The fundamental flaw in how Wikipedia works is that to add information, you're expected to provide links to other sites that already have that same information (subject to any editors liking the information, true or not). But there's no good way to add truly new information to Wikipedia, turning it into a true source of information, instead of it just being a derivative source. That's sad. So instead of being the place for domain experts to provide the world with new information, everything is just a rehashed version of other sites.
This affected me personally. I worked for many years in DOD research (on some very cool projects - "domain expert"). Related to that, I purchased a famous invention (the Ursus Mark VII from Troy Hurtubise), which I hoped to use for a DOD research project. I interviewed Troy several times (I took a professional documentary maker to north Canada to do so), and was present when he demoed other inventions for the military and media. When I tried to add information to Wikipedia years ago on Troy Hurtubise, my edits were rejected because I wasn't pointing to another web site that already has the information. But I truly was the source (lots of film to prove it, and a $150K invention I had purchased (for less)), yet I had no good way to submit (unless I published it all elsewhere, which wasn't the point; I was trying to add domain expert info, not a reference to another site).
So now, many years later, the Troy Hurtubise page is still very incomplete. My short documentary about him did well in film festivals (and it's listed on imdb.com), and I'm referenced by Troy in a book about him. So now I could probably get my information published on Wikipedia, but the information is as much as 15 years old now. Something needs to change on Wikipedia so it's more a source of information, less a compendium of copy-paste from other sites.
The review sites need to give a weight to reviews according to the reviewer. The opinions of an award-winning screenwriter, or a recognized effects artist, or an academy award winner, or a leading sociologist, etc., should be given prominence. Ratings by someone who lives in his parents' basement, flips burgers part time, and dedicates his life to trolling forums should be given close to zero weight. Likewise, the opinions of somebody who watches movies for a living should be considered worthless, unless that person also creates real movies (like Roger Ebert did).
- The Convention Formerly Known as Salt Lake Comic Con. - Much Better Than Comic Con - The Comic Convention That Isn't a Con - Unwilling to Pay Extortionate Fees to Be Called Comic Con - Did They Bribe the Judge So We Aren't Comic Con Anymore? - Like Comic Con, Except We Don't Suck - More Comic, Less Con
I ended up actually buying his newest bear-proof suit (newer than the one in the movie). If anybody in the western US is interested in collaborating with me on making it more practical (I'm adding pan/tilt/zoom cameras, linear actuators, etc.), let me know.
It's not relevant to the Space Shuttle, but definitely could be applicable to things like a Mars mission (not to mention a real-life RoboCop, etc.).
The main problem on the antiquated space shuttles is the heat-resistant tiles. They're extremely expensive, and not very good. They're so soft you could problably crush a piece with your hands, which means they're easily damaged during flight (and we've seen the fatal results of that).
Troy Hurtubise, the Canadian who did the famous bear-proof suit documented in the movie Project grizzly, spent 18 years researching how to make a flameproof material, and finally has it. It's far more heat-resistant than the space shuttle tiles, far more durable, and far cheaper. A friend and I watched him testing it for a military representative last July, and got the whole thing on film (it was so interesting we hope to turn it into a documentary). His material would solve many of the space shuttle safety issues, and do it for cheap (and he has an impact-proof version as well, which provides a cheap way to prevent many of the deaths of soldiers in Iraq; that was the focus of the testing I saw).
After a report of penetrability of different biometric systems came in the middle of 2002 (http://www.heise.de/ct/02/11/114/) from various sources, the complaint was that it would have worked only in lab tests. Above all the companies of the tested systems planned that such successes would not be feasible in real life.
These statements became the focus of further experimentation to be able to accomplish such "attacks" in public locations, unnoticed. Successes are represented here, through the example of a successful "attack" on a paid system of the Offiscom Shops in Open Castle.
The deployment of the fingerprint system was started ("digiPROOF") at the beginning of of 2003. The company "it-werke" equipped additionally for the Officecom Shop (http://www.officecom-shop.de/index1.php) a capacitive sensor. Everyone who has an account records their fingerprint characteristics. In addition one fills out a form connected to their bank account, later proving their identity on the basis of fingerprint identification.
If one wants to purchase any item, the buyer indicates indicates his/her name and places a finger on the sensor. The purchase amount is then deducted automatically from the account.
