By your same logic, subliminal messages in movies should be allowed
Subliminal messages in movies are allowed. There's no law against it.
The only reasons they don't do it is because a) it doesn't work, and b) when audiences find out the theater is trying to brainwash them, they tend to stop going to movies. Negative publicity, you know.
I have a 400 MHz PC at home. Netscape 4.7 runs acceptable fast. Mozilla is a hog. So I'm sticking with Netscape 4.7.
It's also useful to have that browser around when doing web development, to ensure that my sites look OK in the older browsers. There are still a lot of Netscape 4.7 browsers floating around out there.
That said, I use Mozilla on both my 1.8 GHz laptop and my 2.0 GHz work PC.
You clearly have absolutely no idea how RFID technology works.
The Speedpass(TM) we're talking about here is a small chip with a unique number that can be read from a short (on the order of a few inches) range.
I have a Speedpass. It's number is 873953826583 (warning: fake number). When I pull into an Esso, I wave my Speedpass over the reader. It has to be within 2 inches for it to read the chip. When it does, the pump says to itself "Speedpass 873953826583 is trying to buy gas." It then performs a
SELECT CREDIT_CARD_NUMBER, EXP_DATE FROM CUSTOMERS WHERE SP_ID = '873953826583'
on Esso's central registered Speedpass customer database. If the result is an empty result set, then the transaction is rejected. However, if a result comes back, then the system calls up the appropriate credit vendor (Visa, Amex, whatever) and asks "I wish to pre-charge $75 onto the card with number ____ and expiry date ____. Do you authorize?" If the credit card's system answers "yes," then the pump is activated, and the user is free to pump gas. Otherwise, the transaction is declined, and the user must walk into the store to pay for their gas.
Now, keep in mind that the ONLY information in that chip, in that Speedpass, was a number. Specifically, the number 873953826583. No name, no credit card info, no address, no spending habits. Nothing but a number.
Now, to return to your ridiculous example, say that I did walk past an Adult Video store, and for some reason, they did have one of those non-existent RFID readers that can read these tags from several feet away, and can distinguish my Speedpass from anyone else's who happens to be walking by, what info does that store get? They get the number 873953826583. What good is that number to them? Absolutely none at all. Why? Because they don't have access to Esso/Exxon's database, so they can't link that number to any of my personal info.
Is any of this making sense to you? RFIDs are just a NUMBER. Nothing else! Without the database, the number itself is useless. In order for some sinister data-mining to occur, all these companies would have to collaborate and share access to their private, proprietary, confidential databases. An act which is illegal now, by the way, at least in Canada, thanks to new legislation. Now, even if it weren't illegal, and companies wanted to do it, why would they need the RFID tags to make this happen? They could ALREADY be sharing all that personal info that they already have. Do you think Walmart has access to the database at my local video store? Do you think Walmart knows what DVDs I like to rent, so they can send me their flier when the "Matrix" box set comes out? Do you think the grocery store knows I just bought a new George Foreman Grill from The Bay, so they can send me their meat flier?
I suppose they could, but presently they're not, it would be illegal to do so, and the whole question of RFIDs is a red herring anyway since they're irrelevant to such a data-mining and sharing arrangment.
You've obviously never used these passes. You have to hold the tag right next to the receiver for it to activate. Like, physically touching. Even waving it a couple inches above the reader will produce nothing.
So how is a vending machine going to read my tag from 6 feet away? Do you have any idea how much RF noise such a reader would generate, or how much power it would suck down?
If it's so cold where you live that you are willing to accept yet ANOTHER monitor placed on your life, fine.
How is this another monitor??? They have no more information about you than if you'd used a credit card or debit card. Do you always pay cash for everything, everywhere? No? Then WTF are you being so ignorant for?
I love it when moderators mod posts as "Trolls" when they disagree or don't understand. The parent poster had a perfectly valid point. How is this an invasion of privacy? It's nothing more than a credit card you don't have to swipe or sign for. I've been using a Speedpass for my cars' gas for about 5 years now (Esso has 'em in Canada), and let me tell you, it's damn convenient. It's even faster than debit.
