By Roland Piquepaille
The title is fine, but I prefer the line under it: "Penthouse suite: 11,457,600th floor - lots of room - great views".Anyway, this is not science fiction. NASA people are thinking about a space elevator connecting a point near the equator and another one on a geostationary orbit.
For sure, this is not for next week. NASA is currently planning it for 2100 and for a cost of several billion dollars.
But when it's done, someone like you and me will go up 36,000 kilometers for a mere $250. I hope that NASA also is planning something for me in order to be here around 2100.
Source: Robert Longley, About.com, Apr. 20, 2002
Glossary of spam termsThe San Jose Mercury News carried several articles about "spam" today. Just in case you come from another planet, "spam" these days means unsolicited e-mails.
I particularly enjoyed the Mercury News's glossary of words about spam.
My preferred expression: Whack-a-mole!
*Sounds* good to eat, but it actually means the "largely pointless act of repeatedly shutting off e-mail accounts of a spammer who immediately moves on to new accounts."
Source: San Jose Mercury News research, Apr. 20, 2002
Famous quotes containing the words nasa, plans, elevators and/or space:
“If we did not have such a thing as an airplane today, we would probably create something the size of NASA to make one.”
—H. Ross Perot (b. 1930)
“The fellow parent you are scared to call is as appalled by the clique’s plans as you are. . . . The other parent is as happy to hear from you as you would be to hear from him.”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“The cigar-box which the European calls a “lift” needs but to be compared with our elevators to be appreciated. The lift stops to reflect between floors. That is all right in a hearse, but not in elevators. The American elevator acts like the man’s patent purge—it works”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“Mere human beings can’t afford to be fanatical about anything.... Not even about justice or loyalty. The fanatic for justice ends by murdering a million helpless people to clear a space for his law-courts. If we are to survive on this planet, there must be compromises.”
—Storm Jameson (1891–1986)