This is not even news.

The 'news' is that there's a new reading on his leadership capability. And leadership capability is the (admittedly weak) tie into this site where tech leadership is something regularly reported on. For the little it's worth, it's one of the more interesting topics I've seen here recently, though certainly not something I expected.

In some areas there is cell-based internet available, but maybe only kind of.

Back when 4G was being deployed it was predicted to blanket everywhere and put satellite constellations like Iridium either out of business or force them into niche markets. At our small observatory in the high desert 4G never got beyond "maybe only kind of". I guess the cell providers were fat, dumb and happy with where they were at and coverage expansion stalled. We've been using a local microwave provider and are thinking of switching to Starlink.

I think the symbiosis between SpaceX and Starlink has been critical to the success of both, and creating it puts a feather in Musk's cap. Whether and to what extent it can be sustained remains to be seen.

For anyone who doesn't know, Spirit is just Boeing's Wichita division that it spun off in 2005. Arm's length? What's that?

Boeing's original cunning plan was to spin off and/or outsource all the low margin, labor (union) intensive tasks to the hoi polloi while maintaining an elite rump of Boeing monikered program managers and system engineers since that was where the greatest profit margins were to be found. Another fine legacy of the McDonnell Douglas merger. What could go wrong?

The sky is the same but what you can afford is different. Google's AI came up with geographical pricing,

people are having fun with trolling fake news

Good for them. I think it also highlights the fact that Facebook/Twitter/TicToc/Fox or whatever are overrated as a serious news sources outside localized idiot bubbles.

I first used Basic on the DTS back in '74. Connecting via a 300 baud (I think) teletype. It was great! It allowed you to write code solving problems and perform studies without being distracted having to know what was going on under the hood. Contrast that with the analog computing class I took around the same time. Solving differential equations in real time was amazing, but dealing with the circuits and scaling could be a distraction.

proliferation of papers

I think the proliferation of papers is more to do with ever increasing niche areas of research as an ever increasing number authors strive for originality. Whereas these niches appeal to vanishingly smaller audiences it's easier to sneak in some ChatGPT nonsense.

it is still a success.

Despite the inevitable hype, commercial space launch isn't that big of market which is why everyone else is floundering. SpaceX managing to create its own market gave them a head start to sustainability by being the last man standing.

cover all definition files with the same level as QA as the software itself

Software not being able to deal with an empty file containing zeros should not pass Microsoft's QA.

The sensors are reasonably good but they're too few and far between, In part, I assume, due to cost and the issue of physical installation. There's also the reliance on proper programming and their limited 'visibility'. Whether smart lights, installed and managed by civil governments, can actually live up to their potential remains to be seen.

What Trump does is called a Gish gallop

I never understood why his 'debate' opponents don't come back with over the top absurd claims that highlight his technique. Of course that requires a modicum of wit and a willingness to drop the I'm-a-serious-politician demeanor that the voters love oh so well.

ever enjoyed Bob Newhart's humour

I couldn't take him on The Bob Newhart Show back in the day. Never saw or thought much of him till his role as Professor Proton which flipped my opinion - but not enough to have another go at his old show :)

now the legit stuff is even harder to find

AI will fix that. Oh wait... What's interesting is that after all the hype from the initial Shakespeare-writes-Dune party tricks and some entertaining hallucinations, the hoi polloi have yet to see much practical use. I still get spam, search results aren't more clever, and nothing much has changed if I use medical or legal services which I'd think would be easy targets with big payouts for investors. And there are a shit ton of other categories you'd think AI would be useful for. Forget flying cars, how about not having to stop every quarter mile at poorly timed traffic lights. I suppose Amazon and Netflix have been using "AI" for some time, and for some time it's been nothing to write home about. I use "AI" to reduce noise in some photo processing applications and that's about it. Also it's not clear whether current performance has or will soon level off at some point even if there was plenty of data.

need the White House to boost your popularity

I recall back in the day when the DoD recommended Ada for essentially "safety" reasons. Lots of contracts from the DoD don't ya know. Maybe the White House maps to the DoD since POTUS is commander in chief. AFAIK Ada hasn't been on anyone's top 10 for quite some time.

Why don't people use standard references and universally understood values - like Libraries of Congress or Football Fields?

You're not far off. Astronomers typically use units somewhat normalized to the scale they're dealing with. Planetary orbital distances are typically related in astronomical units. So it would make more sense if planetary sizes were defined similarly (e.g. Earth or even Neptune).