I love these kinds of stories. We can blow this planet up, it can ice up to the equator or even shift on its axis and life will survive and take another shot in a few thousand millennia.
On a practical note I wonder what a handful of this particular type would make of a nuclear waste pile...
In a cost/benefit analysis the nuke option makes sense. If you can get a larger rover that can move faster it opens up many new vista. I mean, I love the current Rovers for lasting so long but they move slowly and are too small to get past many geological barriers. A larger rover could carry more equipment and move farther and faster.
No-one likes the idea of the power source rupturing but on a planetwide basis it's not a major issue. Mars has probably received more radioactive material from comets et al than would be found in the battery and as we're not going to get there for another twenty years at best harm to humans isn't an issue. The worst result for us would be the plethora of B-movies about the radioactivity causing hyper-evolution that turns algae into ravening Martian monsters that look suspiciously CGIed.
But maybe the whole strategy is wrong. Instead of a few big rovers make lots of little ones. You get a better sampling of a variety of areas on the planet for your budget and it matters less if a few don't survive the trip.
With around 85 per cent of the US critical infrastructure in private hands the post does need someone who can get private companies on board. The chief problem though is that it isn't in shareholder interests to actively help in this program if it cuts shareholder dividends or hurts profits. The only way to rectify this would be for legislation fining companies for insecure critical networks.
Given that this guy is an industry lobbyist and the stance of the Republicans on holding any industry to account I'd expect to see a porcine acrobatic team (the Pink Devils perhaps?) performing over Washington than any real progress being made.
But all this ignores the basic fact; cyber terrorism has yet to materialise beyond a few disgruntled virus writers. As Bruce Schneier has pointed out repeatedly strapping on a suicide belt is far more effective than any form of online attack. If my email goes down I'm inconvenienced, not terrorised.
This could be a major step change in the way media companies handle the internet. Holding onto copyright and soaking consumers each time the formats change has been lucrative for a while now but it's as obsolete a business model as buying caned food and then using the shop's can opener to get at it before taking the cans home.
After failing to produce a DRM system that works, failing to stop the tide of piracy with law suits and faced with falling sales Warner is making the smart move and getting what money it can. More power to their elbow.
You won't either (a fellow Londoner writes) thanks to saome barmy rules from the Department of Transport. In the UK Segway's are illegal to drive on the roads but they are also illegal on pavements. The only place you can ride one is on private land.
Logic, it'll help us in the long run - Bill Hicks.
Re:Why not Paris...Why Steve ??
on
Steve Irwin Dead
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· Score: 1
I thought it was virgins you tossed into volcanos...
In terms of a defence wiping your hard drive is pretty much an admission of guilt. You're saying to the court that you don't want to allow them to see any evidence and it's hard to see how the judge could have done otherwise.
But it sets a worrying legal precedent. I use Eraser software to regularly overwrite deleted sectors of my hard drive and it could be argued that if I deleted a downloaded song and then overwrote the sector repeatedly I was tampering with evidence.
Surely the best defence would be to find out what songs you are being prosecuted for and then buying the album/game/DVD. Arguing in court that you tried the music and so bought the album, thus actually profiting the RIAA and its minions, would make an interesting defence.
Lenovo appears to be playing a smart game, looking to expand from the business market to the professional consumer. With companies like Acer and HP looking more a the entertainment machine concept Lenovo is looking to a higher value market.
The Origami stuff is interesting too. The whole idea is a loser (sub laptop capability for more money) and he's wise to stay out of it.
All this stress on using titanium could also be a nod towards industry fears that Lenovo might compromise quality for price. Maybe they've decided to rely on low manufacturing costs to keep prices at reasonable levels.
The governments will have to make a deal with the inline gaming industry, in the same way the alcohol and porn industries have done. There is too much money in the industry and the user base has the broad spread of demographics to make any politician beat a fast retreat.
Since most state computer security seems to be so laughably weak. UK 'hacker' Gary McKinnon, currently being extradited to the US, got into US Navy logistics computers by just typing in admin and password to login screens for Windows NT for goodness sake. If the most advanced military force on the planet is using an unsupported operating system I dread to think what the state department's systems must be like.
Re:This could cause huge embarrassment
on
Talking iPods
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· Score: 1
Fair point, although given the awful rate of leakage from the average set of iPod earphones it'll still get a fair sized airing.
This could cause huge embarrassment
on
Talking iPods
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· Score: 2, Funny
Think of the possibilities. The ultra cool fashionista who loses all credibility when the iPod annpounces they are listening to Celine Dion for example. Cue a quick grab for the play ans a face saving "No, no, the machine's screwed - I'm listening to the Arctic Monkeys honestly..." Similarly do you really want to know the respectable commuter sitting opposite you is listening to "F**k like a beast"
This is tried and proven technology, put down for a highish initial investment and minimal maintenance requirements. All credit to UNESCO for getting it up and running so quickly.
The logical next step is to link the new Tsunami grids around the world and crunch some data. There could be very interesting research into deep ocean wave effects.
