There is a tiny bit of truth to the map...but just a tiny bit.
If using a Bussard ramjet, it might be usefult to stay in the galactic arms where there would be more interstellar matter for your engine. If you take a shortcut across the arms, you may not encounter enough mass to accelerate to the velocity you want.
Of course, the difference between 0.99% of c and 0.999% of c may not matter that much considering your voyage will last longer than your galactic civilization.
"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. "
From the Kenyon College Commencement Address May 20, 1990, by Bill Watterson
I think Bill Watterson succeeded in his pursuit of that rare achievement.
I'm sure many of us have been asked what we'd do if you saw XXX in person. If I saw Bill Watterson, I'd just pay his dinner tab and give him a tip of my hat.
Let me correct myself. The Octoloop has a very narrow _null_ (not beamwidth). In a recue situation, the rescuers on the surface could use the antenna's null to direction-find the transmitter.
Methinks that antenna looks like the fabled Octoloop (look about 3/4 down the page). Granted, it provides some useful antenna gain, but another disadvantage (in addition to its' large size), is that it has a very narrow beamwidth. This would restrict reception on the surface to a very specific location which would be hard to determine in a rescue situation if the rescueres don't know where the transmitter is located.
None-the-less, there is probably some niche applications for this (fault monitoring?) and I wish the inventor student the best of luck.
I remember the game Postal having realistic violence. When you shot someone, they didn't just die, they lingered crying for help or water. Sometimes they would crawl out of the way leaving a blood trail and then die behind an obstacle.
IIRC, there was a lot of criticism of the game, partly because of the realistic depiction of violence.
Yes the above in in jest, but only partly so. As part of the downhill slide of newspapers, has been an old staple, the funnies. Even if you can find them in your local paper, they are usually too small to read.
a) It's a matter of how far you have to move. Living in the Northeast USA, I'd have to travel a few hours to see a decent night sky, and likely many, many hours to see the milky way.
b) I don't know about light pollution measurements, but I think the intent is to have light fixtures that direct the light downwards (where it is useful) instead of in all directions where it ends up causing the haze that interferes with our view of the sky. See the International Dark Sky Association for further info.
c) I think it is just a matter that it's nicer have the view than not have it. Setting aside all the mumbo jumbo about sense of wonder and connection to the cosmos, it's a downright beautiful view, like seeing a beautiful mountain range or sea shore. Seeing the milky way is a small enhancement to life which could be enjoyed from a lot more places than is currently possible.
Someone (I forget who) proposed we turn off our lights (as much as possible without compromising safety) just one night a year. I, for one, second that motion.
IIRC, the current separation requirement is 2 degrees, allowing for 180 potential slots in GEO.
The 2 degrees is an allowance for the ground antennas, so they don't jam or pick up interference from, adjacent satellites.
Also, btw, "clutter" is removed from GEO. When a satellite nears the end-of-life, the last bit of hydrazine fuel is used to push it up into a higher orbit to avoid potential problems in the Clarke belt.
Maybe in the far off future archeologists will be able to examine these defunct satellites and gain an understanding of 20th century technology.
For those of in pursuit of the pure quiet PC, this board gets us a few steps closer.
Just in case anyone is checking, the total power consumption of this puppy is shown as 38 Watts, just a hair above the heat pipe rating for this Coolermaster heat-pipe based case
Roger that. This fact has been known in microwave circles for decades, if not longer.
For a classic absorption curve see:
http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/atm-absorption.htm
Note where 60 GHz lies on the oxygen absorption curve.
Though I have not worked in the area for a while, I presume that by now it is a lot easier to make transistors, amplifiers, receivers, etc at 60 GHz?
Further, it is not clear from the article whether the test subjects (and test administrator!) knew what they were listening to. Tests of this sort need to be done in a double-blind manner, as all pharmaceutical and ESP tests are done, in order not to skew the results, even subcounciously.
It is possible the subjects chose MP3 because it's what they are familiar with, because it works on their ipods and cell phones,or because it's in the press all the time.
Without clarufying some of the details of how the test is done, the results can only be considered anecdotal.
Most of my other favorite books have been posted here already, but no books on this topic have appeared yet.
I will be taking this course next term so I already got this MATLAB based book. I've already been reading it and it definitely deserves all the 5 star ratings it is getting on Amazon.
Just to clarify... boardgames are alive and well, thank you very much. And, while it's hard to actually see them in stores (except for the very rare actual game store ), they are played by and marketed to all age groups, not just kids and not just parents.
