I hadn't heard the limit of 1. I know they have only made the B so far. I am ok with that. No, a PIC won't do, perhaps an Atmel or something similar. But I am not ready to roll with my projects quite yet, so the delay in getting my R-PI is just annoying to my curiosity and doesn't delay and projects (yet).

yes, and SDR is good, but I'd like one that is a TRX, and is cheaper. Perhaps a digital radio operating in MW low HF only (to save costs).

I think of this as an advanced arduino and a bit more. NOT as a replacement for a PC. I think it should be the basis for 'doing cool things' - by kids or adults. I expect lots of hardware add-ons will be made, and many of these made for resale. I plan on ordering two model Bs at launch, and then model As as needed. There's lots of projects I have in mind for them. I don't think I am alone in wanting to use these for "cool stuff" - I don't think these are meant to be a replacement for the OLPC.

I like the model A because it gives me the option to not pay for what I am not going to use. In some cases, the datacomm will be via radio (wifi, hf ham) and so an ethernet board would be a waste. In other cases, I will be using littlle ram, 128mb should be plenty. I'd hope that model C, or some other model sometime soon, will be one aimed at very low cost ($15? $18?), while still providing an open architecture...and not some faster one with more ram and more USB ports. I'd like to see a model, be it this same model C I describe above, made to consume very little power, and have a wide operating temperature range, so that I can use it in remote locations for sensor networks. What also might be fun, though I am not considering this very practical, is one with a single ISA slot, so I can play with some old industrial controller boards I have lying around. or hey, maybe an S-100 bus!

...has just hired its first left-handed Lithuanian. Get over the gender and racial/ethnic background issues! They're not important! You're just going to get Robyn labeled as the 'token female'. It's disgusting!

I am sure I am not the only person who wishes that we had a search engine for all of the things banned by other search engines. I am glad to see that heretical.com is still up, in spite of all of the attempts to have it shut.

Regarding the weight of nuclear reactors - I don't know exactly what 'a lot' means, in terms of weight, to WindBourne. I can mention that newer designs of nuclear (fission) power plants are smaller. The steam turbine will be replaced by a helium turbine. One of the advantages of space (when away from stars) is that heat loss due to radiation is high, so cooling is easier, so the difference in gas pressure between helium heated by a fission reaction and that at the other end of the turbine, cool be radiation to space, is high, allowing a higher efficiency.

The problem is, this is still complex. Perhaps a better approach is to use advanced RTG (radioisotope thermal generator) concepts. These have been very inefficient so far, but new developments such as the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Stirling_Radioisotope_Generator) show promise. These, however, are still way too small and inefficient to replace the heated hydrogen which WindBourne suggests. So, I agree with WindBourne....as the technology currently exists. However, I wonder if it may be possible to not bother with the hydrogen at all, and simply use the high-energy neutrons (or Alpha, or Beta, particles) as the reaction mass. What I don't know is if the energy of the decay particles are high enough (in comparison to those from fission) to efficiently propel a spacecraft, especially at higher velocities. I recall that the exhaust velocity needs to be approximately equivalent to the velocity of the spacecraft in order to be efficiently utilized, however, I don't know what frame of reference this refers to. Also, because the spacecraft will have different velocities as it accelerates, the velocity of the exhaust would ideally be variable, and I don't see how that's possible when using decay particles.

Anyone who has any knowledge of space travel knows the issues raised in the referenced article. If you didn't care about space, you wouldn't read the article. Please, can we have reference to more scientific articles which advance the knowledge of geeks (that's what slashdot is for, remember)? I feel dumber just for having read that article.

Maybe there are some geniuses out there who could do it, but learning to be a COMPETENT and valuable programmer takes more than a year. More than two years. There's a reason why it pays a lot - because it is HARD and requires SKILL and KNOWLEDGE. Maybe some factory could turn out a number of stumbling oafs in a year, who would make things worse by not knowing sound programming practices, but this is a BAD thing. We have enough problems with people, particularly those from China and India, faking credentials in order to get programming jobs (but I must say there are also a lot of talented programmers from those countries). We don't need more people dumped on the market with lots of dubious credentials and little skill.

People need to have fundamentals which make them valuable thinkers, such as basic skills in communications (English, or whatever the language is of the country in which they reside), mathematics, physics, reason, logic. Then they can attempt engineering (I suggest we need more mechanical engineers in the world), metallurgy (sorely underrated), biology, etc.

Not everyone needs a doctorate! I'd rather have a handful of competent BS or BA people than an incompetent doctor! I know that's not the style these days, but it's how I'd run things.

Sometimes I think I belong in the 19th century America, with individual discovery and exploitation of the principles getting one ahead (in spite of Edison). Alas, steampunk style does not guarantee success...

It used to be that firewalls and filters would search out malicious connections attempting spam or attacks and drop them. But in Soviet China, it's the opposite. So disguise any connections to Falun Gong website as spam or worse, and they GFW will be sure to let it through.

I live in Boston. I ride the T fairly often, but haven't seen these TSA stops yet. I will ignore them when I see them, and probably get arrested. Then you can bail me out. Pretty please.