Boeing sounds a little defensive.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
Computer Programming Are Hard
An email I just got from Amazon:
I hope this e-mail finds you well. Thank you very much for patiently waiting for my answer.
I’ve been checking regularly with our technical team on their progress with resolving the age range issue. It appears the issue is more complex than expected and we’re still working hard to get a solution for you.
I wanted to send you a quick e-mail to let you know the findings so far:
Since Amazon uses certain characters to classify books according to their content, it tends to be quite limited when it comes to character recognition. In the case of “Safe Is Not An Option,” although our platform gave you the chance to set the age ranges as 8 (min) and 18+ (max), the website is not displaying the (+) symbol because this character is generally used to determine when a book is of mature content or not. Since the book is targeted to people that are 8 and up, the system is finding a contradiction due the title being categorized as children’s, while being also set as an adult book because of the ’18+’.
We are aware indeed that what you wished to communicate is that the book was written for all people starting at age 8; even so, due to legal and international marketplace matters, the store has determined that the ‘+’ sign next to the ’18’ number makes reference exclusively to adult or erotica content, which results in a classification restriction. Due to this, the website removes the ‘+’ sign automatically and replaces it with the single ’18’ number to make your book fall within the appropriate ranges for children and adults.
We are still working to find a way to have the ‘8 – 18+’ displayed on your book’s page. Still, if by any chance the platform was unable to digest that entry, what I’d recommend to do is leave the age ranges as they are, and within the book’s description, you may clarify that the book is indeed intended for people aged 8 and up. I’ll let you know how everything goes!
I hope this information helps explain clearly the situation; I’m very sorry for how long this is taking, but I greatly appreciate your understanding!
I’ll be in touch again with an update as soon as possible.
Thanks again for your patience.
I’m kind of amazed that I’m the first person in Kindle history who wanted to show that a book could be enjoyed by children of all ages.
[Afternoon update]
I’ve at least updated the book description to say that it’s suitable for all ages.
Musk Versus Bezos
Here’s the story on today’s announcement that ULA is teaming with Blue Origin to develop an RD-180 replacement. Thoughts anon.
[Update a while later, after the presser]
Clearly Jeff Bezos has declared war on Elon Musk. And ULA is showing how desperate it’s become. That’s what disruption looks like. More later, but I have to review our reply to Mann’s latest court filing. Speaking of which, I suspect that he regrets starting this hash tag.
[Update a while later]
Over on Twitter, Trampoline Rocket is speculating that this is vaporware, like Amazon’s drones. He makes a pretty good case.
[Update a while later]
[Another update]
Aaaaaand, Aaron Mehta’s take.
Commercial Crew
There’s going to be an announcement at 4PM on NASA TV. Jay Barbree says it’s going to be Boeing and SpaceX. Which if true means two capsules, no wings.
[Update a while later]
Here‘s another similar report from the WaPo.
[Update a few minutes later]
Joel Achenbach has more, including the (bizarre, to me) part of the story about ULA getting a new engine for the Atlas from Blue Origin.
[Late-morning update]
OK, now James Dean is reporting that there will be two full awards, not “leader-follower.” I wonder if they have the money for that with a CR?
[Update just before noon]
Alex Brown has a story at National Journal. Annoyingly, everyone is calling them space “taxis” when, at least for NASA, it’s more of a rental-car model (if you insisted on a new car every time you rented). Also, everyone’s regurgitating NASA’s 2017 date. I’d at least note that SpaceX could possibly fly as early as next year, unless there is something else on the critical path than abort tests. Final point:
Boeing’s program is reported to be further along in its development goals.
I think that Pasztor story is BS. How can Boeing be in the lead when they haven’t even flown anything? I love this:
But people familiar with the process said Boeing, with its greater experience as a NASA contractor, appears to have become the favorite partly because it has met earlier development goals in the same program on time and on budget.
Everyone hits their budget. It’s a fixed-price contract. And who cares if they’re hitting program goals, if those are trivial goals (like design reviews)? How anyone can think that a paper vehicle is ahead of one that’s going to have its abort tests in the next few months?
[Update a few minutes before the announcement]
Here’s the link.
