What today stands out as something that is so immediately useful and complex and ahead of its time that we as humans are lucky to have been around at the very start of?
Several others: Transistors, Fire, Radio, Electricity, Walkman
I submit that a touch device that allowed you to "circle" an object, capture that object into an object clipboard, then drop it into any application which would be able to query the object or act on it in a special app-specific way *could* be developed.
Indeed, this is what OLE intended before it faded away. If a CLR or JVM underlies the API, it should be possible still. Android seems to hint at this, but no one has the wherewithal to bring it all together. MS could do that, but they won't.
Many sites develop groupthink. Slashdot certainly isn't immune.
Free Republic takes it to a higher level and eliminates any dissenting voices by deleting their posts, banning their accounts from posting, and logging their IP address so that future accounts created at that IP are automatically banned.
Forum spam is a different story, of course. But the thinking behind it is the same. These are posts that are not welcome on this site, therefore we must eliminate them.
Of all the sites I've visited, Slashdot (and perhaps Kuro5hin) has the best system. Posts are never deleted, and even posts modded to -1 can still be read by those interested. There is the pink page of death and other nasty bits that I think/. could get rid of, but on the whole this site caters to its posters very well.
A hundred odd years ago, I could say "I can detect people hidden behind walls with this special device I have developed. It senses an energy field given off by the person." And upon proving it and explaining that the device detects invisible infrared radiation, a skeptic like Randi would then say "that's using science, not psychic ability".
But then what is the difference between science and psychic ability except the moving of unknown things into the realm of the understood things?
No one can ever win Randi's challenge because upon proving the ability, it would cease to be "psychic" and would be science and thus unqualified for the award. The Randi Challenge is a clever scam to prove to his true believers how smart he is, though.
I'm just saying that there may be a connection here that skeptics are dismissing out of hand.
Whether it is the magnetic field described in the article or something else (maybe radiation as detected by the microwave scanners at airports), there does seem to be a field or "aura" produced by living things that may be related to so-called supernatural or life-energy beliefs and practices of many cultures.
Not to take anything away from the graphene story, but the floating frog story is really interesting.
It posits that there is a magnetic field surrounding all matter. The positive and negative particles produce a tiny force that can be measured with even crude instruments like a compass. Strangely, these fields become stronger and weaker depending on many variables, including emotional state, vitality, and stress levels.
I'm not saying this is what psychics "see" when they "read someone's aura", but there seems to be more to their woo-woo than many skeptics are willing to accept. If there is a measurable energy field around all things, then there might be something to things like Reiki and other eastern traditional medicines.
If we have to do it with today's technology, aren't we handicapping ourselves? By the time we are actually able to make a manned stab towards Jupiter we should be pretty far advanced, technologically speaking.
If we assume we travel at or near the speed of light, we can pick an almost straight line, give or take a few radians. That would get us there within minutes.
I know it's really late, but I finally saw Avatar the other day. Of course, I had to watch it in 2D since my home TV is not 3D enabled. You can really tell where they were using 3D for the sake of 3D.
If we use technology only to show off technology, we can't expect anything interesting to come of it.
I saw this one video where the bot was basically pulled right out of the infection with tweezers. In another, the bot broke off halfway out and the guy had to have the rest removed by a surgeon, but not without great pain.
Normal insecticide and pest repellent doesn't even work with these things. You really need to keep your netting clean and free of holes. One small hole and you'll wake up with bots dug into your skin and larva chewing at your subcutaneous layer of fat.
Slashdot Mirror
Is it the Internet?
What today stands out as something that is so immediately useful and complex and ahead of its time that we as humans are lucky to have been around at the very start of?
Several others: Transistors, Fire, Radio, Electricity, Walkman
So anything that is supported by evidence is science and anything that is not supported by evidence is woo-woo.
Any evidence that proves the "mysterious" thing moves into the science category.
And thus Randi's challenge money disappears in a puff of logic.
I submit that a touch device that allowed you to "circle" an object, capture that object into an object clipboard, then drop it into any application which would be able to query the object or act on it in a special app-specific way *could* be developed.
Indeed, this is what OLE intended before it faded away. If a CLR or JVM underlies the API, it should be possible still. Android seems to hint at this, but no one has the wherewithal to bring it all together. MS could do that, but they won't.
Science?! What kind of pinko Muslim loving homosexual are you?