Scenarios of "identity theft"
With use of biometric systems for the authentication of a paymention procedure two scenarios of the "identity theft" are conceivable. In the first case an unauthorized person steals the data of a regular user to buy at their expense. In the other possibility they steal data from entitled users and passes it on to other persons.
Scenario 1: For execution one needs both the name of a regular user and a copy of the fingerprint used for verification. One obtains the name and the fingerprint by spying on payments.
It's good to see something useful finally done with Microsoft money (indirectly, through Paul Allen). Of course it's sad to see that they don't fund any similar advances in the computer industry (or education, health care,.....).
Similar to how Ross Perot handed the presidency to Clinton by taking away a huge portion of the Republican vote, the only effect that the Green Party can possibly have in this election is taking a few votes from the Republicans or Democrats that may make the difference in a key state or two.
Obviously with the current unpopularity of Bush and Kerry the final vote is down to either you or Ralph Nader. What decisive advantages do you feel you have over Nader that make you more likely to win the presidency?;-)
Question #10 would be excellent to ask Bush (and Kerry would get his own version). Something like:
Strategically speaking, you don't look to be in a very promising position. Your platform, once unique, is now ubiquitous. Your campaign has been, by any account of which I am aware, a disaster. Now it seems like there is no area in which you have any real strength over your competitors - you are eclipsed by the disaster of the war in Iraq and by the failing economy, your lack of service in Vietnam rules the day in the media, while the Democratic candidate is entering the field with a strong military background.
What advantages do you bring to the table? What can you do that no other politician can do? Why are you a politician in the first place? What the hell are you doing?
Weather doesn't necessarily cause problems for satellite channels. I paid a little extra to install oversized dishes (30" - 36"), and during the worst rain or snow my reception is always good.
New Network to Link U.S., Russia, China
Dec 23, 10:10 AM (ET)
By JIM PAUL
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Soon scientists in the United States, China and Russia will be able to collaborate in cyberspace over a new high-speed computer network that includes the first direct computer link across the Russia-China border, developers say.
The network, expected to go online next month, will ring the Northern Hemisphere, connecting computers in Chicago with machines in Amsterdam, Moscow, Siberia, Beijing and Hong Kong before hooking up with Chicago again, said Greg Cole of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, one of the leaders of the Little GLORIAD project. Data will flow at 155 million bytes per second.
"This new network permits us to learn more from each other in areas where we have not worked together in the past," Cole said Monday.
The NCSA, based at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign campus, received $2.8 million from the National Science Foundation to fund the U.S. portion of the network for the next three years. Russia and China are spending similar amounts, Cole said.
"As we aim to strengthen our nations' capabilities in research, we also aim to contribute to the cumulative knowledge that lifts the prospects of people everywhere," NSF director Rita Colwell said in a statement announcing the plans.
The NSF's program officer for the project, William Y. Chang, did not immediately return a phone call to his Arlington, Va., office Monday.
Scientists have always had computer networks separate from the consumer Internet that assure them the capacity to transfer huge volumes of information at speeds much faster than typical Internet transfers and for real-time collaboration on high-tech experiments, Cole said.
Little GLORIAD - an acronym for Global Ring Network for Advanced Application Development - will allow scientists and educational researchers to work together on such issues as responding to natural disasters, safeguarding nuclear material, monitoring earthquakes or joint space exploration.
They also could collaborate to remotely monitor or control high-tech equipment and even could get together face-to-face by video conferencing over the network, he said.
"This is specifically so our scientists and educators can work together more easily," Cole said. "The technology is really rather amazing with what it allows us to do on a daily basis."
The fiber optic connection between China and Russia that makes the network possible was completed a few months ago, Cole said. Final touches are being put on the China-Russia link, and the global network should see its first traffic on Jan. 5.
A formal launching ceremony is planned for Jan. 12 in Beijing, he said.
Scientists from Russia and the United States have had direct computer linkage for about five years, while Russia and China often exchanged scientific information by meeting in Chicago, Cole said. The new network should strengthen the collaboration between those countries, he said.
Little GLORIAD is a "first big step" toward development of the higher-speed GLORIAD, Cole said. That effort, expected to be launched later this year, will move data at 10 gigabytes per second, 60 times faster than the Little GLORIAD.