Pull up to the pump. Exit car. Wave Speedpass over receiver. While it is authorizing, take off your gas cap, lift the nozzle, and select your fuel type. By then, the authorization's gone through and you're already pumping. When full, replace nozzle. By the time you screw the gas cap back on, the receipt is ready. Get back in car and drive off. And if you don't want to wait for your receipt, no worries, it doesn't have your credit card number on it anyway.
Debit might sound like not much more hassle, but remember: I'm in Canada. It gets damn cold up here in the winter. I can pay with Speedpass and pump my gas without ever having to remove my gloves or mitts. Not so with debit. Try taking out your wallet, removing and swiping your card, then punching a bunch of buttons with mitts on in -35 degree weather. Aside from being slower, it's just plain not possible.
People who shriek about "privacy" regarding these types of benign things have either never used them, or are just whoring for karma. There is no privacy issue. They're basically just a credit card you don't have to sign for.
If you lose the tag, cancel the credit card. Same as if you'd lost the card itself. Since the Speedpass tags are almost always with your car keys anyway, if you lost your tag, then you probably lost your car keys too, and you've got more things to worry about than privacy. Like, say for example, canceling that credit card and finding your car!
You cancel the credit card connected to it. It's as if you lost your credit card.
Simple solution? Don't lose the watch. Don't let your watch get stolen. It's the exact same solution we prescribe for credit cards - what makes it so unreasonable for your watch? If someone's going to break into your gym locket to steal your "Speedpass" watch, why wouldn't they also grab your wallet, car keys, and anything else valuable?
Oh cry me a freakin' river. What kind of car do you drive, mrkslntbob? What kind of shoes are you wearing right now? Do me a favour: look at the tag on your shirt? Where was it made? How about that computer you're typing all this on - where did all the RAM in it come from?
None of you whining geeks cared one whit about the livelihoods of the Detroit automakers, American tailors, or consumer electronics while all THAT was shipped overseas, but now that it might actually affect YOU, it's time to take a stand and put a stop to it, right?
Sorry, but hypocrisy is one of my hot buttons. You've benefitted from overseas outsourcing for years, with your cheap clothing, cars, and electronics. Well guess what - your job isn't so sacred either. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Get over it.
Public/private key models are great, as long as you're on a network. But say you sent me a protected document (signed with your private key), which I saved onto my laptop right before boarding a flight to Europe. Now I'd like to read your document on my way there, but for some reason, my laptop can't find your public key to allow me to open the document.
My shirt is grey, but when I stand in a room with a blue light, guess what? It looks blue.
Mars' sky is red, ergo the light that comes down through it is red. It's like shining a red light down onto the Mars rover. It's going to look red.
Finally, Nasa has actually taken extraordinary measures with this mission to ensure that the colours are correct. In previous missions, they sent digital cameras that simply captured what they saw, without any corrections. This time, they actually have a calibrated colour wheel mounted to the station itself. One of the reasons there was a bit of a delay in Nasa releasing colour photos is they took the time to re-calibrate their imaging equipment to the colour wheel on the station. They did this to ensure that the colours we see in the photos is accurate. That is, if you have normal colour vision, and were standing right where the rover is parked right now, the colours you'd see would perfectly match those in the photos released.
And if you were wearing a grey shirt at the time, it would look red. Right before you died.
Actually my dorm room is usually noticably warmer than my common room because of the 4 computers I have inside.
Of course it is! You're running what are essentially 4 250- to 300-watt heaters in a small room. One computer would produce a noticable (heck, downright significant) increase in heat.
And by the way, while a lot of the heat coming from your PC is in fact from the computationally intensive components (CPU, RAM, video card), there is also a large amount of it coming from your power supply. There is 110V of AC power coming out of that hole in your wall, regardless of how many volts you choose to use. Since your PC only uses 12V (and 5V) of DC power, your power supply has to do work to convert it into something your computer can use. The transformer in your power supply steps it down and flattens it into a DC current, but doing so is not a perfectly efficient process. Quite a bit of heat is generated.
I've not seen any numbers to support this, but I'd guess that almost half (if not more) of the heat generated by a PC comes from the power supply alone.
