4) Surgical Strike weapon par excellence. Reflected back to earth via large space-based mirrors allows you to wave the thing in a decreasing spiral which will turn your neighbours house to molten slag, but barely singe your fence.
As long as you're using "space-based mirrors", wouldn't just reflecting sunlight be a lot more cost effective? Or do you really think you can build a laser that puts out more energy than the sun does?
5) Galaxies' brightest Search and Rescue spotlight: defocused in orbit, and reflected to earth to illuminate areas currently under search and rescue operations.
6) Illuminate work sites on the moon during the long luna night. Defocused to make a nice night light back on earth.
Wouldn't these goals be much better and more economically served by simply using orbiting mirrors reflecting the sun? Or do you really think you can build a laser that puts out more lumens of visible light than the sun does? In fact, while we're at it, why not make these lasers solar powered!
What "responsible politics" do you propose would prevent these terrorists from attacking pilgrims on thier Haj, suicide bombing mosques during prayer services, attacking parks where celebrations of the birth of the prophet (peace be with him) are being celebrated, and from bombing schools where good islamic children are attending class? Or do you really beleive all these acts of Muslim-on-Muslim violance are soley motivated by reaction to the US mismanagment of foreign policy?
For all practical purposes, the rising edge of the pulse will destroy the surface layer of any mirror very quickly So, uh, why doesn't the rising edge of the pulse destroy the optics they are using to focus the laser beam?
I observed simular phenomena in engineers graduating in 1980... a friend who was an excellent artist in high school could no longer draw after receiving an Electronics Engineering degree. He claims it was just from lack of practice, but I think it was also due to Engineering school teaching people to not think artistically. I've lost most of my artistic talent since high school too, but I never had that much to begin with. Drawing skill is like a muscle -- if you don't excercise it, it atrophies.
If there is in fact an implicit contract between CIT and MIT that states that the cannon is "fair game", then yes, this was not an immoral act. I would prefer that the contract be explicit (e.g. written down), but it is sufficient that all parties involve agree that the intent was not larcenous... sufficient, that is, until somebody gets hurt and law enforcement and/or lawyers get involved, in which case "Ha-ha, we were just joking!" probably isn't going to be much of a defense.
As a hypothetical, suppose in the process of transporting the cannon 3000 miles cross-country there was an accident and the cannon were destroyed. You're assuming that the merry pranksters would admit liability and make Caltech "whole" again, but in practice obtaining a suitable replacement or even agreeing on a dollar amount for restitution may be difficult if not impossible. Hopefully the cannon will be eventually returned without any property or people being damaged, at which point claiming "No harm, no foul!" is perfectly acceptable. Nonetheless, the pranksters need to be prepared to face serious consequences should something go wrong.
So it is ok with you if I "appropriate" your car, as long as I express no interest in actually keeping your car, and as long as we are on fairly good terms to begin with? I'm not suggesting that anyone be prosecuted, but damn it, they did cross a line here -- they broke the law and committed grand larceny. Can't those geniuses at MIT think of a more contructive way to carry out their friendly rivalry? How about competing to design and build something that actually benefits society?
Although I would be a bit suspicious if I saw one of my neighbors installing a faraday cage in the back of his windowless van.
One of the common misconceptions about GPS is the beleif that it works everywhere. It doesn't. Kids with the phone would be constantly disappearing from the map as they go through tunnels, into large buildings, get into cars, go into valleys or even walk between large buildings... and each time this happens, the parents paranoid enough to spring for one of these to track their precious offspring are going to go into panic mode.
Which part of "Thou shalt not steal" are the MIT hackers not quite clear on? Perhaps MIT should offer some ethics classes instead of focusing purely on engineering. (Pranks are all very well and good, but stealing should be called stealing, not euphemistically referred to as "appropriation".)
Uh, Linux already works best on x86 machines. If you're saying that Intel will add optimizations to make Linux run better on Intel CPUs than it does on AMD, well then... AMD is welcome to do exactly the same thing. Plus, it is difficult to make AMD chips run worse without also making some Intel chips run worse as well. The nice thing about open source is you can choose which optimizations will work best for your machine.
The discovery is surprising because the dusty disk orbiting the pulsar, or dead star, resembles the cloud of gas and dust from which Earth emerged. Have scientists actually seen the cloud of gas and dust from which Earth emerged 4.6 billion years ago, or is this just wild speculation?
