Being at "the top" of Earth's gravity well, the moon is, sort of, the "ultimate trebuchet". Once a beachhead had been established, so to speak, with some relatively simple calculations (well, simple for the sorts of people that are capable of establishing a functioning moon base), one could simply lob largish rocks down at earth with enough precision and devastating kinetic energy to be a serious problem.

And, as far as tactical highground goes, it's profoundly defensible. One would need a very expensive and very rare, also very heavy, lifting rocket boosters to get from "the bottom" of said gravity well, to take any kind of meaningful offensive action against the installation (though the supporting ground-crew could find themsleves in a bit of a sticky situation I suppose).

That's just a simple scenario. I don't think the tactical potential of the moon has escaped anyone who gets paid to think about outlandish (but possible) wastes of tax revenue. i.e. Andrew Marshell, Director of the Defense Deparment's Office of Net Assessment.

I mean, Daaaaaaaaaaaaa --*cough, cough!*-- aaaaaaamn!

My cranial area throbs with rage when people "muse" about asinine contrivances, around which they expect all of mankind to fall into line. I mean, wtf, Facebook is quickly becoming the most overrated object/event in recent human history.

How in the hell is someone as smart as Garfinkel, who probably has more salient and complex thoughts over waffles, than the entire intellectual significance of Facebook, into perpetuity, even entertaining an insipid notion like this?

AAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

...and super-genius plan ever by the movie theater industry to grow the use of Newsgroups and Bittorent, and raise them to Olympian Heights, ever devised. Seriously, ever...

I agree that this "prophecy" will probably fulfill itself; for you. For me, I am not put off by the slow adoption of Linux as a desktop OS by the entire rest of the world.

I am, primarily, just greatful that, pretty clever, groups of people around the world are diligently building and refining an alternative that is working very well for me, personally. Also that, I believe, they will continue to do so.

I kinda don't want Linux to "become" Microsoft, actually...

It ain't really broke, and I'm not bucking for mainstream adoption to "fix" it...

So few companies have the foresight to turn away from the urge to spend too much of their resources on marketing, this is doubley important when dealing with the bloated, Wizard-of-Oz-like machinations of Microsoft, which seem less and less fathomable [seriously] by the week.

Canonical putting that effort and those resources toward the maturity and refinement of their core product just speaks to some really sound thinking on their part. I mean, honestly, they may not even win the fight; many a valiant hero has been slain by vain, syphalitically mad, emporers and kings in the throes of their criminal excesses.

Still, I think it's a very smart move...

Huzzah, Ubuntu Huzzah!

I see your point, but there is a little room for play between what I'm forecasting and a "20MB executable anytime soon".

An, even nominal, increase in app size (which will happen) and a probable desire for many apps on a device as they become available (will also happen - is, indeed happening now), is more the scenario I'm looking at.

With smartphone apps, it's about "nickles and dimes" , not "20's and 50's".

Again, point taken though, I am actually reassured that you don't see a problem there.

...aaaaaaand...now we're safe from terror...

Embrace the panty-bomb.

The seasons don't fear The Reaper
neither do the wind, the sun or the rain
we can be like they are
come on baby
don't fear The Reaper
baby take my (kevlar-mitted) hand...

Bingo and...bingo!

Telecommunications companies are really just...yeah, I'm at a loss for adequate pejoratives...

Yes, SandwhichMaster, I am sick of technology pricing, generally; but you're right, this phone/contract stuff is truly "through the looking glass". Modern economics is truly ridiculous. No wonder it seems to be flying apart at the seams; to the degree that so much smoke and mirrors can actually be said to actually have "seams"...

That will, likely, change though, going forward, don't you think? And when (if) it does change, it shouldn't instantly outclass a field of pretty usable devices. Don't get me wrong, I mean, I actually hope Android developers continue to write minuscule, beautiful code, that sips space and resources, into perpetuity; really I do...But I wouldn't wager on it.

Bingo...

I really wonder why Android OS so disdains opening up external/more memory for the storage of apps. It seems like this would be such a strong selling point. Since they are adhering to that "policy" so closely, I suppose there is some strong reasoning behind it (security "sandboxing" of some sort?). In my opinion, this prejudices consumers toward the iPhone and also impels people more toward rooting their devices to get that, obviously strongly desired, app-space control.

I have the G1, with which I am wholly satisfied, and not all that hungry to "trade-up" from, especially with the "super non-wowing power" of such limited app storage space, on "groundbreaking" devices. I mean, 190MB of total app space, given the average smartphone app size, I guess isn't an absolute deal breaker, but why the cap man?

This seems like it is limiting the impact of the Android Market and Android developers to reach end users as well. This seems like a real strategic weak point to me; seem so to anyone else?

If you love the Android, set it free; if it comes back it was meant to be...(If it comes back as an evil, hacked, perversion of its former self...also, probably, meant to be...)