Seriously. I've been here. Imagine the worst kind of software developers - people who don't check in regularly and when they do they smash a huge delta into the repository. Imagine people who don't really understand version control and manage to screw up the tree with their own little "experiments" on how they think things should be run.

And best of all, imagine who they will come to when things go awry. Do you want to be that person?

Foisting sophisticated tools on technically unsophisticated folks will end in tears. Use an enterprise document management tool (Alfresco, Nuxeo, Sharepoint, etc) and lock down the workflow. Yes, there's still a learning curve - but expecting non-developers to grok development tools is a path to pain.

Good call! Don't see red shift explained either.

gah! typo. Who looks silly now?

Two experimentally physicists, with one shouting: "Oh God, shut if off! Shut it off!"

But seriously, as AC has posted, the question is meaningless if time "started" at the point of the Big Bang. Hard to get your head around maybe. I know my mother has problems with it, but she also poses strange questions like "why aren't apes having human babies now." It's like a hundred years of science has just slipped past her.

Hey AC, Ayn Rand just called. She says she wants her shrivelled heart back.

No-one cares AC. Your pointless troll will disappear like mist on the side of a mountain. But sootman will still have his bargain T-Shirts and LEDs.

These are the comments I came to see.. the wistful memories from a time long gone by (not the harping about Obama, etc).

I remember the day the dream died for me: walking into a store newly stocked with consumer goods and asking "Where are your ICs?". After a little confusion (and perhaps consultation with the old-beard I imagined locked up in the storeroom) I was directed to a small carousel containing LEDs and switches, but sadly not the ICs I was after.

I walked away... never to return.

Well.. maybe not useful in deserts, but in South Australia evaporative cooling is both popular and useful. Low average humidity in Summer, ready access to water - at least in the cities. So a system like this would work in South Australia - it'd probably be completely useless in other Australian States where the humidity in Summer is high. I'm guessing there are similar places to South Australia around the world though, so maybe there's also a market.

But evaporative cooling systems are so cheap to build and run, and easy to maintain, I wonder if a brick wall you can't control (other than the flow of water) makes sense. Perhaps using the material to replace the battens in evaporative systems makes sense - as these are the main parts that wear out over time.

We need a light-hearted romp, something that touches on our fear of Big Data while extolling the virtues. Something with a dash of romance. If only Spencer Tracy and Catherine Hepburn were still alive, they'd be perfect.

Oh.. fuck me. Refreshed twice and the threading changed completely. With the same AC posting nonsense and threading weirdness, this has been the second least fun article in a long time. Bah!

What just happened Slashdot? After responding positively to someone slamming the anti-science crowd - with a simple +1 - the post seems to have gathered a couple of responses that should have gone to the AC clown. It's a small matter, and I'll say "fuck beta" (hey, never been able to follow a thread in it). But just to set the record straight, I'm with the "It works" crowd.

I can't find it now, but one poster made the point that we should ignore the anti-science crowd. My only fear is that these people vote - or worse, are in public office and able to set the agenda for education, research, etc. I don't know what the answer is, but I don't think it's to wilfully deny that there is a large mass of people with incredibly dodgy ideas.

I should shut up now. Thinking about it only makes me sad.

Damn! Where are mod points when you need 'em. +1

Thanks man. I'm breathing a bit easier now.

This is my first sighting of one in the wild. The closest I've ever come was in my uni days, hearing someone cite Erich von Däniken in a debate on evolution.

I couldn't figure out if this was trolling or just someone on acid. Maybe a troll on acid. Whatever the case, that's some crazy shit.

But yeah, been getting more worried about this trend towards hokum in Slashdot. Not sure if it's just a different crowd, or the world is just getting madder. If it keeps up, I'm out.

All good. Love your sig BTW. This might sound weird, but that's put me in a good mood - nice way to start the day.