They say that the best person to be king is the one who doesn't want to. The problem is all these damned self-centered politicians care about is themselves. And unfortunately, they've got the money, and they're going to continue to shove it up their collective butts in the form of pointless "programs" and "committiees" unless you promise them something that will get them re-elected in 2 or 4 years. As you mentioned, we didn't go to the moon for science, we went there so that all the crack monkeys in DC could give Kruschev (sic) the finger.
So now we've beat the Soviets, and we're basically the only nation with real access to space for people. If the politicians can't use our space-access to get re-elected, they won't do a thing for it. The problem is that we've done most of what we can do in space within a time limit of 2-4 years. So the politicians aren't gonna do squat for space exploration/science, and we all know their propensity for screwing it up when they finally do have a few billion to piss away.
So now we're left with a handful of choices:
Personally funded programs: Not usually enough money, therefore not usually able to do anything meaningful but possibly being able to say "we can."
Science Organizations: They would do very well (See Voyager probes, Apollo, etc) but they still usually have to prostitute themselves out to the government for funding.
Commerical programs: The money to get there is rarely an issue (Bill Gates' bank account could currently launch ~80 shuttles), but the will (read: profit margin) to do so is. Getting the investors to fork over enough money to pull a small asteroid into low earth orbit, and then set up mining operations is impossible when it costs $20,000,000 per ton to get there.
Of these three, commerical programs look most promising (The competition between them is similar to the competition between the US/USSR that drove the original space race). They employ excellent scientists, and give them reasonabe power do what needs to be done to make the project work right. Once it gets cheaper to access space (True RLVs, SSTO, etc), the value of steel 4 times stronger than anything from earth (iron crystallizing in space would be flawless) among other things would probably be our best hope for establishing a standing presence in space.
For all the evil they do, for the moment these corporations are the only ones with the money and eventually the motive to go up there.
Of course, one the COMMUNIST countries that probably supports TERRORISM gets up there, the space race will start all over again.
Re:it will be cheaper and easier to do something e
on
Corn-Based Plastic
·
· Score: 1
I'm afraid that thermal depolymerization (TDP) is only effective on organic materials, because it works (as the name implies) by breaking long-chain polymers down. It won't work on metals.
Might be an interesting way to deal with spammers... Make them contribute something back to society.
It can't replace real plastic in long-term projects because it eventually disintegrates. But I can imagine it'll be great for disposable plastic items. Imagine something that can replace styrofoam cups, but that doesn't take centuries to degrade.
Overall, sounds like a very interesting project for using renewable resources for temporary items, if they can produce it in large quantities. And when you're done, toss it out and let it disintegrate OR send it back to be recycled.
It won't replace long-duration plastic items, but it'll sure cut down on styrofoam waste.
"What isn't clear is how they will define spam broadly enough to outlaw it, but narrowly enough to avoid making it a bonanza for lawyers."
If I had a choice, I'd honestly have to say I prefer lawyers to spammers. The time is near where anything about spam and the senders in particular will be considered ranking slightly above animal pornographers and slightly below neo-nazi hatemongers.
"The DMCA Anti-Circumvention provision is not intended to stifle technological innovation"
Just like the Gatling Gun was meant to end wars quicker, not make the murder of huge numbers of people fast and efficient.
So what with intentions; It sure as hell IS stifling innovation, no matter what you say (See kid who wrote search tool, lost life's savings to RIAA). That it (supposedly) isn't meant to stifle innovation, but can, doesn't matter to large corporations that are so consumed by moneylust that they will do anything to turn a profit.
Don't know about the non-realtime stuff, but I've read that they kind of OS they uses will run on an 8086 or similar. Basically they cite that it's got no fat at all on it. I recall something called "TRON," for "The Real-time Operating Nucleus." Can somone else elaborate?
Not only that, make up a mail robot to send them E-Mail every 10 seconds, with randomly chosen words and characters so that it goes through spam filters. Particularly, choose words that are *not* spammy. If possible, attach large files of garbage to gum up the works further.
In a physical classroom. Why should a virtual one be any different?
By that, I mean that besides just knowing what you're teaching, you have to have at least some clue about how to present it/collect assignments. Again, why should an online discussion group be any different?
So, if I correctly translate this from LBS (Legalese BullS***), it reads:
"You choose items you want from one scrolling list, add them to your playlist, then save it. Then call in and rent something from the playlist." Ok, that definetly counts as "Blatantly obvious to any observer."
