I had planned on getting some HD disc format with my new HDTV, and I did so. But my choice had nothing to do with the formats themselves. The choice was:
- Playstation 3 as a Blu-Ray Player
- Xbox360 for games, with HD-DVD as a bonus add-on
My decision? The Xbox came free with my TV, so I got the HD-DVD add-on. If the PS3 was free, I would have been just as happy (except not playing as many games, but that's a different discussion).
Personally, I think this format war will continue ad infinitum until both formats are replaced by the next big thing -- HD Downloads and HD-DVRs in the short-term, and HVD [Wikipedia] Movie discs in the long-term. A 4TB disc format will take us far beyond the current HDTV technologies.
Or how about taking one of them to a bridge, and throw it out into the river/ocean/lake (in a watertight bag if you want so it'll keep transmitting a little longer). Then find a nice vantage point and see whether the police come to investigate why their suspect drove off a bridge:-)
If they come, then they must admit that they were following you and may have a bit of explaining to do (particularly if you call the press when you see them arriving). If they don't, then would that be a case for attempted negligent homicide, or something to that effect, if it can be shown that they knew your "car" went over a bridge/cliff, and they did nothing?
Only 4 percent of Africa's population has regular access to the internet
And what percentage of Africa's population has regular access to electricity? To clean water? To abundant food? To peace and security? To a regular job? To education (ok, this one might come for free with Internet access)?
Regular access to the Internet will be important for Africa's future, but regular access to a few other "minor" necessities are a bit more important in the present.
The key part to any electronic voting system has to be the possibility of manual verification, not necessarily requiring it as part of the process. An equally effective system would use some sort of system of printed ballots (like the mixed system described by parent), but following a fully open and government-regulated specification. All voting districts would require two machines (per booth), from different manufacturers and independently certified in their accuracy, to count the votes. Each machine would be cheap (economy of scale if an effective federal ballot standard was designed) and immediately verified by an equivalent counterpart manufactured by a competing supplier.
Any discrepancies between the two, independent of their cause, would be immediately flagged. Regulations could require the two disagreeing units to be replaced, while a manual (human) recount of the paper ballots is conducted on the questioned ballots, and a sampling of previously verified ballots in the group. In close elections, or in the rare events of multiple failures (human disagreeing with both machines), a full recount of the ballots can be scheduled for the following day using machines from a neighboring district, in addition to human verification.
Independent verification is the key. Neither a single computer nor human can be trusted as both unbiased and incapable of errors, but a deterministic combination (one that can be repeated using a recorded trail in the event of a recount) ensures fairness.
From what I've heard at a recent lecture/conference though, placing a telescope on the dark side of the moon is exciting, but scientifically speaking, the astronomers would actually prefer orbiting telescopes at the Lagrange points. The dark side of the moon offers certain advantages, including cost if operated in conjunction with planned lunar activities, however will not necessarily provide the same scientific benefit as telescopes at the Lagrange points (#2 I believe) can. Of course though, I don't know how the advent of jumbo lenses might change that.
(Note: I am not an astronomer, but I share an office with one.)
Teaching the concepts of a spreadsheet or word processing program in general is much more important. However, practically speaking, schools will teach for the specific product (MS or otherwise) that they have, and a non-trivial portion of the users will then get lost when exposed to an alternate, but entirely equivalent, application. It is sad the number of people I can identify that will get lost if you rearrange the icons, let alone the slight differences of, as a basic example "Bookmarks" versus "favorites."
For schools computer curriculum to be truly educational, they should at least attempt to teach the general concepts, with examples (even if just in screen shots) on how common features are designed to work logically, even if the mnemonics or icons of the commands might vary between implementations. There is a big difference between saying "to undo your last action, press Edit (see screenshot) and then 'undo' [more screenshots]" and "the option to undo your last action is a type of editing command, and therefore can be found on the menu titled 'Edit'." This is obvious to/.'ers, but this is a leap of logic that many average users do not necessarily make.
As the old saying goes, "show a person where to click and they've done one task, teach a person why to click there and they might not ask you next time a similar task is required."
Exactly. Downloading some MP3s and burning a CD for your own personal use is one thing. Turning around and selling those CDs for profit at a Flea Market (or anywhere else) though is without a question (in my eyes) illegal, and therefore the RIAA is perfectly justified in setting the local authorities loose.
