You're remembering right. But it's not like they don't have the blueprints around somewhere. The only thing stopping them from building another 100 Shuttles is the lack of funds and launch dates.
Well, after Challenger was destroyed they built the Endeavour to replace it. If they wanted to, they could replace the Columbia as well. Not that they're going to, but the point is that one lost vehicle every 17 years doesn't have to kill off a program from lack of vehicles.
Well as people have said, we still need at least a few more missions to finish the ISS, service the Hubble, and then we can turn our energy to a new vehicle. I seriously doubt anything catastrophic will happen in the next 20 missions.
People still fly in planes that have killed many more than that in their history. I would like to hope that space travel won't be threatened by the occasional disaster, because if nothing else, a few thousand here or there is peanuts compared to what will happen in a few billion years when our solar system becomes rather uninhabitable, or possibly sooner with a meteor strike, war, or plague.
A 2% failure rate is to be expected, and that's what we've got. Right now they're being over-cautious and it's slowing up everything the Shuttle was supposed to do. Space exploration is dangerous. We can't let a couple of accidents throw away everything we've worked for. But I am looking forward to a new vehicle, that is for sure. I just hope we don't stop the Shuttle missions before any new vehicle is ready.
Don't forget the Hubble servicing missions. If those don't happen, we'll be without our pretty pictures for several years before the next orbiting telescope is up and running.
I don't think anybody believes Apple intends windows to be the primary OS on their hardware. However, it does make for an interesting comparison when windows and windows apps run faster on a Mac than a PC.
What will be most interesting is what Leopard has in store in the way of windows compatiblity. Some think Bootcamp functionality will no longer require a reboot.
Continuing to spend your money with AMD doesn't do any good, if Intel has the superior product- just as spending money on Intel when AMD had the superior product would not encourage Intel to do anything innovative.
Look, if a company can simply take your money for granted, you lose. Vote with your wallet and force AMD to win you back with something even better.
I just don't buy consoles, in general. When I play games, it's on the computer. But what I like about the Wii is the whole Wiimote thing, strictly from a technology point of view. All that motion-sensor technology will be put to good use, I hope. And, it has always been my impression that the Nintendo seems to care a lot about fun-factor, rather than just the latest in shiny graphics.
If I was going to buy a console, it'd be the Xbox 360, and only for Halo 3. It's not worth it. I'll just wait for it to (eventually) come out on the PC, or play it on a friend's console.
I'm not going to buy a Wii or any other console in this next generation, but I want the Wii to do very well since I think the technology and fun-aspect of it are very exciting. The "Wiimote" is pretty darn cool, and they seem to be interested in user-experience more than anybody else.
In other words, people will need to buy more and more games if their older games don't live long. One only has to hold people's interest long enough for the next title to come out. Still, that doesn't win the hearts and minds of your customers. One of the reasons Blizzard has such a large fanbase is due to their excellent long-term support of their older products. Heck, they're still coming out with patches for Starcraft, and I know people still playing Warcraft II Battle.net Edition and Diablo I. That fanbase translates to millions of people eagerly paying money for World of Warcraft subscriptions even while endlessly complaining about server problems and balance issues. One could argue about the reasons for WoW's popularity all day, but you have to admit the Blizzard logo makes a difference. Companies with the business model of "give them cheap thrills for a short time, rinse and repeat" might want to take a look at the longer-term game support approach.
I can only seeing something like this causing panic. "UR IN DANGER RUN 4 LIFE" getting sent to thousands of people all at once can't possibly be a great way of alerting people to an emergency. At least with television alerts they give you a decent amount of information, but text messenging, especially at this large a scale, any message sent would probably not be able to include a lot of information.
Without per capita information, those numbers are useless. Do you honestly believe that a country (China) with a GDP of about $6,000 per person is third in the world? EU vs. US. Check it out on the sidebars, you'll see that the USA is absolutely dominating the EU for GDP. A lot of the EU countries are significantly less well-off, face very high unemployment, and with an aging population and low birth rates, will be in serious trouble down the line. My comments were not meant to be a criticism of the EU, simply a congratulatory message for their efforts at fixing their problems.
A judge could simply order the removal of all Microsoft products from stores. A fine and no income at all from EU countries would probably catch their attention.
I agree. It's not like every copy of windows and office and whatever else will suddenly cease to function (unless Bill Gates has put backdoors in everything just for this very reason!!!) and people will just go about their business for a while with no trouble. It would probably be a very gradual shift, and since there's who knows how many computers and boxes of software in every retailer's storage all around the world, people could still buy Microsoft products for a while afterwards too. Apple really is the logical choice to take over, since they've got Bootcamp to hold people over as software programmers start switching over to other OSes. They'd have to seriously expand their operation though to meet new demand. I hate to say it, but I really wouldn't expect a major Linux awakening.
1. Have high unemployment and an aging population. 2. Form a group with your fellow 2nd world countries. 3. Find somebody rich enough that you can fine them a significant amount of money and they won't think it's all that bad (bonus points if it's a US company). 4. Use the money from the fines to prop up your economy. 5. ???? 6. Profit!
