- Microsoft update story continues. More interesting is the fact that Firefox may have huge vulnerability.
- Toshiba debuts 512 GB SSD at CES. Probably very expensive. Expert expects 25-percent penetration by 2011.
- Sim City on the iPhone.
- NASA may give shuttles away from free.
- Graphite memory coming?
- Top ten over-hyped products from VNUnet.
- Sponsored by Budget Rent A Car.
Right click here and select ‘Save Link As…’ to download the mp3 file.
They should give them away to the museums and not to ppl like John Travolta.
It’d be funny if the Russians (or Chinese) bought them, refurbished them, and then started using them to go to the ISS.
Segway a joke?
http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/2008_pt2/08_chinprep.jpg
I believe that Bit9’s report related more to corporate security than home user security. Their big grip seemed to be the lack of ability to centrally managing patches for Firefox and other apps on the list. Indeed, one of the criteria for inclusion on their list was, “The application can not be automatically and centrally updated via free Enterprise tools suchas Microsoft’s SMS & WSUS”. Not surprisingly their recommendation for “fixing” this was the licensing and use of Bit9’s Parity and File Advisor tools.
Sorry, sorry OT:
I haven’t paid any attention to vimeo until a viral link was sent to me today for “Where The Hell Is Matt?” That was really good. The technology was pretty good and I should look at it all closer.
I seem to have a fuzzy recollection from a past DU item that JCD was involved with vimeo. So… I’m going to do you all a big marketing favor and simply tell you that the depressing black “Letraset” logo must go. vimeo was always kind of a an oatmeal name but you need to capitalize on the ME in the name to make this aspect more apparent – front & center. Every ME in every vimeo logo needs to be a diverse graphic extravaganza… similar to the people and their videos on vimeo. (Especially if you could get people to participate and contribute as an on-going activity.)
On a practical level, you do that when you can and use one particular cheerful, offbeat representative “vimeo” when necessary. Anytime.
RBG
I bet Mr Dvorak does not read this site. But if he does. “Please do a review of Haiku (the OS) for pcmag” I wouldnt take you long as you seem to be a pretty tech savy person. Also there are VMWare images too for usage without installing on a patition.
# 2 chuck said, “It’d be funny if the Russians (or Chinese) bought them, refurbished them, and then started using them to go to the ISS.”
The Russians & Chinese are too smart to try & operate those death traps.
Oh man! I just updated to Firefox 3.0.4! I wish they’d give a clue how close the next update was. I could have waited a week.
$42 million for spacecraft that originally cost over $3 billion a piece?! Wow, they really held their value, didn’t they? So what are they replacing them with? Another bad example of compromise engineering. They could look into buying the Russian model. Seen here.
http://www.k26.com/buran/Info/A_Comparison/a_comparison.html
Their main fuel tank is actually a rocket too. Rather than dead weight. And 100% recyclable, unlike the US’s expendable tank. But I suspect that all the big US aerospace contractor need the dough, right now. So it’s them we’ll be getting the next batch of orbiters from. Not the Russians or Europeans. After all, the whole US space program has always been a gravy train for US defense contractors. AKA corporate welfare.
I use to work for an aerospace company that made actuators for military/domestic planes. Two biggest customers were Boeing and NASA. Without too much detail we produced sh*tty actuators to control flaps, canopys, and anything that uses a motor. I resign shortly after being there and after realizing top management wasn’t going to change and they really don’t have the background to be making decisions.
Most of the management teams (Mfg Direcctor – my boss, VP, CEO) had no degree and really had no clue technically or business wise to be in the position. They got their buy sucking up and networking. Pathetic.
My boss the Mfg Director had no degree except a high school diploma, been with the company for years and years, talked about lean and six sigma as though he knew everything and acted like a big shot. He spent a whole freaking week “playing” with the PC on the mfg floor looking at the SPC data being collected. It was a simple data collection of the torque from the motors. He still didn’t get it and had the nerve to shout and tell off the workers and me.
And we risk people lives in the hands of such idiots? Everything I see a helicopter, plane or shuttle go by I sincerely hope they don’t have any parts we’ve made. IMO these type of people who makes things knowing that it’ll harm the end user(s) should be shot and kill.
If you’re not worry about our NASA you should be because when you select the cheapest mfg to produce your parts you are going to pay for it one way or another. Guarantee.
ok, rant off 🙂
#10. Well I knew about the smaller version of the US space shuttle. The russian “copy” that ended up being sold as an amusement ride or something. But I did hear about the full size model that actually was launched and returned by remote control, back in 1988. Apparently the US news media killed that story. It wouldn’t do to have it known that heroic human pilots weren’t 100% necessary to land the thing. So the funding for the Buran ran out, right about the time the Russians were brought in on the International Space Station. What do ya wanna bet, killing the Buran program was a condition to getting US ISS funds?
Even though its been a decade since the only successful launch of the Buran. There seems to be a modern, up to date website for it now. Thus my confusion until I checked Wikipedia. And you’ll have to admit. Replacing those potentially explosive SRBs, with liquid propellant boosters, and movng the main engines from the orbiter to the center launch body, makes more sense than what NASA’s engineers came up with to save some dollars (which ultimately it hasn’t). But of course, the Shuttle having its own huge rocket motors, looks sexier. In spite of them being just useless dead weight for a “glider” to have to return with. I’ll bet the reentry heat really screws up those things’ parts.
If the Russians did indeed merely copy the US shuttle design. It wasn’t difficult for them to get a look at it. I remember an old scifi Tv show (1977), that featured a scale model of a Space Shuttle, attached to its boosters and fuel tank (painted white), back when it was still being flight tested on the back of 747s. How NOT a secret was that?! So no surprise that the russians could have copied it, when popular US Tv shows were given plans and models to use. Remember Buck Rogers’ “Ranger 3”, that ended up on Battlestar Galactica TOS? NASA must have had an office at Universal, just to handle all the Shuttle info requests.
Graphite memory? So how’s that going to be better than using silicon? Sounds like it’ll end up making them much more expensive. Like they were made of raw diamonds. I’m sure the graphite mines have already been snapped up by De Beers. How “Not Green” is it to make new technology from mined carbon? How much of that is going to end up some smoke stacks?
Is there water bubbling in the background?
What’s wrong with Travolta? He’s living the ultimate expression of the American Dream.