One huge trend in work over the last century or so has been towards automation. We need fewer people, or can do more with the same number of people, by automating some or all of peoples' jobs.

We don't need everyone to "build software" as you may think of it. However, we do need a substantial part of the workforce to automate their own jobs. Think about it. For most typical jobs, the ability to automate your work makes you more productive, more valuable, and can make you feel better about your life.

Automation, of course, means instructing machines.

How about over ISIS

mongodb? Use something that's been tried and true for at least 10 years. Go with MySql or PostGresql and screw the noSql toys until they mature and have decent docs.

Let pioneers take the arrows, the rest of us stay in proverbial Boston, which has infrastructure and seasoned specialists, and get shit done. And we have nice lawns to kick fanboys off of.

The problem with most software isn't that it can't be modelling and rely on basic physical principles, it's that many projects fail to take specs and testing seriously

Most requesters (users) don't really know what they want UNTIL they actually see something concrete, and then realize it didn't fit what they had in mind. We don't need engineering, we need mind-readers. If users had enough time to sit and be thoroughly interviewed about needs and preferences, they wouldn't need automation to begin with.

And further, how to make software maintainable in the longer run is highly disputed largely because it depends on "wetware" and unknowns, such as developer perception of code, and unknowable future domain changes.

It's more akin to writing technical documentation than to building a bridge: how do you write documentation that's clear to the audience, but flexible enough that it doesn't have to be largely reworked for every change.

There is no magic modularity formula: domain issues inherently intertwine (or can intertwine in the future even if not at original launch.) You can't hide intertwining, you have to find a way to manage it well.

Software development seems to be riddled with arrogant know nothings who think they can cut corners or reinvent the wheel...

That's a problem with human nature, not just devs. We are not Vulcans. Humans are impatient, egotistical, fixate on the wrong factors, and often just plain random; and most don't know it or care.

I know some well-educated people who are complete idiots outside of their narrow specialty. I'm probably an idiot also in ways I don't even realize (please don't educate me in replies). My head-model of the world is perfectly logical and consistent to me, but it's probably highly lossy against the real world.

Gee, it's almost as if we are merely upright apes who happen to be able to talk and write. (I would have said "hairless", but I'm hairier than the orangutans I see in the zoo.) They fling poo, we fling nukes.

I never really followed politics much when I was younger, but has it always been like this?

You will occasionally find people who get very, very offended when you point out that Democrats and Republicans differ only in name. These people, sadly, really do believe that the next Obama will change things, and then grow all the more bitter when he ends up just like the rest of the worthless fucks in DC.

But yes, it has pretty much always gone like this. Every charismatic young buck looks like the next Prez Rickard, right up until he turns into the next Tricky Dick.

Townshend was wrong. It's seems like you can just keep fooling us over and over again.

Meet the new boss - Same as the old boss.

Why not The Register? Sarcasm is their biz such that they may be able to tolerate being trashed by nerds....and enjoy shooting back.

They call it a "lock and key". Totally uncrackable over the internet or via USB, and although exploits do exist, for higher quality setups they take considerable time with physical access to the device.

The "IoT" is not our friend, folks - It turns solid, reliable old-school products into yet another vector for malware in your house. And if you think reinstalling Windows sucks, how about having your oven go into self-cleaning mode during your vacation without the safety latch closed? How about having your blender "playfully" get your cat's attention with brief pulses before going full puree? How about overriding your on-demand hot water heater to its "steam clean" setting with you in the shower?

I love toys, including electronics. But the fewer things in my house vulnerable to remote exploits, the better. My toaster should have one dial and one lever and zero computers, period.

Unless something new has happened in the last decade, the only source leaks I'm aware of are NT4 and Win2k. So if you were willing to do without x86-64, most of ACPI, UEFI, IPv6, and pretty much every piece of hardware on your motherboard, I guess you could use that.

You can probably live without Metro, so there is that.

You just can't see the quality because it's in ultraviolet light. Feeble humans.

or worse, a Trump speech

We could've just engraved a URL onto the side of each Voyager.

A pop-up ad could offend them enough to annihilate us

"Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9,..."

I'm a spherical cow. I say "roolllin' roolllin'", not "moo moo"

"If there is constant debate about whether we are currently in a bubble, we are probably in a bubble."