Life imitates art yet again

[sarettah]

Back in 1949, Robert Heinlein wrote the short story "The man who sold the moon" about an entreprenaur who sells the moon in an effort to raise enough money to finance a moon trip. It is a great little story and goes into the details of the transactions... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Sold_the_Moon

Today, I'm cruising through the news and I find this: http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/1....tf8nidpt.html

A Chinese company has had its license suspended after it tried to make money by selling land on the moon.

The Beijing Lunar Village Aeronautics Science and Technology Co. managed to sell large swathes of pristine lunar property before being shut down, the state -owned Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

The company, claiming to act on behalf of an entity referred to as the Lunar Embassy in China, charged 298 yuan (37 US dollars) for each acre (0.4 hectare) on the moon, according to the report.

Each lucky new owner of lunar soil was issued a "certificate" that ensured property ownership including rights to use the land and minerals up to three kilometers (1.9 miles) underground, Xinhua said.

Li Jie, CEO of Lunar Embassy, said that 34 clients bought 49 acres (20 hectares) of land on the moon

Like the little pink bunny.. It keeps going and going and going.....

[Dravyk]

So my deed to the green cheese farm is worthless?

[Red]

Obviously those who bought have never read Heinlein. Strangers in a strange land indeed.

[Dravyk]

Originally Posted by Red

Obviously those who bought have never read Heinlein. Strangers in a strange land indeed.

I grok it.

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by Dravyk

I grok it.

Well, I wasn't gonna go into the whole Heinlein realm...lol...

We owe the man a bunch for all the contributions he made and grok was one of the least contributions (although one of the most popular).

I still think the whole Acacia thing can be beat easy just by going back through sci fi (not specifically Heinlein, but his is a good start) to locate the prior art

[Red]

Originally Posted by Dravyk

I grok it.

Somehow I thought you would.

[sarettah]

TANSTAAFL..............

[MorganGrayson]

Drifting slightly off the original topic....

One of my absolute favorite parts of "Stranger in a Strange Land" was the "Fair Witness." There's a scene where the Fair Witness is demonstrated by someone pointing at a house and asking the Fair Witness what color it is. She replies "it's green on this side."

That's one of those books best read when you are young and impressionable. It's definitely a concept that needs to be pondered and internalized. It's true. As she could only see one side of the house, she could only attest to it being green on the side she could see. The other three sides could have been different colors. It's a wonderful lesson in rational thought.

I haven't read much Heinlein, an error I keep intending to correct but as of yet, haven't gotten around to it. I think I'll bump it further up my personal "To Do" list.

I couldn't possibly count the number of times I've said "I grok" in coversation. I've never once had anyone ask me what it meant, either. That could be because the facial expression and nod made it obvious what it meant, or it could be that Heinlein's contribution to the vernacular was huge.

There's worse things one can do with one's life, most definitely.

[Dravyk]

Originally Posted by MorganGrayson

One of my absolute favorite parts of "Stranger in a Strange Land" was the "Fair Witness." There's a scene where the Fair Witness is demonstrated by someone pointing at a house and asking the Fair Witness what color it is. She replies "it's green on this side."

I always like that Witness thing too!

Ok, time for TE to run up and shout "and you call me a nerd"!