Did you read where the individual continued to attempt to assault the officer even after being cuffed?

In the American Air Force, we questions superiors routinely. As long as it's done respectfully, it's usually welcome, and often improves accomplishment of the mission.

9 times out of 10, probably more like 999 times out of a 1000, I'll heartily agree that a company is being an ass about similar naming. Monster comes to mind as the biggest bad guy in this arena - going after anyone whether there is a clear association with electronic cables or not. Microsoft's laughable attempt to trademark Windows a decade or so ago. Apple's iFetish. The list of tech companies that have attempted to abuse trademark is very long.

This is different. I think anyone not ideologically bound to hate on big companies or maniacal about "information wants to be free" will see that Teachbook is trying to capitalize on Facebook's brand recognition. If I tried to create an online journalling site called Daybook.com, then Facebook wouldn't have a case. But a social networking site with the same name extension? C'mon - only those who wish to be obtuse about electronic freedom can't admit that this is clearly infringement.

As a motorcyclist and geek, I've been contemplating "a = delta v / delta t" in classic math textbook font.

I'm a skeptic - but not by your definition. Your definition seems to imply that the skeptic is wrong unless he or she is convinced in a particular direction.

I think that pollution is bad - we should be limiting it out of general principles. What I'm undecided about is how bad. The level of discourse seems to have reached a point where no lay person can reach even a semi-educated, unbiased opinion because all data and analysis available to him is tainted by the sender.

Why don't we use catapults to hurl the wireless execs at the bankers? (we'll use the RIAA execs' tendons as teh winding mechanism for the catapult)

Amen. 1. Low pay. There is no mechanism for payment or reward based based on technical skill level. An airman who has been in 2-3 years, but can rewrite a C libary in 5 minutes to build a layer 2 packet fuzzer will be paid less and have less authority than an 8-year Staff Sergeant who has trouble establishing user accounts using a Windows Server GUI. Currently the services have no way to even measure, let alone properly reward those with serious technical skillsets.

I've said for years that the US enlisted man (in a technical job) is the only creature on earth that is simultaneously overpaid and underpaid. They make more than the average non-college educated person their age/seniority, yet make significantly less than almost anyone on the outside doing their exact same job.

2. Inability to adapt. That same airman will be reprimanded for having built the packet fuzzer. There are defined tasks, permitted software, and accredited machines. There are no real provisions for independent thought or action, even when appropriate precautions have been taken. Thinking (or acting) outside the box is not just frowned upon, it is often described as criminal. There is a "right way" to do everything, and everything else is out of bounds.

Depends on the boss. Did your "playtime" support the mission? then a good boss will appreciate it and reward it. There are more good bosses than bad, especially int he computer operator/programmer fields. However, there is some truth to this. People who should really know better distrust Firefox and Linux to an almost cellular level here in the Air Force, and I don't get it.

3. No abstract or intuitive plans or programs will be approved or funded. Detailed and comprehensive plans with concrete deliverables are the order of the day. It's hard to work outside-the-box when they believe the box is "good" and everything outside of it is "bad".

A complaint virtually universal anywhere outside of a few golden locales like Google and Apple, and some places in Microsoft R & D.

4. HR. Hmmm, we need to send 3 techs to Alaska. Generate a list of based on personnel with the appropriate grade/rating and are "due" for transfer based on time on station. Off they go. No interest that 1 of those techs has critical skills vital to the project he is currently working and another has personal issues at that time which would make such a transfer a hardship. Meanwhile, there are a dozen other techs who could just as easily fill those slots. Doesn't matter. We've got several thousand people to manage in that field, and exceptions are "bad". No placement preference based on skill, talent, or current project status.

Agreed, except for some jobs. Officers fare much better this way, but when I was enlisted, I was hand-selected (without my knowledge) for a job because I had UNIX experience and a BGS in comp sci.

5. Lack of understanding and respect. Techs simply aren't appreciated in a warrior culture until something bad happens and they can fix it. A network/system that runs great 99% of the time will get the tech almost no recognition and people will freak when it does go down. A network/system that constantly has issues but the techs run around putting out the fires will gain the tech recognition. "Every time we had trouble, Tech Jones and his team did a teriffic job fixing it so we could get back to our mission." The current system rewards firemen, not architects/maintainers of robust systems which work.

Sadly, somewhat true outside of comm, but the good bosses in comm see through the "miracle workers."

Someone have an axe to grind? I've been in the Air Force for 21 years, and have never seen religion - evangelical or otherwise - intrude into the workplace in the way people outside the Air Force are screaming about it.

Former enlisted programmer here. In 6 years as a programmer, I coded for about 22 months. The rest of the time I was a sysadmin - Novell and UNIX. The time I was coding though, I was definitely coding, but it was nowhere near sweatshop - had time to read slashdot, etc. Comm jobs in the Air Force, at least for programmers, were kind of funny. You'd be busting your ass for 3 months, then playing 6 degrees for two months, then bust ass to make someone else's dealine for 2 months, then back to playing six degrees again.