the FB/Oculus Rift news?

"But good old Ford has been using VR all along without much fanfare".

Exactly.

I thought about your 1) but concluded no, because when companies do this, they acquire proven companies with a predictable revenue stream. Oculus is burning money and their business model relies on a bunch of people adopting new behaviors for interacting with their computers. A killer VR app is needed to make this work, even among the hardcore gamer market. FB is not the killer app for VR, so...there must be much more to this story we don't know yet for this to be the case..

For 2) I think this is on the right track and would add that if Oculus had an IP portfolio that provided licensable tech, AND there was a giant, burgeoning VR market about to explode, then there'd be even more weight for this scenario. Not sure Oculus had that key IP, however.

But given the huge amount of money paid--for a hardware company with no market share in a nearly non-existent market, I think about 40x too much--FB either bought a toy they wanted to make sure came to market, or they aren't done with acquisitions and the other shoe has yet to drop.

If FB wants to somehow integrate into a VR-type environment, then I think FB acquired the wrong company, and they should have courted CastAR. The CastAR device, being potentially highly mobile inside with smartphone hookup, and in AR mode, allows you to walk about, integrates into an environment is far more friendly to the kinds interaction FB provides. Either way, however, CastAR benefits by Oculus' success, as the vast majority of users still need to be convinced that VR or AR is a worthy thing. 'Foculus Rift' blazes that trail and CastAR grows alongside as the market does.

So as long as it doesn't bother you, you think it is ok that the government abandons due process, checks and balances. Who the fuck are you?

Why should you believe your systems aren't infected? You must believe the NSA was savvy enough to employ agents undermine open source cryptography but too stupid to use agents or other means to undermine your malware/virus protection. But you aren't supposed to care, anyway, because you are a boring nobody. So why do you even comment? You have nothing insightful to add because you are nobody and are only thinking in terms of your own little world and the systems you use. This doesn't affect you, so shut the fuck up.

You plea for trust demonstrates your complete lack of understanding about our government system, the purpose of checks and balances, the entire judicial process, the purpose of elections, sunshine laws, government oversight committees, the entire Bill of Rights. Get a fucking clue and quit this pathetic shilling.

The US government is explicitly built on a foundation of distrust and for damn good reason.

Do you know why there is news every day? Because the quantity of information leaked by Snowden is overwhelming. Furthermore, the scope of the violations is beyond all measure. We would do less, and care less if all this were released at once.

The information is dribbled out, little by little, because we Americans have a short attention span and if it were all released at once, we'd be interested only until the next celebrity break-up, or Superbowl, or Oscar night, or terrorist bombing, or jet-liner gone missing.

The slow leaks also provides ropes for which government employees and politicians to hang themselves. There is still uncertainty about what information Snowden took, and government denials will continue to pour out, only to be revealed as lies as Snowden's information comes to light. We should be thankful for the wisdom in the dribbles.

Your position is common but Machiavellian, and extraordinarily short-sighted.

A primary underlying principal of our government, found throughout the Constitution, is that the processes of justice, law-making, and enforcement must be fair. This same principal does not guarantee fair outcomes. Checks and balances, search warrants, innocent until proven guilty, 5th amendment rights, equal protection clause, etc, are all part of processes designed to protect the innocent and ensure a fair process of enforcement and prosecution of the law. Those processes are full of checks and balances and redress, designed to prevent the exact kinds of abuses the NSA has secretly circumvented.

You are endorsing illegal procedures for all in fear of a handful of terrorists. Anonymous Coward, indeed.

When the government decides, as you have come out in favor, to put aside fair processes in favor of desirable outcomes, it replaces this core principal with "the ends justify the means". In such a Machiavellian guided government, *anything* can be justified. Like assassinating American citizens overseas with drones, spying on millions of Americans, suspension of habeas corpus, stop and frisk, etc.

Your short-shortsightedness ignores the NSA's potential for abuse and the weakening of security for all. You presume the NSA is employing only trustworthy citizens that would not take advantage of their unique powers in order to aid and promote their political affiliations, or enrich themselves through surreptitiously gained information. Evidence already shows your assumption to be wrong, in contradiction to your assertion. If you do not pay attention to the news, perhaps you should research more before posting. But, assume for the moment that there has been no abuse. In your wonderful fantasy of government employees never abusing their powers, why should there be any checks and balances, search warrants, habeas corpus, trials by jury, etc? After all, these things are only necessary if we assume human weakness also affects government employees.

Finally, your anonymous post suggests you may not be real, not interested in exploring the issue, but instead, may be a government astroturfer.

Your "oops" probably speaks more truth about what happened to a lot of MtGox victims than you realize. In the US, at least, we've grown accustomed to the nanny state with the government always promising to protect us from fraud. So I have to assume that, although there were plenty of warning signs that MtGox was seriously flawed and unwilling to correct their issues, people assumed they would be protected in some manner *other than the security they gave up that was built into the bitcoin design).

His statement makes sense. Learn the difference between the dollar and the NYSE and you might begin to understand his statement.

Wrong. BC can act very effectively as digital currency without any legal tender being introduced into the system. There are plenty of non-tangible information and services that are available that can be exchanged through a commonly agreed upon crytpo-currency. That anyone should decide to also exchange a digital currency for government backed currency is hardly a necessity and does not make it a pyramid scheme. Your argument applies just as effectively to the stock market as it does to BC. i.e, it doesn't apply.

Your personally smug generational bias only diminishes any points you have hoped to make.

Most of our GA aircraft are based on designs that haven't changed in 50 years or more. There is an aircraft in development aimed squarely at many of the shortcomings of the old designs, flying 5-7 with the space and comfort of an automobile, at higher speeds than typical GA aircraft (200+kts) and with fuel economy better than most cars on the road (40mpg): http://www.synergyaircraft.com/technical.html

In each of these scenarios, what regulations do you expect, specifically, and for what purpose? Please explain as you offer nothing but your expectation as opinion. Regulation is not the default expectation any of us should have. It must be justified in all cases.

when you make so much more money when it is fat?

Do this but first, eliminate the minimum wage. Then start with universities, medical professionals, lawyers, and civil employees, making the ratio adjusted by some index, so that it can increase as the economy becomes robust and contract as the economy weakens. Let that percolate a few years and see how it goes.

I concur. My '64 Falcon's rear wheel dropped in a drainage ditch while I was turning onto a road and the car bottomed out. I didn't know I busted the gas tank until I got to the store a half mile away. Gas leaking into a big puddle. No kaboom. Was probably more dangerous sitting in the puddle of gas at the grocery store. Should have called the fire dept, but instead got the kitty litter, pushed the car away from the big puddle and was able to drive it back home on what gas remained.

This is going to be tough for Tesla now that the feds are involved, and I can relate. My alternative fuel car, based on a glyceryl trinitrate fuel, would be blowing the Tesla off the road if it weren't for a minor fuel storage and shock absorber problem. Damn feds with their quibbly little safety regulations won't even let me drive the prototype on public roads. Progress is not about perfection.