We're concerned about "invasive species" here on Earth because they displace native species, or otherwise make things difficult for humans (kudzu for instance).
If there are no native species on the moon, introducing a species which later becomes invasive may not be a bad thing at all, as you would at least have a proliferating source of organic materiel helping your efforts. However, given the extreme sparsity of the lunar atmosphere (such that you can't really call it one), I doubt you'd have much invasion of species occur.
Mars, on the other hand, may well have native species, though definitely limited compared to what we're used to, and the presence of a (slight) carbon atmosphere and some water vapor, in addition to other somewhat favorable growing conditions (eg temperatures stay somewhere near Earth-normal) means that the likelihood of an Earth species adapting to that environment and invading is much higher, and the potential for such an invasion to push aside native species shoudl give us at least some pause.
There's been talk before of bringing icebergs to parched countries - relatively little of the ice would melt on the voyage down, and you could "process" the ice at the destination. Sure, it could be tough to tow it, but that just takes a bit of naval power and technology.
Can some country..... say,... a desert country.... like Iran.... shepherd a huge iceberg down from the artic and bring it home?
One iceberg may not matter so much, but if one country did it, wouldn't all the parched countries get in line and start doing it?
I've had nothing but excellence from verio - quite reasonable rates; competent, prompt and corteous (and home-country) tech support; no scams at renewal time; and an easy-to-use web interface.
So why the claims of millions of colours? Because the eye dithers. Light from all three subpixels land on cosited cones on the retina, and the optic nerve processes this weighted tristimulus response so that the brain perceives the equivalent of a particular wavelength.
Hmmm.....
What is the particular wavelength of "pink" or "brown" or "mauve" (any pink, any brown, any mauve, whatever)? I may be accused of nit-picking, but let's not forget that many colors are actually composite colors.
It's exactly what I expected - no more, no less.
on
The Children of Hurin
·
· Score: 1
I'm a long-time fan of Tolkein's - JRRT to be precise, but I have a great appreciation for what Christopher has accomplished for the rest of us.
I first read as many did, "The Hobbit", as a.... young teen perhaps, and though it was actually a tougher read than LOTR, it was definitely enjoyable. LOTR of course got me through high school, much to the consternation of my teachers who regularly tried to catch me up when they knew I'd been reading in class, only to fail when I was able to replay their question in my mind and give them an answer, only to return to my reading immediately. When I found "The Silmarillion" at a yard sale shortly thereafter, I jumped for joy and bought it...... and then was somewhat bewildered once reading it.
I did persevere and got used to the writing style and came to enjoy it greatly. I knew I was reading the history of creation and an accounting of the great events of the past (note parallels with the Bible and other creation myths, and consider that middle-earth just dates from a time in our past before magic was lost and the world apparently remade again), and so not only did it make sense that the writing may be a bit archaic, it in fact added greatly to the telling. After the first read, as is my wont, I reread it, and then sections over and over. A great work it is, and though it doesn't flow as well to today's reader as LOTR (which was actually written to be published to the public), it tells a great tale.
I find "Hurin" to be similar to "The Silmarillion" in style, though I don't think that as a work it stands alone very well - it belongs inside "The Silmarillion" similar to some of the other stories told inside.
Given the blurb of what the book is about, that's what I expected. I also expected the style to be similar to "The Silmarillion"; I didn't expect a trivially easy read of a NYTimes top-10 Best Seller. Christopher Tolkein didn't bring this out to make bank, he did it because he is completing another work of his father's (a little cash probably won't hurt future efforts), and thankfully he didn't Disneyfy the story to make it more reachable to the masses... it's pretty much a dark tale, told about dark times.
Best seller? Never. Does it fit in the compendium? Definitely.
I consider World of Warcraft to be "on-line", and I personally have witnessed "on-line solicitation" of youths (age between 10 and 17 as per the article), as I've been in groups which I know for a fact include youths when "A/S/L hey wanna get together" has come up.
Yes, my children, and when we discussed it (after kicking the offender from the group) they assured me that while it was a practically daily experience at high school, it rarely occurred on-line, and they never gave the time of day in either situation.
Obviously then, my kids should count in that "1 in 5". However, I still think it's alarmist - kids have been solicited forever, and educating them about how to handle such situations without fearmongering is the correct course of action.