Computer connections have fostered scientific collaborations that otherwise might not have happened, Cole said.
"There's some advantage to having people being able to talk more regularly," he said. "There are fewer misunderstandings. I think these networks are going to be more important to the more critical issues that we're all addressing together."
---
On the Net:
GLORIAD: http://www.gloriad.org
National Center for Supercomputing Applications: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu
A privately financed passenger-carrying sub-orbital rocket plane screamed its way through the sound barrier today, the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers historic 12-second flight over Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Privately built by Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, the SpaceShipOne cranked up its hybrid rocket motor after being released from the White Knight carrier plane high over Mojave, California.
"This successful and historic flight is important because we are showing that the private sector can perform human space flight faster, safer and cheaper," said Jim Benson, founding chairman and chief executive of SpaceDev, the Poway, California-based company that built SpaceShipOne's engine.
Test pilot Brian Binnie then put SpaceShipOne into a steep climb. Nine seconds later, SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier and continued its steep powered ascent.
At motor shutdown, 15 seconds after ignition, SpaceShipOne was climbing at a 60-degree angle and flying near 1.2 Mach (930 mph).
Binnie continued the maneuver to a vertical climb, achieving zero speed at an altitude of 68,000 feet. He then configured the ship in its high-drag "feathered" shape to simulate the condition it will experience when it enters the atmosphere after a sub-orbital space flight.
At apogee, SpaceShipOne was in near-weightless conditions, emulating the characteristics it will later encounter during the planned space flights in which it will be at zero-g for more than three minutes.
After descending in feathered flight for about a minute, Binnie reconfigured the ship to its conventional glider shape and flew a 12-minute glide to landing at a landing strip in the Mojave.
The landing was not without incident.
On touchdown, the left landing gear retracted causing the rocket ship to veer to the left and leave the runway with its left wing down. Damage from the landing incident was minor and will easily be repaired. There were no injuries, according to a press release issued by Scaled Composites.
The milestone flight of SpaceShipOne involved development of a new propulsion system, the first rocket motor fabricated for piloted space flight in several decades.
The new hybrid motor was developed in-house at Scaled Composites. The motor uses an ablative nozzle supplied by AAE and operating components supplied by SpaceDev.
This was the 8th flight of the SpaceShipOne completed this year -- the first done under powered flight.
D'oh! The parent of this comment was moderated up to +3, and is now down to 0. Now we know what SCO employees do all day (we already knew it wasn't writing quality operating systems): they scour web sites to hide any negative publicity or comments about them;-)
And in related news, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is being sued by SCO due to their patent on the process of reviewing and approving patents;-)
HP inkjet printers don't have ink cartridges. They instead have cartridges with both print heads and ink. Which is why nobody sells non-HP cartridges; they don't have any legal way to do the print heads. This legislation finally gets past that, but it would have to be a federal law to provide enough scale so anyone could create such a product (unless a group in NC started selling HP-compatible cartridges to the rest of the country, which isn't going to happen).
Hopefully this initiative will get other states to create similar new laws. Obviously the states that manufacture HP and other printers will be the ones who try to block anything.
They're giving ideas to terrorists
on
DOD vs. 802.11b
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
By announcing to the whole world that they can't deal properly with ordinary WiFi, the military is encouraging terrorists to interfere in those frequency ranges. Which means terrorists and military regimes could buy cheap, off-the-shelf WiFi, amplify the signal to make sure it gets noticed (if it's strong enough it could even interfere), and scatter the transmitters all over the place to keep the military busy tracking down ghosts.
A friend of mine (just as an experiment; I wasn't involved) once tried driving down the road with a box that repeated speed detector signals back to cops with a slight frequency shift (to mimic the Doppler effect) and amplified (to block the correct signal). His speed was legal, but the cop started banging on the speed detector because it either said he was going really slow or insanely fast (exaggerated enough that it couldn't possibly be correct). Needless to say, you can't buy such a box legally;-)
Certificates at my company (Digital Signature Trust, at www.digsigtrust.com) aren't cheap either, but unlike most we have guarantees on our services. We're the only company in the world that's certified for many things like buying a house in the US with a purely digital signature (due to agreements with groups like Fannie Mae and the American Banking Association). We go through extensive (& expensive) industry and government audits to qualify (and we're the only ones who have passed in some cases). Make sure you are actually getting something valuable (proper authentication!) when you purchase digital certificates from anybody. A certificate without proper authentication and guarantees is worthless.
