Not to support the loonies here, but your test could fail even if the effects are valid. Simple example, happens with me and some people I know: I am able to hear the very high-pitch sound emitted by old CRTs. I can clearly distinguish some of them being switched on or off immediately (I'm looking at you Sony Black Trinitron), some I can't hear ever, but some are on the threshold of conscious hearing: i.e. I get a sense of relief once the TV is shut-off, but wouldn't have picked up it being switched on.

I would fail a blind test testing for the ability to hear CRT TVs, and I know for sure that I can hear them.

From the wikipedia article:

The light we see with our eyes is really a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Just so you know...

I'll take a language that has strong support for subclassing, thanks.

Given that javascript is a classless object-oriented language, your comment really makes it sound like you haven't yet reached that A-HA moment about javascript.

Prototype-based inheritance is much much more powerful than any kind of subclassing I've seen on any class-based OO language.

I installed 11.04 this week, and I totally disagree. I absolutely love top-level navigation taking over horizontal space instead of vertical space, as well as other vertical-space saving features, such as moving the menu onto the title bar. Naturally, I appreciate this more because my laptop has a 12" display. Were I on a 24" desktop LCD and I could spare space for the menus. However, if you are so inclined, this is just a gtk option. It's easy to move menus to their standard location, Unity does not bind you to that decision.

As for readability with icons on the left, just maximize your windows or move them to the left of the screen. It will push the icons away.

Sometimes, I think people criticize ANY change. I'm not involved with Unity and have not accompanied its development. The final result was a total surprise to me this week. I like it. There are corners to be polished, for sure, but it's an excellent first version.

You can go as long as needed. I did LASIK a few years back, and with corneal surgery you can't rub your eyes for what amounts to eternity (I guess it was a couple of months). Anyhow, past the initial couple of weeks, when you must keep that standing order forever present in your brain, it falls out of habit and you never ever do it (except when asleep, a situation that requires special protection).

It's all a matter of perspective. You don't have to be the richest of the rich to access telecommunications, and this would be considered part of any paradise ancient people would design. The same can be said for self-powered movement (engines of any kind), computing, or fast long distance transportation. Are we in a paradise yet? Not by a long shot. Are we -- the average human on earth -- better than a thousand years ago? Of course!

You are probably referring to Hubbert's Peak. His prediction was for peak production in the US, and was mostly on target (which is admirable for a prediction 50 year ahead). The curve has been adapted to several regions, with correct predictions. The peak global production, using Hubbert's curve, is predicted for 2005, and it seems to have indeed ocurred.

Mind you, peak production isn't the same as "running out". There's still a lot of oil out there. It's just that now it's clear we must find an alternative, and we have a couple of decades left.

All of those affirmations without quoting a single stat. I've done the legwork before, in all comments up to here. I'm not doing it again. Stay ignorant all you want. Just note that I picked up the last 26 years. It was not random.

Except he predicted it would be 40 years in the future and the due date was never postponed.

By all means, feel free to disregard all other metrics that are non-hardware and are on schedule.

His speculations, ten years after they were made, are right on the money. So, he's a few grades above sci-fi.