This subject has come up before, and it's just as bad an idea now as it was then.

When you release a physical product, you can issue disclaimers with it like "don't use near flame", "don't use in extreme cold", "don't use naked inside live volcano." Software can wind up installed on systems that are the equivalent of all of these. Can you test on every OS, OS minor version, OS with patches x/y/z, combination of drivers, this chipset, that graphics card? What about on systems that are misconfigured? With corrupt Registries/Netinfo DBs/config files? How about ones infected with Malware? What if the admin/user installs or configures your software incorrectly?

Every system is a potentially highly hazardous environment that you cannot control nor test for.

Representations of the Zeitgeist, sure. What the Zeitgeist is? Eh, no. How about representing many of the things Romero intended? All that stuff hasn't really changed. Mass consumer culture; a rebellion against a sterile, mindless society; unease and dissatisfaction with the state of the country and the world - and the attendant social unrest. Forbes' analysis is interesting, but off the mark, IMO.

The issues that were salient when the original movies were made are just as salient now, if not more so.

A reader for all sorts of diseases, especially communicable ones. It'd cut costs in countries with relatively modern health systems by wasting less of medical professionals' time, and since it'd likely be small (and hopefully very cheap) it'd help countries with very poor or non-existent health care systems. Would also be very helpful during/before epidemics break out. I know some of these exist for specific diseases, but we need ones that can test for thousands at once.

A reader specifically for STDs. Would revolutionize casual sex and libertine lifestyles. Meet, test, have sex without worry. Very liberating.

A nutrient reader. No more relying on labels for store-bought food. Would also allow you to test food from eating establishments that do not supply nutritional information. Stick your reader in your food, find out the exact calorie, fat, etc. content instantly. Would also help with obesity/portion control.

Until they're spread on sidewalks the way those little ad cards are now.

Until people complain that they're getting them in their mailboxes.

Until people complain that they opened their curtains and saw them stuck on the window, facing in.

Until they are on windshields and in clubs like flyers are now.

Until you hear the stories of people getting these things thrown at them by "drive by" marketers.

I can smell the lawsuits now.

HR departments use these reports, as you well know - along with job history, what font you use on your resume, and what you eat for breakfast - to thin the herd, not determine viability. It's also the reason for credential inflation; what used to "require" a bachelors now needs a masters. Not because the job has gotten more challenging, but because there are ever more people with the older degree. In non-boom times, HR departments can be overwhelmed. Just look at the current number of applicants per job (6(!) for each one as of July 2009.)

It's not just about whether you're "trustworthy". It's trying to make those piles of resumes more manageable to HR. They use whatever they can to do so.

When you release a physical product, you can issue disclaimers with it like "don't use near flame", "don't use in extreme cold", "don't use naked inside live volcano." Software can wind up installed on systems that are the equivalent of all of these. Can you test on every OS, OS minor version, OS with patches x/y/z, combination of drivers, this chipset, that graphics card? What about on systems that are misconfigured? With corrupt Registries/Netinfo DBs/config files? How about ones infected with Malware? What if the admin/user installs or configures your software incorrectly?

Every system is a potentially highly hazardous environment that you cannot control nor test for.

The first half really was excellent, when they focused on story and atmosphere. The 2nd half that largely disappeared, and it got boring.

I don't know how many of the people posting about Sarbanes in this thread have actually had to do implementation work in their companies because of it, but I can tell you as someone who has done extensive work on it that it's a way over the top for businesses without huge amounts of resources; that doesn't mean we should scrap it altogether. I've had to do work on change management, privilege separation, accounting, and data reconciliation to support S-O; it's extremely painful. The requirements are probably fine for companies with many hundreds to thousands of employees, but for ones that are 200, 100, or less, it should be seriously scaled down. There should be several levels. Something like:

S-O Max (5000+ employees)
S-O Large (1000-4999 employees)
S-O Medium (500-999 employees)
S-O Small (100-499 employees)
S-O Mini (99 or less)

Each one would have progressively more requirements. For example, at S-O Mini and Small, you'd have much more lax privilege separation requirements (sometimes the DBA is also the Systems Admin) but at S-O Large and Medium, you'd have to have a separate DBA, Assistant DBA, DB Backup operator, Systems Admin, and System Accounting people. The idea of S-O is good, and it seems fairly well thought out if you've read the documentation surrounding it and some of the checklists; the current blanket approach, however, is far too onerous.