... at that plant (I used to live nearby) was in Quality Control. They would hire people to listen to the Golden Master CDs for defects before mass producing the CDs from the master. People would line up around the block when they had those openings. The pay wasn't great, but where else could you listen to unreleased music all day and get paid for it?
...at all, in any language? Is this the modern equivalent of a previous century's idea of a good education, something like all kids should learn Latin and Greek?
TerreStar, Sky Terra (Lightsquared), and Inmarsat use geostationary satellites. Iridium and GlobalStar use low earth orbits (below 1000 km ), while ICO Global initially opted for satellites in a medium earth orbit, at about 10,000 km. ICO's latest bird, however, will be geosynchronous.
...like the car ad with the rube goldberg machine made from pieces.
For those so interested, the ad you refer to, called "Cog", can be viewed in a variety of sites. Search for "Honda when things just work". The most interesting part is how the ad was made, for that I refer you to snopes:
Oh my. When have I heard this before? Oh yes, back in the 1980s when there was panic and hyperbole over Japan, Inc. overtaking the USA in everything. How did that pan out exactly? I don't see how the current situation with China is any different.
Yea, back in the 80's we in the USA were worried that Japan would outcompete us in automobiles, semiconductors and consumer electronics. The way it panned out, we have virtually no semiconductor and electronics industries left. The automobile industry still hasn't (and may never) recover from Japanese competition.
Sorry, both you and AC below both lose out on your patent idea. Isaac Asimov claims prior art on your idea, which, in an amazing act of prescience, he documented in his short story The Holmes-Gimsbook Device, a short story about the invention of a device that allows reading and girl-watching at the same time.
(available in many places, not just the link provided)
I was unable to find any reference to xG Flash, the modulation scheme debunked by Phil Karn. Here is xG's description of xMax, the modulation system currently used by xG:
which is pretty mundane (for wireless nerds like me: it is BPSK with r=1/2 convo code). No revolutionary power-saving modulation here! Phil Karn seems to apply the term xMax interchangeably with Flash however, so I am not sure what's up with that.
My guess is now that they've gotten their hand slapped, they "retired" the xG Flash modulation (though it is still mentioned in the press release archives with bogus statements about saving power).
For the record, I have no association whatsoever with xG or Phil Karn.
This article questions the validity of the company.
That's a great link, thanks for posting, but to be fair, the original TFA is talking about an entirely different topic, the use by xG of cognitive radio ("cog radio") techniques for spectrum utilization, rather than some new, ostensibly power saving modulation scheme developed by xG.
Cog radio still has the potential to alleviate spectral congestion in some situations. It may be very beneficial to some users (i.e.: military) which is why DARPA and some military agencies continue tio fund development of same.
There is no hard definition of what cog radio is, exactly, so given xG's record of spin, we should take their claim as interesting, but the details would need to be understood to see just how revolutionary (or not) their scheme really is.
Vocaloid, the technology behind Mitsuke, is not exactly voice synthesis (much less singing synthesis). It consists of a large database of sound samples of a human performer. These samples are then processed and stitched together by a song's creator.
Ages ago, the members of Soft Cell, an 80's synthpop duo, said they expected that in the future, there would be the capability to synthesize the human singing voice, making even the vocalists unnecessary. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, that has not yet happened.
For a quick listen at the actual synthesis if the singing voice (quite different from synthesis of spoken voice, which has essentially been mastered), see this fellow's PhD thesis.
Can anyone point to more recent examples of singing synthesis?
China's kind of like the neighbor kid that knocks on my door and offers to mow the lawn for $20. It's not that I can't mow myself, but when it's so cheap to pay someone else why do it myself? If he ever didn't show up for a couple weeks I'd just do it myself, but as long as he's offering I'll keep paying him.
Yes, we have plenty of reserves but China has 97% of the market. That means they can lower the price of their exports to the point it is not economical for the US to operate a mine.
To continue with the lawnmower analogy, if the kid stops showing up, you have to decide if it's worth investing $300 for a lawnmower, some gas and oil, etc. Then, just when you're mind is made up to get it, the kid shows up and offers to mow your lawn for $15 so you don't invest in that lawnmower after all. A few weeks later, he's back to charging you $20, and showing up whenever he wants to. By price manipulation, he can keep you dependent on him indefinitely.
