Googlesays there is more trial and error in bridge building than you might like to admit.

You RTFA. They selected the shops with the worst reputations to try this at, of course the bad shops will outnumber the good shops when you seek out the worst shops for your test.

if you sell it for $100 yes, you should pay taxes on $100

I think your argument would only work if the people getting paid were actually spending the gold coins at face value, which would be incredibly stupid.

It is really no different than if the boss pays you in merchandise which you then sell, you can't then claim he never paid you with money so you owe no taxes, well I guess you can claim that but it won't work

I agree retailers provide a service and add value. The statement about retailers was to counter the statement that "buying something just so you can turn around and sell it to someone else for more money, without having made any improvements is just jackassery." Using retailers was a bad comparison.

How about investing in gold. I buy an ounce of gold hold it until the value increases and sell it. I don't think that is wrong. I didn't provide a service or improve the gold in any way. I just waited for it to appreciate in value, nothing wrong with that.

The thing I don't like about the squatters is that they are not "buying" an item to resell, they are paying a nominal fee to register an item that, in essence, is unowned solely to deprive others from the opportunity to use the item, and later try to sell it for a profit.

I guess my main point was that it is not wrong to buy and sell for profit regardless of whether or not you add value to the item, but the squatters are not "buying" items they are in essence obstructing access to what should be an available pool of items so they can sell them.

The only solution I can think of, and it probably has a huge flaw that would make it unworkable, is names are not transferable. I can register an unused name and if I don't want it at the end of the term it will revert to an available status, but I cannot transfer or give it to anyone. Once it reverts to available it is fair game first come first serve. If I were sitting on a name that you wanted I could say pay me and i will not renew, but you would not likely pay much as you may not get the name even if I don't renew it, someone else might jump in and grab it. I think that then there would be little incentive to scoop up an assload of available domain names just to block users from getting them.

The key difference, in my opinion, is you purchased the property from somewhere, you didn't have the ability to claim unused land for a nominal registration fee.

Isn't "buying something just so you can turn around and sell it to someone else for more money" exactly what all retailers do everyday? What about investments/401k accounts? Are you not buying things and hoping to sell it to someone else for more?
I personally don't have a problem with speculating on something that has actual value like the land analogy above or investments. The analogy breaks down though, most items have to be made or bought from a person or other entity, there is no longer a pool of unowned land that you can claim with a nearly insignificant registration fee and then try to sell. Real estate agents don't just roam around looking for vacant houses and claim them to sell as their own.

How many of the spacecraft malfunction and don't last the desired lifespan? How many contain 70MW reactors? Usually the result of a failure in a spacecraft is less less severe than a failure in a reactor.

It may be possible to build them in a manner which only requires service every 12 years, but is it wise to leave them unattended for 12 years?

The cost.
The cost of cd's and postage would climb pretty quickly when trying to do this on a large scale. You could do it to select people though.

"tech-savvy" folks that can't find hidden files or use linux? They don't seem "so tech-savvy" to me. I just plugged my ipod into my eeepc running ubuntu and dragged music off using the exotic third party program called file browser.
If tech-savvy people can't do this what does that make me, a cyber ninja maybe?

I don't pay much attention to audiophile arguments. It is one thing to have top quality audio at home but to bitch because a portable player you are using on the bus etc. has some loss is just silly. Most "audiophiles" end up throwing money away for useless crap anyway. Google search the virtual dynamics power 3 power cord. This is a $150 cable that promises all kinds of crap. After you check it out look about 2 links down to see the pics of it after a cat tore it open.

I am not trying to be a total ass here. If yoou just prefer another format or don't like the ipod thats fine, your arguments suck though

It must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays