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Comment Re:Spectrum? Limitless, except for the State... (Score 0, Troll) 220

by AnswerIs42 (#29140107) Attached to: Speculating On the Far Future of Cellphones
On my 3G phone (I'm on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint, shared via my lovely Cradlepoint router on-the-go even), I can watch TV on-demand. I can listen to music, on-demand. I can read my websites, send my emails, talk via Google voice/Gizmo5 VoIP, send SMS via Google Voice, etc. But there's a limited run of bandwidth.

So... how much money are you spending then with all those carriers and all those services?

I don't have a TV at home, so the TV spectrum is useless. I don't listen to radio in the car, so radio spectrum is useless.

So by your logic... since you are not a first responder (Fire, EMS, etc..), those frequencies are also useless.. ok, just don't bitch when your house is on fire and no one can communicate and coordinate.

Comment I have it under 50$ (Score 3, Informative) 827

by AnswerIs42 (#29025697) Attached to: US Cell Phone Plans Among World's Most Expensive
I have my bill down to 35$ a month though AT&T... but I have found out something quite nasty.. My number is a Michigan one, since I was living there at the time. I have since moved to Pennsylvania but left the number the same since people know the number I have. Since I pay my bills online I never looked that closely at the bill. This last month I did.. and found out I am paying TWO sales taxes, Michigan and Pennsylvania. And when I called about it, it is because the number is a Michigan number.. because it is they can charge a sales tax on it.. as well as tax me because I reside in Pennsylvania. Their solution.. change my number (not a very good solution). I don't see why one should be taxed for where a number resides.

Comment 10 -v- 20,000... (Score 1) 108

by AnswerIs42 (#28411345) Attached to: The Newspaper Isn't Dead Yet
I can't see there being such a high density of Kindle's out there where they can replace 20,000/60,000/100,000+ readers. And you get into some areas, you may probably be hard pressed to find ANY kindles. You also have to look at it more than just one way.. many people *shock* do NOT have internet access (especially older people), maybe I don't care as much about global and national news, I see that on the TV.. but I DO want to know what happened locally, (We have two firefighters that were arrested for Arson.. I have only found 1 paragraph on Google News about it.. so there is a huge fail for the internet being a news source), coupons.. I clip out and save hundreds of dollars .. I can't find those same coupons online, advertisement inserts.. I like to know what is on sale at the local grocery store BEFORE I get to the grocery store.

I am sorry, but the mindset of the /. reader only really works for a very small number of people. Death of newspapers? Only when everyone just plain stops reading, period.

Comment Um... So? (Score 2, Insightful) 390

by AnswerIs42 (#28141273) Attached to: Newspaper Execs Hold Secret Meeting To Discuss Paywalls
I guess the readers do not realize just how many newspapers that have an online edition, charge for accessing said edition. It does not make financial sense to have a print news paper that you have to buy, and an online edition of the same thing for free. You would quickly loose subscribers thus losing money, leading to the newspaper going out of business ... because you want your news for free.

I happen to work at a small(ish) rural newspaper that has an online edition. You can get the edition free if you pay by the year or have a 3 month auto-pay account. Otherwise you have to pay to either also get the online edition, or just get the online edition. It has been fine that way for seven years.
Portables

Submission + - The World's (very) First Netbook (thecoffeedesk.com) 5

Submitted by Not-A-Microsoft-Fan
Not-A-Microsoft-Fan writes: Netbooks are making huge waves within the hardware and software industries today, but not many would believe that the whole Netbook craze actually started back around 1996 with the Toshiba Libretto 70CT. Termed technically as a subnotebook because of its small dimensions (given below), the computer is the first that fits all of the qualifications of being what we would term a Netbook today, due in part to its built-in Infrared and PCMCIA hardware, and it's (albeit early) web browsing software.

The hardware includes the two (potentially) wireless PCMCIA and Infrared network connections, Windows 95 OSR 2 with Internet Explorer 2.0, a whole 16MB of RAM and a 120Mhz Intel Pentium processor (we're flying now!).
Space

Submission + - NASA budget cut $3 billion

Submitted by
dsmall
dsmall writes: "CBS NEWS Coverage of Breaking Space News
Posted: 4:30 PM, 5/8/09

By William Harwood
CBS News Space Consultant

Changes and additions:

04/15/09 (12:45 PM): Station crew says lab ready for six full-time crew members
05/07/09 (06:55 PM): Obama orders independent review of manned space operations; NASA 2010 budget unveiled
05/08/09 (04:30 PM): Reeling from projected budget cuts, NASA braces for manned space flight review

=================================

4:30 PM, 5/8/09, Update: NASA braces for manned space flight review

Reeling from projected budget cuts totaling more than $3 billion through 2013, NASA managers and engineers working to build a post-shuttle rocket system for an eventual return to the moon are bracing for a critical review ordered by the Obama administration that could set the agency on a different course.

