In "The Elegant Universe" Brian Greene http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Greene made a similar analogy in regards to string theory: if an atom were expanded to the size of our solar system, an individual string would be the size of a tree.

However, He didn't specify what kind of tree.

As a participant in the Milky Way and SETI projects for BOINC, I can say this development is impressive and would be a cruncher's dream come true. It would put supercomputing power in the hands of the everyman and allow applications that rely on distributed computing to take a leap forward.

Fantastic points! We both agree that the industry leader for gaming digital distribution is Valve and Steam.

1. Bandwidth - Not having an alternate way, any way to get games to consumers without downloading is a missed opportunity. My suggestion is that at checkout on Steam, you can select to pay a few dollars more and wait an additions few days for the physical media to be created and mailed to your address. To minimize any problems, the activation code could be recieved at the time of purchase and required when the software is installed upon delivery, or make the games default to off-line mode. Valve and the developer could realize lower operating costs by reduced bandwidth usage for a segment of their clientele that currently has no demographic. Let's face it - the Steam model revolves around POS and download, not POS and mail. I'm sure the DVD+mailer packaging that Netflix uses could provide some evidence that costs per unit, offset with an additional handling fee, would benefit everyone else that chooses to download their content. The only valid reason I can think of that this wouldn't be permissable is when ordering a physical copy of a game through Steam conflicts with a retail version of the same game manufactured through another distributor. In that case, the developer needs to provide for this contingency and package the game with other materials upto and including other content to create a new SKU or package. Allowing the archival copy (as mentioned in #2 below) is essentially creating a physical copy of the same game that can be puurchased at retail, only you need the Steam frontend and authentication process to access it.

2. Archival Copy - I know that Steam allows the user to burn the game to physical media, but I've never done it so I don't know exactly how it plays out. Granting the end user the ability to burn one archival copy, with the record of fact maintained by Steam, should be permitted. That means that weather the consumer chose to order the physical copy (as I suggested in #1 above) or download it and burn it themselves, the integrity of the game and the system remains intact and the customer gets several ways to store the content.

3. I believe in economies of scale and supply and demand. If Steam is releasing a new game that cost a lot to make and promote, they should be allowed to ask a lot for it. Historically, Valve and the developers have been good about utilizing pre-order promotions, pre-sequel price drops and post-release discounts to encourage sales spikes. Generally though, these are targeted for gamers that are early adopers or those that are willing to wait until the marketing hype cools down. I guess it comes down to what the consumer feel is a good value, getting a AAA title on release day or waiting until it's aged.

Interestingly, I bought the retail GOTY edition of Oblivion from Wal Mart for $19.99 and it (at the time) was on sale on Steam for the same price. I'd much rather enter my retail codes on Steam, pay a few dollars to Valve and Bethesda (who are already Steam partners) and let lifetime upgrades and patches on my retail version so I don't have to worry about it anymore. In this Oblivion example, to the best of my knowledge all respective parties are represented so there's no reason why I can't grandfather in my retail game (for a fee) and get Steam support that includes authentication. Then in the event that I lose my retail physical media, I can pay again a handling fee and have the Steam version mailed to me.

To opt out of the download and usage of bandwidth should be a noticable savings to Valve, but as I indicated I'd be glad to pay additional for that option and have either/or content insurance for life.

I'll use Steam as a good example of digital game distribution because they are very good at it, although have room for functional improvement. Steam is a good thing, but I didn't start out feeling that way. Even now, I have issues with not being able to grandfather (aka register and seamslessly update) in my old retail games that Steam currently offers the same downloadable version of. They have a limited list of retail games you can do this for, but it's not nearly extensive enough. I priced my retail game collection and to replace it all with Steam version of the same games, I would have to spend a couple hundred bucks. There are a number of ways Steam or the original distributor that has a presence on Steam could handle this migration, but it's still disappointing to some degree. An observation I have with Steam is the failure to provide a premium option (ie you pay extra for it) to have Valve burn and mail a physical copy of the game(s) you want, default-configured for off-line play, that is still part of your profile of games.

On the other hand, I give Steam a huge tip of the hat with regards to being one of the first to stake claim and set up shop on the new digital frontier. It's obvious they are serious about providing a fair service for their downloadable content and return customers are their lifeblood. As a bonus, there's some quality free stuff on their site, so you can download the client for free and play games for free, or load up on "bargin bin" games on the cheap. Plus Valve and their partners are aware that with the new digital download sales model, there's room for hefty discounts and weekend promotions.

