When my office was "re-aligned" under another division we were also moved to another building and went from 10x12 cubes with windows to a basement bullpen. The first thing I did was get a screen filter for my computer monitor, the second thing I did was start taking all of my phone calls on speaker. I also encouraged others in my area to do similar.

2 Months later we had brand new office furniture including cubicles. Only 8x8 this time, but still much better than the open room format.

I imagine if I were a "popular" author I would put my older, lesser producing works into a service like this. Let someone who recognizes your name but has never read your books read something that represents your style, but isn't your current top moneymaker. Then if they decide "hey, this Stephen King fella is actually pretty good" they can buy your other works individually.

Was it mentioned if an author has to put ALL of their books into this service? I can't tell you how many times a friend loaned me the first book in a series and I bought the rest. If you put 1/3rd of your catalog into a service like this and people are exposed to your work, then they may buy the stuff that isn't in this service. It's just another form of advertising, only this one pays you instead of the other way around.

I think you are glossing over a not insignificant group that reads books, but doesn't pay. Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Spotify have proven that if it is cheap enough and convenient enough, many people who previously chose illicit methods can be converted to paying customers.

Wasn't there some kind of study that when people were presented with a positive choice that favors someone else, and a negative choice that is "fair" they choose the negative (e.g. I will give you a dollar, but I give all of your friends two dollars, or I give no-one any money).?

Someone should tell Brandon Sanderson before he finishes the Stormlight Archive. At his current trajectory, the last book in the series may be 10k pages.

Perhaps they should also be allowed to block cell phones so that you will have to make use of your hotel phone. And of course ban outside food and drink so you will need to eat from their restaurant or vending machines. Make sure you also don't bring your own towel to the pool or your own sunscreen, that would be stealing from the hotel.

Since it would be brand new infrastructure, I'm waiting for the whining posts about how Cubans in shacks made from discarded garage doors have gigabit internet access for $1/mo when Americans in Key West (50 miles away) have to make due with 5mbit DSL for $60/mo.

The Frankfurt airport already tries their best to make travel unpleasant. This is the only airport I have seen that pats everyone down after going through the scanners. Both times that I went through this airport with my wife they took her to a private room to disrobe because her "bra wire" was setting off the alarm. Funny how that never happens anywhere else.

Despite the fact that I am coming from another country in the EU, they always force us to de-plane on the tarmac in front of the gate, then shuttle us to the international terminal where we get to go through customs and security again. This has caused me to miss more than one connection despite having only an hour layover (again coming from and going to EEA countries).

We always complain about the TSA and American security theatre. Well Frankfurt has them beat by a mile.

And those great paying jobs that are necessary, but distasteful or difficult... they can be performed by multiple people.

I wouldn't mind being a garbage man or sanitation worker if I only had to do it 1 day per week and had the best gear and support equipment money can buy.

Even in utopia, where everything is provided for, there will still be an elite. Someone has to be first in line (unless all products are instantly available in any quantity). Someone will need to possess the one of a kind artworks or antiques. Property will always be a necessity.

Perhaps in utopia having a job allows you to have more children and live in a bigger home.

There are lots of ways this could play out.

Most of these people are house poor. That is, I can make $100k a year and if my house payment, property tax, garbage, sewer, water, yard care, etc. is $4500/mo (normal in my area for a 2500 sqft house) then I have the same disposable income as someone who makes $55K and only pays $750/mo in rent (with the mentioned utilities included).

So the difference between being Rich and being middle class would solely come down to the house. Not what gadgets you can buy, car you can afford, school you can send your kids to, or how often you can eat out.

Sure, a big house near the city is nicer than an apartment. But does it make you "rich"? I'm not so sure.

A reasonable position to take, and I usually take it a step further and wait for the "Game of the Year" edition (or its like) to get the updates and DLC included.

But, the main issue now is that so many perks are bundled with "pre-orders" (which count as day-1 sales) that if you don't participate in this process you often are at a distinct disadvantage.

Unlike in the desktop world, the mobile device operating systems rely on common middleware to allow different processor architectures to function.

Anyone that moves to Intel would first have to show that Intel can be as effective or more so that ARM based architectures at executing the SAME bytecode. Therefore there is no lock-in as you could at any time switch to another processor and not lose any compatibility with existing software.

In short, the same thing that lets Intel enter the existing mobile space is the same thing that will prevent them from locking others out.

I think the point of having 700 satellites is that you will always have at two within line of sight (obstacles not withstanding). So you could possibly get away with two non-tracking dishes. Or, given that these are LEO there may be more than enough signal strength to make beam steering flat antennas more practical (like the Kymeta antenna). They work with MEO, but typically need to be rather large to get decent gain. With LEO they may work great.