Since I don't have the $ just to try it out, can someone explain to me where the designs come from that the printer prints? Are the patterns printer specific? Are there standard formats used, like autocad or something? Everyone understands how a 2d printer works. 99% (grabbed out of thin air) of the net is 2d, but I'd love to print 3d objects. I play D&D. Even though it would be expensive, I'd to be able to print 3d versions of monsters mini's. I know it would kill wotc's miniture market, but I'm tired of using at best pictures on cardboard stock taking up the same amount of space. It'd be sweet to print up the # of missing minis for what the encounter called for or print up the dungeon/village/or terran where the fight was taking place.

Someday a war will happen just like it did on BSG. The enemy will flip a switch and turn off all the vehicles.

I'd recommend doing something fun regardless of what language.

If you are fine with Java or .Net, try out http://robocode.sourceforge.net/

I know I'd love to write code as a kid to battle other players.

I learned most of my programing as a kid by picking apart other code. I learned on a trs80 loading up basic games and then in my teenage years, tweaking code for BBS sites when 1200 baud was awesome.

And this is why e-voting should be killed off. FB is something that is neutral. Employers and employees don't have any issues talking about why they want or don't want to reveal profiles. Overseeing someone's e-voting is taboo at the moment because for decades that hasn't been an option. Give it a generation and we'll have Tuesday Church Services where everyone who goes to your church is expected to attend for a voting party, where the computers are not hidden behind curtains and your neighbors can look over your shoulder. We'll have some straglers who claim they can't go to their Church event because their boss wants them to do the same. They'll tell their boss that their Church requires them to be there and since bosses don't want to run afowl of the 1st amendment, they'll let them go saying 'bring a print out to work.' When in reality they go home where their spouse watches over their shoulder instead and then as they doctor up a screen shot so their boss doesn't know they voted.

"The secret of a great success for which you are at a loss to account is a crime that has never been found out, because it was properly executed." by -Honore de Balzac which is normally paraphrased as 'Behind every great fortune there is a crime'. Thus the only way an honest man can get into congress is if a corrupt man helps him get there. Which leads into this quote "Now and then an innocent man is sent to the legislature." by Kin Hubbard (1868-1930)

People seem to be focused on the piracy aspect of the story and I focused on the 'fan' aspect. Something that is going on with Kickstarter as of this week is Order of the Stick, a free online web comic, that has blown away its goals multiple times in the first week of the kickstarter. That is the power of fans. The product is free on the web, but yet fans are tripping over themselves to get out of print material back in stores.

Our War on germs is going to get us killed. Soap and water are enough. Anything more and we risk making the places where we really need more (hospitals) breeding factories for superbugs. Oh wait, that is what is happening. Stop eliminating superbugs competition. If those keyboards are wiping out 2/3s the germs, I bet 1/2 of the germs or more were good germs. I remember reading an article years ago, no clue on the current state, where some research doctors were trying out putting yogurt on their hands after washing to make sure their hands were protected by a protective layer of good germs.

I don't care how good machines get there are certain 'service' jobs for humans that will always be in demand. ;)

Seriously though, I was thinking of MMOs recently and the market for them. For the most part the target market is people who've had their lives made easier by machines. I can't see a machine coming up with all that World of Warcraft is.

The day that machines can come up with Facebook or World of Warcraft or the iPad or a best selling novel is when we have to worry. Machines that invent or create art are problem

What I'd like is, if all appeals fail, an option to end ones life behind bars. Some people would take that option rather than being locked up for the rest of their life. I make the stipulation of 'all appeals fail' because as evidenced by all the exonerations from DNA many people are in prison innocently. There are many cases were someone is serving a life sentence and there was no physical evidence. No DNA to get them out of jail.

My father was one. He was given 30 years and died of cancer after 12 years. There was no physical evidence. Only the word of a 3 year old.

Back in December, I moved to Darnassus. I think it's the right place for me. It is very environmentally friendly. To quote a friend of mine "I love Darnassus... trees everywhere." I highly recommend moving there, Diane. That said, there are some horrible little neighbors to the south east. They say things like

"One word: plastics."

"Yes, I'm a gold digger... and copper and silver."

"If at first you don't succeed: blow it up again."

"Skip to step three: profit."

Needless to say these little annoying nats cause all sorts of environmental issues. Still, come to Darnassus for a small subscription fee.

I guess I'm contributing to the decline; however I want to have kids now. I had a vasectomy years ago when I was with a partner who didn't want kids. I've since then found someone that I want to have kids with, but 2 reversals later the odds are still not good. (pretty much nil because of low mobility) I'm the only child of an only child. If I ever can have kids, I probably will only have one. If something happens to me or if I have a kid, only to lose it, no one is going to care about our family tree. The family stories I tell will not live long after I die. Everything I care about and everything my ancestors cared about is going to be lost. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter, but at an individual level, a family level, it hurts emotionally. You don't think it will when you are young, but the older I get the more it does. You look around at everything you have (physically or mentally) and want it to go on in some fashion.

I agree. I do not have a degree. I dropped out to put my exwife through college. I had a drive to succeed. The bonus of having two parents that went into law and my dad being a work-aholic by only sleeping for 4 hours while maintaining 3 jobs for 25 years (lawyer in the morning, pc repairmain in the afternoon, sleep for 4 hours, and then work a night shift at NASA working on mainframes.) I'm making decent money. My ex-wife however did get a degree and then did nothing with it.

One has to have the desire, the craving, to succeed. A degree will not give you that.

I found this article humorous

Basically make as much as someone with a Harvard degree, get paid to go to school and retire making 85% of your working income as a prison guard in CA.

No wonder CA has budget problems.....

Besides, for every success there are many that failed. People that don't conform are just another means to succeed. It is a gamble. If it works, great, but more likely than not, it won't work. Companies do want that sort of person, but they won't throw their entire budget at hiring them. They'll gamble in small doses.

gps and car wrecks Lets hope we weed out some of humanity when they blindly follow their tech. Seriously though lets view it like viruses. There is no single virus that will wipe out humanity. We've grown too large. No matter the change, some where people will be isolated from it. Our tech reliance isn't going to affect us on a species level. This is a cultural issue.