More on space elevators

Following my earlier post, some of the comments prompted me to write a small epic on why I'm so sceptical.

Unfortunately, it wasn't small enough to post as a comment, as I discovered the hard way that LJ has a size limit on comments.

So, a follow-up post is called for.

( engineering geekery behind the cut )

This stuff is worth looking at, because the potential payoff is HUGE, but right now it looks like it won't be feasible for some time yet.

(no subject)

As some of you will know, Iron Maiden released a new album this week. By Thursday (and probably earlier) HMV (retail price £13.99) and Virgin (retail price £13.99) had stock, but Tescos (retail price <£10) did not. As of Saturday, still no stock in Tescos. Coincidence?

Yes, I know, I can get it online cheaper still. After recent expericences, I prefer to inspect the packaging of newly-released CDs for signs of Evil Copy Protection™ before I buy the damn thing, which means visiting real shops - and since play.com and amazon often source their stock overseas, what's on the shelf in the high street often doesn't exactly match what's available online.

While I'm prepared to pay a premium of a pound or so for the privilege of physically inspecting the product before I cough up the wonga, the prices HMV/Virgin are asking are just silly.

[Several-days-later update: Nope, no copy protection on it. Huzzah!]