Your plan fails when there are no jobs. This is a distinct possibility in the coming decades.

It's called a guaranteed minimum income.

The writing is on the wall, and creative endeavors that humans enjoy will dominate more of society. Isn't that what we all want? To do what we want?

The concept is from the right, it's been around for a long time, and it's a fairly straightforward implementation. If a society is rich enough that the production costs approach zero, then ..

Of course, it smells a lot like the dreaded socialism monster. Or worse.. red pink communism!

There's no rocket science here. It will happen eventually, as the poor people get to vote. Either with ballots, or otherwise.

There's two unique things about the US:

#1. Absolute freedom of (written) speech, at least for the most part, to a degree that I am not aware of existing anywhere in the civilized world.

#2. Private citizens can own handguns and assault rifles for their own protection and uses.

Fight for those rights with all you have, because once they're gone, I doubt the world will ever see them again. Particularly #1.

If an idea is so repulsive, the place to discredit it is in the open, not to push it underground into the recesses of the underworld, lending credence and appeal to the idea through it's illicit nature. The written word is not a place for the state, any more than the legislature is a place for preachers.

Nobody should be put in jail for their words. Not even vile ones.

Use brightly colored cables, get metal cable tray and rattle can spray paint it a contrasting color. I've seen it done very well, and it does add a near technical feel to a space.

Any interior designer could help you; if you're going for image, then that's probably not a bad idea anyway.

If you're not going for image.. drop tile. :)

There's lots of add-on cases that provide this functionality...

Stilts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stilts :)

If grad school has at best a questionable return, how could a postdoc - indentured servitude, slavery - be any better an idea?

The exceptional at anything will do fine, including academics. By definition, odds are you're not exceptional in a given talent pool, even one that's two or three deviations out.

Have a concrete plan to feed yourself. Or save the schooling for retirement, after you've saved up enough to live on. Digging yourself a hundred thousand dollar hole isn't a great idea right out of the gate.

Academics used to be the playground of the elite (and the exceptional, with a patron). That's been forgotten..

I'm more interested in knowing that in the time between when a launch is detected and confirmed on the west coast of North America, their fate as a nation will be sealed forever and all time, thus ensuring MAD is upheld.

I expect anyone who launches a nuclear war will have to come out of the bunkers, sooner or later.

We need an updated, modern, and effective nuclear arsenal.

If you don't defend your way of life, bad men will come and take it from you. Sometimes they are the bad men, and sometimes you are. History is funny that way.

I don't have any problem with nuclear weapons - they're a fact of life now. I just want ours to be the best.. and if anyone launches, it needs to be understood, completely, your entire right to exist as a nation. There can be no other peace.

Reality, sometimes, is grim stuff.

Seriously, C is that awesome.

If C doesn't work, import python.

What's new is old.. and old new..

http://youtu.be/up863eQKGUI

Remember kids, don't copy that floppy!

Maybe they always were. Functional, but they're jewlery. I have a nice Citizen Ecodrive I'm fond of. It's functional, it's lightweight, it never needs batteries, and it looks nice. It's titanium, with a sapphire face.

It allows me to casually check time in meetings without being rude; it looks professional; that's important for what I do, less important for others.

Smartwatches are horrible to look at. They are gaudy and tacky. I am not sure what they say about the wearer, but I am not sure they are part of the image I would want to project. Yes, that type of thing matters to some people. Particularly, I suspect, those who still wear watches.

What I want is a nice watch like that that maybe has a silent notification capabilty, and perhaps, can pick up some biometric data (pulse, whatever). I would find real value in that - something that my phone can't do, an an alert to get me to check my phone for something interesting or pressing.

I can see myself getting Google Glasses before a smartwatch.

Get off my lawn.

That $10k differential, if invested, could pay a return that would cover most of your gas.

Fuel, or cars in general, need to get much more expensive for this to make sense. Better to start the transition now, and hey - props to everyone buying a Tesla.

On the upside, banner ads will be pretty easy to target to make never appear with plugins.