The fact that you can spot the satellite with binoculars proves my argument.
The fact that you can spot a spy satellite with binoculars proves that the government it belongs to isn't trying to hide it? Is that really what you're trying to say?
And from an intel standpoint, this is one piece of a puzzle to knowing what the satellites are sued for but I'd rather have the Chinese or whoever have to pay for it themselves.
Um, I already exposed your contention that the Chinese are relying on American hobbyists with binoculars to locate spy satellites as a Straw Man argument. Please stop embarrassing yourself.
But go ahead, go report to your communist friends. It's your right.
Honestly...if you can't even be bothered to accept the most elementary facts of the situation, you're not worth responding to. Good day, sir.
While that may be true, I doubt that the government could manage to ban optical telescopic instruments over a certain resolving power. Even if this did come to pass, that wouldn't stop China.
All the government folks are saying is that they would rather not have folks doing the work for the Chinese government.
That's not what the article said. The article said that if hobbyists could do it, so could the Chinese government. I doubt very much that the Chinese government is relying upon hobbyists to spot our satellites, given how easy it can be done.
With regard to the creativity mutation: As I recall, there was a proto-human homonid that DID use tools, but never developed on that tool (The stone axe they used at the beginning of their existance was the same stone axe that they used at the end of their existance) And that period of time wasn't short, something on the order of millions of years where they used the exact stone axe.
I believe the specific hominid you are referring to is Homo Ergaster (Working Man).
While they were using a tool, there was no real thought behind it. In that respect, it seems that it was much like a spider's web, a very precise tool for survival but instinct rather than a developed idea.
I don't know if I agree with that assessment. It seems to me as if H. Ergaster simply progressed as far as his brain would allow, and no farther. A simple hand axe was just the apex of his ability. Looking at H. Ergaster makes me rather worried about the future of our species...after all, we haven't been around nearly as long. What if we run up against an innate limit in our brains, and our technology can proceed no further?
I didn't say 'if conditions were different'. I said 'if conditions weren't suitable for life'. If conditions were different, but still suitable enough for life, we would look different, but would still be waxing poetic about how marvelously well-suited this environment is for us.
The OP nailed it - the conditions here are perfect for us because here is where we developed, evolving along the way to fit our conditions perfectly. There's nothing remarkable about it.
The problems with technology that regular aquatic races have would be even worse on Europa. Imagine an explorer trying to see what was beyond that great ice wall at the top of the world. After managing to chisel through miles of ice, the intrepid explorer would be rewarded with a quick death by blowout as the tunnel opened out onto the surface...in vacuum.
I don't think we're going to be seeing many Europan astronauts anytime soon.
Exactly, as well as the simple fact that if conditions weren't suitable for life here, there would be none of us here to remark on how suitable conditions are for life.
An entire documentary based on a retarded truism. How depressing.
Wouldn't it be feasible that intelligent life could arise on a planet that is liquid?
Our own earthly cephalopods are pretty darned smart. Given the right conditions, it's not difficult to imagine a similar species attaining greater intelligence. Of course, such an intelligence, having developed in such an alien environment, would be radically different from ours. As Larry Niven says, there are brains out there that think just as well as yours...but differently.
Also, although an aquatic species could conceivably develop intelligence, I can't imagine what form its technology would take. With such elementary things as fire denied to them, it's doubtful that they could progress to any reasonable level.
Given hundreds of worlds within our own galaxy, if we apply the Drake Equation, there's a good chance that there's another intelligent species out there, although the chances of it being of a sufficient technological development to make its presence known is slim. Also, the 'accepted values' for the various parts of the Drake equation are subject to (sometimes intense) debate.
This being said, given that most of these "nearby" worlds are tens of thousands of light-years away, with the current state of our technology, we might as well be alone.
Re:Winner: Counter-productive move of the year
on
WikiLeaks Under Fire
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Could the people leaked about on WikiLeaks really be this dumb?
Fortunately, yes, they can, and it seems they are. Not 'dumb' per se, mind you, but operating without any idea of how things work in this day and age, when any information that finds its way onto the Internet is effectively immortal, and any attempts to suppress that information only succeed in calling even more attention to it.
There's no way to silence the truth directly anymore in this new medium. Indirect methods, however, like repeating a lie loudly and often enough, can still be effective.
Must be doing someting right...
on
WikiLeaks Under Fire
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
When you're slapped with a restraining order, you get hit with a dDOS, and one of your UPS units "accidentally" ignites, you know you must be doing something right.
Indeed. I'm sure that if the Martians sent a probe to the middle of the Bonneville Salt Flats, they'd conclude that the chances of life on our planet are slim. Ironically, the Salt Flats would also make a nice, safe, predictable place to land an expensive probe.
