Is this all about a treaty between NATO and Russia?

We can't send anything nuclear into the atmosphere.

Mr. Gladwell, thanks a bunch for taking questions from us! I read you book 'Blink' and it was definitely value-added, esp. the story about war games...and how they gamed the war games.

My question: How do you, personally, evaluate research science? How do you differentiate the good research from hype? What is your process for evaluating scientific research?

I ask because everyone in media is quoting "research" now..."pop science" is a thing in our culture...I'm interested in how *you* a person known for writing about science, evaluates the research.

___________

When I did data analysis in grad school, any human survey research would automatically send me to the Methodology section to see **the actual text of the questionaire** that was given. I find that helps me fight through the hype of an unscrupulous article

aw, c'mon now!

everyone in the known universe wanted to see those harpoons...they didn't launch...that's a failure...

same with the retro-booster

but it is nonsense to call it a disaster

a 'disaster' is a shuttle exploding, or a probe failing because of metric/english unit conversion errors (google it)...

for this mission...if Rosetta had missed it entirely, no rendevous...or if the lander had totally not worked...maybe that's a 'disaster'

but this is not that

what you say is true, but i think your attitude is a bit off...

sure those are failures, but ESA has alot of catching up to do...how many ESA astronauts have been killed on the launch pad?

how many ESA shuttles have be lost?

ESA should celebrate success wherever they find it...

no excuses of course...they should just...do better next time!

Linux isn't a total solution for education/academia but it's definitely in the mix all over the place

at my last university, all the computer labs were iMacs that could boot into windows or the reverse...keyboard and mouse were standard on all...it really was just preference

it also depends on where you tried to implement Linux...for graphic design as much as i hate it they have to use Adobe CS which doesn't reliably run on Linux...obviously GIMP should be part of the cirriculum, but you can't go in there with janky Ubuntu ACS installs and expect them to say yes

in general you're right...

i'd want a "tech cart" with laptops for all of them so they can take quizes and such...instant grading for multiple choice quiz...which frees up the teacher to focus on students with special needs

but yeah, inherently you're right

that's what happens when consumers are not locked into M$ products: they abandon them for better alternatives

M$ products are awful, and when they have to compete in the free market, they lose

how much of M$ profit is from US Federal and State level government contracts? that's your tax dollars

alice/bob = if Bob can figure it out, then you can...theoretically...the same way Bob does. I don't think this is an earth-shattering claim.

one-time pad = if and only if you destroy the key sheet...from the wiki: "Both Alice and Bob destroy the key sheet immediately after use, thus preventing reuse and an attack against the cipher."

Bob/Alice as hostage...one way to intercept the message is to stand next to Bob with a gun to his head...if you get my meaning...no this is absolutely not any proof that all crypto is breakable...but once it gets to the receiver, and decoded...it's not crypto anymore...its just some info in a person's head

thanks for responding...i learned a bit about Claude Shannon I didn't know...

also, I don't think my assertions were that far off base from the start, but "perfect secrecy" does definitely exist in theory just as any message that can be received can be intercepted in theory

you don't think so?

in what manner?

i'm not trying to debate i'd just like to see an example

i know my analogy sucked, but the principle is important

if you can access it, it's not secure

that's all i'm really getting at...which is still not that insightful...but someone else called me a phony below and it kidna hurt my feelings

i said this in another comment:

i'm not saying anyone with a CCNA can hack Tor

i'm saying that anything that exists that can be transmitted and decoded can also be accessed by a third party

if it exists, it's not "secure"

maybe my analogy is awkward, but it's valid and accurate

what i'm really trying to say is, if you can access it, so can someone else

i'm not saying anyone with a CCNA can hack Tor

i'm saying that anything that exists that can be transmitted and decoded can also be accessed by a third party

if it exists, it's not "secure"

maybe my analogy is awkward, but it's valid and accurate

anyone who has done IT or t-Comm work knows how they did this...

if you're not a CCNA, then this analogy may help:

your data in transmission is like a swimming pool

if you want to keep people out, you can fence it, protect it, lock it down any number of ways...

but as long as you can use it, others can gain access as well...

absolutely no one cares about your thoughts on government regulation or that you're "still waiting" because you're inherently, philosophically biased against ALL GOVERNMENT REGULATION

you've removed yourself from the discussion by taking an irrational position

we could/should be on Mars **now** but as a NASA/ESA/JAXA combined science/colonization/mining mission....not some reality show!

TFA is a good article...it's one of the few times I'd read TFA *before* it was on /.

the author does a good job of telling the truth (MarsONE is a SCAM) while respecting the dreams/dignitiy of the unfortunate souls who have dropped everything to sign up

what MarsOne tells me is that **people are ready for this**...it's time to go...but there's only one way to do this: FULL ON...no half-assed reality shows...let the pros do it!