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Mr Morden wrote:
Couple that with a space establishment that believes that space should be reserved for science only and we find ourselves still stuck on this rock.
It's basically a money/energy issue.
We dont have the technology (yet) to sent people up there cheaply
Nish
Author of the romantic comedy
Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win]
Review by Shog9
Click here for review[NW]
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You're right to a point.
But from what I've read, it could be a lot cheaper to send people into space.
I read an article a couple of years ago that made the case that a shuttle launch is so expensive because of the infrastructure that surrounds each launch. This article stated that the cost of a launch could be substantially reduced by setting up an infrastructure similar to an airline.
As for technology. The shuttle is basically 70's and 80's tech. Over 20 years old. Technology has improved substantally over the last 2 decades. I tend to think that technology isnt the issue. I think that not many people in positions of authority have the will or desire to get us up there.
Cheers
The universe is driven by the complex interaction between three ingredients: matter, energy, and enlightened self-interest.
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Mr Morden wrote:
a shuttle launch is so expensive because of the infrastructure that surrounds each launch
Basically the same reason that a McLaren is over 1Mil whilst one can pick up a new KIA under 10K. 
- Nitron
"Those that say a task is impossible shouldn't interrupt the ones who are doing it." - Chinese Proverb
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come on, who wants to live on the moon anyway?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Memory leaks is the price we pay \0
01234567890123456789012345678901234
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Who wants to live on a drilling rig, or in the arctic tundra?
If there's gold in them thar hills, megacorps will send people (not themselves of course) to get it for them.
If national pride or national security is at stake, countries will do more.
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But they were accurate at the time.
It's not their fault we let the dream die .
Or to be more precise, we let certain members of Congress (Proxmire, et. al) kill it  . I vote that they are first out the airlock when the revolution comes.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Where's the innovation that results in my ability to write code better and faster? Where's the built in regression testing and module testing? Where's the framework that promotes good architecture so that 1) the product can grow and change with new requirements and 2) changes don't result in catastrophic side effects? Where's the integration with visualization tools that let me forward and reverse engineer process flow? Where's the innovation in education so that there's some chance that my co-worker isn't a complete moron?
Well, this is why I've wrote the AAL for MFC and why I am porting it to C#/.NET. Because Microsoft can't get its head out of its arse long enough to see that I don't want new fangled gadgets. I want stability, productivity, and happy customers.
Because I'd rather be at the beach.
Marc
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files"
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I wonder what might be labelled innovation in the software industry. Does the quality of a software depends on whether it was written with a language rather than other (why do every programmer wants to use C# then?) ? My answer is no. Do wifi, mobile phones, automated image/speech recognition hardware are innovations ? Yes. Does .NET is innovation ? No.
In fact, those last 20 years have seen the continuous empowerment of GUI-centric apps, where the three-click MFC expert is much better paid and regarded than the algorithm expert. I believe that, because of such a mirage, we can't expect GUI-centric apps to provide any form of innovation.
At the opposite, winamp, divx and a few others have shown up with a strong vision about what algorithms, not GUI, can do the ordinary people. And they have eventually changed our lives forever.
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Curious statement, given that neither Winamp nor DivX developed the algorithms they're based on (MP3 and MPEG4); they just wrapped up existing technologies in new ways. One could say that it was the ease of use (or GUI, in your terms), not any algorithmic innovation, that led to their successes.
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Gavin Gregson wrote:
given that neither Winamp nor DivX
I have used these terms since anyone understands what's behind. Yes, I am talking about the underlying algorithms.
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Does the quality of a software depends on whether it was written with a language rather than other [...] ? My answer is no.
Hopefully, the choice of language does impact the quality of the product, otherwise it won't matter which language one uses. Given your point of view with respect to .NET, I'm surprised you're implicitly backing MS hype about language choice being irrelevant with the advent of CLR.
Joaquín M López Muñoz
Telefónica, Investigación y Desarrollo
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Joaquín M López Muñoz wrote:
Hopefully, the choice of language does impact the quality of the product
Once a language is chosen, it has to be used in efficient ways so the project completes with quality stuff. My point is rather that innovation in products should be user-driven and feature-driven, not technically driven, especially when the technical pros are only backed with MS PR.
