tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post1481061029281413553..comments2024-03-18T21:52:45.757-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Will masks save us?David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75640506334182305192020-01-01T00:24:36.587-08:002020-01-01T00:24:36.587-08:00 How to dead person in artifical intelligence use ... How to dead person in artifical intelligence use of rebotics and its laws. <br /><br />http://www.aiobjectives.com/2019/11/28/deadliest-approaches-of-artificial-intelligence-and-laws/<br /><br /> <br /><br />inamulhaq1122https://www.blogger.com/profile/16726841785881148362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66734805197102671512019-12-18T17:58:40.703-08:002019-12-18T17:58:40.703-08:00Aaaaaand...
onward
onwardAaaaaand...<br /><br />onward<br /><br />onwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52040475694580290332019-12-18T17:32:49.582-08:002019-12-18T17:32:49.582-08:00Larry,
Only certain women would see a unicorn, s...Larry, <br /><br />Only certain women would see a unicorn, so of course she'd know it is pink. 8)<br /><br /><br />Zoe,<br /><br />I worked the amateur rocketry side (almost 10 years) trying to help them break into the professional layer and prove things could be done on the cheap. Mid-90's to 2004. Suborbital with big dreams for more. We learned how to build and fly our own hardware and software and deal with weird things like exploding capacitors (electrolyte properties change with T... d'oh!), batteries for heating batteries, and then software that didn't have to do anything except keep the circuits warm, but not too warm... oh wait... we can't convect the heat away with so little air pressure up there... hmm. 8)<br /><br />I got to learn that tantalum capacitors go bang with reversed voltages, so one can use them as cores for cheap igniters. One has to think about what your software will think when no data is coming in as well as when garbage echoes arrive because the real world is awful messy. "It works in the lab" doesn't mean "It will work in the field". Shoestring budgets can do more damage to business plans than failed tests. It IS possible to find an adhesive tape at Home Depot that will hold things together at T < -40 C, but don't tell them that. Finally, when you actually begin to do something interesting successfully, a multimillionaire might decide to copy and displace you and then have the same thing happen when a billionaire takes notice. [I'm not unhappy about that. I'll be a footnote in a book someday written by a dry historian a century from now, but I will have helped.]<br /><br />Always choose to DO something. 8)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57298038277415315902019-12-18T16:35:16.656-08:002019-12-18T16:35:16.656-08:00"A to Z, before the change Zoe was Alan"...<i>"A to Z, before the change Zoe was Alan"</i><br /><br />Gives a whole new meaning to "from A to Z"! :)Jon S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13585842845661267920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61147251188461303532019-12-18T15:19:15.714-08:002019-12-18T15:19:15.714-08:00Proud either way.Proud either way.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-53872047981196418652019-12-18T14:47:01.193-08:002019-12-18T14:47:01.193-08:00A to Z, before the change Zoe was AlanA to Z, before the change Zoe was AlanLloyd Flackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00832519369660328832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15474829602785211592019-12-18T14:03:41.124-08:002019-12-18T14:03:41.124-08:00Dynamic bookends!Dynamic bookends!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64947420939569008842019-12-18T12:09:01.167-08:002019-12-18T12:09:01.167-08:00A to Z?A to Z?Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85305744673299409632019-12-18T11:32:34.263-08:002019-12-18T11:32:34.263-08:00Wow. Ashley and Zoe. We done real good, this month...Wow. Ashley and Zoe. We done real good, this month guys!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-80935685219962486002019-12-18T08:48:55.268-08:002019-12-18T08:48:55.268-08:00NASA is live streaming the Mars 2020 assembly room...NASA is live streaming the Mars 2020 assembly room.<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j78TwQCfEzc&feature=youtu.be<br /><br />Reminds me of the GM assembly line in Oshawa, Ontario, where I was a promising robotics software developer many years ago. It's closing today, after 60 years. As the last vehicle rolls off the line I'll take a long pull of tree sauce. Time and tides.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59443677699393749852019-12-18T07:51:27.132-08:002019-12-18T07:51:27.132-08:00@Zoe Brain,