WRONG! I went to the U of Utah, and knew of nobody who was working at Novell while studying there (well, one, but he soon quit) nor who got a job there after graduating. Novell has been shrinking for years, and we never even considered it. Besides, it would be completely unfamiliar, since the U of U has (to my knowledge) no Novell networking anywhere, but has tons of SGI's, HP's, Sun's, Apple's, IBM RS-6000's, PC's (Windoze, typically), all linked using a mostly Unix backbone. Check your facts.
The facts: the reason NASA has had many failures is that Clinton axed most of their budget early in his administration, laying off many of the principal engineers (including my uncle, who had worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for years, and was close to retiring; Clinton is an a**hole! But you knew that, right?). With all of the experts gone, NASA's results got really shoddy immediately. Now Clinton's trying to fix it before he leaves, now that the damage is already done. What a loser.
I'm not sure these worries apply. The reason Windows crashes so much is that it puts everything into _kernel_ space (e.g. GUI), where any flaw can crash the whole system. Linux and BSD and the rest only have minimal kernels (even though, for example, KDE Linux is a fairly heavyweight OS), so failures rarely can take down the system. Since Apple is basing their OS on the same little kernel as BSD, unless they hack the kernel their system should be fairly buttelproof. After all, they've done it before (A/UX, a decade ago, which gave you a microkernel but layered MacOS on top of it in a very stable fashion). My guess is by the first or second upgrade to MacOS X it will be an incredible environment for development (OpenStep and such rocks!), and as stable as anyone could ever want.
Slashdot Mirror
The fundamental flaw in how Wikipedia works is that to add information, you're expected to provide links to other sites that already have that same information (subject to any editors liking the information, true or not). But there's no good way to add truly new information to Wikipedia, turning it into a true source of information, instead of it just being a derivative source. That's sad. So instead of being the place for domain experts to provide the world with new information, everything is just a rehashed version of other sites.
This affected me personally. I worked for many years in DOD research (on some very cool projects - "domain expert"). Related to that, I purchased a famous invention (the Ursus Mark VII from Troy Hurtubise), which I hoped to use for a DOD research project. I interviewed Troy several times (I took a professional documentary maker to north Canada to do so), and was present when he demoed other inventions for the military and media. When I tried to add information to Wikipedia years ago on Troy Hurtubise, my edits were rejected because I wasn't pointing to another web site that already has the information. But I truly was the source (lots of film to prove it, and a $150K invention I had purchased (for less)), yet I had no good way to submit (unless I published it all elsewhere, which wasn't the point; I was trying to add domain expert info, not a reference to another site).
So now, many years later, the Troy Hurtubise page is still very incomplete. My short documentary about him did well in film festivals (and it's listed on imdb.com), and I'm referenced by Troy in a book about him. So now I could probably get my information published on Wikipedia, but the information is as much as 15 years old now. Something needs to change on Wikipedia so it's more a source of information, less a compendium of copy-paste from other sites.
The review sites need to give a weight to reviews according to the reviewer. The opinions of an award-winning screenwriter, or a recognized effects artist, or an academy award winner, or a leading sociologist, etc., should be given prominence. Ratings by someone who lives in his parents' basement, flips burgers part time, and dedicates his life to trolling forums should be given close to zero weight. Likewise, the opinions of somebody who watches movies for a living should be considered worthless, unless that person also creates real movies (like Roger Ebert did).
- The Convention Formerly Known as Salt Lake Comic Con.
- Much Better Than Comic Con
- The Comic Convention That Isn't a Con
- Unwilling to Pay Extortionate Fees to Be Called Comic Con
- Did They Bribe the Judge So We Aren't Comic Con Anymore?
- Like Comic Con, Except We Don't Suck
- More Comic, Less Con
Others?
This sounds familiar. Hasn't Microsoft been basing much of their product line instead around VI (Virtual Intelligence) for years now? ;-)
Addendum:
I ended up actually buying his newest bear-proof suit (newer than the one in the movie). If anybody in the western US is interested in collaborating with me on making it more practical (I'm adding pan/tilt/zoom cameras, linear actuators, etc.), let me know.