I agree they may no longer be part of the mainstream, and that may be partly due to Hasbro just marketing their "classics". However, having played countless PC and console games myself, I always find it a welcome surprise what a sheer variety of boardgames exist, either in themes, mechanics, luck vs. strategy, etc etc.
If anyone is curious, I recommend a visit to this site .
BTW, (board)gamers will always remember Habro as the corporate giant that gobbled up Avalon Hill. Fortunately, a lot of Avalon Hills former line was saved, either by being reprinted by Hasbro, or bought by other companies (such as MultiMan Publishing )
Ages ago, during the first Iraq war (remember? we did this before...) there were reports about people using UHF scanners and picking fighter pilot air-to-ground communications (UHF band, using non-encrypted FM voice) which the US Navy FLEETSAT satellites inadvertently transponded.
This will likely require non-trivial mods to your BUD (replace the LNB and feed with a UHF helical antenna for starters), plus FLEETSATs are no longer in service, the US now uses UFO satellites (no kidding! thats a real acronym), but they too are just dumb transponders.
Get a UHF scanner, dig around and find out the frequency plans and orbital positions of the UFOs, and see what you can hear.
Very true, but while the PE license is required only in certain positions (mostly Civil engineering), it is not generally a "license to practice engineering", which is what effectively the Bar and AMA provide.
The old joke that garbage collectors are Sanitation Engineers is an example of the lack of standards defining the profession.
In other professions, there is a professional organization that decides who is a member of that profession. These organizations set standards and sometimes tests to decide who gets admitted. Think of the American Medical Association or a Bar Association. There is no equivalent for engineers or computer science folk, neither the IEEE, ASME, nor ACM fulfill the same role for the engineering "profession". This goes a long way towards explaining why engineers don't get the same respect (and wages!) as other professionals.
Slashdot Mirror
Isaac Asimov also wrote a short story that "predicted" paper books. See "The Holmes-Ginsbook Device" by Isaac Asimov.
There is a tiny bit of truth to the map...but just a tiny bit.
If using a Bussard ramjet, it might be usefult to stay in the galactic arms where there would be more interstellar matter for your engine. If you take a shortcut across the arms, you may not encounter enough mass to accelerate to the velocity you want.
Of course, the difference between 0.99% of c and 0.999% of c may not matter that much considering your voyage will last longer than your galactic civilization.
"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. "
From the Kenyon College Commencement Address
May 20, 1990, by Bill Watterson
I think Bill Watterson succeeded in his pursuit of that rare achievement.
I'm sure many of us have been asked what we'd do if you saw XXX in person. If I saw Bill Watterson, I'd just pay his dinner tab and give him a tip of my hat.
Thank you Mr. Watterson.
Let me correct myself. The Octoloop has a very narrow _null_ (not beamwidth). In a recue situation, the rescuers on the surface could use the antenna's null to direction-find the transmitter.
Methinks that antenna looks like the fabled Octoloop (look about 3/4 down the page). Granted, it provides some useful antenna gain, but another disadvantage (in addition to its' large size), is that it has a very narrow beamwidth. This would restrict reception on the surface to a very specific location which would be hard to determine in a rescue situation if the rescueres don't know where the transmitter is located.
None-the-less, there is probably some niche applications for this (fault monitoring?) and I wish the inventor student the best of luck.
I remember the game Postal having realistic violence. When you shot someone, they didn't just die, they lingered crying for help or water. Sometimes they would crawl out of the way leaving a blood trail and then die behind an obstacle.
IIRC, there was a lot of criticism of the game, partly because of the realistic depiction of violence.
I still remember the small controversy over Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
The government of Venezuala was not amused.
Bring back Calvin & Hobbes !
Yes the above in in jest, but only partly so. As part of the downhill slide of newspapers, has been an old staple, the funnies. Even if you can find them in your local paper, they are usually too small to read.
SERVES HER RIGHT!!
(sorry, couldn't resist) ;)
Maybe they just want to ban this game.
Does this mean that venerable standards for data communications, such as RS-232 and RS-422 will now have to be renamed S-232 and S-422?
