You can only interpolate and run global models so much. Eventually you have to go to smaller and smaller regions. Then at a certain point you just have crappy data, which means someone needs to collect it. Other people need to correct all the above. That usually means lots of people, and lots of time. Something Google has had a lot of for a long time.
However Apple does have a ton of cash. They could throw a LOT of money at it and make a big difference in a few years. It would be like organizing a large army however. Even then, they would be into their next product cycle however.
As for the artard that responded about ESRI below, I don't care how good a system or software you have, if you have crappy data, nothing will save you.
Another option of course is buying mapping products from other big guns. However A) unless the money is REALLY good why would they? I mean they would be helping another company compete against them and put them out of buisness or at least less potential profits, and B) even IF that is possible, all the data would have to be reconciled with each other with is still a crazy hugh job, and again there is only so much automation you can do, and it will demand a lot of physical eyeballs.
Doesn't "round" stones predicting water, just mean they thing it round becase it was caused by erosion caused by water?
What is to stop other kinds of erosion from also making round stones? Would not wind erosion given enough time perhaps do the same thing? Do they not have terrible dust storms on Mars? How are they measuing how long it took to create the erosion?
I have the 3GS. I don't *have* to update my software if I don't want to. I can still use my phone, it works fine (well for a 3GS anyway...).
Sony on the other hand was a bit different I believe. I think it was either installed automatically, or if you could refuse it, you could no longer use it online, so reduced features from orginal.
I'm not sure they ever could, but I would agree they are even less so now.
Part of it is trying to get votes from everyone, I doubt many believe in anything other than what they need to believe in order to get a particular vote, Mittens is likely ahead of his time with the whole Obamacare thing.
The other part is the level of Corporate involvement, which as a rule a Corporation is the very antithesis of "sane" or "rational", they are their own crazy entities that exist for one purpose, and the fact that they exert the control that they do, only exaberates the whole irrational process.
I don't think order really matters so much as purpose. Some are just better at some things...
First I used for any period of time was Xandros and Meppis as they were more user friendly however. Used DSL when trying to install to a low storage old laptop. Use Knoppix Live CD for PC repair and utilities. Used Ubuntu for a bit when it got better. Tried Gentoo and a few others for kicks. I think I even tried CentOS to try and config a LAMP server.
Another consideration, is that usualy I am using Linux not on my "main" system, but on other older PC's I have kicking about. Many times there are compatibility issues with the BIOS, so you are limited to whatever will actually work on the system you are trying to install it on. I know some were better at actually detecting hardware also from various video cards, to HD which also makes a big difference what you choose.
I am probably missing a whole bunch too, and I don't even consider myself a big Linux user at all. I think anyone that has tried linux on pc (not come pre installed on a netbook, phone, tablet, etc...) will have tried a whole host of options.
The most useful I have ever used were probably Xandros, Knoppix (only as a LiveCD tho), and Ubuntu.
Try Canada, I think we probably have you beat in both traditional service and mobile solutions. By that I mean ours is more expensive and slower. For much the same reasons, but worse. Only a handful of companies, with little or no compatition, most simply mirror each others prices. A reglator agency (CRTC) firmly in bed with industry as well as politicians to keep things favorable for them.
My internet is pretty fast, but I pay 80$ a month for the privliage.
All time low since satellite record... That is how long? 20,30,40,50 years maybe. Not to mention the accuracy of those "records" would be much different today than what could be remotly sensed say 30 years ago...
Please. Now lets extrapolate in geologic time from a statistical sample that is the equilivent of randomly watching 3.6 seconds of a hockey game, and making some sort of observation of who is going to win (and that is being very kind).
Stop the chicken little already. Remember what happened there? Well that is quickly becoming the case here where people become fatigued with all the sensationalistic BS. Particulary when all the vanted models they use, I have yet to actually hear about one that offers reproducable and predictable results.
This is like the, OMG its the coldest/hotest X in Y years! Which just means for values greater than Y it was colder/hotter, and what the heck does that really mean?