Yes, it can compress data to 1/25th of original size... but it only works on slashdot articles, which are highly compressable due to the large amount of redundant data.
A woman is driving through the southwest when she picks up an old Indian woman hitch-hiker. As the old woman is getting in the car, she notices a box on the floor. The woman driving informs her "I got a case of beer for my husband" to which the old Indian lady replies "Hmm... good trade!"
Didn't we hear this same argument about 140 years ago?
It is truly scary that government officials like president Lincoln believe that they are above the law. Laws are passed for a reason - for good or for bad, and we have to accept the law as it is, or collectively agree to change the law.
Sadly, in this day and age, many laws are being passed that are just plain stupid. However, even stupid laws are laws, and it takes a majority of supporters to repeal them.
Instead, it has been acceptable for a minority to willingly break the law and assist slaves in escaping, despite the fact that the laws are not going to be repealed. This happens over and over again, and sadly, government procecutors ignore their oaths and duties and allow this criminal activity to continue. Shame on them for their absolute incompetence and failure.
I like the idea of freeing the slaves. I'm in no position to say that it's a bad thing. But evidently a majority of those in honestly elected office think it is a bad thing and passed a law to prevent it, and so being in a democracy, I have to accept that. That's the deal.
I also think the plantation owners are fucked in the head. But that doesn't change the law.
Point being, just because a "majority" of elected representatives are in favor of a law, doesn't make it a good law.
No, Xen has purchased Microsoft in a really, really, REALLY leveraged buyout... oops, it's not April 1 anymore, is it?
Unfortunately, Xen hasn't learned one of the prime lessons of history: partnering with Microsoft is merely the first step towards being put out of business by Microsoft.
I could gold-plate a cow turd to create the most expensive cow turd in the world... but that doesn't make it any BETTER than any other piece of shit out there! Same goes for this MP3 player...
Such a thing makes you wonder, if copyright were to be abolished in such a fashion as Falkvinge is proposing, then would the artist/director/musician have any incentive to pour his time and money into a project?
Right, we'd be going back to the bad old days before copyright, when absolutely no music was ever composed or performed! Sorry, but the really good musicians compose and perform music for the shear joy of it, and doing away with copyright wouldn't effect the ability of musicians to charge for live performances.
"... make robots full members of society." Cool... so now I can drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane, as long as my Roomba is the passenger seat? Great!
Slashdot Mirror
As long as you're using "space-based mirrors", wouldn't just reflecting sunlight be a lot more cost effective? Or do you really think you can build a laser that puts out more energy than the sun does?
5) Galaxies' brightest Search and Rescue spotlight: defocused in orbit, and reflected to earth to illuminate areas currently under search and rescue operations.
6) Illuminate work sites on the moon during the long luna night. Defocused to make a nice night light back on earth.
Wouldn't these goals be much better and more economically served by simply using orbiting mirrors reflecting the sun? Or do you really think you can build a laser that puts out more lumens of visible light than the sun does? In fact, while we're at it, why not make these lasers solar powered!
What "responsible politics" do you propose would prevent these terrorists from attacking pilgrims on thier Haj, suicide bombing mosques during prayer services, attacking parks where celebrations of the birth of the prophet (peace be with him) are being celebrated, and from bombing schools where good islamic children are attending class? Or do you really beleive all these acts of Muslim-on-Muslim violance are soley motivated by reaction to the US mismanagment of foreign policy?
For all practical purposes, the rising edge of the pulse will destroy the surface layer of any mirror very quickly So, uh, why doesn't the rising edge of the pulse destroy the optics they are using to focus the laser beam?
You must be auditioning for a position on Fox News. I beleive you mispelled the word "Faux".
I observed simular phenomena in engineers graduating in 1980... a friend who was an excellent artist in high school could no longer draw after receiving an Electronics Engineering degree. He claims it was just from lack of practice, but I think it was also due to Engineering school teaching people to not think artistically. I've lost most of my artistic talent since high school too, but I never had that much to begin with. Drawing skill is like a muscle -- if you don't excercise it, it atrophies.
I had almost the same problem, except I kept winding up in Blue Ball, PA!
