Look at it this way: those who consider science to be worthwhile even when there's no payoff in sight are seemingly in the minority, even though a cursory examination of recent history can provide many examples of unforseen and highly profitable opportunities arising from scientific research.
Still, too many people have the mind-set of "don't spend my money on <insert technology here> unless you can show me the benefit right now". Fine - those stupid enough to feel that way also tend to be stupid enough to believe whatever wizards like us tell 'em! So they get pissed when <technology> fails to deliver on its promise? Too bad! We'll get 'em back with spinoff technologies.
Carbon nanotubes will never get an elevator into space? Okay, but when we can grow the little beggars a mile long, we can rewire much of our infrastructure with 'em - massive bandwidth for everybody! The unwashed masses will forget that we never got them an elevator ride into orbit when they see our new petaflop PC's communicating on the world wide web at 10gb-base-txx (think: pr0n. The masses love that).
Don't think the research will pan out? Maybe not as predicted, but soon as we learn how to do something new and useful, we will - never mind if it wasn't what we were going for initially!
Here, I'll tell ya where science'll go in the next quarter-century - first, in the area of physics we'll rediscover the stick and the stone. In the area of astrology, we'll rediscover the power of the stars over our lives and our fates. In the area of biotechnology, we'll discover that we should wash our hands before we eat our latest kill; and also not to hang around the warm, softly-glowing remains of the "cities".
There. My predictions look like they have at least as much chance as Mr. Lightman's (for the record, he seems to have spent some thought on his answers, and he exhibits a certain intelligence level, but this is like me preparing a schedule for my boss showing all unplanned outtages for the next three months!).
who seem to think that this could have a deleterious effect on our oceans . . . you're right, in the same way that nobody foresaw the effect internal combustion engines would have on our atmosphere. One car is nothing - a couple million cars, running 24/7, that's another matter.
That said, perhaps we can come up with a more environmentally sound solution - how 'bout using the energy stored in the nuclei of very heavy metals (U, PL)? No? Okay, then let's just burn some nice fossil fuels (coal, petroleum). No again? Maybe we should just dam the course of a river and impound a few million gallons of fresh water? No? Still causing environmental change, you say?
Look just by (breathing, farting, pissing . . . living) we have an effect on the environment and the ecosystem. This looks like a decent way of minimizing that impact while preserving the lifestyle which modern technology has afforded us. It isn't perfect? It's a work in progress at this point - get over it!
Just because you don't want to admit that you're still living in grandma's basement because you spend 23 1/2 hours per day gaming doesn't mean that they're not games.
Hmmm . . . lessee . . . winners and losers, check . . . rules, check . . . primary motive for engaging in this activity, recreational, check . . . looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck . . . yup. It's a game.
What next, you'll tell me that I can't call my new car "my new toy"? Get stuffed - there's nothing wrong with playing games as an adult. In fact, many NBA/NFL/NHL/NL players (among others) make a better living at it than I do working; and that didn't even cover the World Poker Tour, game shows, etc.
Admit that you enjoy playing games. Revel in it - on the day you stop growing up, you start growing old.
Don't let the United States Government encumber the internet with any more garbage legislation which has no chance of doing anything but stifling growth on the internet.
I believe in the free enterprise system. Google is an independent entrepreneur within the free enterprise system. China is attempting to become so (on its own terms). Let market pressure and the free enterprise system work this out. China cannot remain forever an island (I mean, really . . . look at the size of the place:^)
Most Jews I've met and know here in the United States are generally as well-balanced (by Western standards) as the few Muslims I've met here.
It seems to me that after a few years in the holey land, however, these same sane, well-adjusted people often become, let us say, nucking futs!. I've personally met two examples of this phenomenon in my life - too small for a good sample set, nonetheless I have 100% correlation with the prime hypothesis in this case. I know that 1-a is WAY too large to consider this a valid test, but . . .
I'm Jewish (kind of - I like bacon and ham too much to make a really good Jew), but I'll be the first to admit often being dismayed at the actions of Israel (you know, the Jewish state).