Similar tactics, including the non-authoritative "RIAA Agent" raids against MP3 pirates on the other hand I would consider a borderline violation of certain constitutional rights, among other things. In this case however, if it wasn't for the mention of "RIAA," I doubt this sort of flea-market raid would've even made the/.news
Actually, this most closely resembles Chris Moriarty's Spin State. Of course, she did write this in 2003 so the book may have been influenced by the early articles on Quantum Entanglement transportation. Still, it was a good book.
Just another example of the blurring of science and science-fiction. The ancient riddle of which came first, the chicken or the egg, has been supplanted with a new conundrum of "which came first, the science or the science-fiction?."
Not to mention that IPTV streams are originating at the ISP's servers, and therefore don't use up the ISPs connection (and bandwidth) to the Internet at large. They are still sharing the same bandwidth limitations in the path to the ISP's servers, but in general that bandwidth is probably greater (and cheaper for the ISP) than that available onward to the Internet at large.
Video services are a problem for ISPs, but that's not necessarily so when they are providing said services themselves.
Of course, if multicast was more widely used, we might be able to limit these bandwidth issues. I could envision a number of public multicast IPs licensed, as the airwaves currently are, to provide video streaming services across the internet, independent of local (to the ISP) multicast configurations. For such a service to be fair and effective though, said licenses should be made available only to those services that have a demonstrated need for it--such that if the public decides that they don't like to use a specific multicast IP/channel, that address can be re-allocated to a new service to better utilize available bandwidth across the Internet (or perhaps across regions, ie: Europe, North America, Asia, etc.).
While it wouldn't surprise me if that were true, the two links you posted are both at $699 now. Did Dell see your post and update their cost?
Aside from that point, if you look closely the two laptops are slightly different model numbers--D520 vs. D520N. Additionally, any system configuration from Dell always has a tendency to go up in price when you customize their advertised offers. As soon as you make any change to the configuration, you often loose some discount or another.
In the long run however, I think they would do well if they also (note also, not instead - more choices are better, and in this case it's an option that adds to their sale) offered a system pre-configured with either a Dual-Boot or possibly virtualization software for running Windows under Linux. The discounted Windows Licenses Dell gets don't cost all that much extra, and they are more likely to win over new-Linux users by providing the Windows fallback. Of course, for the sake of argument I'm ignoring any caveats in the windows agreements against such virtualization arrangements.
"I was wondering about this too, but I imagine (and sorely hope!) that they develop any space-related software using formal methods, which would probably discard any idea of development speed"
Speed and convenience aren't necessarily the same thing. Most space-related software is subject to much more thorough processes than this, however when your talking about small development utilities to aid the programmers in managing relatively minor parts of the development process, a quick GUI (or bash script) works well. Remember, not every piece of code written in space-related applications are intended for usage on the actual space-flight hardware or ground control systems, many are just quick utilities to test other components or organize data along the way.
From what I've seen, it probably has more to do with individual programmer's preference than anything else in deciding which languages to use.
Java probably has a high popularity in ground-side software due to the ease with which you can quickly develop a user-interface for the system, which given the number of developers on any space mission is required quite often.
Theoretically, the pilot wouldn't have to worry about the UAVs he's flying with. If the system works properly, all of the UAVs should automatically move in precise formation (think Blue Angel's) with each other and the pilots aircraft. He's probably not directly controlling the UAVs, but leading them - with the UAVs instantly responding to his precise moves.
The pilot is still controlling just one aircraft, but several UAVs are following him in tight formation, automatically following his lead.
The real problem would be, in the heat of the battle, having the pilot worry about his UAV escort getting hit and/or malfunctioning, and being aware that his next actions must direct his plane, and the others in his formation, so as not to fly into the damaged drone that might now be out of control.
I also wonder if Google, aside from this, has donated anything to the wikipedia foundation? Google does claim they support open products, and Wikipedia has been at the top of most regular search results for a while. That doesn't give them any obligation of course, but would be a good-will-promoting-and-tax-reducing-act towards a non-profit that complements Google's offerings.
Of course the real controversy here should be that does including Wikipedia as a special-case in search results lead to a greater trust in the accuracy of Wikipedia's content? And is that trust merited?
