I guess I agree with you in the sense that I think we can achieve human exploration of Mars, or maybe even colonization with incremental technological advances.
If this had been the dominant mindset in mankind we wouldn't have crossed mountains, oceans, the Wright brothers would never have flown, and we wouldn't have gone to the Moon.
I think there is an objective difference. From the dawn of man we have seen goats crossing mountains, fish swimming the seas, and birds flying the skies.
Our trip to the moon was the result of taking a huge collection of scientific knowledge and overcoming all of the obstacles in our path. It wasn't well illuminated, and we knew there were unknown dangers, but we knew (or at least suspected) there was a path.
We can't get to anything beyond the solar system without FTL travel (or something equivalent in 4D space-time). I think we're all anxious to hear any thoughts you have on overcoming that obstacle, but, to the best of my knowledge, we don't even have a theory that promises a solution.
Don't forget that for every Scientific achievement there has been an idea that didn't pan out. FTL travel might turn out to be just as practical as astrology, extispicy, or alchemy.
He asked IBM to deprecate its open-source license and instead put it under the General Public License [. ..] In contrast, an open-source license, like IBM's, is copyrighted.
I guess the hardest part of journalism school is learning to talk out of ones ass.
For those who, like this reporter, don't know: Any material must be under copyright for the GPL to apply.
Weird. The "wingnut" at the beginning of the article was a woman. (Unless the USA Today was using a feminine pronoun for a person of unknown sex out of an attempt to seem egalitarian at the expense of clarity.) What is it going to take to get women on board with this women's lib thing?!
I understand that pharmacist beliefs. On the other hand, you can't intentionally put yourself in a position to do something and then contentiously object at the 11th hour. Me? I'm a big fan of birth control.
I'll take a look at that GAO report. Thanks for the link.
I take issue with the suggestion that a person who would ban abortion would "send women to back-alley abortionists". I suppose it is literally true, but only in the same sense that those of us who would ban wife-beating "send" men to beat their wives at home.
women still suffer plenty of discrimination in the workplace, are underpaid relative to men doing the same job with the same experience
Can you point me to a study that comes to this conclusion that accounts for continuity of employment? I suspect that factor accounts for the delta, but I'm completely open to persuasion to the contrary.
and are still threatened with religious wackos cutting off access to healthcare services
What a strange thing to say. Is there some movement afoot to prevent women from getting x-rays or diabetes medication?
Or are you being incredibly disingenuous in order to make the legitimate disagreement over abortion seem illegitimate?
(Or some other thing I haven't thought of?)
Women are still underrepresented in the top levels of government and industry
I don't know a good way to measure who controls the wealth in the country, which is nominally how people "vote" for industry leaders.
On the other hand it is clear that the majority of those eligible to vote are women. I, like many men, see no reason not to vote for women. Now we just need to convince women to do so!
However, if you know anything about rocket engines, you know the weight of the engine is just about inconsequential when compared to the overall weight of the vehicle and (above all) fuel.
I know almost nothing about rockets. When I wrote my post I was imagining solid fuel rockets. Probably because that's all I have any experience with;-)
If you've got four engines making enough thrust to get you into orbit, you add a fifth for safety and then run all your engines at 80% rated thrust for even more safety. Is it efficient? No, but it's safer.
Why not just use two of those massless "fifth" engines?
pete-classic asks: "There are about 200 people working on different projects and most of them write without having an idea of what they actually do. they have little understanding of rudimentary diction and primitive grammar skills. I want to euthanize them by providing some challenges by which they touch upon complex language concepts, while solving the problem. Does anyone know of a set of English-based books or lessons with which I can euthanize these budding speakers and writers?"
You really missed the forest for the trees on that one.
In your opinion, would people being persecuted under McCarthyism have benefited or been harmed by this sort of government tracking of printing devices?
I can't speak for Tackhead, but what I took away from his post was a concern for governments having too much power to track their people.
Roland Piquepaille writes "[. ..] feel free to post your comments below."
Who can argue with magnanimity like that?
Anyway, I'm begging here: Can't we please have a Roland Piquepaille section so we can filter this stuff out? I'm not saying anything negative. I'm sure he's a wonderful guy and has a tremendous singing voice. I just don't want to read his blog.
Look, it's for your own good here guys. Do you honestly believe slashdot would still exist if we hadn't been able to un-check Jon Katz's section?
Slashdot Mirror
I re-read. I see what you are saying.
I guess I agree with you in the sense that I think we can achieve human exploration of Mars, or maybe even colonization with incremental technological advances.
-Peter
I think there is an objective difference. From the dawn of man we have seen goats crossing mountains, fish swimming the seas, and birds flying the skies.
Our trip to the moon was the result of taking a huge collection of scientific knowledge and overcoming all of the obstacles in our path. It wasn't well illuminated, and we knew there were unknown dangers, but we knew (or at least suspected) there was a path.
