alpine

8 ms·

31.
by alpine 14y ago
maxwin, it's a bit of a stretch to say the parents have a choice. Consider this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/01/20/145360447/the-secr... So it was 1978 and a lot of 'capitalism' has happened since, but the Party is still in charge
32.
by alpine 14y ago
However, I think they eat a lot more meat in Pakistan?
33.
by alpine 14y ago
I would have thought India aping China in the appropriation of youngsters to boost their medal count at the Olympics would be indicative of an unhealthy democracy, but whatever.
34.
by alpine 14y ago
Being neither Indian, nor Chinese, jealously doesn't come into it. Children are being kidnapped. Believe me, if the local Party official came to a house in the West and said 'we're taking your child to athletic school, aren't you happy!'
35.
by alpine 14y ago
There is no way we are going to agree on much in this domain. I just so strongly disagree, it is painful to me! Consider your 'post-political person'. I believe this is a conceit. In my opinion no such person exists. Are you seriously argui
36.
by alpine 14y ago
I really, really wish an Open Source alternative to Facebook and Twitter would happen so we can put the proprietary social era behind us.
37.
by alpine 14y ago
I disagree strongly with most of the points you make. I don't think this is a case of sour grapes... and if it is, so what? Because the argument made is entirely reasonable and well done. Whether you agree or not, it is an important view po
38.
by alpine 14y ago
I also think it is a healthy sign that Indian democracy is working well in at least some respects. Their great rival China is apparently kidnapping some children who show signs of athletic potential and subjecting them to a life of intense
39.
by alpine 14y ago
I suppose adhering to the echo chamber's rhetoric is where the danger lies. A savvy politician with an ear for techno babble and an agenda detrimental to the hungry listener could make a lot of headway turning his plan into concrete effects
40.
by alpine 14y ago
If you expect your average customer to send about 50 SMS a week, why not charge them? Offer them a monthly plan to cover the cost of the texts plus some profit.
41.
by alpine 14y ago
Wait until the majority of users posting on the web are robots. Then it really will be hard to change someone's mind.
42.
by alpine 14y ago
Pretty cool content in the 3D frames. Reminded me of a childhood reading South Sea yarns and Tintin books.
43.
by alpine 14y ago
It might seem odd that Parag Khanna would turn his attention to the world of technology. He established his reputation as a wannabe geopolitical theorist, something of a modern-day Kissinger, only wired and cool I don't find it strange. H
44.
by alpine 14y ago
The founders starting "dipshit companies" are not the same types of founders who would be starting the next billion dollar companies. Didn't Google try to sell, unsuccessfully, for a few million dollars? I don't think building a multi-bil
45.
by alpine 14y ago
A rocket at infinite distance from the Earth will have infinite PE and can have zero KE.
46.
by alpine 14y ago
1 - gold confiscation illustrates the power of the political class over private interests in the US 2 - oil nationalisation illustrates the power of the political class over commercial interests globally 3 - Google is your friend 4 - The fu
47.
by alpine 14y ago
Why don't you brief me. I'd be interested in how you invalidate my argument in the above.
48.
by alpine 14y ago
If I remember my history correctly, the original shuttle objectives were compromised by US intelligence interests that required the shuttle to attain certain latitudes that were good for launching intel assets? If so, the shuttle program co
49.
by alpine 14y ago
Most of what is kinetic energy? Its job? A rocket that reaches escape velocity from Earth can have zero kinetic energy.
50.
by alpine 14y ago
How many NASA contractors have been nationalized in the past? Probably not zero, if you are genuinely interested. However, lazy quips aside, the past is not the future.
51.
by alpine 14y ago
That's wonderful - the more private contracts they win the better - and the brighter all private space initiatives will hopefully be. Unfortunately, accepting several million dollars from the US government leaves SpaceX (and other Musk vent
52.
by alpine 14y ago
Now extrapolate my argument to the difference between the beach at the Dead Sea and the launch point for earth-orbiting payloads on a space elevator.
53.
by alpine 14y ago
He has no plans to sell It is a brave man that gets in to bed with the government thinking he can withstand the intolerable pressure they can bring, if they decide, to bend his will. Nationalisation... How likely do you really think that
54.
by alpine 14y ago
The higher you are, the greater your tangential velocity to the ground. Launching a rocket from the top of Mount Everest vs a beach on the Dead Sea is cheaper in terms of energy required to attain a given altitude.
55.
by alpine 14y ago
Actually, the job of the rocket is to to increase the potential energy of the payload, so using a He balloon to put some distance between the rocket/payload package and the ground is an entirely sensible proposition.
56.
by alpine 14y ago
I would hate to see SpaceX become an acquisition of NASA, or a nationalised company of the US Federal Government. Stranger things have happened, of course, but if Musk wants to retire to Mars, he had best be concerned with this.
57.
Twitter 'alerted NBC to British journalist's critical tweets'(telegraph.co.uk)
10 points by alpine 14y ago|2 comments
58.
by alpine 14y ago
I've turned Blake's blog posts into an audio collection simply using Apple's built in Text to Speech. It makes for a remarkably listenable series.
59.
by alpine 14y ago
I wasn't so much thinking about innate mathematical ability, more the mathematical education most kids should receive. Disparaging attitudes towards maths skills, which is a general rule, is pretty harmful to society, I think.
60.
by alpine 14y ago
So you aspire to be a Renaissance Man?

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