Human Procedure:
Astronaut: "Say, that looks like an interesting rock. I'll walk over there and check it out and be back in time for supper."
Same procedure, with a robot:
Scientist on earth: "That looks like an interesting rock."
Three. Days. Later.
Scientist on Earth: "Dammit, the batteries died before we got there. Oh well, let's go build another $350 million probe."
Five. Years. Later.
Scientist on Earth: "Dammit, the probe crashed. Better build another one."
I'm happy to see they're moving away from the "spaceplane" idea and getting back to capsules. In most ways they're superior to shuttle-like designs.
For example, they self-orient on reentry, they don't have expensive and heavy control surfaces or landing gear, and from their position on the top of the rocket they can use escape systems like those in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.
About the only thing they can't do is bring things back down from orbit. But, really, if we want a real future in space the biggest issue is getting things up there.
I'm not saying it's better for everyone, I'm saying it's better for me. And if you do it right it won't cost you more than $200 and you have the capability to upgrade your system and extend it. Anyone who *can* make a MythTV box is better off making one.
I could make a MAME plugin! I could rip my DVDs to the hard drive for personal video on demand! I could stream video to computers or TiVos all around my house!
Or I could build a MythTV system and get all of these things and not pay a monthly fee.
Arthur: "How do you do, good lady? I am Arthur, King of the Britons. Who's castle is that?"
Woman: "King of the who?"
Arthur: "The Britons."
Woman: "Who are the Britons?"
Arthur: "Well, we all are. We are all Britons, and I am your king."
Woman: "I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective."
Dennis: " You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship: a self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes--"
I have a 15" Powerbook. when i'm using the trackpad my hands are close enough to all the modifier keys that it's very simple to hold a button down with my left hand and click with my right. Unless your girlfriend is left handed there shouldn't be a problem. All the modifiers are right under her left hand.
When I have my Powerbook plugged into my workstation, I use a 5 button optical Microsoft Intellimouse because the distance between the keyboard and mouse is larger and hence it is more inefficient to use the modifiers.
But I still don't mind the one button mouse, and don't lose any productivity if I have to use it.
Can we please stop these dumbass comments? They're not funny.
Global climate change won't make Siberia a new tropical destination. It will make climate more unpredictable, leading to famine and disease. It will melt the polar ice caps and cause the ocean to rise, leading to mass migrations from low-lying coastal areas.
Don't like snow? How about instead of getting a few minor storms a year we get one in April that dumps four feet of snow across most of the food-producing regions of the country just as they're gearing up for production? How about we get freezing temperatures in early September in Florida and destroy the citrus harvest? How about we totally shut down the entire Northeast for two weeks to dig out of a storm. What kind of effect will these things have on our economy and our well-being?
If you thought 9/11 was bad, wait until we have a massive hurricane flooding New Orleans and killing 10,000-30,000 people. Or maybe you'd prefer a heat wave that crashes the electrical distribution system and kills thousands of people from heat stroke.
This is the kind of effect we're talking about, not having spring-like weather in January. Our society requires that we can accurately predict the weather and have a steady climate.
Reagan and Rumsfeld sold chemical weapons to Saddam in the 1980s. We know they have WMDs because we have the receipts.
And if democracy catches on in the mideast the Saudi Royal family will be up against a wall and the US will have to find a new place to buy oil from. We don't want democracy in the MidEast; we want western-friendly "democracies" that are willing to keep their populations down to make sure we still have access to oil.
In every administration since the 1940s we've had a written rule that allowed for the use of military force to protect oil supplies from the Persian Gulf. Look it up sometime.
Civ III is one of my favorite games, but they've pretty much stopped producing Mac versions of it. The last patch to Civ III was put out 8/13/2002. 2002!
So while the PC version will be out late 2005, the Mac version will be out two years later, running on hacked-together code that requires a 5Ghz G5 and 512MB of VRAM just to run. Slowly.
Get your own domain name. It's $15/year and then you can shop around for hosting, or connect it to your home computer with DynDNS. Then you get an infinite number of email addresses and get to keep your email address without worrying about who provides you with Internet access or hosting.
Your ISP shouldn't be your house, it should be your driveway. In other words, ISPs should be transparent connectors to the greater internet, not how you define your presence on the Internet.
I'm still suprised by the number of people who don't like to have an email address outside of their ISP.
Slashdot Mirror
A complete fembot would feel lust. Just not for you.
