me at all; especially since it would be cheaper to just get myself a regualr cellphone and a GBasp. In addition, it is better to have the devices seperate in case its stolen. You go out, talk on your cellphone, and if its stolen it isnt the end of the world. But if you lose a gameboysp or a n-gage, that is a bit more seious a loss. So say I was going out partying. I would much rather take a 50-75 dollar cellphone with me than to take a 300-400 ngage.
Personally, I think waht will make or break this is the games supplied for it. If the ps thing comes out with nearly teh same games, this thing is screwed. As far as competeing against the gameboysp, I don't think it can. Somehow, playing old SuperNes games on a handheld is jsut a lot more appealing to me (possibly and probably nostalagia) than playing the first couple PS titles. With a cost like 300-400 it isn't going to be for the kiddies, so nostalagia to us gamers who grew up playing SNES will definitely be hard to beat. (If they get square/enix to make a few titles for the ngage, I might get it, but as it is how can you compete against link?)
"Finally, tt's the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998, or DMCA, for crying out loud. Spelling it wrong twice is a clear warning flag that you haven't researched it at all and are just regurgitating half-truths and misinformation that you've heard elsewhere."
Actually it is just a clear warning flag that I don't check my spelling.
Simply put, the patron system. If someone wants a work of art like a symphony created, they pay for its creation and then everyone shares in it. The orginal investor gets the honor os saying 'hey, i could afford to pay mozrt to make this for me'.
Looks like Ultra-liberalism 101.
"Won't you help a tiny company survive?"
I am. It's called Redhat.
"Justice will be done."
Yep, when you go out of business for trying to extort ppl into paying you for something that isn't yours.
"Scotty, one to beam up."
He has already beamed away any ethical standards you had. Or perhaps your referring to the fact your company is out of touch with reality...
Would the slashdotting of the website fall under that category?
The europeans won't be happy untill everyone has to walk everywhere and pay a tax on the air they breathe.