It's nice to think that all the technology we're used to will endure forever, but history goes in cycles, not straight lines. Civilizations fall as well as rise. When this civilization falls, it's possible that the infrastructure to build laptops, hard drives, and routers may disappear too, not to mention the power grid to support them. Whether that happens in 100 years or 10,000, it would be nice to know that the stuff we've learned can be preserved past that date.
I would be really happy to work on a way to take the most practical 10,000 pages of the Wikipedia in a few languages and put them onto some physical media that doesn't require tech to read, and doesn't deteriorate much over time.
Even a book, if it's printed on nearly-indestructible paper, would be good.
I've actually tried to get Wikipedia to think about some form of this, but they think I'm predicting doom n' gloom. I'm not, I'm just hedging bets. If I'm wrong, all we lose is some time and effort. If I'm right, the payoff is huge.
The reason taxes work when they do is that some things fall under the "common good". If we just asked everyone to pay only for services that benefit them personally, we'd have only private schools, few medicines, and likely no roads or traffic lights.
Some things just only work if everyone is forced to pay a bit for them. But look at the benefits in this case. If the government takes some of your tax money to pay all the people who want to make their own power, everyone benefits through lower load on power stations, decreased demand for power (which lowers prices!), decreased pollution and demand for foreign oil.
Note that most of the biggest copyright "pirates" at the time were of course the Americans. Who didn't ratify the already-existing Berne Convention until 110 years later, in 1989.
...and the usage continued well into the 19th century too.
Gilbert & Sullivan wrote "Pirates of Penzance" in 1879, inspired by the copyright "Pirates" in New York who had come to watch their London performances of their previous show (HMS Pinafore) and then "ripped" the words and music and performed something very similar in New York a short time later.
Without paying royalties of course.
In fact, to avoid "Pirates" itself being pirated, G&S took the trouble to perform it FIRST in New York (they both travelled there personally -- and travelling trans-Atlantic was only by slow boat in those days) and establish ownership and royalty channels, before sailing back home to London to premiere it there.
Hypothetically, then what if Microsoft made a new version of Word or Excel that was so awful nobody wanted to pay for it, and didn't work as well as their previous version that all business people already had.
What would you say if you were one of those who didn't upgrade, for those reasons, and someone sent you an indecipherable document?
If this started happening often, and you felt pressured to buy the overpriced but useless software, would you blame the other users? Or Microsoft? Or "business"?
You can also get some REALLY BRIGHT 25W compact fluorescents, with daylight coloring (6500K). They're good for artists & photographers.
P.S. I live in Sweden now (formerly US and Canada), and I have to admit that here it all changed over to compact fluorescents years ago. The daylight ones are handy for the long dark Swedish winters.
So the premise of the article is rather US-centric. Still it's good if Walmart pushes.
Social programs don't make a country competitive
on
Saving U.S. Science
·
· Score: 1, Interesting
Venezuela has government handouts galore. No Nobel Prizes yet.
Sweden has a social safety net it's nearly impossible to fall through. And they have money. No huge science leadership there either.
The comment below about science-fiction being edged out by (and conflated with) fantasy, and the others about bright kids and non-conformists being beaten up, just about covers it. Culture, not money, is the answer.
Exactly. Though the review said it better, and I'm still laughing out loud:
"Companies such as Toshiba and Sandisk (with its wonderful Nano-like Sansa e200 series) compete effectively with the iPod by asking themselves, "What are the things that users want and Apple refuses to provide?"
Microsoft's colossal blunder was to knock the user out of that question and put the music industry in its place. "
Nothing else need be said. Microsoft cares nothing for you. Buy their products and prove your own low self-esteem.
A chinese friend recently showed me his "iPod nano" knockoff from China.
It was the same size and shape and weight as a nano, but made with obviously cheaper materials. The clickwheel was replaced with a similar-looking clunky clicker. The front, normally logoless, was blazoned with a tacky ripoff Apple logo and the word "iPod" in cheap decal. The color screen was about double the size though.
