tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post7700059460209956975..comments2024-03-28T23:39:08.616-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Strangeness in the world (even stranger than politics!)David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26676233939837896782012-10-09T21:25:45.076-07:002012-10-09T21:25:45.076-07:00onwardonwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1053158868226987092012-10-09T20:17:30.121-07:002012-10-09T20:17:30.121-07:00"Things sound so much crisper in German!"..."Things sound so much crisper in German!"<br /><br />That they do. Languages with glottal stops and all. Fewer synonyms. Shorter thesaurus. <br /><br />Let's try this for a translation, though: "There isn't just no truth to it, there's not even anything to call incorrect!"<br /><br />Or you could really colloquialize it in English and just translate it as, "There's so much nonsense that even the sense doesn't make sense."Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07541997928359883625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41919284028249608322012-10-09T18:41:18.506-07:002012-10-09T18:41:18.506-07:00Bill Nye takes on the Chairman of the United State...<br /><br />Bill Nye takes on the Chairman of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Do you seriously think that a party that would make a man like this chairman of the science committee for the People's House in the Great Republic really ought to be trusted with a burnt match?<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/07/bill-nye-paul-broun-science-space-technology_n_1947125.html#slide=1615628<br /><br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/07<br />/bill-nye-paul-broun-science-space-<br />technology_n_1947125.html#slide=1615628David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-28635169890371443942012-10-09T18:17:17.198-07:002012-10-09T18:17:17.198-07:00The other point here, of course, is that america i...The other point here, of course, is that america isn't seeking to conquer Afghanistan. It's seeking to stop the Taliban from conquering Afghanistan.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35167693498499929252012-10-09T17:31:26.756-07:002012-10-09T17:31:26.756-07:00"Afgh is the "land where empires go to d..."Afgh is the "land where empires go to die.""<br /><br />See I don't accept that since it ignores about 2,500 years of history andfocuses on the one example that supports the writer's view.<br /><br />Did Alexander's empire die in Afghanistan? The Parthians? The Mongols? The Timurids? The Sassanids?<br /><br />Peopel tedn to forget that after the British defet in the first Anglo-Afghan War, they went back and established a British-dominated regime that lasted until their withdrawal from india after world War II - and then continued on for another 30-odd years. Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-92096078101385781632012-10-09T17:01:34.179-07:002012-10-09T17:01:34.179-07:00Ian, I sympathize and agree with all of the indivi...Ian, I sympathize and agree with all of the individual statements above... except the last.<br /><br />Afgh is the "land where empires go to die." Drawing us into there was precisely Osama's objective. And yes we proved astonishingly sturdy and competent and good, compared to the Soviets. And Afgh phase I which was toppling the Taliban, was done according to Clintonian military doctrines and worked and made us look amazing...<br /><br />... but Afgh phase II should not have happened. We should have said: "Now Pashtuns negotiate a federal arrangement with the others and know that if the taliban come back we will flatten you again."<br /><br />And we might then have spent half the money saved on Ghana and Mexico and Haiti and Cambodia, where stuff might happen.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4749827890038933552012-10-09T16:46:31.658-07:002012-10-09T16:46:31.658-07:00David, I'm less sanguine than you about decidi...David, I'm less sanguine than you about deciding which countries are ready for democracy.<br /><br />I think i've mentioned here before that while I was studying Asian Studies back in the early 90's, very erudite, very well-intentioned lecturers would explain that democracy was incompatiable with East Asian and South East Asian cultural values and that the majority of Taiwanese, South Koreans, Thais, Malaysians, Indonesians and Filipinoes were quire content with their authortarian governments and that the Wwst should continue to support the likes of Suharto.<br /><br />Post-war Japan certainly looked like a lousy prospect at the time.<br /><br />Also, and this should go without saing, I don't want a single allied soldier in Afghanistan a day longer than is necessary.<br /><br />Had Bush not essentially ignored Afghanistan for the last five years of his administration, we might actually be out of there by now. Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78189226799080216822012-10-09T16:14:08.492-07:002012-10-09T16:14:08.492-07:00Ian sorry. These Pashtun women won't be helpe...Ian sorry. These Pashtun women won't be helped by Pax Americana collapsing. For the same cost and effort we could be helping tens and hundreds of millions where the lessons have a chance of STICKING and transforming the world, and making the Taliban more of a clearly crazy exception to a growing, enlightened norm.<br /><br />I got nothing against nation building! I think we should start by growing democracy in fertile soil.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11583499684543567912012-10-09T16:09:51.228-07:002012-10-09T16:09:51.228-07:00People ask what the western military presence in A...People ask what the western military presence in Afghanistan is achieving. They ask why we don't just get out.