Cowboys didn't get into simstim, he thought, because it was basically a meat toy. He knew that ... the cyberspace matrix was actually a drastic simplification of the human sensorium, at least in terms of presentation, but simstim itself struck him as a gratuitous multiplication of flesh input.

Your post exemplifies the problem here, both with the 3rd brakelight and the new rear view camera. The thrid brakelight was mandated by Elizabeth Dole, then US Secretary of Transportation. Was it the result of a study that measured its effectiveness and a comprehensive cost/benefit study? No, she just figured "it's gotta be helpful", so, whoop, there it is. The same sort of reasoning is being applied to the rear view camera. This sort of wishful thinking is no basis to make decisions that cost millions and billions of dollars.

Mustard Gas

I have a magic rock that keeps the tigers away. If you doubt it's needed or effective....well, I've been living here in the States for years, and haven't been attacked by a tiger even once! Thank god I have my magic rock, and fie on those who doubt the need for it!

I took years and years of vector & euclidean math, differential euqations and the like. Mow after working as a programmer for a very long time, I've used data structures, graphs, algorithms and the like on a daily basis. I've used the other, "Buck Rogers" math...once. I realize this is anecdotal, but I can't see how most programmers would have more use for the advanced analysis style math over the discrete stuff. Gradients, divergences, curls, triple integrals and partial differential equations are a lot of fun, but they just don't come up that often unless you're a physicist or a games developer.

Yah, the advent of CDs meant that you didn't have to perch over your turntable like a watchdog during a party, afraid of what could happen to your $300 cartridge and stylus, or a brand new $10 album (and a dollar was a lot of money back then - you could get a damn good car for $4000). When CDs arrived, you could let your drunk girlfriend change albums wihout having to get up and do it yourself.

like - "NSDAP" the Party also known as the "NAZI"-party - "HJ" (Young Hitlericans(male)) - "BDM" (Young Hitlericans(female) - "SS" (Sturm Staffel) The SS were the Schutzstaffel, German for "Protective Echelon". Perhaps you were thinking of the Sturmabtielung, the "Storm Detachment" - the brownshirted Storm Troopers from the early days.

VMS clusters, with the Distribute Lock Manager, solved this problem decades ago.

If you don't consider the RSX family major operating systems, you're displaying your ignorance of computing history.

ALso a bit of "Call Me Joe", by Poul Anderson in there.