I am not saying that this is nothing, or that we shouldn't be concerned, however at this point I am so skeptical of just about anything one way or another I have trouble taking much of these statements seriously.
Would this function sort of like a reverse peltier once used for cooling on CPU back in the day? So more like a reverse heatsink.
With a peltier, you actually applied current, and the current would produce heat on one side of the peltier (to be dispersed using a fan), whilst the other side would become cool, lowering the tempature of the CPU in question.
Here it would seem to work in reverse with these materials, whereby heat is applied to the material, and as a result of the poor heat conduction, an electical current is generated?
It is too bad the efficiency is so low, I can see many poissibilities for such a device simply using waste heat of various objects.
Both sides arm their lawyers with axes, maces, and bows. Meet on the field of battle. HAVE AT THEE! Televised of course with the proceeds going to the "iPhones for Orphans" or "Andriods for Amputees". No armor allowed, only 3 piece suits.
Depending on energy consumption levels, I think it would be possible over time.
One problem is that compared to conventional sources, it is awfully expensive. So it would have to take place over a long period of time just to be able to pay for it.
The second problem is other than the fantsy in the article of these things at 20,000 feet, which might as well be on the moon, the BEST place for these things is off shore. Which is were rich people have cottages. Solving the NIMBY issue, is I think easily the BIGGEST issue to solve.
The thrid problem is even if you solve the first two, the is the simple fact that the wind is not a constant source of energy. Perhaps you could have some sort of energy sharing distrabution where when windy in one area and not another they cover one another. However this means overbuilding a lot, and there is finite room, and it would just add to cost and time. You can also use water storage and things like that, but again, only so many finite areas where this is possible, and that can only do so much.
One +/- of wind, is that it is very expensive to maintain as all those thousands of turbines need to be serviced and fixed. However think of the jobs it would create, in wind power manufacturing, and all those wind repairmen. It is also not rocket science, the technology could be repaired by people trained pretty easily.
Anyway I am a big fan of wind for many reasons, however a lot of earthy tree hugging types have some pretty unrealistic ideas. I think the government just needs to man up, tell the cottagers to piss off, and start a multi year (decades really) campagin of building and/or private incentives for companies to do so.
However it is about balance, and only you can make that determination.
How much is it worth to you? I would suggest that 10% raise, is not enough to tempt me away from a position that I enjoy. Of course it depends on how much you enjoy it. There are also factors such as family and providing for them etc..l then again more time at home and less commute is also a factor.
In any case I would suggest unless the wage is a LOT more, and/or the commute is a LOT less, I would stay where I enjoyed the work and was comfortable. If a company came along and offered 25% more, and half the commute, then yeah, I think I would have to consider that.
This is all hypothetical to me, as I live a 10min walk to work, so halving my commute isn't exactly a big deal. However if someone offered my 20-30% more money, well I think I would do it, then again, I wouldn't classify my work as "fun" so much as "tolerable".
This is what Canada should be doing rather than building stupid new frigates.
Ice Breakers particulary nuclear would be so much more useful in every way.
I mean even when we deploy our little ships to a combat zone, how useful are they other than as a token of participation compared to our allies anyway.
Ice Breakers could be supplying a economic service that only maybe one other country is capable of (Russia). They would be supporting our northern sovereignty. Providing economic and material and stability support to our northern communities. Would be facilitating search and rescue operations where no one else can (recall just a year or two ago the cruise ship that got stranded in the ice). Anyway it boggles my mind the stupidity of our government.
For the 8 Billion we are spending we could get 7 of those jnuclear boats simply buying them from russia. Build our our, even better supporting our ship building communities. It isn't like we don't have our own nuclear program, at least for now.
As it is, likely most of the components for our Frigates other than the hull is just going to be bought at great expense from the bloated US war machine, which is probably what this is all about anyway.
