Does that mean they should not have tried to compete?
It's easy enough to "clone" hardware and relatively software like MS-DOS, Lotus 1-2-3, etc.
Much more so to clone Windows, it's gargantuan API and wide range of end-user (Office), developer (Visual Studio) and Enterprise software (Exchange, SharePoint, SQL Server, etc).
Similarly, cloning those petabytes of user data in Facebook, plus it's API, plus convincing users that there's a reason to change is well nigh hopeless.
The first not-right thing that they did was to not realize that Facebook is a market force like IBM was in 1981, but without the downside of competitors being able to clone the petabytes of data that sheeple have willingly uploaded to Facebook.
The problem is that waste is endemic to massive government projects. Most of the voting populace want these wealth redistribution projects more than they want the onerous rules, regulations and oversight needed to eliminate waste.
ISTM that *constantly* blasting out Very High Wattage radio waves in *every* *spherical* *dimension* is just... wasteful. Really, really wasteful. Not to mention really polluting of the EM spectrum.
A constellation of satellites each scanning it's own region of space seems more efficient. They could also use LIDAR in the same way that we make 3D models of rooms and caves.
as to think that: 1) anonymous space aliens are radiating coherent energy in all directions (we sure aren't) and, 2) that we'll pick them up, when receiving photons from stars is so difficult.
Of course not!! *Obviously* the Chinese and Russian governments have have a long history of secular humanism and effective promotion of their citizens' welfare.
(Oh, wait. That's Denmark & Sweden back when they didn't have many dark-skinned immigrants.)
Are there two cargo docks on the ISS, or would the Soyuz have had to sit in a parking orbit for a month while they unloaded the Dragon, and then reloaded it?
I am afraid of getting hit by lightning, and getting bit by a shark, but not so afraid that I won't walk in the rain or swim in the ocean. I just take reasonable precautions.
That's the difference between a rational fear and an irrational fear.
Slashdot Mirror
Does that mean they should not have tried to compete?
It's easy enough to "clone" hardware and relatively software like MS-DOS, Lotus 1-2-3, etc.
Much more so to clone Windows, it's gargantuan API and wide range of end-user (Office), developer (Visual Studio) and Enterprise software (Exchange, SharePoint, SQL Server, etc).
Similarly, cloning those petabytes of user data in Facebook, plus it's API, plus convincing users that there's a reason to change is well nigh hopeless.
if they got it right
The first not-right thing that they did was to not realize that Facebook is a market force like IBM was in 1981, but without the downside of competitors being able to clone the petabytes of data that sheeple have willingly uploaded to Facebook.
Ambition is one thing, but ignoring reality is something completely different.
still pennies compared to the waste in ...
The problem is that waste is endemic to massive government projects. Most of the voting populace want these wealth redistribution projects more than they want the onerous rules, regulations and oversight needed to eliminate waste.
applying those $10 billion to exploring alternative energy sources, solving diseases, or paying teachers and improving crumbling schools.
+1
Thus, it would really cost $30Bn.
What's there for us on Mars? Some ice, lots of dust and some caves. Nothing else. No atmosphere, no energy, no plants, no *nothing*.
Traveling 45 million miles for that is a completely *stupid* idea.
I dunno.
ISTM that *constantly* blasting out Very High Wattage radio waves in *every* *spherical* *dimension* is just... wasteful. Really, really wasteful. Not to mention really polluting of the EM spectrum.
A constellation of satellites each scanning it's own region of space seems more efficient. They could also use LIDAR in the same way that we make 3D models of rooms and caves.
Those stars are GINORMOUS.
Meanwhile, we need massive radio telescopes to receive messages from the planet next door.
active radar is something that a more advanced race will need more powerful versions of to track things in their solar system
Why not use transponders?
And if they're really advanced, they'll point their radars relatively close to the plane of the ecliptic where all the stuff is.
as to think that:
1) anonymous space aliens are radiating coherent energy in all directions (we sure aren't) and,
2) that we'll pick them up, when receiving photons from stars is so difficult.
But didn't that boat sail 25 years ago?
You *obviously* don't have a family.
Of course not!! *Obviously* the Chinese and Russian governments have have a long history of secular humanism and effective promotion of their citizens' welfare.
(Oh, wait. That's Denmark & Sweden back when they didn't have many dark-skinned immigrants.)
You do your cause no good when you edit out crucial words.
The actual quote: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds".
And I'm betting it's a *wealthy* commuter town.
Are there two cargo docks on the ISS, or would the Soyuz have had to sit in a parking orbit for a month while they unloaded the Dragon, and then reloaded it?
The Tor that was developed by the US military? That Tor?
what reasonable precautions are we taking?
Scanning the sky. But not building large-enough rockets.
Aren't we already scanning the sky for asteroids?
Once you can, then it's worth worrying.
Right. And you get that capability by building Much Bigger Rockets, which is why I wrote, "lobby for the funding of Much Bigger Rockets."
asteroid impacts are not an irrational fear
I am afraid of getting hit by lightning, and getting bit by a shark, but not so afraid that I won't walk in the rain or swim in the ocean. I just take reasonable precautions.
That's the difference between a rational fear and an irrational fear.
The awareness they are raising is that they want to waste our tax dollars on Yet Another Irrational Fear.
If they *really* care about saving the Earth from civilization-killer asteroids, lobby for the funding of Much Bigger Rockets.
And, what has that to do with the topic?
Huh? You're the one who first mentioned the Moon.
So? That big shiny thing isn't going to hit us either.