Italian: "non ho fatto niente" means "I didn't do anything", but a literal translation is "I didn't do nothing". So some languages allow you to use a double negative to signify the negative.

What do you mean draconian? If, like a lot of /.-ers, you are libertarian how else will we pay for using the roads? A petrol/gas tax? But that's forced stealing - so you can't have that! The only far system is you-pay-as-you-go. The more miles you travel on the roads the more you need to pay. If you have a better system I would like to hear it.

They have their reasons if you actually read about it. Anyway it takes roughly 20 years to plan, get funding, and build the thing. That's why they're starting now. It's called "what happens if you only have one chance to build something that as yet the technology hasn't been developed yet". For instance the LHC was designed before they knew if they could find magnets to be able to "bend the beams". Also check out http://www.linearcollider.org/.

A lot of this is due to the fact that we no longer value expertise/experts. We've had too many well-funded self-interest groups going around nick picking experts until all that is left is your own self-doubt. Universities are full of experts and to not take advantage of that is one of the least fruitful things you can do while there.

Like Jenny McCarthy.

> is get your foot in the door of a first job or two Unless the person hiring you is an idiot. I don't have a CS degree but I do have one in maths (PhD). Unfortunately the interviewer refused to accept that I have any knowledge in CS because I didn't have a CS degree. I pointed out I was involved in one of the first big pushes of "experimental mathematics" where we program computers to investigate high level maths objects. Nope, can't get the job - no CS degree. After about 5 interviews like this in Australia I moved to Europe and in my first interview with a startup I got a programming job. It's all about attitudes. Some people have had problems with people with CS degrees. Some people have problems with self-taught guys. You really need to interview people based on what they can give to the company.

...was how fast it booted up. One of the worse was how many times it needed to be restarted whenever it had an update. I thought Linux didn't need to be restarted ;)

Why has heart compatibility have anything to do with immune system compatibility? Ferrets have a similar immune system to us than pigs do. Pigs on the other hand have a heart as big as a human - ferret hearts are too small. If ferrets had bigger hearts we'll be using them.

For Europa we need to drill through 20 km of ice. We can do 4km in 10 years (like Lake Vostok). But 20 km autonomously. Not in the near future. And where do we drill. We learnt from Viking not to be too ambitious. And I think your fantasy is getting mixed up with your reality. Also we go to Mars because it's the best chance to find life. They are only rocks to you because you never bothered to actually *look* at what is there.

I work in a company where I understand a lot of shit that 99% of the rest in my company doesn't. (Note the 1% is more than me - I'm surrounded by people a lot cleverer than I am). So I work 10 hrs a day trying to get all our Hudson plans green and to make sure our automated processes work fine 24/7. Of course, if there's a hick up then I get the phone call; I'm the one to work over the weekend. You know the drill...I'm sure a lot of /. are in the same position.

These guys are "us" (probably less me, more you).

These are the guys that understand the system; probably complain like hell to management about what's *really* going on; are always too busy to go to the Friday drinks or that all-hands meetings to celebrate one of the managers finishing his org chart or whatnot. These are the guys that always seem to miss their son's bedtime; or are too tired to eat when they come home.

And now they have the added benefit that in 5 years time they'll get a phone call from their doctor telling them that something turned up in an X-ray and he needs to talk to them about it.

Except when someone drags a big gold asteroid into orbit and hyperinflation runs amok (like Spain in the 15 century). Just saying.

What about this: drag a collection of files to the playlist in VLC and it starts playing the list from the last one?!?!? Personally this is why I hate open-source projects; this would never have got through a team with dedicated testers :) But to throw petrol on the fire I still have old PPC Macs and since 0.7.x releases VLC has been very, very picky in playing files without stuttering. Something as simple as iTunes checking for new podcasts will make VLC just stop dead. Mplayer on the other hand, though less sophisticated, won't.

You've never used it on a Mac then I assume. Because you would change your mind pretty quickly :)