The aging spacecraft have been flying for close to 30 years
That's a little disingenuous, while Discovery and Atlantis are from the original fleet are 27 and 26 years old respectively, Endeavour was a replacement first used in 1992 and therefore only 19 years old. Note that ALL of the current fleet have gone through significant refits. If I recall there were two refits for Discovery and Altantis and one for Endeavour.
and NASA is retiring them for good reason.
True. Nobody expected the program to go this long without a replacement. Up until the 80s and the Shuttle NASA had been fairly aggressive with new R&D. It's really easy to point fingers and assign blame, but quite frankly the hope and dream of the 60s has long been buried in bureaucratic mismanagement and budget cuts. There are a lot of people at NASA who, if given a budget and a free rein, could inspire us again.
I really feel sorry for the under 30 crowd who never got to see the Apollo missions. Personally the only one I remember is the Apollo/Soyez linkup but being a kid in the 70s you had the impression that things were happening and that the future was in spaceflight...
The iPad is a cute toy, but its locked-down severely limited design makes it useless for too many things..
I sort of half agree, but the half I agree with is that it is actually useful for everything else. Yes, lots it can't do but what it does do is pretty damn cool.
This is a great opportunity for competitors to produce something better. Unfortunately, all we are getting is cheap crap as companies rush to put out tablets that more or less look like an iPad and will hopefully be bought by people too stupid to know the difference and who only care that it's cheaper than an iPad.
Completely agree. I have said elsewhere that the only way to beat Apple at this game is to be better on every dimension, it has to be a better product, a better user experience and have even more wow factor than anything Apple is doing. What the android tablets are so far is like sending a college varsity baseball team to play soccer against Real Madrid.
What's this talk about technology? The iPad is a fashion accessory. Android tablets are not fashionable.
I have to disagree, but that might be because I've been using an iPad as my primary personal email tool, casual web brower, book reader and media device since the first day they were available in Canada. The iPad may have an amazing wow factor, but it's not about fashion. The people I've seen who are the most enthusiastic about it are actually the geeks.
What's this talk about technology? The iPad is a fashion accessory. Android tablets are not fashionable.
Seriously, what is the point of a tablet device? At the high school I work at, we're going to be made to use iPad's starting in April. I've played around with one of the test devices and I can't imagine actually getting work done on these things. I'm dreading April. If it were an Android device it wouldn't be any better.
What I've been telling people is that it is an amazingly cool geek toy but that it's not ready for the mainstream YET, I can't see the point of any serious deployment of the first edition iPad. But I have every confidence that in five years we'll be looking back at 2010 and the iPad the same way we looked back at 1984 and the Mac. Find a geek old enough to remember (over 38?) and ask about the first time he played with a Mac. Watch how their eyes light up. I'm seeing that effect now with everyone who think of themselves as a computer geek when they try the iPad.
I do think Assange deserves it more than Obama did.:)
Agreed. In fact I have to meet anyone of any political stripe that professes to understand the 2009 award. He has done a lot of good simply by running and beating the old white man, but not THAT good.
I noticed that you stopped at 1989. Why not go back further and include the like of Henry Kissigner?
Had to stop somewhere, the list goes back to the 19th century. I was going to stop at 1990 for an even 20 years but that would have omitted the Dalai Lama. The point is that the vast majority of the recipients are only dubious if your world view is seriously fucked up.
Clearly a wretched hive of scum and villainy... if you're a conservative.
I see you are a pupil of Mr. Obama. You put words in people's mouths, erect a straw man argument based on your own stereotypes and misconceptions of those who disagree with you, then knock it down and congratulate yourself on your oratory and debate skill. I wonder if such behavior would classify as one who has done "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses"?
I show you 20 years of history and you pick out one example to support your dubious theory, fascinating. Any other bad habits we should be aware of?
There might be a few who honestly deserved it but there are more than a few who led campaigns that are the exact opposite of peace.
Quite the opposite, the vast majority are highly deserving and a handful should never have been included. Even the examples you came up with are open for debate.
2010 - LIU XIAOBO for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.
2009 - BARACK OBAMA for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.
2008 - MARTTI AHTISAARI for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.
2007 - INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) and ALBERT ARNOLD ( AL) GORE JR. for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.
2006 - MUHAMMAD YUNUS and GRAMEEN BANK for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.
2005 - INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY and MOHAMED ELBARADEI for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.
2004 - WANGARI MAATHAI for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace
2003 - SHIRIN EBADI for her efforts for democracy and human rights
2002 - JIMMY CARTER JR., former President of the United States of America, for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development
2001- UNITED NATIONS & KOFI ANNAN, United Nations Secretary General
2000 - KIM DAE JUNG for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular.
1999 - DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES), Brussels, Belgium.
1998 - JOHN HUME and DAVID TRIMBLE for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
1997 - INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO BAN LANDMINES (ICBL) and JODY WILLIAMS for their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines.
1996 - The prize was awarded jointly to: CARLOS FELIPE XIMENES BELO and JOSE RAMOS-HORTA for their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor.
