If the area really wanted to do something effective they would run BART up to at least as far as Ukiah.

There is a great Mentour Pilot presentation on the overall state of the industry:

His main points:

1. 4-engine design is expensive to operate
2. spoke-hub system is going bye-bye

Why are the Jumbo-jets disappearing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

No one has mentioned earthquakes. A strong quake would probably destroy a road like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_122278&feature=iv&src_vid=VXJZVZFRFJc&v=mXI4WWhPn-U

This is exactly what I have been telling my friends. The heathcare.gov site is ridiculous. You should be able to select your state, and go immediately to a static page with a table the plans sorted by age, etc., with a phone number to call to sign up. No registration nonsense. I've heard there are about 160 plans from 3 companies in my state. Who knows when I will get to see them? I still can't log into the site, even though I made it through the registration process.

NPR is a different kind of propaganda news source. About three weeks ago, I think it was a Saturday, they actually ran a hit piece segment criticizing Syria intervention skeptics and satirists like John Stewart, as naive and destructive. Their reports ran day after day with pro war on Syria for weeks before.
 

Exactly this. The site may be overloaded, but when it does come up there are software bugs. I apparently have created an account but it won't let me log in. How do I know I created an account? When I can't log in I use the lost password affordance with my username, receive the lost password email, but the link back to the site throws an error page. I could not release a broken project to a customer in this state.

There is research into using iPad controlled quadcopters and image processing to monitor crop conditions - I saw a demonstration of a quadcopter system at a research station in Idaho last week. You can quickly find areas of a field that need more water, etc. You can't say iPads (or equivalent) will _never_ help.

I see it more as:

1. robot ships carrying seeds and frozen embryos to be developed when a suitable planet is found.

2. or life evolves to a mechanical form that can stand space radiation, long duration voyages.

I'm over 60 and still working in software. My trick is to never leave home, never let them meet me face to face - the opposite of what you did. I work as a contractor by telecommute, etc. Never bring up the issue of your age. Find an excellent sales person with an existing customer base to come up with ideas and projects, that's been a very good way to go. This is a very interesting time to be in software.

This is a quote out of
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/25-7

The mainstream media was declaring continually "OWS has no message". Frustrated, I simply asked them. I began soliciting online "What is it you want?" answers from Occupy. In the first 15 minutes, I received 100 answers. These were truly eye-opening.

        The No 1 agenda item: get the money out of politics. Most often cited was legislation to blunt the effect of the Citizens United ruling, which lets boundless sums enter the campaign process. No 2: reform the banking system to prevent fraud and manipulation, with the most frequent item being to restore the Glass-Steagall Act â" the Depression-era law, done away with by President Clinton, that separates investment banks from commercial banks. This law would correct the conditions for the recent crisis, as investment banks could not take risks for profit that create kale derivatives out of thin air, and wipe out the commercial and savings banks.

        No 3 was the most clarifying: draft laws against the little-known loophole that currently allows members of Congress to pass legislation affecting Delaware-based corporations in which they themselves are investors.

        When I saw this list â" and especially the last agenda item â" the scales fell from my eyes. Of course, these unarmed people would be having the shit kicked out of them.

Very good interview done within the last few days. Why can't we have this guy running the country, not the bozo teams we get over and over?

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/30/noam_chomsky_wikileaks_cables_reveal_profound

Google Groups is horrible. They totally ruined DejaNews. They couldn't and can't monetize it so they just fuck with it -- but they will still copyright it to within an inch of it's life. They had no respect for the value of usenet. It was the #1 source for programming information during the 90's and I still miss it. We are living in Orwellian times, and "He who controls the present, controls the past". I would vote you up a million times.