What would be the point. To be the first person on Mars? I don't see that the rush to get a person on Mars needs to be so great that we consider a suicide trip. Mars isn't going anywhere in the next 50 years. I'd wager that anything we can find there, we could still find in 1000 years.
It is one thing to consider a suicide mission that has some lifesaving purpose, but throwing lives away for a feather in your cap isn't worth it. It is definately not worth it when simple restraint and patience will result in an even more successful outcome:
I'm a bit curious about the vision requirement. While I understand the need for good vision, what is the need for 20/20? The real work of flying the craft is usually left up to computers, and I'm not sure of what tasks couldn't be performed with adequate vision. I suppose one could argue about the docking operations with the ISS...
Of course I may be coming at this from the wrong angle. Vision that isn't correctable to 20/20 is probably pretty bad to start.
To follow up on the blood diamond comments, I won't buy diamonds at all. Sales are all pretty much based on the same artificially inflated prices. It is those artificially inflated prices that makes blood/conflict diamonds possible.
Considering the company DeBeers, I can't support them because their previously unethical actions are what put them in such a good market position now. It doesn't become OK that they don't do unethical things now simply because they no longer have to.
I also apply the same logic to companies that used slave labor, or forced labor during WWII. The few exceptions I grant are to the companies that make a genuine act of contrition (Paying out more money than the slave labor netted them in reparations) And even then, only rarely.
I don't expect many other people to follow this example, but the topic of blood diamonds, and blood diamond alternatives always sets me off.
I don't mean to suggest that you won't get arrested, charged, or tasered. But if someone manages to record you getting tasered, and you were just sitting there, or completely passive, it will at least net you some points on the blogs when the video hits youtube.
And it will allow your lawyer to say things like, "And here we see a completely passive person being needlessly tasered by over-aggressive police."
Instead of this: "Well, you can see from the angle that my client wasn't actually trying to punch the cop in the face, but was just waving to some friends behind the cop."
At the point where you have to tell the police "I'll get up and leave." It is probably already too late. At that point, he was probably being placed under arrest and thus he did not have the right to 'get up and leave'. He was going to be taken to the station and charged, then likely released pending a court date.
You can't just call a 'do over' once the police have you on the ground. My advice is to do your best to avoid being placed on the ground by the police. And if you are on the ground, you are going to be charged with something.
A thumb to the eye will quickly blind you. A flailing arm can easily break your nose. A bite from a human is very likely to cause a severe infection. Knuckles can crush bones in your face, or break a tooth.
Would you risk these injuries?
How would you subdue a person to prevent this harm from happening to you? Or them? The chance of injury for either the detainee or the police is greatly reduced when you have enough bodies. One per limb seems to make sense to me.
I caught a glimpse of this kid on the news before I left for work today. While I'm sure that the clip was edited for 'mainstream news', he got going on subjects that were important to him. He was determined to make his statement, and give his views to John Kerry. A statement with a question mark at the end isn't really a question.
If you have ever participated in any town hall style meeting, you generally get one or two questions, then you sit your butt down and let another person have the podium. While I respect this kid's right to expressing his views, there is a whole room full of people who also would like the chance to ask their questions. He was offered the chance to step down several times, and got riled up after they cut the mic.
Now as for the tasering, I didn't see the part between where the mic got cut and he got tased, but given his demeanor around the time his mic got cut, I don't think it was fair for him to force them to pull him off the stage. If you are going to complain about being tasered, make sure that you don't start out by giving them a good reason to be physically pulling you away from the podium in the first place.
As a disclaimer, I generally find the use of tasers to be too rampant. Some crazy guy with a sword in a mall and no pants? Sure taser him (been there, done that. On the safe side of the taser thankfully) Some 12 yr old girl who took a swing at you? Take the hit and cuff her, no taser necessary. I was punched by some 14 yr old kid who flipped out over a breakup with his girlfriend. Even then I didn't need a taser.
The kid in this video? I need to see more of the video.
If you ever want to 'resist' then I highly suggest you just go limp, don't fight back. A limp body is still damned hard to move and makes it much easier for your lawyer to defend you in court than if you run, swing, bite, yell.
Especially unannounced / unapproved updates. Your machine may have been patched while you read this. Not here. Autoupdate is completely and totally disabled on this machine Are you sure?
One of the most common rationales for downloading ROMs or Songs was that the copyright owner did not provide a legal method, or provided the content but at an absurd price (Like $7/song for no DRM). With the introduction of these titles onto the Wii, that is no longer justification.
Certainly people may feel that $5 for an old NES game is more than it is worth, but it is definately not an absurd price when you consider that unlike music, which often is little more effort than running a file conversion program, converting an old piece of software to run w/o serious bugs on new hardware does require some work. They aren't making ringtones here (which ARE often at absurd prices).
