Such housing technology could also allow small island-states in the Indian and Pacific Oceans
What's next? "Floating rainwater basins", "floating desalination plants" or "regular shipment of bottled water"? "Floating coconut farms" maybe?
These guys are just out there. You're going to float a house on Styrofoam in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Maybe they've been fooled by the name (Pacific - Peaceful) but one little baby typhoon is going to put your Styrofoam and assorted crap in the middle of the Pacific garbage patch. If you want to create floating cities, then go ahead and do so. The tech is there, it's just expensive.
This might work in a low lying area that gets flooded every couple of years (although the stilt idea previously mentioned seems easier) but it's not going to float well. Somebody needs to torpedo this concept before anyone gets wet.
It would be much cheaper and more effective (in the long run) to actually pay teachers a decent wage. And stop with the techno nonsense. Reasonable classroom sizes, decent teachers and a stable school environment are going to pay larger dividends than the latest gadget.
Of course, having a stable family and society is even more important but we can't solve all of the world's problems at once. After all, this is just Slashdot.
Basically, what you are saying is that money talks. (And Kurzweill is Batshit nuts).
Yes, when you're not sweltering in 99 degree heat and you're not worried about being knifed by the clown sitting next to you, you just might learn more.
Recall yesterday's thread about typing (too lazy to link it). From many of the comments, I got the distinct impression that this particular skill was the most useful single aspect of high school for many Slashdotters. Admittedly this is a small and very skewed (twisted might be a better description) sample of humanity but maybe all one needs after basic reading and writing is a keyboard, a mouse, Wolfram Alpha and possibly 4-Chan.
The tests used today are a legacy of the past where knowing details was the focus of education. I'd much rather employ someone who knew how do do computer assisted research or build a spread sheet to calculate unit costs than someone well versed in memorized facts that are obsolete as soon as you walk out of the test hall.
That's not what you get. They're not teaching statistics and why you might want to use a pivot table.
Picnic will probably go - hasn't gained a whole lot of traction. Sketch will probably stay, if for no other reason than the pro edition has some following among folks who don't need to go whole hog and invest in Autocad (god rot their evil souls, but I digress). The file format is becoming a defacto standard. It's well integrated into Google Earth and Maps and allows them to crowdsource value into both of those products.
The rest I've never used. I am annoyed that Google Powermeter left - that was a neat product albeit with likely no hope of becoming big enough to matter. Google Health was just an ill advised attempt to chase Microsoft's ill advised attempt to do something in the healthcare arena. Not many people want to key in their medical data. Those that do have already figured out that word processors are useful tools. Dumping raw healthcare provider data into a consumer product was bound to fail - it's way too messy and if you figured out how to do it you would spin the program off and sell it for a small fortune to the health care industry itself.
Well, I said that in my second post - wasn't thinking through it carefully. It's something that usually comes up every time Mach number is brought up here.
Oh, and 45000 feet at Mach 1.2 is the beginning of the real stress zone for the frame. Not too surprising it flopped over there. Of course, there are lots of ways a booster can screw up.
As if a stupid little app that just looks like a Star Trek tricorder doesn't qualify as "complete shit". Whoever developed that ought to be using their time on more productive pursuits.
All one needs is a panel to deflect objects downward
These are not ping pong balls. They don't "bounce", they "pummel"
and a robot that can get around it's orbit to get the job done
Not entirely sure what you are trying to get at, but if your thinking of little robots wandering out in space waiting to capture debris, consider the fact that space is very, very large and the objects are very small. Further consider that to get from one orbit to another you need delta V and delta V is expensive.
Put multiple drones up in multiple orbits.
See above
And yes I understand about the big difference in speed of objects but the solution is to angle the panel to deflect less, maybe enough for the next bumper drone to deflect it again. All we need to do is make the junk deorbit sooner and it will burn up. Plus the bumper drone actually gets a nudge up and a nudge faster with each collision. So in the least if the craft is rugged and light enough it could get at least get some energy to put it in position for it's next collision.
No, you really don't understand. Go read up on orbits, mass and orbital mechanics.
This is a very, very hard problem to solve. It's not like the concept was brought up last week and they're offering a prize to somebody on the Internets to figure out.
But we live in a Free Market Wonderland. The invisible hand should direct that qualified applicants get more money until the problem is solved. So, no problem, just as he said. Right?
