...what next?
 
After the government watches every single aspect of what we do with our electronic communications, what next?
 
Will they actually catch all the pedo's & terrorists? Will all those crimes disappear? Or will those crimes continue to occur?
 
Of course they'll continue to occur, so will they move on to thought control with nanotechnologies? Seriously. Will the argument still convince everyone to allow for thought monitoring because, "How else will we catch all the pedo's and terrorists! Think of the children!"

So then they watch all our thoughts, will the crimes then go away? Probably not, people will figure out ways to block those nano-bots somehow. Then what?
 
Then they will want to control our thoughts - because, because that way we can control everyone and stop crime and protect the children! But will crime stop? Yes. But then, the crime stopped because freedom stopped.
 
Crime and freedom go hand-in-hand. Can't have one without the other.

I trust an engineer's years or study and careful planning over a pilot's hastily considered last-second decisions. It's not that I don't trust the pilots, it's just that an engineer has had more time to put together a solution and implement it in the computer. They know the limits of their craft intimately and I trust them to know how to keep them in the air.

That's all well and good, but engineers aren't gods. They can't anticipate everything, nor can they design systems that are full proof (AirFrance 447 case in point). And when their systems fail, the pilot should have the option of taking over control of the aircraft. To not provide that to the pilot is nothing short of hubris on the engineer's part, and people died because of it.

This is like removing a telephone from the street corner in an attempt to thwart phone scams: Endless supply of phones for the evil-doers to move to.

...which challenges students to find and exploit vulnerabilities in software, compromise enemy systems and steal data.

And the winner does not pass "Go", does not collect $200, and goes straight to jail.

Another alternative poll question that fits these answer choices:
 
  In the bedroom, my wife prefers...

Hey Attorney Einstein, it isn't slander if one prefaces the statement as "a hunch". Libel requires that the statement be implied as fact, "a hunch" by definition is not a fact.

For example, I have a "hunch" that you are a complete moron. I don't "know" you are, but my gut tells me you are.

...is that everyone believes the "secret". Has it ever occurred to anyone that it could be a Psy-Op designed to make everyone think that's where the bunker still is? It could also be designed to "shape" the perception of Biden's behavioral patterns so that when in the future he may let "slip" other "secret" information, the enemies actually believe it.

My point is that with these kinds of stories, what you see (or what they want you to see) isn't always the truth. Take it with a grain of salt, all the other hype is just political grand standing.

...but I'd be willing to bet that South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has had some direct personal experience with these so called "Adult Services". Perhaps even through Craigslist?

Like I said, it's just a hunch.

Looks like Google results are still more useful than WolframAlhpa:

My question: How long does it take for the solar system to make 1 orbit around the milky way galaxy?

WolframAlpha doesn't compute: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=how+long+does+it+take+for+the+solar+system+to+make+1+orbit+around+the+milky+way+galaxy%3F&asynchronous=false&equal=Submit

Google win: http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=how+long+does+it+take+for+the+solar+system+to+make+1+orbit+around+the+milky+way+galaxy%3F&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=undefined&fp=Q5rYJf3FIq4

Looks like Wolfram has a long way to go before it can consider itself useful.

That said, the project seems definitely worthwhile, I hope the internet community cuts them some slack so they can fix this in peace.

I agree and from what I've seen of WolframAlpha so far, is it seems like an excellent "thinking sketch pad". You can brainstorm ideas quickly with it, performing quick calculations in seconds what might take you 5 or 10 minutes to search for, gather input, convert units, get the right equation, and then finally perform the calculation. With this thing you can just type in your question in a loose form and play with the idea. Again, it's only a "sketch" pad so to speak. So if your idea or direction you are going looks good, you can roll up your sleeves and do the "real stuff" on your own system.

And that's what I find very interesting: WolframAlpha gets to watch the calculations be performed by bright (and not so bright) people all over the world and see what ideas people are tinkering with. They could flag certain equations on the cutting edge and so on...

And it's only going to get better.

If you won't pay for it, don't take it. It's not rocket science.

If you make it and want to get paid for it, but people won't pay for it and keep taking it, then don't make it. It's not rocket science.

Either that or come to the realization that the OLD BUSINESS MODEL you are trying to live in is broken and that it's OLD BUSINESS MODEL which is preventing you from "getting paid", not the music consumers.

Create a new business model. Unfortunately, it may be as challenging as some aspects of rocket science to accomplish. In fact, like the development of rocket science there will be many failures before you get a business model that flies true.

"A Non-iPhone"

So this an article that isn't about iPhones, but feels the need to define it in terms of an iPhone.

(Car analogy time) That's like saying Ford is developing a new Non-Mustang vehicle.

Did you customize that sig to your comment, or should you go see a doctor about your explosive flatulence problem?

But I thought terrorists only had get it right once and it was the FBI that has to be right 100% of the time.

So what you are saying is that it's the FBI who only has get it right once, and the terrorists who have to be right 100% of the time?

Where's Donald Rumsfeld when you need him?

I wasn't ignoring time dilation, I was focusing on the "reality" of time occurring outside of the spaceship. The OP seemed to ignore the fact that humans will be discovering new physics and technology over the span of say the 75,000 years of "real time" occurring outside of the time dilated spaceship. Even though the travelers experience only 20 years of travel, when they arrive, chances are they will be greeted by "people from the future" who have long since already arrived and developed thousands of years of history/technology/culture. Hell, so much time may have passed by the time the 20 year traveler gets there, the star system & planets may have long since been abandoned.

So while it may feel "smart" to focus on what's going on inside the spaceship, you are missing the forest for the trees.