I go to Baylor University, which is close to the SpaceX test site. A bunch of engineering students (myself included) got to take a tour of the facility. We rode this rickety little elevator to the top of of the test stand. The test stand is a gigantic concrete superstructure that is like 300 ft high or so. I had to pee really bad. Luckily there was a port-a-potty at the bottom.
It was really exciting to see real rocket work going on in person. The "mission control" room was such a nerd fantasy. There was a big swath of giant flat screen monitors, each glowing with thin, phosphorescent lines of data. The glut of wires, tubes, ratings, warning signs, and big pieces of scary looking equipment made it a fantastic afternoon overall.
I wish Elon Musk all the luck in the world, and I hope someday I can afford to drive around in a Tesla Motors car.
Oh, and the test site is located at an old weapons test site. There are all these weird looking bunkers peppering the surrounding countryside. It felt like a scene from a Marvel comic or something. Unfortunately nothing went wrong and I failed to develop super powers due to radiation exposure.
I fully realize this comment contributed almost nothing to the discussion of the article, except to brag that I've been there and to share my excitement over all the loud, large, and complicated stuff they have.
Crappy programmers go to colleges that don't assign difficult challenges on a regular basis, requiring more then a few lines of java. Seems you are one of them.
I really enjoyed 2001: A Space Odyssey (and the sequels!), as well as some of the Rama books, all by Arthur C. Clarke. I was about 14 when I read them. It sounds like your kids are younger, but they may still enjoy it. It never hurts to over-estimate your kids. I read some pretty heavy tomes by the time I started high school.
I really recommend Timothy Zahn's Star Wars "Heir to the Empire" series. It's not "great" literature, but it's some of the best Star Wars writing out there.
"1984" by George Orwell is a good book. It might spark some interesting discussions about current events. (wire tapping, Habeas Corpus, etc)
If I had the option, I would opt to have my brain placed in a jar attached to a robot body in the event that my heart gave out or something.
I have to imagine there is someway to keep the brain alive chemically. If an artifical blood-like fluid could be manufactured that carried oxygen and nutrients to the brain, and some sort of electro-stimulus interface could transmit visual and audio data, it seems plausible (in a cartoonishly plausible way) that we could survive the deaths of our bodies and live on for several more decades as purely intellectual beings; an existence I would enjoy almost as much as my current existence.
And don't get the impression that I'm willing to discard my body because I'm hopelessly fat and sedentary. I love my body. I have a black belt, I workout out at the gym, and I am physically active. But when those capabilities go away, I would love to live on and experience the intellectual future.
Because they are not questioning evolution scientifically. They are categorically ignoring the MOUNTAINS OF EVIDENCE for evolution and saying things like "How can scientists really know how old something is?" and then never explaining in detail the chemistry and physics of radio-carbon dating. You hear things like "evolution is just a theory" without the correct addendum "and so is gravity".
It's like trying to use the phrase "Nuh uh" as a counter argument.
Science's argument: [insert thesis on evolution]
Counter Argument: Nuh uh.
So is James Cameron going to make a 3 hour chick flick where a young enlisted man falls in love with a high ranking officer, and they make love in the engine room while the Captain, the officer's life partner, searches frantically for him. Then the submarine starts to sink and the gay enlisted man gives the officer the last life jacket and the officer says, "I'll never let go!" and then he lets go and James Cameron wins 200 more Oscars?
So now that they've banned laptops and the internet, are they going to ban books? Because people are just going to start bringing books to read in class.
Personally, I hate lecture and I never pay attention as a matter of principle. I just read books and do other homework while the teacher rambles on. I don't care because my learning time is much more efficient when I'm learning out of the book.
I skip class a lot, I never pay attention, and I get A's and B's. (In electrical engineering).
This policy is really aggrivating to people like me who can't stand listening to some guy regurgitate the textbook at 1/2 speed.
Well, I got the important part. I don't know what that other stuff you said was. That's probably because I choose to speak English when I talk to other English speakers.
I can't read your mind, so I don't know what AFAICT means. Can you please type it out so that other humans who don't intuitively know what you are talking about can read it too?
So it's like the opposite of Atlas Shrugged - capitalism and industry have destroyed the world and it's up to a cloistered convent of Al Gore's followers to rebuild the world into a utopia.
If your work environment is really that untrustworthy, then consider installing one of those GPS tracker devices so that if your laptop gets stolen, the police can track it. It could be hidden somewhere, and once you installed it, you'd never have to think about it again.
Also, make sure and password everything and keep backups of your data.
Slashdot Mirror
I realize you are (probably) joking, but just in case anyone was really confused (like me) there are two different Brian Coxes.
One is the actor from X2 and Super Troopers, the other is the musician/physicist guy.
I love the internet. I just got insightful legal advice from a man named DickBreath.
I go to Baylor University, which is close to the SpaceX test site. A bunch of engineering students (myself included) got to take a tour of the facility. We rode this rickety little elevator to the top of of the test stand. The test stand is a gigantic concrete superstructure that is like 300 ft high or so. I had to pee really bad. Luckily there was a port-a-potty at the bottom.
