The trip from the Moon to the Earth is effectively "downhill."
Yeah. But it's the brick wall at the bottom of the hill you have to worry about.
To me, the tricky part of getting it here would be landing it. Sure, you can get it to the Earth fairly easily--Moon has low gravity, Earth has high gravity, etc. The problem to me is that you kind of need to arrange a soft landing for it. So you have to slow down, say, 1,000,000 pounds traveling at, say, 20,000 MPH and set it down gently on the Earth.
They already said they found iron; eventually, someone will find a way to make moon mining more monetarily motivational.
I think that will happen when we have appropriate infrastructure on the moon to make things up there rather than down here.
I'm not all that convinced that it will ever be economically feasible to send raw ore from the Moon to the Earth in order to build stuff down here, versus mining the ore here on Earth. Heck, consider Pittsburgh. It's close to iron ore (raw material), close to the ocean (transportation), and close to coal (energy source). If you move the iron ore from Pennsylvania to Alabama, you wouldn't have a Pittsburgh--at least, not in Pennsylvania.
So it would make more economic sense to build steel on the moon. You have your raw material on the moon. You have plenty of energy (solar) on the moon. And the cost to deliver your steel is about the same no matter where on Earth you're delivering it to. Steel is more valuable than iron ore, too.
The biggest issue, to me, would be the delivery cost. You have to have a cheap way to get your material safely to Earth, which sounds pretty difficult. Getting it from the Moon to the Earth probably wouldn't be that bad, but getting that much material down onto the Earth will be tricky.
It seems like all they're ever doing is fixing it and waiting for the next food/oxygen delivery (and someone's impending ride home).
Yeah, you gotta hate that reality thing.
In the movies, everything is so much easier. We've solved that pesky zero-G thing (no matter how damaged the ship is, the gravity always seems to work), they never have to deal with the mundane tasks of fixing stuff and getting supplies or anything. It's all action, adventure, and no matter how big the problem is, it gets solved in--at most--two or three hours.
Y'know, maybe we should contract all this space stuff out to Hollywood. Not only would it be cheaper, it'd be a lot more entertaining.
Well, first, the Japanese and the ESA are working on it. You also need to be able to maneuver the payload to be somewhere near the ISS. At the moment, the Russians are the only one with a proven heavy-lift capacity.
[...] if they have any management skills at all, or know where to find someone who does [...]
Aye, there's the rub.
One place to find people with management skills is at a label. They'll take care of calling radio stations for airplay, sending promotional versions out, arrange tour dates, and getting your name known in the business. All you have to do is be creative.
Of course, they'll also take the lions share of the money. But, hey, where else will someone pay you to just sit around and strum on your guitar and come up with songs?
You should immediately dispose of that notebook and go buy one from Apple. In fact, everybody with a Dell product--whether it has a battery or not--should immediately throw it out and replace it with an Apple computer.
Why, yes, I do own Apple stock? Why do you ask?:^)
If the move from 16 to 32-bit was dramatic, it was mostly because there were various different ways of trying to deal with getting more memory into a DOS/Windows-based computer. Remember the ol' expanded versus extended memory issues?
Joe User will not be excited about 64-bitness until (a) memory becomes cheap enough for him to have more than 4GB ($1300 for DDR2, last I looked) and (b) something Joe User really really wants to do requires him to have that much memory.
In the end what gets me the most is, even with this HIGH security in effect; some lady was able to casually carry a bottle of hand cream onto the plane without issue
Actually, as a smoker, I customarily carry a Bic lighter with me. Before I get to the security station, I take it out and put it in my carry-on, along with miscellaneous keys, loose change, packs of cigarettes, etc.
The only time Security ever bothered me was at JFK. Everywhere else I've gone, no problem.
By the way, from the looks of it, Pennsylvania makes some good money from selling the items "surrendered" by passengers at the airport.
Actually, this is one of those scenarios where it'd be handy to have a kid with a cellphone (or a walky-talky).
