I'm glad to see that, after a 4 year absence, Slashdot is still filled with asshats who have no experience with a topic, but are willing to post BS anyway. Nice talking to you. Obviously, I have no need to bother with slash anymore. You've reminded me why I left. Enjoy playing with your tech toys.

Buy a satellite phone; they've been around for years.

You can't "stack" satellite trails out; the best you can do is take more and more exposures, hoping to get some lights without any streaking. With the Starlink grid proposed to be 42,000 satellites at about mag 6, good luck. The shot displayed appears to be a Starlink train launch, about mag 2. Once they reach their working altitude in a few months they will still be visible to the naked eye. This isn't just a problem for all the amateur astrophotographers, it's also going to impact the professional installations and visual observers. Prior to the first launch I was going to invest another $2,400 in upgrading my equipment, now I'll just give it to the grandkids to spy on the neighbors windows. Obviously, if you aren't an astrophotographer or visual observer, or don't give a damn about astronomy at all, you don't see the problem.

In my opinion, it's all about greed and FCC/billionaire deals. Why not just start selling advertising on the moon? We seem to have the right to sell the sky around the globe, the moon should be a minor consideration.

Is anyone considering the local effects of warming the water in the harbors these centers will be docked in? It seems to me, given the current toxic algal bloom off the west coast of the US at the moment, we might be just a bit concerned, right?

In an ideal world, every human would be implanted with a reversible birth control device, but there is no perfect world. So, based on your statement, if she "can't keep it in her pants", so to speak and ends up pregnant, she needs to go to "Mommy Jail" (I'll drop the Baby Factory, as we can't seem to agree on this) and be forced to have the child. So, by your opinion, carrying the baby to term is her "punishment" for doing something perfectly natural and quite enjoyable. Also, please do not forget that, prior to the 40's reliable contraception wasn't available (poorly made condoms and diaphragms). Are you saying that there needs to be retribution?

This is an interesting question and has plagued humans forever. For most societies throughout history up to the present day the practice of "female infanticide" was and is, acceptable. I can't speak to the morality of it; I can understand it, but I am not in favor of it (the dregs of a rejected Catholic indoctrination, I suppose). It's a variation on the old "Titanic lifeboat dilemma"; you have X amount of weight the boat can carry before it swamps and everyone drowns, and people keep floating in the water, screaming for help. What do you do? As far as "Newborn Rights" go, again, one that is wrestled with and decisions made and reversed often over time, based on the needs of the society it is born into. Lately, it would seem that in Western European countries, we have the luxury of debating this question. Sadly, there are places in the world where there is no such luxury.

I agree that we are born with the capacity to develop an internal compass, but that the compass is guided by the needs of the society and comes from many sources, generally whatever the needs of the time are, and what is in vogue at the time. You might be interested in reading P. Churchland's "Braintrust. What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality" for a more in-depth look at the role that evolutionary biology plays in the development of "morals".

I moved to Hawaii as it was the only place I ever found that felt like home to me. My wife felt the same way and we were quite prepared to live in Kaneohe for the rest of our lives. We have a large hanai family there and were quite saddened when we had to leave due to serious family obligations back on the mainland (Catholic guilt or Moral Compass? -chuckle-). We save all year to return for some time every year, but obligations will keep us on the mainland now. It does feel like Milton cast me out of paradise, though.

Pigeon for sure, brah! He's gotta be able to order one plate lunch with two scoops rice, eh? For me, it was 2 mac salads.

Too bad we can't be having this conversation over a couple of cold ones, watching the boats go in and out at Heeia Kea.

REPOSTING as Slash seems to have screwed up:

No, Laie_techie, I do not have "things mixed up in my head."; the OP said, and I quote so you don't have to actually bother reading the thread, "When there are many people who can't have children who struggle to adopt, abortion should not be happening", hence, the comment about forcing women to be "Baby Factories" for childless, entitled people.

There are no "moral" questions - the word moral is code for religious or superstitious. A newborn cannot remain viable for very long without care. Unless you are willing to take responsibility for at least one unwanted child, who are you to impose your beliefs on another individual? You can have opinions, yes, but how can you be allowed to impose your beliefs on another individual? Just where does your sense of "morality" come from? Think long and hard about that.

