And they can do this without resorting to channels that are known first and primarily as propaganda machines.

Because, and let us be honest here, part of the reason why we are in this position is that the media in the US are not there to provide the informational bulwark so that we may function as close to an ideal republic as we can. They currently exist to sell us things and to make us feel better out said purchases. This extends to the government at all levels. Who better to give an interview to than the very apparatus that is there to appease and not investigate?

Since the original Xbox was running mostly off the shelf hardware, I'm not sure it needs an emulator (aside from whatever security/copy protection hardware).

But the 360/PS3 is going to be tough. Tougher than average, I'd say since those were both custom CPUs. Yes, there is some papers out there covering how they did their execution but that doesn't cover some of the weird stuff. Stuff like with the PS2 and original PS that took years to sort out.

Those of you who don't remember the Bleem! saga and the fact that Sony not only lawsuited them to death, but also make emulation even harder by changing the way their compilers did certain undocumented graphic blits and other memory tricks. This was why Bleem! had a specific target list of compatible games.

Still not sure that all of that was documented.

Bad memories.

I thought we'd put that behind us finally. That everyone, including the HR drones and PHBs, understood that those things were meaningless.

Or am I getting another chance to play my favorite interviewing game again?

You mean, what the entire tech community said was going to happen, happened? Kids found ways around their stupid requirements and made them look like fools while some contractor got away with tons of public money?

It's like we need to establish the "If an average 5 year old can find holes in it" rule from the evil overlord list for public institutions.

The problem here is that you will loose a lot of the things which make the engines smaller (better managing of head-gasket displacement, so smaller bore and stroke to get the same amount of power), more efficient (direct fuel injection and stroke cycles), less polluting (no need for a leaded fuel to get burn and temperatures necessary for combustion not to mention the catalytic converters), quieter (see the previous reasons), and generally more pleasant to be around as I am not choking on the smog created by the engine when it is started up.

I, for one, like to have all of those things in my car and any future cars I wish to purchase. Of course those things will require special tools. Working on engines have always required special tools.

There is a certain amount of missing the forest for the trees in your statement, I feel.

Which is what I was saying. It's a well defined legal area that's been administrated by the states for a very long time now. For the Feds to step in with a new law, they'd have to show (to whatever court this gets taken to) some sort of legal authority over it where none existed before both as in the US Constitution as through well settled and aged legal precedence.

It's not as easy as saying "Interstate Commerce lets us" as it's never before been defined as such. Doesn't mean that it won't get upheld on that ground, but it will have to be shown that such legal ground exists within the framework of the current laws.

but I hardly think that an amendment to a provisioning bill passes sufficient legal muster for it be enforced. First of all, I am already required to pay local and state sales taxes for entities operating out of my state. So no change there.

But for extra-state sales, this will have to survive a 10th Amendment challenge and well settled legal precedence dating back to the 18th century. Not saying that it can't but a short blurb in a different, unrelated law doesn't seem sufficient on its face.

For an "internet sales" (whatever that means) tax to work, it would have to be established as something the feds collected and redistributed. The legal authority is already there in the 16th amendment, and it could easily function as interstate funding for roads and schools do currently.

Likewise, if two states wanted to enter into a compact to collect and remit as some currently do with income taxes, then that could also work.

I guess this is just some more busywork for the congress-critters to say that they've been doing something rather than nothing.

I thought part of the problem with current desalination techniques was that it removed all of the salts making us have to go back and re-add a bunch of phosphates and whatnot that are found in fresh water sources and are somewhat expected/required by our and plant's biological functions. That is, we were making the water too pure to be used without additional processing. This sounds like that taken the next level, so how much more efficient can it really be if the process requires even more post-processing to make it usable?

It's only a waste of money (remember folks, cash is not capital!) if there's nothing else to invest in that would generate a better return than the base interest rate.

Given that the tax on such investments are zero then any interest rate is going to be pure profit. For a business that's a pretty good deal, especially since this is a guaranteed profit at that. The money is not at risk and the bonds can be sold for face value if they need the liquidity at any given moment. For a business this is a great situation.

For an economy, it's not. The money, as you said, isn't being maximally invested. A tax on these sorts of savings might be something to get businesses to take a greater risk. But that's the real issue here. The risk. And I don't know how to get around that one.

In a purely practical and objective standpoint, you are correct. It would make more sense to have employees of the city to do it.

But this is not a practical or objective world. There are politics to be played; Backs to be scratched and palms to be greased. For those in that sort of position of authority, there is a game to be played. Who can they trade this favor of a contract (with the possibility of over-payment) for some future consideration or contribution?

This is not the world of high-school civics that we were taught. These people are not there out of a sense of service to their fellow citizen or because they have good ideas that might make the world a better place.

This is the world where people have ambitions, who want to get ahead and further up the ladder of power. This is the world where people can and do get addicted to the feeling of power that their authority gives them and want only to increase it.

This is also the world where other people, further up the chain of authority tell the lower levels to who and how a contract should be presented. And because it is their boss or their boss's boss or their boss's boss's boss doing this, they fear for their jobs and livelihood and do what they're told instead of going out and shouting to the world of the corruption they've seen.

This isn't the first time this has happened.

It also happened way back when with the start of the airline industry. Back in 1903, the Wright Brothers started one over the way one controlled a plane. Long story short, WWI started and seeing as how planes were a cool new war toy, the US government stepped in and made them make peace or else no one would get the patent money.

I have to wonder what's it going to take to get that to happen this time around.

No it wasn't. It was 9-0 decision. There were two opinions handed down which was the split --- Alito wrote the second and was joined by Ginsberg, Beyer, and Kagan. Alito wanted to go further and say that the length of time required a second, separate warrant to cover it.

See Wired's coverage for more details.

Nothing. You seem to fear the police's ability to investigate. If they find it was a child then they can hand the evidence of such to the parents and DA and let them sort it out. If it was an adult then they can had the same evidence to the DA and let see where the speech may fall. Either way, an investigation as to what happened is called for. The police are the most obvious way to see that done. It doesn't have to be a priority, it doesn't have to take away from any other duties. What exactly are you opposed to in that sense?

At the very least it is a display of ignorance which needs to be dealt with in a way that does not let it grow into something worse. If this was a teen or a child playing (to what in their mind was) a prank, then it definitely needs some sort of correction. If this was an adult then surely they are aware of the consequences of their words and how a society will and often can punish them for such ignorance.

Re #2: The sad fact of the matter is that (as someone living in the county) that it's well known that the BPU is very corrupt. As in former board members have resigned over rigging the pay of friends and family. There's a good reason that the county government ignored them and are trying to ram this through. See this for further reading.

Re #3: The incumbents did this to themselves. Before it was popular everywhere else, Kansas fucked its own ass by giving the cable and telcos state wide franchises and removing all of the local oversight boards. There might have been a chance to stop Google, but their greed got the best of them years ago.