Because a LOT of people are missing the point:
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It'd have to be as cheap as shipping a fully laden 40ft intermodal (ISO 668) container from Oakland to Shanghai before its actually economical. That's about $3000 USD for the container, not counting cargo, insurance, etc.. Max capacity is about 30500 kg.
That's getting a datacenter in orbit, securely, with cooling, radiators, shielding, power, and redundancy for under $3/kg.
That's not going to happen.
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It'd have to be as cheap as shipping a fully laden 40ft intermodal (ISO 668) container from Oakland to Shanghai before its actually economical. That's about $3000 USD for the container, not counting cargo, insurance, etc.. Max capacity is about 30500 kg.
That's getting a datacenter in orbit, securely, with cooling, radiators, shielding, power, and redundancy for under $3/kg.
That's not going to happen.
@woozle Even then, it's not actually economical if the customers aren't willing to pay extra for the resources, which will be highly latent in a world that despises latency.
You end up with Sealand all over again, where the idea is better than the implementation ever can be.
Eventually, you have orbiting scrap, cluttering the sky, slowly decaying in orbit.
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@cstross that is what he does. He promises things, puts people he employs in a positon of trying to make it work, doesn't deliver, and the cycle starts again.
And some people chose to believe that *this time* it will be true.
@axx @cstross He's succeeded twice: the Tesla Model S was the first mass-produced electric vehicle that wasn't a compliance car, and the Falcon 9 brought the cost of spaceflight down by at least an order of magnitude. If he didn't keep over-hyping his goals and doubling down on his failures, he'd be remembered as a genius -- Edison, for example, had numerous flops for each wild success.
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My rules for brain implants:
1. I will not alpha or beta test; in fact I think waiting for v3.25 is probably for the best
2. Must run Open Source software *not using any dependencies requiring a Package Manager*
3. Must not require *any* kind of 'cloud' to operate, must work fine without a network connection, and must be locally configurable
4. You know what? Even if it meets rules 1 to 3 I'm still not too hot on the idea…
@jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman open hardware as well, and with parts standard enough that they don't depend on a single manufacturing company
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My rules for brain implants:
1. I will not alpha or beta test; in fact I think waiting for v3.25 is probably for the best
2. Must run Open Source software *not using any dependencies requiring a Package Manager*
3. Must not require *any* kind of 'cloud' to operate, must work fine without a network connection, and must be locally configurable
4. You know what? Even if it meets rules 1 to 3 I'm still not too hot on the idea…
@ApostateEnglishman @jackwilliambell @cstross
Brain implants are and were dumb on their face.
It turns out we have several excellent brain interfaces available and honed over millions of years of evolution - our eyes, ears, hands, voice, and a bunch of more subtle ones like touch and balance. They are intuitive, built-in, and free. And none of them are permanently invasive, which saves all sorts of biology issues.
The only real use-case for any sort of implant is where you have no alternative - the pacemaker comes to mind. The rest are someone trying to sell you something you don't need or want.
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@ApostateEnglishman @jackwilliambell @cstross
Brain implants are and were dumb on their face.
It turns out we have several excellent brain interfaces available and honed over millions of years of evolution - our eyes, ears, hands, voice, and a bunch of more subtle ones like touch and balance. They are intuitive, built-in, and free. And none of them are permanently invasive, which saves all sorts of biology issues.
The only real use-case for any sort of implant is where you have no alternative - the pacemaker comes to mind. The rest are someone trying to sell you something you don't need or want.
@ApostateEnglishman @jackwilliambell @cstross @tbortels
There's also the option of external devices which communicate directly with the brain, no hole in the head required. -
@woozle Even then, it's not actually economical if the customers aren't willing to pay extra for the resources, which will be highly latent in a world that despises latency.
You end up with Sealand all over again, where the idea is better than the implementation ever can be.
Eventually, you have orbiting scrap, cluttering the sky, slowly decaying in orbit.
I could address these points... but it kind of feels like you mainly want to establish the idea that "this is a really bad idea", which I agree is true right now and for the reasonably foreseeable future.
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Because a LOT of people are missing the point:
No, Elon Musk is NOT serious about putting a million data centres into orbit. It can't work: laws of physics say "nope".
