I donno, the Chinese seem to be willing to actually punish corporate executive and government official types from time to time. We'll just have to see if this is one of those times.

I can't deny it's annoying, searching for something using Google and getting fifteen Alibaba entries on the list first, when it looks like thirteen of them are using identical stock photos. That kind of crap is why I won't use Alibaba at all; I'd rather pay the markup from a local distributor than worry about being fleeced through international trade from a seller that I have no recourse with.

...if I absolutely HAD to have something FSF-compliant...

Such requirements are only self-imposed requirements. Even defense contractors like Boeing use stock computers from large OEMs like Dell.

I can't think of a single instance when something being FSF-compliant matters at all, except maybe if you want to work for Richard Stallman. If Wikipedia is to be believed then there are exactly twelve people in the world affected.

Sarcasm?

When I've crossed the Atlantic, the planes have been A330s or A340s. Not exactly long flights (East coast of the United States to Western Europe) but even still, not exactly 747s or A380s either.

Have you achieved any sort of frequent-flyer status? My wife has had such off and on for several years, that may contribute to it.

(Are there enough people who *care* about these issues?)

Not for $700+ for an obsolete laptop, there aren't.

I've seen some niche things, but DAMN, this is takes the cake.

We have an X301 at home. It was a great computer when we bought it new, but the battery life is terrible by modern standards, the Centrino processor is slow, and the screen is dim and low-res. The weight, presence of an optical drive (though just DVD) and keyboard are the plusses. We just bought a replacement for it; I may still upgrade the RAM to 8GB from the 2GB that it has now so that it's a nice around-the-house lappy, but it's never going to be the primary computer ever again.

If they'd managed to do this treatment to a Thinkpad X1 Carbon or something else that's modern then I expect a lot more people would be interested, but somethis this old? For this kind of money?

There's a lot more space than you're thinking. First, there are a lot of unused utility easements that could be used for neighborhood last-mile distribution. Second, not all trunk lines need to run in the same alignments, so new providers can take different paths so long as they're respectful of what's there. Third, a POTS use continues to shrink, demoing-out old copper and moving the telephone company's fiber into those conduits or on those positions on the poles would free-up other positions and conduits for other services.

Again, what other provider will build-out to a rural area when it's unprofitable to do so?

Keep in mind, that simple electrification of rural America wasn't completed until the 1950s, and was only started due to Depression-era programs like the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Works Progress Administration basically footing the bill to attempt to employ the unemployed.

The entire point in using a massively successful commercial platform for this kind of thing is that spare parts will continue to be in production for decades to support the huge customer base. Even if the -8 has a limited run compared to other 747s, it's not like they've dropped support for the SP even though it too was only built in limited numbers.

As for why the 747 could be discontinued, at least for awhile; there's an upper limit on the number of superjumbos needed on the planet, and I expect that we're probably not far from that point. So long as the current fleet continues to operate safely then there's simply no need to produce more planes. As the current fleet wears though, eventually new replacements will be needed for those routes where moving this many passengers makes sense, especially if the manufacturers can get the efficiency up. That's part of what's eating into the superjumbos; the ability for multiple flights a day with smaller planes to get equal fuel economy per passenger and at the same time offer more flexibility (ie more than one flight per day) due to the use of smaller planes.

My wife used to fly fifteen times a year. There was one city that she flew to the most, and she chose the airline with the most daily flights because airlines will often move one up to an earlier flight or two that same day if there's empty space, because they can sell the seats on the later flights to last-minute purchasers. She could come home four or eight hours early if she was done early and didn't need to be there anymore. An airline flying two or three 777s or A320s per day offers her more flexibility than one flying one 747 or one A380, and that's worth something.

Sounds like a pornographic contest...

Yes, because the Europeans have that pesky NSA looking over their citizens' shoulders at all times...

In the early Noughties Europe got serious about building-out their telecom to replace the aging post-war system they'd been babying for many years. It also fit well with increasing European Union integration. It also seems to have coincided with the rise of the ubiquitous cell phone, since cell towers require a certain amount of backboke and resilience, and once the fiber goes in for the tower, there's no reason to not use the remaining strands for other networks. Dark fiber is unprofitable fiber.

Why would anyone build-out Internet access to rural places at a loss if they weren't either provided with incentives or required to do so? The subsidy thing (ie, incentives) isn't working as well as it should, and I don't see ANY companies interested in doing it without mandates or incentives.

Not 1957 but 1958 which is close enough.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A....
It was in production in 57 with a live test shot in 1957.

They do but then they take a big expensive ship find the cable and bring it to the surface to fix it.
The real issue is not if it is possible because it is possible. The big question is if it is worth it?
Removing all the 02 mean no fires and reduced corrosion.
It also means more cost for fixing thing that go wrong.
The simplest way to do this would be to flood the bunker with Argon since it heavier than O2 and N2 it should displace the O2 but again the question would be why?