"Hi, Mom! I'm supposed to meet you in 10 minutes, but this line is long and I'm almost to the front. Can I meet you in 20 minutes instead?" Or "Mom? I'm here! Where are you?" Or "Son? I'm waiting for you!" "Dad, I'm sitting right next to the clown statue." "Oops! There you are. Sorry..."
But I agree. About the only time I'd want to check up on my kids at Disneyland is if they're ahead of me in line. "Bobby? This is Dad. Can I have cuts?"
If you're going to raise a kid, don't just drop a brick in their hands and let them out on their own - they're too young to be by themselves until they're 13 or so [...]
I hate arbitrary age constraints. When I was 11 or 12, I had a job at the college's computer center. But, as others have pointed out, I've seen 30 year-olds who can't seem to figure out that they shouldn't drive, talk on their cellphone, and drink coffee at the same time.
Frankly, it's up to the parent to decide these things. They know their kid the best, at least in theory.
[...] they don't need cell phones if there's phone booths around. Simply making sure they set aside $0.50 in case they need to call. Cheaper than a cell phone too.
Actually, due to the increased use of cellphones, there are fewer and fewer payphones out there.
I recently trashed a cellphone just before I had to go away for a week. So for one week, I was cellphoneless. When I needed to make a call, I figured I'd just use a payphone. That's when I discovered that payphones are getting fewer and further between. I ended up using the hotel phone (and paying extra) or using chat programs on my computer.
Also, in this era of deregulation, payphone prices can vary. 50 cents might not be enough in some cases. Of course, they can call collect but that can end up in some big bucks, too.
The 'cause' is that the 'youth' isn't mature enough to use the cell phone responsibly. [...] the *REAL* trick is gaging when a kid WILL use a cell considerately, responsibly and at appropriate times.
Okay, okay. I'm a little lost here.
First is "considerately." Do you mean, you don't want to give your kid a cell phone because they might use it in a movie theatre?
"Responsibly"? Like, they won't use it as a weapon?
"Appropriate Times"? This is the one that really caught my eye.
Way back when, I rented a room from a nice little old lady. At the time, I had a sweetheart who lived far away. I would call her after 11:00PM because the rates were cheaper. I knew she was awake, I was awake, what's the problem? Well, my landlady thought this was incredibly rude, to be calling someone after 11:00PM! My landlady grew up in a time when having any kind of phone was a privilege. Long distance calls were incredibly expensive and you didn't call someone from far away "just to chat." You called long distance if-and-only-if you had some very important message to communicate right away.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the concept that phone calls cost money. Heck, I've stood in line behind people at the local cellular carrier and listened to them plead their case--"How could my kid have run up this big a bill?! It's impossible!" I usually chuckle to myself when I hear these. That said, there are things you can do so that the kids become aware of the cost. One of the easiest is to do is get them one of those "prepaid" phone plans where, once a month, you stick $20 into it. If the kid uses it up, they either have to fund it themselves or go without. And, if they go without, their mobility is severely limited (after all, they can't phone home if there's a problem). You'd be surprised how quickly they'll learn.
Older people--and I sadly consider myself to be one--are surprised at how these young people have no appreciation of this gift of technology. By God, I remember when I had to get my fat ass off the couch and walk over to the TV to change the channel! I'd watch shows which weren't funny just because they were stuck between two other shows that were funny! Kids today don't appreciate that. Heck, look at this Internet thingie! They could be using it to research the great unknowns! Instead, they're watching videos of other kids dancing badly to horrible music! What an inappropriate use of what could be the greatest tool for learning that mankind has seen!
The only good thing is they're so busy with this other stuff, they're staying the hell off my lawn.:^)
Seriously, though, I think each generation finds their own way to work with the technology available to them. I have a cellphone, for example, but I only use it when necessary--like if my car breaks down or I'm meeting someone somewhere and they're late. Most kids I know call friends on their cellphones "just to chat." But unlike my former landlady, I don't find this rude or offensive. Unless they're calling me.
