If you don't mind some hassle in connecting upon your return you can get an Apple eMate off ebay for less than $100. They from factor is designed for use by children so it is nearly indestructible but it used the Newton OS and you can still find a lot of serious software for it. The screen is large enough for comfortable typing. Beyond the old Tandy's it's probably your best bet.
I used one for a couple of months back when I worked at Apple an found it really useful. It did fill a niche between a handheld PDA (really useful only for retrieving information) and a laptop (to fragile and slow to start working).
If Mars does have water and possibly life, wouldn't that mean that we would have effectively quarantine Mars from human or any other biological contact? If not, we would run the risk of destroying an entire planetary ecosystem no matter how small or primitive it might be.
Life on Mars would prevent terraforming or perhaps any human colonization at all.
I printing off my "Save the Martian Microbes!" bumper stickers right now.
I think some form of Pay Per View will prevent this from happening in the future. At present, Broadcast TV shows are payed for by advertiser who pay for "eyeballs" i.e. a lot of people within a certain demographic. This creates a powerful incentives to seek the lowest common denominator. Even cable shows suffer from this effect but to a lesser extent.
But, if we could deliver shows to individuals at different prices, quirky shows with small but loyal audiences who were willing to pay a relative premium could survive.
Slashdot Mirror
If you don't mind some hassle in connecting upon your return you can get an Apple eMate off ebay for less than $100. They from factor is designed for use by children so it is nearly indestructible but it used the Newton OS and you can still find a lot of serious software for it. The screen is large enough for comfortable typing. Beyond the old Tandy's it's probably your best bet. I used one for a couple of months back when I worked at Apple an found it really useful. It did fill a niche between a handheld PDA (really useful only for retrieving information) and a laptop (to fragile and slow to start working).
If Mars does have water and possibly life, wouldn't that mean that we would have effectively quarantine Mars from human or any other biological contact? If not, we would run the risk of destroying an entire planetary ecosystem no matter how small or primitive it might be.
Life on Mars would prevent terraforming or perhaps any human colonization at all.
I printing off my "Save the Martian Microbes!" bumper stickers right now.
I think some form of Pay Per View will prevent this from happening in the future. At present, Broadcast TV shows are payed for by advertiser who pay for "eyeballs" i.e. a lot of people within a certain demographic. This creates a powerful incentives to seek the lowest common denominator. Even cable shows suffer from this effect but to a lesser extent. But, if we could deliver shows to individuals at different prices, quirky shows with small but loyal audiences who were willing to pay a relative premium could survive.