The chairman of an independent review panel charged with evaluating NASA's post-shuttle manned space program said Friday he will bring an open mind and "go where the facts lead" in assessing the technical and economic feasibility of the space agency's current manned space program.

Norman Augustine, former chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp., said the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee also will assess alternatives, including different rocket systems and alternative targets for exploration. The team's report is expected by August.

"We are planning to spend billions of dollars on the human space flight program and it's wise to be sure we're spending that the way we should," he told reporters in a teleconference. "New information becomes available all the time. And similarly, we have a new administration and it would probably be imprudent on their part not to examine this major of a program to be sure such a long term undertaking is still on a course that makes sense to them."

The cost of NASA's manned space program — and ongoing efforts by the Office of Management and Budget to cut spending — is at the heart of the review, announced Thursday when the Obama administration's fiscal 2010 budget request was unveiled.

"I think what it boils down to is we're being told there's no sense in being unrealistic and putting together a program that can't possibly be afforded, and we've been given some guidance," Augustine said. "I think one of the chronic problems NASA's encountered over the years has been that it usually had more programs than it had money. That can be dangerous when you're doing something as difficult as NASA does.

"So as we go through this evaluation, if we were to find there were reasons the budget didn't make sense in any way, I can assure you we would not be bashful about pointing that out, and I suspect the administration would want to know that anyway."

The Obama administration is asking Congress for $18.7 billion in funding for NASA in 2010, a watershed year for the civilian space agency as it tries to complete assembly of the International Space Station and retire the space shuttle fleet after just nine more flights.

NASA is designing a new rocket, called the Ares 1, and an Apollo-style Orion capsule to replace the shuttle, but the new system will not be ready for routine use until 2015. During the five years between the shuttle's retirement next year and the debut of Ares 1/Orion, NASA will be forced to buy seats on Russian Soyuz rockets to get U.S. astronauts to and from the space station.

NASA's long-range goal, set by the Bush administration, is to return to the moon by 2020, using Ares 1/Orion spacecraft to carry astronauts to orbit and then new heavy-lift Ares 5 rockets to boost the astronauts and lunar landers to the moon. The new rocket systems are the central elements of what NASA calls the Constellation program.

But funding has been a critical issue from the beginning. Congress and the Bush administration, which put NASA on its current course, did not provide the funding necessary to significantly reduce the gap between shuttle retirement and first flight of Ares 1/Orion.

The Obama administration's 2010 budget includes a near-term funding boost of $630 million for Constellation, thanks in part to about $1 billion routed to NASA as part of the economic Recovery Act.

But the administration's predicted budgets through 2013 show an overall cut of $3.1 billion for the exploration systems directorate in charge of Constellation, cuts that have sent shock waves through the NASA community.

"That's the real story," a senior space manager, who asked not to be named, said of NASA's Thursday budget briefing. "It's like that Sherlock Holmes thing, the real story is the dog that didn't bark in the night. ... If the three-plus billion dollars in the out years, if that cut stands, then there's no moon by 2020 and maybe none at all."

NASA officials said Thursday the budget numbers may change depending on the results of the Augustine review. But the agency turned down a request Friday for an interview with Jeff Hanley, Constellation program manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, to discuss the potential impacts of the projected cuts.

Against this backdrop, the Obama administration ordered the Augustine review of NASA's ongoing manned space exploration program, prompting speculation that budget pressures could lead to a major change of course. It's not yet known how any such a change might affect the gap between shuttle and any follow-on spacecraft, or whether the moon will even remain NASA's primary target.

"I must confess, as an individual I'm not thrilled with the fact that we have a gap," Augustine said. "But we have what we have. ... There are things that could be done, probably, that would shorten the gap, there are some things one might do that would lengthen the gap. But certainly, an objective, I think, of anybody would be to balance the various pros and cons of whatever is proposed against the impact on the gap, among other things, and recognizing that extending the gap is probably not a desirable thing. On the other hand, and I'm not making predictions here because I don't know the outcome, it's not something that's written in stone, either."

John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said the administration's objective "is to ensure that these programs remain on a strong and stable footing well into the 21st Century, and this review will be crucial to meeting that goal."

An OSTP statement said Augustine's panel will "assess a number of architecture options, taking into account such objectives as: 1) expediting a new U.S. capability to support use of the International Space Station; 2) supporting missions to the Moon and other destinations beyond low Earth orbit; 3) stimulating commercial space flight capabilities; and 4) fitting within the current budget profile for NASA exploration activities."

While the review is underway, NASA was told to continue work on Ares 1/Orion.

Augustine said he planned to assemble a team of experts with a broad range of space experience to evaluate the Constellation program and alternative architectures "both from an economic and a technical standpoint."