I suspect that even a little investigation by anybody interested will produce the conclusion that most people born or raised in that part of the world are nuts, by Western standards. Hell, the Israelis, the Palestinians, Iraqis, Muslims . . . pick a group. There are plenty, of Muslims here in the United States, the vast majority of which seem to justify the assertion that Islam is a perfectly valid religeon with many positive attributes.
Conversely, there are plenty of Jews in the Middle East who (IMHO) could benefit from a chlorpromazine drip, and maybe some lithium on the side.
It's not the religeon which makes the terrorist; it's the upbringing, social values and life experience which make the terrorist. Fighting and killing have always been an integral element of life in that part of the world. For being such different religeons, Judaism Christianity and Islam all seem to have settled on that same area as being "G*d's little acre". Boy, I'm glad to live in this unblessed, G*d-forsaken area we here like to call the United States of America. Nothing sacred here to fight over!
(Asterisks inserted in place of the letter "o" above to prevent upsetting anybody - some religeons object to using God's name in print. BTW, I doubt that's his real name;^)
First, only the "status" buyers (with plenty of cash to match their self-perceived status) will buy in (anybody here have any friends who bought LaserDisc back in the 80's? Five function LED digital watches that weighed about ten pounds and felt like you were wearing a brick on your wrist?).
Then, the "keeping up with the jones'" buyers will buy in (with their budgets straining and groaning all the while). Now the price starts to drop, letting more of the "keeping up" crowd buy. Also, more robust, feature rich components start to become available until . . .
Finally, at some magical "price point", Joe Sixpack a.k.a. everyman, starts buying the bloody things, even though he still needs an HD monitor (or at least an ED monitor) to actually see the quality improvement of this format over NTSC - you know, "never the same color". BTW, somebody oughtta warn ol' Joe before he plunks down his hard-earned, or there'll be hell to pay when he plugs this thing in and voila - no visible improvement over good ol' DVD.
If you know any marketing 'droids, ask them about it. Also remember ancient wisdom - "Never buy anything new. Give it a year; see if anybody dies from it first!"
we (collectively) are more bacteria than human - i.e., less than 50% of the cells living in your body now are actually descendants of the sperm/egg fusion which occurred when you were conceived.
I've kept my wife gravid, hoping to kill her in her child-bed, I've been helping her to live longer and healthier? Man!
If it wasn't so much fun, I'd stop trying to kill her this way. Y'know, ever since she had that tubal, I've been wondering about the wisdom of trying to do her in by impregnation. Oh, well . . . too late to stop now!
That way, Microsoft will be the next logical target (think of all those wireless-enabled laptops with Outlook Express preinstalled by default)!
What delicious irony! Microsoft sued for patent violation (or do you suppose they'll just settle, the way they did when SCO alleged Microsoft violation of their IP?)! Of course it's happened before, but still . . .
Sooner or later, USPTO is going to get caught in a self-contradictory or paradoxical situation; unfortunately, USPTO won't disappear in a flash of gamma radiation, but the implosion could be the motivator for some serious reform.
I didn't say that I don't wear a seat belt (I do - too much to be lost and too little to be gained by doing otherwise). However, I don't much care for my car making noises to attract my attention (the beeper also reminds you if the headlights are on with the car not running, also if you open the driver's door with the keys in the ignition).
Since I often have the driver's door open with the engine running or the keys in the ignition, I find the beeper slightly irritating.
I call it "electricity". I could distribute this magical, obedient workhorse of a technology using something called "Direct Current", which is fairly safe to be around, but transmission losses are incredible. I'm going to use something called "Alternating Current", which will kill you (if you pass enough current, that is).
Imagine the lawsuits! Somewhere, somebody's gonna get electrocuted; imagine the liability lawsuits against the deep pockets of the companies responsible for implementing this obviously dangerous technology I have devised.
Wait, I know! We'll devise a system of "plugs" and "sockets" which will mediate the risk. Or maybe a "beeper" to warn you that the circuit is active?
Not the best analogy, but I think you get my point. By current definition the registered owner of a vehicle is financially responsible for all damages caused by the operation of that vehicle even if that operation occured without the knowledge or consent of the registered owner (US only, ymmv). I don't see that changing.
