Leaving out Boeing would be budget suicide for NASA.
No one should be left out because there should be no contract. Instead, NASA should be fostering a spot market for launches. They should have a separate bid for each launch: "We want X satellite in Y orbit, and insured for Z dollars." Then give the launch to the lowest bidder. That way each company can work continuously to cut costs and improve services, knowing that if they leapfrog the competition, they can win the next launch, instead of being locked out for years.
That is not feesable. It take years to be trained to fly in a spaceship - whether the lifting body like the Shuttle or Dream Chaser, or a capsule such as Soyuz, CST-100, or Dragon V2. You have to build not only the rocket, but a tower to carry the crew to the top of the rocket along with an arm to get the astronauts into the vehicle (which is not compatible/spacecraft). Escape systems need to be installed. It's very expensive, and it would never be built without assurance that the demand is there. At this time, there is no market for launches except from NASA or ESA. Cosmonauts would ride Russian spacecraft, Indians and Chinese are developing their own systems, etc. The public demand is too little at this time. Without a long-term contract, NASA is not enough for your proposal.
I agree. The "autonomous driver" should be expected to ethically mirror a hired driver. You wouldn't knowingly get in a cab whose driver considers himself and his passengers expendable, so why would you be okay with the car doing that?
Back in the 90s, I had a job teaching MS Office to people. One class I was hired for was to teach a bunch of local judges how to use Word.
While discussing how to change fonts, one of the judges says, "Huh! Anal font, what the hell is an ANAL font!"
Maybe it is the same judge!
This is a bit involved, but will work if you have the time and know how to set it up.
You can likely port your landline number to a VOIP service and then setup asterisk. Use IVR to play a message when you are called. Have a code that your friends and family know that will allow them to break out of the IVR and ring an extention.. Funnel everything else to voicemail or whatever you want.. You will only get a ring when it is someone who knows the code.
I smoked for years, and could never quit.
Three years ago, I tried an ecig on a lark, and actually quit smoking without intending to, which to me seems like a miracle!
I went through a month or two of coughing up stuff from my lungs, but I never felt the need to smoke cigarettes.
I still have a nicotine addiction, but have been slowly weaning myself down to weaker and weaker e-juice. On day I will quit, but I feel a hell of a lot better than I did when I was smoking!
For me, the patch isn't even close !
If A = B and B = C, then A = C, except where void or prohibited by law. -- Roy Santoro