In other news today, M$ has filed for [strike that, recieved] a patent for "A means by which heat and pressure are used to compress protium nuclei and accelerate them to the necessary speeds to join into one nucleus, releasing energy in the process." [LBS translation: "Fusion"] Several hours later, Microsoft sued several phototrophic life forms for violating it's patent, and is reportedly considering lawsuits against the Orion Nebula, the Sun, and the Milky Way Galaxy.
"How can MS use the law in one hand and flaunt it with the other."
Winston. You need to know doublethink. It's for the good of the PARTY Winston. The party needs you to think 2+2=5. What is 2+2, Winston?
Seriously, business executives would praise the law like God one instant and shit on it the next if they thought they'd get money from it. These people are usually sleaze, they usually embrace the Dark Side (love of money) wholeheartedly. It's like the doctor/sabetour guy from Lost in Space (Forgot his name...) after he got bitten by the spider: First you're OK, then the greed starts small, then it grows and grows until it turns you into something completely different.
"We're not in this for the money. We're in it for Principles. Those evil people STOLE our INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, and need to be prosecuted. You may now resume the two minute's hate."
"There are NO stable Linux programs in the US! They are committing suicide throwing themselves against Windows. We will defeat them! No one wants to use Linux!"
In short, the problem isn't food production, it's food distribution. There is PLENTY food to feed every single person in the world right now. It's just that most of them don't have enough money to buy it, and that the countries with a major surplus (The US exports > half it's corn) aren't willing to forgo enough profits to at least prevent people from starving to death.
Now, I'm not suggesting that the Proletariat sieze the means of production. Just that enough food be given away, in addition to paid exports, to make sure that people at least get a basic diet.
In addition to this, the most crucial thing is EDUCATION. Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day; Teach him to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime. Teach people modern farming methods, give them the necessary equipment, and you'll suddenly see that no one is starving anymore.
As nu-ku-ler waste decays, it generates a lot of heat. Why not tap that heat, using it to power a small generator and extract hydrogen through electrolosis at a reasonable rate for, oh, the next 25,000 years? It's better than letting it sit there and simmer. We can't get rid of it (without taking the risk of sticking it on top of a directed explosion with the output of a small nuclear weapon), so we might as well do something with it.
Let's see... A Certain Abusive Monopoly has only been doing this for decades:
Every time their competitor comes out with a new, innovative service, they create some poor excuse for a copy and sell it as "New, Improved, Innovative." Most people are too god-damn lazy to see through it, and go along with the Party says.
Speaking about the American "Smart Ship," I read a C-Net article on it. Yeah... This thing routinely dies and it takes millions to haul it back to port. And what do they say about their choice of NT over Unix? "Although Unix is more stable than Windows NT, Windows may become more stable in the future" And the government wants to/is installing it in our Military weapons? Maybe the ship's smart, but I don't know about the people who built it...
I can just imagine it now:
Navigator: "Now within 100 miles of North Korea, sir!"
Captain: "Very good."
Sonar: "Sir, I'm reading a lot of Korean ships out there."
Engineer [Over intercom]: "CAPTAIN!! The network just crashed. We're dead in the water."
Captain: "Oh shit..."
Sonar: "Just before the computer died, I saw all the Korean ships converging on us."
Junior Engineer who just ran up from engineering because the computer crash took all intraship communications down: "Captain, the computer says "H4X03D BY K0R34!!!"
*On the Korean fleet*
Captain: "Comrade Engineer, did you really just disable their cruiser completely?"
Engineer, at h4x0rs terminal: "Yes."
Captain: "This is pathetic..."
*The Koreans capture the ship, and take it to their port. After several weeks of tense standoffs, they finally manage to get the computers running again. They learn it's running Windows, and offer to tow it to Hawaii AND check it for any viruses. It arrives at Hawaii, unscathed.*
[At American port] General: "What do you have to report?"
Junior: "Everything is fine. Except that all the computers have been wiped, and when we turn them on, it says 'Viral Software Removed...'"
Slashdot Mirror
Obligatory SpaceBalls quote:
"Fire a warning shot across her nose!" *some time* "Careful you idiot... I said across her nose, not UP it!"
