Before you start comparing Scotland's wish for independence to anything, you might check up on the historical background, so you understand why it is many Scots feel strongly about the issue. Florida wishing to break away from the US doesn't really compare - for one thing, they don't have 1000+ years of history as an independent nation, nor did they hold back the Romans 2000 years ago; to my mind that's got to count for something.

Personally, I don't think it means the end of the world, objectively speaking, whether Scotland stays or leaves. The fact is that the two sides are about equal in size, so whatever happens after the referendum will necessarily have to reflect that - seeing that Scotland and the UK are democratic nations. And it has been clear for a while, that the UK needs a shake-up in some form or other any way.

If Scotland does break away, there are some things that will be more difficult, of course; but other things will be better. It can work very well - I can't see why not. If they stay, there will still have to be changes - again, that can work very well. I don't have a vote in this referendum, but if I did, I would probably vote no because it seems more comfortable in the short term - however, if the yes side wins, I wish them all the best and feel that we should support them in getting the best out of it.

No - that was just an example. I was replying to the OP which seems far too smug and condescending for my taste. Especially the idea that Linux somehow is just a toy, not fit for real work. My point is that from where I sit, "real work", when it comes to IT, is done on UNIX - and now-a-days mostly Linux - whereas Windows is mostly a hindrance, at least in the server room. It all depends on what your job is.

How would I know? I hardly ever touch Windows, and only wearing gloves :-) Do you mean rdesktop? Remote access to Windows was added as a sort of afterthought, and it still doesn't have very good support for multiuser timesharing. UNIX, on the other hand, was always built around that concept, and even X is mostly a networking protocol.

That is another thing about Windows: you always have to use specialised tools for doing anything. That's why you even ask the question about remote admin tools; in UNIX you just log on to a command line session and edit the relevant files etc. There is rarely any need for specialised tools beyond a text editor, and the idea of having remote admin tools is a bit alie.

Ah, you've got it wrong; 'critical thinking' means that you are able to agree with the CEO.

IOW, you are saying that Linux is only a toy; that you for your condescending attitude.

For your information, I use Linux exclusively because I don't have time to tinker around with Windows. There are things that Windows is good for - apparently it is a good gaming platform, but then I don't play much - but there are so many things where Windows is simply not worth the hassle. And of course, in Windows you have to go out of your way to use open source - every time I've had to install Windows, it seems to come springloaded with incentives to buy applications for things you get for free in Linux. And the reason to use Linux is even stronger in a professional setting - unless you are working exclusively with non-technical administration, Linux (or any UNIX, really) is a must. Just one example: installing databases like Oracle or DB2 on a network of UNIX servers. The installers invariably require X - which is not the slightest problem for Linux; you just connect from your X based desktop with 'ssh -X' and you're set. In Windows you have to first realise that there is such a thing as X, then you have to figure out how to get it to work in Windows, etc. In effect, if you run Windows, you are faced with an uphill struggle.

I haven't used Windows at all for the last 15 years, give or take, except for when friends and family run into problems - again. Every time I have to fix things, it turns out that large parts of the interface have changed, the control panel calls things something new and puts the old things in new boxes etc; it doesn't help make it easier. In UNIX these don't change much over time, and they are pretty much the same across different platforms too. I suppose Windows is OK if all you do is inside the walled garden of MS Office.

The what? I would have expected that to be all over the news, if it was actually something as momentuous as it is presented. Looking at the fact that this has been accepted in Nature after peer review would suggest that it isn't complete nonsense, however, and the abstract makes sense in a way. I suspect this is about coating very small, magnetic particles with antibodies; these will likely be specific to the pathogen, but the strategy is to let the antibodies bind to pathogens and then use magnets to ectract them. Sounds like something that could work.

But classical gravity varies with the inverse square of the separation, and half of a sphere will be more separated than the other half - hence the tidal force experienced by an orbiting satelite. This effect will only vanish if the two bodies are moving on a straight line through the two centres of gravity of each.

