Re:Besides imagining a beowulf cluster of those...
on
Make Your Own Sputnik
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· Score: 1
Sure there is... if you have a Scaled Composites workshop in your backyard and a place to store the volatile chemicals... mind you, range safety become an issue... you'll have to check your neighborhood association charter to make sure you aren't violating any rules, for things like towers, radio antennas, satellite dishes, etc.
You forgot: "If you are one of our largest trading partners and hold title to a large portion of our Federal debt, it's ok to violate human rights unless someone in the media/blogosphere makes a big enough stink about it."
We don't want to take on China. Right now our economy is run off their cheap goods, even though they are tainted with lead and other noxious substances. We take stabs at them every so often, just to make it look good on the world stage (Dalai Lama getting Congressional Gold Medal), but we won't seriously challenge them as long as they continue to buy our bonds.
The malware attacks behind this botnet have been relentless all year, using a wide range of clever social engineering lures to trick Windows users into downloading executable files with rootkit components.
Windows has downloaded a new security update. Do you wish to install?
Take it a step further: how about people who work on Linux who have Microsoft in their stock portfolios or as part of the 401 K where they work? Microsoft is funding Linux in myriad ways, even subtle ones.
I find it hard to imagine that given the diversity of things in the universe and then number of people on the planet, that there is nothing left to write about. Perhaps all the stright-forward, easy topics have been covered, but there are vast ranges of experience and knowledge still to be discovered. And after all, Wikipedia is a living thing -- nothing in it not of a historic nature can remain static for very long.
And let's face it, a week of vacation time is pretty lame. Most people don't get to take the vacation time they accrue, so I doubt this guy's going to miss it in the least. This is a hangin' offense and they're shaking their finger at him saying "Bad boy! Don't you do that again!"
The really funny part is that their service is pretty much a scam... I've read up on them and apparently some of their policies are a little suspects, such as clause that do not allow you to return merchandise, cancel an order, or even (get this), terminate your membership! And where did this information come from? Try Consumer Reports. DirectBuy is just another company with its head in the sand. Personally, I can't wait to see if this will end up in court.
Actually, take the heatsink, wrap tubes filled with glycol around them, run them through a flask of water, and generate some electricity via the steam. Then use the electricity to run a hard drive brain backup.
But as tough as it may be for the professional writer, it can be a boon for the unpublished writer. I've spent a while editing and publishing science fiction, and I can say honestly that with so few professional outlets for new writers, the Internet provides a gateway for them to get noticed. Mind you, it also allows a lot of dreck to be published that has no business lighting up pixels, but that's the price you pay for the freedom to publish.
All right... my bad. But then let's change the question: What if VA Software got offered a lot of money by Google? It's still his baby, even if he doesn't own it. What goes through your head when you see someone else doing something with what you created, that you may/may not agree with? I think the question is still valid, if off base because I forgot about the previous sale.
Simple Question
on
Ask Rob Malda
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· Score: 4, Interesting
If Google comes to you with a huge pile of cash and says "we want to add Slashdot to out stable of products," perhaps as some kind of competitor to Digg, would you a) be tempted but decline because this is, after all, your baby, b) talk to them a while, negotiate, but ultimately call it off, or c) buy that island you've always wanted and start your own country?
The money certainly doesn't have to go to big Pharma. Endow you local university with some cash, especially if they have a top-notch biological/medical research facility. Give your money to organizations that promote healthier living. The pharmaceutical industry makes its own money -- private-sector research is dependent on government funding and private grants.
I think you have to factor rate of reproduction into this. Whales and elephants don't breed often; that would retard the propagation of genetic changes. Smaller mammals like mice and rabbits tend to breed very often, allowing them to propagate genetic changes faster and more often, making it easier for them to weather (no pun intended) changes in the environment. I don't know how this would factor to "cold-blooded" animals.
Look, when it comes to this phenomenon, you have two possibilties:
The ozone hole is shrinking
The ozone hole is expanding
Each of those possibilities has associated sub factors:
The ozone hole is shrinking/expanding due to natural forces
The ozone hole is shrinking/expanding due to man-made forces
And so on. As you crawl down from the initial phenomenon to the root cause, you find that all the various subsets of forces that can have an effect on the situation each has its own relative probability. In the end, you are left trying to determine which forces hold greater sway (drop in CFCs, increase in air traffic, etc.), and by how much. You have to pull all that data together into a coherent model and try to determine if your model matches reality.
The problem comes down to this: this is a natural system, that existed long before our industrialization of the planet, and we have no idea if this is a naturally occurring phenomenon or one created by said industrialization. We have no records to refer back to -- Aristotle was not talking about an ozone hole. And while science is supposed to be rational (test hypothesis against data), scientsists are not. A scientist gets an idea in his/her head and wants the data to confirm that hypothesis, so they alter their experimental models to try and generate the data they want to fit their hypothesis. End result: bad science and scientists everywhere at loggerheads over their pet theories, and the media fanning the flames using incomplete and sometime spurious data.
We know this: the hole shrank. Unfortunately, past that, we know precious little.
Slashdot Mirror
Sure there is... if you have a Scaled Composites workshop in your backyard and a place to store the volatile chemicals... mind you, range safety become an issue... you'll have to check your neighborhood association charter to make sure you aren't violating any rules, for things like towers, radio antennas, satellite dishes, etc.