"We have a rather short time period to conduct our review, to be completed in August, and because of that we're drawing heavily on prior work and on our own experience as well as analyses ... from NASA and possibly others."

He said the panel's instructions are "to take a fresh, independent look at the human spaceflight program and go where the facts lead. And that's what we'll try to do. Obviously, the U.S. has excelled in the exploration and utilization of space for a long time. It's a source of great pride to our nation as well as, I might say, to myself.

"I also have long believed it should be a balanced program that includes both robotics and human involvement. Our focus will be on the human spaceflight aspect. The president has made rather clear he's very supportive of human spaceflight, he believes it's important from an economic and technical and scientific leadership standpoint. I certainly share that view and I believe this is an important task and I look forward to leading it."

=================================

Quick-Launch Web Links:

CBS News Space Shuttle Status Reports:
http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601711-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5

CBS News Space Shuttle Quick-Look Page:
http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601712-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5

CBS News Breaking Space News Page:
http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601713-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5

NASA Shuttle Web: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601714-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
NASA Station Web: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601715-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
Spaceflight Now: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601716-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
GoogleSatTrack: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601717-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5

Hubble Space Telescope Background:

HST Overview: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601718-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
Servicing Missions: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601719-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
SM-4: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601720-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
Space Telescope Science Institute: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601721-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
Hubble Site: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601722-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
NASA HQ Hubble Page: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601723-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
Goddard Hubble Page: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601724-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5
Ball Aerospace Hubble Page: http://ct.cbsnews.com/clicks?t=202601725-f10ca05ebe88ea6189f7f7250b07b818-bf&brand=CBSNEWS&s=5

================================="
Education

Submission + - MPAA Allows Teachers to Camcord for Fair Use (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by unlametheweak
unlametheweak writes: From the I-Want-To-Control-You department; the MPAA will let teachers have their already established legal right of fair use with media files, but only if certain conditions and rituals are met first. From the article:

Teachers don't need to rip DVDs to get clips for classroom use--they should just use a camcorder to record the DVD playing on a TV screen! So says the MPAA in a video it showed to the US Copyright Office in an attempt to argue that nobody should be ripping DVDs, even for educational use.

The MPAA was even kind enough to supply a demonstration of how to videotape a television set with a camcorder, http://vimeo.com/4520463.
Businesses

Submission + - Ratan Tata's Home, Sweet $7,800 Home

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "What do you do for an encore after you've shown the world it's possible to build a $2,000 car? Ratan Tata, head of India's giant Tata conglomerate and the guy behind the world's cheapest car, now plans to build 1,000 tiny apartments outside Mumbai that will sell for $7,800 to $13,400 each. Sure, they're small (floor plans), but keep in mind that you can pay a quarter-of-a-million bucks for a 250-sq-ft East Village studio. TIME reports that Tata has had to beef up security to handle the rush of buyers who want to plunk down their $200 deposits (yes, that's two hundred dollars!). Who would've thought you could make IKEA homes look pricey?"

Comment Re:More hype than necessary. (Score 1) 184

by AnswerIs42 (#26491403) Attached to: February Deadline For Emergency Beacons Approaches

I will tell that to the 200+ people rescued last year because they spent the money on the new beacons. They are not just for planes.. boats can have them and hikers can also get them for use if they get lost.

Yes, the old system still works.. but I would rather spend the extra and know that my signal will be picked up and responded too in minutes instead of hours. Actually.. it will be illegal to use the old system according to the SARSAT website (http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/).

From the SARSAT website:
Total Rescues in 2008: 283
- Rescues at sea: 203 people rescued in 65 incidents
- Aviation rescues: 12 people rescued in 7 incidents
- PLB rescues: 68 people rescued in 35 incidents
NASA

Submission + - World Wind Java SDK Released

Submitted by AnswerIs42
AnswerIs42 writes: NASA World Wind Java which debut at JavaOne this week and was demoed in a lab yesterday is now officially released as a Early Access release 0.2.0 SDK, this is NOT a full blown application but an API that can be used in other applications. There are demos in the SDK zip file and there is a link for a WWJava demo that is launched from the web page. For more information you can check the World Wind Central wiki page for WWJava, and the forums. A video of the live presentation opening day of JavaOne can be found here and these two blogs have multiple posts on the WWJava release.
Wii

Submission + - Wii outselling PS3 in Japan

Submitted by saintory
saintory writes: Apparently the Japanese console consumers are sinking their teeth into the modest Wii and are not as interested in the power-packed PS3. According to the article:
Enterbrain ... said that about 980,000 Wii units had been sold as of the end of 2006, while Sony Computer Entertainment had sold only 460,000 of its PlayStation 3 consoles, signifying a clear win for Nintendo.

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