Tools are simpler and easier to use than ever

No, they aren't.

*some* are...like HTML5 & CSS3, but those standards had to be developed *in opposition* to what the W3C wanted...which was, as GP pointed out...more of the same

"The web is just an enormous stack of kluges upon hacks upon misbegotten designs. This Archaeology of Errors...

GP's only problem is that they assume that the "enormous stack of kluges" was not done with intention.

Take the HTML standard and the fight between the W3C & the WHATWG....the W3C wanted to the new standard to include bits that make it easier to track what users do and use DRM, and they stalled any attempt to change the standard

Only b/c of the WHATWG do we have HTML5/CSS3, and a functioning internet to even discuss this issue.

My point? GP is right...why?

**many coding problems are by design to make artificial scarcity**

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W...

none of what you said is any kind of counterpoint to my comment

it's like you just wanted to show off how much you know about the blood-brain barrier

you have **no idea** as to the level of complexity of these things and what they are capable of doing

see above comment

hey, guys...over here...yeah...**waves arms wildly**

**they have made a microchip that can release hormones and be controlled wirelessly from outside the body**

should it be used for contraception?

hmm interesting question...quick look over there! points away from the fact that we have **wireless hormone-releasing microchips** /joke

endorphins, dopamine, testosterone, adrenaline...

all of these and any other hormone is in play with this technology

so...should it be used for **mind control**?

you're giving "libertarians" way too much credit

the people calling themselves "libertarians" now in US politics are usually undereducated, poor/working class, underemployed, and about abstract 'ideals' rather than actual policy

they're dupes...pawns for the aristocracy that controls the GOP

you are trolling, Charliemopps and I'm calling you out

YES....gp is right, "the internet of things" is indeed a pretext for a capitalist "Big Brother" and it fits exactly into "libertarian" (read: Republican) ideals

NO...you are wrong, "the internet of things" and fitbits for insurance premium discounts **is not in any way** connected to what anarchists want...anarchists, true to their name, are united only in opposition to a system...

YES...you are a troll...yes libertarians and Republicans are two sides of a totalitarian coin

"the internet of things" is a pretext for a panopticon

One can draw an analogy between this and supermarket club cards

sure "one" could do that, but "one" wouldn't benefit with any new understanding, **because that's a stupid comparison**

i can "draw an analogy" to pissing in a jar, that doesn't mean anything

you're giving everyone a free pass, and assuming the best of intentions on their part....when if you were using your analytical brain, you'd see that the past has taught us to assume the opposite: companies will be as bad as "Big Brother" if we let them

governement and business **both** need accountability

right on...I wonder what the pilots and navigators think they need...

in my mind its a user interface, geometry, and data analysis question...what is the best way to communicate the most data to the flight crew? the answer can't logically involve making the plane windowless in a failure...it deprives the pilot of too much information

IIRC even the JSF has HUD tech that is over a decade obsolete so I'm sure there's room for improvement

Details of execution are unimportant at the concept stage because they will be designed, analysed and tested

right so "details of execution are unimportant"....

this concept is what has let Marketing Majors dictate software coding choices since the Regan Administration.

really, really wrong...

however, I don't totally disagree...sometimes a thing must be made around an **abstract need**...for example...General Patton "needs a portable bridge that can cross 60 feet" because the one they have only goes to 45 feet & Germany has wider rivers...

**that scenario** is when your ideas are correct

but it's to a ****TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION OR NEED****

anything else is just bullshit pissing in the wind...sometimes you're lucky and you don't piss on yourself...other times...

You probably did more analytical thinking when you formulated the following paragraph than the entire design team who made this crap & the people who funded and approved the project:

I can see one way that such screens could work- make them multilayer LCD. A black layer closest to the window, a white later, then the image layer. The black layer serves to block sunlight, and the white layer helps to white-balance the screen and provide some additional light blocking. In the event that power fails, the screens turn clear.

the 'black layer' could be the hydrostatic glass that can be darkened when electric current is applied: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

see, the way business works today, they will put Million$ into projects based on some dumb idea (or supply chain order for a contractor) before they even know how it would actually work

one last thing, i was disappointed by the pedantic "point/counterpoint" conversations on this thread up till I found TWX's comment...

YES...it is ALWAYS STUPID to not have an analog back up

in aviation, and life, you should always have an analog back up whenever possible

He was arrested on suspicion of being a Russian spy. He told investigators that he was actually spying for the Americans.

hell both are probably true...he probably started out working for the US & got disillusioned & flipped

once these guys have been out in "the field" for awhile they get sociopathic...hard not to...your "work" is basically hacking society & everyone you know is part of the con

it's just rough work...and they **get turned**....then **turned back**

at some point, after double spying, then tripple...these people just become mercenaries

the Americans spy on YOU!

so, i'm supposed to worry about 1337 h4xxxx0rz who have my public email, which I made public, right in my profile?

Every time I hear about a (cool) new kind of star like this i get all teh happi feelz

It reminds me of the Cosmos where Sagan elucidates how everything and everyone we've ever known is made of "star stuff" & our composition reflects our star's composition

So...what kind of planets & planetoids would a **METAL STAR** make???

**bangs head**