<br /><br />This why we fight: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\10\10\story_10-10-2012_pg1_3<br /><br />"The Pakistani Taliban shot teenage children’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai in the head on her school bus in Mingora on Tuesday to avenge her campaigns for the right to an education in the militants’ former stronghold of Swat."<br /><br />Malala Yousafzai and the hundreds of thousands like her are just as much a product of Pashtun culture as the Taliban - or more so. Remember that the next riem someone tells you "They all hate us" or "They don't want us there."Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22203566241995359492012-10-09T15:41:35.825-07:002012-10-09T15:41:35.825-07:00If you never fail, you aren't trying anything ...If you never fail, you aren't trying anything hard.<br /><br />I have no idea whether SpaceX in particular is good or bad, but the idea that privatized launches are a failure of the Obama Administration calls to mind Wolfgang Pauli's <b> "Das ist nicht nur nicht richtig, es ist nicht einmal falsch!"</b> "Not only is it not right, it's not even wrong!" (...that is to say, an argument has to have a certain amount of clarity before its truth value can even be evaluated.)<br /><br />Things sound so much crisper in German!rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25257835699850944782012-10-09T15:10:38.479-07:002012-10-09T15:10:38.479-07:00Entrepreneurs might not see themselves as risk tak...Entrepreneurs might not see themselves as risk takers, but relative to the rest of the population they are. They face the risk of failure and do what planning they can to avoid it. The rest of us avoid failure by not leading an effort, choosing instead to seek employment under those who do.<br /><br />I'm grateful the entreprenuer do wht they do even when they fail... especially when they fail.<br /><br /><br />Regarding the engine failure, NASA would have spent a great deal of money to avoid having it happen at all. That money can be better spent flying equipment, taking the risks of failure, and learning from them. The pain of failure is sharper when it is your own money lost, but the lessons learned are equally sharp.Alfred Differnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15722175341468465262012-10-09T12:06:29.251-07:002012-10-09T12:06:29.251-07:00And I'd agree. But I've already seen reade...And I'd agree. But I've already seen reader comments in several articles that basically stated this incident proved the money was ill-spent and that SpaceX was going to fail big and it was all Obama's fault for funding them. How much of it is SpaceX being private and how much is Obama remains to be seen, but when even retired NASA astronauts come out against SpaceX, it tells you something about the ingrained disdain toward private industry in space and Obama's decision to kill the Apollo Squared program.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69766205345873654472012-10-09T10:17:58.306-07:002012-10-09T10:17:58.306-07:00Actually, I'd argue that the Falcon 9 engine f...Actually, I'd argue that the Falcon 9 engine failure is proof that private enterprise does space <i>better</i>. If NASA had been launching this payload on, say, a Delta, and experienced engine loss on the first stage, would they have been able to complete the mission and get the payload on course to the ISS (as happened in this instance), or would they just abort?<br /><br />I would like to know the fate of the secondary payload, the Orbcomm satellite on the second stage (data not currently available, as Orbcomm is closed today)...Jonathan S.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8656663958876778822012-10-09T08:30:12.571-07:002012-10-09T08:30:12.571-07:00My ravenous republican friends are all pretty much...My ravenous republican friends are all pretty much big SpaceX boosters, even while hating Obama with an irrationality that gets quite entertaining. Bobsandiegonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80728441739097949392012-10-09T07:50:42.542-07:002012-10-09T07:50:42.542-07:00Rather interesting about the Falcon 9 engine failu...Rather interesting about the Falcon 9 engine failure and the ongoing commentary by e-news organizations on whether the engine exploded or not. I'm willing to bet that Republicans are going to use this against Obama by claiming it's obvious private space industry just can't do the job right and that NASA should be handling all the details. They'll ignore the fact that two space shuttles died because of failures, one due to a solid rocket booster and the other from debris causing a critical hole in the wing. <br /><br />Of course it's not just Republican polis. One of my Republican friends was adamant last night on YIM that Obama had killed NASA and that SpaceX was a failure. He blithely ignored my facts and statistics about how Obama increased funding to NASA while Bush killed the Shuttle and cut funding (and then the argument went on to state that Keynesian Economics was completely wrong and responsible for the Global Economic Crisis and that we needed to cut spending... despite the fact that austerity measures is crippling Europe - he went on to sing the praises of the Austrian School of Economics while claiming Bush was a Keynesian economics follower).<br /><br />To be honest, the anti-private space sentiment is growing quite vehement at times. I'm almost expecting to see someone try to either sabotage a Falcon 9, or try to shoot it down when it's being launched. (I wonder... would the insurance companies that insure cargos for space launches try to weasel out of paying for the incident in that case since it was terrorism that caused the loss?)<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64160462333979025272012-10-09T04:13:38.145-07:002012-10-09T04:13:38.145-07:00Liking the Rembrandt.
