This is nonsense. In 1982, the Internet was almost entirely government funded and run, and there were rather severe restrictions on what it could be used for, and what type of speech was allowed. For instance, any sort of commercial speech was restricted, it was difficult to be anonymous or even pseudonymous, and people could lose their connections, with little recourse, for being offensive. As usual, the "good 'ole days" where not as good as you falsely remember.

Well, without actually reading the article itself I'll venture an opinion of course. If you carried the fuel and lasers yourself it wouldn't be like the sailor blowing on his own sail at all; it's be like the sailor facing the stern and blowing his ship forward. That's because the ship would still be powered by the rearward expulsion of electrons.

The advantage of the system with an external laser is (I presume) that even though it is no doubt very energy inefficient, since all you're expelling is electrons the specific impulse would be quite high. This allows you to apply small amount of thrust, but continuously for a long time without the bulk of your payload being fuel. If you are going to carry the fuel needed to power the thrusters you might as well go with compact ion thrusters.

People have been predicting for years that self-driving cars will cause car ownership to plummet, as renting a car becomes cheaper than owning one. But that is not what Foxconn is doing. They are just renting normal electric cars. You still have to drive them. This doesn't really compete with taxis. It just competes with gas powered rental cars. It isn't even news, since they have been renting electric cars for a few years already. They are just expanding to some additional cities.

Lithium is not particularly toxic. It occurs naturally in seawater, and it is a necessary trace element for human life. Most people would benefit from having a little more in their diet and/or drinking water, and their have been proposals to add small amounts to drinking water to improve health.

I figured this out when I was like seven years old. You just hook up one of these to a space ship and fly straight to Jupiter.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...

Or in the sense of adding a spoiler and neon running lights to a beat up Honda Civic "might be really cool"?

Oh, you've seen my whip. Pretty badass, huh?

Not forever, as black holes don't last forever. They evaporate due to Hawking radiation.

I hire people all the time and I've had to say no to great candidates who wanted more money than we could pay. I've also turned away applicants who thought they were worth more than they were. Most companies have a budget and they aren't going to exceed it. They know what local market rates are (unless they are idiots) and are unlikely to pay you more than that. If you live where I do you probably aren't going to get a six figure salary as a programmer but the cost of living is a LOT lower than in Silicon Valley so the net result is often better.

That is VERY unusual. Most employment negotiations do not go anything like that. I'm not a programmer but I do have two masters degrees, an accounting certification, and a lot of experience as an engineer and I've had times when it has been REALLY hard to find work better than flipping burgers. If you are luck enough that getting work hasn't been a problem, congratulations. Unfortunately that doesn't describe most of the working population.

Spoken like someone who has never been in a big financial or social hole or had a severe medical condition. Sometimes hard work and talent and making good decisions isn't enough. If you grow up in a depressed area with a poor family there is a non-trivial chance that opportunities are going to be hard to come by. Sometimes people have severe medical conditions that put them in a financial hole or make it difficult to work. Get sick and you might find yourself in a deep financial hole through no fault of your own. Sometimes you find yourself in a bad situation because someone ripped you off.

It's easy to say luck has nothing to do with it but that simply isn't true. It is a LOT easier to get opportunities if you are in a good financial position to start with. It's a lot easier to make money when you already have money. That isn't to say you can't make it if you don't have a silver spoon but it is a lot harder and that is a matter of luck. Being healthy is largely a matter of luck. My mother suffers from ALS and cannot work and that is NOT her fault. Your romantic notion that all that matter is hard work and fiscal discipline is a nice story but a false one.

At some point your old car is worth less than the minimum trade in price they will give you. The trick is to time it just right so that you roll on to the forecourt just as the engine chokes on the last drop of gas, and conclude the sale a few minutes before the wheels fall off.

This isn't 2009. Companies are desperate for talent, and they would be foolish to push away qualified applicants over something so silly.

I have sat on both sides of the interview table. I have never been asked for a paystub. I have never asked for one. I always ask "what are your salary expectations?" If I think it is a low ball, and I want to hire you, I will offer you ~10% more, and maybe another bump after 90 days, if you are good. If your salary expectation is reasonable, I will make a matching offer. If it is high, I will offer the low side of what I think you are worth, expecting you to negotiate up from there.

I don't believe in making techs negotiate for their salary, because my experience is that being able to negotiate well, and being a good coder, are not positively correlated. When hiring a salesperson, I negotiate hard, and expect them to push back equally hard, because a timid person is not right for the job.

I always ride my bicycle to car dealerships. Why would you buy a new car if your old one is still running?

The people collectively? Yes

Adelson owns among many things casinos, hotels, an Israeli newspaper.

So, what you're trying to say is that Sheldon Adelson is representative of people from other countries. Then we agree.

Those casinos, newspapers, investment management companies, etc. get money by selling things to customers, and not just other elite rich people customers.

So, what you're saying is, we have a "representative democracy" but it represents the people of a different country?

Great advice but not always possible. Sometimes life just isn't very kind to some people. Worst thing is it's pretty easy to get trapped

Everything you will ever achieve in your career will depend on other people. Learn to work well with others. If you have ambitions to achieve something noteworthy you are going to have to get a lot of people moving in the right direction. This is not easy but it is critical.