The movie was, and is, utterly un-watchable crap. And this is coming from someone who enjoys the occasional "so bad it's good" romp.

Anyone who falls for this deconstructionist drivel is a fool.

Not only do they have a long track record of reasonable, methodical engineering & development, Urban Aero has the *ONLY* design with promising practical characteristics, coupled with no showstopping requirements for "maybe in ten years" technologies.

THIS will be the first practical "flying car", if you must call it that.

Http://www.urbanaero.com

You, sir, are an idiot.

Do a little actual historical research ... visit a library. Ever hear of the Wright B Flyer??

1910. Their FIFTH practical design. (Flyers I, II, and III, Model A, Model B) Landing gear, elevator at the rear, capable of carrying a PASSENGER, and produced in quantity, not a "one-off" experiment. Sold under contract to various branches of the U.S. military. And you can take a ride on one anytime you like at the Wright Brothers airport in south Dayton, Ohio.

Furthermore, in the years between 1903 & 1910, the Wrights flew ALL THE TIME around the Huffman Prairie fields, just a couple of miles outside of the Dayton city limits. ANYONE could lean against the fence & watch them go. (Again, do some light reading on the subject.)

"Secretive"? Hardly.

The resource that is lacking is WILL.

Call it "political will" ... "moral fortitude" ... whatever. Once the tech is available, the only thing preventing any group from making a large project like this happen is the will to do it. Which is precisely why we probably WILL have a Mars mission (manned) by 2033 ... but it WILL NOT be the government doing it.

Private enterprise has the will, the stated goal, is gathering the money, and refining the tech. Elon Musk is not the only one, either.

People routinely OVERestimate how difficult this will be once the will is in-place.

(Note: having the will to "do it" includes the acceptance of the RISK involved. Kinda like Everest climbers and cave divers.)

... features Lotus Notes and a machine gun.

It is the finest available.

Hey, my fellow Slashdotters!

Unfortunately, I have a last-minute obligation with one of my kids, and I will not be in Columbus tomorrow. Hopefully you several folks will still meet to hoist a pint in honor of the 15th! We didn't rate 15-year shirts, unfortunately (not enough sign-ups) but if anyone still wants a 10-year shirt (only XL) I will be happy to give you all one. (You can contact me via the email address listed for the party, or just through Slashdot.

HAPPY 15th SLASHDOT!

>Fascism: the merger of corporate and state interests.

Huh?

Where did you get this definition, or did you just make it up? Or did you transcribe it from the "Peoples Microphone" last summer in NYC?

I will check. Actually, I believe all of the 10-year tees I have are the same size ... it is either XL or 2XL. (Sorry for the lack of variety ... but it's been five years!) :-)

Look forward to seeing everyone at Barley's.

By the way ... although the system didn't seem to add it to the "official" party info ... I created a Columbus-specific hashtag:

#Slashdot15Columbus

Hey all!

I hosted a 10-year party, and have the t-shirts to prove it! The first five (5) people to sign-up (and show up) get a FREE 10-year t-shirt, in addition to the 15-year shirts (assuming we get some).

I will probably come up with something for us to do to commemorate ... at the 10 year party we brought 'unearthed dot-com era' items ... such as a genuine CueCat in it's original WIRED box! (ooohhh ... ahhhhh)

Of course, the selected venue offers good micro-brews (necessary for any respectable geek gathering). It will be happy hour, so beer is discounted and their (excellent) burgers are 1/2 price.

Feel free to email me with suggestions or questions.

Happy Birthday, /.

*sigh*

I get tired of pointing these guys out ... but if you do your homework you will realize they are the real deal ... and they are not rushing anything just to get some cheap PR. Eventually, I am confident they will succeed:

http://www.urbanaero.com

These guys have it just about there.
Won't be the vehicle for "everyman" ... but (a la Blade Runner) the military, police, fire & rescue, diplomats, etc, etc.

http://www.urbanaero.com

I have worked in the belly of this very beast ... and although much wisdom has been shared in this thread, the true solution can be found right here:

http://programming-motherfucker.com/