I sure would. OTOH, manned research to the deeps is probably the wrong way to go. We have lots of experience with unmanned ROVs and their capabilities are pretty impressive (watch the Macondo spill tapes on YouTube). Spending the money to put meat Popsicles down at the bottom is pretty much grandstanding.
I wonder how much of the Chinese sub is really Chinese or if there are lots of off the shelf parts. There is a large industrial base for deep water ROV bits and pieces, most of which are American (Go USA!). While there is utility in learning how to put all the parts together to survive at those depths, the real engineering is building the technology in the first place.
But 11 years gives you some lead time to learn lots and lots of things. Maybe we can send copies of IEEE Spectrum to the Tea Party / Libertarian YoYos in Congress and show them what they're up against.
At this point don't you have more in infrastructure needs than you would with a basic optical microscope?
No, they'll hook it up to a smartphone. They're everywhere.
Really, I just don't see the point to this. Used optical microscopes are dirt cheap, certainly less than $50, are easy to maintain, don't require computers, don't have lasers and probably a number of things I'm not thinking of. The big cost in a rural facility isn't going to be basic infrastructure, it's going to be expendables - medications, bandages, sterile supplies.
Color me confused and a bit cynical about 'saving the world' through high tech stuff.
Perhaps. If it was anything else besides Facebook I wouldn't be so depressed. But between Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and Facebook, well you've pretty much sewn up all of the evil in the world....
Slashdot Mirror
Such housing technology could also allow small island-states in the Indian and Pacific Oceans
What's next? "Floating rainwater basins", "floating desalination plants" or "regular shipment of bottled water"?
"Floating coconut farms" maybe?
These guys are just out there. You're going to float a house on Styrofoam in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Maybe they've been fooled by the name (Pacific - Peaceful) but one little baby typhoon is going to put your Styrofoam and assorted crap in the middle of the Pacific garbage patch. If you want to create floating cities, then go ahead and do so. The tech is there, it's just expensive.
This might work in a low lying area that gets flooded every couple of years (although the stilt idea previously mentioned seems easier) but it's not going to float well. Somebody needs to torpedo this concept before anyone gets wet.
It would be much cheaper and more effective (in the long run) to actually pay teachers a decent wage. And stop with the techno nonsense. Reasonable classroom sizes, decent teachers and a stable school environment are going to pay larger dividends than the latest gadget.
Of course, having a stable family and society is even more important but we can't solve all of the world's problems at once. After all, this is just Slashdot.
Sell your stuff on Ebay and hire some more teachers.....
Basically, what you are saying is that money talks. (And Kurzweill is Batshit nuts).
Yes, when you're not sweltering in 99 degree heat and you're not worried about being knifed by the clown sitting next to you, you just might learn more.
We know that....
Recall yesterday's thread about typing (too lazy to link it). From many of the comments, I got the distinct impression that this particular skill was the most useful single aspect of high school for many Slashdotters. Admittedly this is a small and very skewed (twisted might be a better description) sample of humanity but maybe all one needs after basic reading and writing is a keyboard, a mouse, Wolfram Alpha and possibly 4-Chan.
The tests used today are a legacy of the past where knowing details was the focus of education. I'd much rather employ someone who knew how do do computer assisted research or build a spread sheet to calculate unit costs than someone well versed in memorized facts that are obsolete as soon as you walk out of the test hall.
That's not what you get. They're not teaching statistics and why you might want to use a pivot table.
They're teaching Powerpoint.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
That's where all the HP touchpads went.
Picnic will probably go - hasn't gained a whole lot of traction. Sketch will probably stay, if for no other reason than the pro edition has some following among folks who don't need to go whole hog and invest in Autocad (god rot their evil souls, but I digress). The file format is becoming a defacto standard. It's well integrated into Google Earth and Maps and allows them to crowdsource value into both of those products.
The rest I've never used. I am annoyed that Google Powermeter left - that was a neat product albeit with likely no hope of becoming big enough to matter. Google Health was just an ill advised attempt to chase Microsoft's ill advised attempt to do something in the healthcare arena. Not many people want to key in their medical data. Those that do have already figured out that word processors are useful tools. Dumping raw healthcare provider data into a consumer product was bound to fail - it's way too messy and if you figured out how to do it you would spin the program off and sell it for a small fortune to the health care industry itself.
One click detonation by the range officer.