BUT: The software was cooler. The UI design was all-new, and much flashier than Apple's, and ran in many languages including Chinese and variants. The features included FM radio, video (the screen was bigger and brighter than a real nano's), and audio record/playback.
The connectors were not Apple-style, there was just a USB connection and a micro-phono jack.
The whole tacky package was available, he assured me, in China for about $40. So who would buy the real one?
I really didn't need to see this question. I was kinda counting on being able to get away with another 10 years at least before I had to admit to being an "older man" and losing my faculties.
Point taken. I was, as you note, simplifying the mechanism. There are several others, including amyloidosis brought on by oxidation of amylin normally found in the islets.
Point is still that the pancreas needs new islets, which this therapy may be able to provide. Meaning that advanced type-2's might find this therapy useful just as type-1's do.
Type 2 diabetes deteriorates if not kept well-controlled. In advanced stages, the hyperglycemia oxidizes proteins and kills off pancreatic islets, until the pancreas is unable to produce insulin, just as in Type 1.
So if an advanced type-2 diabetic fixed up their insulin resistance, they might still be unable to produce insulin. And the therapy in the article might then be helpful to them too!
I thought that it wasn't for a microsecond too, since heat is at the bottom of the entropy curve.
But then, a steam engine (converts heat to motion) and a steam turbine (converts heat to A/C electricity) are both possible. They're just net heat exporters, as any conversion will be.
Converting heat to a more useful energy is necessarily inefficient, but can still work.
This is really cool news indeed. I should also mention that if you're diabetic and haven't read this collection of 6 articles, you might be able to save your feet and eyes and kidneys. It's non-commercial, just a collection of papers and a diabetic writer who's putting it together.
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/ Most important conclusion: If you can keep blood sugar controlled enough, Type-2 need not deteriorate. Don't reply until you've read the article and references.
I will be on the lookout to see if it works for feline and canine diabetics too (I run the wiki on for diabetic cats & dogs: http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/ )
Up until recently, I might have agreed with you, that a fascist regime can't keep smart people asking questions without either clamping down, or being overthrown.
But I'm starting to doubt it since talking to some people recently immigrated from China. As I read their attitude, the regime has read its Machiavelli, and is being very smart. As Machiavelli advised, they rule from fear and power, BUT allow people a lot of freedom and even safety within strict limits. In fact, enough freedom to grow rich and be comfortable, even without being "connected". Enough freedom to make and sell anything they want and make money from it without being unduly hassled or taxed by the government. Enough security that people aren't worried about their families or property.
As long as the government can keep away from people's property and families, and the country's wealth is growing visibly every year, there's no serious incentive for anyone in China to risk a sweet situation to try for democracy.
Yes, that was my point too. But here's a meta-issue:
Slashdot seems to be just about unanimous about the thing to fear being power-hungry politicians, terrified sheeple, and the media that enables them both.
I realize Slashdot isn't a very representative cross-section of the population, but consider the possibility that, with the exception of a few people like the Bush-fan mom above, most people in the US actually do agree with this assessment. Say it's 60%. Or could be.
Can 60% of the population that refuses to be scared or manipulated by fear, actually calm down the remaining 40% plus the politicians who need fear to create their power base?
Or are we all just chatting with each other, lemming to lemming, as we march off the cliff, saying how much better off we'd be if we stopped marching?
Slashdot Mirror
It's nice to think that all the technology we're used to will endure forever, but history goes in cycles, not straight lines. Civilizations fall as well as rise. When this civilization falls, it's possible that the infrastructure to build laptops, hard drives, and routers may disappear too, not to mention the power grid to support them. Whether that happens in 100 years or 10,000, it would be nice to know that the stuff we've learned can be preserved past that date.
I would be really happy to work on a way to take the most practical 10,000 pages of the Wikipedia in a few languages and put them onto some physical media that doesn't require tech to read, and doesn't deteriorate much over time.
Even a book, if it's printed on nearly-indestructible paper, would be good.
I've actually tried to get Wikipedia to think about some form of this, but they think I'm predicting doom n' gloom. I'm not, I'm just hedging bets. If I'm wrong, all we lose is some time and effort. If I'm right, the payoff is huge.
