I wonder if this could lead to a magnetic alternative to the netting that's used to keep pigeon's off of balconies?
Some sort of a device that produces a magnetic field that pigeons find unpleasant...

I second this! And not even prequel/sequel/alt. universe, just the original story and game (Maaaaaybe Marathon 2 as well) but with newer technologies. Maybe add some non-linear parts to make it more interesting, but still after all these years it was one of the most enjoyable FPS's I ever played.

Spoken like someone who has probably never gotten very far in music. Try finding a "talented musician" to transcribe all the parts of a symphony for a full orchestra. In a reasonable amount of time.

And comparing nails of a shed to sheet music is ridiculous. More realistic would be comparing the assembly instructions for the shed to sheet music. To someone who has no idea how to build a shed, the instructions are VERY valuable. Your shed instructions analogy is appropriate to compare to beginner's music. For more complex music, simply pick assembly instructions to a more complex structure.

How should we count generated code? Lately I've been using scripts and tools to generate mostly-boilerplate code and then I tweak when necessary. I've also been using code generators for GUI apps for years.

I notice that on my current commuting route, there are lots of university students. Once the school year starts, a commute that took just under 30 minutes today could take almost an hour with all the extra congestion on the roads and on the busses. But I know that after the first round of midterms, a lot of first-year students will start dropping out and there will be more seats available. :) By next Spring, the traffic will be almost back down to summer levels.

I can believe the bad design choices of R2D2 and C3P0 if they were designed by committees. Nothing ruins a good design more than lots and lots of meetings and demands for consensus and compromises.

It probably went something like this:
Engineer 1: "So the demo's all ready to go. Did you guys finish the voice synth integration?"
Engineer 2: "Uhh yeah.... so actually, they cut that from the project."
Engineer 1: "WTF?!?!?"
Engineer 2: "Management said that testing time would take too long and we'd miss the product launch deadline for this holiday season so they told us to scrap it."
Engineer 1: "What? How is this machine supposed to communicate?"
Engineer 2: "They said to just leave the diagnostic beeper in with the developer's code manual. The voice chip will be a separately available upgrade in 6 months. Besides, this thing is really just supposed to talk directly to other machines. What's the worst that could happen?"
Engineer 1: "I'm selling my stocks in this company this afternoon, want to join me?"
Engineer 2: ".... Yeah I guess so. I hear there's this other awesome project, some kind of moon-sized battleship. It should be fun. Let's check if they're hiring!"

And I bet that the Death Star problems were due to budget overruns...

I'm just glad there wasn't a CowboyNeal option.

a joke:

A mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer, and a civil engineer are debating what type of engineer God is.
The mech. engineer says "God must be a mechanical engineer! Look at the amazing way the human body is put together!" The electrical engineer says "No, God must be an electrical engineer. Without all the marvelous wiring and circuitry of nerves and brains, the body would never work!"
The Civil engineer says "No! God is a civil engineer!"
The other two look at him and say "Why?!" and he replies: "Who else but a civil engineer would run a waste disposal pipeline through a recreational zone?"

FROM THE HOLLOWED SKULLS OF MY ENEMIES!!!!! ...sorry, it's Monday. Once I have some coffee I'll feel a little better.

The Tinman wanted a heart, the Scarecrow wanted a brain, and the Lion nerve...
That only covers three of these options. Who sang about wanting liver, eyes, fingers or ears?