(...it's a joke ... get it?...get it?...)
a) It's a matter of how far you have to move. Living in the Northeast USA, I'd have to travel a few hours to see a decent night sky, and likely many, many hours to see the milky way.
b) I don't know about light pollution measurements, but I think the intent is to have light fixtures that direct the light downwards (where it is useful) instead of in all directions where it ends up causing the haze that interferes with our view of the sky. See the International Dark Sky Association for further info.
c) I think it is just a matter that it's nicer have the view than not have it. Setting aside all the mumbo jumbo about sense of wonder and connection to the cosmos, it's a downright beautiful view, like seeing a beautiful mountain range or sea shore. Seeing the milky way is a small enhancement to life which could be enjoyed from a lot more places than is currently possible.
Someone (I forget who) proposed we turn off our lights (as much as possible without compromising safety) just one night a year. I, for one, second that motion.
Now finally, we have the technology to experimentally verify the claims made by a certain dice manufacturer!
The 2 degrees is an allowance for the ground antennas, so they don't jam or pick up interference from, adjacent satellites.
Also, btw, "clutter" is removed from GEO. When a satellite nears the end-of-life, the last bit of hydrazine fuel is used to push it up into a higher orbit to avoid potential problems in the Clarke belt.
Maybe in the far off future archeologists will be able to examine these defunct satellites and gain an understanding of 20th century technology.
Just in case anyone is checking, the total power consumption of this puppy is shown as 38 Watts, just a hair above the heat pipe rating for this Coolermaster heat-pipe based case
Who wants to build the first one?
I seem to recall that those in-flight pay phones they used to have worked on a VHF radio network operated by ARINC.
Needless to say, if the service is satellite based, you will have noteceable latency.
Roger that. This fact has been known in microwave circles for decades, if not longer. For a classic absorption curve see: http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/atm-absorption.htm Note where 60 GHz lies on the oxygen absorption curve. Though I have not worked in the area for a while, I presume that by now it is a lot easier to make transistors, amplifiers, receivers, etc at 60 GHz?
Further, it is not clear from the article whether the test subjects (and test administrator!) knew what they were listening to. Tests of this sort need to be done in a double-blind manner, as all pharmaceutical and ESP tests are done, in order not to skew the results, even subcounciously.
It is possible the subjects chose MP3 because it's what they are familiar with, because it works on their ipods and cell phones,or because it's in the press all the time.
Without clarufying some of the details of how the test is done, the results can only be considered anecdotal.
... by Hagan, Demuth, Beale.
Amazon link
Most of my other favorite books have been posted here already, but no books on this topic have appeared yet.
I will be taking this course next term so I already got this MATLAB based book. I've already been reading it and it definitely deserves all the 5 star ratings it is getting on Amazon.
- as
All predictions aside, I'd be surprised to see this ever happen. After all, the first one built in Arizonba never did fare that well.
I agree they may no longer be part of the mainstream, and that may be partly due to Hasbro just marketing their "classics". However, having played countless PC and console games myself, I always find it a welcome surprise what a sheer variety of boardgames exist, either in themes, mechanics, luck vs. strategy, etc etc.
If anyone is curious, I recommend a visit to this site .
BTW, (board)gamers will always remember Habro as the corporate giant that gobbled up Avalon Hill. Fortunately, a lot of Avalon Hills former line was saved, either by being reprinted by Hasbro, or bought by other companies (such as MultiMan Publishing )
Ages ago, during the first Iraq war (remember? we did this before...) there were reports about people using UHF scanners and picking fighter pilot air-to-ground communications (UHF band, using non-encrypted FM voice) which the US Navy FLEETSAT satellites inadvertently transponded.
This will likely require non-trivial mods to your BUD (replace the LNB and feed with a UHF helical antenna for starters), plus FLEETSATs are no longer in service, the US now uses UFO satellites (no kidding! thats a real acronym), but they too are just dumb transponders.
Get a UHF scanner, dig around and find out the frequency plans and orbital positions of the UFOs, and see what you can hear.
I don't know if this one is obvious, but I'll pitch it into the ring:
Natural Selection, Inc , working primarily on genetic algorithms.
Very true, but while the PE license is required only in certain positions (mostly Civil engineering), it is not generally a "license to practice engineering", which is what effectively the Bar and AMA provide. The old joke that garbage collectors are Sanitation Engineers is an example of the lack of standards defining the profession.
In other professions, there is a professional organization that decides who is a member of that profession. These organizations set standards and sometimes tests to decide who gets admitted. Think of the American Medical Association or a Bar Association. There is no equivalent for engineers or computer science folk, neither the IEEE, ASME, nor ACM fulfill the same role for the engineering "profession". This goes a long way towards explaining why engineers don't get the same respect (and wages!) as other professionals.