If I had mod points and didnt already comment on this story, I don't know whether this would qualify for 'funny' or 'troll'. Well played =)

NASA isn't so much _selling_ as donating the tiles and food to schools and universities, and asking that they pay the shipping.

QTFA: "There was no risk of a radioactive leak after the blast..."

Yes. Rack-mounting 2U Servers in a 42U cabinet means I can fit 16 comfortably with room to breathe, plus have my cable management solution, and room for a Power Distribution device.
Trying to shoehorn server towers into the same rack means I can fit 6 servers, with each pair sitting on a heavy-duty shelf. My cable management is screwed because I'm putting power, data, and control all bundled together up both sides of the rack, and if I need to perform hardware replacement/addition/maintenance, the server has to be removed, surgery done, and then hauled back into place.

Let's not forget the whole density thing - if I can fit 6 quad-CPU xServes in one cabinet, or 16 quad-CPU PowerEdge Servers, which one gives me the best bang for my (ridiculously expensive) pay-by-the-square-foot-per-month footprint dollar?

How about I correct both? Since Utopia is an ideal of a place, and a proper noun as such: It must be Utopia! Alternatively: It must be Utahpia!

Proposing new tag: Imaginepornonthisthing

Yes, OMB changed what they consider a "datacenter" - previous Datacall regarded anywhere that had 5 servers, a switch, and a router as a datacenter. Now they've lowered the bar to (3 Servers) -or- (1 server + 1 switch) -or- (1 switch + 1 router) -or- (1 server + 1 router). Frankly, I'm surprised the number only roughly doubled, I would've thought there were a LOT more sites with a server, switch, router setup...

Another thing to consider is who's charging exorbitant licensing fees from whom. Example: RIM is charging Microsoft a per-seat licensing fee for any Blackberry user whose account resides on a Microsoft-hosted email solution. I'm sure there are other examples, but my google-fu is weak.

Having seriously considered the positions in question from their open job postings, qualified applicants stand to make somewhere in the mid-$100k range in the private sector anywhere in the country, and closer to the $200k mark in the DC Metropolitan area (the 2nd highest cost of living allowance area in the country, right behind Denver, CO). Salary ranges offered are in the $60-83k starting mark. Offer a competitive wage, and you may just get qualified applicants.

Working out some bugs, got ads for pet food next to pics of my wife!