Nobody would invest in a mine (or lawnmower) in those circumstances. We'd have to create a government program (gasp - socialism!) to operate a mine for national security reasons.
The curious, interested, would-be, and retired skydivers (like me) will enjoy reading Joe Kitinger's riveting first-hand accounts of his jumps in the book he wrote: "The Long, Lonely Leap".
Incredibly, the book is out of print and is an expensive collector's item! I'm not a big fan of digital books, but this one sure makes the case for digital preservation of a historical record.
I believe the law to is well intentioned, and that most companies fully comply with the law (my employer certainly has, and by so doing has incurred large expenses and missed opportunities), but sometimes I just wonder that to some companies, breaking such a law and paying the fine is just another buseness expense.
So, is the law effective? Once the technology is "transferred" there is no getting it back, and that country we were trying to keep it from then has it forever.
Seymour Cray and Steve Jobs
on
Homebrew Cray-1
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Ages ago, I heard this story. Can anyone confirm if this is true or not?
Seems Steve Jobs, upon the success of the first Macs, was getting ready for the next step and he went to Cray Computer to buy one (probably to help design the PowerPC?). Anyway, Cray Computers were not just sitting on the shelf waiting to be sold, so it seems Jobs created an altercation and demanded to see the manager about getting one, so they called Seymour down to the lobby. Steve introduced himself and said words to the effect of “I’d like to use a Cray to design the next Apple Computer”. Seymour replied “Thats great. I used an Apple Computer to design my Cray”.
The day I went, a few years ago, I was fortunate because there was a busload of visitors there the same day (Daughters of the Revolution? Young Republicans? I don't know who they were). They had an official museum tour guide who gave a lot of history and details about what was in the exhibits, way more than was available on the displays alone. I was able to tag along and listen to it all. If at all possible, I urge you to see about getting a group together (through your workplace, school, boy scout troop, whatever) and getting such a guided tour.
On another note, before the group got there, the museum had a few visitors. All of them with haircuts which leads me to believe they were military in civvies, and all of them discussing the exhibits in whispers!
Your right! This being the second Iridium constellation, there will be alot of stuff up there. Let's hope there isn't going to be another one of these collisions!
While I believe glass will block most of the UV radiation, there are still some fabrics and many paper items that fade after prolonged exposure to sunlight. Nylon and other petroleum derived fabrics will actually deteriorate in sunlight.
Mod parent up for recommending Asimov's book! Isaac A. wrote a large number of popular science books covering a variety of topics. if anyone has the slightest curiousity about one of the topics he covered, they would be well served to seek out Asimov's book on the topic. My personal favorite: The Universe, where he not only explains what we know about astronomy, but how we learned what we know about astronomy.
On the subject of physics, I would also recommend the books by Heinz Pagels. Heinz met an untimely death in a mountaneering accident, but he left behind three mind blowing books about physics. I have not seen the book referred to in the TFA, but I do hope that Heinz' books are part of the bibliography.
See the following quotes from Chinee officials, as published in the London Sunday Times:
" China's Hawks Demand Cold War On The US: MORE than half of Chinese people questioned in a poll believe China and America are heading for a new “cold war”. The finding came after battles over Taiwan, Tibet, trade, climate change, internet freedom and human rights which have poisoned relations in the three months since President Barack Obama made a fruitless visit to Beijing. According to diplomatic sources, a rancorous postmortem examination is under way inside the US government, led by officials who think the president was badly advised and was made to appear weak. In China’s eyes, the American response — which includes a pledge by Obama to get tougher on trade — is a reaction against its rising power. Now almost 55% of those questioned for Global Times, a state-run newspaper, agree that “a cold war will break out between the US and China”. An independent survey of Chinese-language media for The Sunday Times has found army and navy officers predicting a military showdown and political leaders calling for China to sell more arms to America’s foes. The trigger for their fury was Obama’s decision to sell $6.4 billion (£4 billion) worth of weapons to Taiwan, the thriving democratic island that has ruled itself since 1949. “We should retaliate with an eye for an eye and sell arms to Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela,” declared Liu Menxiong, a member of the Chinese people’s political consultative conference. He added: “We have nothing to be afraid of. The North Koreans have stood up to America and has anything happened to them? No. Iran stands up to America and does disaster befall it? No.” Officially, China has reacted by threatening sanctions against American companies selling arms to Taiwan and cancelling military visits.
