Wait! What world is that? I live in Nawth Ca'lina, where Duke Power is king. And coal ash is good for the roses. Where, now that almost all the shallow water wells are contaminated with fuel, chemicals and fertilizers, they're now targeting the deep aquifers with fracking. Yeah, THAT Nawth Ca'lina. And obviously not part of your world at all, alas.

I'll admit Hollywood and artists have given us some wonderfully scary imagery of the killer robots of the future:

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-i...
http://ockhamsbeard.files.word...

But I suspect the real future will be more like:

http://www.wired.com/images_bl...

Or the much less vulnerable and maintainable:

http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2...

Coupled with thermal imagery, a simple AI to identify sneaking human patrols, and (at least at first) a go/no go command from some Private Tentpeg hunkered down in a bunker or OP somewhere. Trust me on this: I've BEEN that Private Tentpeg .. and later, his supervisor. It isn't far, in the front lines, from a tripwire connected to a hand grenade" to a much more complicated (and even more lethal) machine. How much "intelligence" will be vested in that machine is just a quibble. Trip wires aren't smart at all, yet we've never hesitated to use them.

I'd have KILLED for some of that source! But today? Naaaah ...

that stupidity isn't painful. Add to that, greed.

One of the biggest "Doh!" moments lately. I can't believe some consider this news.

"The screen flickered back on. I was reborn, standing naked in an empty field, holding only a rock. Not far away I saw a man gathering wood, his back to me. I crept toward him through the grass. He didn’t hear me slinking closer.

I thought of the words of John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach, who once said that the true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.

I raised my rock above my head."

Since the slowing or cessation of dune / ridge formation started about 2800 years ago (according to one paper), one might want a little more evidence before blaming it all on the Conquistadors or the following Spanish occupiers.

Works on World of Warcraft chat .. and presumably on Internet forums as well.

"(1) COMPARE PRODUCT-NO (A) WITH PRODUCT-NO (B) ; IF GREATER GO TO OPERATION 10 ;
IF EQUAL GO TO OPERATION 5 ; OTHERWISE GO TO OPERATION 2 .
(2) TRANSFER A TO D ."

What's wrong (if useless is wrong) with this code?

Godz, I can't believe I'm trying to correct Hopper's code!

But but but but ... the PILOT does! Which leads us to the conclusion ...

Hmmm .. down to five ads, and three of them are red (and blocked)! Interesting.

My system caught 8! [phthththth!]

But they're all Green, no worries.

" Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.

—Tanenbaum, Andrew S. (1989). Computer Networks. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. p. 57. ISBN 0-13-166836-6. "

I know! The title to this thread is sexist as hell!

Actually they're readily available, even in civilian circles:

http://www.inertproducts.com/i...

The above site is HUGELY overpriced, of course; the mine manufacturers could put out inert mines very cheaply if they wished. Most armed forces already have them, used for mine warfare training all the time.

But there may be other and better solutions. Not necessarily the goats in another comment, but maybe things like honeybees:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/ar...