If it's invisible, can you be sur...@Zoe Brain,<br /><br />If it's invisible, can you be sure it's pink? :)Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54231257308825556092019-12-18T05:01:30.933-08:002019-12-18T05:01:30.933-08:00@Alfred Differ - even though all I did on MESSENGE...@Alfred Differ - even though all I did on MESSENGER was give maybe 20 hours of phone consultation and emailed them the error correcting Ada code and documentation, they were kind enough to make me a member of the mission team, complete with T shirt.<br /><br />That and the FedSat shirt with the mission patch on are two of my proudest possessions. You can keep your Dior gowns and Gucci accessories, your Rolex watches and Pierre Cardin jewelry. This Geek Girl (ok, I'm 61, but still...) prefers these two shirts. More my style.<br /><br />And I do wear them, accessorised with Dalek earrings and an Invisible Pink Unicorn pendant.<br /><br />@David Brin - when an author of your calibre says "magnificent", that means a lot to me too. Thank you.Zoe Brainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13712045376060102538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6603283282016369162019-12-18T00:21:11.777-08:002019-12-18T00:21:11.777-08:00"as a matter of fact, I *am* a Rocket Scienti...<i>"as a matter of fact, I *am* a Rocket Scientist"</i><br /><br />I wish all the folks who are involved in these efforts wore the t-shirt/pin/ball cap or whatever that said so. Often.<br />People need to see it. 8)Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12428339522526723802019-12-17T23:35:35.026-08:002019-12-17T23:35:35.026-08:00@David Brin - thanks for the Falcon URL.
Good to ...@David Brin - thanks for the Falcon URL.<br /><br />Good to see the Ka band system we space qualified on FedSat in 2002 is now ready for Prime Time.<br /><br />FedSat also qualified the ARGO buoy store and forward message packet system, as well as a couple of other experiments. Now there's a decent constellation of these buoys floating around on the planet's oceans, we have good data. Even if the news isn't good, worse than our most pessimistic predictions.<br /><br />The FPGA - Field Programmable Gate Array - experimental self healing hardware for deep space missions worked too, as did the error correcting software for the mass memory. Well, most of it worked. Of the 5 layers of defence, 3 remained untested as nothing got past the first two. The same architecture was "borrowed" by the MESSENGER spacecraft, so we got nice pix from Mercury.<br /><br />Not bad for a microsat - they usually have one, at most two, experiments on each bird, not half a dozen. A case of "we only have funding for one shot, so cram 6 shots worth in", plus "fools rush in..." as the expertise we'd gained in the early 70s was all gone by the late 90s. We didn't know it was impossible, so we did it.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjWIN61dpOQ&app=desktop<br /><br />The slow tumble on separation made for great video, but meant gaining contact after activation was.. not trivial.<br /><br />The best part of being a Rocket Scientist - for I headed the onboard computer system development for Fedsat - is that you get to say "as a matter of fact, I *am* a Rocket Scientist".Zoe Brainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13712045376060102538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-38218072694714055162019-12-17T22:42:27.528-08:002019-12-17T22:42:27.528-08:00And that after this is accomplished, and the brave...<i><br />And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins<br />When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,<br />As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,<br />The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!<br /></i><br /><br />Hmm. Yah. Still moving.<br />... yet some of the copybook headings have been toppled it seems.<br /><br />Pigs Have Wings could just as easily have been Visit The Moon except for the failed rhyme.<br /><br />Oh. Duh.<br /><br /><i>Change is the only constant in life. - Heraclitus</i><br /><br />Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66923079841885443852019-12-17T22:20:13.031-08:002019-12-17T22:20:13.031-08:00Zepp said: "Doctor, should you ever decide to...Zepp said: <i>"Doctor, should you ever decide to append to your Uplift series, PLEASE consider this for inclusion!"</i><br /><br />If you think back to climactic events on Garth in "The Uplift War", the good Doctor already has.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48923302200376708122019-12-17T20:06:47.095-08:002019-12-17T20:06:47.095-08:00matthew:
Happy #ImpeachmentEve!
