I would have to agree with bensode (above). I have been working IT for 20 years now and have ruined many nice silk ties on rough server cases. Switched to "cheap ties" but they still add up. We also have to remove the tie to lift servers onto the server jack and put it back on before continuing with racking - part of the safety protocol. Absolutely ridiculous but required (the ties - I am OK with safety). Always imagine how it could get worse before lamenting what you have - business casual is nice...

When you say "Hit 'em in their wallets" You are really saying "Hit ME in MY wallet". The power industry is regulated. Profit is also regulated. Power companies make about 12% above what it costs to produce and distribute power in most markets (depends on the Public Service Commission in your area as to the actual percentage). The NERC (North American Electric Reliability Company) Critical Infrastructure Protection standards were adopted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to partially deal with the problem. Some companies have taken the INTENT of the standards to heart and have implemented them with true security in mind. Others have done everything they can to circumvent the standards. NERC is starting their initial audits right now to see how well individual companies have done. Stay tuned to www.nerc.com to see how your power company fared in the audit...

Get the FCC/DOT to take a poll of people on the interstate. Maybe flash questions on constructions signs, then poll folks via text message... I see great potential here!

One of my voice mail transcripts:
"Hey it's Blake, Hey just called. He will not be in tomorrow. He is sick and he said he tried to get a hold of Robin Hood, so I'll be in all of you so bye. "
Should read
"Hey it's Jake, Sandy just called. She will not be in tomorrow. She is sick and she said she tried to get a hold of John. Please give me a call when you get this. Bye."
Actually, now that I think about it - Robin Hood could have helped us...

and I am not thrilled with it. I picked a number that is frequently misdialed (admittedly - my mistake) and they want $10 to change numbers. I am using the do not disturb feature to send most calls to VM. The translation software is about 80% correct on guessing what my messages actually say. The other 20% are often more fun to read due to the humor of the translation. They have a way to go before this will be a reliable "ready for prime time" service.

Sounds like wall street could use a few hundred cases of Windex. Straighten out them bankers once and fer all... On second thought, Washington DC, all state capitals and local governments need a few cases as well. This is what happens when Aunt Bea isn't around to clean the courthouse / jail daily.

Good point, but let's take this to the logical extreme. Imagine what this could mean for /. I make a post, get modded down by so many people that nature decides it is an abomination and sends a few electrons back in time to prevent the post from posting in the first place. ./ content should theoretically get better over time but only if the Trolls troll their hardest.

I guess I am ready to do my part...

There is sort of a "duh" quality to the research here. Your brain is a "use it or lose it" type of organ. The more you use your brain and the more you use it in different ways, the better it gets at operating optimally. Games and education can be a good fit if the designers of educational games can manage to make something fun - not just a computerized version of a classroom. Use the media in a way in which it is already successful.

Maybe combine Grand Theft Auto and education by making the player add up fines or the value of the drugs he just stole...

Hmm. Diet sodas make your body expect energy? Odd. I am a diabetic and have been for the past 35 of my 39 years of existence. I have always consumed diet cola - even when crappy "Tab" was the only choice other than crappy "Diet RIte". My body does not expect anything from a diet cola other than a need to urinate (solely to balance my body's need for water - the base of all cola - and the effect of receiving it). I drink caffeinated and decaffeinated colas. I am neither over weight nor underweight and @ 5'11" my BMI is 24 - "normal" (although my wife says that I could actually stand to gain a few pounds). Statistically, you can correlate anything you want to if you manipulate the scale.

I smell manipulation...

Actually it is closely linked to the economy in a slightly different way as other posts below this one point out... From an Economics perspective, it is a lot easier to make progress in leaps and bounds when your economy finally gets organized and you head from being a "third world" country to "second world" or "first world". When modern computing started "from nothing", leaps and bounds were easy because the amount of effort required was exponentially smaller than leaps and bounds by todays standards. It required exponentially less extreme innovation to make significant results.

This is a good time to open the floor for Moore's Law debate and whether we will continue to be able to continue our past progression into the future on the processor end of technology...