But Chinese analysts think the leadership, riding a wave of patriotism as the year of the tiger dawns, may go further. “This time China must punish the US,” said Major-General Yang Yi, a naval officer. “We must make them hurt.” A major-general in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Luo Yuan, told a television audience that more missiles would be deployed against Taiwan. And a PLA strategist, Colonel Meng Xianging, said China would “qualitatively upgrade” its military over the next 10 years to force a showdown “when we’re strong enough for a hand-to-hand fight with the US”. Chinese indignation was compounded when the White House said Obama would meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, in the next few weeks. In reality, Chinese officials argued over every item of protocol, rigged a town hall meeting with a pre-selected audience, censored the only interview Obama gave to a Chinese newspaper and forbade the Americans to use their own helicopters to fly him to the Great Wall. President Hu Jintao refused to give an inch on Obama’s plea to raise the value of the Chinese currency, while his vague promises of co-operation on climate change led the Americans to blunder into a fiasco at the Copenhagen summit three weeks later. Diplomats say they have been told that there was “frigid” personal chemistry between Obama and the Chinese president, with none of the superficial friendship struck up by previous leaders of the two nations. Yet after their meeting Obama’s China adviser, Jeff Bader, said: “It’s been highly successful in setting out and accomplishing the objectives we set ourselves.” (London Sunday Times, 2/07)
Slashdot Mirror
Dudes, the only beer to drink with this dish has gotta be Jurassic Amber Ales!
... at that plant (I used to live nearby) was in Quality Control. They would hire people to listen to the Golden Master CDs for defects before mass producing the CDs from the master. People would line up around the block when they had those openings. The pay wasn't great, but where else could you listen to unreleased music all day and get paid for it?
...at all, in any language? Is this the modern equivalent of a previous century's idea of a good education, something like all kids should learn Latin and Greek?
Oh, come now. Plenty of game-based movies have been proposed, but few make it to production. Check out:
Pac-Man the Movie
Pac-Man the (other) Movie
Minesweeper - The Movie
Good point. Long takes are not easy to do.
For more long takes, see Children of Men, there are several of them in that film.
TerreStar, Sky Terra (Lightsquared), and Inmarsat use geostationary satellites. Iridium and GlobalStar use low earth orbits (below 1000 km ), while ICO Global initially opted for satellites in a medium earth orbit, at about 10,000 km. ICO's latest bird, however, will be geosynchronous.
Potential buyers better be sure to kick the tires and take it fir a test drive (...er cruise). To this day, the Argentine Air Force claims they dropped some bombs on the HMS Invincible during the Falklands War. The UK government denies the claim, saying instead that it was the HMS Avenger that got hit.
...like the car ad with the rube goldberg machine made from pieces.
For those so interested, the ad you refer to, called "Cog", can be viewed in a variety of sites. Search for "Honda when things just work". The most interesting part is how the ad was made, for that I refer you to snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/advertisements/hondacog.asp
Oh my. When have I heard this before? Oh yes, back in the 1980s when there was panic and hyperbole over Japan, Inc. overtaking the USA in everything. How did that pan out exactly? I don't see how the current situation with China is any different.
Yea, back in the 80's we in the USA were worried that Japan would outcompete us in automobiles, semiconductors and consumer electronics. The way it panned out, we have virtually no semiconductor and electronics industries left. The automobile industry still hasn't (and may never) recover from Japanese competition.
Sorry, both you and AC below both lose out on your patent idea. Isaac Asimov claims prior art on your idea, which, in an amazing act of prescience, he documented in his short story The Holmes-Gimsbook Device, a short story about the invention of a device that allows reading and girl-watching at the same time.
(available in many places, not just the link provided)
Let me follow up on my own post (can I give myself mod points?).
Here, xG provides a brief description of their spectrum using tehnique: (basically, look for unused segments):
http://www.xgtechnology.com/Technology/technology.html
I was unable to find any reference to xG Flash, the modulation scheme debunked by Phil Karn. Here is xG's description of xMax, the modulation system currently used by xG:
http://www.xgtechnology.com/Technology/xmax-physical-layer.html
which is pretty mundane (for wireless nerds like me: it is BPSK with r=1/2 convo code). No revolutionary power-saving modulation here!
Phil Karn seems to apply the term xMax interchangeably with Flash however, so I am not sure what's up with that.
My guess is now that they've gotten their hand slapped, they "retired" the xG Flash modulation (though it is still mentioned in the press release archives with bogus statements about saving power).
