Why are people assuming this is a true story from the past? Maybe it happens in the future and we are just now hearing about it.

and everyone will get a [very short] part whether they want it or not.

I've listened to the idea that Nature will again do something to thin out the human race at some point. Our population is getting out of hand. Humans have managed to infest every corner of the planet and they are eating up all the resources they can find. It has been a long time since we have had a really good die-off. Readers here will be aware that the human race has suffered large population decreases in the past due to diseases and what not. This current Ebola thing isn't going to do it. Gruesome it may be but not going to make a big dent.

So maybe this is the one: deep down we are so amazingly stupid, we will engineer our own demise. Build a bunch of autonomous, learning robots whose sole job it is to kill humans. We've read so many sci-fi novels that the outcome is obvious. But some military genius figures we must "win" at all costs. And the price will be quite high.

PKD did it best. This story still creeps me out when I think about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Give it a read. Enjoy the nightmares and hope they stay just nightmares...
-g

At some not-so-far-in-the-future point a person who is [still] self-driving their car is going run over someone else and kill them. There will be public hysteria and the knee-jerk reaction will be to completely outlaw the use of cars that are not auto-driven. safety at all costs. -g

- Build rocket ship that gets to the edge of space - DONE - SpaceShip One, 2004
- Own a company named after Star Trek universe - DONE - Vulcan, Inc is mine, all mine!
- Lose $8 billion when cable company goes bust - DONE - Charter Communications, 2009
- Build the world's largest trebuchet - IN PROGRESS - Stratolaunch, ~2015

(Info on bucket list from WSJ article http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203518404577096493595261190.html?mod=djemTECH_h)

This makes perfect sense. At least in the Idiocracy I live in.

My tax dollars are spent adding speed-humps to otherwise perfectly smooth and already expensive roads.

making a silent car noisy would fit right in. Unless it was low enough that it made a nasty scraping noise when it failed to clear the speed humps...

At least I could figure out how to turn him off. The new help button in Office 2007 is like an idiot cousin or addled Aunt Ada. It's RIGHT below the "X" to close the program, and I hit it by accident at least once a day. Argh.

Gattaca will arrive in a much more subtle way than Hollywood's portrayal.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/

In our large, socially disconnected and hurry up society, using a universal method like a credit report as a background check is a great way to mitigate risk.

we have become horribly risk averse. when the only thing being measured is number of failures, the bureaucracy will do everything possible to remove the risk of failure. Thus, if you have the wrong DNA, or the wrong credit number, you are not worth the risk.

No matter what you say.

gak out

Yes, my parents cabin.

No phone, no internet. For all of those "missing" necessities, it is a great place. Way nicer than my house. Small NW lake. lots of hiking, biking, fishing, swimming... basically all the things that pasty whitey's don't normally know about. Snowmobiles in the winter, 4 wheelers in the summer. Or [gasp!] sit and read a book... or six.

And doesn't everyone have access to somebody's parents cabin, if not your own then via that 7 degrees of separation thing?

So I selected Basement - because I sleep in the basement when I am there.

So, like, I picked SAT because I'm good at standardized tests and I, like, got an NMSQT scholarship based on my high score. It only took me 8 tries on the PSAT and SAT to get my score to 1310 (or 1290, I forget which). The last time I took the SAT, my score actually went down a few points, so I figured I had reached the zenith of my test taking ability and should quit while I was ahead. In January, I took a job teaching at university and now I can torture students with tests I make up...Life is good.