Don't tell me Bush is thinking of bringing back
Project Orion...
Yes, and in the future, any country that doesn't do exactly as the United States tells them will be given a brand-new USAF Orion launch facility (for one-time use).
I think the point people are trying to make is that Mongols, while reliant on technologies like metallurgy, weaving, tanning etc., were not a highly technological civilization which had to use complex, self-contained starships to travel around. Basically, one has to assume that the "warrior class" of Klingons are not entirely representative, but are in fact the only ones who are commonly seen by outsiders. Obviously there must be farmers, technicians, etc. *somewhere* or the warriors starve, and the ships break down, and then where is your precious Empire? And no, they can't just loot everything - you might be able to make a go of waging interstellar war for food, but, as somebody else in this thread says, who would trust slaves to build starships? I would guess that other professions would not be seen as being as "honorable" as warriors, but would have their own place in Klingon society.
The money won't burn until 451'F. You should know that. The people in the book "Fahrenheit 451" had the right idea - burn the paper items which make people unhappy. They just got the wrong paper items.
The hardest of the whole thing was running find and replace for their base 4 alphabet(I was too lazy to write a script for it)...
You know, Thomas Edison (aka. the a**hole who ripped off Tesla) supposedly said that "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". I'd say the same saying applies to undergraduate-level university work. If someone is "too lazy to write a script for it", they might find university level CS surprisingly hard even if they're the next Alan Turing.
(Yes, I know you're just trying to make a point. But so am I:-)
But do we really believe that the small independent producers have some secret to making money that the Big Bad Studios haven't thought of?
Not under the current system, because the big content providers have successfully saturated the market with flashy, big-budget films while at the same time conditioning people to think movie budget = movie quality. As a result, smaller films don't have a chance: less press, less distribution, no exposure at the growing number of N-plex super cinemas which show the latest Jerry Bruckheimer spectacle on four screens.
(not a USA-sucks rant...) One of the nice things about living in Canada is that the government here provides some support ($$ and legislation) for our home-grown movie industry. Without this support, a lot of enjoyable and intelligent, but smaller-scale, films would never see the light of day. Examples: "Ginger Snaps", or "Last Night".
I'd say that off-hand, the main advantage that smaller producers, of films, music, or any other media, have is the goodwill of their customers! I'm far more likely to buy an Ani DiFranco album ("Unauthorized duplication, while sometimes neccessary, is never as good as the real thing") after listening to her music from Napst^H^H^H Morpheus, than run out to buy a copy-disabled CD by some major-label artist ("unauthorized duplication, authorized duplication and Fair Use are prohibited, and as technically impossible as we can manage")...
Yes, the content providers can't have you arrested, or sue you, for recording content for home use, BUT... (as has been said many times before here) it also is legal for them to migrate to media formats which make it extremely difficult to exercise your fair use rights at all. There is no legal compulsion on the part of WB to release those Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes I crave so much in a format which doesn't require decryption on proprietary, DMCA-protected hardware.
He did it in the dumbest possible way which has had the basic effect of making such material seem ridiculous and beyond consideration. "Nobody cool believes in conspiracies anymore!"
On the contrary, I would say that his treatment probably opened a lot of eyes to the real possibility of the government operating clandestinely. Of course the treatment was fantastic, ie. aliens, shape-shifting bounty hunters and black oil viruses, but substitute "JFK & MLK assassinations", "Ruby Ridge/Waco", or "Gulf War Syndrome" and you have what many people have come to believe about the US government in the last decade. Conspiracy theories used to be the stuff of tinfoil-hat-wearing schizophrenics, white supremacists and ranting cabin-dwelling hermits. Now they are part of the common lexicon. Almost everyone is now familar with the idea that their government does not always act in their best interests. (Now they just have to learn not to trust CNN...)
That said, some of the X-files' best episodes were non-conspiracy stories: "Beyond the Sea" (serial killer on death row claims he can psychically predict another killer's actions), "Squeeze" (preternaturally flexible liver-eating mutant), or "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (old man seems to know how everybody else is going to die, but cannot predict his own death) for example.
If I leave my front-door open I deserve to get robbed.
Actually you don't. You just have to expect that you'll get robbed. Nobody "deserves" to be a victim of crime, even Microsoft. What Microsoft "deserves" is legislation punishing them for their unethical and monopolistic business practices. Many large software companies probably *do* deliberately make their products copyable, because it broadens market base. Microsoft doesn't need to do this because they can bully system retailers into bundling Windows and thus essentially "force sales" on people who might not want to run windows on that new box, or who might get a pirate copy. Their market base is ensured by their near-monopoly. This is why you get Windows XP-like registration bulls*it.
Also, nobody in their right mind is going to include a "dongle" with software. Users hate them, they cost money to manufacture, and they generally cause your company name to be prefixed with "stupid f*cking" in a lot of conversations between potential customers.
I would guess there's a _lot_ of mass in the bottom 1/3 of the height though, so the center of gravity is probably low enough to avoid tipping during "normal" off-road driving (ie. no driving laterally along steep slopes). It needs the height for capacity, but can't be too wide to be street legal (or to negotiate narrow 1-lane roads in developing areas).
Note that this thing can supposedly "climb a 45 degree slope" - just don't turn sideways while doing it or your expedition will come to a rapid, messy end.
When is enough money enough? What is gained by adding another couple million to your own bank account when there are so many there already? In the end, you're going to die anyway, so at least make the world a better place rather than just stuffing your money chest fuller. Do these people care that no one likes them? Do they care that they're despised and all their plebs would ditch them at the first opportunity? Has greed outweighed every other thing in life?
Publicly traded corporations have Boards and CEO's who are responsible to the shareholders. The company has a charter which in most cases states that the Board is _required_ to run the company in a way which "maximizes profits" for the shareholders. If they do not do this they will be sued and/or replaced by the shareholders. This is why you see corps doing such patently unethical things as laying off all their enmployees and re-hiring them at reduced salaries, or "outsourcing" labour to third-world contractors, or polluting and then paying the fines when it's cheaper than not polluting would be! They have to not only _make a profit_, but in fact MAXIMIZE profits, no matter what. The shareholders, and in many cases the Board, care _nothing_ for what anybody thinks of them, unless it impacts those profits. Then it's time for a little creative marketing, not acting ethically.
That's why I'm a (democratic) socialist. Un- or under-regulated capitalism inevitably slides into depravity and unimaginable greed.
As the market continues to vote with its money for non-restricted media, I'd expect that the attempts to distort the actions of the market through legislation will become ever-increasingly shrill.
Wow. I didn't think I'd ever consider the use of legislation to regulate "the market" to be a BAD thing. Even Adam Smith noted (quite vigorously) that government would have to use laws to restrict market forces (eg. disallowing monopolies) and thus prevent exploitation of both the workers and customers.
Yeah, it's true that GW figures are undoubtably some of the most expensive on the market. They are also some of the best-sculpted if you like their somewhat cartoony, over-the-top aesthetic (the LOTR figures are more subdued in style though). Always a joy to paint. And I've seen the quality of the figures included in the LOTR game, they are the best looking plastic figs I've ever seen. Fine detail, far superior to the plastic that came with Bloodbowl or Battlemasters.
For those wargamers who want to play LOTR battles, there are a slew of other companies producing elves, orcs and hobbits to say nothing of medieval humans! Screw GW, when you want to expand your LOTR army, check out one of the myriad other manufacturers out there! I've heard that at "official" GW tournaments, you have to use GW figures in your armies, but if you're just playing with your buds, who cares?! Though to be honest, unless you have good hobby stores nearby, assembling the Fellowship on your own from mail-order could easily go over $40!
30 years ago, science fiction was kid's stuff - only children wanted to watch it, only children liked it, etc.
30 years have passed, and the children have grown up. Now Sci-fi is a complex medium intended for the use of adults - it grew up with its fans.
No, 30 years ago, science fiction books, television and films had boatloads of adult fans. These fans bought books, went to the cinema, and attended conventions in *droves*. The "mainstream" culture just chose to marginalize and caricature them as part of a trend towards cynical materialism and "live-in-the-now" which characterized the 70's and 80's. I'm not entirely sure how fandom made the transition from "Spock-ears-wearing fat weirdos" (a minority in real life to be sure) to *everybody* watching the X-files, Enterprise etc. but I suspect it has to do with the entertainment industry realizing how much money could be made off of SF if they just tried a little harder to make it "cool".
As I recall from Insurrection, the Enterprise had to eject its warp core. Without that, the Neutral Zone is a loooooong way off...
Maybe so but they probably still had FTL comms. Starfleet would send a tow truck by soon enough, I'm sure. While they waited they could kick back and enjoy not saving the unuverse for a while.
The test for anthrax is based on detecting genes which exist in the anthrax bacterium. This IS easy using modern molecular methods. It will be harder to detect whether a human being has been genetically modified by the addition of naturally occurring human genes. After all, who's to say that they weren't born with the gene(s)? It would be easier if the genes being inserted were from other species but you'd have to test for a LOT of different genes unless certain genes became so commonly used that you could expect to catch a good proportion of the offenders. You might more effectively screen for the presence of vector (the DNA which "carries" the gene into the person's chromosomes) sequence, but again there are a number of vectors (adenoviruses, HIV, other retroviruses) which could be used, and some of them are VERY similar to viruses you and I might be carrying right now. It'll be harder than you think.
I'm not sure exactly how many generations American slavery went on for, but I'm not entirely convinced that selective breeding, if done haphazardly for 20 or so generations (here we cannot assume a rigorous, scientifically based and centrally organized program) could produce a group of people who were significantly stronger/hardier than average. After all, when your slaves work hard every day, how do you determine how much of their muscularity is due to genetics, and how much is due to you making them carry heavy things for 16 hours a day? This sort of nature/nurture contribution to phenotype (that means the person's traits) is hard to determine even by modern bio-statistical methods. I doubt some family of slave-owning assh*oles could do it effectively enough to make a difference. I would argue that the abundance of elite black athletes might point more to a legacy of discrimination in other fields of life which might encourage more black people with potential to enter professional sports.
WRT your comments about the Daschund and Chihuahua breeds of dogs, they weren't bred that way to look preposterous. A Daschund is ideally suited to running down narrow burrows to hunt rabbits (I think that's what they were bred to go for). A Chihuahua, well I don't know but somebody had an idea. Maybe they were bred to kill rats.
I dial up at 28.8 and it's not so bad. Granted, you have to do without seeing the latest movie trailers/Flash vids/pr0n clips, and _no_ Counterstrike, but overall it's remarkably tolerable. Still entirely possible to check web mail, telnet, surf the web with little frustration. You tend to be a little more picky about which web sites you visit: simple clean site design and minimal/no Flash or Javascript become definite merits. You _do_ end up watching a bit more TV, and even reading books. It's not so bad. Repeat after me, "fast internet access is not oxygen, I can do without it"...:-)
Of course, a space-lift would be both much cooler, and much cheaper (ISTR figures of $210 per human for an up-trip, or $40 for a round trip, as on the way down your delta-GPE could be converted back into electricity; presumably this is ignoring R&D and build costs). NASA was mumbling about this about a year ago, but surely such a project would cost billions...
If you mean a space elevator as in "Red Mars" or that Arthur C. Clarke book, it'd cost a lot more than "billions", unless you mean "1000's of billions" by that. I don't think there's any material yet developed that could accomodate the engineering demands of such a project, and is available in such massive quantities. Plus all the orbital infrastructure needed to build the sucker, and all the spacecraft needed to transport things to orbit, and/or mine asteroids for raw materials. A vast undertaking, to say the least. Needless to say, it WOULD be the most economical way to reach orbit, on a per-kilo basis. Human society would be revolutionized - I hope to see such a project given serious consideration within my lifetime, but I suspect the political will to do so is lacking.
Do we really need another enemy? Why create one when China doesn't want to be an enemy?
