... that which is adequately explained by stupidity. You give people too much credit and I'm sure the average joe at USPTO was being judged by how many applications s/he could get through; not get through competently. So, stupid managerial policy? Definitely the culprit.

/I realize there is a lot of assumption in that. Perhaps I'm also being stupid! :)

Or rocks. Or bricks.

You mean a Lada fresh off the factory floor in Tolyatti? ; )

I'm considering hiring him or her to do some coding for me, not withstanding their current employment and career choice, should a need for new employment become an economic reality, or necessity.

now, to bring this all in line; Scott Adams should sue to silence the Federation's Dogbert (which 'Mericans have never heard of), which would spurn a cavalcade of 'news' articles, which would bring a UK police rag to prominence, which would have pedants coming out of the woodwork to claim how this was not the Striesand effect.

Good times!

/Yeah, this got a chuckle from me... schadenfreude is the schönste freude!

link to Classified Information, and pay particular attention to the Classification Levels section.

my apologies for assuming you knew what I meant by "secret" and "top secret". When information (be it technology, strategy, etc) is deemed to be of a sensitive nature, it is considered classified. And there are levels of classification; Proprietary (usually this has nothing to do with national security, but it's sensitive information for a business. If you knew Apple Computer was going to by company Foo before the public announcement, that would be proprietary information that a competitor would love to know), "Secret" and "Top Secret" (these levels pertaining to national security).

So while a bank's vault is secured, what it contains is not sensitive information (it's money, it's bearer bonds, gold perhaps...). You can know what is in there and it doesn't compromise the nation.

Where-as if you know some specific technical detail about uranium enrichment, you could sell that to another foreign nation, and THAT would compromise national security.

I hope this makes some sense!

side note: the baby boomers are not retiring fast enough; the "bathtub" curve of workers for available slots from retirees(since Gen X is ~ half the size of the Baby Boomers) hasn't yet materialized. My take is that due to poor retirement finances, people can't afford to retire!

/I've been waiting for Executive Vice President positions to be handed to me simply due to retirement... I'm still waiting, btw.

No. It's probably "secret" as in "you don't have the clearance to enter the building and there are armed guards."

NOW where will I get my uranium-enriched cricket bats?!

so you're questioning the wisdom of a guy who changed his name to Kim DOTCOM.

Good luck with that, mate!

Something along the lines of "Yes, the tracker says your Phone is here. No, it is not. Please call SPRINT at 1-800-xxx-xxxx" Lo-tech, but effective.

But what happens when that spider discovers tar, makes an ersatz spider out of it, drinks too much, and fights with it?

This is EXACTLY why I've still got my RCA 45rpm record player in my Plymouth. You really appreciate the 'warmth' of vinyl as you're cruising down the highway...

for those who care...

Sounds like you do some really cool cyber-stuff and I'd love to join your cyber-group but living in Tulsa for two years? Ehhhhh...

/here's hoping no one from OK has mod points