You can't do that, it's impossible!

I remember when I started working in IT about 20 something years ago. Some of us had just baught our first new amazing mobile phones, as they were just becomming affordable. But that is not the point! lol

We were flood cabling an office with serial cable, as we were running a particularly old and unfasionable system which liked talking to the terminals over RS232 a dedcated serial connection, 64 ports per server, 2 connections per terminal. (One for the inhouse booking system, one for the airlines automated booking system, I was working for a wholesale travel agency) It was a lot of work, as we were laying out for about 130 terminals over 2 floors. We had to make up 4 patch leads per terminal, each with 4 wires solderd (reb, blue, yellow, green, soldered on to 2, 3, 7 and 20 (Swap 2 and 3 at server end to get Tx Rx Lined up) The 9 pin type used 2, 3, 7, 9 with a loop from I think it was 5 to 6..... How the duck can I remember that after 20 years when I can't remember what I did yesterday!!???)

So anyway! Back to the story. I am chatting to my boss as we sureveyd the works so far. I pointed at the far end of the office at the wall above the exit, and said "One day we will just be mounting a radio system up there, and a reveiver in each terminal, and we won't need all these wires."

Now, Mr E was a mega intelligent fella. He was behind some of the UKs biggest online travel companies a few years later, designed some amazing stuff, wrote some amazing code. And as he was such a techie he was able to go into minute detail about how that was not possible because of lack of bandwidth on available frequencies, how we could not possibly compress the information further than we do already to acheive it.... Very plausible. This was in the days when the fastest internet connection your average user had was a 96Kbs modem. IF you were lucky!

So, What impossible stuff has happened in your lilfe?

Well, they said they couldn't put a man on the moon...

...oops, that was before my time.

Cool thread

My physics teacher in the 80's used to tell us that when we grew up our TVs would be flat as a pancake. He used to tell us how the cathode ray tubes would be replaced with a flat liquid display.

I don't know how much foresight he had or whether he just had his finger on the pulse of early LCD/plasma screen development...

Interesting though.

tupac said there will never be a black president

2econd

Originally posted by Misterlondon
tupac said there will never be a black president

2econd

So did Morrissey "Where the president is never black, femail or gay" he warbled weirdly.

reply to post by Shamatt


Explanation: S&F!

You need the tools to make the tools to make the tools to make the stuff we have now ok!

There is a big DIFFERENCE in what is just possible ... ie quantum spintronic processors ARE possible in this universe in this here and now [dont try that in 1st 20seconds of the big bang though ok ... not the time and place for it to be possible there ... different realms and thats quite obvious ... now that OL has clearly shown that (if its not obvious ... think about how to build a quantum spintronic computer out of plasma when you are also plasma and OL'll want to see your peer reviewed thesis on that as a result ok! enjoy!)]...

And what is possible to build right NOW!

After that its all cost benefit ratio's and bean counters and audits etc.

Personal Disclosure: For example when I think about survival in SHTF scenerio I contemplate it from the point of view as if in nude/naked and I have to bootstrap up from there with only what I was given at birth and by virtue of my own talents and education and ambition/drive/personality/attitude etc.

That means I need to know how to build a forge, smelt metals, build a house, make an axe, chop down tree's or whatever else is required from SCRATCH to do that.

I have played far too many civilization type games and now know that what one does early on DETERMINES certain outcomes way way way and far far far long down the historical road and I only have to point one towards the game of SPORE to show that!

I was chating with my fellow members in ATS chat about several things we can do right now with just off the shelf stuff with which we could either destroy or fix the world with. I clearly showed that I could BUILD Cthulhu and set it loose upon the world [takes lotsa $$$ and I don't need to do that..but I could ..its technically doable just like a whole slue of other weird and wonderfull potential futuristic creations for good or bad better or worse.].

Unfortunately we have a monohop society mentality and that basically translates into a GLOBAL addiction to oil and thats a DEAD END STREET!