More evidence of Tachyon Br...Liking the Rembrandt.<br /><br />More evidence of Tachyon Brin!<br /><br />TacitusTacitushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007086196578740689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47800893632049400192012-10-09T03:46:30.388-07:002012-10-09T03:46:30.388-07:00TheMadLibrarian,
There are rules preventing small ...TheMadLibrarian,<br />There are rules preventing small investors buying into start-ups. So even if you knew of the companies, it might not help you. You have to have over a certain income/net-wealth before you are allowed to invest without a broker. It's meant to protect people from manipulative conmen, or delusional free-energy "inventors". But it causes the problems you note, it restricts the investor pool to the already rich. (And forces compromises like Kickstarter.)<br /><br />SteveO,<br /><i>"where do folks go to read science fiction short stories nowadays. I had a good idea the other morning.."</i><br /><br /><a href="http://365tomorrows.com/" rel="nofollow">365 Tomorrows</a>?<br /><br />(ascieti 14 - the group secretly in charge of 365 Tomorrows.)Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45785409729619297712012-10-09T03:43:13.888-07:002012-10-09T03:43:13.888-07:00 An entertaining angle on the Star Wars universe:
... An entertaining angle on the Star Wars universe:<br />http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/10/most-citizens-of-the-star-wars-galaxy-are-probably-totally-illiterateTim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31196658663221943342012-10-09T03:40:58.009-07:002012-10-09T03:40:58.009-07:00Re: Myrhvold's patent super-pool.
If there'...Re: Myrhvold's patent super-pool.<br />If there's a demand for such shared pools, then perhaps the US Patent Office itself (which is self-funding, I believe) should create a National Patent Commons for companies to donate their patents in return for universal access to the rest of the National pool. The USPTO would then licence (and enforce) use of those patents to non-members, using the cash to fund itself, allowing it perhaps to lower costs for patents (particularly for those donated patents.)<br /><br />[In fact, why doesn't the USPTO office itself patent obvious ideas ("doing X <i>on a computer, phone, or tablet device</i>"). Then licence their own patents out, funding the Office. Note, I'm not saying this is a Good Thing, it's awful, I'm just wondering why they haven't done it since they became self-funding. I'm sure patent examiners must come up with hundreds of ideas spun off from the patents they examine. The Office could pay them a share of any licence revenue their idea/patent generates.]<br /><br />Similarly, I imagine a lot of companies are patenting ideas purely to protect themselves from predatory lawsuits from others, not to stop others. But those patents then get bought up by patent trolls, who go back and sue everyone else who uses the idea. So perhaps the USPTO should have a second tier pseudo-patent, a "Registration of Intent to Develop an Idea", which costs much less than a full patent, has fewer restrictions, but protects you from someone else patenting your idea <i>after</i> you register it. However, if you Register an Intent to Develop an Idea, you effectively give up the right to patent that idea; and since it's not a "right", you can't enforce your control over the idea on others, nor trade it. While it doesn't protect you from existing patents, it does allow you to safely work on an idea which you don't really want to patent, without leaving yourself open to someone submarining you.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61604908877562530422012-10-08T23:12:51.127-07:002012-10-08T23:12:51.127-07:00Ian, yep, that is the attitude I am talking about!...Ian, yep, that is the attitude I am talking about!<br /><br />Thanks Tony. If/when I have time to finish it, I will check it out.SteveOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04028435196419643147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77956316809791390402012-10-08T15:37:47.106-07:002012-10-08T15:37:47.106-07:00SteveO. I've got a few of those! There are a n...SteveO. I've got a few of those! There are a number of online sf 'magazines'. Clarkesworld being one that I'm aware of. The usual method is to submit your efforts on the 'slush pile' and hope it floats to the top.