Stuck in the Beijing Airport: or, WHAT HATH SCIENCE WROUGHT

So it's that time of year again for Chinese New Year, or as the Chinese call it, "Spring Festival"--an interesting name for a holiday in February.

As I'm writing this I am sitting in the Beijing airport waiting for my flight because it got delayed another hour.  This is no big deal in China, where delays are the rule more often than the exception.

I'm wandering around looking at knickknacks when I spot this beauty:

Incredible.  I didn't even have to punch in my birthday.  Truly, we stand at the threshhold of a new age in human development.  First was the bronze age and iron age, then the industrial age and the information age.  We have now entered the "beer in vending machines" age.