So that's why Steve looked so skinny--too stressed out about doing the perp-walk at next year's MacWorld SF. They better grab his passport--he does have his own jet after all...:^)
At the moment, you're right. None of my "current applications" will take advantage of multiple processors. But, then, why should application developers take advantage of multi-core processors? Nobody has them! But as multi-core CPUs become more available and customers get them and start complaining to application developers about how slow their apps are, you'll see more of a change.
Take Macintosh as an example. When Apple started putting two processors into their PowerMacs, the same complaints were heard. But over the last 5 years or so, most processor intensive applications were updated to support multiple processors. It will be the same here.
Look at the advertising for Xbox. The connection with Microsoft is subdued or non-existant--maybe a little Microsoft logo at the bottom of the screen below the much larger Xbox logo. Heck, there are plenty of people who don't really know/care about the connection with iPod and Apple (for that matter, there are plenty of people who don't know the connection between Macintosh and Apple).
As I've said before, most people don't actually buy Windows. They buy Dell, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, or whatever. Windows is just something that comes along with it. When something goes wrong with their computer, they don't necessarily blame Microsoft--they blame the company they bought the computer from. Heck, how many people do you know who have used "Netscape" or "Lotus"? People don't understand these things, nor do they care.
So I could see Zune getting the same treatment as Xbox and make it more of a brand unto itself. It makes sense, really. Arguably, the "Microsoft" brand has it's best recognition among corporations. The "Microsoft" brand doesn't carry a whole lot of weight elsewhere. So why bother with it. It's not the "Microsoft Zune", it's just Zune.
"Very pleased again, until I received Studio 8 in the mail. I popped the CD in and... *GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND Eject*"
I'm pretty sure that Studio 8 only came on floppies. Trying to put a floppy disk in your CD drive is a bad idea... Besides, MacBooks don't support System 7 anyway, so how are you going to run it?:^):^):^)
Seriously, though, I assume you've tried other CDs, right?
Actually, here's an entertaining idea for privacy concerns. Munge/Obfuscate the IP Address. If I see a bunch of clicks from xxx.xxx.253.99 or from address "Whahoopa" in a day, I can kind of assume that something fishy is going on.
Slashdot Mirror
I see. A parachute that will allow, say, 100,000 pounds to land gently.
That I gotta see...
To me, the tricky part of getting it here would be landing it. Sure, you can get it to the Earth fairly easily--Moon has low gravity, Earth has high gravity, etc. The problem to me is that you kind of need to arrange a soft landing for it. So you have to slow down, say, 1,000,000 pounds traveling at, say, 20,000 MPH and set it down gently on the Earth.
That's gonna take a lot of energy.
I'm not all that convinced that it will ever be economically feasible to send raw ore from the Moon to the Earth in order to build stuff down here, versus mining the ore here on Earth. Heck, consider Pittsburgh. It's close to iron ore (raw material), close to the ocean (transportation), and close to coal (energy source). If you move the iron ore from Pennsylvania to Alabama, you wouldn't have a Pittsburgh--at least, not in Pennsylvania.
So it would make more economic sense to build steel on the moon. You have your raw material on the moon. You have plenty of energy (solar) on the moon. And the cost to deliver your steel is about the same no matter where on Earth you're delivering it to. Steel is more valuable than iron ore, too.
The biggest issue, to me, would be the delivery cost. You have to have a cheap way to get your material safely to Earth, which sounds pretty difficult. Getting it from the Moon to the Earth probably wouldn't be that bad, but getting that much material down onto the Earth will be tricky.
In the movies, everything is so much easier. We've solved that pesky zero-G thing (no matter how damaged the ship is, the gravity always seems to work), they never have to deal with the mundane tasks of fixing stuff and getting supplies or anything. It's all action, adventure, and no matter how big the problem is, it gets solved in--at most--two or three hours.