At the very least, they could build a few less Frigates, and replace them with Ice Breakers. Anyway that's my rant for today... so far anyway...:)
First off having a CS degree is not the same thing as being a programmer. It is PART of it, but just a part. There are plenty of "CS" type positions that have little or zero actual personal coding. Second, usually you learn a lot of languages, and don't really concentrate on one (I think I had 6 or 8 by the time I graduated). It is about the process and not the syntax, which anyone with a degree, or in the field for more than 6months can tell you can change overnight. If you want simple a Java programmer, yeah hire some college cert monkey with a year at it, or someone you think is deeply interested in messing about with Java. They will be able to code right away. What kind of code and design you might get will vary however. Which is the next thing, the author seriously believes that CS degrees do NOT come with theroy? But some self taught person will? Delusional. One of the big differences aught to be that the degree comes with a lot of theroy and things other than just "programming" that will potentionally benefit a company or project. Not sure what sort of CS degrees you have been exposed to, but perhaps they are not all the same. Also someone with a degree should come more balanced, in that they will have knowlege across a broad swath of CS study, not just Java syntax and structures
As I understand it the big fight between Apple and Samsung is about licencing fees.
Samsung owns a patent, that it licences out to other to use. It has a going rate of 2.5% I believe.
Apple's whole arguement is that it isn't fair becuase the 2.5% is based on the handset cost. Thus the Nokia POS, that costs 50$ pays a licencing fee of 1.25$. However because Apple's phone costs 800$ the fee is 20$. So they have to pay 20x what someone else pays for the same technology.
Clearly the easiest solution would be for Apple to stop charging so much for their phones!:)
I was looking for the Statistic for number of deaths caused by Deer per year as I remember hearing that it was the most dangerous animal in North America...
They don't count it in that list, but still a healthy (or not) 130/year.
Apparently alergic reactions to bees/wasps are also pretty high at 51/year.
Lassie weighs in at 31.
Closest to 2.3? Bull at 3/year. So you are slightly more likely to get killed by a Bull than by a terrorist.
Regarless of how fair or unfair the vote counting is, or how representitive the electoral system is, the biggest differenace is how much is spent on elections.
Cost of election: USA: 6 BILLION Canada: 300 Million
EVEN if you say "yeah well Canada only has 1/10th the population so it is cheaper" which really isn't a valid arguement, but lets for fun say that is directly proportional, and so that. Canada would be 3 Billion were it the population size of the US, which is still only half that which the US spent.
Next, and most importantly how much money was contributed to political parties (i.e. how much bribes they are taking more less, or at least how beholden they are to specific groups anyway)...
Canada: 15 Million (or 150 Million in your crazy 1/10th population world) USA: 1.6 BILLION
Either way the difference is startling.
However the political parties in Canada also recieve 113 Million in non-private funding, that is to say each party is given some money from government for their election campaign based on number of votes, seats, etc... No strings attached, unlike getting hundreds of millions from special interest groups or corporate consortiums.
This is why US politics is screwed, not because of electoral counting techniques...
I agree. However, as we learned over the last several years, if the oposition is afraid of an election, it is pointless.
That is the Conservatives when they had a miniorty governed like they had a majority. Their position was if you don't like it bring down the government. The Liberals, who having all sorts of leader issues, didn't want an election fearing they would lose even worse, just went along with every everything, effectively making no oposition. Gutless.
A miniorty that "panders" or I would say compremises with the other parties with a give and take, is exactly how things should be functioning, as multiple ideologies were elected, it only makes sense that not only one would have their say.
#1) The lumber industry has been in the toliet in Canada for many years now
#2) Canada dependent on the US? Well yes, but so is the US dependent on Canada. I believe that is called "interdependance"
If Canada decided to turn off the Oil, Gas, Water, Electricity or Trade to the US, it would be in a world of hurt. We supply more of "that" to the US than anyone else, including China, or any of the middle east oil producing countries. More trade crosses our shared border than just about anywhere in the world.
As far as who is *more* dependent, how hard would it for a country of 30M that produces all that stuff to find another buyer? How hard would it be for a country of 300M to locate another source to buy from, and how much would that cost to ship it there?