Even if it is a simple bug fix, if they just identified it now, it definetly would not be "flight ready" by the end of the year.
Any code to be used on a spacecraft must be thoroughly tested and certified (by the developers and a seperate team of testers) before it can be uploaded to the craft. That process can easily take several months to complete. This is the procedure for unmanned spacecraft, I'm sure the procedure for the Space Shuttle is even more stringent.
My guess is they're writing a solution now that will be ready to prevent this issue next year or afterwards, but it definetly won't be ready for the next launch. I'm sure somebody's probably hitting themself on the head at not noticing this synchronization problem before.
The first thing you should do is talk to the college advisor at your school and start deciding on what schools your interested in, and when the applications are due. If your sure you want to study computer science, you should start looking at schools that will interest you and can provide you with courses/experience in fields you might be interested in. If your HS school offers it, taking a programming course or AP Computer Science Class is a good start.
Just as importantly, find something that your interested in.
Is there an open source program that you like using? Perhaps some feature that you'd like see added to one. If so, go to the site's forums or mailing list (sourceforge has a lot of these products) and introduce yourself. Ask for some advise on what you should try and learn, and what you can contribute.
Are you interested in any specific games? If so, particularly for FPS games, try working on or making your own modifications or maps for the game. It doesn't have to be actual programming, but it will give you experience.
Are there any other subjects your interested in? Does your school have a website? If so, try making your own site. Along the way, pick up a book and start learning HTML, Javascript, and/or PHP to make a more dynamic site.
The most important thing is to find something your interest in, and then learn how to write a program to match your interests.
Learning to use UNIX/Linux is also a good place to start. You will learn a lot installing, exploring (and toubleshooting) with a distribution such as Gentoo. It will also give you the development tools to use when you start coding. Alternatively, if you don't have a system that you can install Linux on, you can try a LiveCD distribution such as Knoppix that has many of the same features, but won't have any lasting affect on your computer.
Don't be afraid to ask questions, and always remember Google is your friend in finding solutions to most issues.
To be precise, the replacement parts for Hubble have been sitting in the giant clean room at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland for several years, all tested, packed, and ready to go.
JWST will be an excellent tool, however it is not, as the parent said, a replacement for Hubble. It serves a different role, focusing on IR images, which while arguably of greater scientific value, does not provide the type of images that engrosses the publics imagination (aka gives NASA more tax dollars) as Hubble does. JWST is also still relatively early in its development cycle, with a launch date of no earlier than 2013, and that's assuming there are no delays.
Linux has made great strides recently to "get its act together." For non-gamers, non-programmers (aka 90% of average computer users) Linux in its current form, if you choose the right distribution for them, is as easy (or easier) than Windows. The key phrase there, is the right distribution, some cater to user-friendliness (ie:Ubuntu), while others go for the/. tech zealot crowd (ie:Gentoo).
Take Ubuntu, the installer is extremely straight-forward (newbie friendly), users are given a MS Windows style simple Add/Remove Programs GUI, and equivalents to all of the standard Windows applications. A few minutes of instruction (same as from a Windows upgrade) and any computer novice would be happy with it, just as long as you explain to them that most commercial software products from the store won't work out and if they want to save a 'Word' document that's compatible with their friends MS Word, they have to do a "Save As" and change the file type (it's amazing how few people, including some IT/CS majors I know, don't realize that). Sure, Quake 3 installation might be a different story, but I'd bet most people that try that on Linux aren't your average user.
To try and stay at least partially on topic here, I don't think I've seen any updates since WMP9 that have been worth upgrading, except for these DRM annoyances. Some online video sites, such as AOL's in2TV channels, will not work unless you upgrade to the latest version of WMP, and even then don't work reliably.
So in effect, the only winners of Microsoft's latest WMP upgrade, are the next wave of online services (aka the ones MS is working on) selling DRM-protected content will be affected. Microsoft will benefit, or so they think, because the products they sell will be all the more secure, that only the latest WMP versions can (for now) access the content, be it paid or free. Of course, this also means that only the portion of consumers that are able to install the newest WMP (meaning legitimate Win XP users) will be able to take advantage of these services.
When will companies realize that DRM only serves to limit their customer base, and alienate the rest? They provide inferior content, with little or no discounts, and impose arbitrary limitations on where and how you can view it.
