+1 insightful. When Napster first appeared, many many people were still using dial-up. This limited the impact, and even then the RIAA was having a hissy-fit. Fight as they might, downloading became the default method for obtaining music (legally and illegally).

Fast forward 15 years and internet speeds are now sufficient to do the same with movies. MPAA will have a similar hissy-fit, but I think it's safe to assume that in 5 years, downloading will become the default method for obtaining movies (legally and illegally).

We are the Borg...we are really thirsty ...we will drink your coffee ...resistance is futile.

I couldn't decide, so I cloudified my answer.

We are at war with Eurasia...we have always been at war with Eurasia

Near the end of the speech the queen also was heard to say "We are at war with Eastasia. We have always been at war with Eastasia."

The question I'm always left asking is this: "Should artists be paid for recordings?"

In days past, performers made money for performing. They still do. There were no recordings on which to profit.

If ALL music were free as in beer and free as in liberty, surely artists would make less money. But would they go bankrupt? Many would still be multi-millionaires from concert ticket sales and merchandise alone. These would be the same artists with or without iTunes and CD sales.

So I ask: Should artists be paid for recordings? I think the answer is "No."

And finish reading Fahrenheit 451. All this censorship all in a row...madness.

Simple life lives here on Earth in the driest of dry places. Now Mars is dryer still, but that does not preclude the possibility of life still existing there.

Furthermore, this is valuable information for any future manned Mars mission. Any such mission will need a native supply of water. And if there was water on Mars at one point, then there must still be at least a small amount left, though it's probably locked up in hydrates and under the surface.

Finally, information like this is valuable as it shows that water on planets is very common (we've found it on Earth, Venus, Mars, and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn). This lends credence to the idea that water is common on extrasolar planets.

Which kind of software gets hacked more, open source or closed source?
Which kind of software has flaws that are corrected more quickly, open source or closed source?
Which kind of software is more flexible under unanticipated new situations, open source or closed source?
Which kind of software should run your car? Easy answer.

I'll make an exception.

I'm a physicist, so I'm willing to bet I know more than you do about this topic. I'm familiar with the idea that space is, in fact, a deadly, hostile vacuum. But I'm also familiar with the fact that lack of gravity is, at least currently, horribly detrimental to human health. If we are going to exist in space long term, we need gravity.

The beauty of a rotating station is that the hub has zero centripetal acceleration. I'll simplify that for you: THE MIDDLE DOESN'T SPIN. That means that you can do all kinds of great zero-g research in the middle and also do your fuel transfers and other "easier in zero g" things there. And on the rim you can do all of the other valuable things I mentioned previously.

Now go back to your Jersey Shore and your Lite Beer and leave this conversation to people who know of what they speak.