Spaceballs quote:
"Yes, THAT!" *Zaps his you-know-what*
So now we've beat the Soviets, and we're basically the only nation with real access to space for people. If the politicians can't use our space-access to get re-elected, they won't do a thing for it. The problem is that we've done most of what we can do in space within a time limit of 2-4 years. So the politicians aren't gonna do squat for space exploration/science, and we all know their propensity for screwing it up when they finally do have a few billion to piss away.
So now we're left with a handful of choices:
- Personally funded programs: Not usually enough money, therefore not usually able to do anything meaningful but possibly being able to say "we can."
- Science Organizations: They would do very well (See Voyager probes, Apollo, etc) but they still usually have to prostitute themselves out to the government for funding.
- Commerical programs: The money to get there is rarely an issue (Bill Gates' bank account could currently launch ~80 shuttles), but the will (read: profit margin) to do so is. Getting the investors to fork over enough money to pull a small asteroid into low earth orbit, and then set up mining operations is impossible when it costs $20,000,000 per ton to get there.
Of these three, commerical programs look most promising (The competition between them is similar to the competition between the US/USSR that drove the original space race). They employ excellent scientists, and give them reasonabe power do what needs to be done to make the project work right. Once it gets cheaper to access space (True RLVs, SSTO, etc), the value of steel 4 times stronger than anything from earth (iron crystallizing in space would be flawless) among other things would probably be our best hope for establishing a standing presence in space.For all the evil they do, for the moment these corporations are the only ones with the money and eventually the motive to go up there.
Of course, one the COMMUNIST countries that probably supports TERRORISM gets up there, the space race will start all over again.
I'm afraid that thermal depolymerization (TDP) is only effective on organic materials, because it works (as the name implies) by breaking long-chain polymers down. It won't work on metals.
Might be an interesting way to deal with spammers... Make them contribute something back to society.
It can't replace real plastic in long-term projects because it eventually disintegrates. But I can imagine it'll be great for disposable plastic items. Imagine something that can replace styrofoam cups, but that doesn't take centuries to degrade.
Overall, sounds like a very interesting project for using renewable resources for temporary items, if they can produce it in large quantities. And when you're done, toss it out and let it disintegrate OR send it back to be recycled.
It won't replace long-duration plastic items, but it'll sure cut down on styrofoam waste.
"What isn't clear is how they will define spam broadly enough to outlaw it, but narrowly enough to avoid making it a bonanza for lawyers."
If I had a choice, I'd honestly have to say I prefer lawyers to spammers. The time is near where anything about spam and the senders in particular will be considered ranking slightly above animal pornographers and slightly below neo-nazi hatemongers.
Don't worry; You'll have it by 2015. It's just that you don't want to get hit by lightning!
Did you mean "telescreen?" Big Brother Is Watching.
"The DMCA Anti-Circumvention provision is not intended to stifle technological innovation"
Just like the Gatling Gun was meant to end wars quicker, not make the murder of huge numbers of people fast and efficient.
So what with intentions; It sure as hell IS stifling innovation, no matter what you say (See kid who wrote search tool, lost life's savings to RIAA). That it (supposedly) isn't meant to stifle innovation, but can, doesn't matter to large corporations that are so consumed by moneylust that they will do anything to turn a profit.
More like:
Bush: What's Lee-Nux again?
Don't know about the non-realtime stuff, but I've read that they kind of OS they uses will run on an 8086 or similar. Basically they cite that it's got no fat at all on it. I recall something called "TRON," for "The Real-time Operating Nucleus." Can somone else elaborate?
Not only that, make up a mail robot to send them E-Mail every 10 seconds, with randomly chosen words and characters so that it goes through spam filters. Particularly, choose words that are *not* spammy. If possible, attach large files of garbage to gum up the works further.
Just a sec, I've got to answer the phone...
In a physical classroom. Why should a virtual one be any different?
By that, I mean that besides just knowing what you're teaching, you have to have at least some clue about how to present it/collect assignments. Again, why should an online discussion group be any different?
So, if I correctly translate this from LBS (Legalese BullS***), it reads:
"You choose items you want from one scrolling list, add them to your playlist, then save it. Then call in and rent something from the playlist." Ok, that definetly counts as "Blatantly obvious to any observer."