You forgot: "If you are one of our largest trading partners and hold title to a large portion of our Federal debt, it's ok to violate human rights unless someone in the media/blogosphere makes a big enough stink about it."
We don't want to take on China. Right now our economy is run off their cheap goods, even though they are tainted with lead and other noxious substances. We take stabs at them every so often, just to make it look good on the world stage (Dalai Lama getting Congressional Gold Medal), but we won't seriously challenge them as long as they continue to buy our bonds.
Windows has downloaded a new security update. Do you wish to install?
Haven't you played Moria?
Saturn's Moons Harboring Water?
CmdrTaco's pun routine is up and running this morning I see...
We couldn't even if we wanted... that kind of money is tied up in other things... Of course, we could print some of these and pay it off.
Take it a step further: how about people who work on Linux who have Microsoft in their stock portfolios or as part of the 401 K where they work? Microsoft is funding Linux in myriad ways, even subtle ones.
Do you think there are people at Microsoft who go home and secretly work Linux by night?
I find it hard to imagine that given the diversity of things in the universe and then number of people on the planet, that there is nothing left to write about. Perhaps all the stright-forward, easy topics have been covered, but there are vast ranges of experience and knowledge still to be discovered. And after all, Wikipedia is a living thing -- nothing in it not of a historic nature can remain static for very long.
Frankly, I think everyone wants a breather.
And let's face it, a week of vacation time is pretty lame. Most people don't get to take the vacation time they accrue, so I doubt this guy's going to miss it in the least. This is a hangin' offense and they're shaking their finger at him saying "Bad boy! Don't you do that again!"
Actually, many people have called Jupiter a failed star.
Change your name to Euthan and become "Euthan the Magnificent, Master of Technology." Voila! Trademark and you're done.
Of course you shouldn't be ashamed... after all, you did it in the heat of the moment...
I'll wait for .antarctica to become available.
You know Disney will want fant.asia...
The really funny part is that their service is pretty much a scam... I've read up on them and apparently some of their policies are a little suspects, such as clause that do not allow you to return merchandise, cancel an order, or even (get this), terminate your membership! And where did this information come from? Try Consumer Reports. DirectBuy is just another company with its head in the sand. Personally, I can't wait to see if this will end up in court.
Actually, take the heatsink, wrap tubes filled with glycol around them, run them through a flask of water, and generate some electricity via the steam. Then use the electricity to run a hard drive brain backup.
But as tough as it may be for the professional writer, it can be a boon for the unpublished writer. I've spent a while editing and publishing science fiction, and I can say honestly that with so few professional outlets for new writers, the Internet provides a gateway for them to get noticed. Mind you, it also allows a lot of dreck to be published that has no business lighting up pixels, but that's the price you pay for the freedom to publish.
Fortunately, when you're in orbit, it won't weigh anything... you'll still have to look out for the inertia though...
All right... my bad. But then let's change the question: What if VA Software got offered a lot of money by Google? It's still his baby, even if he doesn't own it. What goes through your head when you see someone else doing something with what you created, that you may/may not agree with? I think the question is still valid, if off base because I forgot about the previous sale.
If Google comes to you with a huge pile of cash and says "we want to add Slashdot to out stable of products," perhaps as some kind of competitor to Digg, would you a) be tempted but decline because this is, after all, your baby, b) talk to them a while, negotiate, but ultimately call it off, or c) buy that island you've always wanted and start your own country?
One word: cyborg
The money certainly doesn't have to go to big Pharma. Endow you local university with some cash, especially if they have a top-notch biological/medical research facility. Give your money to organizations that promote healthier living. The pharmaceutical industry makes its own money -- private-sector research is dependent on government funding and private grants.
I think you have to factor rate of reproduction into this. Whales and elephants don't breed often; that would retard the propagation of genetic changes. Smaller mammals like mice and rabbits tend to breed very often, allowing them to propagate genetic changes faster and more often, making it easier for them to weather (no pun intended) changes in the environment. I don't know how this would factor to "cold-blooded" animals.
In short: it's a crapshoot.
Look, when it comes to this phenomenon, you have two possibilties:
Each of those possibilities has associated sub factors:
And so on. As you crawl down from the initial phenomenon to the root cause, you find that all the various subsets of forces that can have an effect on the situation each has its own relative probability. In the end, you are left trying to determine which forces hold greater sway (drop in CFCs, increase in air traffic, etc.), and by how much. You have to pull all that data together into a coherent model and try to determine if your model matches reality.
The problem comes down to this: this is a natural system, that existed long before our industrialization of the planet, and we have no idea if this is a naturally occurring phenomenon or one created by said industrialization. We have no records to refer back to -- Aristotle was not talking about an ozone hole. And while science is supposed to be rational (test hypothesis against data), scientsists are not. A scientist gets an idea in his/her head and wants the data to confirm that hypothesis, so they alter their experimental models to try and generate the data they want to fit their hypothesis. End result: bad science and scientists everywhere at loggerheads over their pet theories, and the media fanning the flames using incomplete and sometime spurious data.
We know this: the hole shrank. Unfortunately, past that, we know precious little.