Wow, you seriously didn't even glance at the article, did you? STBs in "idle" mode aren't any less energy hungry than when they're "on". The only way to turn most of them "off" is by unplugging them.

Let's say you use a Gmail address as your primary email instead of whatever's provided by the people who provide your internet connection. Do they count as an "internet service provider" here, or is this decision as narrow as it sounds?

Ass-to-mouth machine? Why would it have cash? Do people pay for that??

So I've got to ask: how many libel suits must be pending overseas against BP America/Monsanto/Dow Chemical/United Healthcare/Disney/et al to get Congress to get off their butts and act?

I've come across this very topic in the course of my work (I'm an aerospace engineer) and the general consensus on the issue (at least for the Hybrid Wing Body) is that having the engines mounted above the wing like most proposed designs currently do results in a drastic reduction in engine noise in an airport setting.

Wait, no, the HWB has been an ongoing project for years. Nothing to see here, just another bullshit MIT PR release.

Polaroid was responsible for designing and building the camera that went into the U-2 spy plane back in the mid 1950s. They certainly did more than cheap little instant-develop cameras.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to fly in it until it's certified for commercial operation. Unless you're way better connected than I am. It's a pretty silly point to make.

Given that this is a jet and not a piston-powered aircraft, that would be "one continuous controlled flame". No explosions involved, sorry.

Does Cringely have some kind of seedy business relationship with Slashdot's parent company?

Another issue to consider would be the differences in digestion efficiency between the digestive tracts of different people. People who have trouble losing weight might just be much more effective at extracting usable calories from food consumed.

Are you suggesting that the human body somehow violates the laws of thermodynamics? Because that would be much stupider than what you seem to be mocking.

Slashdot is a great engineering community; what other insights do you have on the bridge situation?

No, Slashdot is mostly made up of computer janitors; the greatest insight you'll get out of most of the posters here is, "hurrr durr, the bridge must've been running Windoze! LOL!", with maybe a little "omg the twin towers were collapsed by EXPLOSIVES!!!!"-style conspiracy theory and "THE GOVERNMENT IS BAD!!!" braindead libertarianism thrown in for color.