I'd suggest starting at 50 million to start, once they meet certain milestones, then release 150 million. After that, you can define certain other milestones to release that extra billion or so.

Lack of funds can be a problem. However, a perception of excess or unlimited funds can be just as deadly to a project.

I hate to say I had a box of about a dozen of them that I sent off to a recycling center. They sat in that box for about 7 years before I got fed up with having them gather dust in my garage. I still feel a bit bad about it, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of selling them in days when ebay was just getting started. Craigslist didn't exist back then as far as I know.

The US Constitution applies anywhere that the US Government is involved. The authority of the government to act is directly derived from the US Constitution. It doesn't matter if it is acting in in Iowa, Japan, or Jupiter, if the US government is doing something, the Constitution applies.

The US government is bound by the Constitution even you were discussing it's authority to perform an action in the next galaxy. As the US Constitution defines the powers granted to the government, any attempt to declare that the Constitution does not apply will also invalidate any authority that the government has as the authority is derived from the Constitution.

Also, don't confuse laws with rights. The laws of the US may or may not apply in certain conditions, but the Constitution ALWAYS applies if it is an action by the US Government.

Guilt is retroactive. Yes you are innocent, but that is until you are proven guilty. It means that you WERE guilty even during the time we presumed you to be innocent.

It IS public property. Just like the National Parks, or mineral rights under public land. Public property does not mean free. The government has a responsibility to manage public property in the way that best represents the interests of the owners of that property.

Licensing technology developed on the public dime seems like a rather responsible thing to do, just like negotiating for maximum compensation for oil on public land is the smart thing to do.

Sounds like you were engaged in some sort of seditious activity.

No. He isn't a writer, so obviously he can't write regardless of authority. Come to think of it, given that statement how can any of this be true at all? Though I suppose this is all type and not really written at all. Or... is it even type? Oh god, everything I know is based on a lie.

I have a home that has light switches in bad locations. The construction does not make it easy to rewire, so I'm using the home automation equipment to create 'virtual' light switches in the locations where I want them without having to have the 'switch' on the same circuit as the light.

As one example, the previous owner split one bedroom into two, but left the single switch (which now controls both rooms). I can install the HA outlets in the rooms, and thus achieve independent outlet switching without having to run new wire.

Not me. I've just started wiring my house using the Z-wave tech. I've got an old heavy plasma television, and that's about it as far as easily fungible assets are concerned. Anyone talented enough to start hacking the home automation stuff is clever enough to go after things which are less likely to get you caught with a truck full of stolen goods.

Imagine that some odd radiation caused all the seatbelts in cars to deteriorate and become weak. For most of us this wouldn't actually be a problem. A good percentage of us will not be in an accident that requires them.

You can see where this is headed. The reason we aren't dropping dead in the street is because we DO have effective antibiotics for when those antibiotics will help. Prior to the discovery of antibiotics a great number of people were dying due to infections. I don't remember the exact source, but in 1910, I recall that infections were the leading cause of death, beating out heart disease.

What happens when those "criminal gangs" are just fronts for government espionage and/or attacks to slowly undermine your own country's industry?

That's the problem they are faced with right now, the same way some corporations get away with abuses through 'shell companies', governments are using these 'shell criminal gangs' as a means to unofficially sanction behavior which the government uses to maintain plausible deniability. The challenge is deciding on a point where overlooking 'criminal' activity reaches 'warfare' levels.

FIFO. First In, First Out. No need to even waste time with a random choice.

Which is great if you only visit the same sites. I try to do something similar to what you request, but if you don't have a regular set of websites you visit, you are going to be constantly twiddling permissions.

It's annoying enough when it's just me, but my parents/wife/family respond, "This website is broken, your setup drives me nuts, I just want things to work."

Honestly we should really pass a law prohibiting the insane amount of license subdivision that goes on in the IP world. Yes, that would mean that the content can't be monitized in a manner to maximize the dollar output, but maximizing revenue isn't the point of copyright in the first place. The point of copyright is to maximize CONTENT not profit.

So much content is encumbered by innumerable licensing agreements that a good portion of it might as well be radioactive. You can't even know if a company is in the equivalent of a polygamous marriage and has sold of the right to the same market to three different parties until one of those parties takes the other to court.