Mittens are being taxed now? Just in time for winter! Thanks, Obama!

ENIAC was Turing-complete, which is a full computer as nearly everyone understands it now.

No one claims America "invented computing", you crass buffoon.

Except for those pesky,slow mechanical relays... and total lack of conditional branches.

Did you actually read the article? He didn't ask for the ENIAC, specifically. They could have just grabbed an old IBM, but the guy assigned the project kicked it up a few notches. Parts of it are still unaccounted for, and one panel they recovered was destroyed. The missing panels would have to be recreated from plans-- if they still exist-- and the existing ones would have to be extensively repaired.

I have to agree that if we had a runoff system, people would probably stop complaining about the elector system that they know nothing about. Having a de facto two party system is simply not working. We probably should get rid of physical electors to streamline the process, but the idea of citizens electing their president through the states is a logical, consistent one.

You keep copying your archival backups from years ago? Hope it's encrypted.

Can I just load a station wagon full of LTO tapes and keep driving it around the country? Can't beat the bandwidth.

Those QIC drives used to really stink. Only DDS and 8mm were usable, and those weren't really for consumers. QIC drives used to shoeshine like mad, even if on a SCSI controller like the one I had.

They didn't, but fortunately the Julian date was a signed integer.

Not to mention:

With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that's just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed

March 28, 2011

No, even in (well-written) C, you don't just use globals everywhere.

OK and Texas: two states with lots of open land that is cheap.

Most of the other 48 states: not so much.

The cost calculations don't seem to include the cost of the sprawling real estate needed, plus the ongoing property taxes on that landmass. And SOMEONE is going to pay property tax: either the energy company, or all the long-suffering middle class folks with the 3 bedroom houses on 1/2 acre plots because the power plant got a nice subsidy from the crony capitalists.

You just described Punkbuster.

Already more usable than the GNU Hurd.

For some reason this reminded me of the "Church of Pong" in Neuromancer.