Thanks for being the one who caught my point: The rationale is bullshit because smart people confronted by unfolding emergencies are no more likely to be frozen by indecision than average people. The question is intended solely to gauge the speed of the response, not the right or wrong of it.

FWIW, way back when this story was news instead of history I asked my county's Sheriff about the rationale behind this kind of thing. He explained it thusly:

"Suppose you're an officer and you're called to a convenience store robbery. When you arrive, you find the clerk on the floor has been shot and will certainly die if you don't render aid immediately. Meanwhile, you see the robber escaping in your neighbor's car so you know it's stolen. This fits the MO of an armed robber who's been in the region for a few weeks, never strikes in the same town twice, and always kills the clerks he robs. There are no witnesses. If you render aid to the fallen clerk the criminal will escape and will almost certainly kill again, but if you pursue the criminal the clerk will certainly die and you may not succeed in apprehending the criminal anyway. What do you do?"

I immediately responded that I'd pursue the criminal. He went on to explain:

"It's not really important which option you choose because in the end some innocent is going to die. What's important is that you quickly choose a response and follow it through to the end. The rationale behind not hiring those of exceptional intelligence is that they'll waste time thinking through their options hoping to find the optimal solution when there really isn't one instead of just springing into action."

It's horribly flawed logic, but that's the general consensus among law enforcement so it's self-reinforcing. You can't promote thinking leaders from within a force that doesn't include thinking officers.

Magnesium acetate works much, much better (because it's more bioavailable) and doesn't loosen the bowels (because it's absorbed in the gut so doesn't get that far). You have to make your own to get it, though. Three parts apple cider vinegar to one part milk of magnesia, adding the MoM to the vinegar so it all dissolves. Mix a tablespoon or a tad more of this in a liter or so of water, and drink it throughout the day.

However, unlike gambling, you are forced to play. The state requires you to enroll your child in school and ensure attendance, and requires that your child be vaccinated in order to attend. So it's only fitting that the state step up when children are harmed by vaccines, just as the airline whose jet falls on my house is liable for the damage done even if the jet was carrying donor organs intended to save lives.

We have bigger things to worry about than the furious screaming of a pseudo-primate like Lieberman. He's marginalized himself so effectively that only other crazies will associate with him, so the best predictor of a bill's failure is his name in the sponsorship section.

You're a lawyer who reads slashdot. You're far from typical!

I was involved with H-P in various capacities from 1994 through 1998, pre-Carly, and the high zoot engineers for whom the company was famous were nowhere in evidence. Absolutely nowhere. The company mission statement already said that H-P was a "shareholder driven" company, and the old-timers all lamented that The HP Way was long dead.

I'm not defending Fiorina, as she was in well over her head and everyone except the BOD knew it right from the start, I'm just saying that the company was broken before she got there.

I don't comment much. I figure that if you understand the problem domain, my grammar will suffice... and if you do not understand the problem domain you have no business futzing around with my code in the first place.

I will curse and mock your name after you've left a position because you've context switched ten times to do work that should have been done in one well designed method, and now I've got a server that is puking because you don't know programming nearly as well as you know how to acquire whore points on slashdot.

As my grandfather, a noble and stoic man of few words would say, shut the fuck up.

Spray and pray in the direction from which an invisible enemy might approach. Where there's a blood spray, shoot some more.

Invisible this, bitch!

In my experience, precisely three-quarters of all of my wives have fit your assertion, as have half of all of my children. The other identifiable classes you mentioned I prefer to avoid.

If I had mod points I'd award a quadrillion of them for:

I've seen this too many times. For anyone who hans't: If you want to know what a partnership is like, here's what you do: Come up with a great idea, then work yourself nearly to death over 18 months to two years while ignoring your family, friends, and health. When the idea has been made tangible and needs just a few minor tweaks, hand over all of your work to someone you'll never want to see again.

How did I not know this? Oh, wait... it's because I mostly quit reading the comments years ago.

Thanks for setting me straight!

Uh, with all due respect: To say that "the distinct line between what is a program and what is pure data is blurred beyond recognition" merely proves that you've never understood the difference.

That's kinda why I said, "if the 'cheap gas' doesn't cause pinging". Detonation is a real bitch and can crack pistons, thrash pins and rod bearings, and just generally be a real pain in the wallet come repair time. But a broken piston is a good excuse to increase the bore... :-) Still, if you're not getting detonation, all you get from high octane gasoline is expensive exhaust gas.

If you get pinging only on hot days or only at high altitude, try curing it the same way you'd cure vapor lock on a carbureted engine -- I don't mean clamping wooden clothespins on the fuel lines and leaving them there forever, but that's a good way to prove whether or not that's your problem. If it is, just reroute the fuel lines away from the heat sources and call it good. Sometimes the heat source is the automatic transmission or the exhaust pipes so you have to look all the way back to the tank to find the likely suspects, but if you're doing it yourself the one-time expense of rerouting is a lot less than the every fill-up expense of higher octane fuel.