"I want a...matthew:<br /><i><br />Happy #ImpeachmentEve! <br /></i><br /><br />"I want a Papadopoulos for Christmas..."Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39901684202596311272019-12-17T19:55:40.185-08:002019-12-17T19:55:40.185-08:00scidata:
Yes, that was where I always assumed tha...scidata:<br /><i><br />Yes, that was where I always assumed that Huxley got it [the title "Brave New World"] from. <br /></i><br /><br />I thought it was explicit in the book that both the John Savage character and Mustapha Mond were familiar with the line from Shakespeare.<br /><br /><i><br />However, in the Bard's time, 'brave' literally meant 'beautiful'. Kipling and Huxley intended a different thing. In fact, the opposite thing.<br /></i><br /><br />Heh. But here too, it seems to be no secret that the phrase was being used ironically. As if to say, "<b>This</b> is what your <i>Brave New World</i> really looks like!" Or with a Jersey accent, "I've got your <i>Brave New World</i> right here!"Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6390621553145059922019-12-17T19:45:40.499-08:002019-12-17T19:45:40.499-08:00Happy #ImpeachmentEve! Don't forget to leave o...Happy #ImpeachmentEve! Don't forget to leave out milk and cookies for Adam Schiff et al tonight! matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-65998955010653899032019-12-17T17:22:32.196-08:002019-12-17T17:22:32.196-08:00It seems that we're converging toward one happ...It seems that we're converging toward one happy day when SpaceX, Boeing, and Blue Origin will all launch. Noice.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35743919782768950482019-12-17T16:23:08.528-08:002019-12-17T16:23:08.528-08:00A perfect night launch and night landing and &quo...A perfect night launch and night landing and "almost" with the fairings. Our space hopes have been utterly transformed by SpaceX, which has made US launch costs the cheapest in the world and forced everyone else to scurry and catch up. I never tire of watching these.<br /><br />https://www.space.com/spacex-falcon-9-jcsat-18-launch-landing-success.htmlDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72169860069037349462019-12-17T15:40:47.068-08:002019-12-17T15:40:47.068-08:00@Jon S.
Yes, that was where I always assumed that ...@Jon S.<br />Yes, that was where I always assumed that Huxley got it from. However, in the Bard's time, 'brave' literally meant 'beautiful'. Kipling and Huxley intended a different thing. In fact, the opposite thing.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10270723592633499082019-12-17T15:24:58.192-08:002019-12-17T15:24:58.192-08:00Didn't George Washington hire generals with ti...Didn't George Washington hire generals with titles that indicated what their job description was?Howard Brazeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08837948125432719131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82406617732126826402019-12-17T15:22:54.556-08:002019-12-17T15:22:54.556-08:00MIRANDA: O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are t...MIRANDA: O wonder!<br />How many goodly creatures are there here!<br />How beauteous mankind is! <b>O brave new world<br />That has such people in't!</b><br /><br />PROSPERO: 'Tis new to thee.<br /><br />- William Shakespeare, <i>The Tempest</i>, Act V Scene 1<br /><br />(emphasis mine)Jon S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13585842845661267920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61790648186096055852019-12-17T14:29:24.473-08:002019-12-17T14:29:24.473-08:00Re: Gods of the CopyBook Headings
"And that a...Re: Gods of the CopyBook Headings<br />"And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins"<br />12 years <b>before</b>Huxley's BNW.<br /><br />Also, Kipling and Huxley both declined knighthood (as did H.G. Wells). Too many connections to ignore.scidatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07152319593457629592noreply@blogger.com