But SpaceX is expected to go public this year.
Elon is talking up his company's future prospects in front of gullible investors because he needs a growth narrative beyond Starlink, which is already priced in. Something to justify the Starship proram beyond NASA's lunar ambitions.
So it's salesman's bullshit, lies for fools.
@cstross bla bla bla bla bla
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@ApostateEnglishman @jackwilliambell @cstross @tbortels
There's also the option of external devices which communicate directly with the brain, no hole in the head required.@HighlandLawyer @ApostateEnglishman @cstross @tbortels
Then the rules still apply. If it can change my brain state? I will have a difficult time trusting it. In truth? I sometimes distrust my own senses.
Human perceptions are imperfect and brain-mediated. Ever look at anything and simply not see some detail on it until it's pointed out for you? Ever hallucinate? Not smell a stink because you got used to it?
We get ALL information via lofi, low-trust channels. We cannot trust our lying eyes.
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@HighlandLawyer @ApostateEnglishman @cstross @tbortels
Then the rules still apply. If it can change my brain state? I will have a difficult time trusting it. In truth? I sometimes distrust my own senses.
Human perceptions are imperfect and brain-mediated. Ever look at anything and simply not see some detail on it until it's pointed out for you? Ever hallucinate? Not smell a stink because you got used to it?
We get ALL information via lofi, low-trust channels. We cannot trust our lying eyes.
@HighlandLawyer @ApostateEnglishman @cstross @tbortels
This one fact deeply underscores the importance of the 'Scientific Method' in understanding the universe. Science isn't perfect either, but it has trust-protocols.
Your senses don't.
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My rules for brain implants:
1. I will not alpha or beta test; in fact I think waiting for v3.25 is probably for the best
2. Must run Open Source software *not using any dependencies requiring a Package Manager*
3. Must not require *any* kind of 'cloud' to operate, must work fine without a network connection, and must be locally configurable
4. You know what? Even if it meets rules 1 to 3 I'm still not too hot on the idea…
@jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman
My one brain implant rule: all software must be in #Debian `stable`/`main`. This means:
a) it, and all dependencies, are DFSG-compatible https://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines
b) and have 3 years support by the Debian security team https://www.debian.org/security/faq#lifespan
c) and maybe 5 years https://www.debian.org/lts/
d) and passed the freeze process with no RC-bugs that would have kept them out of the release https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/ftparchives#frozen
…and also still not too hot on the idea 🙂
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NOTE: Those rules used to be much simpler. More along the lines of, "Not anything using Microsoft or Oracle software."
ETA: Insert joke about, "Blue Screen of Death."
@jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman could be worse.
Clippy.
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Because a LOT of people are missing the point:
No, Elon Musk is NOT serious about putting a million data centres into orbit. It can't work: laws of physics say "nope".
But SpaceX is expected to go public this year.
Elon is talking up his company's future prospects in front of gullible investors because he needs a growth narrative beyond Starlink, which is already priced in. Something to justify the Starship proram beyond NASA's lunar ambitions.
So it's salesman's bullshit, lies for fools.
@cstross Tesla is tanking. Starlink is becoming the DSL of the wireless internet (greedily oversubscribed bandwidth slowing it ... ....d o w n ...). Musk needs another source of suckers...er...investors... to fuel his rightwing apartheid ego.
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Because a LOT of people are missing the point:
No, Elon Musk is NOT serious about putting a million data centres into orbit. It can't work: laws of physics say "nope".
But SpaceX is expected to go public this year.
Elon is talking up his company's future prospects in front of gullible investors because he needs a growth narrative beyond Starlink, which is already priced in. Something to justify the Starship proram beyond NASA's lunar ambitions.
So it's salesman's bullshit, lies for fools.
Elon has always excelled at selling impossible future stuff to the rubes. When his businesses are evaluated based on performance like Tesla is now, it's disastrous. That's also why he is pivoting to robot cars.
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Because a LOT of people are missing the point:
No, Elon Musk is NOT serious about putting a million data centres into orbit. It can't work: laws of physics say "nope".