Of course the usual American answer to that question is well we'll just invade you! Which really is silly, as we are the biggest country in the world, and have this thing called Winter. Might want to consult with the germans how that worked out for them the last time it was tried (or the French further back in time).
The first thing I thought of, man I hope they have a really big beer fridge, 3 years of beer is gonna take up some serious room!
Then I thought, wow that is a lot of piss, though I suppose that could be mostly recycled into water etc....
Then I thought, 3 years of food? That is an awful lot of poo. Is the spacecrft going to be making regular dumps on route, or are they going to have some vaste resivoir of poo that they are going to cart along with them...
Then I thought, I kind of hope they do, though landing with the additional weight might be hard, but they might be able to use the poo as fertilizer to establish some greenhouse on Mars...
Of course if they are trying NOT to contaminate Mars with Earth stuff, that is probably not the way to go...
Basically offer a good product, at reasonable price, that is very easy to obtain. Add just enough DRM you discourge any casual pirating. Heck even the 1990's solution of a code wheel was/is sufficent.
Someone that is prepared to put effort into pirating your software IS going to pirate your software one way or another. However that is besides the point, as that person is very unlikely to ever buy it anyway. So while it might make you angry, it isn't really affecting anything really.
So long as it isn't super easy (and I mean REALLY easy), most A) can't be bothered, or B) can't figure it out.
It has been shown again and again, no matter how much you put into DRM, it will be broken, easily. As they found out, the more restrictive you make the DRM, the only people you end up really pissing off is your paying customers.
The sure fire way to defete the pirates, is not to even make it worth their time. Make it easily available (STEAM for example), and make it a reasonable price (try charging 30-40$ rather than 70$ for example). You will probably sell more units and make more money that way in the end anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
You can only interpolate and run global models so much. Eventually you have to go to smaller and smaller regions. Then at a certain point you just have crappy data, which means someone needs to collect it. Other people need to correct all the above. That usually means lots of people, and lots of time. Something Google has had a lot of for a long time.
However Apple does have a ton of cash. They could throw a LOT of money at it and make a big difference in a few years. It would be like organizing a large army however. Even then, they would be into their next product cycle however.
As for the artard that responded about ESRI below, I don't care how good a system or software you have, if you have crappy data, nothing will save you.
Another option of course is buying mapping products from other big guns. However A) unless the money is REALLY good why would they? I mean they would be helping another company compete against them and put them out of buisness or at least less potential profits, and B) even IF that is possible, all the data would have to be reconciled with each other with is still a crazy hugh job, and again there is only so much automation you can do, and it will demand a lot of physical eyeballs.
Powered by Google?
Doesn't "round" stones predicting water, just mean they thing it round becase it was caused by erosion caused by water?
What is to stop other kinds of erosion from also making round stones? Would not wind erosion given enough time perhaps do the same thing? Do they not have terrible dust storms on Mars? How are they measuing how long it took to create the erosion?
Anyway it seems a bit of a leap to me.
I have the 3GS. I don't *have* to update my software if I don't want to. I can still use my phone, it works fine (well for a 3GS anyway...).
Sony on the other hand was a bit different I believe. I think it was either installed automatically, or if you could refuse it, you could no longer use it online, so reduced features from orginal.
I'm not sure they ever could, but I would agree they are even less so now.
Part of it is trying to get votes from everyone, I doubt many believe in anything other than what they need to believe in order to get a particular vote, Mittens is likely ahead of his time with the whole Obamacare thing.
The other part is the level of Corporate involvement, which as a rule a Corporation is the very antithesis of "sane" or "rational", they are their own crazy entities that exist for one purpose, and the fact that they exert the control that they do, only exaberates the whole irrational process.
I don't think order really matters so much as purpose. Some are just better at some things...
First I used for any period of time was Xandros and Meppis as they were more user friendly however. Used DSL when trying to install to a low storage old laptop. Use Knoppix Live CD for PC repair and utilities. Used Ubuntu for a bit when it got better. Tried Gentoo and a few others for kicks. I think I even tried CentOS to try and config a LAMP server.
