Nice that Nolan tried to get the big science in Interstellar right (although I didn't buy the depiction of the giant tidal waves), but so many logic and other science errors made the film. The most ridiculous is why 12 humans were sent to scope out tiny patches of promising planets when they clearly had the technology to send out hundreds of smart probes to do the scouting work and report back accurate, untainted data. Even Coop could have first sent out TARS to explore the planets before risking human landings. Other silliness like the solid clouds, or the manner of liftoff from the water planet (with the huge gravitational waves), or the presence of so much free oxygen on a lifeless planet, or the logic of even consideration the viability of choosing a planet with such large time dilation issues just ruined the film...

Helium is a totally nonrenewal resource, extremely valuable for thousands of important applications like MRI machines and other superconductors, and yet the US govt is selling off its reserve at cutrate prices that encourages party balloons and other wasteful uses. Helium will likely become a scarce resource that impacts national security and we're being stupid about managing its future supply.

BTW (smirk) means that my whole post was sarcastic... tongue in cheek... for those that couldn't figure that out...

I'm so glad the netbook concept is dead. Who wants a cheap Windows laptop anyways? (smirk) I suppose these neo-netbooks (nee Stream) will run also-Windows 8.1, probably with a non-settable background image or some other lame-ass mildly crippled feature...

this "new" technology was announced in BYTE mag, some 30+ years ago... then billed as WOM (write-only memory)...

Actually an iphone 4S meets your parameters... last one I got cost $135. It can be remote wiped, and restored rather quickly. A lot better build quality than a "cheap-assed" (sic) Android phone...

One hears that FAX is dead, but its really not... I typically send or receive 1-2 FAXes per week... not that much, but these are to companies, offices, etc where it really was the bestest, fastest way to get something done -- i.e. email would NOT have worked, for whatever reason. A lot of medical records and notes are still faxed. I just did a car loan which worked much better through FAX than email. Insurance companies often fax docs, temporary insurance cards, etc.

Still plenty of dialup modem usage that most of us probably have used recently in one way or another, including FAX machines, home security systems, credit card machines, even DirectTV boxes. So I'll bet that most that said they haven't used a modem in 5 years or more are wrong...

"Backdooring a CPU wouldn't actually be that difficult."

but fairly unlikely, at least not in the way you describe, with a "specific command sequence". 1) its at too low a level to be really useful as a backdoor, not without the help of backdoor software higher up, but then what's the point? there are already many "backdoor"-like ways to gain privileges as long as the software is there to support them, 2) it would have to be designed to NOT slow the CPU down or take up obvious chip real estate... the CPU biz is so competitive that any extra overhead of either type would make that chip less competitive in the market.

I really don't see how these vehicles can actually work in real-live driving situations... Supposing there is an accident, or other temporary traffic re-routing... the local cop wants you to roll down your window, and he is going to TELL you where to drive to get around this obstruction... Or deer running across the street... I'm sure VERY hard to detect (I can barely see them myself coming off from the side...) Or small things in the road that you want to avoid (potholes, glass, etc) Or avoiding certain streets but only during certain times or days of the year or certain sporadic happenings (parties, riots, drug street wars, or snow, flooding, etc)

can't really have it both ways... of course the deep pockets can pay more for more revenue-generating spectrum, what else is new?

So much foolishness... some workers pay $150/mo for parking at work, so those with "free" parking have to pay taxes on it? all those personal calls on company phones? some places have pay toilets, so I have to pay taxes on the men's room?, spring water at the fountain and free wifi? leave it alone... geesh...

I think I'm dating myself, but I took a typing class during a summer in high school... probably 35 years ago. I'm sure it helped my speed and accuracy greatly.
I don't think kids take typing classes anymore, do they? I haven't heard of anyone taking such a class for decades... perhaps we need a poll for this... :)
It would seem that most people are now happy with either the all thumbs approach or the right index finger approach to typing (depending on whether one has a qwerty phone for texting, or an iphone...)

less greed? I doubt it...

proper labor relations?
you mean that workers are crammed into sweat shops, making $1/hr or less, no benefits or health insurance/care, sleep on cots and don't see their families for a month at a time... Here is where the real difference is...

you don't get it... bulk rate (junk mail) mail SUBSIDIZES regular (e.g. 1st class mail), not vice versa. If you reduce or eliminate junk mail, USPS revenue would plummet and 1st class rates would probably have to jump by 5X just to break even...