i can see the VC pitch now... "servers on the moon. that's it. servers on the moon." sure why not. want your data archived in a safe place free from natural disasters and terrorism? what could be safer than the moon?
well, apparently, that's what la jolla based transorbital has in their business plan, and they are licensed by the US Government to do commerce on the moon. ( for now, let's let it slip how presumptious of the us government to think the US owns the moon.)
also apparently, high bandwidth laser communication exists that will allow transorbital to put servers on the moon over successive flights and communicate with these servers wirelessly (duh) from earth. pretty cool.
for now, you can pay them to put a time capsule on the moon, as well as text messages of your thoughts and dreams so that they "live forever". ah, selling eternity. all a little too vanilla sky for me.
Funny, that thing about the U.S. acting like it owns the moon. I watched the superbowl in a big hotel ball room in Copenhagen (from 12:30 to 4:30 a.m.). The room was full of an odd mix of a couple hundred Europeans and North Americans, eating the Dane's wild guess about American football food and cheering loudly every time the big screen showed a cheerleader.
Anyway, at halftime there was that very surreal thing of a big moon in the middle of the field, with a guy in a space suit orbiting around it on a little platform, and a big U.S. flag sticking out. I definitely heard a mix of gasps, chuckles, and murmers in the room. Jesus. It's embarrasing. Makes me wish I was Canadian.
Posted by: Marc at February 4, 2004 03:57 AM
that's hilarious.
Posted by: steve at February 4, 2004 04:25 PM
Join the Linux community. Linuxwaves.net
Posted by: Marmaduke at July 5, 2004 06:45 PM