And you got it anonymously. That's GOTTA burn.
on
Always on Laptops
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· Score: -1, Redundant
I unplug that buzzer/beeper routinely upon buying a vehicle.
I can't imagine that they'll bother hiding this noise maker any better. Yes, I know the blasted thing has a function, which I'm pretty sure is to irritate me.
Yes, it may have been cliche, but it was not off-topic.
Also, at the time of the post it wasn't (too) redundant (at least, I don't recall seeing a whole host of pre-existing posts with the same content). Now, of course . . .
Don't you recognize irony when you see it? Hellfire, not only was this irony, but it was explicitely declared as such (and a beautiful example of subtle irony it is).
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Still, too many people have the mind-set of "don't spend my money on <insert technology here> unless you can show me the benefit right now". Fine - those stupid enough to feel that way also tend to be stupid enough to believe whatever wizards like us tell 'em! So they get pissed when <technology> fails to deliver on its promise? Too bad! We'll get 'em back with spinoff technologies.
Carbon nanotubes will never get an elevator into space? Okay, but when we can grow the little beggars a mile long, we can rewire much of our infrastructure with 'em - massive bandwidth for everybody! The unwashed masses will forget that we never got them an elevator ride into orbit when they see our new petaflop PC's communicating on the world wide web at 10gb-base-txx (think: pr0n. The masses love that).
Don't think the research will pan out? Maybe not as predicted, but soon as we learn how to do something new and useful, we will - never mind if it wasn't what we were going for initially!
Here, I'll tell ya where science'll go in the next quarter-century - first, in the area of physics we'll rediscover the stick and the stone. In the area of astrology, we'll rediscover the power of the stars over our lives and our fates. In the area of biotechnology, we'll discover that we should wash our hands before we eat our latest kill; and also not to hang around the warm, softly-glowing remains of the "cities".
There. My predictions look like they have at least as much chance as Mr. Lightman's (for the record, he seems to have spent some thought on his answers, and he exhibits a certain intelligence level, but this is like me preparing a schedule for my boss showing all unplanned outtages for the next three months!).
Gla, fridth!
That said, perhaps we can come up with a more environmentally sound solution - how 'bout using the energy stored in the nuclei of very heavy metals (U, PL)? No? Okay, then let's just burn some nice fossil fuels (coal, petroleum). No again? Maybe we should just dam the course of a river and impound a few million gallons of fresh water? No? Still causing environmental change, you say?
Look just by (breathing, farting, pissing . . . living) we have an effect on the environment and the ecosystem. This looks like a decent way of minimizing that impact while preserving the lifestyle which modern technology has afforded us. It isn't perfect? It's a work in progress at this point - get over it!
*ducks*
Hmmm . . . lessee . . . winners and losers, check . . . rules, check . . . primary motive for engaging in this activity, recreational, check . . . looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck . . . yup. It's a game.
What next, you'll tell me that I can't call my new car "my new toy"? Get stuffed - there's nothing wrong with playing games as an adult. In fact, many NBA/NFL/NHL/NL players (among others) make a better living at it than I do working; and that didn't even cover the World Poker Tour, game shows, etc.
Admit that you enjoy playing games. Revel in it - on the day you stop growing up, you start growing old.
I believe in the free enterprise system. Google is an independent entrepreneur within the free enterprise system. China is attempting to become so (on its own terms). Let market pressure and the free enterprise system work this out. China cannot remain forever an island (I mean, really . . . look at the size of the place :^)
Individuality is great, as long as we all do it together and in the same way!
"Oh I see. A lesson in morals from Mr. "I did it with my own Grandmother". - Prof. H. T. Farnsworth
It seems to me that after a few years in the holey land, however, these same sane, well-adjusted people often become, let us say, nucking futs!. I've personally met two examples of this phenomenon in my life - too small for a good sample set, nonetheless I have 100% correlation with the prime hypothesis in this case. I know that 1-a is WAY too large to consider this a valid test, but . . .
YMMV.
