The Billionaires' Space Club 235

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 31, 2014 @08:58PM from the small-club dept.

theodp writes Silicon sultans are the new robber barons, writes The Economist, adding that "they have been diversifying into businesses that have little to do with computers, while egotistically proclaiming that they alone can solve mankind's problems, from aging to space travel." Over at Slate, NYU journalism prof Charles Seife is less-than impressed with The Billionaires' Space Club. "It's an old trick," begins Seife. "Multimillionaires regularly try to spin acts of crass ego gratification as selfless philanthropy, no matter how obviously self-serving. They jump out of balloons at the edge of the atmosphere, take submarines to the bottom of the ocean, or shoot endangered animals on safari, all in the name of science and exploration. The more recent trend is billionaires making fleets of rocket ships for private space exploration. What makes this one different is that the public actually seems to buy the farce." Seife goes on to argue that "neither [Elon] Musk's nor [Richard] Branson's goals really seem to break new ground, despite all the talk of exploration."

Microsoft, NYC Marketing Vast Surveillance System To Other Cities 60

Posted by timothy on Thursday April 04, 2013 @10:50AM from the they're-so-very-scrupulous-you-needn't-worry dept.

Presto Vivace writes with this snippet from the New York Times: "'In the six months since the Domain Awareness System was unveiled, officials of Microsoft, which designed the system with the New York Police Department, said they have been surprised by the response and are actively negotiating with a number of prospective buyers, whom Microsoft declined to identify.' Don't want this in your city? You might want to let your local leadership know how you feel."

Comment Teach algorithms, not languages (Score 1) 407

by Zillidot on Sunday March 14, 2010 @11:23PM (#31477728) Attached to: Good Language Choice For School Programming Test?

These types of programming contests are all about whether you can come up with a clever algorithm for solving the problem. With the right algorithm, CPU time limits should not be a problem for any of the languages; but if you're using the wrong algorithm, you're going to run out of time regardless of what language you use.

(Note: I was once a contestant in the Australian Informatics Olympiad as well as the International Olympiad in Informatics, and in subsequent years I have also tutored kids participating in the contest. None of the kids were at the beginners level, however.)

Comment Re:Language shouldn't push you past the limit (Score 2, Insightful) 407

by Zillidot on Sunday March 14, 2010 @11:00PM (#31477560) Attached to: Good Language Choice For School Programming Test?

I have competed in both the informatics olympiads and the ACM collegiate programming contests, and in my experience there was a much greater emphasis on algorithms in the informatics olympiad. Whether your algorithm was O(n^3) or O(n^4) did make a difference to the results.

That said, the choice of programming language only adds a constant factor to the runtime, so your point still stands.

Comment TeXmacs (Score 1) 823

by Zillidot on Thursday October 29, 2009 @06:10PM (#29917427) Attached to: How To Enter Equations Quickly In Class?

Back when I was taking math classes, I used a program called TeXmacs for taking math notes. It's a (almost) WYSIWYG editor with a well-designed system for inputting equations, using sensible key bindings for all the common mathematical symbols and operators.

Despite the name, it's not related to either TeX nor Emacs. But it does use TeX's fonts - which result in equations that are almost as good looking as the ones from TeX.

It worked fast enough for me to keep up with all my math lectures.

Wi-Fi Patent Victory Earns CSIRO $200 Million 267

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 15, 2009 @01:05AM from the pay-up dept.

bennyboy64 writes "iTnews reports the patent battle between Australia's CSIRO and 14 of the world's largest technology companies has gained the research organization $200 million from out of court settlements. CSIRO executive director of commercial, Nigel Poole, said the CSIRO were wanting to license their technology further, stating that he 'urged' companies using it to come forward and seek a license. 'We believe that there are many more companies that are using CSIRO's technology and it's our desire to license the technology further,' Poole said.'We would urge companies that are currently selling devices that have 802.11 a,g or n to contact CSIRO and to seek a license because we believe they are using our technology.'"

Voting Drops 83 Percent In All-Digital Election 156

Posted by samzenpus on Friday May 29, 2009 @05:04PM from the people-like-paper dept.

For the first time ever, Oahu residents had to use their phones or computers to vote with some surprising results. 7,300 people voted this year, compared to 44,000 people the previous year, a drop of about 83 percent. "It is disappointing, compared to two years ago. This is the first time there is no paper ballot to speak of. So again, this is a huge change and I know that, and given the budget, this is a best that we could do," said Joan Manke of the city Neighborhood Commission. She added that voters obviously did not know about or did not embrace the changes.

Reaction Engines To Fly Reusable Spaceplane 156

Posted by timothy on Monday January 12, 2009 @01:46AM from the let's-just-start-here-on-the-ground dept.

RobGoldsmith writes "Reaction Engines have designed a 'reusable spaceplane' to provide inexpensive and reliable access to space. The Star Wars-looking 'Skylon' reusable spaceplane has already been designed and the team are well into engine testing. They have taken some time out from building spaceships to talk about their background, their goals, and their recent engine tests. This article shows new images of their STERN Engine, an experimental rocket motor which explores the flow in Expansion Deflection (ED) nozzles. They also discuss their Sabre air-breathing engine technology. View the Skylon Spaceplane concept, the STERN Engine and much more in this in-depth interview with the team."

TAAS Company Presents New Orbital Space Plane 80

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 05, 2008 @07:33PM from the high-in-the-sky dept.

RobGoldsmith writes "The TAAS Company have released details on their new Orbital Space Plane. The new design has many attributes to set it apart from its rivals. One highlight is the integrated Safety System; this is where an escape vehicle can eject from the main body of the craft then fly home safely. They claim: 'With the system's performance capability, economical first stage tow and independence from ground launch facilities, it can offer the lowest price. It also offers the safest flight.' Could this spaceship rival Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo?" Reader wooferhound points out related news from XCOR Aerospace (which we've discussed previously), that they're beginning to take orders for seats on their own suborbital flights, with test runs planned for 2010. Seats will be going for around $95,000 each, less than half the cost of the first tickets for SpaceShipTwo.