John V. Karavitis If you read the authorized biography on Steve Jobs that came out at the time of his death, you'll know that the idea of a tablet computer was suggested way back in the late 60s/early 70s (@ Xerox PARC? I don't recall the details). However, like the mouse, no one did anything to commercialize the idea. Can you imagine our world with the first "personal PC" being a tablet instead of a clunky piece of junk that we got with Apple I? Sure, it wouldn't have been as flashy, or portable, as what we have today, but I suspect that it would have taken off like wildfire, and thus forced technological improvements FAST. The deal with tablets isn't that they are the wave of the future - they are simply the wave of the "now". Watch for the next step to be computers being integrated into everything - clothing, furniture, whatever. The big thing with tablets is the apps that people download and use. And what are apps? Simple programs that do one thing very well. Want a bio-monitor? We'll add one to your t-shirt. Want a GPS system? We can tattoo one into the back of your hand. And so on. The tablet is the current way-station, and the "cloud" is the current fad. The future is the complete integration of computing technology into our bodies and our possessions. (Maybe Steve Jobs also forsaw this, as he was scribbling his notes for Apple engineers to mull over after his death???)

It's funny, but when this guy had his servers, etc., he was "cock of the walk". But when he got hit with legal troubles and the money dried up, now, all of a sudden, he's on the receiving end. I wonder what he thinks about now that his whole life has been de facto "wiki-leaked' for all the world to see. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pontificating on the morality of WikiLeaks - once the info is out of the bag, you can never really put it back in. However, I am simply commenting on the irony of Mr. Assange's situation. And, assuming that all his legal troubles can be put behind him, what kind of future will he have? My point is that this guy will always be under the microscope. Will he ever be able to have a "normal" life ever again? I;m doubtful about this. John V. Karavitis

I think it's great that someone with a bit of creativity and vision is willing to take a chance and pursue his vision. Film has become our way of tapping into archetypes and mythos, and these fundamental concepts are very important to people and culture. However, the trend will be, due to monetary concerns, to more fully embrace technology, that is, CGI, and completely abandon the physical. The animated full-length "movie" "Final Fantasy" was the knock on the door when it comes to showing what the future of movies will be. Starting with green screens, the process will end with the end of the acting profession. Who needs actors when you can simply digitally re-create people, and down to a level of detail that makes you fully believe that you are looking at real people acting? Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the efforts or vision of this daring director. However, the physical world (models, physical special effects, etc.) are more expensive, more time-consuming, and not as believable as CGI effects. I guarantee you, you will see the time come when movies will not ever need real actors, and when kids in high school create full-length feature movies. I direct your attention to YouTube, in a sense, the future has already arrived. (But who will the "National Enquirer" talk about when there are no more celebrities??) John V. Karavitis

In my personal experience, people in IT Depts. are the least ethical in a corporate environment. My (minor) horror story was that I was working for a small family-owned company, and once made the mistake of buying something off the Web, using my credit card. A few months later, checking my credit card statements in more detail, I noticed monthly recurring charges that were not mine. Although I was able to get the credit card company to reverse these fraudulent charges, the only way that my credit card info could have been "captured" was by the (sole) IT employee at this company. "Power corrupts..., as they say, and I know this is true for the IT Dept. I think it would be better to have corporations outsource their IT functions overseas. Someone in India isn't going to care that you surf for porn during lunch, or steal your credit card info. Sorry, but if you can't get people to do the right thing (it's called "character", and it['s what you do when there is no one watching you), and you can't or refuse to take steps to monitor them, then outsourcing to a country far far away is really the only possible option. Very sad. John V. Karavitis

John V. Karavitis I'm not sure what this guy is trying to accomplish. Is this some kind of experiment into understanding the nature of lightning (don't we already understand how lightning works???), or is he trying to harness the power of lightning for commercial purposes? And what about the link that he provides, that shows a lightning discharge off of what seems like a large transformer? I think that, if someone posts an article or starts a topic thread here, we should at least be given the courtesy of an explanation. Thank you. John Karavitis

John V. Karavitis I saw this on "60 Minutes", some inventor with a limited education came up with this idea, you get small iron particles to reach the tumor, then apply a strong radio frequiency that's picked up only by the magnetic particles which, for some reason, only find their way to the tumors. As the magnetic particles absorb the electromagnetic radiation of the radio frequency, they heat up, leading to tumor death. Something as simple as this technology is a great boon for mankind, and not only for treating cancer in general, but, specifically, all the cfancer that's expected to crop up due to all the CAT scans that are being ordered left and right by idiot money-hungry doctors. Apparently, insurance companies, fearful of lawsuits resulting from "not having doen enough testing in the first place", are all too eager to pay for CAT scans, even though they are typically unnnecessary and a diagnosis can just as easily be made with an MRI machine, which is vastly safer. Cancer is a scourge of mankind, this technology looks like it can be a case of the cure NOT being worse than the disease. John V. Karavitis, John Karavitis.

John V. Karavitis Agreed, this has been known for a long time. But the study/report that I remember reading was that researchers looked at the weather on the East coast, and looked at the incidence of rain during the week versus the weekend. It seems as though the heavy air traffic Monday through Friday brings about more rain on the weekends exactly due to this phenomenon. John V. Karavitis

John V. Karavitis Why does America even bother anymore? We see this funding idiocy re NASA all the time. NASA must have a neon sign outside its front doors that say "Slash Our Budget", which is what happens every time Congress needs to find ways to slash spending. Aren't our politicians aware that NASA's needs have driven basic research into a number of areas, and that this basic research has benefited everyone? This latest blow to NASA will mean that, as one recent article put it, there will be a "brain drain" of people leaving NASA (altough where they will end up is a difficult question, given the flatlined economy and the dead job market). This "brain drain" will leave NASA with only the "B players" (in the word of this article). AMericans should face facts, no one cares about the space program except Europe, Japan, China and India. America certainly does not. And as for the Shuttle, it was designed by committee, and thus has never really performed any of its functions well. And as for the heat-resistant tiles, they've been more problematic than they were worth. America needs to commit to space exploration or let the military take that over. Enough nonsense. John V. Karavitis

John V. Karavitis Indeed, what people fail to do when they see statistics bandied about in news reports is how those statistics were arrived at, and also what they mean in the greater context of things. Granted, today, China is the world's factory, nevertheless, even if they physically controlled the world's supply of any strategic metal or rare earth, they would have to come to terms with the rest of the world's ability to purchase the items it produces, and also come to terms with the fact that any foreign currency it earned could only be used to purchase goods and services from its own customers. The laws of economics do not vanish just because China is the world's factory. In addition, sources of other rare earths. e.g., lithium, are found well outside of China, e.g. in Afghanistan and Chile. And even there, it's predicted that there wouldn't be enough lithium available to create batteries for electric cars for everyone on the planet. John V. Karavitis