We can't get to anything beyond the solar system without FTL travel (or something equivalent in 4D space-time). I think we're all anxious to hear any thoughts you have on overcoming that obstacle, but, to the best of my knowledge, we don't even have a theory that promises a solution.
Don't forget that for every Scientific achievement there has been an idea that didn't pan out. FTL travel might turn out to be just as practical as astrology, extispicy, or alchemy.
-Peter
Ha! I very nearly ended my post with an invitation to re-render it as a haiku!
Way to go, AC!
-Peter
Harmony brings discord, Fair Play accused of playing unfair. We're adrift in a sea of marketing.
-Peter
As usual, there's no way that Apple can lose. But they've rarely let that stop them in the past!
-Peter
Oh. Who's being naive, Kay?
(I hope my friend lucabrasi999 sees this!)
-Peter
I guess the hardest part of journalism school is learning to talk out of ones ass.
For those who, like this reporter, don't know: Any material must be under copyright for the GPL to apply.
J.T.F.C.
-Peter
Weird. The "wingnut" at the beginning of the article was a woman. (Unless the USA Today was using a feminine pronoun for a person of unknown sex out of an attempt to seem egalitarian at the expense of clarity.) What is it going to take to get women on board with this women's lib thing?!
I understand that pharmacist beliefs. On the other hand, you can't intentionally put yourself in a position to do something and then contentiously object at the 11th hour. Me? I'm a big fan of birth control.
I'll take a look at that GAO report. Thanks for the link.
I take issue with the suggestion that a person who would ban abortion would "send women to back-alley abortionists". I suppose it is literally true, but only in the same sense that those of us who would ban wife-beating "send" men to beat their wives at home.
-Peter
Is measuring the "error rate" between a known sound sample and a re-sampled version trivial? You sure make it sound like it is!
-Peter
Can you point me to a study that comes to this conclusion that accounts for continuity of employment? I suspect that factor accounts for the delta, but I'm completely open to persuasion to the contrary.
What a strange thing to say. Is there some movement afoot to prevent women from getting x-rays or diabetes medication?
Or are you being incredibly disingenuous in order to make the legitimate disagreement over abortion seem illegitimate?
(Or some other thing I haven't thought of?)
I don't know a good way to measure who controls the wealth in the country, which is nominally how people "vote" for industry leaders.
On the other hand it is clear that the majority of those eligible to vote are women. I, like many men, see no reason not to vote for women. Now we just need to convince women to do so!
-Peter
Never that I can think of.
-Peter
I agree. Why on earth do you have to monkey around with some driver cd for a PostScript printer?
Oh, were you being factious? Do you think modem drivers are a good idea, too?
-Peter
I know a guy with a few ideas.
-Peter
I know almost nothing about rockets. When I wrote my post I was imagining solid fuel rockets. Probably because that's all I have any experience with
-Peter
Why not just use two of those massless "fifth" engines?
-Peter
Never heard of the Bronte sisters. Hawthorn was a tit.
I looked the sisters up. First hit gives Extensive online resource for all three Brontë sisters and there writings.
Well, if that's how "there" fans represent I'll pass.
-Peter
Child. In my day we had LOTVS I II III.
-Peter
On a very special episode of "Ask Slashdot":
pete-classic asks: "There are about 200 people working on different projects and most of them write without having an idea of what they actually do. they have little understanding of rudimentary diction and primitive grammar skills. I want to euthanize them by providing some challenges by which they touch upon complex language concepts, while solving the problem. Does anyone know of a set of English-based books or lessons with which I can euthanize these budding speakers and writers?"
To register "ismysoftwarehotornot.com"
-Peter
What's your problem? "Gotted" is a perfectly cromulent word.
-Peter
Yes, but along with dogs and cats living together it is one of the signs of the coming of Gozer the Gozarian.
-Peter
You really missed the forest for the trees on that one.
In your opinion, would people being persecuted under McCarthyism have benefited or been harmed by this sort of government tracking of printing devices?
I can't speak for Tackhead, but what I took away from his post was a concern for governments having too much power to track their people.
-Peter
Who can argue with magnanimity like that?
Anyway, I'm begging here: Can't we please have a Roland Piquepaille section so we can filter this stuff out? I'm not saying anything negative. I'm sure he's a wonderful guy and has a tremendous singing voice. I just don't want to read his blog.
Look, it's for your own good here guys. Do you honestly believe slashdot would still exist if we hadn't been able to un-check Jon Katz's section?
Do it for the team, guys!
-Peter
You can say that again! I use brylcreem!
I'm not sure that's exactly the quote . . .
In any case, I disagree. We are all doomed. Only those who know history are cognizant of our doom.
Judging from the fact that you added me as a friend I suppose you got the joke. It's been a hoot.
-Peter
Hear, hear!
The world economy isn't a zero-sum game.
-Peter