When me is me but it's not really me.

Question

I am one of those idiots that believe that if it can be thought by humans it will eventually happen. Leonardo de Vinci did too, he even thought that men could walk on the moon jaja.

The fiction: link text The reality: link text

How long before we are given the opportunity to turn into larva or to perfection? What would be your choice?

Leonardo da Vinci is my all-time great hero. - ian-hill, May 27, 2010

oh yes, mine too - 00494d19, May 28, 2010

Answer 1

Donvon asked: What did a computer look like when you were 10 years old.

I was ten years old in 1964. It just so happened that the IBM 360 was born that year. Of course, there were no PCs

I started my IT career on that machine - after learning on its predecessor the 1401. Even a big one had only 16k of memory. - ian-hill, May 27, 2010

Boy does that bring back memories ! :) - ian-hill, May 27, 2010

I remember my dad bringing home punch cards for a computer consisting of several cabinets. - 00a52084, May 27, 2010

We used punch cards when I was in college. "dumb" terminals just appeared. Calcluators were rare. We still took classes on using a slide rule. - 0074b507, May 28, 2010

What was the processing speed of this computer? - 00a52084, May 28, 2010

S L O W DonVon - sometimes we started a simple application that ran for a whole day. - ian-hill, May 28, 2010

A 27Mb disk drive was the size of a washing machine. - ian-hill, May 28, 2010

Your mobile phone has more processing power - much more. - ian-hill, May 28, 2010

Answer 2

How many of you have read old Sci-Fi books or watched the movies where the characters were using technology that had not been invented when they story was written.

Jules Verne, wrote about many things one being a light without a flame in Journey to the Centre of the Earth. This was over 30 years before the flashlight was invented.

Gene Roddenberry had written about the small hand held communicator over 25 years before we had cell phones that fit in our pockets.

Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines: The machines that rose were autonomous vehicles. The US government has a contest for the development of autonomous vehicles. Government contractors have working autonomous aircraft as combat prototypes. How far will they go with AI and how long will it take?

DARPA Grand Challenge

DARPA Grand Challenge.youtube

Boeing X-45

X-45A aircraft prototype

I thiink it is written Sci-Fi and pronounced sy-fi - ian-hill, May 27, 2010

Thank you for the correction. - 00a52084, May 27, 2010

I love it when they call it "defense" when indeed it's build to attack. - sfrenchie, May 28, 2010

It works on the defensive principle “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight” - 00a52084, May 28, 2010

Answer 3

I watched Into the Universe with Steven Hawking last week on Discovery (well, it was on DVR, I'm not sure when it actually came on). The discussions of time travel, future technology requirements for traveling light years away, and such could really get ones imagination going.

What did a computer look like when you were 10 years old. - 00a52084, May 27, 2010

Answer 4

Too bad I lost the link. I read a couple weeks ago that some scientists have combined some kind of carbon molecules with cotton fiber. Big deal hey? Well that particular combinaison makes a regular Tshirt bullet proof. If only they could use 1/10th of their intelligence for the good of all instead of working on our destruction. DARPA is impressive however I am even more impressed by the contest where a vehicule has to run 100 miles minimum on 1 gallon of gasoline.

I liked the American Solar Challenge. This year 1100 mile race from Tulsa to Chicago. - 00a52084, May 28, 2010

Answer 5

Hi sfrenchie,

Too bad I lost the link. I read a couple weeks ago that some scientists have combined some kind of carbon molecules with cotton fiber.

Is this the missing link?

Sure is. amazing isn't it? - sfrenchie, May 29, 2010

Answer 6

Talking about memory lane is great but tends to bore the hearers. However,

1) When the IBM 360 was announced, I'd already been working in computers for 6 years.

2) Try this borrowed exerpt from Wiki: On January 13, 1946 [2] , Gould changed Dick Tracy forever with the introduction of the 2-Way Wrist Radio, having drawn inspiration from a visit to inventor Al Gross. Where was Gene Roddenberry then?

3) The first time I saw a 3D movie was in 1952. My head ached for an age.

Enough.

Answer 7

Jack-OBrien posted

I watched Into the Universe with Steven Hawking last week on Discovery

Thanks Jack, I just watched this documentary online and found it to be quite interesting.

For those interested, the show can be watched at Free Documentaries Online.

Into The Universe with Stephen Hawking – Time Travel