That's not quite backed up by history. He was pretty darn fast for the first three books, but then it all kind of fell apart. Personally I would say that the first three are very equivalent in terms of quality and I (again, IMHO) continue to enjoy them over several rereads. I have not had any inclination to reread Feast or Dance, though I've had other people tell me that reading them back-to-back was more fulfilling than with a six year gap! My introduction to the series was through the Daenerys chapters from AGOT published as a Novella in Asimov's. I've been reading the other books as soon as they came out, so my perspective is perhaps different from someone who got their first read through in in larger chunks.

Book 1 (AGOT) -- 1996
Book 2 (ACOS) -- 1998 (2 yr)
Book 3 (ASOS) -- 2000 (2 yr)
Book 4 (AFFC) -- 2005 (5 yr)
Book 5 (ADWD) -- 2011 (6yr)
Book 6 (TWOW) -- ?? (at least 5yr)

I definitely agree that he's killed off most of his interesting and fun characters, introduced a bunch of boring plotlines ("I am Darkstar--and I am of the night--and I'm mysterious and cool!"), and written himself into an awkward place!

It's been years since I read the entire Dune series as a teenager (I've subsequently reread the first several times), but I remember enjoying God Emperor more than any book other than Dune. I can't say I remember much about it, but given your post, I'm inclined to go back and reread the rest.

That's pretty much exactly what Jordan did.

So that was at least five years ago. I'm not a big fan of the macabre speculation around his health and calculating the odds of his dying vs finishing the series first, but what does seem clear is that he has either written himsef into a wall and doesn't know where to go or he's just bored with writing the books. Can't say I blame him on either side. If I could build a turret on my house, buy a customized Tesla, and fly around the world to meet legions of fans, I would probably be doing that instead too!

I've read other articles that discuss a similar modification that causes mosquito offspring to be almost entirely male. This has two huge advantages. First, male mosquitos don't bite. Second, after several generations, there is a greatly reduced female population which causes the overall population of mosquitos to crash.

Mosquitos aren't a keystone species in any ecosystem where they live. They aren't the only (or even primary) insect that pollinates a certain plant (e.g., honeybees and almonds). They aren't the only food source for other species. They're just kind of...there...and a huge nuisance for people! If they disappear, other insects will easily whatever small void they leave--at least that's the theory!

I say eradicate the damn things! And get rid of ticks next!

I understand Part 15 (as well as Part 97, since I'm licensed under those rules). The mechanisms mentioned in the GP _do_ exist in law for 5GHz U-NII (read WiFi) systems. Please refer to Title 47 Part 15, Subpart E, particularly 15.407(h)(1) and (2) and also 15.37(e).

Also, (if I read it correctly) 15.37(h) forbids the marketing or sale of devices that use any digital modulation technique other than Spread Spectrum operating in the 5725-5850 MHz bands starting on June 2, 2016.

The definition of "digital modulation" is distinct from SS - from 15.403(f):

(f) Digital modulation. The process by which the characteristics of a carrier wave are varied among a set of predetermined discrete values in accordance with a digital modulating function as specified in document ANSI C63.17-1998.

I don't understand the point of your post at all? Yes, other nations have games that are similar to Chess (and that are genetically related to Chess--think 4th cousins twice removed) but that are not Chess and are not even called Chess!

Chess != Shogi != Shatranj != etc...

with 2.5 Watts I can talk to 30 people around the globe using PSK31 or Wspr.

I've got that record beat at least on WSPR. I xmitted on 30m using 100mW from central VA (grid FM17), and was heard in New Zealand. An amazing mode, isn't it?

You're incorrect. Part 15 devices are absolutely required to not cause interference. From the link, emphasis mine:

Maybe she's trying to tell you to buy her a cordless vacuum.

My favorite was the coworker that set up a UPS on a server and left for the day. I got a call an hour later saying the server had stopped responding. It turns out that the coworker plugged the UPS INTO ITSELF, and left it running. From that day on his nickname was 'loopback'.

I always post to the wrong duplicate article! ~sarcasm

From my other post:

According to line 'A' on this graph, the atmospheric absorption at 95-100 GHz is fairly low, but this graph shows that rainfade is an absolute killer. Light rain contributes 1 dB/km, which amounts to losing 20.6% of your signal per km. After 10km, you're under 1% of your original signal.

Somewhere between medium and heavy rain you cross the 10 dB/km line - you lose 90% of your signal per km. That ventures into 'unusable' territory very quickly.

In a world where several BILLION up-and-coming wage earners are ripe to purchase their products, which, incidentally, wouldn't exist if not for the cheap labor still extant in that very same country.

According to line 'A' on this graph, the atmospheric absorption at 95-100 GHz is fairly low, but this graph shows that rainfade is an absolute killer. Light rain contributes 1 dB/km, which amounts to losing 20.6% of your signal per km. After 10km, you're under 1% of your original signal.

Somewhere between medium and heavy rain you cross the 10 dB/km line - you lose 90% of your signal per km. That ventures into 'unusable' territory very quickly.

Why you link an article about hypothetical nano technology is bejond me :)

Because it's fascinating, and it mentions the extreme energy density of other 'safe' radionuclides besides Plutonium 238. That was the question that was asked in the parent post, after all. :-)

As for efficiency, I bet a closed-cycle Stirling Engine system could work on Mars with Gd148 as the heat source and a radiative heat sink to space or the (almost non-existent) Mars atmosphere as the sink. Naturally you could parallel the Gd148 sources so that no one source exceeded the max temp for the engine. If you're not willing to do that, there are other non-moving solutions that beat the paltry 3-7% of an RTG.

I remember seeing that dish when I worked at Concurrent Computer in nearby Oceanport. I also volunteered at Ft. Monmouth during the 1st Gulf war operating their Army MARS station AAR2USI providing comms between deployed soldiers and their families stateside.