[Update after the announcement]
Well, no surprises, except amounts. Here’s Eric Berger’s take.
Let's stop pretending there's some deep journalistic mystery here. Boeing gets more money because they cost more, and everyone knows why.
— Rand Simberg (@Rand_Simberg) September 16, 2014
[Update a while later]
Here is Jeff Foust’s story.
The Asteroid Mining Act
Professor Reynolds supports it.
Don’t Go To Mars
David Attenborough takes a novel and courageous stand. Let’s “sort out life on earth, first.” [Paywall]
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone make that argument before, except a lot of people, for decades.
“America? Let’s sort out life in Europe first.”
“Europe and Asia? Let’s sort out life in Africa, first.”
It’s obviously a mindless prescription for never settling new territory.
Giant Solid Rockets
Yes, let’s keep using them:
In this case, the DM series motors passed all of ATK’s and NASA’s inspections and test firings. It wasn’t until ATK was proceeding toward QM series motor segments that NASA requested more thorough inspections of the QM series motors to determine whether the switch to non-asbestos containing insulation liners was having a previously unseen effect.
“The beauty of the solid rocket motor inspection system is that defects will be found and solutions reached to ensure the motors delivered will perform with the highest reliability,” said Reed. “This is a requirement to ensure SLS is a safe and reliable system for human exploration of deep space.”
Yeah. Right.
[Update a few minutes later]
So we have giant SRBs with persistent unpredictable dangerous defects+massive political pressure to get to launch. What could go wrong? #SLS
— Trampoline Rocket (@TrampolinRocket) September 15, 2014
Artificial Spleens And Genetic Surgery
This seems like a big breakthrough, not just for people without spleens, but for iatrogenic disease in hospitals:
To test the device, Ingber and his team infected rats with either E. coli or Staphylococcus aureus and filtered blood from some of the animals through the biospleen. Five hours after infection, 89% of the rats whose blood had been filtered were still alive, compared with only 14% of those that were infected but not treated. The researchers found that the device had removed more than 90% of the bacteria from the rats’ blood. The rats whose blood had been filtered also had less inflammation in their lungs and other organs, suggesting they would be less prone to sepsis.
The researchers then tested whether the biospleen could handle the volume of blood in an average adult human — about 5 litres. They ran human blood containing a mixture of bacteria and fungi through the biospleen at a rate of 1 litre per hour, and found that the device removed most of the pathogens within five hours.
That degree of efficacy is probably enough to control an infection, Ingber says. Once the biospleen has removed most pathogens from the blood, antibiotics and the immune system can fight off remaining traces of infection — such as pathogens lodged in the organs, he says.To test the device, Ingber and his team infected rats with either E. coli or Staphylococcus aureus and filtered blood from some of the animals through the biospleen. Five hours after infection, 89% of the rats whose blood had been filtered were still alive, compared with only 14% of those that were infected but not treated. The researchers found that the device had removed more than 90% of the bacteria from the rats’ blood. The rats whose blood had been filtered also had less inflammation in their lungs and other organs, suggesting they would be less prone to sepsis.
The researchers then tested whether the biospleen could handle the volume of blood in an average adult human — about 5 litres. They ran human blood containing a mixture of bacteria and fungi through the biospleen at a rate of 1 litre per hour, and found that the device removed most of the pathogens within five hours.
That degree of efficacy is probably enough to control an infection, Ingber says. Once the biospleen has removed most pathogens from the blood, antibiotics and the immune system can fight off remaining traces of infection — such as pathogens lodged in the organs, he says.
Note that it could also be effective against ebola.
On another front, eliminating bad proteins using RNA interference.
Faster, please.
Dragon Abort Tests
One is planned for November, and the other for January. I don’t know why NASA keeps talking about 2017, except to try to get more money out of Congress. Of course, that only gives them one provider, and they’d still have to accelerate Boeing and/or Sierra Nevada.
SpaceX Update
A report on new launch sales, Brownsville and new F-9R test flights, from Joseph Abbot in Waco. Sounds like they’ll renewing test flights in a couple months. As I said at the time, it shouldn’t be a big deal to pull a first stage off the assembly line after it’s had three engines installed, and modify it.