With a beam that powerful, it won't take a direct hit to the cornea to cause eye damage. Catching a glint off of the windshield of the target (car, plane, tank, building) might be enough.

Forget walking around with mirrors, battlefield dress of the future might include welding goggles or a helmet mounted HUD to protect a soldiers eyes behind a video feed.

OK. Unlike the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man" - it occasionally is "my bad"

Frequently these types of threads turn into bashing contests between different language enthusiasts. Usually things go downhill for my contributions to the thread when I mention that I enjoy my (infrequent) opportunities to code in the first language I learned - COBOL.

(cue the COBOL haters in 3, 2, 1)

Javascript is one of those languages that I love to hate and hate to love.

Yes, I understand that C is virtually everywhere, but requires much more to deploy an application everywhere.

Javascript: write once - deploy everywhere
C: Write once, compile for every target, deploy everywhere.

See the difference?

And how often is it necessary to alter a compiled application for nuances on specific targets? Javascript is often written wifh fallbacks for targets that don't support a specific feature.

I'm not saying Javascript is superior or inferior to C. They have different strengths and weaknesses. Why must there be a "best language" or arguments over "my language is better than yours"? It's all a personal preference when more than one language can perform a given task. What about tasks that are possible in one language and not in another? Apples and oranges comparing C and Javascript.

Thursday I was writing Objective-C, Friday I was writing Java, today I was replacing the fuel-injectors in my truck, sometime next week I expect to be writing some PHP. Personally, I enjoyed replacing the fuel-injectors more than the work I did Thursday or Friday - and now my truck is running better. Because fuel-system work makes my truck run better, does that make auto-repair better than Objective-C or Java - because neither of them make my truck run better? Objective-C and Java pay the bills while working on my truck does not - does that make programming better than auto-repair? Apples and oranges.

I think it's safe to say that you prefer C to the exclusion of everything else.

and you must compile for every platform.

Write once - deploy everywhere.

Name one other language that is as well supported and as broadly implemented as JavaScript?

With technologies like Node.js - it can run on both the client and the server.

Sure, there are inconsistencies in implementation - but the bulk of functionality is supported in every implementation.

Except for the picture...and video that I looked at when I visited.

As I understand it, the system is tied into other federal databases. Just because you haven't signed up, doesn't mean you aren't in one of the other databases that healthcare.gov is connected to.

Offtopic?

I said something that should have taken me out of the running for that position - asking my interviewer out on a date! Who else here has done that?

Granted, I've only ever been interviewed by an uber-hottie once... so I suppose that kind of opportunity doesn't happen every day.

When interviewing for a tech support manager position with a company in San Diego - I went through a whole slew of interviews on the same afternoon. director of sales, director of product development, director of software engineering and finally the director of customer service.

That last interview had to be the best interview of my life. Not because I had good answers for all of the questions (I did). Not because I was a great fit for the position (I was). And not because I really wanted the job (I really did). It was the best interview of my life because I sat and had a long conversation with what I believe to be the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Mmm, Mmm Anna.

At the end of the interview, she asked "Do you have any questions for me". I had only one. "Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

Sadly, Anna said she was married.

That afternoon, I was hired. On my first day, I met Christina (Anna's assistant) the second most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Mmm, Mmm Christina. I spent the next 2 years flying around the country with Anna and Christina going to trade shows (to set up the equipment), and to customer sites to assess their needs.

I loved that job. The scenery was great.

Reminds me of the classic Gary Larson - Far Side rendition of "How birds see the world"

http://veggie.buntch.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/larsonhowbirdsseetheworld.jpg

Hey now, I cut my teeth on COBOL. I at least deserve that level of (lack of) respect.

I hope not.

Of course, I pass on the mundane jobs for that reason (and because mundane jobs pay mundane amounts)

Um...22 years next Tuesday.

Part of the beauty of a software development career is that you're constantly asked to do things that you don't necessarily know how to do. When has a customer ever contacted a developer and asked "Can you do this very common thing that everybody can do in their sleep?" - Never! The question is always "We have this incredibly technical thing we want done, and nobody here knows how to do it - can you figure it out?" (paraphrasing, of course)

It's always new and refreshing. I find the challenges invigorating - and often I find myself up until all hours because I've come to an understanding of something new and I want to see it to completion (or a good stopping point).

Every task, every day, every job is a triumph.

I even find it enjoyable to explain to my customers that I don't know how to do something. Part of the explanation includes my excitement to learn how to accomplish it. If I've explained it right, they're as excited for me to do the work as I am. They have a desire to see the job done - and so do I, but for entirely different reasons.

One of the greatest joys is learning how many developers before me declined to try, or tried and failed. For my last contract, my customer explained that I was the 5th developer they contacted - and the only one to submit a proposal.

The software went live Monday, and I couldn't be happier. My customer is in a pretty good mood too.

FTA: Arvig

When has a video camera ever stopped someone from doing exactly what they intend to do? Youtube is full of examples of people behaving badly in front of a video camera (sometimes - because of the video camera)

Sure, video cameras may cause people to reconsider their behavior - but a criminal intent on committing a crime will just wear a mask or disable the camera with some high-tech sticky tape. If the group is repairing the machines so their modification can't be detected - nobody would be the wiser. They might consider the tape to be the work of a prankster and peel it off.

Maybe if the video camera was attached to a flame-thrower - that might do the trick.