It's not relevant to the Space Shuttle, but definitely could be applicable to things like a Mars mission (not to mention a real-life RoboCop, etc.).
The main problem on the antiquated space shuttles is the heat-resistant tiles. They're extremely expensive, and not very good. They're so soft you could problably crush a piece with your hands, which means they're easily damaged during flight (and we've seen the fatal results of that).
Troy Hurtubise, the Canadian who did the famous bear-proof suit documented in the movie Project grizzly, spent 18 years researching how to make a flameproof material, and finally has it. It's far more heat-resistant than the space shuttle tiles, far more durable, and far cheaper. A friend and I watched him testing it for a military representative last July, and got the whole thing on film (it was so interesting we hope to turn it into a documentary). His material would solve many of the space shuttle safety issues, and do it for cheap (and he has an impact-proof version as well, which provides a cheap way to prevent many of the deaths of soldiers in Iraq; that was the focus of the testing I saw).
Here's his site:
http://projecttroy.com.nexx.com/website/
(the translation is of the original PDF which is in German; different info)
Hacking biometric systems
Overcoming capacitive sensors
After a report of penetrability of different biometric systems came in the middle of 2002 (http://www.heise.de/ct/02/11/114/) from various sources, the complaint was that it would have worked only in lab tests. Above all the companies of the tested systems planned that such successes would not be feasible in real life.
These statements became the focus of further experimentation to be able to accomplish such "attacks" in public locations, unnoticed. Successes are represented here, through the example of a successful "attack" on a paid system of the Offiscom Shops in Open Castle.
The deployment of the fingerprint system was started ("digiPROOF") at the beginning of of 2003. The company "it-werke" equipped additionally for the Officecom Shop (http://www.officecom-shop.de/index1.php) a capacitive sensor. Everyone who has an account records their fingerprint characteristics. In addition one fills out a form connected to their bank account, later proving their identity on the basis of fingerprint identification.
If one wants to purchase any item, the buyer indicates indicates his/her name and places a finger on the sensor. The purchase amount is then deducted automatically from the account.
Scenarios of "identity theft"
With use of biometric systems for the authentication of a paymention procedure two scenarios of the "identity theft" are conceivable. In the first case an unauthorized person steals the data of a regular user to buy at their expense. In the other possibility they steal data from entitled users and passes it on to other persons.
Scenario 1: For execution one needs both the name of a regular user and a copy of the fingerprint used for verification. One obtains the name and the fingerprint by spying on payments.
(.....not done yet....)
It's good to see something useful finally done with Microsoft money (indirectly, through Paul Allen). Of course it's sad to see that they don't fund any similar advances in the computer industry (or education, health care, .....).
I guess my sarcasm wasn't obvious enough....
Similar to how Ross Perot handed the presidency to Clinton by taking away a huge portion of the Republican vote, the only effect that the Green Party can possibly have in this election is taking a few votes from the Republicans or Democrats that may make the difference in a key state or two.
Obviously with the current unpopularity of Bush and Kerry the final vote is down to either you or Ralph Nader. What decisive advantages do you feel you have over Nader that make you more likely to win the presidency? ;-)
Question #10 would be excellent to ask Bush (and Kerry would get his own version). Something like:
Strategically speaking, you don't look to be in a very promising position. Your platform, once unique, is now ubiquitous. Your campaign has been, by any account of which I am aware, a disaster. Now it seems like there is no area in which you have any real strength over your competitors - you are eclipsed by the disaster of the war in Iraq and by the failing economy, your lack of service in Vietnam rules the day in the media, while the Democratic candidate is entering the field with a strong military background.
What advantages do you bring to the table? What can you do that no other politician can do? Why are you a politician in the first place? What the hell are you doing?
Weather doesn't necessarily cause problems for satellite channels. I paid a little extra to install oversized dishes (30" - 36"), and during the worst rain or snow my reception is always good.
New Network to Link U.S., Russia, China
Dec 23, 10:10 AM (ET)
By JIM PAUL
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Soon scientists in the United States, China and Russia will be able to collaborate in cyberspace over a new high-speed computer network that includes the first direct computer link across the Russia-China border, developers say.