Well, I'll be the greenie socialist then.
The reason taxes work when they do is that some things fall under the "common good". If we just asked everyone to pay only for services that benefit them personally, we'd have only private schools, few medicines, and likely no roads or traffic lights.
Some things just only work if everyone is forced to pay a bit for them. But look at the benefits in this case. If the government takes some of your tax money to pay all the people who want to make their own power, everyone benefits through lower load on power stations, decreased demand for power (which lowers prices!), decreased pollution and demand for foreign oil.
Obvious win-win.
...wow, the story's even more complex than I remembered. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_penzance for details.
Note that most of the biggest copyright "pirates" at the time were of course the Americans. Who didn't ratify the already-existing Berne Convention until 110 years later, in 1989.
...and the usage continued well into the 19th century too.
Gilbert & Sullivan wrote "Pirates of Penzance" in 1879, inspired by the copyright "Pirates" in New York who had come to watch their London performances of their previous show (HMS Pinafore) and then "ripped" the words and music and performed something very similar in New York a short time later.
Without paying royalties of course.
In fact, to avoid "Pirates" itself being pirated, G&S took the trouble to perform it FIRST in New York (they both travelled there personally -- and travelling trans-Atlantic was only by slow boat in those days) and establish ownership and royalty channels, before sailing back home to London to premiere it there.
Hypothetically, then what if Microsoft made a new version of Word or Excel that was so awful nobody wanted to pay for it, and didn't work as well as their previous version that all business people already had.
What would you say if you were one of those who didn't upgrade, for those reasons, and someone sent you an indecipherable document?
If this started happening often, and you felt pressured to buy the overpriced but useless software, would you blame the other users? Or Microsoft? Or "business"?
You can also get some REALLY BRIGHT 25W compact fluorescents, with daylight coloring (6500K). They're good for artists & photographers.
P.S. I live in Sweden now (formerly US and Canada), and I have to admit that here it all changed over to compact fluorescents years ago. The daylight ones are handy for the long dark Swedish winters.
So the premise of the article is rather US-centric. Still it's good if Walmart pushes.
Polowski?
Venezuela has government handouts galore. No Nobel Prizes yet.
Sweden has a social safety net it's nearly impossible to fall through. And they have money. No huge science leadership there either.
The comment below about science-fiction being edged out by (and conflated with) fantasy, and the others about bright kids and non-conformists being beaten up, just about covers it. Culture, not money, is the answer.
Exactly. Though the review said it better, and I'm still laughing out loud:
"Companies such as Toshiba and Sandisk (with its wonderful Nano-like Sansa e200 series) compete effectively with the iPod by asking themselves, "What are the things that users want and Apple refuses to provide?"
Microsoft's colossal blunder was to knock the user out of that question and put the music industry in its place. "
Nothing else need be said. Microsoft cares nothing for you. Buy their products and prove your own low self-esteem.
A chinese friend recently showed me his "iPod nano" knockoff from China.
It was the same size and shape and weight as a nano, but made with obviously cheaper materials. The clickwheel was replaced with a similar-looking clunky clicker. The front, normally logoless, was blazoned with a tacky ripoff Apple logo and the word "iPod" in cheap decal. The color screen was about double the size though.
BUT: The software was cooler. The UI design was all-new, and much flashier than Apple's, and ran in many languages including Chinese and variants. The features included FM radio, video (the screen was bigger and brighter than a real nano's), and audio record/playback.
The connectors were not Apple-style, there was just a USB connection and a micro-phono jack.
The whole tacky package was available, he assured me, in China for about $40. So who would buy the real one?
I really didn't need to see this question. I was kinda counting on being able to get away with another 10 years at least before I had to admit to being an "older man" and losing my faculties.
Well, it has, but it hasn't. If Wii really can give you a workout while providing an engaging video gamer experience, it has the advantages of:
* Working at home on your couch, not at the gym
* Requiring no big dust-gathering investment
* Actually being in millions of homes
This leads me to think it could be both new and different.