I'm totally against most things the US government considers "acceptable foreign policy", but I'm sorry - just because China "wants to be friends" doesn't mean we should overlook the fact that the current political system (which isn't even *close* to being "Communist") SUCKS! The leaders of _both_ the United States and the People's Republic of China are morally bankrupt, power hungry sleazebags who are perfectly happy to play at sword-waving politics one minute, and have trade talks the next. In both cases, the People are getting screwed, and in both cases the government claims to be acting for the People when in fact they are only working for themselves and the rest of a small, wealthy elite. So no, "China" shouldn't be our (ie. the citizens of the "democratic" West) enemy, but the current Chinese government sure ought to be.
This whole article is really just a fluffy, throwaway advertising supplement. Pants with *gasp* pockets?! A smoke detector with a remote control?! I agree, not significant. I like how they provided links to the manufacturers too. Just advertising, I suppose they threw the Millenium Bridge and the artificial heart in just to generate credibility.
O'Connor hopes that someday "mashed-potato machines will be for Americans what rice cookers are for Asians."
Heh. For a lot of geeks, I suspect rice cookers are already de rigeur for those times when ramen just won't cut it. I sure wouldn't replace mine with a mashed-potato maker!
1) Finding files is easy. Period. It's easy to find files as long as you put them in a logical place. If you don't put your files in a folder/directory that makes sense to you, no OS can help you be organized and efficient. DOS/Windoze (I am not very familiar with *nix) does this - you can put all your work documents in c:\work, or in c:\my documents\work etc. Or you can put all your Word files in c:\program files\msword etc. if that's what makes sense to you.
2) *Hiding* files is also easy. If your workstation/home PC is not secure, it's dead easy to conceal your {warez/pr0n/job application letters to competing companies} from your {significant other/boss} by burying them in a folder where nobody would think to look for them (eg. "c:\program files\the microsoft network\setup files"). I know that "security through obscurity" doesn't really work, but I suspect this system works very well for many thousands of people.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, and in the future, any country that doesn't do exactly as the United States tells them will be given a brand-new USAF Orion launch facility (for one-time use).
I think the point people are trying to make is that Mongols, while reliant on technologies like metallurgy, weaving, tanning etc., were not a highly technological civilization which had to use complex, self-contained starships to travel around. Basically, one has to assume that the "warrior class" of Klingons are not entirely representative, but are in fact the only ones who are commonly seen by outsiders. Obviously there must be farmers, technicians, etc. *somewhere* or the warriors starve, and the ships break down, and then where is your precious Empire? And no, they can't just loot everything - you might be able to make a go of waging interstellar war for food, but, as somebody else in this thread says, who would trust slaves to build starships? I would guess that other professions would not be seen as being as "honorable" as warriors, but would have their own place in Klingon society.
The money won't burn until 451'F. You should know that. The people in the book "Fahrenheit 451" had the right idea - burn the paper items which make people unhappy. They just got the wrong paper items.
The hardest of the whole thing was running find and replace for their base 4 alphabet(I was too lazy to write a script for it)...
:-)
You know, Thomas Edison (aka. the a**hole who ripped off Tesla) supposedly said that "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". I'd say the same saying applies to undergraduate-level university work. If someone is "too lazy to write a script for it", they might find university level CS surprisingly hard even if they're the next Alan Turing.
(Yes, I know you're just trying to make a point. But so am I
But do we really believe that the small independent producers have some secret to making money that the Big Bad Studios haven't thought of?
Not under the current system, because the big content providers have successfully saturated the market with flashy, big-budget films while at the same time conditioning people to think movie budget = movie quality. As a result, smaller films don't have a chance: less press, less distribution, no exposure at the growing number of N-plex super cinemas which show the latest Jerry Bruckheimer spectacle on four screens.
(not a USA-sucks rant...) One of the nice things about living in Canada is that the government here provides some support ($$ and legislation) for our home-grown movie industry. Without this support, a lot of enjoyable and intelligent, but smaller-scale, films would never see the light of day. Examples: "Ginger Snaps", or "Last Night".
