Five years? In tech time, that's like the Pleistocene era! Good strategy for Google -- limit the supply for a ridiculously long time, making it invite-only to increase the recipients' impressions of a great favor having been bestowed on them -- all of which should increase demand over what it might've been if any old schlump could buy a pair. Too bad Google didn't think through the social side effects. How do you relate to someone who might or might not start recording you at any time without your knowledge? I'm not interested in buying a pair and being 'That Guy' (gal, in my case).

The folks at CERN will be disappointed. Also, you get all of my imaginary mod points.

Seriously! We MD's and other hospital staff all have to get mandatory patient privacy and security training every year. Some people at the DEA need to do this too because they are WAY out of line.

"...by being terrible at what they do"

This is the best poll option EVER. I would click on it repeatedly for days if I weren't so neurotypical.

We're talking impartial SCIENCE, man. I say we need "typewriter font -1" and "typewriter font +1." Let the battle begin!

No matter who wins, we'll shake hands, raise toasts to each other in the mead hall, then go slaughter the Comic Sans crowd.

I'm liking Virgin Mobile a lot, and I've had their unlimited data plan for two years now. I would love to know how much market share they've picked up since then. Anyone know?

You get all of my imaginary mod points.

Darth Cheney isn't going to leave him alone until he gets a big smooch. I'm just not sure it'll be on his face.

"Don't let tailored analogies restrict your thinking on the utility and limits of regulation." Agree. Analogies don't constitute a valid argument.

Damn, you're right. You can't even make jokes any more without Mitt Romney having already said it!

Sounds like a Craigslist ad to me. "Must like long walks on the beach and menages-a-trois with minotaurs."

"Staying low lvl meant that enemies were weak. Lvling up with the wrong skills meant that you stayed weak, while the enemies got stronger."

OTOH, this is SO much like real life...

+1 seriously funny.

I'd say that if they make their request in writing, and I sign it in the presence of a witness and of course get to keep a copy, I'll agree.

It'd be fun to see them break out in a cold sweat.

But let's say they agree. After all is signed, then I say "You do realize that my profile likely contains at least one piece of protected information that would be illegal for you to ask me to share, don't you?"

Heh...

There's plenty of big data in medicine -- mass cytometry with 35-40 parameters per cell; gene expression profiling, deep sequencing with gene sequencing data on many individual cells per patient. Visualization needs to catch up with what's being done.

This is a great article! No wonder so few comments.