The network, expected to go online next month, will ring the Northern Hemisphere, connecting computers in Chicago with machines in Amsterdam, Moscow, Siberia, Beijing and Hong Kong before hooking up with Chicago again, said Greg Cole of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, one of the leaders of the Little GLORIAD project. Data will flow at 155 million bytes per second.
"This new network permits us to learn more from each other in areas where we have not worked together in the past," Cole said Monday.
The NCSA, based at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign campus, received $2.8 million from the National Science Foundation to fund the U.S. portion of the network for the next three years. Russia and China are spending similar amounts, Cole said.
"As we aim to strengthen our nations' capabilities in research, we also aim to contribute to the cumulative knowledge that lifts the prospects of people everywhere," NSF director Rita Colwell said in a statement announcing the plans.
The NSF's program officer for the project, William Y. Chang, did not immediately return a phone call to his Arlington, Va., office Monday.
Scientists have always had computer networks separate from the consumer Internet that assure them the capacity to transfer huge volumes of information at speeds much faster than typical Internet transfers and for real-time collaboration on high-tech experiments, Cole said.
Little GLORIAD - an acronym for Global Ring Network for Advanced Application Development - will allow scientists and educational researchers to work together on such issues as responding to natural disasters, safeguarding nuclear material, monitoring earthquakes or joint space exploration.
They also could collaborate to remotely monitor or control high-tech equipment and even could get together face-to-face by video conferencing over the network, he said.
"This is specifically so our scientists and educators can work together more easily," Cole said. "The technology is really rather amazing with what it allows us to do on a daily basis."
The fiber optic connection between China and Russia that makes the network possible was completed a few months ago, Cole said. Final touches are being put on the China-Russia link, and the global network should see its first traffic on Jan. 5.
A formal launching ceremony is planned for Jan. 12 in Beijing, he said.
Scientists from Russia and the United States have had direct computer linkage for about five years, while Russia and China often exchanged scientific information by meeting in Chicago, Cole said. The new network should strengthen the collaboration between those countries, he said.
Little GLORIAD is a "first big step" toward development of the higher-speed GLORIAD, Cole said. That effort, expected to be launched later this year, will move data at 10 gigabytes per second, 60 times faster than the Little GLORIAD.
Computer connections have fostered scientific collaborations that otherwise might not have happened, Cole said.
"There's some advantage to having people being able to talk more regularly," he said. "There are fewer misunderstandings. I think these networks are going to be more important to the more critical issues that we're all addressing together."
---
On the Net:
GLORIAD: http://www.gloriad.org
National Center for Supercomputing Applications: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu
National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov
Privately Funded SpaceShipOne Breaks Sound Barrier
A privately financed passenger-carrying sub-orbital rocket plane screamed its way through the sound barrier today, the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers historic 12-second flight over Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Privately built by Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, the SpaceShipOne cranked up its hybrid rocket motor after being released from the White Knight carrier plane high over Mojave, California.
"This successful and historic flight is important because we are showing that the private sector can perform human space flight faster, safer and cheaper," said Jim Benson, founding chairman and chief executive of SpaceDev, the Poway, California-based company that built SpaceShipOne's engine.
Test pilot Brian Binnie then put SpaceShipOne into a steep climb. Nine seconds later, SpaceShipOne broke the sound barrier and continued its steep powered ascent.
At motor shutdown, 15 seconds after ignition, SpaceShipOne was climbing at a 60-degree angle and flying near 1.2 Mach (930 mph).
Binnie continued the maneuver to a vertical climb, achieving zero speed at an altitude of 68,000 feet. He then configured the ship in its high-drag "feathered" shape to simulate the condition it will experience when it enters the atmosphere after a sub-orbital space flight.
At apogee, SpaceShipOne was in near-weightless conditions, emulating the characteristics it will later encounter during the planned space flights in which it will be at zero-g for more than three minutes.
After descending in feathered flight for about a minute, Binnie reconfigured the ship to its conventional glider shape and flew a 12-minute glide to landing at a landing strip in the Mojave.
The landing was not without incident.
