I'm sure at that level of income, the Gov't will be more than happy to provide you with numerous subsidies to ensure your quality of life and continued pursuit of the American Dream.

Read the books that follow if you haven't. They figured out how to pull that fail from the fire and move on.

This is part of a sci-fi story... which one I can't remember... where the "friendly" aliens tell the people that the human scientists have been lying to them, hiding all kinds of technological breakthroughs, etc... to demonize the scientific community... who of course end up being the very folks who save humanity from alien annihilation!"

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Yeah them chess stories sound awfully fishy. Also, as someone who lived in Tokyo for a year, I gotta say there is much variation in the microcosm that is Tokyo. Its not like a vast uniform wasteland of pachinko and soap parlors =)

I've been around Hokkaido, Kyoto, Okinawa, and more. The most "Japanese" experience to my mind at least... was exploring the Izu Hanto, just a day's train ride from the bustle of Tokyo. Your mileage may vary. To bfl, I would suggest that if you do go (and you should!)... go with as few expectations as possible. You'll enjoy it more. Even buying a loaf of bread can be an adventure sometimes.

Adding other repositories to your package manager / software sources is really that difficult? Might want to try a few searches and check out a howto or two...

Agreed! My desktop... Ubuntu, my Mythbox... Ubuntu. My always on ancient laptop ... Puppy Linux (Ubuntu based now). I stick to the LTS images and don't move until a new release looks good wrt forum chatter. Thus far I'm pretty content. The only other dist catching my eye has been Mint and oh look what that is based on... ;-)

So it'd be Kuro5hin?

Bravo! Bravo! That would be an awesome stage act... call it the tinfoil monologues and do another bit about aliens. You would be brilliant.

Meh, all you need to read:

"Although the reactors can be self-sustaining so that the input can be turned off, the scientists say that the reactors work better with a constant input. "

So, we have a machine that produces 8 units of energy out for every 1 unit in while consuming the nickel-hydrogen fuel, but it cannot feed back on itself? Me thinks there's a problem with their output units.

Ah see you've made my point. A trip to the new world (once they knew it was there) could be easily funded by a small group of investors. I see no small groups of investors with the technology and material to produce a colony ship to Mars. Do you?

In spirit, they are similar. The technical challenges to overcome are substantially greater. And once they are done with the technical problems, the financial costs are also relatively more significant.

Having said all of that, it is a matter of WILL alone that holds us back.

"Without constant shipments of oxygen, food, water, and many other supplies;"

There is plenty of water on mars.

becomes: "Without constant shipments of oxygen, food, and many other supplies;"

water + nuke powered electrolysis = oxygen + hydrogen

becomes: "Without constant shipments of food, and many other supplies;"

plenty of base elements to grow food; iron, calcium, potassium, in martian soil

becomes: "Without constant shipments of many other supplies;"

well yes they can't make everything. I agree that the europe->n. america was a much easier jump than earth -> mars... but it can be done. It is a question of WILL.

Have scanned the comments and didnt see this.... so ... stay for the credits. As they're wrapping up, you hear the music cue song. Then there's a thud and everything shudders... the last kick. *you* the viewer are free of the dream that *you* entered, and return to reality. I thought that was a nice touch.