I'd say that off-hand, the main advantage that smaller producers, of films, music, or any other media, have is the goodwill of their customers! I'm far more likely to buy an Ani DiFranco album ("Unauthorized duplication, while sometimes neccessary, is never as good as the real thing") after listening to her music from Napst^H^H^H Morpheus, than run out to buy a copy-disabled CD by some major-label artist ("unauthorized duplication, authorized duplication and Fair Use are prohibited, and as technically impossible as we can manage")...
Yes, the content providers can't have you arrested, or sue you, for recording content for home use, BUT... (as has been said many times before here) it also is legal for them to migrate to media formats which make it extremely difficult to exercise your fair use rights at all. There is no legal compulsion on the part of WB to release those Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes I crave so much in a format which doesn't require decryption on proprietary, DMCA-protected hardware.
He did it in the dumbest possible way which has had the basic effect of making such material seem ridiculous and beyond consideration. "Nobody cool believes in conspiracies anymore!"
On the contrary, I would say that his treatment probably opened a lot of eyes to the real possibility of the government operating clandestinely. Of course the treatment was fantastic, ie. aliens, shape-shifting bounty hunters and black oil viruses, but substitute "JFK & MLK assassinations", "Ruby Ridge/Waco", or "Gulf War Syndrome" and you have what many people have come to believe about the US government in the last decade. Conspiracy theories used to be the stuff of tinfoil-hat-wearing schizophrenics, white supremacists and ranting cabin-dwelling hermits. Now they are part of the common lexicon. Almost everyone is now familar with the idea that their government does not always act in their best interests. (Now they just have to learn not to trust CNN...)
That said, some of the X-files' best episodes were non-conspiracy stories: "Beyond the Sea" (serial killer on death row claims he can psychically predict another killer's actions), "Squeeze" (preternaturally flexible liver-eating mutant), or "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" (old man seems to know how everybody else is going to die, but cannot predict his own death) for example.
If I leave my front-door open I deserve to get robbed.
Actually you don't. You just have to expect that you'll get robbed. Nobody "deserves" to be a victim of crime, even Microsoft. What Microsoft "deserves" is legislation punishing them for their unethical and monopolistic business practices. Many large software companies probably *do* deliberately make their products copyable, because it broadens market base. Microsoft doesn't need to do this because they can bully system retailers into bundling Windows and thus essentially "force sales" on people who might not want to run windows on that new box, or who might get a pirate copy. Their market base is ensured by their near-monopoly. This is why you get Windows XP-like registration bulls*it.
Also, nobody in their right mind is going to include a "dongle" with software. Users hate them, they cost money to manufacture, and they generally cause your company name to be prefixed with "stupid f*cking" in a lot of conversations between potential customers.
I would guess there's a _lot_ of mass in the bottom 1/3 of the height though, so the center of gravity is probably low enough to avoid tipping during "normal" off-road driving (ie. no driving laterally along steep slopes). It needs the height for capacity, but can't be too wide to be street legal (or to negotiate narrow 1-lane roads in developing areas).
Note that this thing can supposedly "climb a 45 degree slope" - just don't turn sideways while doing it or your expedition will come to a rapid, messy end.
In the scene where a swarm of orcs burst through the door in Moria, one of them bonks his forehead on the doorframe as he passes through.
(ok, lame Star Wars reference, I admit...)
When is enough money enough? What is gained by adding another couple million to your own bank account when there are so many there already? In the end, you're going to die anyway, so at least make the world a better place rather than just stuffing your money chest fuller. Do these people care that no one likes them? Do they care that they're despised and all their plebs would ditch them at the first opportunity? Has greed outweighed every other thing in life?
Publicly traded corporations have Boards and CEO's who are responsible to the shareholders. The company has a charter which in most cases states that the Board is _required_ to run the company in a way which "maximizes profits" for the shareholders. If they do not do this they will be sued and/or replaced by the shareholders. This is why you see corps doing such patently unethical things as laying off all their enmployees and re-hiring them at reduced salaries, or "outsourcing" labour to third-world contractors, or polluting and then paying the fines when it's cheaper than not polluting would be! They have to not only _make a profit_, but in fact MAXIMIZE profits, no matter what. The shareholders, and in many cases the Board, care _nothing_ for what anybody thinks of them, unless it impacts those profits. Then it's time for a little creative marketing, not acting ethically.
