Dec 8 2012: Nanobots that can assemble themselves and help construct the colony. Inspired by Kevin Kelly's book. Seems that labs have already achieved success in prototyping replicative robots (regular-size ones though. Not sure if nanotechnology will be that mature in the near future). Advantage: minimum care (REALLY costly to maintain humans in colonies under construction). Downside: may lose complete control over the colony --- they virtually form an ecosystem of their own. And from our experiences on Earth we know it's just a pain in the neck dealing with ecosystems & environments.
Dec 8 2012: "cut down the line to the outside"? That's the DPRK's method of censorship. Costly. Ineffective. Easy to cause resent. No, it's not how censorship works in China, if you just take it literally.
Actually, there's an interesting TED talk which I think best illustrate the condition here in China.
So censorship in China is not that horrible anyway... As is mentioned in the talk, you can always bypass censorship and voice you opinion by using all these wonderful tricks invented by creative Chinese netizens. I should also like to add that it's even easier to get information from the outside, namely, you just grab a decent VPN at a cost of a few bucks a month (There's actually commercial sites specially dedicated to this purpose, both abroad and, most amazingly, in Mainland China. I guess the government figured out that if you're clever enough to consider a VPN, there will virtually be no means to stop you, so why not just let'm make that purchase and make some contributions to GDP?)
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A comment on Conversation: What would be the most expeditious method to achieve space travel and colonization?
A reply on Conversation: Why can't I enjoy freedom? Because I am Chinese.
Actually, there's an interesting TED talk which I think best illustrate the condition here in China.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/michael_anti_behind_the_great_firewall_of_china.html
So censorship in China is not that horrible anyway... As is mentioned in the talk, you can always bypass censorship and voice you opinion by using all these wonderful tricks invented by creative Chinese netizens. I should also like to add that it's even easier to get information from the outside, namely, you just grab a decent VPN at a cost of a few bucks a month (There's actually commercial sites specially dedicated to this purpose, both abroad and, most amazingly, in Mainland China. I guess the government figured out that if you're clever enough to consider a VPN, there will virtually be no means to stop you, so why not just let'm make that purchase and make some contributions to GDP?)