1995 - The prize was awarded jointly to: JOSEPH ROTBLAT and to the PUGWASH CONFERENCES ON SCIENCE AND WORLD AFFAIRS for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and in the longer run to eliminate such arms.
1994 - The prize was awarded joinly to: YASSER ARAFAT , Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, President of the Palestinian National Authority. SHIMON PERES , Foreign Minister of Israel. YITZHAK RABIN , Prime Minister of Israel. for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.
1993 - The prize was awarded jointly to: NELSON MANDELA Leader of the ANC. FREDRIK WILLEM DE KLERK President of the Republic of South Africa.
1992 - RIGOBERTA MENCHU TUM, Guatemala. Campaigner for human rights, especially for indigenous peoples.
1991 - AUNG SAN SUU KYI, Burma. Oppositional leader, human rights advocate.
1990 - MIKHAIL SERGEYEVICH GORBACHEV , President of the USSR, helped to bring the Cold War to an end.
1989 - THE 14TH DALAI LAMA (TENZIN GYATSO) , Tibet. Religious and political leader of the Tibetan people.
Clearly a wretched hive of scum and villainy... if you're a conservative.
Slashdot Mirror
I was only six... well six and a half. The kids next door had a color TV... ah good times.
The aging spacecraft have been flying for close to 30 years
That's a little disingenuous, while Discovery and Atlantis are from the original fleet are 27 and 26 years old respectively, Endeavour was a replacement first used in 1992 and therefore only 19 years old. Note that ALL of the current fleet have gone through significant refits. If I recall there were two refits for Discovery and Altantis and one for Endeavour.
and NASA is retiring them for good reason.
True. Nobody expected the program to go this long without a replacement. Up until the 80s and the Shuttle NASA had been fairly aggressive with new R&D. It's really easy to point fingers and assign blame, but quite frankly the hope and dream of the 60s has long been buried in bureaucratic mismanagement and budget cuts. There are a lot of people at NASA who, if given a budget and a free rein, could inspire us again.
I really feel sorry for the under 30 crowd who never got to see the Apollo missions. Personally the only one I remember is the Apollo/Soyez linkup but being a kid in the 70s you had the impression that things were happening and that the future was in spaceflight...
I'm curious... what word processor and spreadsheet are the default for Android tablets? Does it handle .doc and .odt ?
The iPad is a cute toy, but its locked-down severely limited design makes it useless for too many things..
I sort of half agree, but the half I agree with is that it is actually useful for everything else. Yes, lots it can't do but what it does do is pretty damn cool.
This is a great opportunity for competitors to produce something better. Unfortunately, all we are getting is cheap crap as companies rush to put out tablets that more or less look like an iPad and will hopefully be bought by people too stupid to know the difference and who only care that it's cheaper than an iPad.
Completely agree. I have said elsewhere that the only way to beat Apple at this game is to be better on every dimension, it has to be a better product, a better user experience and have even more wow factor than anything Apple is doing. What the android tablets are so far is like sending a college varsity baseball team to play soccer against Real Madrid.
What's this talk about technology? The iPad is a fashion accessory. Android tablets are not fashionable.
I have to disagree, but that might be because I've been using an iPad as my primary personal email tool, casual web brower, book reader and media device since the first day they were available in Canada. The iPad may have an amazing wow factor, but it's not about fashion. The people I've seen who are the most enthusiastic about it are actually the geeks.
What's this talk about technology? The iPad is a fashion accessory. Android tablets are not fashionable.
Seriously, what is the point of a tablet device? At the high school I work at, we're going to be made to use iPad's starting in April. I've played around with one of the test devices and I can't imagine actually getting work done on these things. I'm dreading April. If it were an Android device it wouldn't be any better.
What I've been telling people is that it is an amazingly cool geek toy but that it's not ready for the mainstream YET, I can't see the point of any serious deployment of the first edition iPad. But I have every confidence that in five years we'll be looking back at 2010 and the iPad the same way we looked back at 1984 and the Mac. Find a geek old enough to remember (over 38?) and ask about the first time he played with a Mac. Watch how their eyes light up. I'm seeing that effect now with everyone who think of themselves as a computer geek when they try the iPad.
(Bluetooth is available.)
I meant Bluetooth is ALSO available.
With the camera kit you can plug a USB keyboard into the iPad. (Bluetooth is available.)
What's the story with Android tablets? I know bluetooth worked with the early Android devices...
The less apt individuals don't pass on their genes. That's the whole point of the Darwin Awards.
Is there some fund or organization that I can contribute to that will distribute GPS devices to morons^H^H^H^H^H^H disadvantaged families?
I do think Assange deserves it more than Obama did. :)
Agreed. In fact I have to meet anyone of any political stripe that professes to understand the 2009 award. He has done a lot of good simply by running and beating the old white man, but not THAT good.
"FUD much?"
I find a lot of under 25's saying :
much?
I'm 42, so you can bite my shiny metal ass.