In other news today, M$ has filed for [strike that, recieved] a patent for "A means by which heat and pressure are used to compress protium nuclei and accelerate them to the necessary speeds to join into one nucleus, releasing energy in the process." [LBS translation: "Fusion"] Several hours later, Microsoft sued several phototrophic life forms for violating it's patent, and is reportedly considering lawsuits against the Orion Nebula, the Sun, and the Milky Way Galaxy.
Depends... Which one churns out more shit? That's the USPTO.
"How can MS use the law in one hand and flaunt it with the other."
Winston. You need to know doublethink. It's for the good of the PARTY Winston. The party needs you to think 2+2=5. What is 2+2, Winston?
Seriously, business executives would praise the law like God one instant and shit on it the next if they thought they'd get money from it. These people are usually sleaze, they usually embrace the Dark Side (love of money) wholeheartedly. It's like the doctor/sabetour guy from Lost in Space (Forgot his name...) after he got bitten by the spider: First you're OK, then the greed starts small, then it grows and grows until it turns you into something completely different.
This just out from the MPAA:
"We're not in this for the money. We're in it for Principles. Those evil people STOLE our INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, and need to be prosecuted. You may now resume the two minute's hate."
"Give a man a program, and he'll play for a day; teach him to program and he'll play for a lifetime." How's that?
From the Microsoft Information Minister:
"There are NO stable Linux programs in the US! They are committing suicide throwing themselves against Windows. We will defeat them! No one wants to use Linux!"
In short, the problem isn't food production, it's food distribution. There is PLENTY food to feed every single person in the world right now. It's just that most of them don't have enough money to buy it, and that the countries with a major surplus (The US exports > half it's corn) aren't willing to forgo enough profits to at least prevent people from starving to death.
Now, I'm not suggesting that the Proletariat sieze the means of production. Just that enough food be given away, in addition to paid exports, to make sure that people at least get a basic diet.
In addition to this, the most crucial thing is EDUCATION. Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day; Teach him to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime. Teach people modern farming methods, give them the necessary equipment, and you'll suddenly see that no one is starving anymore.
The creepy thing about a /.ing is that it's not malicious traffic, it's just to MUCH of it...
"Further improvements to IE will require enhancements to the underlying OS."
It's about innovation, Winston. Don't you want to see the Party innovate Winston?
On a more serious note, "innovation" at M$ is synonymous to "Lock consumers in and lock competition out," as if anyone didn't already know that.
As nu-ku-ler waste decays, it generates a lot of heat. Why not tap that heat, using it to power a small generator and extract hydrogen through electrolosis at a reasonable rate for, oh, the next 25,000 years? It's better than letting it sit there and simmer. We can't get rid of it (without taking the risk of sticking it on top of a directed explosion with the output of a small nuclear weapon), so we might as well do something with it.
Let's see... A Certain Abusive Monopoly has only been doing this for decades:
Every time their competitor comes out with a new, innovative service, they create some poor excuse for a copy and sell it as "New, Improved, Innovative." Most people are too god-damn lazy to see through it, and go along with the Party says.
Speaking about the American "Smart Ship," I read a C-Net article on it. Yeah... This thing routinely dies and it takes millions to haul it back to port. And what do they say about their choice of NT over Unix? "Although Unix is more stable than Windows NT, Windows may become more stable in the future" And the government wants to/is installing it in our Military weapons? Maybe the ship's smart, but I don't know about the people who built it...
I can just imagine it now:
Navigator: "Now within 100 miles of North Korea, sir!"
Captain: "Very good."
Sonar: "Sir, I'm reading a lot of Korean ships out there."
Engineer [Over intercom]: "CAPTAIN!! The network just crashed. We're dead in the water."
Captain: "Oh shit..."
Sonar: "Just before the computer died, I saw all the Korean ships converging on us."
Junior Engineer who just ran up from engineering because the computer crash took all intraship communications down: "Captain, the computer says "H4X03D BY K0R34!!!"
*On the Korean fleet*
Captain: "Comrade Engineer, did you really just disable their cruiser completely?"
Engineer, at h4x0rs terminal: "Yes."
Captain: "This is pathetic..."
*The Koreans capture the ship, and take it to their port. After several weeks of tense standoffs, they finally manage to get the computers running again. They learn it's running Windows, and offer to tow it to Hawaii AND check it for any viruses. It arrives at Hawaii, unscathed.*
[At American port] General: "What do you have to report?"
Junior: "Everything is fine. Except that all the computers have been wiped, and when we turn them on, it says 'Viral Software Removed...'"