...the bar for patents appears lower than for publication...
The market is ultimately the bar on patent utility. If you have ever filed for and recieved a patent you would not make such a statement. Many articles admitted for publication are little more than fodder.
Public Beware: "The Once and Future King" is the smartest piece I've seen on M$ lately.
Check out:
CoLinux (Cooperative Linux) - an open source system running cooperatively without emulation along with Windows (all hardware access is virtualized through the Hosting OS API's), or
VMware (Virtual Machine-ware) - a commercial alternative for running Linux on top of Windows.
M$ could simply emyulate Linux (as they emulated Mac, etc.), given the abundance of emulation processing power these days.
Their winning strategy may be to (eventually) provide an underlying layer of "hosted" security as a gateway (i.e., tollway) over which all else is permitted to run.
-- A Compiler...
Feudalism once meant "place" (land + serfs) was very important. Virtual feudalism means "place" is less important -- serfs can be anywhere.
Global connectivity, i.e., the Internet "virtualizes" place.
The hopeful part means that serfs with good programming skills are better positioned than most to take advantage of virtually-connected resources.
Abbe Mowshowitz, in his essay "Virtual Feudalism," in ACM's Beyond Calculation: The Next Fifty Years of Computing, predicts a system of political authority centered in private, virtual organizations and based on the management of abstract forms of wealth (rather than land ownership). The potential loss of jobs cited above is a possible consequence of Mowshowitz' virtual feudalism marked by diminished living standards, social disorder, and conflict between old and new regimes. A hopeful upside of such social changes is that individuals too can learn to exploit virtual organization.
Remember BillG at the NYC roll-out of the 386 16-bit OS-2? The lead engineer at the time told me he could have a production 32-bit version in two weeks. It took a lot longer.
The Reg has a current piece "MS bids for lucrative wristwatch, fridge magnet markets" that suggests "that SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) has nothing to do eith watches.... It's a network play, designed to carve Microsoft a place ina broadcast market that some people have started to notice...."
The Question I wonder if you could tell me exactly what the VAN ALLEN BELT is and how much radiation does it contain, ie how many rems of radiation are there out there? Plus, what protection would organic life need to be protected from this radiation?
The Answer David Stern, a researcher in another lab here at Goddard, has graciously supplied an answer to your question, given below:
"The radiation belts are regions of high-energy particles, mainly protons and electrons, held captive by the magnetic influence of the Earth. They have two main sources. A small but very intense "inner belt" (some call it "The Van Allen Belt" because it was discovered in 1958 by James Van Allen of the University of Iowa) is trapped within 4000 miles or or so of the Earth's surface. It consists mainly a high-energy protons (10-50 MeV) and is a by-product of the cosmic radiation, a thin drizzle of very fast protons and nuclei which apparently fill all our galaxy.
" In addition there exist electrons and protons (and also oxygen particles from the upper atmosphere) given moderate energies (say 1-100 keV; 1 MeV = 1000 keV) by processes inside the domain of the Earth's magnetic field. Some of these electrons produce the polar aurora ("northern lights") when they hit the upper atmosphere, but many get trapped, and among those, protons and positive particles have most of the energy.
"I looked up a typical satellite passing the radiation belts (elliptic orbit, 200 miles to 20000 miles) and the radiation dosage per year is about 2500 rem, assuming one is shielded by 1 gr/cm-square of aluminum (about 1/8" thick plate) almost all of it while passing the inner belt. But there is no danger. The way the particles move in the magnetic field prevents them from hitting the atmosphere, and even if they are scattered so their orbit does intersect the ground, the atmosphere absorbs them long before they get very far. Even the space station would be safe, because the orbits usually stop above it--any particles dipping deeper down are lost much faster than they can be replenished.
"If all this sounds too technical but you still want to find out-- what ions and magnetic fields and cosmic rays are, etc.--you will find a long detailed exposition (both without math) on the World Wide Web at: http://www.phy6.org/Education/Intro.html
Slashdot Mirror
The market is ultimately the bar on patent utility. If you have ever filed for and recieved a patent you would not make such a statement. Many articles admitted for publication are little more than fodder.