For example, a lot of people enjoyed the first Matrix movie, even though its premise violates physical laws (since human bodies cannot generate more energy than is put into them).
This has been covered many, many times before, but I still cannot resist responding to people when they make this mistake.
You are correct in that human bodies cannot generate more energy than they consume. However, you are incorrect in claiming that the Matrix relied on a premise which violated that law.
When Morpheus explains the mechanism to Neo, he says that with humans, "combined with a form of fusion," the machines had found all the energy they'd ever need.
It's that little mention of some sort of "fusion" that is the Wachowskis' "out." Since this is hundreds, maybe thousands of years into the future, it is entirely possible that at some point in the intervening years, mankind discovered a new form of fusion which relies on physiological metabolisms. We obviously don't know of such things now, but since it's in the future, and not strictly speaking impossible, it is therefore not a "plot hole."
Subzero temperatures don't seem to be discouraging to that many tourists - have you done any winter sports? I have friends who happily go to Finland or even Russia mid-Winter - for fun!
There's a big difference between Finland/Russian winter and Antarctic winter. At -20 degrees Celcius, you can still go skiing/skating, if you dress warmly. At -25, it becomes less fun, but you can still do it. At -30, you won't be out there for long, and you'd better have a nice, warm lodge waiting for you, and a steaming hot cup of hot chocolate.
Winter in Antarctica drops to -45 degrees celcius. There's not much "fun" you can have in that kind of weather, unless you consider fending off 2-minute frostbite windows "fun," or tossing steaming water up into the air and watching it freeze before it hits the ground "fun."
That said, one of my long-term dreams is to visit Antarctica, simply because it is the most harsh, inhospitable environment anywhere on our planet. I think it would be spectactular to witness a land so untouched by human development, to gaze out over such vast expanses of punishing climate. To see things that few others will ever get to see. Hopefully, someday, I'll get there.
I can draw lines on a map and "claim" it's mine too.
No you can't. This isn't some haphazard, disorganized word-of-mouth claim, there are very clearly defined laws regarding this type of thing. In order for a country to have sovereign control of land, they must maintain a "continuing and ongoing presence." That is, if they don't have someone there for n days of the year, for the last m years consecutively, then the land becomes fair game for another nation to squat.
Antarctica is worthless to live on, and far to difficult to take advantage of its minerals. It's not even important as a tactical position AFAIK.
Antarctica is very important, from a scientific point of view. There are life forms in Antarctica that don't exist anywhere else on Earth. Millennia of fossils and history and safely stored beneath its miles of ice. It is also the ideal place for studying meteorites from other worlds.
That last one, I found particularly interesting. Do you know why Antarctica is so popular for finding rocks from other planets/bodies? It's not because they land there with any greater frequency than anywhere else - it's that they're much easier to find. When you see a rock sitting on top of an ice shelf, where the next nearest rock is buried beneath 4,000 ft of ice, you can be pretty certain that that rock fell from the sky. Cool, eh?
I think you mean "is using", as in, its still on its way to Saturn. The real mission hasn't even begun yet.
thermo-isotope generators to provide it's electrical power using the heat to generate electricity. There was no fission reaction involved.
OK, first of all, all nuclear energy use heat from radioactive isotopes to generate electricity. Specifically, to heat water into steam, to turn a turbine, attached to a generator.
Secondly, yes, there is a fission reaction involved. All Plutonium is fissioning, all the time. That's what it does. The only question is the rate. In an RTG like Cassini's, the rate is very slow. In a bomb, the rate is very fast. You can't stop it. There's no such thing as Plutonium that isn't "fissioning." That's a big part of what makes it "Plutonium."
So far, I believe, nobody has lifted (or at least admitted to lifting) a critical mass of fissionable material into orbit or beyond.
Cassini did, back in 1997. Cassini's main power source is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). It uses radioactive material (plutonium-238) to produce heat, which is converted to electricity. Interestingly, it's expected to reach Saturn next July 1 (Canada Day). This is actually a project I've been following quite closely, because the probe features some very advanced instruments, and a nuclear power source, meaning it can last quite a long time, and perform more sophisticated analysis and measurements that were energy-prohibitive on previous probes.
Of course, when Cassini was launched, there was the predicted protests from environmental groups.