It would be very strange indeed to find an object in space that doesn't rotate at all - any external influence on an irregularly shaped object is likely to result in a change in rotation. In fact, it holds true even for a spherical object in a gravitational field, since that field will vary over the diameter of the object.

There may all sorts of good reasons for why it has happened and why it isn't an evil conspiracy to pollute the minds of young people, but it misses the point, really.

Happily, I don't own a smartphone, but I think I would have been rather annoyed too. It's like being spammed or getting a huge wad of unwanted advertising in garish colours through the door - it's something you never asked for and wouldn't have wanted if you had been asked, it's simply inflicted on you and you now have to do something to get rid of the useless crap. At the root of this lies the feeling that you're not being given a choice, because your opinion doesn't matter, and whoever makes the decisions thinks you are just a mindless automaton who will go out and spend money on whatever the loudest advert tells you.

In the end, it's about respect: you show respect to earn respect. But if producers of eg. music don't respect their potential customers, why should people respect them back? Particularly, why respect the copyright they claim ownership of? I don't condone piracy, but I do understand where it comes from.

Full blown anything requires tyrants.

Communism isn't the same thing as "whatever some regime calls Communism"; just like Christianity or Islam or Capitalism isn't defined by what they are being used for. Just look back at the horrifying atrocities committed in the name of Christ throughout history; or look at what is called Capitalism in the US today. Is Capitalism really about huge corporations monopolizing the marketplace, buying political influence and bullying anybody who tries to threaten them? Of course not - capitalism at its best is a force for good, because it gives people an incentive to improve their lives, and in the process improving society. In the same way, communism seeks to improve society by sharing resources and caring for everybody. Both principles are necesary, and no society is good if there isn't a good balance between the two.

We are talking about EXCITED atoms here - what they say is 'Wheeeee'.

Not true - what happens is a 'payment in kind': the customers pay with their use of Google, and by allowing Google to use their data (emails etc), which is why Google is a business, not a charity. Read about it on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...

Another tip: you can improve the legibility of your postings by using upper case at the beginning of sentences.

You mean like in the European Commission's research projects into things like graphene and the human brain? Europe are investing massively in research, and so are China, who are on a wild shopping spree for hi-tech companies, not least in UK. If they haven't already, they will pass the US so fast, you won't even know it.

It takes two to tango, matey. While I in no way condone extremism, whether they hide behind 'Islam' or 'Christianity' (or your variant of 'morality', whatever that is), there's always at least two sides to a conflict. Comments like yours only serve to stoke the fires and making it more difficult to find a solution. If we want to solve the problems, we need to find common ground with those Muslims who are just as sick and tired as us of the continued problems - how can we do that, if we constantly isult each other over petty differences?

Let me guess - she was young and American during the sixties, seventies or eighties? It would be surprising in those circumstances to be talented and NOT dedicated to the overthrow of the US government. Have you never been young? I would have thought nowadays, with what we know, that parent would be worried if their teenagers did not go through a phase of wanting to overthrow the establishment. It is part of growing up and something that most of us mature away from.

Or perhaps she chose to tell a white lie in a moment of weakness, knowing that there are hostile individuals with a narrow tunnel-vision like yourself everywhere? We all lie when it doesn't seem to matter too much and we think we can get away with it, or if it would feel too embarrassing to admit the truth - or in a million of other circumstances. So we all need to be met with a little bit of tolerance - even you.

A brief history of Tibet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H...

Without having gone into much detail, it looks to me like Tibet hasn't been much of an independent nation for the last 800 years or so. They were part of the last empire of China (Qing dynasty), then left to itself from 1912 to 1950, when the modern China re-asserted its power. Until then, Tibet was a feudal society with a ruling elite and large numbers of serfs - to my mind that is the real evil in the case of Tibet and the reason why Dalai Lama can't return to power. China is not the evil party in this - they did what any civilised nation should have done.