With each DRM software upgrade, we are one step closer to an anti-DRM revolution when the masses realize that DRM = "[corporate] Dictators Rule the Media."
Perhaps the fact that few legislators ever read all the laws they sign signifies a greater problem?
I remember reading (not sure where) an article comparing the US Legislature with that of other countries. In one case, the US Congress specifically sought out to pass a specific law whose text would be as concise as possible. The resulting bill was at least several dozen pages long. Other legislatures in comparison pass laws that on average are less than a page in length (probably not counting budgets).
US Laws are consistently filled with volumes of excess wording designed to obscure meaning and provide loopholes for specific purposes, individuals, or politicians. In many cases, the obscurity may mean that nobody can even decipher the meaning of a given phrase, unless they hold the hidden key/meaning to a highly obscure description of a specific entity. It may not humanly possible for every law to be analyzed in its entirety by any single office before it is voted upon.
The funniest thing though is when the machines leaves messages without realizing they are talking to a machine. I've had countless messages where it had already started talking, and other times where it is telling the machine "please press or say 1 to speak to a customer service representative, . . . "
Campaign messages are equally as bad, but at least the many (not all) of those are either smart enough not to leave a message, or short enough so that all you hear "so that's why you should vote for XYZ. Thanks you.."
Most of the time, I don't even pick up the landline phone during the day, since 90% of the calls are telemarketers, and anyone else would leave a message [I must be one of the few people left without caller ID on their landline . . . ]
Tablet PCs are great things, they just aren't for everybody (partly because the prices never came down). The same will be true of these keyboards, at least until they become dirt cheap.
Tablets are used a lot in business' or hospitals for quick input without requiring a keyboard, to provide mobile surveys or display information, etc.
I don't have one (can't afford it), but if I did it would come in very handy when using my laptop for taking notes in class - there's no faster way to quickly copy down a small diagram while the rest of your notes are mostly text.
At the same time, tablet PCs and touchscreen displays are a more natural way for less tech-savvy persons to use the computer--I'm sure everyone here's been annoyed by someone at some point that insists on touching the screen to point something out.
I think this OLED technology is still a ways off from mainstream usage on the PC - meaning until the price difference is equivalent to that of optical over standard mouse a few years ago.
They are starting to use similar technology to this on programmable remote controls, which would be a lot more practical for simplifying large universal remote controls (my parents can never figure out how to use the TV+cable-DVR+sound-system+dvd)
Would a third party be legally authorized to sue for enforcement of a license agreement when they are not a party of that agreement themselves without first getting consent from a license holder?
I may be wrong, but my understanding is that as long as you link to the GPL'd code as an external library you are legally safe (providing that you include the source of that library). If you need to modify the API/functions of that library though, you must distribute the full source code of it, the original and modifications, of the entire linked library. As long as the library is externally linked (ie: a dll or equivalent) and not compiled into your application, the GPL doesn't extend to the rest of your application.
I always fastforward through the commercials on my DVR, but the speed is such that I normally see at least a couple of frames of each commercial - and I actually like it that way.
Every now and then I might see the flash of a commercial that might look intersting and will actually go back to watch it - albeit not often. If they actually made more commercials that were (a) interesting, (b) actually relevant to something, (c) not repeated a zillion times, or (d) didn't include dozens of 'enhancement' and diet commercials that nobody wants to see, then maybe commercials would be more effective, but as it is, most people just ignore the commercials, even when they can't skip them.
Product placement has definetly been on the rise lately, and will definetly continue to. Commercials are a dying medium - nobody wants to see them most of the time, and on-demand and PVRs are making it easier than ever to skip them. When done right, product placement is unobtrusive and can actually add to the realism of the show, or for that matter video game (an area that's starting to grow exponentially).
Of course, added product placement will also eventually mean less reruns on tv when networks can't change or re-charge for the ads in old shows . . .
They actually use VxWorks for several spacecraft, I don't know what they use for the rovers though.
There does seem to be a trend in NASA though to try moving away from commercial/proprietary products across the board. I have seen them using Fedora and other shades of Linux on their testbeds for simulation, and I have heard talk of them looking into RTOS versions of Linux for the future.
Slashdot Mirror
I had planned on getting some HD disc format with my new HDTV, and I did so. But my choice had nothing to do with the formats themselves. The choice was:
- Playstation 3 as a Blu-Ray Player
- Xbox360 for games, with HD-DVD as a bonus add-on
My decision? The Xbox came free with my TV, so I got the HD-DVD add-on. If the PS3 was free, I would have been just as happy (except not playing as many games, but that's a different discussion).
Personally, I think this format war will continue ad infinitum until both formats are replaced by the next big thing -- HD Downloads and HD-DVRs in the short-term, and HVD [Wikipedia] Movie discs in the long-term. A 4TB disc format will take us far beyond the current HDTV technologies.
Or how about taking one of them to a bridge, and throw it out into the river/ocean/lake (in a watertight bag if you want so it'll keep transmitting a little longer). Then find a nice vantage point and see whether the police come to investigate why their suspect drove off a bridge :-)
If they come, then they must admit that they were following you and may have a bit of explaining to do (particularly if you call the press when you see them arriving). If they don't, then would that be a case for attempted negligent homicide, or something to that effect, if it can be shown that they knew your "car" went over a bridge/cliff, and they did nothing?
And what percentage of Africa's population has regular access to electricity? To clean water? To abundant food? To peace and security? To a regular job? To education (ok, this one might come for free with Internet access)?
Regular access to the Internet will be important for Africa's future, but regular access to a few other "minor" necessities are a bit more important in the present.
The key part to any electronic voting system has to be the possibility of manual verification, not necessarily requiring it as part of the process. An equally effective system would use some sort of system of printed ballots (like the mixed system described by parent), but following a fully open and government-regulated specification. All voting districts would require two machines (per booth), from different manufacturers and independently certified in their accuracy, to count the votes. Each machine would be cheap (economy of scale if an effective federal ballot standard was designed) and immediately verified by an equivalent counterpart manufactured by a competing supplier.
Any discrepancies between the two, independent of their cause, would be immediately flagged. Regulations could require the two disagreeing units to be replaced, while a manual (human) recount of the paper ballots is conducted on the questioned ballots, and a sampling of previously verified ballots in the group. In close elections, or in the rare events of multiple failures (human disagreeing with both machines), a full recount of the ballots can be scheduled for the following day using machines from a neighboring district, in addition to human verification.
Independent verification is the key. Neither a single computer nor human can be trusted as both unbiased and incapable of errors, but a deterministic combination (one that can be repeated using a recorded trail in the event of a recount) ensures fairness.
From what I've heard at a recent lecture/conference though, placing a telescope on the dark side of the moon is exciting, but scientifically speaking, the astronomers would actually prefer orbiting telescopes at the Lagrange points. The dark side of the moon offers certain advantages, including cost if operated in conjunction with planned lunar activities, however will not necessarily provide the same scientific benefit as telescopes at the Lagrange points (#2 I believe) can. Of course though, I don't know how the advent of jumbo lenses might change that.
(Note: I am not an astronomer, but I share an office with one.)
Teaching the concepts of a spreadsheet or word processing program in general is much more important. However, practically speaking, schools will teach for the specific product (MS or otherwise) that they have, and a non-trivial portion of the users will then get lost when exposed to an alternate, but entirely equivalent, application. It is sad the number of people I can identify that will get lost if you rearrange the icons, let alone the slight differences of, as a basic example "Bookmarks" versus "favorites."
/.'ers, but this is a leap of logic that many average users do not necessarily make.
For schools computer curriculum to be truly educational, they should at least attempt to teach the general concepts, with examples (even if just in screen shots) on how common features are designed to work logically, even if the mnemonics or icons of the commands might vary between implementations. There is a big difference between saying "to undo your last action, press Edit (see screenshot) and then 'undo' [more screenshots]" and "the option to undo your last action is a type of editing command, and therefore can be found on the menu titled 'Edit'." This is obvious to
As the old saying goes, "show a person where to click and they've done one task, teach a person why to click there and they might not ask you next time a similar task is required."
Exactly. Downloading some MP3s and burning a CD for your own personal use is one thing. Turning around and selling those CDs for profit at a Flea Market (or anywhere else) though is without a question (in my eyes) illegal, and therefore the RIAA is perfectly justified in setting the local authorities loose.