Unless, of course, the HIJACKERS HAD HAD GUNS TOO. I love you frickin' morons. WTF makes you think that "if the laws were different and if people were allowed to have guns on planes," that the terrorists wouldn't have had them too? "Because they'd never have gotten the required permits." Oh really? How many of the hijackers had gone through all the trouble of getting a pilot's license? At least 4, IIRC. What makes you think they wouldn't have jumped through some more hoops and gotten a Concealed Carry permit, too?
And if guns were everywhere, as right-wing nuts like you like to fantasize about, what makes you think we wouldn't have already had a dozen other events like 9/11, or planes shot up all over the place?
Geeze Louise, get a frickin' clue buddy. Guns and planes don't mix! Guns and morons don't either.
I'm gonna stop you right there. CDS ARE NO EXPENSIVE. CDS ARE CHEAP. VERY CHEAP. Someone else higher up in this thread said that "CDs have been the same price forever," and he/she is right. 15 years ago, CDs were 15 bucks. Today, CDs are 15 bucks. However, consider inflation. CDs have actually dropped in price, by that measure.
Consider what you get for your $15. An hour of digitally-mastered music, which you can listen to in any order, whenever you want, for as long as you want, forever. And when you finally get bored of it, you can sell it and recoup some of your money. We're talking THOUSANDS of hours of entertainment for your $15. What other form of entertainment even comes close to offering this much bang-for-the-buck?
NHL/NFL/NBA/Any pro sport game: $40 for the tickets, often plus $10 for parking. You get to watch the game, then leave with nothing but the memory, and sticky shoes. If you want to come again, you'll have to buy another ticket.
Opera/Theatre/Ballet: $80 ticket, and same problem as above: Once its over, it's over.
Movie Theatre: $30 for me and the wife, in this neck of the woods, plus snacks, and if the movie sucked, too bad, no refunds.
A nice dinner: $50 per couple. Nothing permanent to show for it.
CDs don't look so bad now, do they. You mean I can listen to it over and over, forever, and sell it when I'm done, and all for only $15? WAKE UP. CDS ARE CHEAP.
[Record Companies] hate downloading music because they didn't come up with it first.
Oh please! Gimmie a break! You're so off the mark, it's not even funny. Record companies don't give a sh*t about such juvenile phallus-metrics like "who invented it first" - they're all about the bottom line. That's all Vivendi, Universal, et. al. care about. They couldn't care less who invented it. They only care whether or not it will increase their profits.
These mega-corporations didn't get as huge as they are by succumbing to such pitiful "Not-Invented-Here" ego-wars. They chase the money. That's all.
That's why true innovation starts in people's garages
Uhm, 99% of all "garage" businesses fail miserably. The only reason why you've actually heard of a few "garage" success-stories is because they're so fantastically rare.
with leaps of faith that can't be made in a big company.
"Big company" meaning "An organization with a proven, successful track record at recognizing good ideas and turning them into marketable, profit-generating products."
When the bubble burst, I saw a lot of energetic young people branching out and starting their own startup companies (heck, that's a big part of how the bubble started). Inevitably, within a couple of years, the money started to run out, and they faced the undeniable fact that their ideas weren't so great after all, and that there wasn't this huge, untapped market that they'd envisioned, ready to shell out big bucks for whatever it was they were trying (and failing) to create.
I'm sorry it sounds so bleak, but it's true. The reason big companies are "big" is because they're good at what they do. They're not a bunch of brilliant teenagers; they're experienced, educated professionals who are good at what they do.
People like you really burn me. You're the first to kick and scream if the grocery store's computer bills you full price for a pack of Twinkies that's supposed to be on sale, but you're more than happy to keep your mouth quiet and take stuff you're not paying for.
I'll bet you've got a HUGE collection of MP3's, don't you.
There's an old saying: "An honest man is one who does the right thing, even when no one is looking." I pride myself on being an honest man. Would I phone the phone company and tell them they're underbilling me? You're damn right I would. Otherwise, I'd be a hypocrite for calling them if they overbilled me.
Slashdot Mirror
By your same logic, subliminal messages in movies should be allowed
Subliminal messages in movies are allowed. There's no law against it.