It was really exciting to see real rocket work going on in person. The "mission control" room was such a nerd fantasy. There was a big swath of giant flat screen monitors, each glowing with thin, phosphorescent lines of data. The glut of wires, tubes, ratings, warning signs, and big pieces of scary looking equipment made it a fantastic afternoon overall.
I wish Elon Musk all the luck in the world, and I hope someday I can afford to drive around in a Tesla Motors car.
Oh, and the test site is located at an old weapons test site. There are all these weird looking bunkers peppering the surrounding countryside. It felt like a scene from a Marvel comic or something. Unfortunately nothing went wrong and I failed to develop super powers due to radiation exposure.
I fully realize this comment contributed almost nothing to the discussion of the article, except to brag that I've been there and to share my excitement over all the loud, large, and complicated stuff they have.
I've always wondered if a school run based off of a manga would work...
Then you, sir, are a dork. No offense. =)
buys stock in the gas mask industry...
Crappy programmers go to colleges that don't assign difficult challenges on a regular basis, requiring more then a few lines of java. Seems you are one of them.
Are you serious? "Hundreds" of lines of code? I have had small homework assignments that made it into several thousand lines.
Hopefully you meant "hundreds of thousands"?
I really enjoyed 2001: A Space Odyssey (and the sequels!), as well as some of the Rama books, all by Arthur C. Clarke. I was about 14 when I read them. It sounds like your kids are younger, but they may still enjoy it. It never hurts to over-estimate your kids. I read some pretty heavy tomes by the time I started high school.
I really recommend Timothy Zahn's Star Wars "Heir to the Empire" series. It's not "great" literature, but it's some of the best Star Wars writing out there.
"1984" by George Orwell is a good book. It might spark some interesting discussions about current events. (wire tapping, Habeas Corpus, etc)
You'd get it fixed by a technician? Just like you go to the doctor now.
Learn Swiss..........Swedish hot chicks
I don't think learning Swiss will help you communicate with Swedes.
If I had the option, I would opt to have my brain placed in a jar attached to a robot body in the event that my heart gave out or something.
I have to imagine there is someway to keep the brain alive chemically. If an artifical blood-like fluid could be manufactured that carried oxygen and nutrients to the brain, and some sort of electro-stimulus interface could transmit visual and audio data, it seems plausible (in a cartoonishly plausible way) that we could survive the deaths of our bodies and live on for several more decades as purely intellectual beings; an existence I would enjoy almost as much as my current existence. And don't get the impression that I'm willing to discard my body because I'm hopelessly fat and sedentary. I love my body. I have a black belt, I workout out at the gym, and I am physically active. But when those capabilities go away, I would love to live on and experience the intellectual future.
Because they are not questioning evolution scientifically. They are categorically ignoring the MOUNTAINS OF EVIDENCE for evolution and saying things like "How can scientists really know how old something is?" and then never explaining in detail the chemistry and physics of radio-carbon dating. You hear things like "evolution is just a theory" without the correct addendum "and so is gravity".
It's like trying to use the phrase "Nuh uh" as a counter argument.
Science's argument: [insert thesis on evolution]
Counter Argument: Nuh uh.
If you're going to disprove the scientific method, you can't use the scientific method.
Well I don't know if I'd want to work for you. I'm afraid of heights, after all. ;)
Yahooglesoft?
It's also important to point out that rain complaints in Western Washington are based on frequency, not volume.
For instance, it rains more in Miami, but it rains more often in Seattle.
I was under the impression that John McCain supports closing Guantanamo and ending the torture of suspected terrorists.
So is James Cameron going to make a 3 hour chick flick where a young enlisted man falls in love with a high ranking officer, and they make love in the engine room while the Captain, the officer's life partner, searches frantically for him. Then the submarine starts to sink and the gay enlisted man gives the officer the last life jacket and the officer says, "I'll never let go!" and then he lets go and James Cameron wins 200 more Oscars?
So now that they've banned laptops and the internet, are they going to ban books? Because people are just going to start bringing books to read in class. Personally, I hate lecture and I never pay attention as a matter of principle. I just read books and do other homework while the teacher rambles on. I don't care because my learning time is much more efficient when I'm learning out of the book. I skip class a lot, I never pay attention, and I get A's and B's. (In electrical engineering). This policy is really aggrivating to people like me who can't stand listening to some guy regurgitate the textbook at 1/2 speed.
Well, I got the important part. I don't know what that other stuff you said was. That's probably because I choose to speak English when I talk to other English speakers.
I can't read your mind, so I don't know what AFAICT means. Can you please type it out so that other humans who don't intuitively know what you are talking about can read it too?
Modding me down to zero is an excellent way of disagreeing with me.
So it's like the opposite of Atlas Shrugged - capitalism and industry have destroyed the world and it's up to a cloistered convent of Al Gore's followers to rebuild the world into a utopia.
Unless we set up some sort of hobo farm
Have you ever been to Seattle?
If your work environment is really that untrustworthy, then consider installing one of those GPS tracker devices so that if your laptop gets stolen, the police can track it. It could be hidden somewhere, and once you installed it, you'd never have to think about it again.
Also, make sure and password everything and keep backups of your data.