What I'm saying is that Nintendo has provided a method to purchase these games, and if they can ensure that they work bug-free on the Wii, probably plans to release as many titles as they can.
During a person's life, a person tends to develop personal relationships. Any person with even marginally developed social skills understands that when such relationships are broken by something as permanent as death, there will be a need for some emotional catharsis.
Slashdot readers are known to be pretty antisocial, and you haven't done much to break the mold. In your zeal to be provacative, I think you largely missed the point of the funeral service. It is for the people who are still alive. You know, the ones who aren't unthinking inanimate matter. I know its hip on Slashdot to take shots at people's faith, but you have missed the mark on this one. No appeals to faith here, just normal human reaction to giving the family and friends a day or two before you start pissing in his urn.
I'm not familiar with most 'parental' tools for computers, and I assume most slashdotters, with their similar disdain for such tools, won't know much about them either.
A tool that my mom used for controlling video game time for my younger sister was controlling the power cord. Hand it out when it is game time, remove it when it is time to do homework.
You could probably do something similar with the computer or modem power cable as well. Limit their time on the computer to times when you are actually around. Certainly the teenager could probably go to circuit city and buy a replacement, but if he is that untrustworthy, then you won't be able to stop him anyway. I can't think of a good solution, since there probably isn't one.
Maybe put the computer in a high traffic area... or better yet, let your son learn to moderate his activity on his own. Otherwise I shudder to think what happens when he can have porn and booze and no sense of self control.
I'm not sure I agree with your statement. A person may be willing to fight for their rights, but sometimes the fight just isn't worth it. A person has to pick their battles, especially if they, like you, would like to win the war.
A battle so costly that it makes you lose the war is a battle that you probably would have been better off avoiding.
Actually copyright for a photo belongs to the photographer. A self-portrait, unless the photo clearly shows you taking the picture of yourself, is not obviously yours.
Your second statement not correct. (example: camera with a timer or remote control)
The copyright for a photo belongs to the person that owns the copyright for the photo. It sounds redundant, but just because someone operates a camera (or operates a device that triggers a photographic process) doesn't make them the owner of the copyright. This does not automatically imply that the photographer is the one that owns the copyright.
As a counter-example: I set my camera down, and an acorn falls from the tree onto the shutter release. Since I wasn't the photographer, do I not own the copyright to the photo taken? There are lots of weird examples that we can come up with, but the point is, that while a copyright is automatic, the ownership isn't always so clear cut.
Write down your complaints into a letter to give to Verizon when you do terminate. Like what they are doing now or not, you did sign up with them for a contract.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm in the same boat until March. I do plan to terminate my service with them primarily on their constrictive practices. What I find particularly distasteful is that they push legislation that practically makes it a legal requirement to bleed their customers with fees. Fees that seem to inevitably return to Verizon's pockets.
One of my first assignments was to configure a database for a product demonstration. I had to do it outside of my home country and the software/customer could not provide a connection to the internet to the server.
One of the pieces of software required a connection to do its activation. No phone or snail mail supported. It was so backwards where we had a tech from the software company online and they didn't know how to activate the software w/o an internet connection. We had to wait for them to send us a patch disk that included the activation files.
How is pumping affected by lack of gravity besides lowering power requirements on the pump to overcome the same? If the fuel is a gas you don't actually need any pumps - pressure will equalize itself. If it's liquid, you will already need some way to get rid of empty space in the tank, otherwise you would have hard time getting globules floating around to the reaction chamber.
To give you an idea that there is indeed some difficulty here, I'll quote the article:
"It took a year and a half of thermal pumping, carried out at different times, to accomplish the rebalancing".
I'll give a small sample of a multitude of problems.
Since you really aren't anchored to anything, you can't risk performing actions that would perturb your orientation. Change your orientation, and you will need to use fuel to get you back into position which defeats the purpose of equalizing your fuel since you used up what you would have saved.
Remember, they problem of 'pumping' the fuel has been solved. It really is the difficulty of pumping the fuel when the needle is on 'E' and knowing that you won't run out between exits on the interstate.
Except they have some DNA evidence that points to you. And in the eyes of most juries, DNA is the magic bullet for a prosecutor. According to TV, DNA is alway 100% sure that you are the father.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not like their control computers ever seize up.
On a serious note, there isn't much that requires computer science skills up there. All the labs and simulators are on the ground.
At what point does it start to seem wrong?
;)
Right at the point where you hit submit and I read the comment.
What would be the point. To be the first person on Mars? I don't see that the rush to get a person on Mars needs to be so great that we consider a suicide trip. Mars isn't going anywhere in the next 50 years. I'd wager that anything we can find there, we could still find in 1000 years.