But SpaceX is expected to go public this year.
Elon is talking up his company's future prospects in front of gullible investors because he needs a growth narrative beyond Starlink, which is already priced in. Something to justify the Starship proram beyond NASA's lunar ambitions.
So it's salesman's bullshit, lies for fools.
@cstross
Elon apparently loves breaking laws. -
@HighlandLawyer @ApostateEnglishman @cstross @tbortels
Then the rules still apply. If it can change my brain state? I will have a difficult time trusting it. In truth? I sometimes distrust my own senses.
Human perceptions are imperfect and brain-mediated. Ever look at anything and simply not see some detail on it until it's pointed out for you? Ever hallucinate? Not smell a stink because you got used to it?
We get ALL information via lofi, low-trust channels. We cannot trust our lying eyes.
@ApostateEnglishman @cstross @tbortels @jackwilliambell
Decarte's demon -
My rules for brain implants:
1. I will not alpha or beta test; in fact I think waiting for v3.25 is probably for the best
2. Must run Open Source software *not using any dependencies requiring a Package Manager*
3. Must not require *any* kind of 'cloud' to operate, must work fine without a network connection, and must be locally configurable
4. You know what? Even if it meets rules 1 to 3 I'm still not too hot on the idea…
@jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com @cstross@wandering.shop @ApostateEnglishman@mastodon.world
not using any dependencies requiring a Package Manager
Nothing like using obsolete vendored libraries.
Somewhat joke aside, language-centric dependency/"package" managers are an antipattern that should never have been adopted.
Dependency/build managers (i.e. tools that know how to build a given language provided the dependencies are available on the system, obtaining them being out of scope of its duties) are fine (insofar as dead languages are, anyway).
And I'm NOT having one of those brain implants, no way!)
It's proprietary malware, it's a good idea to reject it.
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@jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman could be worse.
Clippy.
@Tubemeister @jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman
One thing we've learned from AI is that Clippy was not the worst thing humans could invent. -
My rules for brain implants:
1. I will not alpha or beta test; in fact I think waiting for v3.25 is probably for the best
2. Must run Open Source software *not using any dependencies requiring a Package Manager*
3. Must not require *any* kind of 'cloud' to operate, must work fine without a network connection, and must be locally configurable
4. You know what? Even if it meets rules 1 to 3 I'm still not too hot on the idea…
@cstross @ApostateEnglishman @jackwilliambell ok, but hear me out... I'd rather a package manager than `curl|bash` for my brain implants...
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@woozle
It‘s not just that it‘s a bad idea, it‘s a solution looking for a problem to solve.The only advantage in having anything beyond basic communications satellites and telescopes in orbit is solar power.
That‘s it. Everything else increases complexity while gaining very little.
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@simonperry eppure
nel novembre 2022... In Estremadura la siccità continua a colpire duramente il territorio. Lo scorso mese di luglio è stato il più caldo dal 1961...
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@quinta nonna diceva: il bel silenzio non fu mai scritto.
Era meglio se taceva.
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@OrionBelt perche' gli piace circondarsi di gente nota
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Su (1) è difficile dire alcunché, poiché la nostra capacità di prevedere l'evoluzione della società su tempi secolari è praticamente nulla, ma la (2) apre prospettive interessanti, visto quanto potrebbe essere distruttivo per la diffusione della conoscenza un collasso energetivo, vista la massiccia, apparentemente inarrestabile, virtualizzazione degli archivi del sapere, che sta raggiungendo progressivamente anche angoli del mondo finora rimasti piú “analogici”.
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@Linkshaender In Padova, by the end of March, you’ll find the real early spring 😉
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Si prefigurano almeno due possibilità, su un tempo piú lungo: (1) la società continuerà ad evolvere senza soluzione di continuità, o (2) il soggetto immortale potrebbe assistere a quello che sarà un collasso totale, tra catastrofi climatiche, prospettive belliche e [trappole malthusiane](https://wok.oblomov.eu/tecnologia/nuclear-will-not-save-us-2/#nostabilization) (ci sono modelli che prevedono addirittura questi collassi nei prossimi decenni, non in prospettive a lungo termine).
