Yes, that digital prohibition like bootlegs cassette? VHS copies? Sure, their maybe a prohibition, but I cannot think of one damn thing that would prevent file sharing without turning the PC into a very limited piece of hardware stripped of most of it's useful capabilities. Major PC developers would die on the vine as their profits dwindled along with it's usefulness. They're making lots of money. Think they're just going to roll over and let themselves be dominated like that? Bill Gates won't be the only one that can play the governement...
That America's education system took a turn for the worst when it became a public, government subsidised education system? Algebra isn't the only thing that they're falling down on, gateway or no.
Reminds me when the US was easedropping on Russia's first cell phones back during the cold war... How hard would it be to put somebody (or two sombodies preferably) in an ultralight or glider and just float around looking for access points? Sounds like covert ops stuff; Floating around in your black "Escape from New York" glider and crashing enemy networks from the sky.
True, it's shitty that they withdrew the fonts, but I can't see any practical advantage to the purposely removing them on Linux day. Believe it or not, it probably is just coincidence. And at the risk of sounding like I'm siding with MS, few popular services on the net remain free for very long. It's not simply limited to MS, but here, I guess the fact that it is MS somehow makes it newsworthy.
Umm, lets stop and think about this before you haul off and create that new world order. You're walking through security and see the ugliest, most hideous security woman you've ever seen in you're life. Revolting. Now whether you're ashamed of that thought or not is beside the point. How is she going to treat you when she finds out what you think of her? What kind of effect is hearing that 500 times a day going to have on her psyche? What if you just happen to be number 501 and she snaps, capping you on the spot?
>Security Check in progress... >Initiating text dump of last 5 minutes of conscious thought... >Scan #1187-AA, Session 3.04
"Damn she's fine. Wow, that stewardess has the finest ass I've ever seen! I'd like to have her bent over a table and shoot my load-- WHAT THE--!! THAT HAS TO BE THE UGLIEST SECURITY GUY I'VE EVER SEEN!!! Wait a minute... That's no GUY!!! She's got warts all over her...! And a mustache! No!! I hope she doesn't touch me!" etc, etc...
Yep, I'm sure you never have one of those thoughts you probably never should have had and I'm sure you'd just love it being shared with the rest of the world, right?
Ok, great. No two brainwave patterns are alike. We'll have 99.9% matching under any circumstance, right? Can't fake a brainwave like you can a face with plastic surgery. But here at Slashdot, it's our job to poke holes in, destroy, mutilate and otherwise tap-dance over silly ideas such as these. My contribution to this high and lofty goal? ECM Jammers, of course! These devices are measuring the electro magnetic energy radiating from the brain (I assume, since they're not going to have time to shave everybodies head and attatch electrodes to them as they wait in line), right? How hard could it be to build something the size of a cellphone and jam these scanners? Just seed an airport with a bunch of them (assuming a low cost of production) and their several million dollar scanner becomes a mere paper weight while airport security faces increasing pressure to just start letting people through without scanning. Silly rabbit. When will they learn you just can't beat the ol' Mk1 Eyeball and field experience...
Oh and if you wanted to get really tricky, have these ECM devices mimic somebody elses brainwaves at a higher output, hopefully confusing, and/or overriding your scan. They really should consult with us before slapping the money down for this stuff. We'd save them so much time.
Activist? I don't know if you'd use that term for anybody just going around marking the locations of wireless networks. You're encompassing an awful lot of everyday "normal" people if you use those weak standards as your activist baseline.
Then there's this bit about the curious hacker... "Before now many curious hackers have gone on "wardriving" expeditions which involve them driving around an area logging the location of the wireless networks. Many companies using wireless do not do enough to make them secure and stop people outside the organisation using them."
I guess we know the author is obviously slanted with the "Hacker's Manifesto" side of the issue as these "curious" hackers are trespassing on pivate property; And you simply can't make the argument that since the door was open, they have a right to be there. Yep, they're curious and gee, we just happened to gloss over the fact they're breaking and entering, volating the law, etc, thus the FBI "trival" interest, right?
Even if I agreed with the philosophy, this is simply a badly written story. Yeck.