Another consideration, is that usualy I am using Linux not on my "main" system, but on other older PC's I have kicking about. Many times there are compatibility issues with the BIOS, so you are limited to whatever will actually work on the system you are trying to install it on. I know some were better at actually detecting hardware also from various video cards, to HD which also makes a big difference what you choose.
I am probably missing a whole bunch too, and I don't even consider myself a big Linux user at all. I think anyone that has tried linux on pc (not come pre installed on a netbook, phone, tablet, etc...) will have tried a whole host of options.
The most useful I have ever used were probably Xandros, Knoppix (only as a LiveCD tho), and Ubuntu.
You think US internet is slow and expensive?
Try Canada, I think we probably have you beat in both traditional service and mobile solutions. By that I mean ours is more expensive and slower. For much the same reasons, but worse. Only a handful of companies, with little or no compatition, most simply mirror each others prices. A reglator agency (CRTC) firmly in bed with industry as well as politicians to keep things favorable for them.
My internet is pretty fast, but I pay 80$ a month for the privliage.
All time low since satellite record... That is how long? 20,30,40,50 years maybe. Not to mention the accuracy of those "records" would be much different today than what could be remotly sensed say 30 years ago...
Please. Now lets extrapolate in geologic time from a statistical sample that is the equilivent of randomly watching 3.6 seconds of a hockey game, and making some sort of observation of who is going to win (and that is being very kind).
Stop the chicken little already. Remember what happened there? Well that is quickly becoming the case here where people become fatigued with all the sensationalistic BS. Particulary when all the vanted models they use, I have yet to actually hear about one that offers reproducable and predictable results.
This is like the, OMG its the coldest/hotest X in Y years! Which just means for values greater than Y it was colder/hotter, and what the heck does that really mean?
I am not saying that this is nothing, or that we shouldn't be concerned, however at this point I am so skeptical of just about anything one way or another I have trouble taking much of these statements seriously.
Would this function sort of like a reverse peltier once used for cooling on CPU back in the day? So more like a reverse heatsink.
With a peltier, you actually applied current, and the current would produce heat on one side of the peltier (to be dispersed using a fan), whilst the other side would become cool, lowering the tempature of the CPU in question.
Here it would seem to work in reverse with these materials, whereby heat is applied to the material, and as a result of the poor heat conduction, an electical current is generated?
It is too bad the efficiency is so low, I can see many poissibilities for such a device simply using waste heat of various objects.
Both sides arm their lawyers with axes, maces, and bows. Meet on the field of battle. HAVE AT THEE! Televised of course with the proceeds going to the "iPhones for Orphans" or "Andriods for Amputees". No armor allowed, only 3 piece suits.
To the winner goes the spoils!
Depending on energy consumption levels, I think it would be possible over time.
One problem is that compared to conventional sources, it is awfully expensive. So it would have to take place over a long period of time just to be able to pay for it.
The second problem is other than the fantsy in the article of these things at 20,000 feet, which might as well be on the moon, the BEST place for these things is off shore. Which is were rich people have cottages. Solving the NIMBY issue, is I think easily the BIGGEST issue to solve.
The thrid problem is even if you solve the first two, the is the simple fact that the wind is not a constant source of energy. Perhaps you could have some sort of energy sharing distrabution where when windy in one area and not another they cover one another. However this means overbuilding a lot, and there is finite room, and it would just add to cost and time. You can also use water storage and things like that, but again, only so many finite areas where this is possible, and that can only do so much.
One +/- of wind, is that it is very expensive to maintain as all those thousands of turbines need to be serviced and fixed. However think of the jobs it would create, in wind power manufacturing, and all those wind repairmen. It is also not rocket science, the technology could be repaired by people trained pretty easily.
Anyway I am a big fan of wind for many reasons, however a lot of earthy tree hugging types have some pretty unrealistic ideas. I think the government just needs to man up, tell the cottagers to piss off, and start a multi year (decades really) campagin of building and/or private incentives for companies to do so.