The only reasons they don't do it is because a) it doesn't work, and b) when audiences find out the theater is trying to brainwash them, they tend to stop going to movies. Negative publicity, you know.
I have a 400 MHz PC at home. Netscape 4.7 runs acceptable fast. Mozilla is a hog. So I'm sticking with Netscape 4.7.
It's also useful to have that browser around when doing web development, to ensure that my sites look OK in the older browsers. There are still a lot of Netscape 4.7 browsers floating around out there.
That said, I use Mozilla on both my 1.8 GHz laptop and my 2.0 GHz work PC.
The Speedpass(TM) we're talking about here is a small chip with a unique number that can be read from a short (on the order of a few inches) range.
I have a Speedpass. It's number is 873953826583 (warning: fake number). When I pull into an Esso, I wave my Speedpass over the reader. It has to be within 2 inches for it to read the chip. When it does, the pump says to itself "Speedpass 873953826583 is trying to buy gas." It then performs a
SELECT CREDIT_CARD_NUMBER, EXP_DATE FROM CUSTOMERS WHERE SP_ID = '873953826583'
on Esso's central registered Speedpass customer database. If the result is an empty result set, then the transaction is rejected. However, if a result comes back, then the system calls up the appropriate credit vendor (Visa, Amex, whatever) and asks "I wish to pre-charge $75 onto the card with number ____ and expiry date ____. Do you authorize?" If the credit card's system answers "yes," then the pump is activated, and the user is free to pump gas. Otherwise, the transaction is declined, and the user must walk into the store to pay for their gas.
Now, keep in mind that the ONLY information in that chip, in that Speedpass, was a number. Specifically, the number 873953826583. No name, no credit card info, no address, no spending habits. Nothing but a number.
Now, to return to your ridiculous example, say that I did walk past an Adult Video store, and for some reason, they did have one of those non-existent RFID readers that can read these tags from several feet away, and can distinguish my Speedpass from anyone else's who happens to be walking by, what info does that store get? They get the number 873953826583. What good is that number to them? Absolutely none at all. Why? Because they don't have access to Esso/Exxon's database, so they can't link that number to any of my personal info.
Is any of this making sense to you? RFIDs are just a NUMBER. Nothing else! Without the database, the number itself is useless. In order for some sinister data-mining to occur, all these companies would have to collaborate and share access to their private, proprietary, confidential databases. An act which is illegal now, by the way, at least in Canada, thanks to new legislation. Now, even if it weren't illegal, and companies wanted to do it, why would they need the RFID tags to make this happen? They could ALREADY be sharing all that personal info that they already have. Do you think Walmart has access to the database at my local video store? Do you think Walmart knows what DVDs I like to rent, so they can send me their flier when the "Matrix" box set comes out? Do you think the grocery store knows I just bought a new George Foreman Grill from The Bay, so they can send me their meat flier?
I suppose they could, but presently they're not, it would be illegal to do so, and the whole question of RFIDs is a red herring anyway since they're irrelevant to such a data-mining and sharing arrangment.
</RANT>
You've obviously never used these passes. You have to hold the tag right next to the receiver for it to activate. Like, physically touching. Even waving it a couple inches above the reader will produce nothing.
So how is a vending machine going to read my tag from 6 feet away? Do you have any idea how much RF noise such a reader would generate, or how much power it would suck down?
If it's so cold where you live that you are willing to accept yet ANOTHER monitor placed on your life, fine.
How is this another monitor??? They have no more information about you than if you'd used a credit card or debit card. Do you always pay cash for everything, everywhere? No? Then WTF are you being so ignorant for?
I love it when moderators mod posts as "Trolls" when they disagree or don't understand. The parent poster had a perfectly valid point. How is this an invasion of privacy? It's nothing more than a credit card you don't have to swipe or sign for. I've been using a Speedpass for my cars' gas for about 5 years now (Esso has 'em in Canada), and let me tell you, it's damn convenient. It's even faster than debit.