And while you have this snazzy sword fighting algorithim taking place ala SnowCrash, just what are you going to use to control it? A joystick? Mouse? Or joy-of-all-joys: a Linux driven Nintendo Power Glove... (On a side note, I just hate using the slashdot search engine. Using the words "Linux" and "Nintendo" yielded my target 13 links down... And how many of those other links had anything to do with, or even the word Nintendo in their title? None.)
Not saying that I'm blind to the fact. I would hope that maybe just one of them would post. Of course, calling the eds out on their oh-so-poor stories probably doesn't help.
Did somebody have an overnight lobotomy? Does it take a freakin cover from Time magazine for this crap to all of a sudden become "news worthy"!? The topic has been around for years! People haven't "all of a sudden" just started to enjoy LAN parties! It appeared on CNet-- Hey, now there's a good reason to jump all over it... Big f!$#%$ deal! Micheal, you're a chump. A hack. THIS. ISN'T. NEWS. No! It's not a good excuse for you to link to QuakeCon! A story on QuakeCon would have been a good excuse. But what do you post? "being able to play as a team, talk with the people next to you -- it's just a whole different aspect than playing online. For me, it's just more fun to put a face with the name of the person you're playing with." I agree!" Tee-Hee! Did you have to post a person who has only within the last few days discovered what a LAN party is and how to play games online?!
Not that any of these were worthy, right?
2002-04-01 18:18:13 Gaming vs. Cinema Double Standards (articles,games) (rejected) 2002-04-18 15:31:27 Planetary alignment; The End must be near. (articles,science) (rejected) 2002-04-24 13:18:20 Second Front (articles,internet) (rejected) 2002-04-28 02:28:59 Subscription alternatives (articles,news) (rejected) 2002-05-02 18:37:13 Gaming vs. Music (articles,games) (rejected) 2002-05-15 05:36:39 Napster Approaches Bankruptcy (articles,music) (rejected) 2002-05-19 16:06:51 Florida Face Recognition Fails (articles,privacy) (rejected) 2002-05-21 15:46:01 A Tastier Chicken Through Genetic Manipulation (science,humor) (rejected) 2002-06-03 19:25:40 Bush Administration Global Warming Turnabout (articles,news) (rejected) 2002-07-11 05:31:21 Mining the Moon for Helium-3 (articles,news) (rejected) 2002-07-30 20:40:46 Jon, the Al-Qaida and the FBI (articles,internet) (rejected)
Really, I have a life beyond Slashdot, but this crap SO pushes my buttons. I know I'm not the only one out there with a worthy story, but what gets posted? "Wonderboy discovers LAN parties". Right.
Good point. I haven't read the books but I can't possibly see this movie fitting into anything less than three hours and still be good. Given the fine job they did, I think I look forward to the "uncut" DVD and think there'd be no such thing as too much of a good thing if they expanded out to 6 movies...
Yeah, they're saying that since they they don't expect the audiance to turn out in large enough numbers to make a 3 hour showing worthwhile, be that because of attention spans, stereo typing, etc., they'd cut it down to the "regular size". They obviously thought LotR could pull it off, but not StarTrek? Odd. Both have absolutely huge fan bases and a rich background to draw from, so what's the determining factor? (beyond LotR being absolutely fabulous, obviously).
And the seedier side of the Trek could have been wonderfully executed as you suggest. It definittely could have benefited from a few shades of darkening. It was also something I was hoping for with ST: Enterprise-- They're on the Frontier, unpowered and outclassed in the unknown at nearly every turn, but it's still so damn sanitized it's pathetic. Cripes, I was drawing up scripts for damn near the same thing 4 years ago (it seemed like the only other place Trek could possibly go at the time) with that in mind. Unfortunately Enterprise got there first and my hopes were crushed... Another TNG, but lower tech. ~sigh~ I like Kevin Sorbo in Andromeda better than the last 4 Trek series... (I know, another (post) Roddenberry production). Yes, I'm jaded. I'll step down from my soapbox now.
