tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303246073824127471.post1947413305848421839..comments2024-03-17T08:13:42.240-04:00Comments on Multiplication by Infinity: Railroad to the Stars: Riding the LightwaysSteven Colyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303246073824127471.post-22718937596255499782010-12-23T11:21:08.787-05:002010-12-23T11:21:08.787-05:00Hybrids are a good idea, thanks graal.
I hear you...Hybrids are a good idea, thanks graal.<br /><br />I hear you about the terror stuff. It's why I don't think a space elevator will ever be built, or if it is, it will be taken down by some nut-job pronto.Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303246073824127471.post-57770282072462887762010-12-22T19:15:24.303-05:002010-12-22T19:15:24.303-05:00Hi Steven
IMO a better approach is the hybrid Fue...Hi Steven<br /><br />IMO a better approach is the hybrid Fuel-Beam system which launches propellants to a probe/ship via either particle or laser beams. An important question often over-looked when people advocate these concepts is just how much power it will take to get the desired performance. Launching a multi-tonne star-probe via a laser, for example, takes terawatts of power, which is hard to supply without some heroic space construction efforts. And a massive terawatt laser bank with multi-AU range is a planet-blackmailing terror-weapon in the wrong hands.qraalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13436948899560519608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303246073824127471.post-87220045144778357002010-12-18T07:52:39.003-05:002010-12-18T07:52:39.003-05:00Have any of you heard of Laboratory Technician .or...Have any of you heard of <a href="http://www.laboratorytechnician.org/best-physics-blogs" rel="nofollow">Laboratory Technician .org</a>? They seem to have made a mistake of putting MbI on the top 50 Physics blogs. I do like lab techs as people, but I guess I don't get out enough because I hadn't heard of this particular organization.Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303246073824127471.post-54162146091924433402010-12-16T10:00:21.280-05:002010-12-16T10:00:21.280-05:00Hi Gregory. I'm going to guess it's becaus...Hi Gregory. I'm going to guess it's because the media depends too much on Wikimedia (nice play on words) for its information?<br /><br />God forbid we should go back to the days of Clark Kent and Lois Lane when a good reporter had to don hat and coat and hit the streets to get information from the source, hmm?.<br /><br />Well, I have no problem with Wiki atm, but it will be a sad day if they ever charge for their services. Jimmy Wales shows all the hallmarks of an egotist or egoist or however its spelled, but I have noticed in this life that it is usually such people who more often than not are the ones getting things done.Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5303246073824127471.post-44644323589481801552010-12-16T09:31:34.337-05:002010-12-16T09:31:34.337-05:00Regarding donating to the Wikimedia Foundation to ...Regarding donating to the Wikimedia Foundation to "save" Wikipedia:<br /><br />I wonder when the news media will figure out that the Wikimedia Foundation spends on program services only 41 cents of every dollar they scam from donors, which earns them ONE STAR (out of four!) from Charity Navigator in organizational efficiency. In fact, their KPMG audit discovered that it only takes about $2.5 million to keep the servers running, provide ample bandwidth, and staff a team of code developers to keep things running smoothly. Why, then, is the ask for $20 million?<br /><br />I also wonder why the news media never thought to cover the 2009 story of how the Wikimedia Foundation needed extra office space, and as if by magic, they hand-picked Jimmy Wales' for-profit corporation to be their landlord, THEN obtained competitive bids, THEN asked Wales' for-profit company to match the average of the competitive bids.<br /><br />I too wonder why the media don't seem to care that the 2010 market research study of past Wikimedia Foundation donors was awarded to the former employer of the WMF staffer running the project, without any competitive bidding whatsoever. And when the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation was asked how much the project cost, the guy asking the question was banned from the online discussion.Gregory Kohshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17207068772106028805noreply@blogger.com