New York Times on the Web Forums Science

Missile Defense

Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI all over again?

rshowalter - 12:46pm May 26, 2001 EST (#4238 of 4466)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

1996-1997: rshowalter 4/5/01 9:58am .... reads: Storage is getting very, very cheap: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/05/technology/05STORR.html In the Storage Race, Will Consumers Win? by MICHEL MARRIOTT rshowalter 4/1/01 1:45pm

" The modern news genre has its origins in a sweeping but little-understood revolution at the turn of the (20th century) by figures like Joseph Pulitzer, Ivy Ledbetter Lee, and Woodrow Wilson, who helped to gut the liberal traditions of American democracy and replace them with a system of constitutional oligarchy based on news, the public-relations oriented corporation, and the activist presidency."

That revolution was based on usages that relied on limitations of human memory, and limitations on the human ability to handle complexity. With the internet, those limits can be radically extended, and the techniqus of the "culture of lying" can be placed under new, powerful, and entertaining pressure, in the public interest.

Not only would this change be in the public interest. It would be entertaining ! And with storage as cheap as it is now, manageable.

major social problems, and reasonable hopes for their solution, depend on how the press functions. rshowalter 4/1/01 8:14am

If mainstream journalism powers changed their procedures and policies only just a little, the penalties for bad faith an lying by politicians and "political operatives" might increase radically, quickly, entertainingly, and at low cost. rshowalter 4/1/01 12:56pm

The technology of the internet is making the techniques of opinion manipulation developed before WWI (and highly evolved since) much more vulnerable than they used to be, because many more words are available; content can be available, subject to very extensive crossreferencing over very extended times; and there is therefore much more possibility of getting issues considered to a level that permits closure.

rshowalter 4/1/01 12:54pm .... rshowalter 4/1/01 12:56pm
rshowalter 4/1/01 12:59pm ..... rshowalter 4/1/01 1:07pm
rshowalter 4/1/01 1:09pm

What if subjects of stories were routinely notified, and denials or discussions were made available on the internet - archived as the articles were.

I think the change would be practical, would act to increase the power and reliability of journalism, and could be self supporting, or even a money-maker. rshowalter 4/2/01 8:39am

Detailed discussion on nuclear weapons matters, involving journalists and others, might be a good place to perfect all the technology this would need.

IF I HAD A NYT OFFICER, WITH A NAME, AND CREDIBLE AUTHORITY, WHO WOULD TALK OCCASIONALLY ON THE PHONE -- SAYING --

"WE'RE INTERESTED IN PURSUING THIS"

-- I THINK I COULD MAKE SOME HEADWAY GETTING A PILOT FOR DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS FUNDED, EVEN WITH ALL MY PERSONAL CREDIBILITY PROBLEMS, FAIRLY QUICKLY. I'D SURE LIKE TO GIVE IT A TRY.

rshowalter - 01:24pm May 26, 2001 EST (#4239 of 4466)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

applez101 5/26/01 12:17pm James Meek's SCIENCE WORLD IN REVOLT AT POWER OF JOURNAL OWNERS http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,496855,00.html touches a major issue -- and relates to inflexibilities and costs larger than people are likely to understand.

I have to go to a meeting, and leave within half an hour . I'll try to get back later on this.

On the issue of "archiving costs spiraling out of control" -- http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?7@174.9lEHaftzpkD^493899@.f0ce57b/4536 I'm not sure I understand. These days, a 60 gigabyte hard disk, installed in a PC, goes for less than 225$. CPU loading attributable to a low traffic area is moderate, too.

How many gigs is the whole NYT Forum corpus so far? How fast, on the basis of reasonable projections, is it likely to grow? What are machine charges and programming charges that are actually there?

If archiving means - "archiving without editing" -- I don't see how costs can "spiral out of control."

In my own case -- there was a "Mysteries of the Universe" archive set up - I only had access to a small part of it -- but it cost somebody time and trouble to deny me that part, on no notice.

rshowalter - 01:30pm May 26, 2001 EST (#4240 of 4466)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

At a time when, I suspect, this one thread accounts for a major fraction of the real communication between the US and Russian governments on issues of nuclear weapons. And when, I believe, this thread has clarified issues that have not been clear before.

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New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense