As far as the pyramid / launch ramp goes, instead of pulleys how about something with 99.99% less friction, like a rail gun?
You can read an awesome application of it in Robert Heinlein's (novel) "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".
I wonder if their Anti-Trust laws work like ours...everybody's guilty, so it's left to the whim of whoever (*cough* anyone BIG *cough*) the bureaucrats decide to go after.
- Charge more than your competitors...guilty of "price gouging" or "monopolizing"
- Charge less than your competirors...guilty of "predatory pricing" or "unfair" competition
- Charge the same as your competitors...guilty of "collusion" or conspiracy
Look at it this way, it can start out as an irrelevant US military base and then flourish commercially, or France can get there first, claim it in the name of the EU, and establish a massive bureaucracy with a 60% tax on everything passing through.
I'd rather have a quasi-Free Market gov't grab it first.
There isn't a dichotomy...
Form Follows Function...it's the combination of Style and Substance that makes the bridge (building, supercar, program, watch) a cohesive work.
Every line (of the bridge, Ferrari, or code) is both attractive and necessary...there is no excess, nothing thrown in without reason, and that's what makes it elegant.
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As far as the pyramid / launch ramp goes, instead of pulleys how about something with 99.99% less friction, like a rail gun? You can read an awesome application of it in Robert Heinlein's (novel) "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".
Not here, anyway. On average in the US, water costs 10 cents per 100 gallons. That to me says...lotsa supply.
I wonder if their Anti-Trust laws work like ours...everybody's guilty, so it's left to the whim of whoever (*cough* anyone BIG *cough*) the bureaucrats decide to go after. - Charge more than your competitors...guilty of "price gouging" or "monopolizing" - Charge less than your competirors...guilty of "predatory pricing" or "unfair" competition - Charge the same as your competitors...guilty of "collusion" or conspiracy
Look at it this way, it can start out as an irrelevant US military base and then flourish commercially, or France can get there first, claim it in the name of the EU, and establish a massive bureaucracy with a 60% tax on everything passing through. I'd rather have a quasi-Free Market gov't grab it first.
I usually have something to drink when I'm at my computer. A big 32 oz. glass of something with extra ice.
I just sit it on top of my case. On really hot days, lots of condensation probably helps even more...
There isn't a dichotomy... Form Follows Function...it's the combination of Style and Substance that makes the bridge (building, supercar, program, watch) a cohesive work. Every line (of the bridge, Ferrari, or code) is both attractive and necessary...there is no excess, nothing thrown in without reason, and that's what makes it elegant.