9. Universe's tail end orifice

I'm pretty sure they call that "Earth".

It's different because it uses a new and different technology, which is scary, so we automatically throw out all the existing rules and run around like chickens with their heads cut off. It also let us make more rent seeking power grabs, so there's a plus.

I like how one of the first two things the family in the picture printed appears to be a polyhedral die. I think it's a d12. Very cool!

The summary doesn't explain well, but TrackingPoint isn't a robotic gun or anything like that. It is a system that uses rangefinders and other sensors built into a scope that allow a user to designate a target, and then, when the trigger is pulled, only allows the weapon to fire when it's aligned with an optimal firing solution. This lets novices shoot on target at extended ranges. They've previously done this with bolt action rifles, but apparently they've developed it for use in AR-15s, as per the article. Here's a link to their page about the original system: http://tracking-point.com/prec...

Heh, back in high school one of my lenses fell out toward the end of the period and I had to walk to my next class without my glasses on before I could fix them. Until then I never realized how annoying it was getting hit in the eyes by the wind from my movement. How do people without glasses live?

Don't forget our illustrious governor, who refuses to communicate with his staff via email, favoring phone calls and Blackberry Pin-to-Pin messaging instead, so as to sidestep records laws. I'm glad he's kept up on his promise to be the most transparent administration in state history. http://www.nydailynews.com/new... http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07...

So you're telling me that if somebody gave you a $120,000 yearly salary in return for doing absolutely nothing (or, to look at it another way, whatever you damn well please) you would turn them down? Because only a narcissist would take the money? "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not a narcissist. I only accept gifts of rainbows, sunshine, and feelgood vibes."

That is the Republican way. That is why anyone that isn't racist supports raising the limits.

So I take it that the Democratic way is increasing imported wage slavery, then calling anyone opposed a racist? How progressive of you.

But how do you tell the difference between them?

Since the idea is to connect and/or monitor everything (or at least many or most things) to a network, maybe it should be called the "Internet of Everything" instead?

When you are done, you need to cool that same water so that will take land and cooling equipment.

My understanding was that most distillation desalination plants used the incoming sea water as a heat sink for the condensation, eliminating the need for cooling equipment and recycling some small amount of heat energy.

Sadly, I have actually met people to whom this idea is a foreign concept. In one particular case the fellow I was discoursing with actively stated that he didn't see the problem with regulating everything, essentially. I wish I could find the conversation to get an exact quote. Presumably people like him are why the Library of Congress has lost track of the number of lines in the United States Code.

There's no way of knowing whether Jobs, had he lived and been healthy, would have faced charges, especially since he was a recidivist.

Based on the context I'm guessing they've taken "recidivist" to mean "a rich and famous person". Funny, I'm not familiar with that definition.

Like that bastard Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York! He avoids email entirely in favor of phone conversations or Blackberry pin-to-pin messages, so there's no record of anything that goes on. Wait, no, he's a Democrat. Thank God, then, it must be perfectly OK.

Reminds me of Diogenes of Sinope:

When asked how he wished to be buried, he left instructions to be thrown outside the city wall so wild animals could feast on his body. When asked if he minded this, he said, "Not at all, as long as you provide me with a stick to chase the creatures away!" When asked how he could use the stick since he would lack awareness, he replied "If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to me when I am dead?"