Pull up to the pump. Exit car. Wave Speedpass over receiver. While it is authorizing, take off your gas cap, lift the nozzle, and select your fuel type. By then, the authorization's gone through and you're already pumping. When full, replace nozzle. By the time you screw the gas cap back on, the receipt is ready. Get back in car and drive off. And if you don't want to wait for your receipt, no worries, it doesn't have your credit card number on it anyway.
Debit might sound like not much more hassle, but remember: I'm in Canada. It gets damn cold up here in the winter. I can pay with Speedpass and pump my gas without ever having to remove my gloves or mitts. Not so with debit. Try taking out your wallet, removing and swiping your card, then punching a bunch of buttons with mitts on in -35 degree weather. Aside from being slower, it's just plain not possible.
People who shriek about "privacy" regarding these types of benign things have either never used them, or are just whoring for karma. There is no privacy issue. They're basically just a credit card you don't have to sign for.
If you lose the tag, cancel the credit card. Same as if you'd lost the card itself. Since the Speedpass tags are almost always with your car keys anyway, if you lost your tag, then you probably lost your car keys too, and you've got more things to worry about than privacy. Like, say for example, canceling that credit card and finding your car!
You cancel the credit card connected to it. It's as if you lost your credit card.
Simple solution? Don't lose the watch. Don't let your watch get stolen. It's the exact same solution we prescribe for credit cards - what makes it so unreasonable for your watch? If someone's going to break into your gym locket to steal your "Speedpass" watch, why wouldn't they also grab your wallet, car keys, and anything else valuable?
Oh cry me a freakin' river. What kind of car do you drive, mrkslntbob? What kind of shoes are you wearing right now? Do me a favour: look at the tag on your shirt? Where was it made? How about that computer you're typing all this on - where did all the RAM in it come from?
None of you whining geeks cared one whit about the livelihoods of the Detroit automakers, American tailors, or consumer electronics while all THAT was shipped overseas, but now that it might actually affect YOU, it's time to take a stand and put a stop to it, right?
Sorry, but hypocrisy is one of my hot buttons. You've benefitted from overseas outsourcing for years, with your cheap clothing, cars, and electronics. Well guess what - your job isn't so sacred either. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Get over it.
When everything is outsourced, what is going to stop them from starting their own company without an American CEO?
Patents.
Public/private key models are great, as long as you're on a network. But say you sent me a protected document (signed with your private key), which I saved onto my laptop right before boarding a flight to Europe. Now I'd like to read your document on my way there, but for some reason, my laptop can't find your public key to allow me to open the document.
Oops.
My shirt is grey, but when I stand in a room with a blue light, guess what? It looks blue.
Mars' sky is red, ergo the light that comes down through it is red. It's like shining a red light down onto the Mars rover. It's going to look red.
Finally, Nasa has actually taken extraordinary measures with this mission to ensure that the colours are correct. In previous missions, they sent digital cameras that simply captured what they saw, without any corrections. This time, they actually have a calibrated colour wheel mounted to the station itself. One of the reasons there was a bit of a delay in Nasa releasing colour photos is they took the time to re-calibrate their imaging equipment to the colour wheel on the station. They did this to ensure that the colours we see in the photos is accurate. That is, if you have normal colour vision, and were standing right where the rover is parked right now, the colours you'd see would perfectly match those in the photos released.
And if you were wearing a grey shirt at the time, it would look red. Right before you died.
I take it you've never exhaled on a cold winter's day?
There is water vapour in air. As the warm air from inside the ISS leaks to the cold vacuum of space, the moisture in the air would instantly condense.
In short, yes, a significant leak would be visible. It would look like the gas from a boiling kettle.
Actually my dorm room is usually noticably warmer than my common room because of the 4 computers I have inside.
Of course it is! You're running what are essentially 4 250- to 300-watt heaters in a small room. One computer would produce a noticable (heck, downright significant) increase in heat.
And by the way, while a lot of the heat coming from your PC is in fact from the computationally intensive components (CPU, RAM, video card), there is also a large amount of it coming from your power supply. There is 110V of AC power coming out of that hole in your wall, regardless of how many volts you choose to use. Since your PC only uses 12V (and 5V) of DC power, your power supply has to do work to convert it into something your computer can use. The transformer in your power supply steps it down and flattens it into a DC current, but doing so is not a perfectly efficient process. Quite a bit of heat is generated.
