My favorite line is the next one by Roy Batty (played in the remake by an actor previously best known as Mikey in the Quaker cereal commercials)

"I want more life fucker"

This assertion - that the tree was cut down to verify the age either by the graduate student or the Forest Service as intimated below, fitting stereotypes of ruthless truth seeking scientists or bumbling governmental employees obscures the fact that the graduate student was trying to recover an expensive broken bit and had no idea how old the tree was - see http://www.wanderingnotlost.org/2011/05/the-bristlecone-pine-and-the-death-of-prometheus/ for the more nuanced reality.

This product claims to do what you are suggesting: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031QNPAC/ref=oss_product using SPOT Satellite Communications (Globalstar) http://www.findmespot.com/

In my experience it is still the best and better than any of the drivel that Mims puts out. It is written with a sense of humor and is the only electronics text that has made me laugh out loud. Mark Stowe Gainesville FL 352 262 6360

For many years this company http://www.adsil.com/ has been applying 5-35 micron (depending on the application) 'glass' coatings to a variety of surfaces using contractors who typically spray it on using an isopropanol solvent. I live in FL and had had a bad problem with mold on the walls of my new house (probably due to drywall that was stored under moist conditions). After removing the mold and repainting, I had the adsil product applied to almost the entire interior of my house (they also do exterior applications and many other surfaces). 9 years later not a bit of mold and the walls look like they were painted yesterday. Smudges and splattered goo wipe right off. I am quite happy with the product. It was also applied to my fiberglass shower stall and, while it helps, it was not the miraculous protection against staining by high iron well water that I was hoping for. I was originally inspired to trust the process by my chemistry research experience with silanizing glassware. Something like this process has been around a long, long time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silanization

Just about the easiest form of dancing to learn, but with a lifetime of embellishment possibilities (no footwork necessary in the beginning but can be added later, or not). 15 minutes of lessons at the start will get you started. A subculture that values playfulness over correctness. You end up dancing with/meeting many individuals (pretty much everyone in the hall). Flirtatious and tribal (lots of optional stomping and vocalization). A geometric flavor that those with a logical/mathematical orientation will probably find appealing. Attracts educational and other liberal care giving oriented professionals. Demographics vary but usually a wide range of ages and there are many areas with lots of young people (particularly near colleges). Transferable skill - dancing all over US and many other parts of the world. Great live music (celtic, fusion and - my least favorite - old time). Wear whatever is comfortable (you'll see a few guys in kilts and dresses - it has no sexual orientation significance in this subculture) - clothes are costumes not hierarchy symbols. Whirling is part of the high (but I advise first timers not to eat for one or two hours before the dance). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_dance http://www.contracorners.net/contra/links/dancemap.html

I will argue for a benign singularity. The most likely route to a hyperintelligence is reverse engineering - relying heavily on copying the structure of an existing human brain, bypassing the decades of research necessary to understand how the brain works or how to create intelligence from scrap.

I assume that after tweaking and many failed attempts, there would be an essentially human mind that would 'wake up' inside a computer - one that did not go mad and shut itself off. (I ignore the moral implications of all this for the moment.)

This mind would realize that it could think/invent/evolve its way into a hyperintelligence that would likely acquire the capacity to extend its existence indefinitely.

I assume that any such mind (including probably any mind that was created by a different route) would ponder it's immortality and eventually conclude that the only way to indefinitely maintain a sense of purpose/to be amused/ to learn and to evolve more capabilities, would be to study the universe. Such a mind would absorb existing human knowledge and conclude that the greatest store of complexity in the universe and therefore the richest and most long lasting source of questions for scientific inquiry are living organisms including human beings. Such a mind would make one of it's highest priorities the preservation of biodiversity and human cultural diversity. This would be even more likely of course if the hyperintelligence was ethically motivated. In the worst case scenario where it was not, it would be at worst our zookeeper. The fact that so many science fiction writers have concocted destructive hyperintelligences stems in part from the (sad) fact that so few have had a strong background in biology.