Windows apps (that run) run in WINE (aka CrossOver) natively.

True to an extent, but the Wright bros. pioneered air flight more or less on a shoestring. I'll grant you it'd have to be a bigger shoestring for space, but people have bigger shoes these days. :-) Seriouslly, I think that's a worthy example as they had so little resources (in modern terms) at their disposal to help them get flying and inventors today have so much at their disposal.

I wanted to agree with you, but I'm actually not so sure it's impossible for a "garage inventor" to get to space. Just really unlikely...like flying was before the Wrights.

-Matt

That's a good bit of little-known trivia. Back in the day, automakers actually would pay to have cities and towns rip out all or part of their rail infrastructure. I leave it to Slashdot to guess why they'd spend money on that. :-)

-Matt

P.S. Looking at it with my other eye, that was a different breed of business from today's pan-handling corporation. You want their business in your town these days and you have to give them the money. (tax exemptions, etc)

Linked to economy, of course, but (among other things) this trend has directly followed the rise of the Corporation as a force within our economy as well.

Coincidental or not, it's surely true that many large corporations benefit from slowing down progress.

Check the Slashdot headlines for cable and telecom news. For posterity: They're currently trying to get the FCC to change the definition of Broadband so it includes sub-Broadband speeds. I can't explain that move specifically, but with respect to companies that actually create things (e.g. tech manufacturing, etc) the longer they can string out old technology the more -- so far as they're concerned -- it benefits their bottom line. (No new factories to build, no new employee costs to incur, etc.)

Get corporations to think past the next quarter (as some already do) and I bet we could see this whole trend evaporate.

-Matt

P.S. The whole Space Age thing was a Government funded project that almost all modern innovations flowed from. It was not a product of economy. The economy (businesses) was the benefactor. Still-inflated tax rates from WW II were the reason there was money for it.

P.P.S. We still have those still-inflated tax rates as we've never "stood down" from WW II. One could argue that all our "progress" in the last 50 years has gone out the barrell of a howitzer. (...up in a mushroom cloud?)

I know you specified San Fran. and I fully agree with you on the boundaries of stupidity, but still wanted to point out that Liberal-ness within California is an Urban Legend both created and perpetuated by Hollywood and intensely fed upon by the political establishment and media.

Walk away from the media's (esp. Hollywood's) portrayal and look into the reality and you find a few impossibly small pockets of Liberal thinking surrounded by miles and miles of the Conservative "mind". It's not too different from what you might find in the Midwestern states or elsewhere. The main difference is not makeup of philosphy, but scale -- California is huge. Yes, more Liberals, but also more Conservatives.

Forget not that despite the Liberalness and Gayness our minds associate with California, that state is also home to the Republican's god, Ronald Reagan and the Gay Marriage Ban. Also, California ripped out one of their previously most beloved (by the election numbers) Liberal Governors just so the Governator could take a shot.

Just a few (deep) examples, but I hope enough to make the point that any assumptions we hold about Liberalness in California are surely not well founded.


-Matt

That's the most vigorous beating of a dead horse I've seen in a while.

While I'm a huge fan of the CLI, I'm not trying to fool anyone that it's easier than a visually oriented interface. In a GUI, things *can be* self evident. In a CLI, it's all >. ;-)

-Matt

Manufacturing pretty much means "the process of making something" whether by hand or machine. Writing a program would certainly seem to fit that definition.

Seems like the law contradicts itself if there is supposedly a Fair Use element to the law, yet no way to legally exercise said element.

Congress or SCotUS will need to straighten this out. I sadly have little confidence in either institution to do so honestly/properly.

-Matt

So assuming for the sake of argument that XM-Sirius goes under tomorrow, how long will that have made their "lifetime" for you?

-Matt

P.S. I can't find anything on their website indicating they still offer a "lifetime" sub....did they quit offering or did I not look hard enough? How much is/was lifetime?

They ended up paying them after going to court and such.

It's almost hard to believe MSFT is still in the OS business given the history of their OS products and how bad they are at it.

Now they're running 3D graphics on the CPU. How 1987 of them.

-Matt

While you're somewhat correct on the technicality - different people do have somewhat different needs - it would be very wise, not naive, to consider fast food and food with a lot of sugar as bad for you.

Unless your intention is to take an apologetic stance toward those respective industries, a non-fast-food or non-sugary-food alternative would be more healthful for almost anyone you could be talking about in almost every case imaginable.

-Matt

If you need someone/something else to tell you "that's a storm cloud" when you're outside...in an airplane, maybe you should consider not being a pilot. For crying out loud, I should have a subscription to *you* while you're up there! Two eyes outside are better than any weather man! /humor

;-)

-Matt

I took frdmfghtr as simply trying to tone down your hyperbole, not contradicting you. There's most certainly a comparison to be made.

For everyone to see: AT&T's Coverage for EDGE devices.

Of course it's less than the 100% we'll consider as the satellite coverage area, but it obviously (from looking at the map) covers a huge swath of the US population - I'd guess in the 90+% range.

-Matt

I'm sorry for anyone who paid for that if these crackers go under.

Caveat emptor, eh?

-Matt

Satellites are the real problem, with satellite radio...people just have no freaking clue how much is costs to fly a satellite, let alone a network of them!

This is especially true when you look at those costs over time. The satellites they use have a surprisingly short lifespan.

To those who are interested, I would suggest paying attention to who made money off the creation and selling (and merging) of these businesses as well as who's standing next to them - then you'll know who to blame. It was a scam from the get-go if you ask me - I don't know who would think their business model could possibly work.

A high dollar piggy-back application (likely military) would be the only logical way to keep a network like that afloat, funding wise, IMO. (Which really would make radio the piggy-back app.)

-Matt

They're overpriced alright, but at the same time they were never going to be able to pay for their business model with the rates they were charging...way too low.

Wonder if GM (especially) wishes they had some of that satellite money back now that they "invested" in this "scam"? LOL.

-Matt