For the record, I have no association whatsoever with xG or Phil Karn.
This article questions the validity of the company.
That's a great link, thanks for posting, but to be fair, the original TFA is talking about an entirely different topic, the use by xG of cognitive radio ("cog radio") techniques for spectrum utilization, rather than some new, ostensibly power saving modulation scheme developed by xG.
Cog radio still has the potential to alleviate spectral congestion in some situations. It may be very beneficial to some users (i.e.: military) which is why DARPA and some military agencies continue tio fund development of same.
There is no hard definition of what cog radio is, exactly, so given xG's record of spin, we should take their claim as interesting, but the details would need to be understood to see just how revolutionary (or not) their scheme really is.
Vocaloid, the technology behind Mitsuke, is not exactly voice synthesis (much less singing synthesis). It consists of a large database of sound samples of a human performer. These samples are then processed and stitched together by a song's creator.
Ages ago, the members of Soft Cell, an 80's synthpop duo, said they expected that in the future, there would be the capability to synthesize the human singing voice, making even the vocalists unnecessary. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, that has not yet happened.
For a quick listen at the actual synthesis if the singing voice (quite different from synthesis of spoken voice, which has essentially been mastered), see this fellow's PhD thesis.
Can anyone point to more recent examples of singing synthesis?
China's kind of like the neighbor kid that knocks on my door and offers to mow the lawn for $20. It's not that I can't mow myself, but when it's so cheap to pay someone else why do it myself? If he ever didn't show up for a couple weeks I'd just do it myself, but as long as he's offering I'll keep paying him.
Yes, we have plenty of reserves but China has 97% of the market. That means they can lower the price of their exports to the point it is not economical for the US to operate a mine.
To continue with the lawnmower analogy, if the kid stops showing up, you have to decide if it's worth investing $300 for a lawnmower, some gas and oil, etc. Then, just when you're mind is made up to get it, the kid shows up and offers to mow your lawn for $15 so you don't invest in that lawnmower after all. A few weeks later, he's back to charging you $20, and showing up whenever he wants to. By price manipulation, he can keep you dependent on him indefinitely.
Nobody would invest in a mine (or lawnmower) in those circumstances. We'd have to create a government program (gasp - socialism!) to operate a mine for national security reasons.
The curious, interested, would-be, and retired skydivers (like me) will enjoy reading Joe Kitinger's riveting first-hand accounts of his jumps in the book he wrote: "The Long, Lonely Leap".
Incredibly, the book is out of print and is an expensive collector's item! I'm not a big fan of digital books, but this one sure makes the case for digital preservation of a historical record.
There are a handful of commercial companies that can build ICBMs. You can restrict them using ITAR. it works.
Imagine if companies like boeing, raytheon and lockheed martin would be allowed to sell weapons directly to Iran ...
Too late. While not a direct sale of a weapon,a trnasfer of technology has already occurred at least once.
I believe the law to is well intentioned, and that most companies fully comply with the law (my employer certainly has, and by so doing has incurred large expenses and missed opportunities), but sometimes I just wonder that to some companies, breaking such a law and paying the fine is just another buseness expense.
So, is the law effective? Once the technology is "transferred" there is no getting it back, and that country we were trying to keep it from then has it forever.
Ages ago, I heard this story. Can anyone confirm if this is true or not?
Seems Steve Jobs, upon the success of the first Macs, was getting ready for the next step and he went to Cray Computer to buy one (probably to help design the PowerPC?).
Anyway, Cray Computers were not just sitting on the shelf waiting to be sold, so it seems Jobs created an altercation and demanded to see the manager about getting one, so they called Seymour down to the lobby. Steve introduced himself and said words to the effect of “I’d like to use a Cray to design the next Apple Computer”. Seymour replied “Thats great. I used an Apple Computer to design my Cray”.
The day I went, a few years ago, I was fortunate because there was a busload of visitors there the same day (Daughters of the Revolution? Young Republicans? I don't know who they were). They had an official museum tour guide who gave a lot of history and details about what was in the exhibits, way more than was available on the displays alone. I was able to tag along and listen to it all. If at all possible, I urge you to see about getting a group together (through your workplace, school, boy scout troop, whatever) and getting such a guided tour.
On another note, before the group got there, the museum had a few visitors. All of them with haircuts which leads me to believe they were military in civvies, and all of them discussing the exhibits in whispers!
