he gets a boost in star status with NDT, https://www.facebook.com/neild...

hey you forgot to mention we will be on Mars 20 years from now and we will have fusion power plants in 10 years (been said for past 50 years). And we're 15% into the 21st century, where's the flying cars? oh wait we have a few of those roadable airplanes.

Speaking of traffic, there are times in Silicon Valley where traffic is really bad. Alrighty so lets create alternatives to roads and cars. Talking with someone (who is very pro uber) the other day who had compelling argument against high speed rail (very expensive and slow compared to airlines), against cabs (it's driven by lobbyists who are convincing govts to outlaw uber), and busses (most underutilized and made prohibitively expensive by the unions). I was thinking, "well crap, we will never get alternative transportations to the car or the airplane with this mode of thinking that shoots down any alternates (with exception of unobtainium concepts)."

Commerce whether it be transportation or high speed internet (which I've read Seattle is poor at both) is important. Kind of like logistics for military forces. Might have the best of the best but if not a good logistics infrastructure (all that boring stuff like food, water, fuel) then only good for parades.

who just doesn't get it? I casually read reddit like I do slashdot though lots more stuff on reddit (too much, I can't keep up with it all). It seems interesting stuff there but a huge time pit to read and digest it all. Plus have to filter out usual BS.

I was hoping to find a subreddit on specific technical subjects where I can find useful information like in the usenet days.

For past 50 years, Mars has been 20 years away. In 60s, they say people will be on Mars in the 80s. In 80s, they say people will be on Mars in the 00s. Well it's 2010s and they say people will be on Mars in 2030s. Cmon you all, don't you see a pattern here?

I know of some people will go nutzoid if their social media site goes down for a lengthly period of time. Really. They will get very angry or agitated and they will be a burden during a crisis when others are trying to mitigate the situation. Reminds me of what this guy who went through a escape and evasion course in the Army said remember the "threes." You can't survive no more than 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food (i.e. first get out of extreme environment of cold or heat, then look for water before looking for food). Nowadays replace shelter with Facebook/Twitter/etc.

well I am getting really tired of this two-party, two-modes of thinking, NFL style mentality. This concept of only two teams like football, you are either with one or the the other (no other choices). And like football, you can only cheer or boo but really have no idea what their game plans are (you see them huddle before the play but that's it). The whole concept of multiple voices and combining different options of running societies is so mysterious for most people. And like football there is only two tiers of people: Rich and poor. You are either in one or the other. SF illustrates this as housing is very expensive, or there is the Tenderloin.

Exactly. You have to have a house for a charging station, and unless you are very wealthy or bought one in 20th century, you ain't gonna get a house in Silicon Valley. For me living in a condo, EV is only a spectator item for me. There may be some fortunate people in townhouses where they can have charging stations, my garage simply does not have that infrastructure. Other than that EVs are good for typical cars as 95% of my driving is within 100 miles range per day.

I imagine must take André Borschberg discipline to concentrate on flying and make a good landing after all this time. Then be able get a hot shower and a good meal while sitting at the table!

What if you don't pay the bill? I would think they'd simply disconnect or do they send goons to garnish your wages?

Overall in the big picture it seems less people are watching television as many viewers spend time in front of the computer or on their phones. But yet broadcasters seem to still be raking in the big bucks, my perception is they replace all their video equipment every three years (and some of that stuff is ***expensive*** but where does the old stuff go? I'd love to get one of those HD cameras).

ugh, I'm getting more tempted to cut comcast but where I'm situated there is not much option for OTA. Network TV sucks, but I tune into NDT's Startalk. PBS is nice (I donate money to help further the cause), I need to evaluate if I can receive them OTA. TCM seems to be repeating same stuff over and over, occasionally they will show obscure movies (i.e. George Raft story that also starred Barrie Chase, Julie London, and Jayne Mansfield).

For highspeed internet and where I'm at it seems only option is Xfinity (no DSL in my area). Which most of us scream about lack of choices, and the other thread of state govts prohibiting local cities from establishing their own ISPs. I noticed city of Santa Clara (I don't live in that area) has free wifi which seems to work much better than Google in Mountain View (which is worse than dialup).

I somehow have this feeling they will still be making a stink about same sex marriages. i.e. Candidates on the right still making a stink about ACA even after numerous SCOTUS rulings.

as featured in Dick Tracy comics, i.e. what looks like "nuclear powered flying garbage cans?" just asking.

from http://www.projectrho.com/publ...
quote:
I'll believe in people settling Mars at about the same time I see people setting the Gobi Desert. The Gobi Desert is about a thousand times as hospitable as Mars and five hundred times cheaper and easier to reach. Nobody ever writes "Gobi Desert Opera" because, well, it's just kind of plonkingly obvious that there's no good reason to go there and live. It's ugly, it's inhospitable and there's no way to make it pay. Mars is just the same, really. We just romanticize it because it's so hard to reach.
end quote.

but if those HDs fail I am toast. I've copied some of the files to other sources. They seem to be running pretty good after all these years in addition to a couple older laptops. It's just backing up is tedious (and yes I read the post about HD failure 5 minutes after, "I'll back up later, too busy right now."). I've tried to connect external drives but getting the PCs to recognize them is difficult. All these devices are not connected to internet (and have never crashed since I've left them offline). There is option of going to NSA as they "backup everything" but my legacy systems are not connected to internet and NSA systems are like cockroach traps (can go in, but never come out). Reminds me regarding backup systems, can you get your files from it? Many companies have routine backup networks but it's horribly bureaucratic trying to get information from the backup HDs.

Let's say polls were way off resulting in newspapers with headline errors. But the printed newspaper has gone wayside along with all those "hard to reach" people on landlines. However there is the internet. I did a screen grab of news website a week or two after the 2012 election that has a Romney infotainment article on the side, "we're confident we will win this election."