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!

Just substitute 1Tbsp. salt with 1/8tsp. MSG. Thus solving the problem forever.

Subtle troll is subtle... Either that or you didn't even bother to RTFS and figure out that these things are not just fake, but totally non-functional. In which case, Obvious troll is obvious...

Would not recommend using the coax as a solder hack-job to RJ45 connectors. Running all new cabling is easy provided you have the proper tools (flashlight, fish tape/rod, box of cable, cordless drill, long drill bit 3/8-1/2" head, box of draw-string, and a helper)

Do yourself a big favor, and when you pull in your shiny new ethernet, tie in some drawstrings so you never have to repeat the process.

Just had to comment on this - quoting "I don't care a fat rat's ass about that track having some DRM on it. It plays ... on my iPod...) - so what happens when Company X puts out their iPod killer with all the features (patented and copyrighted of course) that you've GOT to have? You going to re-re-re-re-re-purchase all that music you have locked up in iTunes? When do you stop paying the distribution and racketeering arm to be able to play the same progression of tunes in slightly different formay Y?

If you can handle working for a US-based company, you can make the same amount on a 6-month engagement with Raytheon Polar division. Bonus for the US-ians out there, the pay is tax-free since you're in international space for 20 weeks and you spend 3 weeks on each side of that in Sunny New Zealand. Good luck to the Aussie gov't filling this position, though!