<br /><br />November be <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/" rel="nofollow">novel writing month</a>. <br /><br />I've just started an online course at Stanford on <a href="http://class.stanford.edu/solar/Fall2012" rel="nofollow">Solar Cells, Fuel Cells, & Batteries</a>, if anyone else wants a respite from November decisions, decisions.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79189445936405531112012-10-08T15:32:16.271-07:002012-10-08T15:32:16.271-07:00SteveO, I'm reminded of an interview in New Sc...SteveO, I'm reminded of an interview in New Scientist with a researcher who was also a wilderness survival expert. <br /><br />He acted as a guide and advisor to expeditions going into potentially dangerous areas.<br /><br />The interviewer asked him abotu his "adventures".<br /><br />His response (loosely): "I don;t have adventures. Adventures are te result of poor planning."Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-41401060805137379062012-10-08T15:20:26.443-07:002012-10-08T15:20:26.443-07:00Hi all,
Swamped but back for a dip of the toe...
...Hi all,<br /><br />Swamped but back for a dip of the toe...<br /><br />First, I am one and know entrepreneurs and those who teach them, and I would not characterize them as taking risks - in fact, quite the opposite. Successful entrepreneurs are risk averse, so they plan out their ventures with a calm and lucid eye towards reality. There is a lot more to entrepreneurship than having a good idea and jumping in! That path leads to VCs making a lot of money and you being out of a job AND an idea...<br /><br />Second, I think going with popular vote alone would still be suboptimal. Instead, a rank-ordering vote would give third- and fourth-parties more of a voice, which I believe would serve to moderate the extremes we see today. You could lodge your preferred vote for (fill in party here) as your number one choice, then put the person from the second choice "mainstream" party, in case your first choice doesn't make it. That would have changed the outcome in Florida in 2000 and would have reflected more the reality of people's thinking.It allows people to vote their conscience, and probably influence the policy debate.<br /><br />Third, where do folks go to read science fiction short stories nowadays. I had a good idea the other morning... :)SteveOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04028435196419643147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-8862347690783389432012-10-08T15:01:06.126-07:002012-10-08T15:01:06.126-07:00Patents (like copyright) is very much a Faustian b...Patents (like copyright) is very much a Faustian bargain. <br /><br />The intent is noble, but the opportunities for abuse abound. There are many ways to attempt to fix the problems with the patent system (i.e. not allowing NPE's to sue for infringement, shorter patent grant periods, abolishing software patents, etc). The problem is, no one with the ability to really change the system is invested enough to actually do so.<br /><br />As for Myrhvold, I don't think any one but Myrhvold knows what his true end game is. I hope he really is on the right side of right on this one.<br /><br />Hans<br /><br />HansHansnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-23326425826266836492012-10-08T13:33:09.494-07:002012-10-08T13:33:09.494-07:00Patents are a great idea, but the system is set up...Patents are a great idea, but the system is set up in a way that is easily abused. Rather than encouraging innovation, it can actually discourage innovation if people buy them, sit on them, and then sue for patent violation<br /><br />One thing that would help with regards to patents is to make them only once transferrable by the original filer, be it a person or corporate entity. It won't solve the patent parasite problem, but it would help. This will also keep the incentive for the original innovator to develop products in the hope of selling the original ideas.<br /><br />I would also propose making patents last seven years. An extension to twenty may then be filed that is granted only if actual sales directly resulting from that patent (either as a product itself or as part of a product currently being sold). Again, this won't solve the problem, but it could actually encourage innovation by pushing products into production or simply letting them expire in about the third the time they normally would.BCRionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04955960949670858365noreply@blogger.com