Why do you say that?

My understanding (and if I'm wrong feel free to correct) is that the Z-80 is a bastard clone of an 8080. So, byte-for-byte there should be no difference between the two (if you keep the x86 in real mode). BIOS calls and the need to implement the boot sector code add some guff to the x86, of course, which makes RSI's achievement that much more impressive.

Have a look at the ASM for the ZX-81 code. Keep in mind that ROM calls are in the 0..8192 range, and there was no documentation of the system like there is of a modern BIOS today (yes, I'm aware of Ian Logan's Understanding your ZX81 ROM; that book was an introduction to writing assembly on a ZX81, not a ROM dump). From looking at the ZX81 asm (having to stretch my brain to remember Z-80 syntax), it looks to me that the code is completely self-contained. It picks up the display file address (who remembers 2A 0C 40?) from the system variables, but that's ok; all software had to do that. But the rest of the code only calls internal routines.

A ZX-81 ROM does less than you probably think it does.

Lightsaber battles with lens flares. Lots of lightsaber battles. And put lens flares on the lightsabre exhaust ports. And the X-Wings speeding over the water; those water droplets surely must interact with light to cause lens flares.

'nuff said.

However, The Bonding turned into a very interesting story because of that. Now we have the consequences of someone else's guilt being pushed onto another person - in this age of outrage on behalf of someone else, very topical too.

I agree that generally the scripts and ideas got better as Roddenberry was removing himself from the process - but his overarching vision and narrative framework made the interesting stories possible in the first place. It's that narrative framework that allowed Berman et al to create DS9 and VOY.

As a counter-example to this, I present Enterprise. See what happens to Star Trek stories that are completely outside Roddenberry's influence.

Episode 67 clearly established they were Factarian moon bats. What you hear was an overdub based on a misspelling.

That's easy to fix. How about we have Spock come through a wormhole (or somesuch) to a point just before the first movie and nip it in the bud. That way, the existing canon will be wiped out and the series can be rebooted without messing up canon.

Ah shit; that's just too simplistic. No studio will ever fall for a crap idea like that.

This is Slashdot. Why not come out and say straight away that you want to feel virtual boobies, then the conversation will get all hung up on the term "boobies" and you'll have made your point: it's all about interactive porn.

According to Thurrott, it's Trident minus all the compatibility cruft.

I don't think inflation means what you think it means.

The supply of money has nothing to do with inflation; inflation is the change in the cost of good or services over time. As the cost of goods or services increases, a unit of currency buys less of those goods or services. Increasing the supply of money drives inflation up over time (supply of money increases; purchasing power increases; demand increases & the supply - demand curve settles on a new equilibrium state, as the supply side now has to compete for goods and services).

You're right in that an inflation rate of ~2% is economically stable: because inflationary effects are generally lagging in time it allows for an accumulation in wealth. But the currency has nothing to do with inflation; that's all economic conditions.

A currency whose value (somehow) tracked inflation would not have the outcome you might desire. Ultimately, a currency must trade against another currency so that country A can buy and sell goods and services to country B. If the value of country A's currency was tied to their inflation rate, residents of country A would get a rude shock whenever they wanted to buy goods made by country B (which doesn't have this inflation rate lock-in): the cost of those goods has gone up - which leads to inflation in country A anyway.

Economics is economics, no matter if dealing with a real currency or a crypto currency - and crypto currencies behave more like a commodity anyway.

Republics exist for the people (res publica = public affairs). Empires tend towards having the people the subjects of the Emperor.

Is the USA a republic or an empire?

They understand the technology well enough. It's the Constitution they're having problems understanding.

They don't need to enter your home, locked or not, anymore:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/...

New police radars can 'see' inside homes

At least 50 U.S. law enforcement agencies have secretly equipped their officers with radar devices that allow them to effectively peer through the walls of houses to see whether anyone is inside, a practice raising new concerns about the extent of government surveillance.

Those agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service, began deploying the radar systems more than two years ago with little notice to the courts and no public disclosure of when or how they would be used. The technology raises legal and privacy issues because the U.S. Supreme Court has said officers generally cannot use high-tech sensors to tell them about the inside of a person's house without first obtaining a search warrant.

The radars work like finely tuned motion detectors, using radio waves to zero in on movements as slight as human breathing from a distance of more than 50 feet. They can detect whether anyone is inside of a house, where they are and whether they are moving.

Current and former federal officials say the information is critical for keeping officers safe if they need to storm buildings or rescue hostages. But privacy advocates and judges have nonetheless expressed concern about the circumstances in which law enforcement agencies may be using the radars — and the fact that they have so far done so without public scrutiny.

Nah, wouldn't happen. It's more likely some transient event like a black hole collision or a neutron star undergoing a transformation.

Or something.

I saw that too. Looks like the submitter was trying to distance himself from the "literally" crowd. Ironically, he fell flat on his face.

I don't understand the point you're trying to make.

If she left Iran and went to (say) Afghanistan, would that have have helped her realize her full potential? Doubt it. Or let's pick another country: Australia. Suppose she went there. Given the state of the Australian space program, could she have realized her full potential? Of course not; Australia can barely launch a helium balloon (I'm Australian, BTW).

No, if her full potential was to go into space, there's only really three countries available: China, Russia and the United States. Of those three, given the choice, which would you pick? So, saying that she "...had to become an American to realize her full potential." is completely fair.

I don't understand how you get 'Self-aggrandizing' out of this.