Your right! This being the second Iridium constellation, there will be alot of stuff up there. Let's hope there isn't going to be another one of these collisions!
So Galaxy Zoo doesn't need me anymore? That is the one activity where I was contributing to science to benefit all mankind.
Oh well, I guess I'll go back to trying to beat Mario 64 or something equally pointless....
While I believe glass will block most of the UV radiation, there are still some fabrics and many paper items that fade after prolonged exposure to sunlight. Nylon and other petroleum derived fabrics will actually deteriorate in sunlight.
Mod parent up for recommending Asimov's book! Isaac A. wrote a large number of popular science books covering a variety of topics. if anyone has the slightest curiousity about one of the topics he covered, they would be well served to seek out Asimov's book on the topic. My personal favorite: The Universe, where he not only explains what we know about astronomy, but how we learned what we know about astronomy.
On the subject of physics, I would also recommend the books by Heinz Pagels. Heinz met an untimely death in a mountaneering accident, but he left behind three mind blowing books about physics. I have not seen the book referred to in the TFA, but I do hope that Heinz' books are part of the bibliography.
I am pleasantly surprised that a programming game made the list. Or that it is on any kind of list - period!
For those so interested, Robowar lives! RoboWar, which per the TFA is the decendant of RobotWar is now open source. See:
http://robowar.sourceforge.net/RoboWar5/index.html
Near as I can tell, the latest incarnation is highly compatible with the older Mac-only shareware version from days gone by.
Damn Good
Double Plus Ungood
There, fixed that for ya.
- jz
See the following quotes from Chinee officials, as published in the London Sunday Times:
"
China's Hawks Demand Cold War On The US: MORE than half of Chinese people questioned in a poll believe China and America are heading for a new “cold war”. The finding came after battles over Taiwan, Tibet, trade, climate change, internet freedom and human rights which have poisoned relations in the three months since President Barack Obama made a fruitless visit to Beijing. According to diplomatic sources, a rancorous postmortem examination is under way inside the US government, led by officials who think the president was badly advised and was made to appear weak. In China’s eyes, the American response — which includes a pledge by Obama to get tougher on trade — is a reaction against its rising power. Now almost 55% of those questioned for Global Times, a state-run newspaper, agree that “a cold war will break out between the US and China”. An independent survey of Chinese-language media for The Sunday Times has found army and navy officers predicting a military showdown and political leaders calling for China to sell more arms to America’s foes. The trigger for their fury was Obama’s decision to sell $6.4 billion (£4 billion) worth of weapons to Taiwan, the thriving democratic island that has ruled itself since 1949. “We should retaliate with an eye for an eye and sell arms to Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela,” declared Liu Menxiong, a member of the Chinese people’s political consultative conference. He added: “We have nothing to be afraid of. The North Koreans have stood up to America and has anything happened to them? No. Iran stands up to America and does disaster befall it? No.” Officially, China has reacted by threatening sanctions against American companies selling arms to Taiwan and cancelling military visits.
But Chinese analysts think the leadership, riding a wave of patriotism as the year of the tiger dawns, may go further. “This time China must punish the US,” said Major-General Yang Yi, a naval officer. “We must make them hurt.” A major-general in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Luo Yuan, told a television audience that more missiles would be deployed against Taiwan. And a PLA strategist, Colonel Meng Xianging, said China would “qualitatively upgrade” its military over the next 10 years to force a showdown “when we’re strong enough for a hand-to-hand fight with the US”. Chinese indignation was compounded when the White House said Obama would meet the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, in the next few weeks. In reality, Chinese officials argued over every item of protocol, rigged a town hall meeting with a pre-selected audience, censored the only interview Obama gave to a Chinese newspaper and forbade the Americans to use their own helicopters to fly him to the Great Wall. President Hu Jintao refused to give an inch on Obama’s plea to raise the value of the Chinese currency, while his vague promises of co-operation on climate change led the Americans to blunder into a fiasco at the Copenhagen summit three weeks later. Diplomats say they have been told that there was “frigid” personal chemistry between Obama and the Chinese president, with none of the superficial friendship struck up by previous leaders of the two nations. Yet after their meeting Obama’s China adviser, Jeff Bader, said: “It’s been highly successful in setting out and accomplishing the objectives we set ourselves.” (London Sunday Times, 2/07)