That's why I'm a (democratic) socialist. Un- or under-regulated capitalism inevitably slides into depravity and unimaginable greed.
As the market continues to vote with its money for non-restricted media, I'd expect that the attempts to distort the actions of the market through legislation will become ever-increasingly shrill.
Wow. I didn't think I'd ever consider the use of legislation to regulate "the market" to be a BAD thing. Even Adam Smith noted (quite vigorously) that government would have to use laws to restrict market forces (eg. disallowing monopolies) and thus prevent exploitation of both the workers and customers.
I don't think it's possible for anybody to "sacrifice" _fewer_ virgins than I have this year... :-/
Yeah, it's true that GW figures are undoubtably some of the most expensive on the market. They are also some of the best-sculpted if you like their somewhat cartoony, over-the-top aesthetic (the LOTR figures are more subdued in style though). Always a joy to paint. And I've seen the quality of the figures included in the LOTR game, they are the best looking plastic figs I've ever seen. Fine detail, far superior to the plastic that came with Bloodbowl or Battlemasters.
For those wargamers who want to play LOTR battles, there are a slew of other companies producing elves, orcs and hobbits to say nothing of medieval humans! Screw GW, when you want to expand your LOTR army, check out one of the myriad other manufacturers out there! I've heard that at "official" GW tournaments, you have to use GW figures in your armies, but if you're just playing with your buds, who cares?! Though to be honest, unless you have good hobby stores nearby, assembling the Fellowship on your own from mail-order could easily go over $40!
30 years ago, science fiction was kid's stuff - only children wanted to watch it, only children liked it, etc.
30 years have passed, and the children have grown up. Now Sci-fi is a complex medium intended for the use of adults - it grew up with its fans.
No, 30 years ago, science fiction books, television and films had boatloads of adult fans. These fans bought books, went to the cinema, and attended conventions in *droves*. The "mainstream" culture just chose to marginalize and caricature them as part of a trend towards cynical materialism and "live-in-the-now" which characterized the 70's and 80's. I'm not entirely sure how fandom made the transition from "Spock-ears-wearing fat weirdos" (a minority in real life to be sure) to *everybody* watching the X-files, Enterprise etc. but I suspect it has to do with the entertainment industry realizing how much money could be made off of SF if they just tried a little harder to make it "cool".
"Intellectual Bonsai Kitten". God you are a genius, Mr/Ms Waffle Iron. I'm going to use this expression for *years* to come.
As I recall from Insurrection, the Enterprise had to eject its warp core. Without that, the Neutral Zone is a loooooong way off...
Maybe so but they probably still had FTL comms. Starfleet would send a tow truck by soon enough, I'm sure. While they waited they could kick back and enjoy not saving the unuverse for a while.
Good question. And tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call when you are unable to speak?
The test for anthrax is based on detecting genes which exist in the anthrax bacterium. This IS easy using modern molecular methods. It will be harder to detect whether a human being has been genetically modified by the addition of naturally occurring human genes. After all, who's to say that they weren't born with the gene(s)? It would be easier if the genes being inserted were from other species but you'd have to test for a LOT of different genes unless certain genes became so commonly used that you could expect to catch a good proportion of the offenders. You might more effectively screen for the presence of vector (the DNA which "carries" the gene into the person's chromosomes) sequence, but again there are a number of vectors (adenoviruses, HIV, other retroviruses) which could be used, and some of them are VERY similar to viruses you and I might be carrying right now. It'll be harder than you think.
I'm not sure exactly how many generations American slavery went on for, but I'm not entirely convinced that selective breeding, if done haphazardly for 20 or so generations (here we cannot assume a rigorous, scientifically based and centrally organized program) could produce a group of people who were significantly stronger/hardier than average. After all, when your slaves work hard every day, how do you determine how much of their muscularity is due to genetics, and how much is due to you making them carry heavy things for 16 hours a day? This sort of nature/nurture contribution to phenotype (that means the person's traits) is hard to determine even by modern bio-statistical methods. I doubt some family of slave-owning assh*oles could do it effectively enough to make a difference. I would argue that the abundance of elite black athletes might point more to a legacy of discrimination in other fields of life which might encourage more black people with potential to enter professional sports.