Given the worldwide geographical spread of Homo sapiens it's a believable number. As recently as 75,000 years ago we lost around two thirds of the population in the Lake Toba eruption and there have been a fair few fluctuations since then.
The stuff later in the article is interesting. One question it raises is the effect of the increases in travel will have on the genetic mix. Traditionally the vast majority of the population married someone within a small radius of their initial home. As larger numbers of people move further away there could be some interesting effects.
It was the year I finally got to play Elite unsupervised. I wince to think how long I spent on that game; whole nights spent hunched over a BBC Model B trading, pirating and cursing Thargoids who trapped me with low fuel. To my mind it's still one of the most addictive games around, after Civ 2.
There used to be a version that mimicked it on a PC floating around but I can't find it anywhere and I understand the creators had it pulled.
I think the cafe owner was more upset that he didn't buy anything, thus depriving them of sales, rather than the fact he was reducing the available bandwidth.
There's a slight difference between promotional items, where there is no explicit requirement on the recipient to promote said product, and possibly this case. If there was a clearly observable sign saying that the signal was for customers only then I'm sorry but it is theft.
I got to a lot of trade shows and have managed stands where we were handing out freebies. While the behavior of some people trying to grab handfuls of USB pen drives is distasteful it would be a long stretch to describe it as theft. The idsea behind these items is partly to draw people to the stand so that the sales staff can pounce on them and partly that they will use them outside the show and this make the name of the product or company more well known.
The term could be seen as abusive but then again the luddites were also acting on deeply held beliefs. Nevertheless I admire your strengh of belief in refusing the treatment if it was available.
But at what point are one person's beliefs allowed to harm those who do not share them? If people object to embryonic stem cell research then don't use it, but the millions of people who don't should be allowed to benefit from this god-given knowledge.
Yes this guy was committing theft and should be charged. But why on earth didn't they have their connection locked down? Print the password on the back of a receipt and that way genuine customers can use the connection and the leaches stay outside the network.
That said if there are no signs or warnings that the wireless connection was for paying customers only then they could have a problem charging him. A canny lawyer could claim he thought the connection was a free resource, but I'm unfamiliar with US law on this.
If they can get a similar process in place for humans it'll cut the legs out from under the luddites opposing stem cell research (no pun intended). It's amazing how many people will decide the ethics of stem cell research aren't that much of a problem when they have the chance to see loved ones walk again, or recover from illnesses like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.
First it was Bluetooth headsets that made it tough to decide if the person coming up behind you was on the phone or a schizophrenic. Now I'll be wondering if the kids on the underground are gamers or epileptics.
Slashdot Mirror
I love these kinds of stories. We can blow this planet up, it can ice up to the equator or even shift on its axis and life will survive and take another shot in a few thousand millennia.
On a practical note I wonder what a handful of this particular type would make of a nuclear waste pile...
In a cost/benefit analysis the nuke option makes sense. If you can get a larger rover that can move faster it opens up many new vista. I mean, I love the current Rovers for lasting so long but they move slowly and are too small to get past many geological barriers. A larger rover could carry more equipment and move farther and faster.
No-one likes the idea of the power source rupturing but on a planetwide basis it's not a major issue. Mars has probably received more radioactive material from comets et al than would be found in the battery and as we're not going to get there for another twenty years at best harm to humans isn't an issue. The worst result for us would be the plethora of B-movies about the radioactivity causing hyper-evolution that turns algae into ravening Martian monsters that look suspiciously CGIed.
But maybe the whole strategy is wrong. Instead of a few big rovers make lots of little ones. You get a better sampling of a variety of areas on the planet for your budget and it matters less if a few don't survive the trip.
With around 85 per cent of the US critical infrastructure in private hands the post does need someone who can get private companies on board. The chief problem though is that it isn't in shareholder interests to actively help in this program if it cuts shareholder dividends or hurts profits. The only way to rectify this would be for legislation fining companies for insecure critical networks.
Given that this guy is an industry lobbyist and the stance of the Republicans on holding any industry to account I'd expect to see a porcine acrobatic team (the Pink Devils perhaps?) performing over Washington than any real progress being made.
But all this ignores the basic fact; cyber terrorism has yet to materialise beyond a few disgruntled virus writers. As Bruce Schneier has pointed out repeatedly strapping on a suicide belt is far more effective than any form of online attack. If my email goes down I'm inconvenienced, not terrorised.
This could be a major step change in the way media companies handle the internet. Holding onto copyright and soaking consumers each time the formats change has been lucrative for a while now but it's as obsolete a business model as buying caned food and then using the shop's can opener to get at it before taking the cans home. After failing to produce a DRM system that works, failing to stop the tide of piracy with law suits and faced with falling sales Warner is making the smart move and getting what money it can. More power to their elbow.
You won't either (a fellow Londoner writes) thanks to saome barmy rules from the Department of Transport. In the UK Segway's are illegal to drive on the roads but they are also illegal on pavements. The only place you can ride one is on private land. Logic, it'll help us in the long run - Bill Hicks.
I thought it was virgins you tossed into volcanos...
