I share your regret that stuff like this doesn't provoke more excitement. I think in some ways science (like so many things in life) can be a victim of its own success. For example, the proliferation of gorgeous space photos resulting from HST has had a spoiling effect on the populace. To many, pretty space pictures like this have been a dime a dozen for over 20 years; its uniqueness is lost on the unwashed masses (and even many of us nerds). The same thing happened with the shuttle; at first, launches were heralded events; eventually, the novelty wore off and the majority of the populace probably couldn't even tell you if a shuttle was in orbit at any given moment. I reckon many have no insights to contribute on this beyond "cool photo is cool", which doesn't make for compelling, thoughtful conversation.

In stark contrast, were this a story about space policy or budgeting or something going wrong (ie a disaster) or how things should/could/would be, you'd have no shortage of opinions.

Plus I think we've been in a sort of space doldrums since the shuttle retirement (the ascension of space privatization notwithstanding) and I bet when Orion/SLS take off (pun unintended) things will pick up. When Cosmos aired, it was uniquely positioned to inspire many to wonder about their universe. Now we have entire channels (albeit often locked away in expensive upper cable tiers) dedicated to science. I don't know, maybe Neil deGrasse Tyson's Cosmos sequel will help rekindle some of that scientific wonder.

I better get started downloading then; at my typical speeds, it's going to take 32,000 years to get a copy.

While I agree with you, pray tell just how might one go about copying (let alone leaking) a multi-exabyte database?

I guess one is not allowed to call something a "change" unless it is a radical alteration then?

Surely you meant Yellowstone?

I dunno about other Citrix products, but in my experience Xenapp blows. Overly long application launch times, force quitting an ornery app causes a server disconnect (thereby force quitting all its apps), clipboard gets out of sync between local device and the server (or between servers)...and (though I imagine it's just a setting in which case I can blame my company for the policy) auto-disconnect after about 35 minutes of inactivity, which likewise closes all served apps - no saving your work.

In short, the cause of multiple headaches daily.

I wouldn't mind if Google focused at least some effort on improving search, such as

• - make domain clustering optional (like it used to be: initially present all results within a given domain as "one" result, with a breakout link to show all results from just that domain; maybe display PageRank (*gasp*) to indicate that there are multiple "authoritative/popular" pages within a given domain);
• - add more powerful advanced search options. Something like "search for 'X', but don't count instances of X that are part of the phrase 'X Y'." For example I want to search for word X, but I'm not interested in instances of unrelated phrase "X Y", however some pages that contain "X Y" might also have some relevant info regarding "X", so I would want to see those pages, but only ranked highly if "X" is prevalent in the page, not "X Y". As far as I'm aware Google currently offers no way to do this.

Some people might beg to differ.

Maybe not incorrect, so much as incomplete.

That gives me an idea I hadn't thought of before. Microsoft has never sought to convert the masses, convincing them to fall in love the company of their own free will (ostensibly) - that's Apple's game. No, they've always just sought to dominate.

I hereby submit that Slashdot's Microsoft icon (Gates Borg) be replaced with Gates Saruman. The Apple icon should really be Jobs Borg (he didn't die, he was just fully assimilated).

These two statements are mutually exclusive.

Technological progress has tended to result in miniaturization. While courtesy can be demanded with something obvious like Glass and bluetooth headsets, the same cannot be said for pen recorders or other extremely inconspicuous recording devices that current technology has already made possible. Things that were once only within the realm of Mission: Impossible and government-funded espionage are becoming commercially-available everyday items. It's only a matter of time before we see (hear!) headsets the size of a tiny in-ear hearing aid. What happens when technology advances to the point that we have Google Contact Lenses? Or even ocular implants? Then, how will one know whether they are being recorded?

Since long before Google Glass was conceived, (nearly) every human has come with a built-in, always-on, inconspicuous recording system. Whenever you're within sight or hearing (or even smell) of another, you are - not may be - being recorded. The difference is technology allows for a much more reliable replay function (as opposed to the human memory, which for most people is not all that great). Sooner or later we will have to come to terms with that fact.

Given how readily people exchange privacy (and even relative anonymity) for security/utility/titillation/social chatter, I expect society will become desensitized to omnipresent recording long before personal always-on artificial recording devices become ubiquitous. But I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. I'm optimistic that we will endure and even manage to flourish as we explore the technological frontier.

Except then the corps would just invent a way to turn locals into lobbyists, through incentives or what have you.

I hope they're the ones that did it, because whether they are or not, in the eyes of a public starving for villains to blame they're now as good as guilty.

Why buy one, when you can have two for twice the price?

We can work things out with descending to destruction.

How about...a nice game of chess?

I Shot the Sheriff