This makes me genuinely excited. It's nice to see people daring to dream big.

In response to your question, for the argument presented in the essay to be true, effectively yes. Realistically though, I don't think that people would be debating the sexuality of HAL if it was presented as a female. I concur that things don't map well.

I get the impression that the minds from the Culture series are typically straight in presentation. The details of their preferences are left as a grey area. It could be that with sufficient intelligence there's not much desire, or it is sublimated into other forms.

In this particular case, looking at the history of the original essay (circa 1997) and knowing what I do about more open discussion of transgender and genderqueer issues; I see this as an oversimplification. It could be a nominally "straight" desire in this context if the male overlay is simply the programming. If…

Sadly this is just a really awful example of typical bad behavior. My sister got taken for a ride on a used prius. When she got hit and it was totaled, the only saving grace in her terrible deal was the gap coverage. The price on the car wasn't that bad, but with the interest rate she qualified for and all the…

I read it in HS, it was pretty impressive to me.

but not "laser" in the Dr. Evil sense. Those you DON'T want coming back.

In my case, being actively rejected by a church forced me to think and consider more than I otherwise might have.

We get to keep the software and wiring tester, maybe.

By being "that guy" who writes the letter, you represent the view of 60 people if you email. 100 if you write a longhand letter, and 200 if you actually call the office. Those are rough numbers shared by staffers when asked about the validity of writing letters.

The visitor's center in Houston has a laughable number of visitors by comparison, thousands vs. million plus. California is where the shuttle was designed and built. We took care of her out of Texas for nearly 30 years, and our politicians haven't made a good case for it here. I'd have the most gripe for NYC, but…

The inside of that 747 is stripped to the walls. No seats, no carpet, no nothing. Just the green primer on the aluminum.

Click the image button above the text box and paste the results of rightclicking "copy image location"

They may need industrial strength.

I preferred those for a long time, I remember "precise" on the barrel in the '90's. I prefer the uni ball roller grip now, but they're just the best choice in the office supplies here. Pilot ink is supposed to be a better choice.

Seeing the bud light surrounded by fancier beers reminds me of the magic beer fridge I used to have. We seeded it with bud, and after the 1st party, friends brought better beer to avoid the bud. We ended up with more leftover premium beers than we could drink.

I'm better at golf, but worse at table games.

Depending on your angle to the orbit, they can bounce sunlight down to you. Iridium flashes are a great example of that.

Found the chronicle articles posted online: [www.chron.com]

The one shown in the photo is midtown Houston - Richmond at 59 roughly. The link to the hydroponics article said it was located at I-45 and NASA 1 in Webster. There's no Fiesta there now, but there's a shopping center it could have been in where Burlington coat factory is now.