We make surgical instruments. If it doesn't work the first time, we can lose a future customer in the most permanent sense.

We build stuff and it better damn well work. So....

Our CEO is a physicist. All of the people in upper management have degrees in science or engineering, including sales and marketing. Yeah, you have to use business jargon, but if you don't talk tech, you don't get to participate at a strategic level. The less you know, the lower in the pecking order you are around here.

It's not designed with the military in mind. Just not rugged enough. This is designed for the rich hunting and target shooting crowd in benign environments.

But law enforce has taken an interest. Not for the targeting capability, but for the video. Now the brass can look over a sniper's shoulder and see what he sees. The video recording also allows for later evaluation.

Help! Help! Let me out!

(Yeah, I know he was cremated, but his brain is in a jar.)

Billions and billions*.

* assuming one per galaxy.

There was a short story in Analog long ago that touched on that. A husband-wife team were famous for selling the best and most exotic cloned meat. He was the scientist, she was marketing. In a competitive industry, everyone was trying to out do each other.

In the end, he confessed to his wife that their latest blockbuster was cloned from a sample taken from her ass.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. Is this the new system designed to deal with too many RCE's?

First rejections are so common there is a theory that examiners are motivated to automatically reject patent applications the first time they review them. The theory goes like this:

Patent examiners are on a quota point system. They have to accumulate so many points for an acceptable performance rating. They get points for all sorts of activity. But one of the most visible ones is an office action.

So they could get a point for approving a patent. Do the work, get a point, move on to the next patent.

But they also get points each time they reject a patent. Naturally the inventor will file a response to the rejection. The examiner can now earn another point by responding to a patent he or she has already invested time reviewing and is familiar with.

This can go on several times until a statutory limit requires a final decision. Once they approve a patent or give a final rejection, the stream of points for that file ends.

So there is an incentive to find a trivial reason for initial rejection, especially if there is a chance it can be overcome. That just leads to a chance for a second rejection.

I don't know how true the theory is, but if you're trying to explain to yourself why you got a dumb rejection, it makes as much sense as anything else.

What on earth is good clean wifi?

It's the same as regular wifi, but without the naughty bits.

I read Scientific American, Analog, Popular Science and a few others in bed before falling asleep. A pile of these magazines accumulates on the bookshelf next to my bed. I've taken to calling it my Nerd Porn.

The point isn't to promote nuclear power, it's to get them to learn about nuclear power, nuclear isotopes, nuclear proliferation, nuclear waste, fuel cycles, economics, research, etc. Without ever telling them to. They end up learning about the dozen different types of conventional reactors as well as breeder reactors, thorium reactors, fusion reactors and the merits and problems of each.

They aren't making plans, they are selecting a nuclear power system. Which means they will learn about nuclear waste and safety problems associated with each type of power. They can form their own opinions based on whatever they discover and read.

Or do you prefer to just sit and have someone spoon feed you facts and tell you what to think?

No CDC this time. But I did advise her to swing by the house to wash the acid off in private before going to the hospital. Otherwise they would have given her a scrubbing the CDC would be proud of.

Luckily she was testing an experiment after class and BEFORE showing it to the kids. It shredded the curtains and blew broken glass down the hallway. And that, kids, is why we wear protective eyewear!

How is this news for nerds?

Because it gives nerds hope that activists will free them from their parents' basements next.

My wife teaches advanced middle school science (7th and 8th). She rarely assigns or recommends reading material. She gives them subjects and turns them loose. This week it is to create egg-drop protection devices and create periodic table/fictional character trading cards. Here are some areas that she's seen the kids go crazy doing their own research:

1) Pick a genetic disease. Explain the symptoms, the mechanisms, and how is it genetically inherited. Unspoken is "Try to outdo your classmates."

2) Your town has a billion dollars and wants to build a nuclear power station. You've been asked to recommend what kind. Give a recommendation with evidence to support safety, reliability, fuel cycle handling, economics, probability of success, etc.

3) GMO's, stem cell research, nuclear power, global warming (etc, etc). Pick one of these controversial topics, research it, talk to your family, and come up with an opinion (for or against). Now write a letter to a government official explaining, with scientific rational, why they should make the policy decisions you believe are correct. My wife refuses to discuss her opinions on any of these topics to avoid biasing their opinions.

The last two were particularly powerful. Kids were amazed they were allowed to have an opinion. And she began doing these before teaching advanced science. She rigged classroom assignments to get all the special ed kids because she thinks they are more fun. She often had double the number allowed by state law, but her kids were outscoring other classes. Stats got noticed and advanced science classes were born.

Yes, I'm proud of my wife. And never prouder than the day she had to go to the emergency room for blowing up the lab! Epic!

Oh yes, I feel terrible. Oh so terrible for parodying people who knee-jerk hate Apple or Foxconn. What ever shall I do to atone?

And yet I bet you still don't get the joke. That makes me feel oh so bad. Next time I'll do a fart joke instead.