Fake money also doesn't help us currently do anything of worth! We cant get rid of the con's in the pro and con's equations..but we can sure lessen them. Building on good foundations is a start and we are living on economic quiksand!

Edited to add: What impossible stuff has happened in my life time. The USA went from being scary cool to scary ugly

I'd never have thought it possible to use a cell phone to remote into computer system (w/ a GUI).

RDP, logmein, VNC, SSH, etc..

Actually most things that are done with a iPhone/Android these days I would never have imagined 10 years ago...

When Half life was the best game anyone could ever play, and that it would never be beaten.

Crysis 2

They say I couldn't be pro gamer...I am in the top 10 ranked players in the world. The game is halo.

I was lucky enough to be raised in the 50s at that time nothing was considered impossible.. I am still waiting for my atom powered car. Being raised then probably accounts for my optimism.

S&F for the memories you've brought back. Like you, I was working in IT over 20 years ago and I remember setting up a star topology network in our business offices. Remember pre-internet bulletin boards? Man, it's amazing how technology has advanced.

And since you've brought up the 'impossible' subject, I have a prediction on what is currently considered impossible, but will be standard in another 20 - 30 years. Antigravity. I truly believe that what Edward Leedskalnin did in Florida in the 1940's will lead to new technology in the area of antigravity.

Coral Castle

Hmmm,the space elevator,I always thought that would be about as close to impossible as you can get,but with the development of "graphene"nano materials,maybe it will be possible one day soon.

World peace on the other hand-we still can't make that possible.

At school (20 years ago) I was the 2nd top student for Computer Studies in my year. This was with no study or paying attention in class - the vast majority of what teachers said I knew already as my dad bought me my first computer when I was 6 (Commodore 16) and by 12 I was obsessed with hacking and phreaking and read all I could on the topics, and subscribed to 2600.

Despite my many begging pleas to my parents they would not buy me a modem as they were terrified what I'd get up to, I had to settle for running pirate radio stations and CV radio instead So I'd go around my very rich friends house and dial into BBSs and use telnet to connect to strange 'sites' I found in 2600 and on other BBSs, I stopped when I realised most of these were military systems!

For my 6th year CS studies (only myself and the top guy took the class in the entire year) project I proposed building a BBS for the school with all the class information, school history, sports, etc - basically what's now a website. 6th year studies in the UK at that time allowed students to jump straight into 2nd of a university course straight out of school.

The teachers had no idea what a BBS was, and when I explained I was told "no-one is interested in computers talking to each other" !!! I'm not even joking, I was given no help, and the top student got all the help he needed for his robotic arm project. I had to source all the materials, and as the teachers weren't interested I got no help and had to drop the subject.

I also invented facebook in the same class! This was in 1992. I build a database and created a GUI using Hyperlink on the mac that showed a page for each student, and linked them through friends and groups using hyperlinks. I even contemplated scanning in yearbook pictures using our very brand-new scanner, but decided no-one was going to use it so didn't bother.

I did have one chemistry teacher that said it was possible to extract energy from the separation of water with further energy available when recombining it in a combustion engine. So far I have come across ways where it takes less energy to separate the water compared to the energy gain from the recombination.

I say there is no impossible, there is just improbable!



Peace

So, What impossible stuff has happened in your lilfe?

To tell you the truth there is nothing that is not possible. And I cant think of one thing that would qualify as being impossible. Oh I can think of many reasons why it would not be prudent that it actually happen or become reality in this existence, but impossible... nah.

There is a saying I heard a long time ago.
"Today's science fiction is tomorrow's science fact'

reply to post by galadofwarthethird


I would like to see you try to dribble a football.

Originally posted by Nobama
reply to post by galadofwarthethird

 

I would like to see you try to dribble a football.

Alan Iverson Can...

Originally posted by Nobama
reply to post by galadofwarthethird

 

I would like to see you try to dribble a football.

Actually I did that before, the trick is to always aim for the same spot and low to the ground. Thought its hard to do it when your moving around.

But really there is no point in doing it, when you can just dribble any other ball around.