Optimism continued to make inroads today across the community as K'Breel, Speaker for the most Illustrious Council of Elders, stated that the Council's latest plan to feed misinformation to the robotic minions of the sinister blue planet were bearing fruit.
"Gentle Citizens, today I stand before you proud as a gerlsh in the first heivtning, positively quirlly to bring you the news that the devices of terror, sent unto us by the hideous inhabitants of the evil blue planet, have been duped by our clever plan! By sowing the soil in their path with the poisonous gretch-sand, we have convinced the credulous fools that life cannot possibly exist here. Thinking our planet a horrible wasteland of gretch-sand, instead of the vibrant paradise we know it to be, the disgusting creatures of the evil blue planet will doubtless abandon their nefarious schemes to annex our world! Rejoice with me, pod-mates! This is the turning point!"
When a certain impertinent youngling pointed out that there have been so many 'turning points' in this terrible conflict that surely, the Illustrious Council must by dizzy by this time, K'breel denounced him as a traitor and decreed that his gelsacs be lacerated until he admitted his guilt and confessed his onerous crimes. The youngling confessed later that evening, and was immediately executed for his awful crimes.
Well, when I say "host it themselves", I'm pretty sure the proxy machine isn't theirs physically. In all probability, it's another 0wned box, chosen for this role due to its higher specs and fatter pipe. Then, the system can periodically dump the accumulated data to another location (like an obscure newsgroup) for later retrieval.
Actually, I ran across some malware that did something similar a few years ago. This malware modified the registry to put in an invisible SOCKS proxy, so all HTTP traffic went to the internet via its own server, which sniffed all packets en route. It was a real bitch to get rid of...once I removed the obvious parts, HTTP was just plain broken until I fixed the malicious registry entries.
True. Many normal users worry about securing their systems, but they completely forget about their routers.
Of course, unless they've enabled remote administration, you wouldn't be able to access the router from outside the user's home LAN. That's where hacking the wireless connection comes in. ^_^
The machine would have to be owned by a previous exploit. Then, all that's necessary is to run a one-line command in command prompt, and then sit back and wait for the sucker^H^H^H^H^H^Hunfortunate victim to visit my malicious web page.
If one has the ability to run malicious code on the target system, it would be pretty easy. I don't know about a browser window, but the DNS setting can be modified easily by a VB script, or trivially easy via the command prompt (one line command).
Of course it's not difficult to fix...the problem is that most users aren't going to check their DNS settings like you or I would...heck...most users don't even know what a DNS server is.
Slashdot Mirror
The fact that you can spot the satellite with binoculars proves my argument.
The fact that you can spot a spy satellite with binoculars proves that the government it belongs to isn't trying to hide it? Is that really what you're trying to say?
Here's some more reading for you.
And from an intel standpoint, this is one piece of a puzzle to knowing what the satellites are sued for but I'd rather have the Chinese or whoever have to pay for it themselves.
Um, I already exposed your contention that the Chinese are relying on American hobbyists with binoculars to locate spy satellites as a Straw Man argument. Please stop embarrassing yourself.
But go ahead, go report to your communist friends. It's your right.
Honestly...if you can't even be bothered to accept the most elementary facts of the situation, you're not worth responding to.
Good day, sir.
Actually, we are, which neatly demolishes that argument.
While that may be true, I doubt that the government could manage to ban optical telescopic instruments over a certain resolving power. Even if this did come to pass, that wouldn't stop China.
All the government folks are saying is that they would rather not have folks doing the work for the Chinese government.
That's not what the article said. The article said that if hobbyists could do it, so could the Chinese government. I doubt very much that the Chinese government is relying upon hobbyists to spot our satellites, given how easy it can be done.
Talk about a Straw Man argument. Sheesh.
The only way around this would be to create a bunch of decoy satellites.
Gaah! Don't give them any ideas! The last thing we need is a bunch of satellites that serve no real purpose, clogging up the orbits!
...but the sky is pretty much Public Domain. Or are you going to outlaw looking up?
With regard to the creativity mutation: As I recall, there was a proto-human homonid that DID use tools, but never developed on that tool (The stone axe they used at the beginning of their existance was the same stone axe that they used at the end of their existance) And that period of time wasn't short, something on the order of millions of years where they used the exact stone axe.
I believe the specific hominid you are referring to is Homo Ergaster (Working Man).
While they were using a tool, there was no real thought behind it. In that respect, it seems that it was much like a spider's web, a very precise tool for survival but instinct rather than a developed idea.
I don't know if I agree with that assessment. It seems to me as if H. Ergaster simply progressed as far as his brain would allow, and no farther. A simple hand axe was just the apex of his ability. Looking at H. Ergaster makes me rather worried about the future of our species...after all, we haven't been around nearly as long. What if we run up against an innate limit in our brains, and our technology can proceed no further?
