Sea Launch Rocket Blows up During Satellite Launch

Oops.

I wonder if they did a software upgrade immediately prior to the launch?

Houston... we have a proble..........................................!!

Sure they did an upgrade. To Vista.

-e

My guess is that the payload was so topheavy after the upgrade that the rocket simply fell over.

Hi e,

I bet the guy that was either on holidays or away sick at the time gets blamed!

Hi Masu,

Speaking of Vista, is it true that Vista is still horribly overpriced in Australia?

Blame it on the Shell/Microsoft kabal that insists all trucks carrying Vista run on Premium.

Sounds like a good case for Linux. Not to worry.

(I still owe you a reply about your new 'scope. Will write soon. Promise!)

-e

Hi Masu,

Maybe they were using Vista, and the rocket didn't have the necessary Microsoft certificates.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/5143/Vista-Big-Brother-is-alive-and-well

Greg

Could it be yet another failure of Microsoft's pushing the Trustworthy Computing Initiative (whilst trying to convince The Rest of Us this is a Good Thing)? Bet the curtained memory chip failed and cut the OS off from the hardware. Blowfish-448-encrypted data are a bit hard to untangle in real time, so the rocket had no choice but to sit on its fat ass and wait - vis a vis Vista, which rocks itself to sleep trying to get up.

Or maybe the OS simply thought all the noise was a DRM violation and shut down after failing to contact RIAA.

-e

-e,

I watched an interview of Bill Gates by Charlie Rose on PBS.

Bill comes off as a real likable guy, and I think what the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is doing is a generous and incredibly worthwhile thing. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him in that regard.

However, when he was talking about Microsoft, Vista, and his view of where the digital future future lies, and Microsoft's role in it, I wanted to retch. It was all about adding value to Windows,(read crushing or disabling any competition) and after discussing X-Box's current market penetration, in response to a question, he said he sees the entire digital home and media experience coming together and that the key will be the "set top box" (ie: X-Box progeny). When you look at all the efforts MS is doing, it all unmistakably points to control/ownership of the whole ball of wax.

Vista, incorporating seamless search engine technology, on top of Internet Explorer's, Window's Media Player, etc seamless integration which makes them all part of the operating system where you are by default whisked off to MS sites, with MS owned content (MS meanwhile gobbling up digital rights to all sorts of art, publications etc) make it ever so obvious what his "added consumer value" is all about.

The company needs to be broken up!

Greg

Btw, when you watch the video there's a hiccup in the feed just as the whole mess detonates. That's where they cut the monitor shot of "It's now safe to turn off your rocket."

-e

Youtube has a short video of the explosion.

In the video it looks like the exhaust melted some of the rocket supports because the rocket drops before the explosion.

T-Rex

"That line between Science and Sci-Fi is where I work..."

Did you see the piece that flies off just before the whole platform bursts into flames? That was Vista's EULA.

-e

and here was me thinking it was Bill Gates in the escape pod!

Bill Gates? Heck no! Gates is still home scratching his head wondering how to invest Warren Buffet's generous $37b donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation without making it obvious the monies will be invested in genetically reengineering the Human Race so that, in a few generations or so, everyone will actually like Vista - or its mega-turgid successor.

The other part - the fate of Buffet's $1.5b annual installments, which must be used the same year they're donated - was easy: use it to squash Linux/Open Source by whatever means possible.

Gates is a Busy Man. Not a Rocket Man, Elton.

-e

-e,

I don't see any chance of Foundation funds being diverted, and besides there is absolutely no need: MS is awash in cash.

As to squashing Linux, MS is already well on its way in attempting to do that, under the guise of an industry wide "standards" committee to ensure compatibility between Windows and Linux servers … and of course, servers control the network.

They did a somewhat similar thing with Java a few years back, and crippled it just enough to prevent it from ever reaching its full potential, and they did it to Netscape before that, but without any necessity for a committee. After all, a simple browser OS, with web apps and/or Java based apps could have rivaled Windows OS's and application suites.

Look for MS, under the guise of "security" and virus concerns to limit the compatibility of web hosted word processing and spreadsheet files with MS Office if these things gain any traction in the business world. I guarantee it.

Greg

"I don't see any chance of Foundation funds being diverted, and besides there is absolutely no need: MS is awash in cash."

Please read my post as a bit tongue-in-cheek sarcasm...

"As to squashing Linux, MS is already well on its way in attempting to do that, under the guise of an industry wide "standards" committee to ensure compatibility between Windows and Linux servers … and of course, servers control the network."

Yes, but if you look at Linux' server market share, they're gaining on M$. This must surely be causing some trepidation in Redmond.

-e

-e,

While I got the sarcasm, I wasn't sure that everyone would.

"Yes, but if you look at Linux' server market share, they're gaining on M$. This must surely be causing some trepidation in Redmond."

Exactly. I have no doubt, and that is why MS instigated the "compatibility committee"!

We seem to be of a like mind here: Both of us aware how much creativity has been stifled, and how many better apps have been crushed by the people (MS) who claim to be "innovators", and providers of "value". But I really think they are at the tipping point in uniting the Open Source and computer savvy communities (including hackers) in taking them on. They have to be stopped before we move backwards, away from what computers should and could be.

Greg