/.news
Similar tactics, including the non-authoritative "RIAA Agent" raids against MP3 pirates on the other hand I would consider a borderline violation of certain constitutional rights, among other things. In this case however, if it wasn't for the mention of "RIAA," I doubt this sort of flea-market raid would've even made the
Actually, this most closely resembles Chris Moriarty's Spin State. Of course, she did write this in 2003 so the book may have been influenced by the early articles on Quantum Entanglement transportation. Still, it was a good book.
Just another example of the blurring of science and science-fiction. The ancient riddle of which came first, the chicken or the egg, has been supplanted with a new conundrum of "which came first, the science or the science-fiction?."
Not to mention that IPTV streams are originating at the ISP's servers, and therefore don't use up the ISPs connection (and bandwidth) to the Internet at large. They are still sharing the same bandwidth limitations in the path to the ISP's servers, but in general that bandwidth is probably greater (and cheaper for the ISP) than that available onward to the Internet at large.
Video services are a problem for ISPs, but that's not necessarily so when they are providing said services themselves.
Of course, if multicast was more widely used, we might be able to limit these bandwidth issues. I could envision a number of public multicast IPs licensed, as the airwaves currently are, to provide video streaming services across the internet, independent of local (to the ISP) multicast configurations. For such a service to be fair and effective though, said licenses should be made available only to those services that have a demonstrated need for it--such that if the public decides that they don't like to use a specific multicast IP/channel, that address can be re-allocated to a new service to better utilize available bandwidth across the Internet (or perhaps across regions, ie: Europe, North America, Asia, etc.).
While it wouldn't surprise me if that were true, the two links you posted are both at $699 now. Did Dell see your post and update their cost?
Aside from that point, if you look closely the two laptops are slightly different model numbers--D520 vs. D520N. Additionally, any system configuration from Dell always has a tendency to go up in price when you customize their advertised offers. As soon as you make any change to the configuration, you often loose some discount or another.
In the long run however, I think they would do well if they also (note also, not instead - more choices are better, and in this case it's an option that adds to their sale) offered a system pre-configured with either a Dual-Boot or possibly virtualization software for running Windows under Linux. The discounted Windows Licenses Dell gets don't cost all that much extra, and they are more likely to win over new-Linux users by providing the Windows fallback. Of course, for the sake of argument I'm ignoring any caveats in the windows agreements against such virtualization arrangements.
"I was wondering about this too, but I imagine (and sorely hope!) that they develop any space-related software using formal methods, which would probably discard any idea of development speed"
Speed and convenience aren't necessarily the same thing. Most space-related software is subject to much more thorough processes than this, however when your talking about small development utilities to aid the programmers in managing relatively minor parts of the development process, a quick GUI (or bash script) works well. Remember, not every piece of code written in space-related applications are intended for usage on the actual space-flight hardware or ground control systems, many are just quick utilities to test other components or organize data along the way.
From what I've seen, it probably has more to do with individual programmer's preference than anything else in deciding which languages to use. Java probably has a high popularity in ground-side software due to the ease with which you can quickly develop a user-interface for the system, which given the number of developers on any space mission is required quite often.
Actually, the memo said that 2012 is just a nice sounding year.
To be precise, it is the one year in between two. [2 on either side, and just one in the middle]
Theoretically, the pilot wouldn't have to worry about the UAVs he's flying with. If the system works properly, all of the UAVs should automatically move in precise formation (think Blue Angel's) with each other and the pilots aircraft. He's probably not directly controlling the UAVs, but leading them - with the UAVs instantly responding to his precise moves.
The pilot is still controlling just one aircraft, but several UAVs are following him in tight formation, automatically following his lead.
The real problem would be, in the heat of the battle, having the pilot worry about his UAV escort getting hit and/or malfunctioning, and being aware that his next actions must direct his plane, and the others in his formation, so as not to fly into the damaged drone that might now be out of control.
That's a very good question.
I also wonder if Google, aside from this, has donated anything to the wikipedia foundation? Google does claim they support open products, and Wikipedia has been at the top of most regular search results for a while. That doesn't give them any obligation of course, but would be a good-will-promoting-and-tax-reducing-act towards a non-profit that complements Google's offerings.
Of course the real controversy here should be that does including Wikipedia as a special-case in search results lead to a greater trust in the accuracy of Wikipedia's content? And is that trust merited?
