Well if you'd look a little more closely, I am not the original poster. :)

If you think about it a bit, it is possible for a government to gain a high level of control through a required national ID. If it were required for buying and selling as stated previously, suspending a particular card would essentially make you helpless. It's like freezing a bank account. Maybe it's not a problem if you are okay with the government's practices, but only a little corruption could put a lot of power in the wrong person's hands.

I love you :)

Maybe because your government doesn't always know what's best for you? Your all-loving government may not agree with how you live regardless of whether or not it is truly wrong. At that point, you probably don't want the government being able to determine who or where you live, what you buy, or if you can buy/sell anything at all. I'm going to allow you the privilege of looking up historical references for yourself. Also, you might want to learn a little respect for your fellow humans (like mosb1000) if you want anyone to take you seriously.

... back when i was younger, except they used rubbing alcohol and chlorine. It was fun to watch, and it wasn't dangerous if you stood back and detonated them in a field. Basically there is a delayed reaction between the rubbing alcohol and the chlorine which gave about 10 seconds before changing to a deep yellow color and rapidly producing chlorine gas that exploded a soda bottle. This led to more experimentation that resulted in their creation of a PVC mortar-like cannon used to launch softballs about 70 yards. Talk about cool.

Most shoes have rubber soles and treads. Rubber is a product of petroleum, which made up of hydrocarbons. Can you see where I'm going with this?

Found some more resources and examples of retinal display here.

Oh wait...

It seems like this would be fine on a small scale, but pulling a large sheet of this stuff through moving ocean water would probably turn out to be extremely difficult. First, the tensile strength of the fabric would probably not be strong enough to withstand currents or other movement without a lot of bracing. Secondly, exposing it to a large quantity of oil would probably overwhelm the staining ability, causing the fabric to be "clogged," not only hampering the filtering properties but also increasing drag quite a bit.

I've played computer/video games ever since I was a small child, and at age 23, I also work a as a software dev. I can no longer wear contacts due to my poor eye health, even though I've worn them for 7 years. Right now, if I put contacts in my eyes for one day, my eyes will be red all the next day. Continued use will cause extreme redness, blurry vision, and sensitivity to light. I don't have direct proof of the cause, but I suspect my eyes have sustained damage from several years of wearing contacts with dry eyes, and I suspect the dry eyes came from staring at a screen for hours on end. I recently invested in a decent pair of glasses that I'll be switching to indefinitely.

For the record, I know you're being sarcastic. I meant it as a joke until I saw someone honestly take you literally.

Like I said, I knew I was overgeneralizing. I don't mean for this to be a diligent analysis of all pursuits. I am merely trying to make a point that many people have no respect for academic success despite the fact that well-educated engineers and scientists are what make much of our modern lifestyle possible. Other pursuits tend to be more socially acceptable, and to some people, social acceptance is all that matters. However, when you have colleges in the U.S. that would rather give academic departments the shaft rather than drop a sports program, you have a problem that goes beyond issues of social acceptance.

I'm glad you agree :)

Some societies promote knowledge and mental discipline as keys to success. Others have come to prefer art, sports, and pursuit of whatever makes you feel good at the time. I'll let you categorize appropriately.


(Disclaimer: I know I'm overgeneralizing, but it's fun and it makes me feel good)

I clicked on the article, excited to see a 3D printer that printed out complete Lego models. Talk about a let-down.

Yes, who says life on other planets has to be similar to what we see on Earth?

All the Californians are just now booting up their computers at work, visiting Slashdot, and getting angry about my comment :)

Yes, it's a beautiful area. I definitely won't argue with that.

True, but natural disasters aren't the only reason I'm glad I don't live in California. Imploding economy, poor leadership, overbearing laws, and similar issues are others.