In terms of a defence wiping your hard drive is pretty much an admission of guilt. You're saying to the court that you don't want to allow them to see any evidence and it's hard to see how the judge could have done otherwise. But it sets a worrying legal precedent. I use Eraser software to regularly overwrite deleted sectors of my hard drive and it could be argued that if I deleted a downloaded song and then overwrote the sector repeatedly I was tampering with evidence. Surely the best defence would be to find out what songs you are being prosecuted for and then buying the album/game/DVD. Arguing in court that you tried the music and so bought the album, thus actually profiting the RIAA and its minions, would make an interesting defence.
Lenovo appears to be playing a smart game, looking to expand from the business market to the professional consumer. With companies like Acer and HP looking more a the entertainment machine concept Lenovo is looking to a higher value market. The Origami stuff is interesting too. The whole idea is a loser (sub laptop capability for more money) and he's wise to stay out of it. All this stress on using titanium could also be a nod towards industry fears that Lenovo might compromise quality for price. Maybe they've decided to rely on low manufacturing costs to keep prices at reasonable levels.
The governments will have to make a deal with the inline gaming industry, in the same way the alcohol and porn industries have done. There is too much money in the industry and the user base has the broad spread of demographics to make any politician beat a fast retreat.
Since most state computer security seems to be so laughably weak. UK 'hacker' Gary McKinnon, currently being extradited to the US, got into US Navy logistics computers by just typing in admin and password to login screens for Windows NT for goodness sake. If the most advanced military force on the planet is using an unsupported operating system I dread to think what the state department's systems must be like.
Fair point, although given the awful rate of leakage from the average set of iPod earphones it'll still get a fair sized airing.
Think of the possibilities. The ultra cool fashionista who loses all credibility when the iPod annpounces they are listening to Celine Dion for example. Cue a quick grab for the play ans a face saving "No, no, the machine's screwed - I'm listening to the Arctic Monkeys honestly..." Similarly do you really want to know the respectable commuter sitting opposite you is listening to "F**k like a beast"
This is tried and proven technology, put down for a highish initial investment and minimal maintenance requirements. All credit to UNESCO for getting it up and running so quickly.
The logical next step is to link the new Tsunami grids around the world and crunch some data. There could be very interesting research into deep ocean wave effects.
Given the worldwide geographical spread of Homo sapiens it's a believable number. As recently as 75,000 years ago we lost around two thirds of the population in the Lake Toba eruption and there have been a fair few fluctuations since then.
The stuff later in the article is interesting. One question it raises is the effect of the increases in travel will have on the genetic mix. Traditionally the vast majority of the population married someone within a small radius of their initial home. As larger numbers of people move further away there could be some interesting effects.
Why would you need a connection that fast in an internet cafe? Users will be checking mail and news, not downloading "Cornish gone Wild" Vol 3.
Curse you . I was up until 04:30am playing it. Self control is not a strong point.
Cheers mate, much appreciated.
It was the year I finally got to play Elite unsupervised. I wince to think how long I spent on that game; whole nights spent hunched over a BBC Model B trading, pirating and cursing Thargoids who trapped me with low fuel. To my mind it's still one of the most addictive games around, after Civ 2.
There used to be a version that mimicked it on a PC floating around but I can't find it anywhere and I understand the creators had it pulled.
I think the cafe owner was more upset that he didn't buy anything, thus depriving them of sales, rather than the fact he was reducing the available bandwidth.
There's a slight difference between promotional items, where there is no explicit requirement on the recipient to promote said product, and possibly this case. If there was a clearly observable sign saying that the signal was for customers only then I'm sorry but it is theft.
I got to a lot of trade shows and have managed stands where we were handing out freebies. While the behavior of some people trying to grab handfuls of USB pen drives is distasteful it would be a long stretch to describe it as theft. The idsea behind these items is partly to draw people to the stand so that the sales staff can pounce on them and partly that they will use them outside the show and this make the name of the product or company more well known.
Nancy Reagan was a case in point.
The term could be seen as abusive but then again the luddites were also acting on deeply held beliefs. Nevertheless I admire your strengh of belief in refusing the treatment if it was available.
But at what point are one person's beliefs allowed to harm those who do not share them? If people object to embryonic stem cell research then don't use it, but the millions of people who don't should be allowed to benefit from this god-given knowledge.
Yes this guy was committing theft and should be charged. But why on earth didn't they have their connection locked down? Print the password on the back of a receipt and that way genuine customers can use the connection and the leaches stay outside the network. That said if there are no signs or warnings that the wireless connection was for paying customers only then they could have a problem charging him. A canny lawyer could claim he thought the connection was a free resource, but I'm unfamiliar with US law on this.
If they can get a similar process in place for humans it'll cut the legs out from under the luddites opposing stem cell research (no pun intended). It's amazing how many people will decide the ethics of stem cell research aren't that much of a problem when they have the chance to see loved ones walk again, or recover from illnesses like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.
First it was Bluetooth headsets that made it tough to decide if the person coming up behind you was on the phone or a schizophrenic. Now I'll be wondering if the kids on the underground are gamers or epileptics.