Even if it is a simple bug fix, if they just identified it now, it definetly would not be "flight ready" by the end of the year.
Any code to be used on a spacecraft must be thoroughly tested and certified (by the developers and a seperate team of testers) before it can be uploaded to the craft. That process can easily take several months to complete. This is the procedure for unmanned spacecraft, I'm sure the procedure for the Space Shuttle is even more stringent.
My guess is they're writing a solution now that will be ready to prevent this issue next year or afterwards, but it definetly won't be ready for the next launch. I'm sure somebody's probably hitting themself on the head at not noticing this synchronization problem before.
The first thing you should do is talk to the college advisor at your school and start deciding on what schools your interested in, and when the applications are due. If your sure you want to study computer science, you should start looking at schools that will interest you and can provide you with courses/experience in fields you might be interested in. If your HS school offers it, taking a programming course or AP Computer Science Class is a good start.
Just as importantly, find something that your interested in.
Is there an open source program that you like using? Perhaps some feature that you'd like see added to one. If so, go to the site's forums or mailing list (sourceforge has a lot of these products) and introduce yourself. Ask for some advise on what you should try and learn, and what you can contribute.
Are you interested in any specific games? If so, particularly for FPS games, try working on or making your own modifications or maps for the game. It doesn't have to be actual programming, but it will give you experience.
Are there any other subjects your interested in? Does your school have a website? If so, try making your own site. Along the way, pick up a book and start learning HTML, Javascript, and/or PHP to make a more dynamic site.
The most important thing is to find something your interest in, and then learn how to write a program to match your interests.
Learning to use UNIX/Linux is also a good place to start. You will learn a lot installing, exploring (and toubleshooting) with a distribution such as Gentoo. It will also give you the development tools to use when you start coding. Alternatively, if you don't have a system that you can install Linux on, you can try a LiveCD distribution such as Knoppix that has many of the same features, but won't have any lasting affect on your computer.
Don't be afraid to ask questions, and always remember Google is your friend in finding solutions to most issues.
Parent said it perfectly.
To be precise, the replacement parts for Hubble have been sitting in the giant clean room at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland for several years, all tested, packed, and ready to go.
JWST will be an excellent tool, however it is not, as the parent said, a replacement for Hubble. It serves a different role, focusing on IR images, which while arguably of greater scientific value, does not provide the type of images that engrosses the publics imagination (aka gives NASA more tax dollars) as Hubble does. JWST is also still relatively early in its development cycle, with a launch date of no earlier than 2013, and that's assuming there are no delays.
Linux has made great strides recently to "get its act together." For non-gamers, non-programmers (aka 90% of average computer users) Linux in its current form, if you choose the right distribution for them, is as easy (or easier) than Windows. The key phrase there, is the right distribution, some cater to user-friendliness (ie:Ubuntu), while others go for the /. tech zealot crowd (ie:Gentoo).
Take Ubuntu, the installer is extremely straight-forward (newbie friendly), users are given a MS Windows style simple Add/Remove Programs GUI, and equivalents to all of the standard Windows applications. A few minutes of instruction (same as from a Windows upgrade) and any computer novice would be happy with it, just as long as you explain to them that most commercial software products from the store won't work out and if they want to save a 'Word' document that's compatible with their friends MS Word, they have to do a "Save As" and change the file type (it's amazing how few people, including some IT/CS majors I know, don't realize that). Sure, Quake 3 installation might be a different story, but I'd bet most people that try that on Linux aren't your average user.
To try and stay at least partially on topic here, I don't think I've seen any updates since WMP9 that have been worth upgrading, except for these DRM annoyances. Some online video sites, such as AOL's in2TV channels, will not work unless you upgrade to the latest version of WMP, and even then don't work reliably.
So in effect, the only winners of Microsoft's latest WMP upgrade, are the next wave of online services (aka the ones MS is working on) selling DRM-protected content will be affected. Microsoft will benefit, or so they think, because the products they sell will be all the more secure, that only the latest WMP versions can (for now) access the content, be it paid or free. Of course, this also means that only the portion of consumers that are able to install the newest WMP (meaning legitimate Win XP users) will be able to take advantage of these services.