It is one thing to consider a suicide mission that has some lifesaving purpose, but throwing lives away for a feather in your cap isn't worth it. It is definately not worth it when simple restraint and patience will result in an even more successful outcome:
A manned mission to Mars and a return trip.
I'm a bit curious about the vision requirement. While I understand the need for good vision, what is the need for 20/20? The real work of flying the craft is usually left up to computers, and I'm not sure of what tasks couldn't be performed with adequate vision. I suppose one could argue about the docking operations with the ISS...
Of course I may be coming at this from the wrong angle. Vision that isn't correctable to 20/20 is probably pretty bad to start.
To follow up on the blood diamond comments, I won't buy diamonds at all. Sales are all pretty much based on the same artificially inflated prices. It is those artificially inflated prices that makes blood/conflict diamonds possible.
Considering the company DeBeers, I can't support them because their previously unethical actions are what put them in such a good market position now. It doesn't become OK that they don't do unethical things now simply because they no longer have to.
I also apply the same logic to companies that used slave labor, or forced labor during WWII. The few exceptions I grant are to the companies that make a genuine act of contrition (Paying out more money than the slave labor netted them in reparations) And even then, only rarely.
I don't expect many other people to follow this example, but the topic of blood diamonds, and blood diamond alternatives always sets me off.
I don't mean to suggest that you won't get arrested, charged, or tasered. But if someone manages to record you getting tasered, and you were just sitting there, or completely passive, it will at least net you some points on the blogs when the video hits youtube.
And it will allow your lawyer to say things like, "And here we see a completely passive person being needlessly tasered by over-aggressive police."
Instead of this: "Well, you can see from the angle that my client wasn't actually trying to punch the cop in the face, but was just waving to some friends behind the cop."
At the point where you have to tell the police "I'll get up and leave." It is probably already too late. At that point, he was probably being placed under arrest and thus he did not have the right to 'get up and leave'. He was going to be taken to the station and charged, then likely released pending a court date.
You can't just call a 'do over' once the police have you on the ground. My advice is to do your best to avoid being placed on the ground by the police. And if you are on the ground, you are going to be charged with something.
So four was too many? How about 3?
A thumb to the eye will quickly blind you. A flailing arm can easily break your nose. A bite from a human is very likely to cause a severe infection. Knuckles can crush bones in your face, or break a tooth.
Would you risk these injuries?
How would you subdue a person to prevent this harm from happening to you? Or them? The chance of injury for either the detainee or the police is greatly reduced when you have enough bodies. One per limb seems to make sense to me.
Was Robert Paulson...
Oh wait, he wasn't really shot, just tasered.... Does that mean we just call him Bob?
I caught a glimpse of this kid on the news before I left for work today. While I'm sure that the clip was edited for 'mainstream news', he got going on subjects that were important to him. He was determined to make his statement, and give his views to John Kerry. A statement with a question mark at the end isn't really a question.
If you have ever participated in any town hall style meeting, you generally get one or two questions, then you sit your butt down and let another person have the podium. While I respect this kid's right to expressing his views, there is a whole room full of people who also would like the chance to ask their questions. He was offered the chance to step down several times, and got riled up after they cut the mic.
Now as for the tasering, I didn't see the part between where the mic got cut and he got tased, but given his demeanor around the time his mic got cut, I don't think it was fair for him to force them to pull him off the stage. If you are going to complain about being tasered, make sure that you don't start out by giving them a good reason to be physically pulling you away from the podium in the first place.
As a disclaimer, I generally find the use of tasers to be too rampant. Some crazy guy with a sword in a mall and no pants? Sure taser him (been there, done that. On the safe side of the taser thankfully) Some 12 yr old girl who took a swing at you? Take the hit and cuff her, no taser necessary. I was punched by some 14 yr old kid who flipped out over a breakup with his girlfriend. Even then I didn't need a taser.
The kid in this video? I need to see more of the video.
If you ever want to 'resist' then I highly suggest you just go limp, don't fight back. A limp body is still damned hard to move and makes it much easier for your lawyer to defend you in court than if you run, swing, bite, yell.
I would hardly consider exploiting a bug to be a good example. If it worked properly, then you wouldn't have been able to export the video.
Not here. Autoupdate is completely and totally disabled on this machine Are you sure?
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/15/2040259
Stealthy Windows Update Raises Serious Concerns
A bigger swarm for their server? Not on its own.
What that swarm needs is load balancing.
And not legally speaking...
One of the most common rationales for downloading ROMs or Songs was that the copyright owner did not provide a legal method, or provided the content but at an absurd price (Like $7/song for no DRM). With the introduction of these titles onto the Wii, that is no longer justification.