I didn't say 'if conditions were different'. I said 'if conditions weren't suitable for life'. If conditions were different, but still suitable enough for life, we would look different, but would still be waxing poetic about how marvelously well-suited this environment is for us.
The OP nailed it - the conditions here are perfect for us because here is where we developed, evolving along the way to fit our conditions perfectly. There's nothing remarkable about it.
The problems with technology that regular aquatic races have would be even worse on Europa. Imagine an explorer trying to see what was beyond that great ice wall at the top of the world. After managing to chisel through miles of ice, the intrepid explorer would be rewarded with a quick death by blowout as the tunnel opened out onto the surface...in vacuum.
I don't think we're going to be seeing many Europan astronauts anytime soon.
I just can't see the CAFC reversing themselves to any significant degree here. Most entities involved have way too much to lose.
I predict this will get quietly swept under the rug...again.
Exactly, as well as the simple fact that if conditions weren't suitable for life here, there would be none of us here to remark on how suitable conditions are for life.
An entire documentary based on a retarded truism. How depressing.
Wouldn't it be feasible that intelligent life could arise on a planet that is liquid?
Our own earthly cephalopods are pretty darned smart. Given the right conditions, it's not difficult to imagine a similar species attaining greater intelligence. Of course, such an intelligence, having developed in such an alien environment, would be radically different from ours. As Larry Niven says, there are brains out there that think just as well as yours...but differently.
Also, although an aquatic species could conceivably develop intelligence, I can't imagine what form its technology would take. With such elementary things as fire denied to them, it's doubtful that they could progress to any reasonable level.
Given hundreds of worlds within our own galaxy, if we apply the Drake Equation, there's a good chance that there's another intelligent species out there, although the chances of it being of a sufficient technological development to make its presence known is slim. Also, the 'accepted values' for the various parts of the Drake equation are subject to (sometimes intense) debate.
This being said, given that most of these "nearby" worlds are tens of thousands of light-years away, with the current state of our technology, we might as well be alone.
Could the people leaked about on WikiLeaks really be this dumb?
Fortunately, yes, they can, and it seems they are. Not 'dumb' per se, mind you, but operating without any idea of how things work in this day and age, when any information that finds its way onto the Internet is effectively immortal, and any attempts to suppress that information only succeed in calling even more attention to it.
There's no way to silence the truth directly anymore in this new medium. Indirect methods, however, like repeating a lie loudly and often enough, can still be effective.
When you're slapped with a restraining order, you get hit with a dDOS, and one of your UPS units "accidentally" ignites , you know you must be doing something right.
The debris being generated cannot form into a new moon, as the A-ring is within the Roche radius of Saturn.
Indeed. I'm sure that if the Martians sent a probe to the middle of the Bonneville Salt Flats, they'd conclude that the chances of life on our planet are slim. Ironically, the Salt Flats would also make a nice, safe, predictable place to land an expensive probe.
When a certain impertinent youngling pointed out that there have been so many 'turning points' in this terrible conflict that surely, the Illustrious Council must by dizzy by this time, K'breel denounced him as a traitor and decreed that his gelsacs be lacerated until he admitted his guilt and confessed his onerous crimes. The youngling confessed later that evening, and was immediately executed for his awful crimes.
Well, when I say "host it themselves", I'm pretty sure the proxy machine isn't theirs physically. In all probability, it's another 0wned box, chosen for this role due to its higher specs and fatter pipe. Then, the system can periodically dump the accumulated data to another location (like an obscure newsgroup) for later retrieval.
They hosted the proxy themselves.
Actually, I ran across some malware that did something similar a few years ago. This malware modified the registry to put in an invisible SOCKS proxy, so all HTTP traffic went to the internet via its own server, which sniffed all packets en route. It was a real bitch to get rid of...once I removed the obvious parts, HTTP was just plain broken until I fixed the malicious registry entries.
True. Many normal users worry about securing their systems, but they completely forget about their routers.
Of course, unless they've enabled remote administration, you wouldn't be able to access the router from outside the user's home LAN. That's where hacking the wireless connection comes in. ^_^
The machine would have to be owned by a previous exploit. Then, all that's necessary is to run a one-line command in command prompt, and then sit back and wait for the sucker^H^H^H^H^H^Hunfortunate victim to visit my malicious web page.
If one has the ability to run malicious code on the target system, it would be pretty easy. I don't know about a browser window, but the DNS setting can be modified easily by a VB script, or trivially easy via the command prompt (one line command).
Of course it's not difficult to fix...the problem is that most users aren't going to check their DNS settings like you or I would...heck...most users don't even know what a DNS server is.