BTW, is that Laie, Hawaii? I was lucky enough to live in Kaneohe town for 8 years before a family situation brought me back to the mainland, but if so, I am happy for you being able to live the island life; there is nothing else like it,

Nice misrepresentation of what I stated, or really, really bad reading comprehension.

I'll re-state my opinion in a simpler way, in deference to you, Coren22, I have a real problem with folks telling women they can't control their own bodies. IMO, it's no one's fucking business at all, except for the host. Can't breed and don't want to adopt older kids, brown or yellow kids, kids that just might have fetal alcohol syndrome, you know, the kids that could really use your help? That smacks of entitlement to me, but as I said, it's just my opinion.

Um, forcing your will on other humans just because you can't breed and you want a baby is way beyond shady, it's manipulative and cruel to force others to be your "baby factories" for your entitled self. There is no valid reason for any more reproduction of the species other than those based in selfishness or superstition. Of course, just my opinion.

Orbo.

I have never understood this type of person. If you're going to do something, just do it, don't contact the press about it for the dramatic "look at me" moment. Perhaps Bellini didn't get enough parental attention as a child. Just my opinion.

Speaking as a semi-preforming musician, I would like to point a few things out in this posting that I believe are misconceptions.

Points 1 and 2 are basically the same (I do find it a bit hard to understand point 1, but I assume you mean "performance for hire", like in a restaurant). Both of these licensing situations are the the responsibility of the venue - the venue, not the performers, pay the blanket licensing fee to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, generally through a middleman (IIRC) that handles the licensing for them. At no time is the performer ever charged for the licensing.

Point 3 - this would be true if you are compiling the CD yourself and holding the performance at a venue that does not pay the licensing; generally, wedding reception venues have met the point above regarding appropriate licensing. Likewise, having a wedding CD ("Mixtape CD") can be done by a professional company that has paid the licensing fees - you can specify the titles desired - and it should not cost you anywhere near $60 per copy. But I do encourage you to hire live musicians rather than relying on a CD or DJ. Cheaper for you, but tougher on real, live musicians.

Point 4 - agreed on this - if you want artwork, you need to either deal with the publishers or copyright holders, but there are many specialized art dealers that supply album art. It's not cheap, but it's not just for millionaires, either. They are generally high-quality ink jet reproductions of the original work (Giclee, fancy French word for "you paid a lot of money for an ink-jet print").

Also, interesting point - there are "operatives" for the major licensing companies that regularly visit venues (bar, restaurants, reception halls, etc.) to confirm that the correct licensing is in place. And there are a large number of "mom 'n pop" venues (restaurants and bars, mostly) that do not have any licensing. As a performer, it's best to check that out, if it matters to you. The big chain places generally have it all covered.

I believe, based on what I've read about horology and popular culture is that after the very expensive Dumont was created, mass produced wrist watches were given to British WWI soldiers as part of their kit. Prior to WWI, wrist watches were considered a woman's accessory, the pocket watch still being the standard for the average man in the street. After the war, the wrist watch was seen as a manly accoutrement for the working classes and were manufactured in factories at a working man's price point. An interesting side note, many early "wrist watches" were simply pocket watches with a small framework silver-soldered onto the case and the cover removed (if it had one) leaving room for the winding stem (if the winding stem was at the 3, not the 12 position as in a Conductor's pocket watch). But again, just what I have read.

While there are a few examples of wristwatch design prior (especially for the military), in 1904 Dumont asked Cartier to design a watch he could wear and still keep both hands free for flying. Jaeger designed a wristwatch for Cartier called the "Dumont", after the famous aviator, in 1911 for commercial sale and the "trendy set" rushed to buy them. Sounds like a pretty familiar story to me... even a bit sheeplish, don't you think? I believe that some things never really change, but of course, that's just my opinion.

My savings. I worked in education, so I guess magical fairies?

Umm... if the advert sites go away for want of revenue, so what? I am currently involved in development work on a site in which we expect a lot of traffic, fill a niche not addressed in the chosen field, and we have no plans to run ads or charge for the service; that goes against all of our principals. And we will pony up the dough to run it ourselves, no contributions asked, expected or accepted. I also belong to a couple of private sites that are of interest to me and I contribute cash a few times a year to defray the operating costs. I also kick some cash to Wikipedia a few times a year just to help keep it ad-free. Provide it or not. Perhaps it will all come back around to Usenet and Fidonet connecting text-based RBBS. In any case, the profiteers will go away, but the information will still flow. Obviously, just my opinion.