Certainly people may feel that $5 for an old NES game is more than it is worth, but it is definately not an absurd price when you consider that unlike music, which often is little more effort than running a file conversion program, converting an old piece of software to run w/o serious bugs on new hardware does require some work. They aren't making ringtones here (which ARE often at absurd prices).
What I'm saying is that Nintendo has provided a method to purchase these games, and if they can ensure that they work bug-free on the Wii, probably plans to release as many titles as they can.
During a person's life, a person tends to develop personal relationships. Any person with even marginally developed social skills understands that when such relationships are broken by something as permanent as death, there will be a need for some emotional catharsis.
Slashdot readers are known to be pretty antisocial, and you haven't done much to break the mold. In your zeal to be provacative, I think you largely missed the point of the funeral service. It is for the people who are still alive. You know, the ones who aren't unthinking inanimate matter. I know its hip on Slashdot to take shots at people's faith, but you have missed the mark on this one. No appeals to faith here, just normal human reaction to giving the family and friends a day or two before you start pissing in his urn.
I'm not familiar with most 'parental' tools for computers, and I assume most slashdotters, with their similar disdain for such tools, won't know much about them either.
A tool that my mom used for controlling video game time for my younger sister was controlling the power cord. Hand it out when it is game time, remove it when it is time to do homework.
You could probably do something similar with the computer or modem power cable as well. Limit their time on the computer to times when you are actually around. Certainly the teenager could probably go to circuit city and buy a replacement, but if he is that untrustworthy, then you won't be able to stop him anyway. I can't think of a good solution, since there probably isn't one.
Maybe put the computer in a high traffic area... or better yet, let your son learn to moderate his activity on his own. Otherwise I shudder to think what happens when he can have porn and booze and no sense of self control.
Lasers. Is there anything they can't do?
(Googles, on the other hand...)
I'm not sure I agree with your statement. A person may be willing to fight for their rights, but sometimes the fight just isn't worth it. A person has to pick their battles, especially if they, like you, would like to win the war.
A battle so costly that it makes you lose the war is a battle that you probably would have been better off avoiding.
Actually copyright for a photo belongs to the photographer. A self-portrait, unless the photo clearly shows you taking the picture of yourself, is not obviously yours.
Your second statement not correct. (example: camera with a timer or remote control)
The copyright for a photo belongs to the person that owns the copyright for the photo. It sounds redundant, but just because someone operates a camera (or operates a device that triggers a photographic process) doesn't make them the owner of the copyright. This does not automatically imply that the photographer is the one that owns the copyright.
As a counter-example: I set my camera down, and an acorn falls from the tree onto the shutter release. Since I wasn't the photographer, do I not own the copyright to the photo taken? There are lots of weird examples that we can come up with, but the point is, that while a copyright is automatic, the ownership isn't always so clear cut.
Write down your complaints into a letter to give to Verizon when you do terminate. Like what they are doing now or not, you did sign up with them for a contract.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm in the same boat until March. I do plan to terminate my service with them primarily on their constrictive practices. What I find particularly distasteful is that they push legislation that practically makes it a legal requirement to bleed their customers with fees. Fees that seem to inevitably return to Verizon's pockets.
One of my first assignments was to configure a database for a product demonstration. I had to do it outside of my home country and the software/customer could not provide a connection to the internet to the server.
One of the pieces of software required a connection to do its activation. No phone or snail mail supported. It was so backwards where we had a tech from the software company online and they didn't know how to activate the software w/o an internet connection. We had to wait for them to send us a patch disk that included the activation files.
Anarchists ride to school in Mom's minivan.
How is pumping affected by lack of gravity besides lowering power requirements on the pump to overcome the same? If the fuel is a gas you don't actually need any pumps - pressure will equalize itself. If it's liquid, you will already need some way to get rid of empty space in the tank, otherwise you would have hard time getting globules floating around to the reaction chamber.
To give you an idea that there is indeed some difficulty here, I'll quote the article:
"It took a year and a half of thermal pumping, carried out at different times, to accomplish the rebalancing".
I'll give a small sample of a multitude of problems.
Since you really aren't anchored to anything, you can't risk performing actions that would perturb your orientation. Change your orientation, and you will need to use fuel to get you back into position which defeats the purpose of equalizing your fuel since you used up what you would have saved.
Remember, they problem of 'pumping' the fuel has been solved. It really is the difficulty of pumping the fuel when the needle is on 'E' and knowing that you won't run out between exits on the interstate.
What about peril sensitive filters?
Except they have some DNA evidence that points to you. And in the eyes of most juries, DNA is the magic bullet for a prosecutor. According to TV, DNA is alway 100% sure that you are the father.