This is true. The more I learn about computer networking the more I'm amazed that any of it works at all. It's insane to me that people treat the Internet as if it's reliable, expecting it to just work all the time.
It's not replicating unless you're telling it to make a copy of something that already exists
It is though. The replicator stores static patterns in a similar way to the transporter - they're basically the same technology. To create a new replicator pattern (e.g. a cup of tea) the original cup of tea is dematerialized and the pattern saved for future reproduction. This also explains why some people complain about eating "the same replicated meal" over and over - it's literally true, the replicator replicates the exact same cut of chicken cooked the exact same way with the exact same spice blend every time, because it's reproducing a copy from a file. Even if it's a perfect chicken dinner, it's the same one you've had hundreds of times before.
This also explains why every replicator in the universe can't just reproduce anything at any time. Different models have different sets of patterns available. A restaurant-grade model (like Quark's) might be distributed with a menu of meals prepared by chefs with good reputation and have more space dedicated for storing food patterns, whereas the Starfleet model has a menu prepared by a committee of Starfleet nutritionists (decent, healthy, but not gourmet) and also uses some pattern storage for utility items like uniforms and tricorders &etc (it's general-purpose, not specialized for food, so its food reproduction is comparatively lower quality than Quark's).
Presumably the patterns are not easily interchangeable/distributable - different file formats, different scanner resolution, maybe different output options (canonically some materials are more difficult to replicate than others, so might require a specialized replicator). Quark's replicator, being Ferengi, is probably proprietary and requires purchasing new patterns only from the original manufacturer to increase the variety.
Simulate a holodeck.
Then simulate myself simulating a holodeck inside that holodeck.
Then...
don't even get me started on the magic blue smoke...
Ah, no. Electromagnetic induction and electromagnetic radiation are related but different - induction doesn't produce radiation (radio) waves that would travel longer distances.
It is possible to power a device with radio waves - the most basic crystal radio just drives a speaker using the acquired radio signal. In 1945 the USSR "gifted" a concealed listening device (The Thing) to the US ambassador which worked this way - it was only "on" when an external radio was transmitting the correct frequency, making it very hard to detect. RFID tags also work the same - they don't require batteries because the chip is activated when the tag's antenna gets hit by the radio from the scanner.
This is only practical for very low-power devices, because transmitting high-power radio waves is dangerous.
Yeah, kind of a hazard, especially in a time when a lot of structures like bridges were made of iron.
Also you have the inverse square law issue - the energy imparted by the induction field drops off exponentially with distance, so the farther away you want to transmit power the higher the output transmission has to be, and it starts to get really impractical because the field strength varies significantly with distance from the transmitter. A device at the edge of the induction field will recieve a much lower amount of energy than a device in the middle. Assuming that you want to be able to run something useful (say, a refrigerator) at the edge of the field, well now you have to do something to shield similar devices that are closer to the transmission point or they'll melt - maybe you ground them so they can dump excess energy, but now you're wired again anyway, so what was the point of wireless power?
Safe, non-flammable helium!
The downside is induced electric current in everything conductive within the transmission area.
Who the hell wants a two-day blimp ride to London?
All the peace of the grave.
The intent is to highlight the stupidity of the tariffs.
Maybe, but then you run into difficulty with antenna size. An RFID chip uses a tiny antenna but it's only expected to work within a range of about 1cm. To make the listening device I linked above work with a radio source in another room required an antenna 23cm long.
I doubt you could ever transmit enough power to drive a display this way, at least not safely because the output from the transmitter would have to be orders of magnitude higher, and the circuitry on the receiving end would have to be bulkier as a consequence or risk overheating.