WRT your comments about the Daschund and Chihuahua breeds of dogs, they weren't bred that way to look preposterous. A Daschund is ideally suited to running down narrow burrows to hunt rabbits (I think that's what they were bred to go for). A Chihuahua, well I don't know but somebody had an idea. Maybe they were bred to kill rats.
I dial up at 28.8 and it's not so bad. Granted, you have to do without seeing the latest movie trailers/Flash vids/pr0n clips, and _no_ Counterstrike, but overall it's remarkably tolerable. Still entirely possible to check web mail, telnet, surf the web with little frustration. You tend to be a little more picky about which web sites you visit: simple clean site design and minimal/no Flash or Javascript become definite merits. You _do_ end up watching a bit more TV, and even reading books. It's not so bad. Repeat after me, "fast internet access is not oxygen, I can do without it"... :-)
Of course, a space-lift would be both much cooler, and much cheaper (ISTR figures of $210 per human for an up-trip, or $40 for a round trip, as on the way down your delta-GPE could be converted back into electricity; presumably this is ignoring R&D and build costs). NASA was mumbling about this about a year ago, but surely such a project would cost billions...
If you mean a space elevator as in "Red Mars" or that Arthur C. Clarke book, it'd cost a lot more than "billions", unless you mean "1000's of billions" by that. I don't think there's any material yet developed that could accomodate the engineering demands of such a project, and is available in such massive quantities. Plus all the orbital infrastructure needed to build the sucker, and all the spacecraft needed to transport things to orbit, and/or mine asteroids for raw materials. A vast undertaking, to say the least. Needless to say, it WOULD be the most economical way to reach orbit, on a per-kilo basis. Human society would be revolutionized - I hope to see such a project given serious consideration within my lifetime, but I suspect the political will to do so is lacking.
I'm totally against most things the US government considers "acceptable foreign policy", but I'm sorry - just because China "wants to be friends" doesn't mean we should overlook the fact that the current political system (which isn't even *close* to being "Communist") SUCKS! The leaders of _both_ the United States and the People's Republic of China are morally bankrupt, power hungry sleazebags who are perfectly happy to play at sword-waving politics one minute, and have trade talks the next. In both cases, the People are getting screwed, and in both cases the government claims to be acting for the People when in fact they are only working for themselves and the rest of a small, wealthy elite. So no, "China" shouldn't be our (ie. the citizens of the "democratic" West) enemy, but the current Chinese government sure ought to be.
This whole article is really just a fluffy, throwaway advertising supplement. Pants with *gasp* pockets?! A smoke detector with a remote control?! I agree, not significant. I like how they provided links to the manufacturers too. Just advertising, I suppose they threw the Millenium Bridge and the artificial heart in just to generate credibility.
O'Connor hopes that someday "mashed-potato machines will be for Americans what rice cookers are for Asians."
Heh. For a lot of geeks, I suspect rice cookers are already de rigeur for those times when ramen just won't cut it. I sure wouldn't replace mine with a mashed-potato maker!
1) Finding files is easy. Period. It's easy to find files as long as you put them in a logical place. If you don't put your files in a folder/directory that makes sense to you, no OS can help you be organized and efficient. DOS/Windoze (I am not very familiar with *nix) does this - you can put all your work documents in c:\work, or in c:\my documents\work etc. Or you can put all your Word files in c:\program files\msword etc. if that's what makes sense to you.
2) *Hiding* files is also easy. If your workstation/home PC is not secure, it's dead easy to conceal your {warez/pr0n/job application letters to competing companies} from your {significant other/boss} by burying them in a folder where nobody would think to look for them (eg. "c:\program files\the microsoft network\setup files"). I know that "security through obscurity" doesn't really work, but I suspect this system works very well for many thousands of people.