As a hypothetical, suppose in the process of transporting the cannon 3000 miles cross-country there was an accident and the cannon were destroyed. You're assuming that the merry pranksters would admit liability and make Caltech "whole" again, but in practice obtaining a suitable replacement or even agreeing on a dollar amount for restitution may be difficult if not impossible. Hopefully the cannon will be eventually returned without any property or people being damaged, at which point claiming "No harm, no foul!" is perfectly acceptable. Nonetheless, the pranksters need to be prepared to face serious consequences should something go wrong.
So it is ok with you if I "appropriate" your car, as long as I express no interest in actually keeping your car, and as long as we are on fairly good terms to begin with? I'm not suggesting that anyone be prosecuted, but damn it, they did cross a line here -- they broke the law and committed grand larceny. Can't those geniuses at MIT think of a more contructive way to carry out their friendly rivalry? How about competing to design and build something that actually benefits society?
I tryed to get a job at RIM, but everytime I called up and asked about "a RIM job", the receptionist just hung up on me...
One of the common misconceptions about GPS is the beleif that it works everywhere. It doesn't. Kids with the phone would be constantly disappearing from the map as they go through tunnels, into large buildings, get into cars, go into valleys or even walk between large buildings... and each time this happens, the parents paranoid enough to spring for one of these to track their precious offspring are going to go into panic mode.
Which part of "Thou shalt not steal" are the MIT hackers not quite clear on? Perhaps MIT should offer some ethics classes instead of focusing purely on engineering. (Pranks are all very well and good, but stealing should be called stealing, not euphemistically referred to as "appropriation".)
Uh, Linux already works best on x86 machines. If you're saying that Intel will add optimizations to make Linux run better on Intel CPUs than it does on AMD, well then... AMD is welcome to do exactly the same thing. Plus, it is difficult to make AMD chips run worse without also making some Intel chips run worse as well. The nice thing about open source is you can choose which optimizations will work best for your machine.
The discovery is surprising because the dusty disk orbiting the pulsar, or dead star, resembles the cloud of gas and dust from which Earth emerged. Have scientists actually seen the cloud of gas and dust from which Earth emerged 4.6 billion years ago, or is this just wild speculation?
For one things, geeks almost NEVER contract social diseases!
Yes, it can compress data to 1/25th of original size... but it only works on slashdot articles, which are highly compressable due to the large amount of redundant data.
A woman is driving through the southwest when she picks up an old Indian woman hitch-hiker. As the old woman is getting in the car, she notices a box on the floor. The woman driving informs her "I got a case of beer for my husband" to which the old Indian lady replies "Hmm... good trade!"
It is truly scary that government officials like president Lincoln believe that they are above the law. Laws are passed for a reason - for good or for bad, and we have to accept the law as it is, or collectively agree to change the law. Sadly, in this day and age, many laws are being passed that are just plain stupid. However, even stupid laws are laws, and it takes a majority of supporters to repeal them. Instead, it has been acceptable for a minority to willingly break the law and assist slaves in escaping, despite the fact that the laws are not going to be repealed. This happens over and over again, and sadly, government procecutors ignore their oaths and duties and allow this criminal activity to continue. Shame on them for their absolute incompetence and failure. I like the idea of freeing the slaves. I'm in no position to say that it's a bad thing. But evidently a majority of those in honestly elected office think it is a bad thing and passed a law to prevent it, and so being in a democracy, I have to accept that. That's the deal. I also think the plantation owners are fucked in the head. But that doesn't change the law.
Point being, just because a "majority" of elected representatives are in favor of a law, doesn't make it a good law.
No, Pamela Anderson is an overhyped wench... this would be an overhyped winch!
Unfortunately, Xen hasn't learned one of the prime lessons of history: partnering with Microsoft is merely the first step towards being put out of business by Microsoft.
I could gold-plate a cow turd to create the most expensive cow turd in the world... but that doesn't make it any BETTER than any other piece of shit out there! Same goes for this MP3 player...
Right, we'd be going back to the bad old days before copyright, when absolutely no music was ever composed or performed! Sorry, but the really good musicians compose and perform music for the shear joy of it, and doing away with copyright wouldn't effect the ability of musicians to charge for live performances.
"... make robots full members of society." Cool... so now I can drive in the High Occupancy Vehicle lane, as long as my Roomba is the passenger seat? Great!
Well, I'm gonna find your inner child and kick its little ass!
Hey, my daughter LOVES the new color scheme! Of course, she just turned 5 (and keeps asking me for a Barbie motorcycle)...
So does that mean we'll get laid?Not by anybody that would actually be attracted to this color scheme... well, at least not legally!