Don't think that they're the only ones. Given the current climate I think it is reasonable to assume that you're being monitored regardless of your method of communication.

Here's the thing I don't like about how evolution is presented...

researchers also have a new guess about why the spine evolved: They suggest that the creatures might wedge themselves between the trunk of a palm tree and the base of its leaves, then use the strength and flexion of their muscular spine to force open this crevice, revealing insect larvae

Um, no. The spine did not evolve to meet the needs of the animal, the animal is alive because it had the traits needed to live. This would make much more sense if the statement was that "researchers also have a new guess about why the species thrived while others died."

The way evolution is presented by most media makes it seem like after a species goes for a few generations it gains some ability like how one can gain a power up in a video game; "Ok... humans make it to the next level... they can either run faster, see further or have faster reflexes.... what will it be?"

If this animal didn't have the ability to do what it does then it would have probably failed and we would know it now as a collection of bones in some natural history museum instead of a living creature. Now, this is also to say that those with mutations that gave them a stronger spine would be more likely to survive but it's not as if the species had control over the evolution of the spine itself.

While this article was brought to Slashdot for flame war fodder there is another reason this is news elsewhere. What it comes down to is that businesses, regardless of actual profit, are largely looked on as weak by investors if they're not showing growth.

I'm not one of these people who beat on the idea of capitalism but I do see it as a failing of the perception in that endless growth just isn't possible in the long term. Sadly it's endless growth that drives a majority of today's investors. Most of today's investors don't see their dollars as a building block to better companies with long term goals and good public relations, they see their dollars are something they need to "flip" fast to make it worth their time. That's been a failing of the Wall Street economy for several decades and it only gets worse as time trods on.

Apple will take a hit because of this. It's not because they're technology is weak but because there is enough competition in their field that push investment dollars to the short term gains. And this isn't to say other players in the field aren't really offering anything but their long term outlook is secondary to what they'll offer up in the next quarter or two. Apple hasn't planted itself well enough as a long term solutions company to keep the market interested like IBM, Oracle and Microsoft did. They'll survive and maybe make a bigger comeback some day but they will have to suffer through this lull like every other market leader has to from time to time.

Merck Darmstadt and Bayer don't do R&D? That's news to me!

I thought the same thing when T3 came out but in the end it was a pretty enjoyable game. Hopefully this will be of at least that quality. I'll have to check out the videos when I get a minute. Thanks for the heads up.

Minecraft is a bit more of a Lego construction game. I don't know how he pitched his idea but if someone came to me and told me they had a Lego game and presented Minecraft to me I'd have told them their description is a bit lacking.

And the other side of this is that Notch didn't wait for someone to give him the greenlight. Granted the culture and technology is much different but waiting for the approval of others is probably holding many back from bringing a software product to market for lack of skills or lack of resources. Sometimes you need to just throw yourself out there and hope that you can work it out to become successful.

Wasn't there suppose to be a third installment to HL2 first? It's been a while since I've looked into any of this but that would be a hot item for me to play. I'm pretty much out of the gaming scene but I would like to finish the HL series and would play Thief again if T4 ever came out.

The Tour de France is a long way from being "GOOD" at something. You're talking about a few out of a couple tens of thousands of professional bike racers who will ever win a Tour de France. There may only be a dozen or so FIDE champions in your lifetime but you best believe the FIDE also have about ten thousand of grandmasters (if not more) in the same span of time. And if you've ever sat and talked to a FIDE grandmaster (I have) you'll realize that it's not about some unknown ability, it's about an investment in time and sometimes wealth that is plainly out of reach for anyone who has to hold a traditional 9 to 5. They invest much more of themselves in that grandmaster title then most programmers will ever invest in their skill set.

So the question is where are you placing the bar? Things like being a FIDE grandmaster and a winner of the Tour de France have a metric associated with them that is pretty black and white. It's much harder to measure the skill of a programmer.

So disagree all you want but until you can put a meaningful metric to it the whole conversation is still pointless. I will continue to hold to my original assertion that skills are better if cultivated early and that anyone who doesn't have a mental disability can be a great programmer beyond just knowing syntax.

Oh, and if you honestly believe that the people who are "GOOD" at something at that way because It is nothing to do with upbringing, just the way we are. then I urge you to go read Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. It will be an introduction of how elements come together in the proverbial perfect storm to create extraordinary circumstances and sometimes extraordinary people. And it most certainly touches on how being "GOOD" at something does have to do with upbringing even if some of these elements are outside of the control of those doing the upbringing.

What teh hell is his problem? We don't need anotehr key on out keyboards.

Perhaps but the sooner you give a young mind a chance to work with these concepts the earlier you'll find people with "natural" talent and the sooner it will be cultivated.

BTW, as I'm sure you can tell I'm not 100% convinced that this is "inbuilt." I really think it is a matter of upbringing. Whatever kids are introduced to at an early age and whatever they find positive reinforcement in (and negative reinforcement for that matter) will create the kinds of adults that they grow into. They'll simply grow to be dependent if you just fix every problem a child has instead of giving them the tools and knowledge to fix it themselves.

If it worked properly then it would not have "unwittingly" collected data that it should not have had.

Why do you have to ask for it? From what I've seen by doing a bit of car shopping recently it seems like unless you go balls wall with a new car you're not going to get anything beyond a standard radio/CD system anyway. If you're lucky it'll have an iPod connector. Most low end cars don't have advanced head units as an option.

Point in case: I was looking at the new Subaru Outbacks. I have an indash GPS in my car and I'd like for my new car to have one too. The Outback starts around 23k. It isn't until you get into the Outbacks that are about 29-30k that you find the updated head units. It's not even an option in the low end. I'm sure if you went to a dealership something could be worked out but it's not like these spiffy new heads are coming stock on the plain Jane models.

Outdated in what fashion? I find that term is used way too often.

The question of being outdated should be in the form of a device's utility. Sadly this isn't the case anymore. Now-a-days outdated is determined by how high the watermark is raised from outside the system. So what if your car radio isn't the latest and greatest as long as it does what you want it to do. The only kinds of people who look at another system and become envious to the point that they feel ripped off by their older technology are 17 year kids and techno-narcissists.

If you look at a new unit and you feel ripped off by a unit that you were perfectly happy with yesterday than what is outdated is your way of thinking.

The only real down-side is that the FM radio side sucks.

That has nothing to do with the head unit... broadcast radio sucks under any and all circumstances.

I wonder how loudly the judge would have laughed if someone like Robert Morris Jr. would have used this as a defense.

"Sorry, your honor, I didn't wittingly bring down the internets."

It would have certainly been much more honest.... Just another case of the powers-that-be defending their own asshattery.