and — most notably — will have to mimic the act of driving, to avoid confusing other drivers

"When an automobile approaches an intersection, the driver shall exit the automobile and stand in the intersection waving a lit lantern for 30 seconds, looking down each road, and blowing a loud horn, all so as to alert gentlemen on horses and peaceful ladies that they not be startled.

"Once this is done and the road clear, the automobile may be walked through the intersection. After the automobile is through, the driver shall remove his overcoat, jacket, shirt, and that thing that always flips up in Curly's face, and beat pennance into his own back with a switch of not less than 10 thorns or a whip of not less than three tails."

For a.limited amount of time, which they should state explicitely as part of the paid removal process.

That's brighter than you think! "Hello, ladies. I'm CmdrTaco, the commander of tacos, if you know wut ahm sayin', wink!"

BTW, they will couch the spending in terms of investigating the galactic neighborhood, but will in fact be in an arms race with other major powers to discern new tech -- plans or science ideally -- but just knowing some things can be built is a huge advantage to direct research.

I still favor retreat into virtual worlds as the end game, even after manipulation of reality approaches manipulation of virtual reality in capability.

No chessplayer, you.

If found, the next step is to watch as govennments dump billions into sensitive listening, followed by some idiot broadcasting at them.

It is inevitable.

Notice governments of Earth are already chomping at regulating who gets to mine asteroids.

Power gots ta power.

In the US, free trade between states has never meant individual states couldn't outlaw certain things. It does, however, mean they cannot limit shipment of those things through their state when going between two states where it is legal.

Some states where fireworks are illegal have sellers who play games, selling them inside the state near the border, if you will sign a form stating you are shipping it out. "Sure thing!" says the 18 year old.

The problem is people see voluntary cooperation in a free society working wonders, so they suppose if you just use laws to force people to cooperate similarly, you will produce similar results.

Last century was a test of hundreds of such experiments involving over ten billion people that showed conclusively that that supposition is disastrously wrong.

Perhaps you missed the scene in A.I. where the corporate guy instructs the sexbot, "Take off your clothes."

> Warmest on record

The emperor has no clothes, says the iconoclast.

Thank god. Let's get northern Canada and Siberia in on more farming action. Meanwhile moving back from the ocean over hundreds of years with buildings getting old and needing replacing anyway is no big deal.

Keep the economy strong and not crushed. We won't even recognize life in 100 years due to technological advancement, much less 200 or 300.

How bad are the concerns of omnipresent horse poop dust from 1900 to us?

to avoid duplication after US government departments and other groups tried to replicate the product in order to meet compliance requirements

Avoid duplication? That's not how government rolls!

Well, I guess they will spend the savings on some other stimulus jobs program instead rather than reduce the deficit a microgram.

Would that be the government guaranteeing them safety from Russia via NATO?

So what does the free upgrade to 10 from 7 get me? Will I have a normal UI, i.e. non-tablet/phone? Will programs including games break? Drivers for basic stuff like sound and Geforcd 3D card?

If stuff breaks and I have a miserable few days tracking down drivers, or months (all major online games? Gog and Steam stuff?) waiting for fixes from companies involved, what is the point?

Well, from that cool closeup, "Looks Like Average Slashdotter's Face" might be more appropriate.

> pathetically inadequate

Well, water counts but food is irrelevant. Most Americans can easily survive six months without food.

As for water, take how long a human can survive, in classical medicine, and add 2-3 days as the Amerifat body de-camel-humps the swollen ankles.