So nominating Wikileaks for the Nobel Peace Prize is the equivalent of shooting your dog?
No, the point is "doing something" by itself is not necessarily a good measure of merit. The question is what did you do and why.
Exactly, saying that the prize is worthless because of one (possible?) mistake is like trying to confirm or deny climate change using todays weather.
And really, the idea of Obama is what many people voted for
Everybody thought it's a good idea to vote for Obama at the moment. :)
Let us the consider the options: Vice President Palin... 'nuff said.
I noticed that you stopped at 1989. Why not go back further and include the like of Henry Kissigner?
Had to stop somewhere, the list goes back to the 19th century. I was going to stop at 1990 for an even 20 years but that would have omitted the Dalai Lama. The point is that the vast majority of the recipients are only dubious if your world view is seriously fucked up.
A choice between two leaders isn't much of a choice.
Somebody needs to explain to me in short simple words how this is relevant to YET ANOTHER news app?
Clearly a wretched hive of scum and villainy... if you're a conservative.
Or if you live outside US.
I don't understand your point, the vast majority of the recipients are not Americans.
Clearly a wretched hive of scum and villainy... if you're a conservative.
I see you are a pupil of Mr. Obama. You put words in people's mouths, erect a straw man argument based on your own stereotypes and misconceptions of those who disagree with you, then knock it down and congratulate yourself on your oratory and debate skill. I wonder if such behavior would classify as one who has done "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses"?
I show you 20 years of history and you pick out one example to support your dubious theory, fascinating. Any other bad habits we should be aware of?
Clearly a wretched hive of scum and villainy... if you're a conservative.
I'm pretty sure they were talking about 1973 when Henry Kissinger won the award.
Yes, there was a damn dirty shame. Especially with people like Roméo Dallaire never getting any recognition.
There might be a few who honestly deserved it but there are more than a few who led campaigns that are the exact opposite of peace.
Quite the opposite, the vast majority are highly deserving and a handful should never have been included. Even the examples you came up with are open for debate.
Now the people telling you exactly what apps you can and can't use, partner with people that tell you exactly what to think.
1984 indeed. iTelescreen.
1) Total BS, you can choose not to buy the iPad, or the app, or you can use one of a plethora of other news apps including anything with a website.
2) Paradise
FUD much?
Just look who got that one before.
2010 - LIU XIAOBO for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.
2009 - BARACK OBAMA for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.
2008 - MARTTI AHTISAARI for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.
2007 - INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) and ALBERT ARNOLD ( AL) GORE JR. for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.
2006 - MUHAMMAD YUNUS and GRAMEEN BANK for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.
2005 - INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY and MOHAMED ELBARADEI for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.
2004 - WANGARI MAATHAI for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace
2003 - SHIRIN EBADI for her efforts for democracy and human rights
2002 - JIMMY CARTER JR., former President of the United States of America, for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development
2001- UNITED NATIONS & KOFI ANNAN, United Nations Secretary General
2000 - KIM DAE JUNG for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular.
1999 - DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES), Brussels, Belgium.
1998 - JOHN HUME and DAVID TRIMBLE for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
1997 - INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO BAN LANDMINES (ICBL) and JODY WILLIAMS for their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines.
1996 - The prize was awarded jointly to: CARLOS FELIPE XIMENES BELO and JOSE RAMOS-HORTA for their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor.
1995 - The prize was awarded jointly to: JOSEPH ROTBLAT and to the PUGWASH CONFERENCES ON SCIENCE AND WORLD AFFAIRS for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and in the longer run to eliminate such arms.
1994 - The prize was awarded joinly to: YASSER ARAFAT , Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, President of the Palestinian National Authority. SHIMON PERES , Foreign Minister of Israel. YITZHAK RABIN , Prime Minister of Israel. for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.
1993 - The prize was awarded jointly to: NELSON MANDELA Leader of the ANC. FREDRIK WILLEM DE KLERK President of the Republic of South Africa.
1992 - RIGOBERTA MENCHU TUM, Guatemala. Campaigner for human rights, especially for indigenous peoples.
1991 - AUNG SAN SUU KYI, Burma. Oppositional leader, human rights advocate.
1990 - MIKHAIL SERGEYEVICH GORBACHEV , President of the USSR, helped to bring the Cold War to an end.
1989 - THE 14TH DALAI LAMA (TENZIN GYATSO) , Tibet. Religious and political leader of the Tibetan people.
Clearly a wretched hive of scum and villainy... if you're a conservative.
RopeCon
but not being smart is a terrible reason to be repeatedly kicked in the face by the police.
hmmmm, I'm terribly conflicted about this...
History will be punishment enough without incurring human rights violations.
Yes he changed it. He said "it makes for better puns". Apparently the police disagree.
Not a very smart move, but not being smart is a terrible reason to be repeatedly kicked in the face by the police.
Even if he was lying to the police their actions were unwarranted and a serious violation of his rights.
Caltrops... you really don't want to step on D4 barefoot.