See, it's really quite ingenious. It's a large bit of money, but not enough for Microsoft to suddenly pull out of Europe. They'll tolerate these fines probably for years, that's a good bit of income for countries in Europe with not-so-great economies. Cheers, EU!
I had considered it, to tell you the truth. After all, surely we did the same thing on North Korea's missile...
But if you really think about it, India is sort of our ally now, what with the nuclear secrets sharing thing. It would make a lot more sense for Pakistan to try to shoot it down somehow than for the US to do so.
I don't disagree with what you're saying (I thought I was clear that the internet was just one of several services provided by the fiber), but the fact is that if Verizon FiOS was in my area, I'd be getting 3x the speed for the same price I'm paying now, or about the same speed for a lot less. And that's just downstream. Upstream is a significant boost across the board. And compared to what most people get on your typical DSL or dial-up (yes, those people still exist in large numbers), I'd say a fiber optic cable to the home is a very significant boost.
It's true that the ISP caps your internet bandwidth on fiber, just any other ISP does on any other network, and it's true that you'll be paying for the bandwidth you use, but... if one company has the capability of offering much higher speeds (and the only real limit here is the hardware at either end of the fiber), they can easily steal a lot of customers from another company without that capability. That means lower prices, faster speeds, and happy customers. We've seen this happen in DSL vs. Cable wars for a while now, and the outcome has been positive. My cable internet speed got boosted twice and DSL prices dropped. Sticking a big fat pipe into your home just means that the ISP wars can escalate all that much more.
Well I'd argue that the wiring is the issue. Your typical cable service will max out at 30ish downstream, and has relatively very little upstream. And currently, no cable provider is giving out that kind of service (best is Cablevision at 15/2Mbps). DOCSIS 2.0 and 3.0 will help with that, but people really aren't going to see those for a while.
Copper really can't stand up to fiber optics, especially in the long term. Even the cable companies are starting to use fiber optics to a certain extent in their network architecture, but none of them are bringing fiber straight to the home.
Video franchising is by no means revolutionary. The kinds of interactive services you'll get from fiber optic TV could be. And you won't get those any time soon the way things currently are. And you're probably not going to get 30/5Mbps in your home either.
Slashdot Mirror
You're remembering right. But it's not like they don't have the blueprints around somewhere. The only thing stopping them from building another 100 Shuttles is the lack of funds and launch dates.
Well, after Challenger was destroyed they built the Endeavour to replace it. If they wanted to, they could replace the Columbia as well. Not that they're going to, but the point is that one lost vehicle every 17 years doesn't have to kill off a program from lack of vehicles.
Don't you still need to ferry people back and forth between the space dock?
Well as people have said, we still need at least a few more missions to finish the ISS, service the Hubble, and then we can turn our energy to a new vehicle. I seriously doubt anything catastrophic will happen in the next 20 missions.
People still fly in planes that have killed many more than that in their history. I would like to hope that space travel won't be threatened by the occasional disaster, because if nothing else, a few thousand here or there is peanuts compared to what will happen in a few billion years when our solar system becomes rather uninhabitable, or possibly sooner with a meteor strike, war, or plague.
A 2% failure rate is to be expected, and that's what we've got. Right now they're being over-cautious and it's slowing up everything the Shuttle was supposed to do. Space exploration is dangerous. We can't let a couple of accidents throw away everything we've worked for. But I am looking forward to a new vehicle, that is for sure. I just hope we don't stop the Shuttle missions before any new vehicle is ready.
Don't forget the Hubble servicing missions. If those don't happen, we'll be without our pretty pictures for several years before the next orbiting telescope is up and running.
I don't think anybody believes Apple intends windows to be the primary OS on their hardware. However, it does make for an interesting comparison when windows and windows apps run faster on a Mac than a PC.
What will be most interesting is what Leopard has in store in the way of windows compatiblity. Some think Bootcamp functionality will no longer require a reboot.
Continuing to spend your money with AMD doesn't do any good, if Intel has the superior product- just as spending money on Intel when AMD had the superior product would not encourage Intel to do anything innovative.
Look, if a company can simply take your money for granted, you lose. Vote with your wallet and force AMD to win you back with something even better.
Nah. If the site was run by microsoft, it wouldn't have gone down so easy to a slashdotting.
I just don't buy consoles, in general. When I play games, it's on the computer. But what I like about the Wii is the whole Wiimote thing, strictly from a technology point of view. All that motion-sensor technology will be put to good use, I hope. And, it has always been my impression that the Nintendo seems to care a lot about fun-factor, rather than just the latest in shiny graphics. If I was going to buy a console, it'd be the Xbox 360, and only for Halo 3. It's not worth it. I'll just wait for it to (eventually) come out on the PC, or play it on a friend's console.
I'm not going to buy a Wii or any other console in this next generation, but I want the Wii to do very well since I think the technology and fun-aspect of it are very exciting. The "Wiimote" is pretty darn cool, and they seem to be interested in user-experience more than anybody else.
