What's wrong with public-key encryption a la PGP? Assuming your keys use A LOT of bits I don't think a brute force attack will succeed in any reasonable time. You should be able to trust a public key if it has been signed by several trustworthy people. (I'm sure crypto fans could come up with a list of "trustworthy key signers".)
PGP (and GPG) is open software. It's all pretty simple compared to the algorithms developed just for crypto. Isn't (open, simple, tough-to-crack) the sort of thing you want?
every time one of his theories gets shot down, he just moves on to the next one
So ... when faced with facts that contradict his theories, he modifies his theories so as to be consistent with the facts. Isn't this what, you know, a real scientist should do?
(1) Create low-cost Italian tourism agency
(2) Get pill approved in Italy while U.S. bureaucrats fight over who has jurisdiction to approve
(3) Profit!
150 years ago, i.e., back when I was born, we were worried about that finite resource called whale oil. It was indispensable for lighting lamps. But somehow we managed to find an alternate.
So yes, if you think in terms of say petroleum then we're facing some unpleasant limits. But there are many alternatives including renewable resources that aren't so finite.
Silver, rhodium and a number of rare earths are more problematic.
I follow him until he talks about electrons transiting from the 5d to the 6s orbital, absorbing some blue light thereby resulting in me seeing the color gold. So far, so good.
But ... isn't there a limited number of times this could be done? There's only so many electrons to absorb photons, then all the 6s orbitals are full, no more blue absorption.
Wouldn't an electron randomly but eventually drop from the 6s to 5d, emitting a blue photon in the process? Meaning net-net I wouldn't see any color?
The only other colored metal is copper, far lighter, where these arguments wouldn't apply. Same principle at lower orbitals, or entirely different?
Long about 2005-6 one of my investment newsletters urged those who could to "sell your house and rent", on the theory the median home price could not indefinitely remain out of reach of the median home buyer.
A bit early, but still correct. I'm not sure the final chapter has been written, even as the DOW bumps up near 11,000.
The post I'm responding to is not criticizing the bailout, it is criticizing Goldman for enforcing it's contracts with AIG.
I'm OK with Goldman "enforcing its contracts". The problem is that AIG didn't then declare bankruptcy, which would have resulted in AIG (OK, a bankruptcy judge) later paying Goldman a fraction of the contract values. Instead somehow, for reasons I don't see, the Fed poured tons of money into AIG which AIG then immediately used to pay Goldman 100 per cent of the contract values. After which AIG went belly-up, leaving the American taxpayer to foot the bill. Doesn't this seem a little smelly?
I use Python a lot and have never gotten tired of installing libraries, except when upgrading Python versions.
So what I really need is a version-upgrade tool that asks what I want to upgrade to, and looks around Sourceforge to ensure all my modules have version-appropriate editions, and then maybe helps me do the upgrade.
If you haven't seen it, I recommend Steve's movie L.A. Story. It's a comedy, a bit quirky but genuinely funny. Non-spoiler: early in the movie look for Steve driving on a freeway, passing by a guy on the side of the road who's trying to read a freeway sign.
Maybe there are enough people to make a subscription model worth doing, but I doubt that alone will be enough. I think they also need a transaction model for those of us willing to pay that dime or so for an a la carte article recommended by HN.
Of course that assumes a feasible micropayment infrastructure, which nobody on earth seems able to produce. Odd, that.
I suspect here in the USA we'll have many new entrepreneurs created by the layoffs that will come when marginal companies find they can no longer afford good - but not great - employees.
OK, so at 22 miles the balloon bursts because the helium expands as air pressure drops. I get that.
Now suppose the guy sends up TWO balloons, one filled and the other only half-filled. At or near the 22 mile mark the first balloon bursts. Wouldn't the second balloon still be intact, and provide further lift for an even higher flight?
I'm not sure I agree that was a mistake. Unexpected, maybe. Only real problem is that Shakespeare, master of pithy phrases, missed a golden opportunity to coin the term "You dirty rat!".
PGP (and GPG) is open software. It's all pretty simple compared to the algorithms developed just for crypto. Isn't (open, simple, tough-to-crack) the sort of thing you want?