But why use ablative coating when there's water? It's very plentiful, it's a byproduct of fuel cells, and you won't need it on the way down.
Maybe a small pod that attaches to a payload and sprays a fine mist in the direction of travel throughout reentry?
Human Procedure:
Astronaut: "Say, that looks like an interesting rock. I'll walk over there and check it out and be back in time for supper."
Same procedure, with a robot:
Scientist on earth: "That looks like an interesting rock."
Three. Days. Later.
Scientist on Earth: "Dammit, the batteries died before we got there. Oh well, let's go build another $350 million probe."
Five. Years. Later.
Scientist on Earth: "Dammit, the probe crashed. Better build another one."
I like the radial aerospike better. Instead of big heavy turbopumps all you need to do is spin the engine.
For example, they self-orient on reentry, they don't have expensive and heavy control surfaces or landing gear, and from their position on the top of the rocket they can use escape systems like those in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.
About the only thing they can't do is bring things back down from orbit. But, really, if we want a real future in space the biggest issue is getting things up there.
Yeah... those prices are really in the ballpark
I wouldn't mind a one way trip to Mars. It would be an honor to explore a new world and prepare it for habitation by future generations.
Put it on course to get captured by Mars' gravity, maybe with aerobraking.
At least until broadcast flag comes out.
Or I could build a MythTV system and get all of these things and not pay a monthly fee.
When I'm sitting on top of a 500 pound device moving faster than I can run I don't want to attempt "extreme manuevers."
Wanna hear something scary? I don't even have to click the link to know what it's a picture of: A squirrel with huge testicles.
Woman: "King of the who?"
Arthur: "The Britons."
Woman: "Who are the Britons?"
Arthur: "Well, we all are. We are all Britons, and I am your king."
Woman: "I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective."
Dennis: " You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship: a self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes--"
From. Memory. Where do I collect my geek stripes?
I can't? Well screw that.
This is why Skype will always be more popular.
When I have my Powerbook plugged into my workstation, I use a 5 button optical Microsoft Intellimouse because the distance between the keyboard and mouse is larger and hence it is more inefficient to use the modifiers.
But I still don't mind the one button mouse, and don't lose any productivity if I have to use it.
Global climate change won't make Siberia a new tropical destination. It will make climate more unpredictable, leading to famine and disease. It will melt the polar ice caps and cause the ocean to rise, leading to mass migrations from low-lying coastal areas.
Don't like snow? How about instead of getting a few minor storms a year we get one in April that dumps four feet of snow across most of the food-producing regions of the country just as they're gearing up for production? How about we get freezing temperatures in early September in Florida and destroy the citrus harvest? How about we totally shut down the entire Northeast for two weeks to dig out of a storm. What kind of effect will these things have on our economy and our well-being?
If you thought 9/11 was bad, wait until we have a massive hurricane flooding New Orleans and killing 10,000-30,000 people. Or maybe you'd prefer a heat wave that crashes the electrical distribution system and kills thousands of people from heat stroke.
This is the kind of effect we're talking about, not having spring-like weather in January. Our society requires that we can accurately predict the weather and have a steady climate.
And if democracy catches on in the mideast the Saudi Royal family will be up against a wall and the US will have to find a new place to buy oil from. We don't want democracy in the MidEast; we want western-friendly "democracies" that are willing to keep their populations down to make sure we still have access to oil.
In every administration since the 1940s we've had a written rule that allowed for the use of military force to protect oil supplies from the Persian Gulf. Look it up sometime.
I wanted to use A9 one day, so I googled for it.
Is that so much to ask?
So while the PC version will be out late 2005, the Mac version will be out two years later, running on hacked-together code that requires a 5Ghz G5 and 512MB of VRAM just to run. Slowly.
I hope *fewer* companies start doing this, and more companies make web sites that don't rely on IE "standards" to function properly.
That --BUFFERING-- sou--BUFFERING--nds like a --BUFFERING-- great--BUFFERING-- so--BUFFERING--lu--BUFFERING--tion!!--BUFFERING--!
That > sou>ds like> a gre>at sol>u>tion!>!!
Kills two birds with one stone: The Star Trek Universe makes sense again, and Enterprise gets cancelled. And they even get to use the word "temporal!"
Your ISP shouldn't be your house, it should be your driveway. In other words, ISPs should be transparent connectors to the greater internet, not how you define your presence on the Internet.
I'm still suprised by the number of people who don't like to have an email address outside of their ISP.