No patent for Bezos here. There is a whole bunch of prior art..
Well, I said that in my second post - wasn't thinking through it carefully. It's something that usually comes up every time Mach number is brought up here.
Oh, and 45000 feet at Mach 1.2 is the beginning of the real stress zone for the frame. Not too surprising it flopped over there. Of course, there are lots of ways a booster can screw up.
Things go boom. Pretty much no one in the business of putting up boosters has managed to do so without create a fair amount of debris and fuss.
Bezos seems to appreciate this. It's a disappointment, for sure but it's just that.
As if a stupid little app that just looks like a Star Trek tricorder doesn't qualify as "complete shit". Whoever developed that ought to be using their time on more productive pursuits.
Like what? Posting on Slashdot?
Just sayin'
All one needs is a panel to deflect objects downward
These are not ping pong balls. They don't "bounce", they "pummel"
and a robot that can get around it's orbit to get the job done
Not entirely sure what you are trying to get at, but if your thinking of little robots wandering out in space waiting to capture debris, consider the fact that space is very, very large and the objects are very small. Further consider that to get from one orbit to another you need delta V and delta V is expensive.
Put multiple drones up in multiple orbits.
See above
And yes I understand about the big difference in speed of objects but the solution is to angle the panel to deflect less, maybe enough for the next bumper drone to deflect it again. All we need to do is make the junk deorbit sooner and it will burn up. Plus the bumper drone actually gets a nudge up and a nudge faster with each collision. So in the least if the craft is rugged and light enough it could get at least get some energy to put it in position for it's next collision.
No, you really don't understand. Go read up on orbits, mass and orbital mechanics.
This is a very, very hard problem to solve. It's not like the concept was brought up last week and they're offering a prize to somebody on the Internets to figure out.
But we live in a Free Market Wonderland. The invisible hand should direct that qualified applicants get more money until the problem is solved. So, no problem, just as he said. Right?
I got a delicious body (seriously, I'd wank to it every day if I was gay) and a couple of minutes at most goes to enjoying it in the mirror.
Do you have any idea which web site you're posting on?
Great, so instead of touching a filthy screen, we have cameras in the loo. Where can I sign up for that?
Oh, not to worry, you already have.
ya except the guy in the next cube doesn't have a tazer, a gun, and immunity to use them at will
Well, just move to Texas.
I would not want to be the pilot of this vehicle
I sure would. OTOH, manned research to the deeps is probably the wrong way to go. We have lots of experience with unmanned ROVs and their capabilities are pretty impressive (watch the Macondo spill tapes on YouTube). Spending the money to put meat Popsicles down at the bottom is pretty much grandstanding.
I wonder how much of the Chinese sub is really Chinese or if there are lots of off the shelf parts. There is a large industrial base for deep water ROV bits and pieces, most of which are American (Go USA!). While there is utility in learning how to put all the parts together to survive at those depths, the real engineering is building the technology in the first place.
But 11 years gives you some lead time to learn lots and lots of things. Maybe we can send copies of IEEE Spectrum to the Tea Party / Libertarian YoYos in Congress and show them what they're up against.
At this point don't you have more in infrastructure needs than you would with a basic optical microscope?
No, they'll hook it up to a smartphone. They're everywhere.
Really, I just don't see the point to this. Used optical microscopes are dirt cheap, certainly less than $50, are easy to maintain, don't require computers, don't have lasers and probably a number of things I'm not thinking of. The big cost in a rural facility isn't going to be basic infrastructure, it's going to be expendables - medications, bandages, sterile supplies.
Color me confused and a bit cynical about 'saving the world' through high tech stuff.
Interestingly featured in this Pakastani military website.
Took about 45 seconds to find on Google. Most of the time was spent opening the beer can.
Perhaps. If it was anything else besides Facebook I wouldn't be so depressed. But between Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and Facebook, well you've pretty much sewn up all of the evil in the world....
You need to friend HTC on Facebook. You're out of date.
My god. Is this what the world is coming to? Friending soulless corporations on Facebook to get info?
Everyone off my lawn please. I'd like a couple of moments of silence to grieve.
I'd love to agree with you but your nic is disturbingly accurate here.
Too bad you both missed your humorTab(C)(Patent Pending by Johnson's wax) today.
Double up tomorrow. Remember, side effects may include nausea, blurred vision and priapism.