I think the old model of a distributor swallowing up developers to become "in-house talent" like EA or Vivendi or Zenimax is a fading concept. Distributors want to purchase more developers so they have something to sell, because the costs of retail operations and marketing are expensive. With digital distribution, the game distributor doesn't have to tie up it's money with talent acquisition, they just have to create lots of partnerships to promote and sell the games as inexpensively as possible and return maximum revenue to the developers so they can make more games so the cycle can continue - no development employees to lay off, no cost overruns due to protracted development cycles.

I keep coming back to Valve as a great example, since they offer so many services under one umbrella, but they also are very accomodating to game devs that just want to sell games and make some money while maintaining their independance.

I'm sure a viable solution will rely on current and emerging technologies to achieve the tolerances required for such a Herculean feat. A couple of clarifications: I said "approaching relativistic speed" to indicate an order of magnitude more than the speeds achieved by current generation space propulsion systems. Also I emphasized the need for top engineers and scientists to calculate an optimal trajectory, since the best real-world examples of a solar slingshot will undoubtedly rely on discoveries and technologies designed and manufactured for planetary atmospheric reentry. It makes sense to reduce risk and operate using narrower tolerances if the mission is unmanned. Also, the purpose of the mission must be defined; specific mission profiles could include requiring the spacecraft to return to Earth for analysis or complete an orbit of the sun and and emit a signal for detection.

Clearly the most critical stage of such a mission would be entering, surviving and exiting the solar atmosphere where the surface temperature is 5,500 degrees Celcius http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun or 9,950 degrees Fahrenheit http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/tempfc.htm

On the heat issue - the TPS (thermal protection shield) needed to operate in such an environment would include some of the following current and emerging technologies:

1. Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablation (PICA) or Silicone Impregnated Reuseable Ceramic Ablation (SIRCA) - I think the good folks working at the Thermal Protection Materials and Systems Branch of the Ames Research Center are headed in the right direction. Thermal soak capability for silica heat tiles have shown tolerances of 1,260 degrees Celsius or 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is half of the temperature of the surface of the Sun. Granted, more testing and development is required to draw definitive answers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_re-entry#Thermal_protection_systems

The Galileo Probe is history's best example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Probe of the most difficult atmospheric entry. Obviously the mission perimeters and requirements were very different than what I'm proposing here, but they give us unique insight into extreme conditions during atmospheric entry and what ablative shielding can do for a spacecraft. Galileo experienced peak shock temperatures of 16,000 degrees Kelvin. Keep in mind this is circa 1989 technology.

2. I'm not nearly mathematically or scientifically competent enough to calculate entry vectors, atmospheric density, terminal velocity, spacecraft TPS lifespan, escape velocity and all of the other variables required to accomplish such an astronomical feat - but I can understand the underlying engineering, celestial and scientific concepts and visualize them in concert. Again, it would have to be determined if the goal is to retrieve the spacecraft for physical analysis (optimal) or to monitor it (desired). Naturally, they complexity would increase as you tighten the requirements and bring the spacecraft back to Earth or rely on active or passive breaking to slow it down.

I believe the spacecraft would need to transmit a signal after it emerged from the other side of the Sun, allowing it to re-establish contact with observers on Earth, and indicate that it in fact traveled through time.

The best engineering and scientific minds in the world could calculate a trajectory that would throw an object around the sun and back in time. At one point the object, if constructed well, could concieveably approach relativistic speed.

Someone do the math or correct mine:

Distance from Earth to Sun - 93 million miles. Before solar gravity assist, the object would be travelling at ~500 miles per hour (based on the Apollo Command Module travelling from Earth to the Moon and not including auxillary propulsion assist to terminal velocity) would be just over 21 years to reach the Sun (93 mil / 500 mph = 186,000 hours / 24 hours in a day = 7,750 days / 365 days in a year = 22.233 years to reach the Sun.

Distance around the Sun - 365 days or 1 year, minus the time saved by the accelleration by gravity assist.

Distance from the Sun back to Earth - 22.233 minus the accelleration by gravity assist.

Total Round Trip Time - 22.233 + 1 + 22.233 (minus time from gravity assist) = no more than 43.466 years.

Im sure there are some studious individuals here that can punch holes/clarify my theories and/or calculations.

I still have some bad memories of upgrading a friend's PC from Windows 95 to Win98SE and halfway through the install he decides he wanted to cancel the install. Let's just say back then MS didn't put a great deal of effort into undoing an OS upgrade and his system was left somewhat disfigured. A piece of advice - never perform an OS upgrade for a friend while they are sitting there with you.

