My black friends are stopped for things that I would never be stopped for.
One night years ago, I (a young white male) was stopped by my suburban sheriff's office for walking through a black neighborhood. When I explained why I was there, they slowly drove away but u-turned to validate my story.
I didn't get all pissy and offended, but was glad that the deputies were out and about instead of eating doughnuts.
Nano-tech's really been lighting the world of materiels science up though, roll on the future.
Call me Negative Nancy, but I keep reading about all this wonderful super-light, super-efficient, super-duper tech, but never see it brought to market.
Either (a) there's a conspiracy to keep it in the labs, or (b) this stuff is much harder to industrialize than fiddle with in a laboratory.
Sometimes you don't need the better soldiers, you just need more soldiers.
That's why European leaders that had more than cheese for brains wanted US short and intermediate range nukes in their countries: because we knew that "we" couldn't and didn't want to field a bigger military than "them".
BURN COAL TO DRIVE A STEAM ENGINE.... nearly 200 years later we haven't really moved on at all.
The problem is that heat-steam-rotation-electricity is the easiest, most efficient industrializable method of doing the necessary work in places where there aren't rivers that can be dammed.
We've run up against physical and practical realities, and so have settled for "good enough". Every field eventually reaches a plateau; after a time of rapid advancement, boundaries are hit that can't be breached either at all or without expense that we aren't willing to bear.
Commercial aviation is a great example: sure we *can* fly beyond Mach 1, the Concorde proved that. But where's the Concorde now? Why didn't it conquer the world? Because it's too expensive to push those molecules out of the way. The cruising speeds we hit 45 years ago are good enough.
Agreed. There's a gob-smacking amount of infrastructure that presumes inches/feet.
Think of the building trade. The standard length for plywood, sheetrock and "stick" lumber is 8 feet. Who's going to buy something that's 2.4384m long? Sure they could make them 2.4m long, but it's 1.5 inches short. That's just not workable. Similarly, 2.45m is just a bit too long.
Relative to 10 years ago, but $150 here, $100 there and $75 somewhere else add up for an impoverished college student, or a middle class family with other expenses out the wazoo to pay.
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My black friends are stopped for things that I would never be stopped for.
One night years ago, I (a young white male) was stopped by my suburban sheriff's office for walking through a black neighborhood. When I explained why I was there, they slowly drove away but u-turned to validate my story.
I didn't get all pissy and offended, but was glad that the deputies were out and about instead of eating doughnuts.
ISTM that you're an unreasonable little snot, since the speed of the resolution of the problem is completely dependent upon the cause of the problem.
What is reasonable, though, is timely customer feedback.
It will likely be in data cables within a few years.
Yawn. Call me when an actual factory actually ships an actual product.
Nano-tech's really been lighting the world of materiels science up though, roll on the future.
Call me Negative Nancy, but I keep reading about all this wonderful super-light, super-efficient, super-duper tech, but never see it brought to market.
Either (a) there's a conspiracy to keep it in the labs, or (b) this stuff is much harder to industrialize than fiddle with in a laboratory.
I vote option (b).
Because adding a GPS, an ARM chip and some steerable fins makes it really, really expensive.
If it's soooooo simple, I'm sure there's a arse-load of countries that would love to buy your dirt-cheap programmable missiles.
OTOH, something tells me it's not that simple. Otherwise, some cleaver Russian would have already done it.
Sometimes you don't need the better soldiers, you just need more soldiers.
That's why European leaders that had more than cheese for brains wanted US short and intermediate range nukes in their countries: because we knew that "we" couldn't and didn't want to field a bigger military than "them".
Thus, nukes were the "equalizer".
Set a missile to appear that it will land someplace harmless, and once it's over land, alter it's course.
Then it's not a cheap, mass produced expendable missile anymore.
Who really uses SQL Server without the CTO being in bed with a MS MVP?
I think it's more that (1) SQL Server 2008 R2 became Good Enough, and (2) Oracle priced itself out of the mid-sized market.
MSFT gobbled market share and is now raising prices.
BURN COAL TO DRIVE A STEAM ENGINE. ... nearly 200 years later we haven't really moved on at all.
The problem is that heat-steam-rotation-electricity is the easiest, most efficient industrializable method of doing the necessary work in places where there aren't rivers that can be dammed.
We've run up against physical and practical realities, and so have settled for "good enough". Every field eventually reaches a plateau; after a time of rapid advancement, boundaries are hit that can't be breached either at all or without expense that we aren't willing to bear.
Commercial aviation is a great example: sure we *can* fly beyond Mach 1, the Concorde proved that. But where's the Concorde now? Why didn't it conquer the world? Because it's too expensive to push those molecules out of the way. The cruising speeds we hit 45 years ago are good enough.
Hah. Much as is pains me to say it, MSFT enterprise products are *everywhere*.
turning pens and paperclips into a consumer shiny toy company?
Exchange Server, SQL Server, MSVC and all it's attendant addons are *not* paper clips.
how is it nerdy in the /. realm?
And all the old houses which were built with 8 foot walls?
Agreed. There's a gob-smacking amount of infrastructure that presumes inches/feet.
Think of the building trade. The standard length for plywood, sheetrock and "stick" lumber is 8 feet. Who's going to buy something that's 2.4384m long? Sure they could make them 2.4m long, but it's 1.5 inches short. That's just not workable. Similarly, 2.45m is just a bit too long.
There will have to be a ton of exceptions.
bother to check?
Stuff that scientists don't want to be mocked by their peers for checking.
It's patently obvious that you have no clue about how parenthood actually works.
(Don't feel too stupid, though: I spouted the same drivel before I had kids, too.)
+1 Insightful.
Probably, but it still doesn't make much sense.
Eh?
At least some of the Falcon & Dragon flight control computers "are programmed in C++ and run the Linux OS".
is compulsory.
With "liberated" attitudes like that floating around the 1960s and 1970s, no wonder ethics and morality are bat-shit out of whack.
Exactly. TVs in living rooms are just not the place to be sending tweets from.
Computer hardware is cheap
Relative to 10 years ago, but $150 here, $100 there and $75 somewhere else add up for an impoverished college student, or a middle class family with other expenses out the wazoo to pay.
This is why linux fails on the desktop, sigh...
Because all Windows software runs perfectly bug- and hassle-free?
A bit of work on the engine (more aggressive cam, bore it out, dual exhausts, etc) and you can get a pretty high HP car.
How does that contradict my point that the auto manufacturers stopped making them?