bdunbar

48 ms·

451.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Is it really likely that we need a system like McDonald's to get a burger made? I make a pretty fine burger, myself. And my own bread, for the buns. But if you want to deliver a consistent product across thousands of stores for a reasona
452.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I wonder if this only applies to the game developers or other Valve staff ... as well. Darn good question. I'm having a hard time picturing how this would work for accounting or systems administration.
453.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Moving asteroids amounts to a potential weapon of mass destruction. This is true for everything moving in space: vehicles, rocks - all potential weapons .. just from (ahem) potential. We need to be real careful that we don't regulate this
454.
by bdunbar 15y ago
And bring new meaning to the term 'drop shipping'.
455.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Some things get only so good - after that you're just engineering better cup holders. Manual shifts for cars. The IBM model-M keyboard. Unix. Green on black text. That said, he does have the contrast turned up a bit too much for my taste
456.
by bdunbar 15y ago
They added a preference to get text in the buttons I hadn't realized - thanks. It makes a difference. I still want the old look back.
457.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Dunno - I'm still using 10.6. I don't have anything _against_ Lion, just that I hate upgrading unless I really need to.
458.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I like how the author scoffs at this as if it is self-evidently preposterous, Have you used gmail lately? The new UI is a mess.
459.
by bdunbar 15y ago
You know ... Defender _now_ is not nearly as visually cool as it was _then_.
460.
by bdunbar 15y ago
but that's been taken away from him. You're inferring a lot from a screenshot and a bookmark. Teller isn't just a guy all by his lonesome - he's part of a production company. P&T have _staff_. The screenshot could have been anyone's
461.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Think of it this way - with parachutes and a guidance system you can land the stuff wherever you want. This might not be so important for tons of raw metal. Could be a good tech to have around when you want your orbital factories to compet
462.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Make them in orbit. or Send them up as freight.
463.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I think you're missing the point. Wrap the goods in a capsule. Attach a parachute. Now you can land it anywhere you want, lawyers permitting.
464.
by bdunbar 15y ago
(snicker)
465.
by bdunbar 15y ago
If we can ship iron to Cleavland cheaper than we can ship it from the Iron Range then we can stop strip-mining the countryside. Which - whoops - puts guys out of work in favor of robots and technicians who operate them. I think that's anot
466.
by bdunbar 15y ago
This is a solved problem. Wrap your cargo in a capsule. Add parachutes.
467.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I was assuming you'd have parachutes to avoid vaporizing the rocks when they hit the ground. And if we have parachutes then we can wrap an ablative capsule around the rocks. Add a guidance system to make the lawyers and citizens happy.
468.
by bdunbar 15y ago
IIRC a space-based smelter is a mirror to concentrate sunlight, a system to collect the melty bits. Some of this we might be able to make in space - boot strap a mirror factory and you've made the tools to make the tools. Throwing bits of
469.
by bdunbar 15y ago
We really don't have any good way to move the large amounts of mass an industrial asteroid mining operation would require between LEO and the surface at the moment. Sure we do. Wrap the goods in a capsule. Make sure you aim it in the r
470.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Also cool - Replacing terrestrial mines with asteroid mines. - Bring an asteroid to L5. Mine. When done you have a place to live. and it becomes weaponized. Anything moving fast enough is a potential weapon. We need to get used to this
471.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I am not the parent, but I'll take a swing at it. I don't trust a private corporation. When private organization acts in ways contrary to how I want, I can fire them. When the government acts in ways contrary to how I want, I have to live w
472.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Listen to the news. Five minutes of that and I'm at work. Small town life: we may not have all the opportunities of a big city, but the commute is a heckuva lot shorter.
473.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I wish our government could be run more like a lean startup rather than a large corporation with a near unlimited supply of money Might as well wish for water to run up hill. The government is run like a large organization because it _is_
474.
by bdunbar 15y ago
Your family, at least the elders, would more appreciate that you pick up the phone or send postal mail than use technology. Most of the elders in my family - talking people 65+ - have computers, use Facebook, to keep in touch. Most of my
475.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I _knew_ wearing Birth Control Goggles were a good idea. Best glasses I've ever owned - sturdy and difficult to break. Pity that on me they made me look mildly retarded.
476.
by bdunbar 15y ago
See ... this is what happens when one is raised by wolves. One has no idea about common social conventions. Wolves ... or raised in Oklahoma in the pre-internet era. Same thing, really.
477.
by bdunbar 15y ago
You lost me. What?
478.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I used a BBS. My wife built and sysoped one. And yes, that's how we met.
479.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I'm not sure 'contacts' are a good match with 'soldier'. Gear for soldiers needs to be rugged, idiot proof, and easy to work with. Inserting contacts to gear-up for a patrol would seem to be none of those. I'm not adverse to the idea .. I
480.
by bdunbar 15y ago
I'm no expert - but I did work part-time for a new business. It was hard as heck to raise capitol. So much so that it was nearly not worth the effort. We spent as much, or more, time on investing than we did working. At one point I was na

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