Just thinking about the Zetas sends a chill down my spine. I hope the wave of drug legalization that's sweeping the US will cut off their profits.

Thank you so much, that's very informative!

Is there a good way to calculate how much RAM you need? I'm considering ZFS for my next server build. It'll be around 10TB.

Well, they're two different things. "Open source" is a design methodology. "Free software" is a social movement. I try my hardest to use only FOSS. I say that from my windows computer at work. But hey, I take my ultrabook with debian on it just about everywhere I go.

I found it interesting how the video for the Apple Watch showed it nagging the wearer to stand more, exercise more, etc... I don't think anything that nags the user like that will be broadly accepted.

Ummmm...I'm not unemployed and am doing rather well for myself. I taught myself to code starting with BASIC in elementary school. I went for a master's in electrical engineering specializing in computer architecture so I could really get into the hardware, which gave me a much better understanding of software.

Anyway, glad you're doing well. I've always said that when I retire I'm going to go back to school and finish that physics degree.

Even then, the problem is the fundamental science aspect. That's what they can't get funding for. You're talking about engineering work, something we're trying to turn into a product. You'd still need to be able to convince the NIH to throw some of that money at people who are trying to find out the answers to questions that may or may not ever have a practical application. But we won't know if there's a practical application until we do the research.

In college I started out as a physics major. Then I realized "holy shit I'll never get a job" and switched to engineering.

That's a good point. My brain was not working...I clearly need more coffee.

The sun might have 5 billion years left in it, but it will swell and render the earth uninhabitable in only 1 billion. Given that it took 1.5 billion years for life to form on earth at all, and another 3 billion after that to turn into something intelligent, the window (from our single data point) seems rather tight. A little setback here or there, an ill-timed asteroid impact (or lack of a well-timed impact) and you've got nothing.

I think it would be a fun toy. If somebody gave me one, I might not sell it on eBay. I definitely would not pay $350 for a gen-1 piece of hardware. You know they're already working on iWatch2.0 which will have twice the battery life and a Dick Tracy camera and blah blah blah.

The only new form-factor thing I could really see myself wanting would be a (much cheaper) second or third generation Google Glass. Not to wear all the time like a douchebag, but for things like when I'm working on my car or assembling children's furniture I could have the instructions open in my field of view with my hands free. Or if I'm disassembling something to repair it I could use the video recording feature to record myself doing so so when I go to reassemble it I could scrub through the video and make sure I've got all the wires back in the right places.

But a watch? Eh. I'd wait until at least gen 3, it better be cheaper, and I'd want it running rooted Android.

I have a 600mAh battery pack that has Apple, USB and mini USB connectors on it. I paid about $60 for it, and it'll hold 4 full charges for an iPhone or two for an iPad. It'll charge the phone from zero to full in about 10 minutes.

Not a perfect solution, but it might help. It's just a really handy thing to have in my backpack.

No, they'll just hack off your thumb, too.

Cashiers never notice the old "dismembered bloody thumb authentication" trick.

You don't have to be the biggest company around to make quality TV people actually want to watch. The BBC is on this one tiny island yet they produce a dozen shows Americans (and others) gobble up. Top Gear alone is the most-watched "informative" show in the world. Hundreds of millions of people watch it. Doctor Who, Sherlock, etc etc.

Canada can make fewer, higher quality shows if they're able. But they don't seem to want to try.

"Consensus," yes. Scientific consensus, no.