> Money is a proxy here for the input/output ratio of resources, energy and labor.

You're ignoring the time factor. It's a valid proxy *when averaged over time*.

Not considering the time lag creates arguments like "don't invest in new science or technology if it's not immediately profitable". If people behaved this way universally, the various technology revolutions of the past would have never happened.

That's correct, there is no audible difference to a human between a 22kHz sine wave and a 22kHz any-other-shape periodic wave. Not to mention, no adult human can hear 22kHz anyway. I hear 16kHz. My 9-year-old can hear 19kHz. Get a frequency generator app and test yourself -- it's fascinating.

I think the word you're looking for is "diarrhetic". You see, one involves excessive pooping, whilst the other is for excessive urination. A subtle distinction, yes, but nevertheless an important one. The fact that these words are homophones is just a happy coincidence of linguistics.

You're arguing a false dichotomy. My made-up guy is neither Goofus nor Gallant -- he has the skills of Gallant, plus the initiative to do more. That's who I look for in my hires.

Goofus is a per-hour contractor -- you buy his time. Gallant is a per-piece contractor -- you buy his output. In an employee, I want neither -- I want someone who feels like they're part of the mission, and can identify work that needs to be done without some manager handing it to them. People who can do this well deserve to get paid more, get promotions, and still manage to keep a 40-hour week -- plus they get a sense of meaningful ownership of what they do.

They're both bad employees. The best employee is the one who does all his work in an hour, maybe takes a little break and has a snack, then says "Hey Boss, this took less time than expected. What else can I help with?". Your view expects the boss to know everything about all of his staff's work, which frankly is an outdated view outside of manufacturing and other simple, easily measurable areas. In today's complex "knowledge worker" (or pick your favorite buzzword) environment, employees tend to know more than their boss about the details of their work . . . which is a Good Thing (tm), as it increases everyone's capacity for meaningful work.

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age." -- H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

QUICK, STOP ALL SCIENCE

Sounds like a very expensive donkey/mule replacement. Why not just use real animals?

> pro-U.S. propaganda: The Russian space program sucks.

I remember when I learned (well into adulthood) that the Russians had landed probes on Venus, and even sent photographs back from the surface. I was obsessed with space travel as a kid in the 80s, and really feel like that was kept hidden from me as an American student.

I would donate too, and I'm not even american nor live there.

Those trillion dollars would create a lot of jobs building a thing like this.

Or all those billions going to the moon were wasted and nothing good came out of it?

I'd settle for decent shelf space at the local book stores.

As I see it, sci-fi get relegated to the bottom shelf on a hidden corner of the store, while esoterism, alternative medicines crap, and the latest celebrity endorsed diet gets to the front window.

I don't need huge total volume, I just want blisteringly fast for shortish periods.

In other words, porn.

Most of Google's business model is based on Internet-based client-server interaction. The faster people's connections are, the better their core products work.

Since the state of high-speed internet in the US today is basically an abusive oligopoly, Google has a huge interest in changing that market for the better.