However it is about balance, and only you can make that determination.
How much is it worth to you? I would suggest that 10% raise, is not enough to tempt me away from a position that I enjoy. Of course it depends on how much you enjoy it. There are also factors such as family and providing for them etc..l then again more time at home and less commute is also a factor.
In any case I would suggest unless the wage is a LOT more, and/or the commute is a LOT less, I would stay where I enjoyed the work and was comfortable. If a company came along and offered 25% more, and half the commute, then yeah, I think I would have to consider that.
This is all hypothetical to me, as I live a 10min walk to work, so halving my commute isn't exactly a big deal. However if someone offered my 20-30% more money, well I think I would do it, then again, I wouldn't classify my work as "fun" so much as "tolerable".
This is what Canada should be doing rather than building stupid new frigates.
Ice Breakers particulary nuclear would be so much more useful in every way.
I mean even when we deploy our little ships to a combat zone, how useful are they other than as a token of participation compared to our allies anyway.
Ice Breakers could be supplying a economic service that only maybe one other country is capable of (Russia). They would be supporting our northern sovereignty. Providing economic and material and stability support to our northern communities. Would be facilitating search and rescue operations where no one else can (recall just a year or two ago the cruise ship that got stranded in the ice). Anyway it boggles my mind the stupidity of our government.
For the 8 Billion we are spending we could get 7 of those jnuclear boats simply buying them from russia. Build our our, even better supporting our ship building communities. It isn't like we don't have our own nuclear program, at least for now.
As it is, likely most of the components for our Frigates other than the hull is just going to be bought at great expense from the bloated US war machine, which is probably what this is all about anyway.
At the very least, they could build a few less Frigates, and replace them with Ice Breakers. Anyway that's my rant for today... so far anyway... :)
First off having a CS degree is not the same thing as being a programmer. It is PART of it, but just a part. There are plenty of "CS" type positions that have little or zero actual personal coding. Second, usually you learn a lot of languages, and don't really concentrate on one (I think I had 6 or 8 by the time I graduated). It is about the process and not the syntax, which anyone with a degree, or in the field for more than 6months can tell you can change overnight. If you want simple a Java programmer, yeah hire some college cert monkey with a year at it, or someone you think is deeply interested in messing about with Java. They will be able to code right away. What kind of code and design you might get will vary however. Which is the next thing, the author seriously believes that CS degrees do NOT come with theroy? But some self taught person will? Delusional. One of the big differences aught to be that the degree comes with a lot of theroy and things other than just "programming" that will potentionally benefit a company or project. Not sure what sort of CS degrees you have been exposed to, but perhaps they are not all the same. Also someone with a degree should come more balanced, in that they will have knowlege across a broad swath of CS study, not just Java syntax and structures
Good luck with that Java and everything.
As I understand it the big fight between Apple and Samsung is about licencing fees.
Samsung owns a patent, that it licences out to other to use. It has a going rate of 2.5% I believe.
Apple's whole arguement is that it isn't fair becuase the 2.5% is based on the handset cost. Thus the Nokia POS, that costs 50$ pays a licencing fee of 1.25$. However because Apple's phone costs 800$ the fee is 20$. So they have to pay 20x what someone else pays for the same technology.
Clearly the easiest solution would be for Apple to stop charging so much for their phones! :)
I believe legally they are obligated to in certain regions due to printers being used to try and print money.
http://historylist.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/human-deaths-in-the-us-caused-by-animals/
I was looking for the Statistic for number of deaths caused by Deer per year as I remember hearing that it was the most dangerous animal in North America...
They don't count it in that list, but still a healthy (or not) 130/year.
Apparently alergic reactions to bees/wasps are also pretty high at 51/year.
Lassie weighs in at 31.
Closest to 2.3? Bull at 3/year. So you are slightly more likely to get killed by a Bull than by a terrorist.
Regarless of how fair or unfair the vote counting is, or how representitive the electoral system is, the biggest differenace is how much is spent on elections.