When will companies realize that DRM only serves to limit their customer base, and alienate the rest? They provide inferior content, with little or no discounts, and impose arbitrary limitations on where and how you can view it.
With each DRM software upgrade, we are one step closer to an anti-DRM revolution when the masses realize that DRM = "[corporate] Dictators Rule the Media."
Perhaps the fact that few legislators ever read all the laws they sign signifies a greater problem?
I remember reading (not sure where) an article comparing the US Legislature with that of other countries. In one case, the US Congress specifically sought out to pass a specific law whose text would be as concise as possible. The resulting bill was at least several dozen pages long. Other legislatures in comparison pass laws that on average are less than a page in length (probably not counting budgets).
US Laws are consistently filled with volumes of excess wording designed to obscure meaning and provide loopholes for specific purposes, individuals, or politicians. In many cases, the obscurity may mean that nobody can even decipher the meaning of a given phrase, unless they hold the hidden key/meaning to a highly obscure description of a specific entity. It may not humanly possible for every law to be analyzed in its entirety by any single office before it is voted upon.
The funniest thing though is when the machines leaves messages without realizing they are talking to a machine. I've had countless messages where it had already started talking, and other times where it is telling the machine "please press or say 1 to speak to a customer service representative, . . . "
."
Campaign messages are equally as bad, but at least the many (not all) of those are either smart enough not to leave a message, or short enough so that all you hear "so that's why you should vote for XYZ. Thanks you.
Most of the time, I don't even pick up the landline phone during the day, since 90% of the calls are telemarketers, and anyone else would leave a message [I must be one of the few people left without caller ID on their landline . . . ]
Tablet PCs are great things, they just aren't for everybody (partly because the prices never came down). The same will be true of these keyboards, at least until they become dirt cheap.
Tablets are used a lot in business' or hospitals for quick input without requiring a keyboard, to provide mobile surveys or display information, etc.
I don't have one (can't afford it), but if I did it would come in very handy when using my laptop for taking notes in class - there's no faster way to quickly copy down a small diagram while the rest of your notes are mostly text.
At the same time, tablet PCs and touchscreen displays are a more natural way for less tech-savvy persons to use the computer--I'm sure everyone here's been annoyed by someone at some point that insists on touching the screen to point something out.
I think this OLED technology is still a ways off from mainstream usage on the PC - meaning until the price difference is equivalent to that of optical over standard mouse a few years ago.
They are starting to use similar technology to this on programmable remote controls, which would be a lot more practical for simplifying large universal remote controls (my parents can never figure out how to use the TV+cable-DVR+sound-system+dvd)
Those are some good questions.
Would a third party be legally authorized to sue for enforcement of a license agreement when they are not a party of that agreement themselves without first getting consent from a license holder?
I may be wrong, but my understanding is that as long as you link to the GPL'd code as an external library you are legally safe (providing that you include the source of that library). If you need to modify the API/functions of that library though, you must distribute the full source code of it, the original and modifications, of the entire linked library. As long as the library is externally linked (ie: a dll or equivalent) and not compiled into your application, the GPL doesn't extend to the rest of your application.
I always fastforward through the commercials on my DVR, but the speed is such that I normally see at least a couple of frames of each commercial - and I actually like it that way.
Every now and then I might see the flash of a commercial that might look intersting and will actually go back to watch it - albeit not often. If they actually made more commercials that were (a) interesting, (b) actually relevant to something, (c) not repeated a zillion times, or (d) didn't include dozens of 'enhancement' and diet commercials that nobody wants to see, then maybe commercials would be more effective, but as it is, most people just ignore the commercials, even when they can't skip them.
Product placement has definetly been on the rise lately, and will definetly continue to. Commercials are a dying medium - nobody wants to see them most of the time, and on-demand and PVRs are making it easier than ever to skip them. When done right, product placement is unobtrusive and can actually add to the realism of the show, or for that matter video game (an area that's starting to grow exponentially).
Of course, added product placement will also eventually mean less reruns on tv when networks can't change or re-charge for the ads in old shows . . .
They actually use VxWorks for several spacecraft, I don't know what they use for the rovers though.
There does seem to be a trend in NASA though to try moving away from commercial/proprietary products across the board. I have seen them using Fedora and other shades of Linux on their testbeds for simulation, and I have heard talk of them looking into RTOS versions of Linux for the future.