Comment Re:Is it sentient? (Score 4, Informative) 104
we've found silicon based flora in our own deep oceans
Citation needed. There are no silicon-based life forms known to man.
we've found silicon based flora in our own deep oceans
Citation needed. There are no silicon-based life forms known to man.
Not to mention the beautiful expressiveness and readability of things like:
(and (or (= (string-length "hello world") (string->number "11"))
(string=? "hello world" "good morning"))
(>= (+ (string-length "hello world") 60) 80))
Especially for the average 9th grader.
You just don't get it, do you? The point isn't the weapons system, it's the expenditure.
The "sequestration" cuts are $85B out of $3.6T, or ~2.4 %. This has motivated politicians from both parties, and loud-mouthed political actors of all stripes, to make wild claims about terrible consequences if the cuts were to be made. The implicit claim is that cutting 2.4% across the board would result in an "unready, hollow force", 9% unemployment, and all sorts of other horrific things (which I'm sure you've heard of by now).
Is it even true? From cutting a measly 2.4% of future spending? Or is it yet another shock doctrine exercise to distract us from other things we should be paying attention to instead? There's a book, BTW.
etc.
"Studying the effects of space travel on humans" is a dumb piece of circular logic, so it is an incorrect answer. "Because humans need/want to explore blah blah blah" is also incorrect because the cost of manned space exploration is so high that it drastically reduces the amount of exploration that can be done, so it too is an incorrect answer.
Hint: It would have to be done with robots over a period of at least 100 years with the construction of numerous intermediate way stations.
25 % of Americans consume fast food every day
20% of meals are eaten in the car
More Than 40 Percent of Americans Believe the Rapture Is Coming
That 71% think we have an extra trillion dollars or two to go to Mars for no useful or compelling purpose is no great surprise. Depressing? Disconcerting? Tragic? Sure, but not surprising.
'As we move toward the cloud and technology gets easier to use, we'll have less need for full-time teams of people to maintain our stuff.'
Gavin Newsom, present. This guy is a political diva. Don't pay attention to him. His book and his overall schtick are pure self-promotion. In California, "lieutenant governor" means "guy who has no duties whatsoever and is there in case the governor dies or something."
UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things. -- Doug Gwyn