Cost of election:
USA: 6 BILLION
Canada: 300 Million
EVEN if you say "yeah well Canada only has 1/10th the population so it is cheaper" which really isn't a valid arguement, but lets for fun say that is directly proportional, and so that. Canada would be 3 Billion were it the population size of the US, which is still only half that which the US spent.
Next, and most importantly how much money was contributed to political parties (i.e. how much bribes they are taking more less, or at least how beholden they are to specific groups anyway)...
Canada: 15 Million (or 150 Million in your crazy 1/10th population world)
USA: 1.6 BILLION
Either way the difference is startling.
However the political parties in Canada also recieve 113 Million in non-private funding, that is to say each party is given some money from government for their election campaign based on number of votes, seats, etc... No strings attached, unlike getting hundreds of millions from special interest groups or corporate consortiums.
This is why US politics is screwed, not because of electoral counting techniques...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_political_financing_in_Canada
I agree. However, as we learned over the last several years, if the oposition is afraid of an election, it is pointless.
That is the Conservatives when they had a miniorty governed like they had a majority. Their position was if you don't like it bring down the government. The Liberals, who having all sorts of leader issues, didn't want an election fearing they would lose even worse, just went along with every everything, effectively making no oposition. Gutless.
A miniorty that "panders" or I would say compremises with the other parties with a give and take, is exactly how things should be functioning, as multiple ideologies were elected, it only makes sense that not only one would have their say.
fight to the death?
Though the cynic in me thinks the tie breaker will be whoever has the most money in the bank.
News at 11.
They have two of them?
OK all I want to know is have they had a drag race with them yet? Come on you KNOW the engineers want to!
Can the Stig take one around the track?
#1) The lumber industry has been in the toliet in Canada for many years now
#2) Canada dependent on the US? Well yes, but so is the US dependent on Canada. I believe that is called "interdependance"
If Canada decided to turn off the Oil, Gas, Water, Electricity or Trade to the US, it would be in a world of hurt. We supply more of "that" to the US than anyone else, including China, or any of the middle east oil producing countries. More trade crosses our shared border than just about anywhere in the world.
As far as who is *more* dependent, how hard would it for a country of 30M that produces all that stuff to find another buyer? How hard would it be for a country of 300M to locate another source to buy from, and how much would that cost to ship it there?
Of course the usual American answer to that question is well we'll just invade you! Which really is silly, as we are the biggest country in the world, and have this thing called Winter. Might want to consult with the germans how that worked out for them the last time it was tried (or the French further back in time).
The first thing I thought of, man I hope they have a really big beer fridge, 3 years of beer is gonna take up some serious room!
Then I thought, wow that is a lot of piss, though I suppose that could be mostly recycled into water etc....
Then I thought, 3 years of food? That is an awful lot of poo. Is the spacecrft going to be making regular dumps on route, or are they going to have some vaste resivoir of poo that they are going to cart along with them...
Then I thought, I kind of hope they do, though landing with the additional weight might be hard, but they might be able to use the poo as fertilizer to establish some greenhouse on Mars...
Of course if they are trying NOT to contaminate Mars with Earth stuff, that is probably not the way to go...
Basically offer a good product, at reasonable price, that is very easy to obtain. Add just enough DRM you discourge any casual pirating. Heck even the 1990's solution of a code wheel was/is sufficent.
Someone that is prepared to put effort into pirating your software IS going to pirate your software one way or another. However that is besides the point, as that person is very unlikely to ever buy it anyway. So while it might make you angry, it isn't really affecting anything really.
So long as it isn't super easy (and I mean REALLY easy), most A) can't be bothered, or B) can't figure it out.
It has been shown again and again, no matter how much you put into DRM, it will be broken, easily. As they found out, the more restrictive you make the DRM, the only people you end up really pissing off is your paying customers.
The sure fire way to defete the pirates, is not to even make it worth their time. Make it easily available (STEAM for example), and make it a reasonable price (try charging 30-40$ rather than 70$ for example). You will probably sell more units and make more money that way in the end anyway.