I've not seen any numbers to support this, but I'd guess that almost half (if not more) of the heat generated by a PC comes from the power supply alone.
Every large fortunte comes as a result of a crime, or someone found a way to game the system
I'm assuming that by "game", you mean "cheat" here. In which case, I call bullsh*t. Proof by counterexample: lottery winners.
For example, a lot of people enjoyed the first Matrix movie, even though its premise violates physical laws (since human bodies cannot generate more energy than is put into them).
This has been covered many, many times before, but I still cannot resist responding to people when they make this mistake.
You are correct in that human bodies cannot generate more energy than they consume. However, you are incorrect in claiming that the Matrix relied on a premise which violated that law.
When Morpheus explains the mechanism to Neo, he says that with humans, "combined with a form of fusion," the machines had found all the energy they'd ever need.
It's that little mention of some sort of "fusion" that is the Wachowskis' "out." Since this is hundreds, maybe thousands of years into the future, it is entirely possible that at some point in the intervening years, mankind discovered a new form of fusion which relies on physiological metabolisms. We obviously don't know of such things now, but since it's in the future, and not strictly speaking impossible, it is therefore not a "plot hole."
It's unlikely, but it could happen.
Thanks, but that's no church - it's the Center Block of Canada's Parliament buildings. :) Our version of the White House, basically.
Subzero temperatures don't seem to be discouraging to that many tourists - have you done any winter sports? I have friends who happily go to Finland or even Russia mid-Winter - for fun!
There's a big difference between Finland/Russian winter and Antarctic winter. At -20 degrees Celcius, you can still go skiing/skating, if you dress warmly. At -25, it becomes less fun, but you can still do it. At -30, you won't be out there for long, and you'd better have a nice, warm lodge waiting for you, and a steaming hot cup of hot chocolate.
Winter in Antarctica drops to -45 degrees celcius. There's not much "fun" you can have in that kind of weather, unless you consider fending off 2-minute frostbite windows "fun," or tossing steaming water up into the air and watching it freeze before it hits the ground "fun."
That said, one of my long-term dreams is to visit Antarctica, simply because it is the most harsh, inhospitable environment anywhere on our planet. I think it would be spectactular to witness a land so untouched by human development, to gaze out over such vast expanses of punishing climate. To see things that few others will ever get to see. Hopefully, someday, I'll get there.
I can draw lines on a map and "claim" it's mine too.
No you can't. This isn't some haphazard, disorganized word-of-mouth claim, there are very clearly defined laws regarding this type of thing. In order for a country to have sovereign control of land, they must maintain a "continuing and ongoing presence." That is, if they don't have someone there for n days of the year, for the last m years consecutively, then the land becomes fair game for another nation to squat.
Antarctica is worthless to live on, and far to difficult to take advantage of its minerals. It's not even important as a tactical position AFAIK.
Antarctica is very important, from a scientific point of view. There are life forms in Antarctica that don't exist anywhere else on Earth. Millennia of fossils and history and safely stored beneath its miles of ice. It is also the ideal place for studying meteorites from other worlds.
That last one, I found particularly interesting. Do you know why Antarctica is so popular for finding rocks from other planets/bodies? It's not because they land there with any greater frequency than anywhere else - it's that they're much easier to find. When you see a rock sitting on top of an ice shelf, where the next nearest rock is buried beneath 4,000 ft of ice, you can be pretty certain that that rock fell from the sky. Cool, eh?
Cassini used
I think you mean "is using", as in, its still on its way to Saturn. The real mission hasn't even begun yet.
thermo-isotope generators to provide it's electrical power using the heat to generate electricity. There was no fission reaction involved.
OK, first of all, all nuclear energy use heat from radioactive isotopes to generate electricity. Specifically, to heat water into steam, to turn a turbine, attached to a generator.
Secondly, yes, there is a fission reaction involved. All Plutonium is fissioning, all the time. That's what it does. The only question is the rate. In an RTG like Cassini's, the rate is very slow. In a bomb, the rate is very fast. You can't stop it. There's no such thing as Plutonium that isn't "fissioning." That's a big part of what makes it "Plutonium."
