(04-02-2009 03:08 PM)DrTorch Wrote:  I know something about DARPA, and those are not the results I would want in order to move forward...certainly not in the commercial realm. ARPA-Net and GPS are the exceptions, not the rule.

A few transformative exceptions would be a good thing. Most of the research money that is spent now is essentially flushed; it's the exceptions that make it worthwhile, and a high-pressure, high-demand system such as in the advanced research projects agencies stands a better chance of moving things along that the standard leisurely pace that many innovations take under the current system.

(04-02-2009 03:18 PM)Wildebeest Wrote:  

(04-02-2009 03:08 PM)DrTorch Wrote:  I know something about DARPA, and those are not the results I would want in order to move forward...certainly not in the commercial realm. ARPA-Net and GPS are the exceptions, not the rule.

A few transformative exceptions would be a good thing. Most of the research money that is spent now is essentially flushed;

If they use existing DOE funds, and set aside an ARPA-E portion, that could be interesting. Might even get the competitive juices of the current labs raging.

But if this is just another plus-up to the DOE budget, it won't go anywhere.

Also there are too many evolutionary steps available, but not being pursued.

Defense acquisition and the commercial markets are different, and this approach does little to consider those differences.

(04-02-2009 02:38 AM)RobertN Wrote:  

(04-01-2009 07:47 AM)DrTorch Wrote:  

(04-01-2009 02:45 AM)RobertN Wrote:  No thanks. I don't want to go back. I want this country to move forward into the modern world not back into the dark ages.

Like having strong luddite labor unions cripple the country's commerce?

Or maybe sharia?

How about we sacrifice old people and infants (Molech/convenience what's the difference?)

Robert, be careful what you wish for, when things regress as you hope, the utilitarians who run the place won't have much room for the lazy or unintelligent. You're in a scary place in both counts.

No, like giving the fat cats all the money and everone else scraps. Not to mention, we are now going back to actually using science to help solve problems instead of running away from science. Those are just a couple of the many.

Show me the science that proves:

1. Global warming is caused by man and is not a cyclical event.

or

2. Homosexuality is normal behaviour and not abnormal.

or

3. Using the science of economics show me how you can tax and spend your way out of a depression and into prosperity.

(04-02-2009 02:15 PM)DrTorch Wrote:  No comment on that big dip that started in 1993?

Just going from the second graph, it looks to me that everything is constant except for DoD spending, which decreases fairly dramatically. That's fairly consistent with the timeframe and certain real-world events that influenced that trend.