I realize this may be considered pedantic, but at the equator in high summer, the sun is highest in the sky at 23.5 degrees latitude (north or south, depending on which summer you're talking about). At the equator your best solar output will probably be during the equinoxes, except for potential weather considerations which vary by season and location.
Completely absurd experimentation method
on
Can Time Slow Down?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
If time perception slows down - in other words, if your brain goes into overdrive and processes events more rapidly - during extremely stressful situations, you're not going to be able to measure it in an experiment where the subject doesn't experience extreme stress, and a safe simulation of free-fall is unlikely to be stressful enough, especially when the subject has been assured that they're in no danger.
Danger is what it's all about, or perception of danger. The adrenaline rush of the free-fall experience is only there because subconsciously you're still somewhat afraid, but the whole mind isn't involved in the fear.
This would be like saying "Can people exhibit super-human strength under extreme stress?" (eg the "mom lifts car off of baby" stories) and testing it by saying "ok so pretend that your baby is under the car and lift the car up ok". Sure buddy.
I'm sure I'll be corrected, but your typical bomb's purpose is to explode, isn't it?
Yes, the kinetic smash is good, and if you had a chunk of something moving at some km/sec velocity, there'd be no point of explosives, but the speed of a free-fall air drop bomb doesn't get you that good of 0.5mv^2 such that you can get rid of the explosives.
Though I only surf on WinXP, and I almost never close firefox, I haven't had many problems with memory hogging at all, and I actively surf most of the day.
Could it be that since I shut down every night the memory use doesn't "build up"?
(If you are using IE, user your circa 1983 find function.)
Not to defend IE, but I believe that your "/ValleyWag" to search is probably a search method that significantly predates the IE CTRL-F method - it was certainly in the ex/vi editor long before, and a case can be made for it being in the ed editor before those (as the slash is used in pattern matching/searching).
Anyhow, I do prefer to use my "/pattern" (circa PDP-7, whenever that was, but certainly more antiquated than the IE one - shows you that "progress" isn't always), as you apparently do as well....
Former Intel CEO rips farming industry (agrobiz) for not doubling crop production and havling cost every 18 months. . . . .
Nope, you can't generalize from one industry to another as simply as that, can you?
I believe that prior art has to be publicly known. If I invent something today, and don't tell anyone about it (especially the patent office), and then you invent it 2 years later, you're free to patent it.
Prior art (also known as or state of the art, which also has other meanings) in most systems of patent law[1] constitutes all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date that might be relevant to a patent's claims of originality. If an invention has been described in prior art, a patent on that invention is not valid.
Information kept secret, for instance as a trade secret, is not usually prior art provided that employees and others with access to the information are under a non-disclosure obligation. Absent such an obligation, the information will typically be regarded as prior art.
Since you kept your invention secret, regardless of time, you don't have prior art, unless you can show that the patent holders had access to your invention before they patented it.
Similarly, the same article states that you could still make use of your own invention without licensing their patents under certain situations:
A person who used an invention in secret may in some jurisdictions be able to claim "prior user rights" and thereby gain the right to continue using the invention.
Unfortunately TFA has nearly zero content other than what the synopsis states. There is no mention of which patents are involved, any reaction by the companies being sued, and no statement given as to WTF it's all about.
Definitely; we have a lot more computers now. I've been a computer professional (software engineer) since the late 80's, and I've typically only had 1-2 computers... till the last 6 years. And, I'm not talking relics that I adore and occasionally boot, I'm talking computers which are on most if not all of the time.
At full tilt now, between my work computers and those my family use, we've got 1 router (cisco), 4 WAPs (for us and the neighborhood), 4 "desktop/server" types running (2 headless), and my wife's laptop, which is on all day (but not all night). Kids' computers add up to 3 during the day to that number..... at night too sometimes, if they don't turn them off and I don't notice.
So beside the point that none of the above use CRTs any more, there're definitely a lot more of them. Oh, and, I'm sure that my two 22" flat-panels probably pull about as much as my old 20" CRT did, if the heat coming off of the screens is any indication. Add to that the subwoofer under my desk, and the one connected to one of the other computers... and subs are rarely turned off when computers are turned off.
Ok I really don't know anything about this, but... what if Monsoon is actually on the tux side and wanted to provide an opportunity for a court case which they were already planning on caving on, just so that others would think "well you *can* get sued and those guys caved".
I know, far fetched. But still, I love a good conspiracy theory.
Well, sort of. I had satellite and it really didn't cut it for my needs - the 40Kbps uplink (if you're lucky) combined with the 700ms pings (once again if you're lucky) really bit it hard.
T1 is the answer, I'm afraid. If you do your homework, you should be able to do as I did - $300/mo for 3 years. Yep, it's a lot. Business-class service, though; you can pull the full 1.5Mbps down at the same time as up 24/7 and AT&T won't complain, and if the line goes down, they call *you* and not the other way around.
Others have said "you can always get satellite". Apparently they don't live behind a tall mountain, on a steep north-facing slope - it's quite possible to not be able to get a signal at all because of the LOS requirements there. Last place I lived, I had about three degrees extra..... my dish pointed almost straight up the hill, luckily between two trees, to get to the right spot in the sky.
Consider also for the satellite reachability issue: many people in the USA live close to the 50 degree north line, which means that you don't have to be on *that* steep of a hill to have trouble getting a line of sight.
When google was new, no ads supporting it, totally clean page and all, for years, my friends and I suspected that they were an NSA front, or at least funded indirectly by the NSA.....
Slashdot Mirror
We're concerned about "invasive species" here on Earth because they displace native species, or otherwise make things difficult for humans (kudzu for instance).
If there are no native species on the moon, introducing a species which later becomes invasive may not be a bad thing at all, as you would at least have a proliferating source of organic materiel helping your efforts. However, given the extreme sparsity of the lunar atmosphere (such that you can't really call it one), I doubt you'd have much invasion of species occur.
Mars, on the other hand, may well have native species, though definitely limited compared to what we're used to, and the presence of a (slight) carbon atmosphere and some water vapor, in addition to other somewhat favorable growing conditions (eg temperatures stay somewhere near Earth-normal) means that the likelihood of an Earth species adapting to that environment and invading is much higher, and the potential for such an invasion to push aside native species shoudl give us at least some pause.
Who owns the sea ice?
... a desert country.... like Iran.... shepherd a huge iceberg down from the artic and bring it home?
There's been talk before of bringing icebergs to parched countries - relatively little of the ice would melt on the voyage down, and you could "process" the ice at the destination. Sure, it could be tough to tow it, but that just takes a bit of naval power and technology.
Can some country..... say,
One iceberg may not matter so much, but if one country did it, wouldn't all the parched countries get in line and start doing it?
How would that affect global climate?
Highly recommended, obviously.
Hmmm.....
What is the particular wavelength of "pink" or "brown" or "mauve" (any pink, any brown, any mauve, whatever)? I may be accused of nit-picking, but let's not forget that many colors are actually composite colors.
I first read as many did, "The Hobbit", as a.... young teen perhaps, and though it was actually a tougher read than LOTR, it was definitely enjoyable. LOTR of course got me through high school, much to the consternation of my teachers who regularly tried to catch me up when they knew I'd been reading in class, only to fail when I was able to replay their question in my mind and give them an answer, only to return to my reading immediately. When I found "The Silmarillion" at a yard sale shortly thereafter, I jumped for joy and bought it...... and then was somewhat bewildered once reading it.
I did persevere and got used to the writing style and came to enjoy it greatly. I knew I was reading the history of creation and an accounting of the great events of the past (note parallels with the Bible and other creation myths, and consider that middle-earth just dates from a time in our past before magic was lost and the world apparently remade again), and so not only did it make sense that the writing may be a bit archaic, it in fact added greatly to the telling. After the first read, as is my wont, I reread it, and then sections over and over. A great work it is, and though it doesn't flow as well to today's reader as LOTR (which was actually written to be published to the public), it tells a great tale.
I find "Hurin" to be similar to "The Silmarillion" in style, though I don't think that as a work it stands alone very well - it belongs inside "The Silmarillion" similar to some of the other stories told inside.
Given the blurb of what the book is about, that's what I expected. I also expected the style to be similar to "The Silmarillion"; I didn't expect a trivially easy read of a NYTimes top-10 Best Seller. Christopher Tolkein didn't bring this out to make bank, he did it because he is completing another work of his father's (a little cash probably won't hurt future efforts), and thankfully he didn't Disneyfy the story to make it more reachable to the masses... it's pretty much a dark tale, told about dark times.
Best seller? Never. Does it fit in the compendium? Definitely.
Yes, my children, and when we discussed it (after kicking the offender from the group) they assured me that while it was a practically daily experience at high school, it rarely occurred on-line, and they never gave the time of day in either situation.
