OTOH the Soviets had a serious love affair with RTGs ...

Nevermind the RTGs - I'm much more concerned with the nasty fission reactors they've put up there. The US put one up, too.

... they buried him in a photon torpedo-shaped casket, wearing a black robe.

Apple did the same thing with OSX 10.10 / Yosemite. The 'new' icons are flat and just plain nasty. I assume everyone wants to 'streamline the user experience' across phones, tablets, watches, and real computers, but I think pandering to the lowest common denominator is just a bad idea.

... using how much bandwidth and on what frequencies? Even at 100m distance, this may be a non-starter if the attenuation of walls and other normal, everyday things kills the signal.

As another commented, use kermit or zmodem. There are also LPT-to-LPT methods, but IIRC that requires a special cable.

What interface is the HD in the laptop? You could likely rip it out and put it in an old USB external drive enclosure and mount it via USB.

Of course you're correct - duh on my part.

Note that OUR government has it's nose in our copiers to this day to prevent copying anything exhibiting the Orion Constellation like most world currency. Check the backs of recent US currency - the pattern is there.

Wrong.

You have a funny way of spelling 'generator'. Choose a gaseous fuel model (natural gas, propane - whichever is handy) and let it rip. You could also install a fuel cell since it would only run a few times/year. Holding the power while the switchover happens is still an issue, but a battery that's over-spec'ed by a fair margin might be able to hold 20 secs of runtime after 20 years.

IIRC, all you need is a NOR gate - the rest are derivable.

Have you seen "Zardoz"? Sean Connery running around in a loincloth and hip boots. Eek!

I doubt that the star is a magnetar, but it's "magnetically active" per the article - if it were active enough it may have had some influence on our magnetically active core and/or magnetically-sensitive ionosphere. Earthquakes followed by volcanos or more likely additional radiation due to perturbations of the ionosphere.

Not all plastic or glass that's opaque to visible light is opaque to UV.

I'm not sure where you live, but only the DISTRIBUTION of power in my area is a monopoly. I can buy power from any number of producers, but it's all sent to me over Dominion Power's wires. It's clearly separated on my power bill.

I understand Part 15 (as well as Part 97, since I'm licensed under those rules). The mechanisms mentioned in the GP _do_ exist in law for 5GHz U-NII (read WiFi) systems. Please refer to Title 47 Part 15, Subpart E, particularly 15.407(h)(1) and (2) and also 15.37(e).

Also, (if I read it correctly) 15.37(h) forbids the marketing or sale of devices that use any digital modulation technique other than Spread Spectrum operating in the 5725-5850 MHz bands starting on June 2, 2016.

The definition of "digital modulation" is distinct from SS - from 15.403(f):

(f) Digital modulation. The process by which the characteristics of a carrier wave are varied among a set of predetermined discrete values in accordance with a digital modulating function as specified in document ANSI C63.17-1998.