Maybe I was being too conservative in my timeframe when I posted this nine-ten years ago: http://longbets.org/16/

Once again, undeniable proof that I've been working in IT too long. I remember trying to convince scaremongers it wouldn't be that bad.

While mechanical failures may have decreased, design problems are all over the place, from Toyota's gas pedals getting stuck to the visibility-destroying A-columns in Dodge pickups. There is so much focus on appearance and stopping mechanical failure, they've stopped paying attention to how people actually drive and are decreasing safety because of it.

Some I see woefully-uninformed users posting on politically-sensitive topics on a variety of forums. For a while I was half convinced that they were paid shills posting their re-wording of directions given to them. Then I realized mostly they were just idiots.

So, why do people stop caring about autism at Christmas? http://correlate.googlelabs.com/search?e=autism&e=christmas&t=weekly#

The bubble, I mean. Yes, it caused serious issues at the end, but during the run up of the bubble, all of the major technology we currently used was developed by that massive influx of capital. Slashdot could not have become what it is without the bubble, and you could say the same about just about every other major technology player in the current market. As for LinkedIn specifically, I'm a bit stunned by the IPO. My LinkedIn account was the 2530th created. That's even better than my Slashdot and ICQ account numbers.

Take, for example, Piers Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant series...brother and sister sleep together and their relationship is an important theme throughout the book. However, the basic plot is not about incest, it's about the rise of a diplomat in a Space Opera. So, is it just books that are "about incest" or those that have that element within them? Where's the dividing line?

Everyone is ok with this coming from 8 year olds, and actively promote 14 year olds doing DNA research (for example). They don't care that these come from those without a portfolio of degrees and 20 characters behind their name. But if a 40 year old does the same after finding something interesting and studying it, they are extremely dismissive of the "amateur" doing what "professionals" should do.

This seems so much like the Wii/Homebrew/DVD player situation. Wii's all have DVD-playing capability, but Nintendo doesn't make or sell a DVD app, leaving it to hackers to make one. By doing this they direct the Wii's use to applications and games provided by Nintendo (ie. if they provide DVD ability, then the Wii will be used less often for purchased products). It's scummy. Glad I don't have any Apple products.

....we used two rocks to beat binary into each others heads. Uh, I mean... When I was programming, which was about 75% of my job, I'd say that of that 75%, 50% was actual programming, but in that I include mapping out the next planned code to be written and doing pseudo-code and documentation to make the next task easier. The other 25% of the day was meetings of slacking/research.