So far, I believe, nobody has lifted (or at least admitted to lifting) a critical mass of fissionable material into orbit or beyond.
Cassini did, back in 1997. Cassini's main power source is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). It uses radioactive material (plutonium-238) to produce heat, which is converted to electricity. Interestingly, it's expected to reach Saturn next July 1 (Canada Day). This is actually a project I've been following quite closely, because the probe features some very advanced instruments, and a nuclear power source, meaning it can last quite a long time, and perform more sophisticated analysis and measurements that were energy-prohibitive on previous probes.
Of course, when Cassini was launched, there was the predicted protests from environmental groups.
Unless, of course, the HIJACKERS HAD HAD GUNS TOO. I love you frickin' morons. WTF makes you think that "if the laws were different and if people were allowed to have guns on planes," that the terrorists wouldn't have had them too? "Because they'd never have gotten the required permits." Oh really? How many of the hijackers had gone through all the trouble of getting a pilot's license? At least 4, IIRC. What makes you think they wouldn't have jumped through some more hoops and gotten a Concealed Carry permit, too?
And if guns were everywhere, as right-wing nuts like you like to fantasize about, what makes you think we wouldn't have already had a dozen other events like 9/11, or planes shot up all over the place?
Geeze Louise, get a frickin' clue buddy. Guns and planes don't mix! Guns and morons don't either.
I'm gonna stop you right there. CDS ARE NO EXPENSIVE. CDS ARE CHEAP. VERY CHEAP. Someone else higher up in this thread said that "CDs have been the same price forever," and he/she is right. 15 years ago, CDs were 15 bucks. Today, CDs are 15 bucks. However, consider inflation. CDs have actually dropped in price, by that measure.
Consider what you get for your $15. An hour of digitally-mastered music, which you can listen to in any order, whenever you want, for as long as you want, forever. And when you finally get bored of it, you can sell it and recoup some of your money. We're talking THOUSANDS of hours of entertainment for your $15. What other form of entertainment even comes close to offering this much bang-for-the-buck?
CDs don't look so bad now, do they. You mean I can listen to it over and over, forever, and sell it when I'm done, and all for only $15? WAKE UP. CDS ARE CHEAP.
[Record Companies] hate downloading music because they didn't come up with it first.
Oh please! Gimmie a break! You're so off the mark, it's not even funny. Record companies don't give a sh*t about such juvenile phallus-metrics like "who invented it first" - they're all about the bottom line. That's all Vivendi, Universal, et. al. care about. They couldn't care less who invented it. They only care whether or not it will increase their profits.
These mega-corporations didn't get as huge as they are by succumbing to such pitiful "Not-Invented-Here" ego-wars. They chase the money. That's all.
That's why true innovation starts in people's garages
Uhm, 99% of all "garage" businesses fail miserably. The only reason why you've actually heard of a few "garage" success-stories is because they're so fantastically rare.
with leaps of faith that can't be made in a big company.
"Big company" meaning "An organization with a proven, successful track record at recognizing good ideas and turning them into marketable, profit-generating products."
When the bubble burst, I saw a lot of energetic young people branching out and starting their own startup companies (heck, that's a big part of how the bubble started). Inevitably, within a couple of years, the money started to run out, and they faced the undeniable fact that their ideas weren't so great after all, and that there wasn't this huge, untapped market that they'd envisioned, ready to shell out big bucks for whatever it was they were trying (and failing) to create.
I'm sorry it sounds so bleak, but it's true. The reason big companies are "big" is because they're good at what they do. They're not a bunch of brilliant teenagers; they're experienced, educated professionals who are good at what they do.
People like you really burn me. You're the first to kick and scream if the grocery store's computer bills you full price for a pack of Twinkies that's supposed to be on sale, but you're more than happy to keep your mouth quiet and take stuff you're not paying for.
I'll bet you've got a HUGE collection of MP3's, don't you.
There's an old saying: "An honest man is one who does the right thing, even when no one is looking." I pride myself on being an honest man. Would I phone the phone company and tell them they're underbilling me? You're damn right I would. Otherwise, I'd be a hypocrite for calling them if they overbilled me.