Comment on Mars Helicopter Snaps color image – Metric, Documenting, Teaching, Sharing
You are very thoughtful. Yes, I agree about the usual human practices and methods. Every single one of the tens of thousands of groups I studied in detail on the Internet ended up failing or limiting themselves because of the greed of a few people, or policies that benefited only their group. It is particularly sad when a vibrant company starts on the path of ignoring the needs of their customers. Or a country only benefits a few. I probably won’t live to see if the human species will learn that working together universally is the demonstrably best strategy. I have a lot to do, so I probably won’t come back here for a while. I have not made any videos lately. I ought to make one on Internet best practices and some of what I have learned in the last 23 years of the Internet Foundation. If YouTube had private meeting rooms, we could have chatted there. But then no one else would see and perhaps want to join. And I feel bad not working on an Internet project I call “Solar System Colonization”. I am working on Github and Wikipedia and global sensor networks and much more. Nice talking with you. These notes will just get buried in the chat. YouTube needs to learn how to nurture and encourage and grow sustainable communities.
The Internet standard is metric, but it is easy and courteous to offer user-chosen units. I studied math, chemistry, science and engineering in American universities and hated that many of the classes are still using American units – forcing this wasted time carrying many units and relations. Put it in metric and allow users (including people who have not learned metric) to enter and work in their own – but global and Internet sharing in metric.
The world needs data and models that hundreds of millions can use and contribute to, not things on paper that only people with massive memories and endless time can read and use. I checked, there is not a paper on the planet that cannot be put in a standard form, in metric units, and where many thousands or millions can use it easily, and all parts traceable and verifiable. Yes, it is hard, but not anywhere near as hard as having to carry tens of thousands of copies of things in different units and languages and levels of skill.
You covered a lot of ground that is slightly off topic from this poor video chat area. If you watch the “satisfying” videos on YouTube, you will see people in all kinds of work. People can become masters and mentor many learners of all ages. Or they can find people who are good at welding, milling, carving, sculpture, painting, carpentry, roofing – all the practical and artist trades. Before I started the Internet Foundation I spent ten years and build a website for sculptors (my hobby the first 65 years of my life) and found every conceivable kind of 3D artist – and all the companies and services and patrons and clients they need to have a thriving global community and marketplace. It took rewriting hundreds of websites, since a good index site is no good, if you send visitors to missing or terrible sites. That old “clean up your upstream processes” that transformed Japan, can be extended to “clean up your downstream processes and help all your users”. And, “train the coming generations”, do it well and they will bless you. At least it would be nice.
@Far Rider Thanks for your notes. Most groups using the Internet only capture a millionth of the possible opportunities available. YouTube and Facebook seem big and to be making lots of money because people think a few billion people and a few tens of billions of dollars per year is a lot. But compared to what they could do, if they helped educate people or help them find jobs or create new products, services and companies – it is nothing. What will happen is sites will actually help people work together and these early attempts to make money from advertising clicks and fads will see archaic by comparison.
In the United States the cost of a year of college is over $25,000 per year. So $100k is not uncommon. And any advanced degrees cost more. People do it because a 4 year degree pays back in lifetime earnings, several times that amount. At least that used to be true. In the world there are probably a hundred million children to educate. And say you could get it cheap at $10,000 per year. That is a trillion dollars. Education and training is a huge market, far larger than “lets share video with no real purpose”.
But if you take time to randomly sample YouTube, you will find that many groups use it for real purposes – they teach, share research, explain products and services. The only missing piece is YouTube’s part. They apparently have no clue what people want or are actually doing. Same with most of the websites on the internet. It is not just education, it is running cities and communities, running countries and industries.
My estimate of the increase in global economy to colonize the solar system over the coming century is at least four time the current global economy per year – over the next decade. We need to expand the global economy four times because it takes that many resources, trained people and new ideas and industries to grow outward. Now the human species can just not do it, and stay the way we are. If you don’t try, you don’t grow. Every trillion dollars spent on space will be added to the economy. It is not a zero sum game on the earth, but expansion and growth.
Sorry, I don’t mean to write so much here. I spent the day going over the gravitational engineering advances that are related to the confirmation and data from gravitational detectors and devices and methods. I liken it to the expansion that came about after 1920 when nuclear energy, electronics, radio and most of our current technology exploded into new areas. I think GDP has grown about 25 times since 1920. Think of some countries with their current incomes, over a century growing 25 times. The global economy is about 100 Trillion, that is 2500 Trillion.
I am writing from memory. The right way is “do the numbers” – gather up all the data, the equations and experiences and put them into a model and check to see what it tells you. That is true for science and engineering with good reason. Look at pretty pictures, you get nothing except a momentary feeling and maybe a memory. Do the numbers and build things, explore and create new things, learn and create jobs, find new ways of serving people and helping others. These are positive contributions to the world.
Richard Collins, Director, The Internet Foundation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5vIjUBXnxg
Add a link to download the raw (lossless and well documented) image. A lossy picture or video of a picture is not science. “snapped”
I was hinting that if someone is going to the trouble to make a video that thousands or millions might watch, they have a responsibility to also teach, make finding more resources and details easy. The world has billions of people who need training and they should not all have to search and research for any random thing that someone posts. I am trying to write policies for the Internet as a whole. NASA is particularly bad. They “share” lossy formats or obscure formats, or dumbed down “education”.
It is not your or my responsibility to provide the documentation or links or background for this video author. But if someone is trying, I am happy to try to help. If someone is conscientious and really trying to teach and inform and help, I want them to have a “donate” or “support” or “thank you” button. Not just “like”.
If someone is good at gathering and sharing things, they should give trace material to find the authors and detail. It is courteous to the authors, and a benefit to anyone wanting more. It connects learners and explorers to relevant information and tools quickly and efficiently.
Now, I could just look at pretty eye candy. But Mars seems rather urgent, so I want to know more. My kids or grandkids might want to live there, and I want the whole planet to help make it safe and effective, a good quality of life. A video that is only pretty pictures then pales and irritates.
Richard Collins, Director, The Internet Foundation
