Why? Microsoft has a long history of hiring many top researchers, and then doing very little with the results. It is much better for those researchers to be more productively employed elsewhere. The researchers will have little trouble finding new positions in Silicon Valley, where talent is in high demand.

I happen to have written large-scale commercial videogames in C++ for most of my career. I've worked with lots of people, many smarter than me, and I don't recall anyone talking about how their programming work was "ridiculously easy". I'm glad everything is so simple for you, but apparently we're not all so fortunate.

I have used both 3D printers, and a Sherline table-top CNC. The amount of operator skill needed for CNC is far higher. You need to be able to plan and code the specific sequence of steps, the spindle speed, gear backlash etc. You need to know about cutting fluids, metallurgy, work hardening, when to use "climb" milling, etc. Even after ten years I still learn something new every time I talk to an experienced machinist.

Since I work from home now and had to get a bit more serious about my data storage, I bought a Synology Diskstation, and have been quite happy with it. I was a bit worried because I'm more experienced with Windows than Linux by far, but they've got a great web-based interface and hide any sort of complexity, and it connects easily enough to Windows, Mac, and Linux machines.

The Synology has a nice backup program let's me to back up data to an Amazon S3 account. Since it's pay by data volume, and I'm only storing a few GB of code and assets, my monthly bill runs about ten cents a month. My local data is backup up to my NAS, and my NAS backs up to my S3 account. I figure I'm probably pretty well protected that way.

I can't compete with those racks in the linked article, though. My NAS box sits on a desk and has about the footprint of one of those phones, and it doesn't have nearly as many sexy blinking lights and exposed patch cables. Ah well.

It can't form complex machines. Guns and explosives have chemicals, moving parts. It doesn't work that way. But it can form solid shapes. Knives and stabbing weapons.

Unless you're willing to spend 16 years to get there

The states have been regulating comercial car sales new and used for a long time now. In fact, ghey do it for most major purchases. I do not see why anyone should be able to skirt that. Perhaps that is reason enough.

I suggest you read the GPs comment who didn't mention Tesla then take your balogna and put it between a couple slices of bread then eat it.

I never said bar is bound to a dealership. Ford and the rest are because of it though. This is after all, what the GP was griping about.

Because if Tesla can sell direct, then so can Ford, GM, Toyota, etc. In a decade, there will be no car dealerships, except for used car lots.

Baloney. Tesla never sold any franchise rights. Other recent entrants only established franchises because they were required to do so. It is reasonable to have laws regulating how franchises work, so small dealers don't get unfairly crushed after they build the market. It is not reasonable to require a manufacturer to establish dealer franchises.

They weren't really even 'countries' until the west came in, drew borders, and told the nomadic populations they were now citizens of a country.

It isn't cutting them down to say this. Probably the old nomdic ways of life on the arabian penensula, to focus on one area, were very rewarding for those who lived it. If the west would butt out, which might be the only solution to the problem, then let the local peoples settle their differences and then reach out for what they want, not what outsiders say they need, many problems might be resolved.

Concerning the Cretaceous, there is a critical factor you have not considered. The so-called fossil fuels (i.e. carbon laid down by land plants eons ago) was deposited in the Carboniferous, i.e. around 300 million years ago - i.e. before the dinosaurs.

Correct. But atmospheric carbon concentrations were actually lower during most of the Carboniferous era and reached 2000 ppm only at the beginning. And no matter how much we try, we can't actually burn all the fossil fuel deposited during the Carboniferous era because much of it has become inaccessible. There was no runaway greenhouse effect and complex, multicellular life was doing just fine during the Carboniferous era.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide reached 2000 ppm again during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Again, there was no runaway greenhouse effect and complex land animals were doing just fine. And that period was recent enough that there were no significant differences in solar radiation.

"... even if we burned all of it, we'd still be on a livable planet (where do you think fossil fuel came from?)"

As I have demonstrated, it is fallacious to assert that because the fossil fuel was once non-fossil, and living things got along just fine, that it would be OK if the carbon were once again in the biosphere - what's the big deal?

My statement is correct: if burned all of the fossil fuel, we'd probably get to about 2000 ppm, the planet would be perfectly livable (and probably quite pleasant). Your calculation totaled up totally irrelevant carbon sources.

If only they'd had another few million years of evolution before getting slammed by that hunk of space rock,

The problem dinosaurs had was that they had adapted to a stable climate and therefore couldn't deal with climate change; that's why they died out when the climate finally did change.

Mammals and humans succeeded precisely because we are capable of adapting to rapidly changing conditions. That's why we have well regulated body temperatures, strong immune systems, and big brains.

Because they sold the rights to sell those items with restrictions on competition (franchises called dealerships) in various areas of the states and laws have been created to both enforce those rights and restrictions and protect the consumers from the fraudulent acts of unaccountable people.

And actually, they likely can deliver right to your door, they will do it the same way 1800 flowers does business and use a local dealer as the intermediary who actually procures the vehicle and delivers it. I'm not sure how they can get around dealer markup so it will likely cost. I know there are some dealerships that will deliver purchased cars to your front door. Some will even pick up and return vehicles for maintenance and repairs ( I saw both when I was in New Jersey- Ford, Mercedes, and I think it was Audi. there may be more)