Part of the roach's success stems from its omnivorous diet. Removing glucose from its diet is likely a considerable hit on its caloric intake. If the aversion to glucose can be maintained while developing aversions to other abundant and nutritious food stuffs, like meat protein, we could bio-engineer cockroaches to become specialized eaters.

Specialized eaters are easier to control and eradicate. Furthermore, if they over specialize to the degree of Pandas and Koalas they may be bio-engineered out of existence. Personally, I wouldn't mind never seeing another cockroach again.

Tell the VCs how you are going to make them rich.

Obama should have used NK's threats of a nuclear strike on U.S. soil as cause to move forward more big weapons like THAAD and announce big missile defense projects, perhaps in Japan, like those cancelled in Europe. This would increase the pressure on China to tone down their bulldog as it is would be working against Chinese interests.

Sounds like a currency fork. You could conceivably end up with two currencies. Which raises the question: what is to stop groups of people (say China) from creating parallel systems?

If the answer is nothing, BTC is wide open for undermining by fragmentation.

So I don't need to remember my best friends' names.

Sarcasm aside, pasting people's names over their heads would make Dale Carnegie warm all over. It would be useful for bosses, politicians and other people who need to fake caring about others.

Phones have heavy touch screen LCDs (and other bits and pieces, like the case!) that are pointless in orbit. Did they really waste that much of their mass budget on an LCD touch screen? Or is the "stock nexus" on this thing really not so stock?

Where do I contribute to Japan's space program? Sign me up!

You know little of what you speak.

A workplace environment is very much created and shepherded by those at the helm. Especially in a workplace that starts at 2 people and progresses to a giant multinational. The leaders set the tone. I've personally experienced it and even did it in the teams I led.

None of which changes the prevalent mode of communication of the workers.

Evidently, your reading comprehension is as good as your powers of observation. Pretty poor.

Europe has very few public toilets relative to other countries. Where toilets are available they would rather inconvenience you with fumbling for coins rather than letting you get on with your business.

Europe has even fewer public drinking fountains. Europe can be a drinking water desert. Let's not bring up the apparently offensive concept of ordering tap water at a restaurant - never fails to garner dirty looks. In Europe you often have no choice but to go the bottled water route.

Youth hostels and high end $200/night hotels and B&Bs. In any case, youth hostels in other countries don't share this stinginess - warm water is either there (and free) or it isn't.

Wake up and look around you.

1. Mr. Brin, you are a smart guy but I don't think emasculate means what you think it means.

2. Ironic that this lament of the non-interaction between people comes from the head of Google. Where Google's Mountain View employees work in perfect virtual isolation in their cubes and ventilated tents. Where employees who need to talk to their colleagues in the cubicle next door or right behind them in the same, shared, cubicle use IM instead of lifting their heads and opening their mouths in conversation. Google's virtual isolation culture is truly epic. One wonders who instigated and fostered this culture if not its now self-professed emasculated leaders.

Non-disposable bags are the norm in Europe. The reason for that is not ecology, it is European stinginess on the oddest things like public toilets, drinking tap water, coin operated warm water in your hotel room and the list is endless. Giving out free plastic bags runs contrary to that innate stinginess and pretending to be ecology minded was a great excuse.

For a wealthy continent, European stinginess on basic items that are practically common courtesies in other countries is stunning.

I stopped wearing a watch over a decade ago (years before I had a mobile phone) and have never missed it. There are so many clocks around most of us there is no need for a watch.

I for one hope I won't be forced to wear one again in a world requiring them for payments.

The problem is not that the music industry is late or that it is flip flopping on what it decides is allowable. It's their stuff and their right do whatever they want with it - copyright.

The real problem that makes this an issue is the bought legislation that grants the music (and movie and publishing) industries perpetual copyrights. This is the core issue and it must not be forgotten.

And if it doesn't can we finally put the notion of the inevitable ascendency of Android to rest?