Woosh. The FCC mandates that they do exactly that- provide the same basic service to rural customers. It's the law. They aren't doing that, hence they are in violation of the law to the tune of $5,000,000. Same requirements apply to many other services, including roads.

Your city-centric biases don't change that fact.

Living is large cities is a relatively new concept, in the grand scheme of things. You should try to get out a little. We have very low noise, great air quality, no traffic, no light pollution, no noisy neighbors, lower crime, etc. I still can't see why anyone would want to live in a city.

Most people are commenting about Demand Response - appliances delaying to lowering usage at peak prices. That is not what this is about.

This is about having multiple power companies, and switching between them based on price. Interesting idea, but that assumes that a person even has the option of a second power utility. The vast, vast majority of places in the US have a single, monopoly power utility.State government controls such things, and they are not easily changed.

I have a million dollar idea - if it doesn't' exist already. A radio head-unit upgrade to a real dream car system: physical knobs & buttons, and a USB & headphone input jack. That's it. Maybe even with no LCD display at all - just a power on/off LED.

Man, I'd buy one of those, and I bet a lot of other folks would too....

Have you been car shopping lately? Find a car that meets all of your non-electric criteria that still has physical buttons.

For some reason auto manufactures think we all want nifty touch screens - and consumers now don't have a choice.

Ditto. I don't want a car media interface. I want dedicated physical buttons & knobs for the climate, radio volume & input selection.
And a place on the dash to mount my own phone/tablet with a nearby USB plug.

I have never seen an electronic car interface that was any good at all, and that includes every navigation system I've ever seen. My phone has better navigation (Waze rocks), better audio, and a better interface than anything a can manufacturer could ever try to copy.

I only upgrade my car every 10+ years - an even then it might not be a new car. Hey Detroit - stop trying. Give up. Let Apple/Android/[new startup] give me the tech I want. If you want to get fancy, give the phone a read-only API to the car's status.

Best solution? Encourage everyone to record every interaction with the police. This will systematically education the police on the rights of citizens.

Just like the 2nd Amendment public carry folks with a big old riffle slung over their shoulder on the sidewalk - it educated the police & public at the same time, and nobody gets hurt. (The the latter case, jimmes get russeled by some liberals, but, meh)

Some monitors are make to be viewed landscape, and when rotated have horrible view angles.
I found some at work where the view angle was so bad, only one eye would get a good picture, while the other eye showed a faded & discolored image. Rubber-necking around would find a small sweet spot for viewing.

TLDR; doesn't work well on some monitors.

I'm seeing single-store apps to order & pay all over the place. Wendy's, Burger King, now Starbucks...

Why would I want to have a different app for every single store I visit? That's why I have cash & common credit cards - they work everywhere.

Do not want. Doomed to fail.

Woosh.
Google "The Singularity"
Then google "a Singularity"

Totally different things.

This.

We already have automated buses, single cars, and long-haul trucks that arrive automatically, on-demand. Every large city already has a network of them.
It just so happens there's a person in the driver's seat today. In the near future there may be a computer in that seat. Nothing else changes, from a transportation angle.

If you're stranded on a desert island, with no ability to reach another island- you are very much alone. Doesn't matter how many billions of other people there are out there, if you have no chance at reaching or talking to them.

If this math holds up, the next interstellar island is further away than we thought... and we are likely going to be a very lonely species.

No but you might want those contracts from NASA to subsidize the launch fees. Space isn't a game for the poor.

That would be our mutual friend, Albert.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A... (ctrl-F, dice, [enter])

Amazon demographic of African Americans: 15%
USA 2010 census African Americans: 12.6%

There we have it, proof of racism within Amazon. I eagerly await Jessie Jackson's protests of non-black victims.

Ah, but it is spread through casual contact. Someone cough near you? Droplets are evil little creatures. Handshake with someone who coughed on their hands?

If you've not had the flu ever in your life, then you can feel safe. Ebola spreads at least as easily as the flu, likely much easier.

What I really worry about is the non-human vectors. Imagine one dog (1) in the park, finding the vomit of an infected human (2), and this becoming a new, very hard to track infection source. "Our family isn't feeling so good - can you watch Fido while we go to the doctor?" Repeat.

(1) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...
(2) - http://www.nbcnews.com/storyli...