Whether or not it shuts down I'm sure the Active Duty military and civilian employees will be paid. As I recall that's the way it worked the last time.

Spend some time poking around the appliance stores on the web in the UK and Holland (most web sites are in English) and you'll see what he's referring to. There are tons of appliances with conveniences and performance you just can't find in the US for anything less than ridiculous prices. I have the same oven I had in Germany (Bosch); it cost 600 euro in Hamburg and almost 2K here in the US; same model feature for feature. There are some odd things as well like efficient dishwashers and radiators (with efficient room by room thermostats) which you just can't find here at all but are commonplace elsewhere. Or take the Ford Escort diesel I had, can't be found here in the US but awesomely reliable and got way better mileage than anything in the US (including the Prius). The US just has no tolerance for quality.

17,000,000 Commodore 64s sold. That's 17M. IPad has already sold +50M

My idea is that Chrome as a brand name needs to be phased in later- once there is a larger market for Android devices. Chrome could be used to define internet interoperability- that two devices which feature "chrome" are compatible in the way you'd intuitively expect and behind the scenes they use whatever amazing technology they've discovered with ChromeOS development. Chrome apps would be available exclusively over the internet and you could purchase any app in the family and it would know how to interoperate with all the other chrome apps- in a visually oriented toolkit. It would control other, unrelated devices in an intuitive way. Nobody can define the real feature set, without spending the R&D Google has. Deliver the technology but market it as a feature without seeming to cause a conflict with Android.

I would assume they will use Android to govern the "application" market for things which the user perceives as private, usable when there's no network at all, or rely on a lot of computer power and little network needs. ChromeOS, the technology if not the brand name, would be used to define a new level of compatibility and seamlessness with the internet. Chrome the name (rather than the OS) could be used to market this technology. Chrome capable devices could be given a physically distinquishing factor so if they had this feature you'd know they'd work together.

I have a Nokia- in face my last three phones have been Nokias. My wife has an Android (G1) and frankly, I don't understand why it's as popular with the non-geek crowd was it is. My Nokia, as a smart phone has two outstanding features which no Android seems to support- Skype over wifi and 3G and SIP. There is of course the Verizon bullshit version of Skype (lmao) and a couple of weird add-ons for SIP but seems like nobody's taking advantage of the platform for super cheap voice and talking in places there there's no GSM signal. The last especially since 3G and even cell coverage so just so spotty in much of the US. I'm clearly some sort of weird minority user but without either of these options an Android or any smartphone just seems like an overpriced, small screened laptop.

For me the problem is that it's, in general, a PITA to record the data. I'd like to keep a record of my exercise mainly because it's to your body as a diary is for your mind and feelings. However, beyond a little black book and stubby pencil all these electronic gadgets seem to be both troublesome and unreliable to use as well as forever becoming more difficult to exchange data among. It should be that you strap the damn thing on perhaps with an HRM round your chest and GPS/recording device/display on your handlebars or wrist and that's it (something similar to the Nokia Sports Tracker)- it gets uploaded to something I use everyday like Google calendar. Instead, there are a bunch of dumbass cables that need to be hooked up to your computer and uploaded to some weird windows only device driver and then to some website that's liable to go out of business or be dropped soon. Then, there are two or three different devices which provide incompatible data not only among the various devices but even across different generations of the same device. I'm not talking tough comparisons like whatever but simple stuff, like how many miles have I ridden this month.

I tried all this stuff and I'm back to the stubby pencil and google calendar. Sad.

I don't get it- what does this expensive PASCO do that a normal HRM or something like the much cheaper Oregon Scientific recorder doesn't do?

I'll tell you who does own these things- every ticket counter, very restaurant every place I went in Georgia and Alabama where there were African Americans the G1 seemed to have 75% market share. My wife has one but I'd never seen another in New England then I come down south and WAM! they are everywhere. Anyone else noticed the same?

Skype has officially sucked ass for about a year now- the Linux client only half works on Pulse and is way behind the MS window version in features. The S60 "lite" version is useless as it still uses airtime. Come on- Fring enables (in a sort of functional way) the skype functionality so why can't Skype get it's act together.

I'm a Skypeout and Skype number paying customer but I'm searching for something more responsive to my needs and I'll gladly say to hell with them when I find it.

Google voice I'm sure everyone isn't really a skype replacement- it's not a phone just a way (so far as I can see) to integrate your different numbers. That said I have it and I really like it.

I think that's about the average level of knowledge/interest exhibited by the average Porsche, BMW, MB owner these days. Long gone are the mechanics working on their own cars and marveling at the engineering prowess of their vehicle which they could expect to last twenty years or so. These cars now days are largely owned by posers and snobs; the manufacturers don't produce or allow others to produce decent work manuals and the goal of the newer designs seems to be to make every part as proprietary as possible. I won't even start on the electronic gremlins; about the only advantage of today's engineering marvels are the levels of emissions and safety. They just don't make them like they used too.

I think the rich SHOULD blow their money on this type of insanity; much better than writing off that 2.1 million dollars (being picked up by you and the rest of this land's taxpayers in the form of offsetting their deduction) and being all sanctimonious about their donation to charity or building another "Microsoft wing" at MIT. Yeah, if I were that rich I'd get a Tesla but the point is this sort of excess and the fun which goes along with it is the only real useful point to being rich that I can see. Being a bitch, serving their own interests and bossing people around seems to be their normal mode of operation; I'd rather seem them out on the road enjoying themselves and leaving the rest of us to enjoy ourselves a bit more.

OK- how about this- http://www.caterham.co.uk/. A caterham weighs less than a ton, out accelerates and out handles with the BASE engine about everything on the road and costs less than just about any sports car, much less supercar. It's reliable and perfect if you live in an area without a lot of snow or cold weather.

It's not as if the P51 or any aircraft was especially protected from 20mm cannon shells. If a plane were lightly loaded, rigid and thus maneuverable enough to avoid the unguided weapons of the time the material was irrelevant.

Along with the notion that Government was bad came the notion that Government was unfit for all intellectual activities and except for small (and growing smaller) enclaves at the national labs, NIST and the CDC, they got rid of really anyone with an advanced degree and engineering or scientific experience. Even the labs (like Sandia) are outsourced to companies with really few people within the Government or more precisely without a commercial interest in the activity, who understand what's going on. Understand me, people with an advanced technical background were forced out and are not welcome in the Government. The notion instead is that somewhere, out there in the big wide world, someone is somehow doing on their own and already has the answers- it only takes some tax dollars for this whatever it is to magically appear ready for use without even having to understand how it works.

There are still SBIRs and other small research activities but it's not big bucks and most of what's left is either driven by emergency (think CDC) or special operations (think UAVs, etc).