Those are not patents. Those are writings that look like patents and that were stored in a locked drawer in an obscure office. Patents are not secret. Anyone who is interested in a patent can view it in the patent office or even online. That's what the patent system is created for. If you want something to be secret, you don't file a patent.
I think it is sad what they've done with PSP8. PSP5 used to be very easy to use, then they've added all kinds of junk and created a really frustrating program.
[...]our next step will be to study the use of hydrogen sulfide in larger mammals.'
That's where the fun starts. Pull out the chimps! When we were kids we had to put little kittens in plastic bags and threw to to a brick wall. Now we get a lot of money for it. How beautiful science can be.
>> In my opinion, good engineering involves thinking that things _will_ eventually fail . Most engineering is done by engineers that have just left school. They are fast and they don't think. When the design is ticked of the excel sheet of the project leader it is time to progress to the next open issue. Nobody cares that the design does not fit or does not work at all. Engineering is about ticking off open issues.
70% of all computer users search for and download porn (if I understand the article, see below). You should think of the FBI to be somewhat like an easter egg. When you've found it, the doorbell rings.
article ->
Nu.nl December 6, 2005 (translated to English)
Approximately 70 percent of all computers used contain pornographic material on hard disks and memory cards. Most users who want to sell their computers, do not delete their files. This was found by the datarecovery company Diskslabs based on its own research.
The company bought a thousand second hand computers and fifty memory cards on the Internet. Not only a lot of porn was found, the files often contained bank and credit card details, resumes and other personal information.
>> I'm sure it's not quite THAT simple . One of the issues with such a design is that the bomb explodes before the fuel is converted into energy. About 99% of the fuel is lost and scattered into the air. I'm sure you want something more efficient than than?
>> So, basically what I'm saying is that I don't worry about nuclear power because there is nothing to worry about. . And nuclear only produces 30% of the greenhous gasses for the same amount of energy put into the grid. As the resources deplete rapidly in the next 50 years, the less economic the minerals, the harder it gets to extract the uranium, the more CO2 will be produced.
>> I'm going to argue that small examples of machine intelligence do >> exist. That is to say, there exist machines that are intelligent, >> however in a small space.
I think those examples are not interesting. Dolphins are intelligent too, though hard to communicate with. Extra terrestrial bacteria are interesting only if that increases the chance of finding technical advanced civilizations. We are looking for others like us.
I have one powered by a generator attached to my knee joint. One to a string vibrating in the wind outside. One to my hamster. I'm seriously running out of cell phones by now. I'm starting to feel guilty not using more of this green energy.
>> I'm surprised they didn't include the Japanese automaton dolls from the Edo period
I'm more surprised that the Droz automata are not listed. If 'The Turk is perhaps the greatest gadget that wasn't', then the Droz androids are the gratest gadgets that actually were. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ypKJWXFj48&feature=related
>> All eletronics extend from the idea of harnessing eletricity
Electronics is just the only survivor in a world of many species. The idea of processing information by itself is (indeed) not new. But many machines have been invented in the past that didn't make it. Then electronics is fast, tiny and can be mass produced for almost nothing. That's why this technology survived and information processing with water, gears, relais, and torque amplifiers did not.
The same holds for flying cars. The idea is an old one. And the only solution we have so far is to attach four propellers to it. Which, I think, is a species that is dead to begin with. But you can learn from it.
And you're right about ideas as 'very few good ideas are truly novel'. But having an idea is often not that hard. As is the first proof of concept. Creating something really useful is. Expressing this as 'an extension of simpler ideas' I think is wrong. Because this is the part were all the work is done.
How much this testosteron driven society wears me out and is not exactly my piece of cake, I would like to add that it is men for the most part who have contributed to the plentiful supply of food in the Western world, the advance in medicine and so on. In the high tech company where I work for example there are practically no women.
I still remember survivor (Dutch version) from several years ago. The men build a complete city on their island complete with an infrastructure for food. The women on their island were enjoying the sun and after several days started petering away.
bring outsiders with no experience onto teams to keep creativity and innovation on track
I agree with mgblst. If experts don't do the job, then that is because you're paying peanuts and the real experts have left. Knowledge builds on previous knowledge. Of course outsiders can think of new things, too. They'll invent things like the cucumber-saver.
Slashdot Mirror
> So I'm a sociopath because I really don't care what people,
> whom I don't know personally, think of me? And that's a bad thing?
No, of course you're not. Btw, nice chainsaw you're having. Is it new?
The cub contains a holocraphic projector, so that should work out just fine
What is so good about his attitude? The only thing good is that some of his slashdot friends put up a massive ad for free.
Those are not patents. Those are writings that look like patents and that were stored in a locked drawer in an obscure office. Patents are not secret. Anyone who is interested in a patent can view it in the patent office or even online. That's what the patent system is created for. If you want something to be secret, you don't file a patent.