Y'know, maybe we should contract all this space stuff out to Hollywood. Not only would it be cheaper, it'd be a lot more entertaining.
Well, first, the Japanese and the ESA are working on it. You also need to be able to maneuver the payload to be somewhere near the ISS. At the moment, the Russians are the only one with a proven heavy-lift capacity.
But, yes, others are working on this as well.
One place to find people with management skills is at a label. They'll take care of calling radio stations for airplay, sending promotional versions out, arrange tour dates, and getting your name known in the business. All you have to do is be creative.
Of course, they'll also take the lions share of the money. But, hey, where else will someone pay you to just sit around and strum on your guitar and come up with songs?
Yes. Yes you should.
:^)
You should immediately dispose of that notebook and go buy one from Apple. In fact, everybody with a Dell product--whether it has a battery or not--should immediately throw it out and replace it with an Apple computer.
Why, yes, I do own Apple stock? Why do you ask?
Because caucasians are just too damn tall.
If the move from 16 to 32-bit was dramatic, it was mostly because there were various different ways of trying to deal with getting more memory into a DOS/Windows-based computer. Remember the ol' expanded versus extended memory issues?
Joe User will not be excited about 64-bitness until (a) memory becomes cheap enough for him to have more than 4GB ($1300 for DDR2, last I looked) and (b) something Joe User really really wants to do requires him to have that much memory.
Hey, it's not easy to find lost people on TV. Hell, those people on Gilligan's Island were there from 1964 to 1978.
4. Do minimal damage to the airplane.
5. Kill only yourself.
I thought the concept was to take a few with you.
The only time Security ever bothered me was at JFK. Everywhere else I've gone, no problem.
By the way, from the looks of it, Pennsylvania makes some good money from selling the items "surrendered" by passengers at the airport.
Actually, this is one of those scenarios where it'd be handy to have a kid with a cellphone (or a walky-talky).
"Hi, Mom! I'm supposed to meet you in 10 minutes, but this line is long and I'm almost to the front. Can I meet you in 20 minutes instead?" Or "Mom? I'm here! Where are you?" Or "Son? I'm waiting for you!" "Dad, I'm sitting right next to the clown statue." "Oops! There you are. Sorry..."
But I agree. About the only time I'd want to check up on my kids at Disneyland is if they're ahead of me in line. "Bobby? This is Dad. Can I have cuts?"
Frankly, it's up to the parent to decide these things. They know their kid the best, at least in theory.
Actually, due to the increased use of cellphones, there are fewer and fewer payphones out there.
I recently trashed a cellphone just before I had to go away for a week. So for one week, I was cellphoneless. When I needed to make a call, I figured I'd just use a payphone. That's when I discovered that payphones are getting fewer and further between. I ended up using the hotel phone (and paying extra) or using chat programs on my computer.
Also, in this era of deregulation, payphone prices can vary. 50 cents might not be enough in some cases. Of course, they can call collect but that can end up in some big bucks, too.
First is "considerately." Do you mean, you don't want to give your kid a cell phone because they might use it in a movie theatre?
"Responsibly"? Like, they won't use it as a weapon?
"Appropriate Times"? This is the one that really caught my eye.
Way back when, I rented a room from a nice little old lady. At the time, I had a sweetheart who lived far away. I would call her after 11:00PM because the rates were cheaper. I knew she was awake, I was awake, what's the problem? Well, my landlady thought this was incredibly rude, to be calling someone after 11:00PM! My landlady grew up in a time when having any kind of phone was a privilege. Long distance calls were incredibly expensive and you didn't call someone from far away "just to chat." You called long distance if-and-only-if you had some very important message to communicate right away.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the concept that phone calls cost money. Heck, I've stood in line behind people at the local cellular carrier and listened to them plead their case--"How could my kid have run up this big a bill?! It's impossible!" I usually chuckle to myself when I hear these. That said, there are things you can do so that the kids become aware of the cost. One of the easiest is to do is get them one of those "prepaid" phone plans where, once a month, you stick $20 into it. If the kid uses it up, they either have to fund it themselves or go without. And, if they go without, their mobility is severely limited (after all, they can't phone home if there's a problem). You'd be surprised how quickly they'll learn.
