Do you have a reference for this?

All the bird related large aircraft (includes jet fighters) bird related crashes have been the result of flying into a flock of birds -- enough to clog the engine intake and cause the engine(s) to flame out.

... a bird. And airplanes hit birds on approach almost every day. Certainly every week.

N417SW SKYWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT SKW2608 BOMBARDIER CL600 AIRCRAFT ON FINAL, STRUCK BIRDS, LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT, DAMAGE TO AIRCRAFT IS MINOR, SACRAMENTO, CA
http://www.asias.faa.gov/pls/a...

UAVs (sometimes called "drones") shouldn't be operating around airports but the likelihood of one downing a transport category aircraft is just about zero.

That's sort of like saying you can't measure the area of a room using a tape measure

That's exactly like saying you can't measure the area of a room using a tape measure. And it's true, as you acknowledge.

Why do you object to writing with clarity and precision? Why do you resort to insults?

... sensors at each site will monitor climate change ...

Sensors can monitor only weather. They can monitor neither climate nor change. Both must be calculated from series of data points.

Of course it would be difficult to get a $433 million grant to monitor weather.

No posting on Slashdot about Net Neutrality without including what you think Net Neutrality is.

It is many things to many people. Most wrong.

What is it? I don't know. Tell me.

The post says, " ... the latest research estimates that U.S. mobile payments, currently at $3.7 billion, will grow to $142 billion within five years."

The Forrester research piece linked says, in fact ...
Over the next five years, US mobile payments will grow from $52 billion in 2014 to $142 billion by 2019 with both national brands and local merchants.

A speed of 800Gbps would equate to downloading 33 HD films â" in a single second.

I've never seen a $10,000 phone bill.

Separately but related, how much will the existing cell providers need to invest to upgrade their systems to 5G?

Also separately but related, will this make wired internet and cable (copper or fiber) obsolete?

... I'd get rid of football. It has nothing to do with education. It costs money that schools don't have (or so the teachers' unions and school boards tell us); it causes short term and long term health problems and it exposes school systems, school employees and taxpayers to expensive and potentially ruinous lawsuits.

All downside. No upside.

" ... Should we go back to paper ballots?"

Because we know that there have never been any missing votes or other irregularities with paper ballots.

... that the Firesign Theater was right.

Everything you know is wrong.

Over the years, the number of these predatory journals has exploded.

If the journal is the predator, who or what is the prey? Pray tell.

... access to remote areas of the world via hot air balloons.

These are not hot air balloons.

The inflatable part of the balloon is called a balloon envelope. A well-made balloon envelope is critical for allowing a balloon to last around 100 days in the stratosphere. Loonâ(TM)s balloon envelopes are made from sheets of polyethylene plastic, and they measure fifteen meters wide by twelve meters tall when fully inflated. When a balloon is ready to be taken out of service, gas is released from the envelope to bring the balloon down to Earth in a controlled descent. In the unlikely event that a balloon drops too quickly, a parachute attached to the top of the envelope is deployed.
http://www.google.com/loon/how...

... in Boston, it's Tuesday.

How would you tell?

Just move the president to Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom. No more fanciful than what passes for leadership inside the White House.

It's bad enough that everything we know is wrong (Firesign Theater), and that we don't know everything (even though there are those who think they do). It turns out that there's lots of important stuff that we used to know and have forgotten.

Now, where did I leave my keys?