I think it is sad what they've done with PSP8. PSP5 used to be very easy to use, then they've added all kinds of junk and created a really frustrating program.
[...]our next step will be to study the use of hydrogen sulfide in larger mammals.'
That's where the fun starts. Pull out the chimps! When we were kids we had to put little kittens in plastic bags and threw to to a brick wall. Now we get a lot of money for it. How beautiful science can be.
You must not remember the days when everybody loved that scrappy upstate Bill Gates.
Was that in 76? When Gates wrote a letter saying: 'Most of you steal your software.' http://www.blinkenlights.com/classiccmp/gateswhine.html
>> In my opinion, good engineering involves thinking that things _will_ eventually fail
.
Most engineering is done by engineers that have just left school. They are fast and they don't think. When the design is ticked of the excel sheet of the project leader it is time to progress to the next open issue. Nobody cares that the design does not fit or does not work at all. Engineering is about ticking off open issues.
70% of all computer users search for and download porn (if I understand the article, see below). You should think of the FBI to be somewhat like an easter egg. When you've found it, the doorbell rings.
article ->
Nu.nl December 6, 2005 (translated to English)
Approximately 70 percent of all computers used contain pornographic material on hard disks and memory cards. Most users who want to sell their computers, do not delete their files. This was found by the datarecovery company Diskslabs based on its own research.
The company bought a thousand second hand computers and fifty memory cards on the Internet. Not only a lot of porn was found, the files often contained bank and credit card details, resumes and other personal information.
'If they have nothing to hide, why do they run?', the hunter said.
I do. When I'm dating
>> I'm sure it's not quite THAT simple
.
One of the issues with such a design is that the bomb explodes before the fuel is converted into energy. About 99% of the fuel is lost and scattered into the air. I'm sure you want something more efficient than than?
>> That's pretty godlike, and that kind of technology came
>> along with the microwave oven and color television.
I don't care for Michio Kaku. Color television is all the future will ever need.
>> So, basically what I'm saying is that I don't worry about nuclear power because there is nothing to worry about.
.
And nuclear only produces 30% of the greenhous gasses for the same amount of energy put into the grid. As the resources deplete rapidly in the next 50 years, the less economic the minerals, the harder it gets to extract the uranium, the more CO2 will be produced.
>> Linux is free, and humans tend not to equate free things with being valuable.
.
That's why peer to peer downloading of mp3 is so hugely unpopular
>> I'm going to argue that small examples of machine intelligence do
>> exist. That is to say, there exist machines that are intelligent,
>> however in a small space.
I think those examples are not interesting. Dolphins are intelligent too, though hard to communicate with. Extra terrestrial bacteria are interesting only if that increases the chance of finding technical advanced civilizations. We are looking for others like us.
>> Also, I will not be ingesting nano bots to interact with my neurons, I'll
>> be injecting them into my enemies to disrupt their thinking.
If, unlike you, your enemies are willing to ingest nanobots, I wish you the best of luck with your quest.
>> How is that a troll?
That's not a troll. He is bashing MS. So we are obliged to laugh. Haha.
I have one powered by a generator attached to my knee joint. One to a string vibrating in the wind outside. One to my hamster. I'm seriously running out of cell phones by now. I'm starting to feel guilty not using more of this green energy.
That's one error the program didn't find
>> I'm surprised they didn't include the Japanese automaton dolls from the Edo period
I'm more surprised that the Droz automata are not listed. If 'The Turk is perhaps the greatest gadget that wasn't', then the Droz androids are the gratest gadgets that actually were. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ypKJWXFj48&feature=related
>> All eletronics extend from the idea of harnessing eletricity
Electronics is just the only survivor in a world of many species. The idea of processing information by itself is (indeed) not new. But many machines have been invented in the past that didn't make it. Then electronics is fast, tiny and can be mass produced for almost nothing. That's why this technology survived and information processing with water, gears, relais, and torque amplifiers did not.
The same holds for flying cars. The idea is an old one. And the only solution we have so far is to attach four propellers to it. Which, I think, is a species that is dead to begin with. But you can learn from it.
And you're right about ideas as 'very few good ideas are truly novel'. But having an idea is often not that hard. As is the first proof of concept. Creating something really useful is. Expressing this as 'an extension of simpler ideas' I think is wrong. Because this is the part were all the work is done.
How much this testosteron driven society wears me out and is not exactly my piece of cake, I would like to add that it is men for the most part who have contributed to the plentiful supply of food in the Western world, the advance in medicine and so on. In the high tech company where I work for example there are practically no women.
I still remember survivor (Dutch version) from several years ago. The men build a complete city on their island complete with an infrastructure for food. The women on their island were enjoying the sun and after several days started petering away.
So should it over pointless shopping at IKEA. You tell them!
I agree with mgblst. If experts don't do the job, then that is because you're paying peanuts and the real experts have left. Knowledge builds on previous knowledge. Of course outsiders can think of new things, too. They'll invent things like the cucumber-saver.