It could be good for the tourist industry too. "People are 67% happier at X Resort than Y Resort!"
It also kills people bringing over games to a friends house to play it there. With this, you'd have to bring your own console over as well.
Hmm, being able to steal a tank and drive around running over the enemy and shooting the main cannon might actually be kind of fun...
In other words, people will need to buy more and more games if their older games don't live long. One only has to hold people's interest long enough for the next title to come out. Still, that doesn't win the hearts and minds of your customers. One of the reasons Blizzard has such a large fanbase is due to their excellent long-term support of their older products. Heck, they're still coming out with patches for Starcraft, and I know people still playing Warcraft II Battle.net Edition and Diablo I. That fanbase translates to millions of people eagerly paying money for World of Warcraft subscriptions even while endlessly complaining about server problems and balance issues. One could argue about the reasons for WoW's popularity all day, but you have to admit the Blizzard logo makes a difference. Companies with the business model of "give them cheap thrills for a short time, rinse and repeat" might want to take a look at the longer-term game support approach.
Gee, are they saying that they're actually going to try a new game genre? Here's an idea for a new one, WWII shooters!
I can only seeing something like this causing panic. "UR IN DANGER RUN 4 LIFE" getting sent to thousands of people all at once can't possibly be a great way of alerting people to an emergency. At least with television alerts they give you a decent amount of information, but text messenging, especially at this large a scale, any message sent would probably not be able to include a lot of information.
Without per capita information, those numbers are useless. Do you honestly believe that a country (China) with a GDP of about $6,000 per person is third in the world? EU vs. US. Check it out on the sidebars, you'll see that the USA is absolutely dominating the EU for GDP. A lot of the EU countries are significantly less well-off, face very high unemployment, and with an aging population and low birth rates, will be in serious trouble down the line. My comments were not meant to be a criticism of the EU, simply a congratulatory message for their efforts at fixing their problems.
A judge could simply order the removal of all Microsoft products from stores. A fine and no income at all from EU countries would probably catch their attention.
I agree. It's not like every copy of windows and office and whatever else will suddenly cease to function (unless Bill Gates has put backdoors in everything just for this very reason!!!) and people will just go about their business for a while with no trouble. It would probably be a very gradual shift, and since there's who knows how many computers and boxes of software in every retailer's storage all around the world, people could still buy Microsoft products for a while afterwards too. Apple really is the logical choice to take over, since they've got Bootcamp to hold people over as software programmers start switching over to other OSes. They'd have to seriously expand their operation though to meet new demand. I hate to say it, but I really wouldn't expect a major Linux awakening.
No no, you've both missed it.
1. Have high unemployment and an aging population.
2. Form a group with your fellow 2nd world countries.
3. Find somebody rich enough that you can fine them a significant amount of money and they won't think it's all that bad (bonus points if it's a US company).
4. Use the money from the fines to prop up your economy.
5. ????
6. Profit!
See, it's really quite ingenious. It's a large bit of money, but not enough for Microsoft to suddenly pull out of Europe. They'll tolerate these fines probably for years, that's a good bit of income for countries in Europe with not-so-great economies. Cheers, EU!
I had considered it, to tell you the truth. After all, surely we did the same thing on North Korea's missile...
But if you really think about it, India is sort of our ally now, what with the nuclear secrets sharing thing. It would make a lot more sense for Pakistan to try to shoot it down somehow than for the US to do so.
I don't disagree with what you're saying (I thought I was clear that the internet was just one of several services provided by the fiber), but the fact is that if Verizon FiOS was in my area, I'd be getting 3x the speed for the same price I'm paying now, or about the same speed for a lot less. And that's just downstream. Upstream is a significant boost across the board. And compared to what most people get on your typical DSL or dial-up (yes, those people still exist in large numbers), I'd say a fiber optic cable to the home is a very significant boost.
It's true that the ISP caps your internet bandwidth on fiber, just any other ISP does on any other network, and it's true that you'll be paying for the bandwidth you use, but... if one company has the capability of offering much higher speeds (and the only real limit here is the hardware at either end of the fiber), they can easily steal a lot of customers from another company without that capability. That means lower prices, faster speeds, and happy customers. We've seen this happen in DSL vs. Cable wars for a while now, and the outcome has been positive. My cable internet speed got boosted twice and DSL prices dropped. Sticking a big fat pipe into your home just means that the ISP wars can escalate all that much more.
Well I'd argue that the wiring is the issue. Your typical cable service will max out at 30ish downstream, and has relatively very little upstream. And currently, no cable provider is giving out that kind of service (best is Cablevision at 15/2Mbps). DOCSIS 2.0 and 3.0 will help with that, but people really aren't going to see those for a while.
Copper really can't stand up to fiber optics, especially in the long term. Even the cable companies are starting to use fiber optics to a certain extent in their network architecture, but none of them are bringing fiber straight to the home.
Video franchising is by no means revolutionary. The kinds of interactive services you'll get from fiber optic TV could be. And you won't get those any time soon the way things currently are. And you're probably not going to get 30/5Mbps in your home either.