Beyond Wil Wheaton being axed from Nemesis, it's really a tragety for anybody looking for a real story when they go to the theaters, not the chopped and boxed two hour edit. So many movies out there could have been great if the man with the axe had only shown a bit more restraint and a bit more faith in his fanbase. They're basically saying we as an audiance can't handle a deep plot and don't have the attention span to sit through three hours of movie. It annoys the crap out of me.
A good example and everybodies favorite here on Slash-- Lord of the Rings. Damn near 3 half hours and I loved every single minute of it . I didn't get bored. I didn't wince at the complex plot. I was thrilled that a director actually broke from the pack and lengthened the movie, ultimately making it a par excellent experience. I can't imagine how a two hour Cambells condensed soup version would have added up. Makes you wonder what how the extended edit will fair if the movie is this good now...
Back to the point, I've been waiting for a decent Trek series/movie for years. TNG? Booorrrring... They were the UN of outer space. DS9? Better. It depicted the edgier side of the Trek universe, but it was still pretty damn sanitized. Personnally, it only got good when large quantities of ships began blowing up... Anyway, Voyager? It had it's moments. Too bad they were far and few between. The movies? Wrath of Kahn. Hands down. Undiscovered Country? It was OK filler until the next great movie... Which was... Umm... Sorry, but I wasn't inspired by any of the TNG movies, though First Contact and Insurrection were OK. It wasn't anything that you hadn't seen in the series before. It comes down to this- I'd be willing to bet an extra hour would do the new movie a world of good. The Trek universe is rich and full of plot and the fans want to see it. It's the reason it's been kept going all these years. For once, I wish they'd take break the mold and create an experience, not just a movie.
On Wil Wheaton, it is kinda too bad. Just a hunch, but I'm betting he'd actually be good in something other than that "annoying naive teen" roll he was cast in for 90% of the series. It's a misjustice all the way around....
I guess I'm kinda assuming that the rest of the country hasn't undergone the same armageddon and emergency services can be brought to bear in the form of refugee camps. You're probably right-- A lot of the population would be casulties, so just for kicks and grins I'll say we're only left with... a quarter? Is that fair? It's still a hella lot of refugees to take care of. On second thought, the shelters would probably be a temporary fix until the wound/homeless are organized and dispersed to the neighboring major cities. But I'm betting the shelters would also become a launching point for long term recovery operations into the city.
Yep. Any popular citiy as had terrabytes of video and pictures taken of it at various stages of it's life. Accurate reproduction would not be a problem in todays age. Clean up would be hellish. I'd even think such cities would become metal mines over time as there'd be so much to salavage from them...
The primary component I'm worried about is all the very tall buildings and the underground network that runs beneath NY and cities like it. I'm sure it's not entirely insurmountable, but neither do I think it'd be livable for quite some time, decades perhapse.
Yeah! Why let it go to waste? You could build a museum on top like in Demolition Man... Or a game arena ala The Running Man... Or a prison, like Escape from New York... Or etc. etc. etc...
Seriously. How was the city destroyed? Conventional bomber attack? Nuclear weapon (of what yield), Earthquake? Biologicals? Come on, throw us a bone here...
Using New York as the example, lets assume an ID4 level of armageddon... Y'know... Where a giant UFO brings his destructo-beam of fun to bear on the city, causing wide-spread "conventional" damage (if you can call a giant destructo-beam of fun conventional). Anyway, you'd be facing an engineering debacle of the Trade Center proportions, but on an epic scale. Any structure that hasn't been leveled would probably be dicey in terms of structual support. That goes all the tunnels beneath the city as well. It'd be a grim task to have to sift through all the damage, clear it out and rebuild... An entire city... Hell, the refugee camps set up to take survivors would probably become full cities before New York was even habitable again. I'm also assuming this would be the senario for carpet bombing and earthquake/giant tidal waves.
Nuclear? We all know the answer to that, though the yield of the weapon makes a hellva difference. Biologicals and chemical devistation could hopefully be delt with after the inital blow and loss of life, as the city would be realitively intact. You'd just have to watch out for masive decay and the diseses it spaws if you go in within a few weeks.
In short, assuming your New York sized city suffered a major conventional casulty, you'd probably be better off writing it as a loss for the next decade. Of course, that's nothing compared to a good Slashdotting...
At first I thought this was a case of Brown mentioning an idea and the company taking the idea and running with it. I seriously don't have too big a problem with that. Everybody has idle musings and ideas, but it's the people who act on them who are rewarded.
But this? It's reminicent of the Borg, pardon the Trek reference all your base truely are belong to us... The fact that this project predates his employment should render such a lawsuit and intellectual claims null and void. Somebody in the courthouse has obviously fallen asleep at the wheel... But it just goes to show you... THE JOB IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. Depsite popular belief, they are not there for your benefit, no matter how much like it. in otherwords, what you do outside of work is your business, not theirs because they really don't want you to succeed past the point where you are no longer dependant on them.
First, you're saying $82M is cheap for the moon, but we're spending the same amount going to Mars? Hello? I'll assume that was a typo, but in which direction, I have no idea. I'm also betting the final price will be way above $82M. They always are.
Second, I think the author was pointing out that some sort of public programs could be developed instead of dividing $82M by 1B people (the "scientific and intellectual prowess" comment). I know I'll be cashing that 8 cent check right away! And I have to agree here-- When a very large percentage of your populace is living in abject poverty, you better have bigger plans than just planting a flag on the moon as part of an international pissing contest.
Finally, I'm betting the only way they're planning to staying under $90M is by using existing off the shelf components, not making everything from scratch like the Apollo missions. Sure, the chassis and lander is going to have to be buildt from scratch, but the electronics? I find it hard to believe they're going to design new and revolutionary hardware like you described for the Minuteman. The Apollo missions cost damn near $10-20 billion. And that's in 1960s money. (Minuteman 3 cost around $10M from developement to launch as a comparison).
If they can do it (assuming they do it at all) for $83M, more power to em. They'll do something one of the most industrialized and successful nations (with an excellent average standard of living to boot) wasn't able to do in the 1960s, let alone today....
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, that digital prohibition like bootlegs cassette? VHS copies? Sure, their maybe a prohibition, but I cannot think of one damn thing that would prevent file sharing without turning the PC into a very limited piece of hardware stripped of most of it's useful capabilities. Major PC developers would die on the vine as their profits dwindled along with it's usefulness. They're making lots of money. Think they're just going to roll over and let themselves be dominated like that? Bill Gates won't be the only one that can play the governement...
That America's education system took a turn for the worst when it became a public, government subsidised education system? Algebra isn't the only thing that they're falling down on, gateway or no.
Reminds me when the US was easedropping on Russia's first cell phones back during the cold war... How hard would it be to put somebody (or two sombodies preferably) in an ultralight or glider and just float around looking for access points? Sounds like covert ops stuff; Floating around in your black "Escape from New York" glider and crashing enemy networks from the sky.
True, it's shitty that they withdrew the fonts, but I can't see any practical advantage to the purposely removing them on Linux day. Believe it or not, it probably is just coincidence. And at the risk of sounding like I'm siding with MS, few popular services on the net remain free for very long. It's not simply limited to MS, but here, I guess the fact that it is MS somehow makes it newsworthy.
Umm, lets stop and think about this before you haul off and create that new world order. You're walking through security and see the ugliest, most hideous security woman you've ever seen in you're life. Revolting. Now whether you're ashamed of that thought or not is beside the point. How is she going to treat you when she finds out what you think of her? What kind of effect is hearing that 500 times a day going to have on her psyche? What if you just happen to be number 501 and she snaps, capping you on the spot?
>Security Check in progress...
>Initiating text dump of last 5 minutes of conscious thought...
>Scan #1187-AA, Session 3.04
"Damn she's fine. Wow, that stewardess has the finest ass I've ever seen! I'd like to have her bent over a table and shoot my load-- WHAT THE--!! THAT HAS TO BE THE UGLIEST SECURITY GUY I'VE EVER SEEN!!! Wait a minute... That's no GUY!!! She's got warts all over her...! And a mustache! No!! I hope she doesn't touch me!" etc, etc...
>Download complete.
>Keyword matches: Shoot, Security [1% of process]
>Subject scores 20% terrorist rating.
Yep, I'm sure you never have one of those thoughts you probably never should have had and I'm sure you'd just love it being shared with the rest of the world, right?
Ok, great. No two brainwave patterns are alike. We'll have 99.9% matching under any circumstance, right? Can't fake a brainwave like you can a face with plastic surgery. But here at Slashdot, it's our job to poke holes in, destroy, mutilate and otherwise tap-dance over silly ideas such as these. My contribution to this high and lofty goal? ECM Jammers, of course! These devices are measuring the electro magnetic energy radiating from the brain (I assume, since they're not going to have time to shave everybodies head and attatch electrodes to them as they wait in line), right? How hard could it be to build something the size of a cellphone and jam these scanners? Just seed an airport with a bunch of them (assuming a low cost of production) and their several million dollar scanner becomes a mere paper weight while airport security faces increasing pressure to just start letting people through without scanning. Silly rabbit. When will they learn you just can't beat the ol' Mk1 Eyeball and field experience...
Oh and if you wanted to get really tricky, have these ECM devices mimic somebody elses brainwaves at a higher output, hopefully confusing, and/or overriding your scan. They really should consult with us before slapping the money down for this stuff. We'd save them so much time.
Activist? I don't know if you'd use that term for anybody just going around marking the locations of wireless networks. You're encompassing an awful lot of everyday "normal" people if you use those weak standards as your activist baseline.
Then there's this bit about the curious hacker...
"Before now many curious hackers have gone on "wardriving" expeditions which involve them driving around an area logging the location of the wireless networks. Many companies using wireless do not do enough to make them secure and stop people outside the organisation using them."
I guess we know the author is obviously slanted with the "Hacker's Manifesto" side of the issue as these "curious" hackers are trespassing on pivate property; And you simply can't make the argument that since the door was open, they have a right to be there. Yep, they're curious and gee, we just happened to gloss over the fact they're breaking and entering, volating the law, etc, thus the FBI "trival" interest, right?
Even if I agreed with the philosophy, this is simply a badly written story. Yeck.
And while you have this snazzy sword fighting algorithim taking place ala SnowCrash, just what are you going to use to control it? A joystick? Mouse? Or joy-of-all-joys: a Linux driven Nintendo Power Glove... (On a side note, I just hate using the slashdot search engine. Using the words "Linux" and "Nintendo" yielded my target 13 links down... And how many of those other links had anything to do with, or even the word Nintendo in their title? None.)
Fragfest : Obvious
Not saying that I'm blind to the fact. I would hope that maybe just one of them would post. Of course, calling the eds out on their oh-so-poor stories probably doesn't help.
Did somebody have an overnight lobotomy? Does it take a freakin cover from Time magazine for this crap to all of a sudden become "news worthy"!? The topic has been around for years! People haven't "all of a sudden" just started to enjoy LAN parties! It appeared on CNet-- Hey, now there's a good reason to jump all over it... Big f!$#%$ deal! Micheal, you're a chump. A hack. THIS. ISN'T. NEWS. No! It's not a good excuse for you to link to QuakeCon! A story on QuakeCon would have been a good excuse. But what do you post? "being able to play as a team, talk with the people next to you -- it's just a whole different aspect than playing online. For me, it's just more fun to put a face with the name of the person you're playing with." I agree!" Tee-Hee! Did you have to post a person who has only within the last few days discovered what a LAN party is and how to play games online?!
Not that any of these were worthy, right?
2002-04-01 18:18:13 Gaming vs. Cinema Double Standards (articles,games) (rejected)
2002-04-18 15:31:27 Planetary alignment; The End must be near. (articles,science) (rejected)
2002-04-24 13:18:20 Second Front (articles,internet) (rejected)
2002-04-28 02:28:59 Subscription alternatives (articles,news) (rejected)
2002-05-02 18:37:13 Gaming vs. Music (articles,games) (rejected)
2002-05-15 05:36:39 Napster Approaches Bankruptcy (articles,music) (rejected)
2002-05-19 16:06:51 Florida Face Recognition Fails (articles,privacy) (rejected)
2002-05-21 15:46:01 A Tastier Chicken Through Genetic Manipulation (science,humor) (rejected)
2002-06-03 19:25:40 Bush Administration Global Warming Turnabout (articles,news) (rejected)
2002-07-11 05:31:21 Mining the Moon for Helium-3 (articles,news) (rejected)
2002-07-30 20:40:46 Jon, the Al-Qaida and the FBI (articles,internet) (rejected)
Really, I have a life beyond Slashdot, but this crap SO pushes my buttons. I know I'm not the only one out there with a worthy story, but what gets posted? "Wonderboy discovers LAN parties". Right.
Besides the coolness of an autonomous lawnbot, BOY, WHEN CAN WE INSTALL LINUX ON ONE OF THESE?! Yeah, it's a troll and I'm lovin' every minute of it :)
They're already their... Just visit any fast food joint and they'll take your order.
Good point. I haven't read the books but I can't possibly see this movie fitting into anything less than three hours and still be good. Given the fine job they did, I think I look forward to the "uncut" DVD and think there'd be no such thing as too much of a good thing if they expanded out to 6 movies...
Yeah, they're saying that since they they don't expect the audiance to turn out in large enough numbers to make a 3 hour showing worthwhile, be that because of attention spans, stereo typing, etc., they'd cut it down to the "regular size". They obviously thought LotR could pull it off, but not StarTrek? Odd. Both have absolutely huge fan bases and a rich background to draw from, so what's the determining factor? (beyond LotR being absolutely fabulous, obviously).
And the seedier side of the Trek could have been wonderfully executed as you suggest. It definittely could have benefited from a few shades of darkening. It was also something I was hoping for with ST: Enterprise-- They're on the Frontier, unpowered and outclassed in the unknown at nearly every turn, but it's still so damn sanitized it's pathetic. Cripes, I was drawing up scripts for damn near the same thing 4 years ago (it seemed like the only other place Trek could possibly go at the time) with that in mind. Unfortunately Enterprise got there first and my hopes were crushed... Another TNG, but lower tech. ~sigh~ I like Kevin Sorbo in Andromeda better than the last 4 Trek series... (I know, another (post) Roddenberry production). Yes, I'm jaded. I'll step down from my soapbox now.
Beyond Wil Wheaton being axed from Nemesis, it's really a tragety for anybody looking for a real story when they go to the theaters, not the chopped and boxed two hour edit. So many movies out there could have been great if the man with the axe had only shown a bit more restraint and a bit more faith in his fanbase. They're basically saying we as an audiance can't handle a deep plot and don't have the attention span to sit through three hours of movie. It annoys the crap out of me.
A good example and everybodies favorite here on Slash-- Lord of the Rings. Damn near 3 half hours and I loved every single minute of it . I didn't get bored. I didn't wince at the complex plot. I was thrilled that a director actually broke from the pack and lengthened the movie, ultimately making it a par excellent experience. I can't imagine how a two hour Cambells condensed soup version would have added up. Makes you wonder what how the extended edit will fair if the movie is this good now...
Back to the point, I've been waiting for a decent Trek series/movie for years. TNG? Booorrrring... They were the UN of outer space. DS9? Better. It depicted the edgier side of the Trek universe, but it was still pretty damn sanitized. Personnally, it only got good when large quantities of ships began blowing up... Anyway, Voyager? It had it's moments. Too bad they were far and few between. The movies? Wrath of Kahn. Hands down. Undiscovered Country? It was OK filler until the next great movie... Which was... Umm... Sorry, but I wasn't inspired by any of the TNG movies, though First Contact and Insurrection were OK. It wasn't anything that you hadn't seen in the series before. It comes down to this- I'd be willing to bet an extra hour would do the new movie a world of good. The Trek universe is rich and full of plot and the fans want to see it. It's the reason it's been kept going all these years. For once, I wish they'd take break the mold and create an experience, not just a movie.
On Wil Wheaton, it is kinda too bad. Just a hunch, but I'm betting he'd actually be good in something other than that "annoying naive teen" roll he was cast in for 90% of the series. It's a misjustice all the way around....
Anonymous Cowards, of course.