Imagine this as the start of a trend -- play video games and still get in shape.
Wot's going on 'ere then?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6D1YI-41ao
Imagine all the running Chapman could have saved...
Point taken. I was, as you note, simplifying the mechanism. There are several others, including amyloidosis brought on by oxidation of amylin normally found in the islets.
Point is still that the pancreas needs new islets, which this therapy may be able to provide. Meaning that advanced type-2's might find this therapy useful just as type-1's do.
Ah, but there's another consideration --
Type 2 diabetes deteriorates if not kept well-controlled. In advanced stages, the hyperglycemia oxidizes proteins and kills off pancreatic islets, until the pancreas is unable to produce insulin, just as in Type 1.
So if an advanced type-2 diabetic fixed up their insulin resistance, they might still be unable to produce insulin. And the therapy in the article might then be helpful to them too!
Nope, it's possible --
I thought that it wasn't for a microsecond too, since heat is at the bottom of the entropy curve.
But then, a steam engine (converts heat to motion) and a steam turbine (converts heat to A/C electricity) are both possible. They're just net heat exporters, as any conversion will be.
Converting heat to a more useful energy is necessarily inefficient, but can still work.
Hedy Lamarr FOR SURE.
t m Gauss' little pen-pal
Also Sophie Germain http://www.agnesscott.edu/Lriddle/women/germain.h
That takes care of Paris Hilton and Lisa fscking Simpson.
Then to get rid of Krotoski you could have good ol' Alicia Boole Stott, 4-D geek estraordinaire --
http://www.agnesscott.edu/Lriddle/women/stott.htm
Sony has recalled all their batteries used in Wikipedias in China. Sony stock fell another 3.75 on the news.
So when my mom kissed the boo-boo better, it actually worked?
Cool, I always thought so....
How about "First Nerd with Microsoft PR machine behind him"?
It worked for
"First window-based OS with Microsoft PR machine behind it"
"First browser with Microsoft PR machine behind it"
"First tabbed browser with Microsoft PR machine behind it"
etc....
This is really cool news indeed. I should also mention that if you're diabetic and haven't read this collection of 6 articles, you might be able to save your feet and eyes and kidneys. It's non-commercial, just a collection of papers and a diabetic writer who's putting it together.
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/ Most important conclusion: If you can keep blood sugar controlled enough, Type-2 need not deteriorate. Don't reply until you've read the article and references.
I will be on the lookout to see if it works for feline and canine diabetics too (I run the wiki on for diabetic cats & dogs: http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/ )
It means all your Base are belong to Google, of course! /How are you Gentlemen? //you are on the way to destruction. ///Wait, this isn't Fark?
Up until recently, I might have agreed with you, that a fascist regime can't keep smart people asking questions without either clamping down, or being overthrown.
But I'm starting to doubt it since talking to some people recently immigrated from China. As I read their attitude, the regime has read its Machiavelli, and is being very smart. As Machiavelli advised, they rule from fear and power, BUT allow people a lot of freedom and even safety within strict limits. In fact, enough freedom to grow rich and be comfortable, even without being "connected". Enough freedom to make and sell anything they want and make money from it without being unduly hassled or taxed by the government. Enough security that people aren't worried about their families or property.
As long as the government can keep away from people's property and families, and the country's wealth is growing visibly every year, there's no serious incentive for anyone in China to risk a sweet situation to try for democracy.
Yes, that was my point too. But here's a meta-issue:
Slashdot seems to be just about unanimous about the thing to fear being power-hungry politicians, terrified sheeple, and the media that enables them both.
I realize Slashdot isn't a very representative cross-section of the population, but consider the possibility that, with the exception of a few people like the Bush-fan mom above, most people in the US actually do agree with this assessment. Say it's 60%. Or could be.
Can 60% of the population that refuses to be scared or manipulated by fear, actually calm down the remaining 40% plus the politicians who need fear to create their power base?
Or are we all just chatting with each other, lemming to lemming, as we march off the cliff, saying how much better off we'd be if we stopped marching?