> You're supporting it and the project is actually obligated to send the rewards

No, they're really not. And that is spelled out clearly in Kickstarter's terms of service. Multiple places in bold font if I recall correctly. They're morally obligated to *try* to deliver, but legally they could damn near just take the money and run. Or, you know, walk slowly, because noone will have any legal recourse. If you don't like those odds then you're welcome to not contribute to kickstarter projects. It's very much a buyer beware situation, and there have been at least a handful of projects that are not only unlikely, but would have to actually violate the laws of physics to deliver on their promise.

That's $2.50 per copy on a $50 game, or 50 cents per copy on a $10 game. Hardly crushing to the bottom line, and it neatly sidesteps the kind of "Hollywood accounting" that routinely screws over artists of all types.

Hmm... I suppose if you were in a polar orbit, whose plane was being gradually rotated to stay perpendicular to the sun, you could conceivably keep one side of the cable in perpetual shadow for radiant fins, and heavily mirror the sun-facing side. The photon pressure might generate enough torque to coplicate the issue significantly though. Then again, if you shaped that mirror *just* right, maybe you could get the thing to self-stabilize with its orbit facing the sun, so that near-continuous course correction wouldn't be necessary.

Still 77k, but it's much cooler.

Well, anything mounted to the helmet like the NimbleVR is going to go wherever you do, so I doubt that would be an issue.

Maybe before the words were invented, but that's like saying breathing was popular even before air was invented.

Ah, but you're not considering all the mosquitoes, ticks, and even flies that will carry infected material away. I mean come on - if the disease can continue to thrive in dead flesh then that fly that walked across your sandwich when you weren't looking has almost certainly infected you. The whole biting thing is just folklore.

When has any military operation ever considered "the enemy" human? In fact a great deal of military training, not to mention wartime PR campaigns, are designed specifically to dehumanize the opponent so that there's less backlash against deploying more "effective" strategies. How many hundreds of civilians have we killed in the middle east for every one of our soldiers that have died there? Far more than anyone would accept if they were "human"

Which makes
>Unfortunately a full scale simulation of an outbreak in the United States shows that for `realistic' parameters, we are largely doomed.
so much more comforting...

Well see, there's the answer - dead people don't become zombies, so you'll be safe from the zombie pandemic. Also dead, but don't sweat the details.

Ah, see so it does work - The Red Skull can now walk around anonymously, safe in the knowledge that everyone will assume he's someone walking around in a Punisher suit...

Possibly even more illegal, but less likely to be noticed. I'd love to listen in on the conversation when the police realize there's an awful lot of different cars in the surveillance footage all featuring the license plate number "FCK YOU"

Not too bright like a fox... where do you think they get their stock for the gift shop? You don't think they actually *buy* all those pocket knives, knitting needles, and 2.5oz and larger bathroom products, do you?

Except that, as I recall, they can now do high-accuracy facial recognition based on bone structure alone - something that can't be hidden by dark glasses, hairstyles, or any amount of face paint. If you want to protect your identity we're now in the territory of masks, veils, and facial prosthetics. Just be sure to stand still, because they've made great strides in gait recognition as well.

Well, let's see, there's Christmas, Hanukkah, and Pancha Ganapati, among the more popular religions. And dozens more. Or we could go back to the core reason for most institutional celebrations about that time, and the only one with actual physical relevane: the winter solstice. The longest night of the year, and beginning of the return of the sun. Traditional time for all manner of celebrations of rebirth and new beginnings.

Most of what has become "the traditional Christmas celebration": santa, decorated trees, lots of lights, gifts, big meals, etc. have their roots in various pagan soltice celebrations in lands conquered by Christianity: the conquered aren't going to give up their soltice celebrations, so you'd best offer them an alternative so that they can party around your icons instead of their own. Only requires adjusting your calender a little bit...