Jinn of Quality and Risk

The present state of software patents is a threat to our freedom to create, too. United States Patent: 5,933,841: A structured document browser includes a constant user interface for displaying and viewing sections of a document that is organized according to a pre-defined structure. The structured document browser displays documents that have been marked with embedded codes that specify the structure of the document. The tags are mapped to correspond to a set of icons. When the icon is selected while browsing a document, the browser will display the section of the structure corresponding to the icon selected, while preserving the constant user interface. They've started to send demands for money. 

Space exploration and the colonisation of the Moon, Mars, and the asteroids would allow frontier societies to thrive again. Such societies can challenge traditional, established systems and fossilized institutions. Today, the Earth is unfortunately similar to 15th century Europe — almost all areas have been explored, charted, and settled... There is no open, physical frontier where idealists can venture. America provided frontiers and a new beginning to countless people in the last five centuries, enabling an extraordinary growth of freedom and prosperity. Settlements beyond our planet would do so again.

In May last year, I wrote Mars Now! It's time to colonise Mars. So I'm excited to see The Guardian informing us thus: President George Bush may announce the plan, named Project Prometheus, at his State of the Union address on January 28, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. It would commit the US to the exploration of Mars as a priority and herald the development of a nuclear-powered propulsion system. The first voyage could take place as soon as 2010. If you can't wait, as well as and especially if you believe you can, read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars). This is excellent fiction, both romantic and realist, that transports the reader into our near future.