Yes, we want tablet PCs. Yes, we want tablet computing pads.
We also want the Courier.
But we won't get the Courier. Ballmer hasn't got the vision to sell something like that.
Why is it not "mysterious" anymore? Because science has shown it to work.
Two hundred years ago, you'd be burned at the stake for such a thing.
Many sites develop groupthink. Slashdot certainly isn't immune.
Free Republic takes it to a higher level and eliminates any dissenting voices by deleting their posts, banning their accounts from posting, and logging their IP address so that future accounts created at that IP are automatically banned.
Forum spam is a different story, of course. But the thinking behind it is the same. These are posts that are not welcome on this site, therefore we must eliminate them.
Of all the sites I've visited, Slashdot (and perhaps Kuro5hin) has the best system. Posts are never deleted, and even posts modded to -1 can still be read by those interested. There is the pink page of death and other nasty bits that I think /. could get rid of, but on the whole this site caters to its posters very well.
That said, the groupthink is still very obvious.
So anything that is shown to work automatically disqualifies itself.
As I said, that's a scam, not a contest.
Hmm.. I wonder where we could find a strong magnet...
http://churmura.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/scanner2-300x248.jpg
The body produces an energy field that can be easily measured.
But I suppose you'd deny that.
Science progresses.
A hundred odd years ago, I could say "I can detect people hidden behind walls with this special device I have developed. It senses an energy field given off by the person." And upon proving it and explaining that the device detects invisible infrared radiation, a skeptic like Randi would then say "that's using science, not psychic ability".
But then what is the difference between science and psychic ability except the moving of unknown things into the realm of the understood things?
No one can ever win Randi's challenge because upon proving the ability, it would cease to be "psychic" and would be science and thus unqualified for the award. The Randi Challenge is a clever scam to prove to his true believers how smart he is, though.
I created an account and was banned almost immediately.
They have extremely vigilant forum monitors who will bring the banhammer down for the slightest offense.
My offense? I insinuated that gays might be able to serve in the military just as well as straights.
No. I am an athiest.
Randi is not a scientist. He is a magician.
I'm just saying that there may be a connection here that skeptics are dismissing out of hand.
Whether it is the magnetic field described in the article or something else (maybe radiation as detected by the microwave scanners at airports), there does seem to be a field or "aura" produced by living things that may be related to so-called supernatural or life-energy beliefs and practices of many cultures.
all the atoms inside the frog act as very small magnets creating a field of about 2 Gauss
Here's a link that talks about the energy field surrounding matter.
http://www.ru.nl/hfml/research/levitation/diamagnetic/
Incidentally, it's the same URL as the one in the summary.
Not to take anything away from the graphene story, but the floating frog story is really interesting.
It posits that there is a magnetic field surrounding all matter. The positive and negative particles produce a tiny force that can be measured with even crude instruments like a compass. Strangely, these fields become stronger and weaker depending on many variables, including emotional state, vitality, and stress levels.
I'm not saying this is what psychics "see" when they "read someone's aura", but there seems to be more to their woo-woo than many skeptics are willing to accept. If there is a measurable energy field around all things, then there might be something to things like Reiki and other eastern traditional medicines.
Yes... Trust the corporate master to look out for our interests...
That's the winning strategy!
If we have to do it with today's technology, aren't we handicapping ourselves? By the time we are actually able to make a manned stab towards Jupiter we should be pretty far advanced, technologically speaking.
If we assume we travel at or near the speed of light, we can pick an almost straight line, give or take a few radians. That would get us there within minutes.
I know it's really late, but I finally saw Avatar the other day. Of course, I had to watch it in 2D since my home TV is not 3D enabled. You can really tell where they were using 3D for the sake of 3D.
If we use technology only to show off technology, we can't expect anything interesting to come of it.
It must have a raisin detre.
I saw this one video where the bot was basically pulled right out of the infection with tweezers. In another, the bot broke off halfway out and the guy had to have the rest removed by a surgeon, but not without great pain.
Normal insecticide and pest repellent doesn't even work with these things. You really need to keep your netting clean and free of holes. One small hole and you'll wake up with bots dug into your skin and larva chewing at your subcutaneous layer of fat.
Don't be obtuse. CE is a WINO.
I am prevented from saying. ;-)
BTW, for the money, Freescale probably has the best cost/performance ratio of any ARMv7 CPU out there.