On touchdown, the left landing gear retracted causing the rocket ship to veer to the left and leave the runway with its left wing down. Damage from the landing incident was minor and will easily be repaired. There were no injuries, according to a press release issued by Scaled Composites.
The milestone flight of SpaceShipOne involved development of a new propulsion system, the first rocket motor fabricated for piloted space flight in several decades.
The new hybrid motor was developed in-house at Scaled Composites. The motor uses an ablative nozzle supplied by AAE and operating components supplied by SpaceDev.
This was the 8th flight of the SpaceShipOne completed this year -- the first done under powered flight.
D'oh! The parent of this comment was moderated up to +3, and is now down to 0. Now we know what SCO employees do all day (we already knew it wasn't writing quality operating systems): they scour web sites to hide any negative publicity or comments about them ;-)
And in related news, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is being sued by SCO due to their patent on the process of reviewing and approving patents ;-)
So the famous Windows "blue screen of death" will become the "blue cube of death"? ;-)
HP inkjet printers don't have ink cartridges. They instead have cartridges with both print heads and ink. Which is why nobody sells non-HP cartridges; they don't have any legal way to do the print heads. This legislation finally gets past that, but it would have to be a federal law to provide enough scale so anyone could create such a product (unless a group in NC started selling HP-compatible cartridges to the rest of the country, which isn't going to happen).
Hopefully this initiative will get other states to create similar new laws. Obviously the states that manufacture HP and other printers will be the ones who try to block anything.
By announcing to the whole world that they can't deal properly with ordinary WiFi, the military is encouraging terrorists to interfere in those frequency ranges. Which means terrorists and military regimes could buy cheap, off-the-shelf WiFi, amplify the signal to make sure it gets noticed (if it's strong enough it could even interfere), and scatter the transmitters all over the place to keep the military busy tracking down ghosts.
;-)
A friend of mine (just as an experiment; I wasn't involved) once tried driving down the road with a box that repeated speed detector signals back to cops with a slight frequency shift (to mimic the Doppler effect) and amplified (to block the correct signal). His speed was legal, but the cop started banging on the speed detector because it either said he was going really slow or insanely fast (exaggerated enough that it couldn't possibly be correct). Needless to say, you can't buy such a box legally
Certificates at my company (Digital Signature Trust, at www.digsigtrust.com) aren't cheap either, but unlike most we have guarantees on our services. We're the only company in the world that's certified for many things like buying a house in the US with a purely digital signature (due to agreements with groups like Fannie Mae and the American Banking Association). We go through extensive (& expensive) industry and government audits to qualify (and we're the only ones who have passed in some cases). Make sure you are actually getting something valuable (proper authentication!) when you purchase digital certificates from anybody. A certificate without proper authentication and guarantees is worthless.
WRONG! I went to the U of Utah, and knew of nobody who was working at Novell while studying there (well, one, but he soon quit) nor who got a job there after graduating. Novell has been shrinking for years, and we never even considered it. Besides, it would be completely unfamiliar, since the U of U has (to my knowledge) no Novell networking anywhere, but has tons of SGI's, HP's, Sun's, Apple's, IBM RS-6000's, PC's (Windoze, typically), all linked using a mostly Unix backbone. Check your facts.
The facts: the reason NASA has had many failures is that Clinton axed most of their budget early in his administration, laying off many of the principal engineers (including my uncle, who had worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for years, and was close to retiring; Clinton is an a**hole! But you knew that, right?). With all of the experts gone, NASA's results got really shoddy immediately. Now Clinton's trying to fix it before he leaves, now that the damage is already done. What a loser.
Oops! Not "buttelproof". I meant "bulletproof"
I'm not sure these worries apply. The reason Windows crashes so much is that it puts everything into _kernel_ space (e.g. GUI), where any flaw can crash the whole system. Linux and BSD and the rest only have minimal kernels (even though, for example, KDE Linux is a fairly heavyweight OS), so failures rarely can take down the system. Since Apple is basing their OS on the same little kernel as BSD, unless they hack the kernel their system should be fairly buttelproof. After all, they've done it before (A/UX, a decade ago, which gave you a microkernel but layered MacOS on top of it in a very stable fashion). My guess is by the first or second upgrade to MacOS X it will be an incredible environment for development (OpenStep and such rocks!), and as stable as anyone could ever want.