It was a learning experience to be sure. As the one in my group that prided myself on 'knowing about computers', that and other situations damaged my reputation when after a reboot, the inevitable error messages began to appear or hardware that was previously recognized was mysteriously now in conflict. With regards to helping friends and family maintain or upgrade their home computers over the years, there were many times I had regretted advertising my so-called technical knowledge and thought it better if I had just left well enough alone.

They must know that this will cause a resonance cascade, even when the warnings indicate that the anti-mass spectrometer readings are dangerously high - yet at the last minute are deemed to be within acceptable limits.

This idea is wrong on so many levels. I hate Hitler analogies because they tend to be polar opposite examples of the argument they attempting to counter, but this one seems to fit.

The BBC did a documentary a few years back "Nazis: A Warning From History' http://www.amazon.com/Nazis-Warning-History-Samuel-West/dp/B00097DY66/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1255030547&sr=1-1 that touched on this very subject. Granted, the UK isn't the Third Reich and I'm pulling a very specific instance from that documentary, so please understand that I'm not suggesting a one-size-fits-all with regards to that regime's policy, but an accounting of state-sanctioned surveillance by civilians.

In that doc, there's a segment that reveals that the Gestapo actually didn't have very many official staffers out in the field and relied heavily on "neighborhood watch" participants to implicate other citizens in activities that fit a broadstroke definition of 'suspicious behavior'. Years later, a woman was confronted about a statement she had submitted to the Gestapo about a woman neighbor that she had reported for suspicious behavior; the 'suspicious' woman was detained by the Gestapo and never heard from again. The original documents were presented to her, showing her signature and her statements which were read back to her. She remembered the woman mentioned in the statements, recognized her handwriting and signature, but disavowed that she wrote or submitted the statement.

The documentary example is the far end of the spectrum for state-sanctioned civilian surveillance. Given that people will recieve rewards for their efforts and the program is marketed as a game, it adds more fuel to the fire that people will misuse it. Once implicated in such a program, a person's name or guilt can never be expunged.

All we need to finish off the program is a Norsefire logo http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Norsefire-logo.png and a picture of the High Chancellor Adam Sutler http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/250px-Sutler2.jpg.

Yes, I like this option the best. The ultimate re-purpose: as a free gift for others that could really use the entertainment value and take their minds off of reality for awhile.

Your ex analogy hits the mark, often times with brand loyalty there's are feelings of attachment and personal support. The company's been there for you and like a woebegone lover, the company you have stuck by for years with fond memories leaves you on the lurch holding the proverbial bag full of abandoned leftovers.

I had a similar experience years ago with a Sony Mini Disc player that just "quit working". I didn't drop it, spill anything on it or mistreat it. As a consumer product it fit that perfect niche and at the time, was fairly cutting edge. I felt betrayed, abandoned, angry and frustrated. Any attempt reconcile would have surely proved to be an exercise in wasted resources. And like the former significant other, you end up hanging on to the unusable wreckage in hopes of it someday being repaired or replaced. Each time you open the drawer or box and take stock of the random components it's a sad reminder that once there was something useful and beautiful where only disappointment and obsolescence remains.

It's a strange thing brand loyalty, where the highs are heavenly and the lows are disdainful. We let their name roll off of our tongues as a trusted endorsement or spit it venomously as a perilous warning.

Letterman's the new John The Baptist.

I think the Star Wars Kid Drunken Jedi has the highest production value, captures the essence of the novelty and still keeps it somewhat complimentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GJOVPjhXMY&feature=related

Over 7.4 million views can't be wrong. It's a shame that it's so rife with copyright infringement and defamation of character, and yet so well made that it could never exist outside of it's bubble of it's own inappropriateness.

I'm waiting for a cheaper version of the Optimus Maximus that I can use to type in the dark. Because revenge is a dish served cold. And it is very cold... in space.

Khan would have used an Optimus to chronicle his revenge, but would he have approved of the $1500 pricetag? http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/

I think the msrp would have insulted his intellect.

Let me underscore this. When the original Doom3 retail product was sold, Activision made money and id made money. One of the companies, presumably both since they are both participating in Steam now, should be willing to pen an agreement to grandfather into Steam their old retail shared properties and provide some form of credit exchange program to not penalize consumers that already supported the product.

It's clear that some retail games are allowed to be authenticated and registered by Steam. Don't shut out the retail consumers that supported you in some cases before Steam ever existed.