...In Highly Evolved Species. Film at 11:00.

The only quibble I have in regard to your reply is the use of the word 'allowed'. That is a defeatist word no matter which side of the orange you're on.

Unfortunately, it will be reduced to this, as it has over recent history.

Software = Money, or Software != Money.

A too often ignored, third option, is that "There should be money in software."

I've been around IT for a looong time, and it's been only recently that there's been a complete crowding out of the middle ground.

I think the big corporations - ones like IBM, Oracle and SAP started it. Even through the personal computer revolution, they kept pushing high priced enterprise solutions that were, as we all know, products that any of us could create.

Eventually, it came down to the point that 'we' did. GNU, Linux, Apache, etc.

And it eventually came down to one extreme versus the other.

Some very good products with relatively modest goals got squeezed right out of the picture.

A good example is Delphi. This arose from Turbo Pascal which was very popular amongst computer enthusiasts, even though it cost around $40-$50 (about the same as a game).

But when the holy war came, it was not on any side.

It was demonstrably better than VB, and leagues beyond anything the open source community had to offer - well, at least until the Free Pascal related Lazarus project was created. And even that tends to lag behind, despite some intriguing platform options.

So, it appears at first they thought that they needed to be an enterprise product - and that failed for a lack of soulless corporate sales weasels.

Then they decided to court the open source community with a stripped version called Kylix. But they found out rather quickly that this community didn't like stripped down anythings - and, in any case, wouldn't pay much, if anything for anything.

Now finally, it's been bought up by Embarcadero but has gone back to the enterprise style pricing (which probably means you can get it for nothing if you buy their database tools)

I really long for time when we could buy good tools for a reasonable price, Buying or using Turbo Pascal was never a career threatening proposition, but it's really the sort of middle road that's no longer available.

So, with all that said, I do think this SCOTUS decision, while going to far for some, and not far enough for others, is a good step in the right direction of common sense. As I understand it, they said that just because it's on a computer does not mean it's novel.

Get 'em while they're hot. Official (looking) Redskin Jerseys.

We will also make complete Redskins uniforms for you little league team.

Call Q.T. Industries - Beijing.

It doesn't matter. A key point that seems to be missed here is that this county got an MRAP for $5,000. If they only ever use it to stand behind during stand offs it will have been worth the money.

I wrote a better Eliza clone back in the early '80's.

Me:

My dog has fleas.

Eugene Goostman:

No, we don't have a dog at home.

Me (circa 1982):

My dog has fleas.

SAI (stupid artificial intelligence):

Oh? Tell me more about your dog....

Busted in one. Who the hell were these judges?

Isn't UPS pretty much made up entirely of mailroom dudes?

Hydrogen tanks are real. Actually,every single piece of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are here. The Honda FCX clarity has been on roads for years and demo vehicles from many manufacturers are taking tours across Europe. Toyota's test vehicles even worked during the polar vortex influenced cold snap this last winter.

You're right about electricity though. It's very versatile. In fact, some day I hope to use it to generate hydrogen that I will use in my vehicle so I don't have to haul around 1,000lbs (the difference in weight between a Tesla Model S and a Honda FCX Clarity) worth of batteries.

Given that most of the people aboard the Hindenburg survived the disaster, perhaps it's not all that effective.

And proved that they could create, contain, and transport hydrogen over long distances - in the 1930s.

Yes, they have. Toyota has fired bullets at their fuel tank. They bounced off, just causing nicks. It took an armor piercing round to penetrate it. Then all that happened was that the hydrogen leaked out.

It's interesting that this engine is more powerful than the original Nissan Deltawing engine that ran at Le nMans in 2012. The ZEOD is probably lightweight like the Deltawing so it should be pretty impressive.

Well, that is, if it gets to run. There's a chance is may not be able to because Nissan is being sued by Deltawing. The chassis designer Ben Bowlby originally created the Deltawing but went to Nissan after his work on the Deltawing was complete. The Deltawing company claims ownership of the intellectual property that the claim is being infringed by the ZEOD. The case is likely to go to court before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, unless they settle.

NASA is still going strong. We just sold one of the A's.