Public Beware: "The Once and Future King" is the smartest piece I've seen on M$ lately. Check out: CoLinux (Cooperative Linux) - an open source system running cooperatively without emulation along with Windows (all hardware access is virtualized through the Hosting OS API's), or VMware (Virtual Machine-ware) - a commercial alternative for running Linux on top of Windows. M$ could simply emyulate Linux (as they emulated Mac, etc.), given the abundance of emulation processing power these days. Their winning strategy may be to (eventually) provide an underlying layer of "hosted" security as a gateway (i.e., tollway) over which all else is permitted to run. -- A Compiler...
Feudalism once meant "place" (land + serfs) was very important. Virtual feudalism means "place" is less important -- serfs can be anywhere. Global connectivity, i.e., the Internet "virtualizes" place. The hopeful part means that serfs with good programming skills are better positioned than most to take advantage of virtually-connected resources.
Abbe Mowshowitz, in his essay "Virtual Feudalism," in ACM's Beyond Calculation: The Next Fifty Years of Computing, predicts a system of political authority centered in private, virtual organizations and based on the management of abstract forms of wealth (rather than land ownership). The potential loss of jobs cited above is a possible consequence of Mowshowitz' virtual feudalism marked by diminished living standards, social disorder, and conflict between old and new regimes. A hopeful upside of such social changes is that individuals too can learn to exploit virtual organization.
Ditto. This is my story as well, except for a versions 6 & 8 as well. Someone may have forgotten to determine the numbers that his story represent.
Remember BillG at the NYC roll-out of the 386 16-bit OS-2? The lead engineer at the time told me he could have a production 32-bit version in two weeks. It took a lot longer.
The Reg has a current piece "MS bids for lucrative wristwatch, fridge magnet markets" that suggests "that SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) has nothing to do eith watches.... It's a network play, designed to carve Microsoft a place ina broadcast market that some people have started to notice...."
Answer works if men keep feet below belt.
An example of NASA's non-answer to pretty good question at the center of the hoax debate -- the Van Allen Belt issue:
o /answer s/970228a.html
.
Radiation Belts
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astr
The Question
I wonder if you could tell me exactly what the VAN ALLEN BELT is and how much radiation does it contain, ie how many rems of radiation are there out there? Plus, what protection would organic life need to be protected from this radiation?
The Answer
David Stern, a researcher in another lab here at Goddard, has graciously supplied an answer to your question, given below:
"The radiation belts are regions of high-energy particles, mainly protons and electrons, held captive by the magnetic influence of the Earth. They have two main sources. A small but very intense "inner belt" (some call it "The Van Allen Belt" because it was discovered in 1958 by James Van Allen of the University of Iowa) is trapped within 4000 miles or or so of the Earth's surface. It consists mainly a high-energy protons (10-50 MeV) and is a by-product of the cosmic radiation, a thin drizzle of very fast protons and nuclei which apparently fill all our galaxy.
" In addition there exist electrons and protons (and also oxygen particles from the upper atmosphere) given moderate energies (say 1-100 keV; 1 MeV = 1000 keV) by processes inside the domain of the Earth's magnetic field. Some of these electrons produce the polar aurora ("northern lights") when they hit the upper atmosphere, but many get trapped, and among those, protons and positive particles have most of the energy
"I looked up a typical satellite passing the radiation belts (elliptic orbit, 200 miles to 20000 miles) and the radiation dosage per year is about 2500 rem, assuming one is shielded by 1 gr/cm-square of aluminum (about 1/8" thick plate) almost all of it while passing the inner belt. But there is no danger. The way the particles move in the magnetic field prevents them from hitting the atmosphere, and even if they are scattered so their orbit does intersect the ground, the atmosphere absorbs them long before they get very far. Even the space station would be safe, because the orbits usually stop above it--any particles dipping deeper down are lost much faster than they can be replenished.
"If all this sounds too technical but you still want to find out-- what ions and magnetic fields and cosmic rays are, etc.--you will find a long detailed exposition (both without math) on the World Wide Web at: http://www.phy6.org/Education/Intro.html
Good luck!
David Stern