I guess I'm kinda assuming that the rest of the country hasn't undergone the same armageddon and emergency services can be brought to bear in the form of refugee camps. You're probably right-- A lot of the population would be casulties, so just for kicks and grins I'll say we're only left with... a quarter? Is that fair? It's still a hella lot of refugees to take care of. On second thought, the shelters would probably be a temporary fix until the wound/homeless are organized and dispersed to the neighboring major cities. But I'm betting the shelters would also become a launching point for long term recovery operations into the city.
Yep. Any popular citiy as had terrabytes of video and pictures taken of it at various stages of it's life. Accurate reproduction would not be a problem in todays age. Clean up would be hellish. I'd even think such cities would become metal mines over time as there'd be so much to salavage from them...
The primary component I'm worried about is all the very tall buildings and the underground network that runs beneath NY and cities like it. I'm sure it's not entirely insurmountable, but neither do I think it'd be livable for quite some time, decades perhapse.
Yeah! Why let it go to waste? You could build a museum on top like in Demolition Man... Or a game arena ala The Running Man... Or a prison, like Escape from New York... Or etc. etc. etc...
Seriously. How was the city destroyed? Conventional bomber attack? Nuclear weapon (of what yield), Earthquake? Biologicals? Come on, throw us a bone here...
Using New York as the example, lets assume an ID4 level of armageddon... Y'know... Where a giant UFO brings his destructo-beam of fun to bear on the city, causing wide-spread "conventional" damage (if you can call a giant destructo-beam of fun conventional). Anyway, you'd be facing an engineering debacle of the Trade Center proportions, but on an epic scale. Any structure that hasn't been leveled would probably be dicey in terms of structual support. That goes all the tunnels beneath the city as well. It'd be a grim task to have to sift through all the damage, clear it out and rebuild... An entire city... Hell, the refugee camps set up to take survivors would probably become full cities before New York was even habitable again. I'm also assuming this would be the senario for carpet bombing and earthquake/giant tidal waves.
Nuclear? We all know the answer to that, though the yield of the weapon makes a hellva difference. Biologicals and chemical devistation could hopefully be delt with after the inital blow and loss of life, as the city would be realitively intact. You'd just have to watch out for masive decay and the diseses it spaws if you go in within a few weeks.
In short, assuming your New York sized city suffered a major conventional casulty, you'd probably be better off writing it as a loss for the next decade. Of course, that's nothing compared to a good Slashdotting...
At first I thought this was a case of Brown mentioning an idea and the company taking the idea and running with it. I seriously don't have too big a problem with that. Everybody has idle musings and ideas, but it's the people who act on them who are rewarded.
But this? It's reminicent of the Borg, pardon the Trek reference all your base truely are belong to us... The fact that this project predates his employment should render such a lawsuit and intellectual claims null and void. Somebody in the courthouse has obviously fallen asleep at the wheel... But it just goes to show you... THE JOB IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. Depsite popular belief, they are not there for your benefit, no matter how much like it. in otherwords, what you do outside of work is your business, not theirs because they really don't want you to succeed past the point where you are no longer dependant on them.
It's just... Well... You know... I was hoping for... May just News for Nerds, not news for ultra nerds... My Bad.
First, you're saying $82M is cheap for the moon, but we're spending the same amount going to Mars? Hello? I'll assume that was a typo, but in which direction, I have no idea. I'm also betting the final price will be way above $82M. They always are.
Second, I think the author was pointing out that some sort of public programs could be developed instead of dividing $82M by 1B people (the "scientific and intellectual prowess" comment). I know I'll be cashing that 8 cent check right away! And I have to agree here-- When a very large percentage of your populace is living in abject poverty, you better have bigger plans than just planting a flag on the moon as part of an international pissing contest.
Finally, I'm betting the only way they're planning to staying under $90M is by using existing off the shelf components, not making everything from scratch like the Apollo missions. Sure, the chassis and lander is going to have to be buildt from scratch, but the electronics? I find it hard to believe they're going to design new and revolutionary hardware like you described for the Minuteman. The Apollo missions cost damn near $10-20 billion. And that's in 1960s money. (Minuteman 3 cost around $10M from developement to launch as a comparison).
If they can do it (assuming they do it at all) for $83M, more power to em. They'll do something one of the most industrialized and successful nations (with an excellent average standard of living to boot) wasn't able to do in the 1960s, let alone today....