Older people--and I sadly consider myself to be one--are surprised at how these young people have no appreciation of this gift of technology. By God, I remember when I had to get my fat ass off the couch and walk over to the TV to change the channel! I'd watch shows which weren't funny just because they were stuck between two other shows that were funny! Kids today don't appreciate that. Heck, look at this Internet thingie! They could be using it to research the great unknowns! Instead, they're watching videos of other kids dancing badly to horrible music! What an inappropriate use of what could be the greatest tool for learning that mankind has seen!
The only good thing is they're so busy with this other stuff, they're staying the hell off my lawn.
Seriously, though, I think each generation finds their own way to work with the technology available to them. I have a cellphone, for example, but I only use it when necessary--like if my car breaks down or I'm meeting someone somewhere and they're late. Most kids I know call friends on their cellphones "just to chat." But unlike my former landlady, I don't find this rude or offensive. Unless they're calling me.
So that's why Steve looked so skinny--too stressed out about doing the perp-walk at next year's MacWorld SF. They better grab his passport--he does have his own jet after all... :^)
Actually, my favorite was the guy I saw in Florida who had a Challenger license plate with the inscription "KABOOM."
It's a chicken-or-the-egg thing.
At the moment, you're right. None of my "current applications" will take advantage of multiple processors. But, then, why should application developers take advantage of multi-core processors? Nobody has them! But as multi-core CPUs become more available and customers get them and start complaining to application developers about how slow their apps are, you'll see more of a change.
Take Macintosh as an example. When Apple started putting two processors into their PowerMacs, the same complaints were heard. But over the last 5 years or so, most processor intensive applications were updated to support multiple processors. It will be the same here.
But, let's also remember--nobody knows companies.
Look at the advertising for Xbox. The connection with Microsoft is subdued or non-existant--maybe a little Microsoft logo at the bottom of the screen below the much larger Xbox logo. Heck, there are plenty of people who don't really know/care about the connection with iPod and Apple (for that matter, there are plenty of people who don't know the connection between Macintosh and Apple).
As I've said before, most people don't actually buy Windows. They buy Dell, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, or whatever. Windows is just something that comes along with it. When something goes wrong with their computer, they don't necessarily blame Microsoft--they blame the company they bought the computer from. Heck, how many people do you know who have used "Netscape" or "Lotus"? People don't understand these things, nor do they care.
So I could see Zune getting the same treatment as Xbox and make it more of a brand unto itself. It makes sense, really. Arguably, the "Microsoft" brand has it's best recognition among corporations. The "Microsoft" brand doesn't carry a whole lot of weight elsewhere. So why bother with it. It's not the "Microsoft Zune", it's just Zune.
Remember, that's where these chips went first was into Notebooks. Apple makes good money off of Notebooks and needed to bring those up-to-par ASAP.
I'd also be pretty sure that Dell would not offer to give you a new case for your Dell Notebook because of discoloration.
"Very pleased again, until I received Studio 8 in the mail. I popped the CD in and... *GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND Eject*"
:^) :^) :^)
I'm pretty sure that Studio 8 only came on floppies. Trying to put a floppy disk in your CD drive is a bad idea... Besides, MacBooks don't support System 7 anyway, so how are you going to run it?
Seriously, though, I assume you've tried other CDs, right?
Actually, here's an entertaining idea for privacy concerns. Munge/Obfuscate the IP Address. If I see a bunch of clicks from xxx.xxx.253.99 or from address "Whahoopa" in a day, I can kind of assume that something fishy is going on.
Yes. Yes I have.