I suspect that even a little investigation by anybody interested will produce the conclusion that most people born or raised in that part of the world are nuts, by Western standards. Hell, the Israelis, the Palestinians, Iraqis, Muslims . . . pick a group. There are plenty, of Muslims here in the United States, the vast majority of which seem to justify the assertion that Islam is a perfectly valid religeon with many positive attributes.
Conversely, there are plenty of Jews in the Middle East who (IMHO) could benefit from a chlorpromazine drip, and maybe some lithium on the side.
It's not the religeon which makes the terrorist; it's the upbringing, social values and life experience which make the terrorist. Fighting and killing have always been an integral element of life in that part of the world. For being such different religeons, Judaism Christianity and Islam all seem to have settled on that same area as being "G*d's little acre". Boy, I'm glad to live in this unblessed, G*d-forsaken area we here like to call the United States of America. Nothing sacred here to fight over!
(Asterisks inserted in place of the letter "o" above to prevent upsetting anybody - some religeons object to using God's name in print. BTW, I doubt that's his real name ;^)
Then, the "keeping up with the jones'" buyers will buy in (with their budgets straining and groaning all the while). Now the price starts to drop, letting more of the "keeping up" crowd buy. Also, more robust, feature rich components start to become available until . . .
Finally, at some magical "price point", Joe Sixpack a.k.a. everyman, starts buying the bloody things, even though he still needs an HD monitor (or at least an ED monitor) to actually see the quality improvement of this format over NTSC - you know, "never the same color". BTW, somebody oughtta warn ol' Joe before he plunks down his hard-earned, or there'll be hell to pay when he plugs this thing in and voila - no visible improvement over good ol' DVD.
If you know any marketing 'droids, ask them about it. Also remember ancient wisdom - "Never buy anything new. Give it a year; see if anybody dies from it first!"
"Why is J. Edgar hoover on your phone?"
"Well, why shouldn't he be on my phone? After all, he's on everybody else's!"
<* rimshot *> - Hey, thanks folks; don't forget to tip the wait staff - I'll be here until Wednesday.
dict gravid
Creepy, huh?
If it wasn't so much fun, I'd stop trying to kill her this way. Y'know, ever since she had that tubal, I've been wondering about the wisdom of trying to do her in by impregnation. Oh, well . . . too late to stop now!
What delicious irony! Microsoft sued for patent violation (or do you suppose they'll just settle, the way they did when SCO alleged Microsoft violation of their IP?)! Of course it's happened before, but still . . .
Sooner or later, USPTO is going to get caught in a self-contradictory or paradoxical situation; unfortunately, USPTO won't disappear in a flash of gamma radiation, but the implosion could be the motivator for some serious reform.
***/me hiding in basement, fearing sound of jack-boots***
2) Entice them to identify themselves just once
3) Tie the appropriate RFID to the personal ID, continue updating as RFID's enter/leave the individual
4) Track individual movements and activities
5) ???
6) PROFIT!!! (or RULE THE WORLD!!! ?)
Since I often have the driver's door open with the engine running or the keys in the ignition, I find the beeper slightly irritating.
Imagine the lawsuits! Somewhere, somebody's gonna get electrocuted; imagine the liability lawsuits against the deep pockets of the companies responsible for implementing this obviously dangerous technology I have devised.
Wait, I know! We'll devise a system of "plugs" and "sockets" which will mediate the risk. Or maybe a "beeper" to warn you that the circuit is active?
Not the best analogy, but I think you get my point. By current definition the registered owner of a vehicle is financially responsible for all damages caused by the operation of that vehicle even if that operation occured without the knowledge or consent of the registered owner (US only, ymmv). I don't see that changing.
(n/t)
I can't imagine that they'll bother hiding this noise maker any better. Yes, I know the blasted thing has a function, which I'm pretty sure is to irritate me.
Also, at the time of the post it wasn't (too) redundant (at least, I don't recall seeing a whole host of pre-existing posts with the same content). Now, of course . . .
Don't you recognize irony when you see it? Hellfire, not only was this irony, but it was explicitely declared as such (and a beautiful example of subtle irony it is).
What do you need, <IRONY> and </IRONY> tags?