The supposed-to-be language agnostic CLR is, as you say, only hype, pure MS PR. The point is MS PR are technical, but remain PR anyhow. The trouble is a lot of dev sites take the PR as something granted. Because of this, if decision makers ask technical people whether it's good or not to migrate to .NET, as if it was "innovation", the answers they get from technical people is that yes, it "will be incredibly better and different, and all standard development issues are solved by design with the latest SDK".
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Innovation is still there.
The problem is, those who innovate are not necessarily the ones who reap the profits!
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All this innovation stuff just brings me a question I want to ask to you guys. The movies (and books) always tried to "predict" the future, creating some odd worlds and possible new technologies that will be avaible to us in the future. Which movie do you think that have the most close "prediction" about the future ?
Mauricio Ritter - Brazil
Sonorking now: 100.13560 MRitter
Life is a mixture of painful separations from your loved ones and joyful reunions, without those two we'd just be animals I guess. The more painful the separation, that much more wonderful will be the reunion - Nish
"Th@ langwagje is screwed! It has if's but no end if's!! Stupid php cant even do butuns on forms! VISHAUL BASICS ARE THE FUTSHURE!" - Simon Walton
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Personally I think movies like Gattaca and Minority Report offer a good view of how things will be.
Most movies give too much of either an overly optimistic or over pessimistic view of how things will be. That too and for the most part futuristic movies make things look way too polished and sterile. Everything is while or stainless steel.
I think that no matter how technologically advanced we get here we well always want nature and houses that at least look like they are made of brick or wood.
Paul Watson wrote:
"At the end of the day it is what you produce that counts, not how many doctorates you have on the wall."
George Carlin wrote:
"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things."
Unknown wrote:
"I love long walks, especialy taken by those that annoy me."
Paraphrased from TMNT:
"Cricket? You have to know what a crumpet is to understand Cricket."
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Though I would agree things will "look" like Gattaca and Minority Report, I think things will feel more like today. I think those two movies push hard on the notion that social change is the true innovation and leave technological advances off on the edges.
My vision of the future is one of continual advancement in technologies that make us Westerners bigger consumers and more selfish to boot.
Just my opinion...I could be wrong.
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Ray Cassick wrote:
Gattaca and Minority Report
Yes, but that does raise the question... will we be identified by retina scan or DNA? 
You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose.
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I would hope that security systems stay on the passive side (Retinal) rather that the DNA side.
Don't want to have to give a DNA sample to boot up Windows.
Paul Watson wrote:
"At the end of the day it is what you produce that counts, not how many doctorates you have on the wall."
George Carlin wrote:
"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things."
Unknown wrote:
"I love long walks, especialy taken by those that annoy me."
Paraphrased from TMNT:
"Cricket? You have to know what a crumpet is to understand Cricket."
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Ray Cassick wrote:
Personally I think movies like Gattaca and Minority Report offer a good view of how things will be
My guess is MAD MAX 
Mauricio Ritter - Brazil
Sonorking now: 100.13560 MRitter
Life is a mixture of painful separations from your loved ones and joyful reunions, without those two we'd just be animals I guess. The more painful the separation, that much more wonderful will be the reunion - Nish
"Th@ langwagje is screwed! It has if's but no end if's!! Stupid php cant even do butuns on forms! VISHAUL BASICS ARE THE FUTSHURE!" - Simon Walton
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Star Trek Next Generation.
Because reconfiguring your tractor beam to be a repulsor beam really should be as simple as rerouting a diagram visually.
Marc
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files"
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A slightly more advanced Aliens.
Roger Allen
Sonork 100.10016
Were you different as a kid? Did you ever say "Ooohhh, shiny red" even once? - Paul Watson 11-February-2003
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The way the state is invading our privacy, my vote goes for "1984" 
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Jon Taylor wrote:
"1984"
quite terrifing... but a good book...
Mauricio Ritter - Brazil
Sonorking now: 100.13560 MRitter
Life is a mixture of painful separations from your loved ones and joyful reunions, without those two we'd just be animals I guess. The more painful the separation, that much more wonderful will be the reunion - Nish
"Th@ langwagje is screwed! It has if's but no end if's!! Stupid php cant even do butuns on forms! VISHAUL BASICS ARE THE FUTSHURE!" - Simon Walton
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The original Planet of the Apes. 
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