The bets he has lost have all been ones in which the monetary amount has been small and the outcome of the proof has enormous implications for physics. Winning a bottle of Scotch or something from a great physicist and making a huge contribution to knowledge. His gambling losses have paid for tremendous breakthroughs in science. That's a bet I would love to lose. I think he likes to lose too.

Traveling at 1/10 of the speed of light it would take 12,000 years to get there, not counting acceleration and deceleration at start and arrival (dropping out of warp isn't that easy). Before doing anything radical maybe we should phone ET and see if he's home. I think this stuff is great because it motivates young people to excel in their education. But we've got at least 3 billion people who can't read and write much less solve integrals. They are poorly fed, their drinking water is killing them and they don't get medical care and die of diseases that we cure with 4 tablets of an antibiotic. We need to get everyone up to speed to have the resources of the entire world to have the enormous economy required to support such an effort.

to find that hacking has been going on here.

You need to make sure you have nothing on record that the statute of limitations hasn't run out on.

Once they're in, you're dead weight. And speaking of dead...remember that gun to your head?

If they don't respond, block 'em and forget 'em. Take your business elsewhere. Post warnings around not to use them and your reasons. That's business.

This kind of stuff is good marketing. Useless, but that hasn't stopped anyone from blowing money so far.

It costs money to keep the old stuff up and working, and then you're going to develop new, more accurate stuff and put that on line and keep the whole thing up and working with Perl and duct tape? And of course you have your super-accurate counter-measures system going too. What do you think put the Soviet Union out of business. Unworkable and stupid. I can think of a dozen better ways to wreak havoc for less money.

No energy left.

It's so shot full of security problems that it's virtually a malware writing language. The promised code reuse. Code reuse? 30% of Java programmer time is spent maintaining legacy code because of changes in the language and libraries. Single framework. That's a laugh. It's so shot full of security holes it's virtually a malware writing language.Write once, run everywhere? What a laugh. 99.9% of the stuff on the web is Javascript. Performance? It stinks. Period. C++ is better and Linus Torvalds says "C++ is a horrible language." Java is C++--.

I do computer science - discussing work over beer is fine, but designing software - that requires a clear head and some caffeine. I like the saying "Mathematicians are machines for turning caffeine into theorems."

I firmly believe that a good portion of the H1-B positions in this country are fillable by people too skilled, too experienced or - virtually the same thing, too expensive. If we actually need someone with a skill from another country, we're going to bring them over here, give them on-the-job-training and experience, then give them a green card, let them become citizens and stay here as part of the American work force. The "I can't find anyone here to do the job" requirement is a joke. No one in required to prove anything of the sort. Work in Engineering for 30 years and then try to find a new job. ER hiring standards are not based on anything even close to factual evidence. It is pure prejudice.

An F-16 engine is about 65% of an F-16 by weight & volume. It's a single engine plane. It's an engine with wings and a chair tied to the top. Can I put on a set of coveralls that say "Al's Jet Engine Repair", drive with in with a 1987 flatbed truck, borrow a forklift from a line mechanic, load 'em and drive away? How stupid is the Israeli military? Not very. How corrupt is the Israeli government? Very. Most Israeli's think so. Is everyone afraid that some higher up was responsible and doesn't want to know? Israel may have it's precarious position compromised by the greed of its own people. Take everyone on duty that night and put their feet in a tub with a chironex fleckeri, commonly known as a sea wasp, a species of box jellyfish. They will tell you everything they know and make up what they don't. Sort out the facts and do the same at the next level. When you get to the top, recover the engines. After you do or if you don't, take the top guys out in the desert and shoot them. Don't bury them. Let it be known that they were shot, not buried and and animals are currently splitting up the bodies based on how big and how mean the animals are. Doing this once should put an end to this bullshit.

Governments should know everything but we know nothing. That is the most dystopian thing I've ever heard. Over the entrance to the CIA are the words from the Bible "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free". Maybe the government can keep a few secrets, such as how to make a nuclear weapon, but as little as possible should be secret within the government. On the other hand the government needs to go before a judge and present really good goddamn reason why they should know anything at all about me. I have nothing to hide but that's beside the point. You really piss me off, Mr. Police State. Your buddies Hitler and Stalin have croaked. I bet you feel real lonely without them.

Gosh, I am so sorry.