Obviously then, my kids should count in that "1 in 5". However, I still think it's alarmist - kids have been solicited forever, and educating them about how to handle such situations without fearmongering is the correct course of action.
I realize this may be considered pedantic, but at the equator in high summer, the sun is highest in the sky at 23.5 degrees latitude (north or south, depending on which summer you're talking about). At the equator your best solar output will probably be during the equinoxes, except for potential weather considerations which vary by season and location.
Danger is what it's all about, or perception of danger. The adrenaline rush of the free-fall experience is only there because subconsciously you're still somewhat afraid, but the whole mind isn't involved in the fear.
This would be like saying "Can people exhibit super-human strength under extreme stress?" (eg the "mom lifts car off of baby" stories) and testing it by saying "ok so pretend that your baby is under the car and lift the car up ok". Sure buddy.
Next waste of time and money....
In other words, an object useful in a passive context, as a part of a wall, a doorstop, etc.
You can't install an OS on a brick.
Ever tried it?
I haven't, but I'll bet you won't be too successful.
A PC with a messed-up OS can still be reinstalled, and therefore be more usable than a brick; therefore it's not a brick.
Terminal velocity, even for a small compact object, falling from 60,000 feet isn't huge still.
Yes, the kinetic smash is good, and if you had a chunk of something moving at some km/sec velocity, there'd be no point of explosives, but the speed of a free-fall air drop bomb doesn't get you that good of 0.5mv^2 such that you can get rid of the explosives.
Except, of course, that the lawyer is only capable of filing a civil suit, and so would have to ask a DA to file the ponzi charges (criminal)...
Could it be that since I shut down every night the memory use doesn't "build up"?
Every time I see "Symbian"....
Anyhow, I do prefer to use my "/pattern" (circa PDP-7, whenever that was, but certainly more antiquated than the IE one - shows you that "progress" isn't always), as you apparently do as well....
Former Intel CEO rips farming industry (agrobiz) for not doubling crop production and havling cost every 18 months.
.
.
.
.
Nope, you can't generalize from one industry to another as simply as that, can you?
Wiki sez in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_art:
Since you kept your invention secret, regardless of time, you don't have prior art, unless you can show that the patent holders had access to your invention before they patented it.Similarly, the same article states that you could still make use of your own invention without licensing their patents under certain situations:
Unfortunately TFA has nearly zero content other than what the synopsis states. There is no mention of which patents are involved, any reaction by the companies being sued, and no statement given as to WTF it's all about.
Even so, I think that Frank should go out and double-check those new solar panel units...
We're certainly not going to rely on a very fragile orbiting setup which is a sitting duck to anyone with a decent missile/launch vehicle.
At full tilt now, between my work computers and those my family use, we've got 1 router (cisco), 4 WAPs (for us and the neighborhood), 4 "desktop/server" types running (2 headless), and my wife's laptop, which is on all day (but not all night). Kids' computers add up to 3 during the day to that number..... at night too sometimes, if they don't turn them off and I don't notice.
So beside the point that none of the above use CRTs any more, there're definitely a lot more of them. Oh, and, I'm sure that my two 22" flat-panels probably pull about as much as my old 20" CRT did, if the heat coming off of the screens is any indication. Add to that the subwoofer under my desk, and the one connected to one of the other computers... and subs are rarely turned off when computers are turned off.
I know, far fetched. But still, I love a good conspiracy theory.
T1 is the answer, I'm afraid. If you do your homework, you should be able to do as I did - $300/mo for 3 years. Yep, it's a lot. Business-class service, though; you can pull the full 1.5Mbps down at the same time as up 24/7 and AT&T won't complain, and if the line goes down, they call *you* and not the other way around.
Others have said "you can always get satellite". Apparently they don't live behind a tall mountain, on a steep north-facing slope - it's quite possible to not be able to get a signal at all because of the LOS requirements there. Last place I lived, I had about three degrees extra..... my dish pointed almost straight up the hill, luckily between two trees, to get to the right spot in the sky.
Consider also for the satellite reachability issue: many people in the USA live close to the 50 degree north line, which means that you don't have to be on *that* steep of a hill to have trouble getting a line of sight.
When google was new, no ads supporting it, totally clean page and all, for years, my friends and I suspected that they were an NSA front, or at least funded indirectly by the NSA.....