In this respect, techies are like anybody else. Some are out to help save the world, or at least make it a better place, and some aren't. It's not the tech that makes the savior, it's the person.

The same can be said about:

- finance folks (microcredit vs subprime mortgages)
- engineers (postwar reconstruction vs weapons)
- architects (affordable housing designs vs Trump towers)
- builders (habitat for humanity vs suburban subdivisions)

to name a few examples.

Good luck with that. The precision of Lego's molding process is beyond what can be done at home.

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-po...

Quote:

The moulds are permitted a tolerance of up to two micrometres...

To put that two micrometers tolerance into perspective:
- 1–10 m — diameter of a typical bacterium.
- 3–4 m — size of a typical yeast cell.

Hardware is hard. Really really hard.

The list goes on, and on.

Even hardware projects with experienced teams can fail. If you see a hardware crowdfunding project, be fully willing to accept that your 'investment' (which is what it really is) is more likely to disappear than result in a finished product.

"Michael Abrash is a game programmer and technical writer specializing in optimization and 80x86 assembly language, game programming, a reputation cemented by his 1990 book Zen of Assembly Language Volume 1: Knowledge. Related issues were covered in his later book Zen of Graphics Programming. [...] After working at Microsoft on graphics and assembly code for Windows NT 3.1, he returned to the game industry in the mid-1990s to work on Quake for id Software. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

This would be hugely useful for remotely deployed ship-based (operating near shore) sensors which use cell networks to send back readings. For security and environmental reasons, the sensors are sealed boxes with no physical access to what's inside, including the SIM. What happens if the device is moved to another carrier's coverage area, or another country? What happens if the current carrier goes under, or they jack up their rates, or change their roaming policies? Right now, a carrier going under would brick the device.

Additionally, think beyond phones, as TFA implies. Physical access to a SIM is a security risk in itself. I would rather restrict phyical access to the SIM, and have password restricted access to a reprogrammable SIM than have my sensor drop off the air, or start sending readings somewhere else altogether.

Espelette pepper: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espelette_pepper

Not crazy hot, and it has some kind of otherness that I really dig.

It's not crazy, and it's already being done, by organization like HeroRATs - http://www.apopo.org/cms.php?cmsid=107. They train African giant pouched rats to detect mines. They're also using them to detect tuberculosis, in human spit. Yuck, but way cool.

Few people thought they needed home laser printers at first either. And you can bet that there will be a Kinko's model coming around the bend quite quickly.

How does one liquidate siphoned carbon credits? Do they hold a black market value?

Very interesting. Care to elaborate?