human_v2

I work for a web host (not this one). From my experience, this is generally what is going on during downtime (note: times are BEST CASE scenario):

T0: Servers go down T5-15: Someone realizes something is broken. T15-45: Initial someone calls another someone to tell them it's broken because the night guy probably can't fix it all by himself. T60-70: All the engineers are woken up and know OF the problem. T90: Engineers figure out WHAT the problem is. T120: Engineers fix problems. T150: More problems arise. T180: All problems are solved, no more customers are mad.

Moral of the Story: As you can see, it already is a very involved process to get servers running again. Now, as a customer, you want an email to notify you that services are down. First, the admin needs to find out exactly which customers are affected and then write up a nice happy email to you letting you know we're working on it. Do you want a happy email or do you want your servers fixed? Your call. Downtime is chaos. Do not ask to be notified of chaos.

I agree that would disqualify it as a universal language candidate. At the same time though, how often do you wish you'd thought out your next sentence in its entirety when speaking to your girlfriend/boss/mother/etc ?

Lojban: "spelling is phonetic and unambiguous"

They clearly ignored that rule for the name of the language =)

On a more serious note, this is rather exciting. It would make a very good candidate for a universal language. A great deal of time and effort went into making this language. Hopefully this isn't the last time I hear of Lojban.

I'm of the opinion that the LHC will make a great mess of physics. I saw a show on Discovery where most of the physicists at CERN feel there's a 9/10 chance they'll find the Higgs. Just a hunch, but I don't think they'll find it. I think they'll find something that forces them to rethink all of sub-atomic physics, which would be way cooler.

Also, is anyone else tired of every LHC article talking about Earth getting sucked into a black hole? Ludicrous, I tell you...

Because MS is also an advertiser. Bing would become immediately worthless to advertisers if they did. Plus, assuming MS let their ads through and blocked Google's, Google would yell "anti-competition lawsuit" faster than you can say, well, anti-competition.

I don't think advertising is going to be able to sustain Google indefinitely. As more tech-savvy users get on the web, their tolerance for advertisements will dwindle, along with advertisers' return. Google probably knows this, which is why they've moved into other markets like Android and Google's office tools. As far as search goes, I think they're either going to be king forever as we know it, or a 'better' search will come out... though I can't think of what could make search better than what Google has.

I, personally, would like to see Google become their own ISP. When there was news they were buying up 'dark fiber' I thought this might be in their future plans.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise: golf is about getting trashed and seeing if you can still manage to ever put the ball in the cup. While on a business outing, the object of the game is now to play WORSE than the exec you are there with. Golf is no longer a competition, but a social function. Turns out I don't enjoy social functions OR golf.

What is possible? Everything. It just depends on what level we are able to effectively manipulate the universe. Suppose for a moment that the universe is comprised of 'bits' at the very smallest possible scales. We do not currently have direct (root) access to these bits, so we must manipulate them from within the system. Because our universe is NP-complete, given enough control over these universal bits, anything that is thinkable is possible. Will we ever be able to control these bits? It remains to be seen, but I should think so eventually.

We lack sufficient evidence to prove that we reside in a Matrix-like construct. Pending evidence, we shall continue believing that we do not live in such a construct.... though the line between physical reality and virtual reality become blurrier every day.

The digital divide will not close itself, but rather can only grow larger as time goes on. Technology has been key to human evolution since man learned to create fire and sharp sticks. As such, we are inextricably bound to our technology. Having better tech is most certainly an evolutionary advantage. These days, technology is progressing so fast that it can be difficult to keep up.

What are the repercussions of not keeping up? Well, you've seen what happened to the tribal folk that got owned by Europeans back in the day, right? If you don't keep up with technology, you will fall behind in the evolutionary chain. Just hope those higher on the chain than you have some compassion and lack the desire to conquer/eat you.

The article makes an excellent point that our children need to be computer and technology literate. Those that do not embrace technology will forever be collecting the second-hand table-scrap-tech that we throw out. As any parent, we want our children to have all the opportunities that other kids have. Knowledge is power.

It depends. I don't think a web interface will cut it. Professors will still need office hours or a chat interface. If this was actually the case, don't you think students could just as easily sit at home and read the book instead of going to class? At some point, the lack of teacher-student interaction is going to cause the quality of education to suffer. I imagine this would be unacceptable to universities that take their reputations seriously.

This is what I would do, but you'd need some prerequisite software and information:

1. Get a genome for the simplest bacteria you can find. 2. You'd need molecular simulation software, specifically DNA and cells

After you've gotten this, I would strip out pieces of the genome using the genetic algorithm (oh the irony) and see if you can slim the genome down to a bare-bones replicating cellular machine.

After that, just a little trial and error and you could be making designer organisms.

(Sorry if you wanted something realistic. My brain doesn't work like that =)