I hadn't considered that at all; that's a very good point.

Fair enough, if that was the case.

But who's to say that SimCity wouldn't have gone online without such interference from management? I can think of a number of ways a SimCity experience could be improved (albeit with complications) by bringing it online. Can't we assume there are game designers who may agree? Who are we to assume that the current SimCity design team doesn't agree? I can't comment on the Sims, as it never appealed to me, but since SimCity 2000 I have wanted to be able to play a persistent set of linked cities with my friends. I think it's fair to say I'm likely not the only one who feels that way - whether I'm in the majority or not, I don't know.

I get that this article is a chance to dump on EA management - and there are plenty of reasons to do so. I simply wanted to say that regardless of the motivation behind SimCity going online (and I don't think we agree on whether that motivation comes from a design or management decision) I think it's a good one.

You have the same platform here as I do to express your opinion. If that opinion is that you don't think SimCity should go online, then by all means say so.

I said I was happy it will be online; I'm not sure how that suggests everyone else has to feel the same way. But perhaps you just want to be confrontational hmm?

I'm going to avoid the DRM/always-online part of this, but I'm thrilled SimCity is going online. Cities do not exist in a vacuum, and it's about time the game really tries to simulate a regional economy.

It's a game that doesn't have to be online, but I'm glad it will be!

If that's true, then that's embarrassing and completely unintended.

I'm just a regular guy who happens to like a certain type of coffee, and I get tired of people making fun of me for it, calling me a coffee snob. I suppose the public transit and thrift store comments made it sound like I was trying to be "hip" but I was really just trying to show how you don't have to be rich to enjoy certain luxuries. I take the bus because I can't afford a car (car ownership in Vancouver is a ticket to poverty) not because it's the cool thing to do.

Oh shit, I said I live in Vancouver... now I must truly be a hipster!

Each morning I drink an americano, which is one or two shots of espresso with hot water. I could drink brewed coffee, but I would just rather an americano.

This makes me a coffee snob, as I'm constantly reminded. However I also take public transit, shop at thrift stores, and don't own an iPhone - so to each their own!

It's not necessarily the actual math skills that are important - it's the understanding of the concepts behind it that will increase your understanding of any kind of process, job, or task - programming being one of them. Knowing what the area under a curve means is probably more important than knowing how to calculate it.

I don't use calculus or any kind of advanced algebra in my day to day work (in communications, far from programming) but I'm sure glad that I understand the basic concepts, thanks to a first degree in engineering.

I realize you're kidding - but what a common misconception! The cliffs and coolies on the South Saskatchewan are pretty significant. That river has eaten its way down deep below the prairie over the course of its life.

Not that they're anything to get excited about for real rock climbers, of course.

So you're saying it was a half-hearted comment?

If you think bird watching is boring, then look into bird banding. Anyone can do it if you get licensed, which just requires meeting the right people and getting a recommendation. This summer we're doing turkey vultures, which are vile, dirty, awful little creatures - but that doesn't make it less fun. They like to live in old barns.

Other summers it's been red-tailed hawks, peregrine falcons, golden eagles, or even the lowly magpie. My father and I go out with a small team in rural Saskatchewan, armed with a map that we've marked up based on reports from local farmers, and go looking for nests. Depending on the bird, this can involve climbing a tree, rappelling over a cliff, or wading through a wetland. In the end, it's all about handling the little birds - as their justifiably angry parents hoot, squawk, or dive-bomb from above - and putting on a small metal band. In all our years, we've only had one chick die, which we truly regretted.

Anyone who finds a bird with a band can send the band along to the US Fish and Wildlife service, and that data can get used by the actual scientists studying migration patterns, life expectancies, and other such things. As for us, we're just in it for the adventure.

That's what you meant by vacation, right?

The article says that less than half a dozen individuals were found to be accessing inappropriate material. That's out of over 8,000 individuals who work at MDA - one memo was sent out to address the problem.

This is not news.

I've changed apartments twice in the last year. When Padmapper was using Craigslist, it worked brilliantly and I loved it. Now that it doesn't, I was forced to go back to Craigslist proper, as the other rental sites don't have nearly the same volume of listings, making Padmapper pretty much useless.

That was disappointing to me, but I guess Craigslist won if they kept me coming back. I wish they could find a way to play nice.

I spend $35 per month for unlimited data, talk, and text. The speed is reasonable, if not spectacular, and it only works in cities... but for my purposes, that works well for me! Tethering is also explicitly allowed.

That reply was directed at a troll that I wasn't interested in feeding. I'm not sure what you're getting at with regard to people living near lakes, but I'll try to give my own argument for why this research station is important, based upon my layman's understanding of the science.

There is a need for long term longitudinal studies on environmental pollutants and how they affect freshwater ecosystems. Canada has huge freshwater reserves, and with world supplies of fresh water constantly falling, it makes sense to keep our eye on how such systems respond to external stresses, whether that be phosphates (the most commonly cited result from that station), acidification, excreted hormones, heavy metals, or otherwise. If only a single policy change comes out of such studies, leading to (for example) decreased energy and resource use for water treatment, increases in freshwater fish stocks, a greater understanding of which filter plants should be used in artificial wetlands, or (heaven forbid) a higher standard of living for communities living near such ecosystems, then I'd call it a success. Any of those could potentially lead to decreased spending in the future.

Might I be wrong? Yes, clearly! But $2 million per year is a relatively small amount, and I trust that the scientists who actually use data from this research station know what they're talking about. I'm clearly no scientist, but I think I do a pretty good job of reading sources objectively.

I'm not a blind ideologue, and I understand that budgets are limited. I just have a hard time justifying shuttering such a reputable research station while spending $140 million on commemorating the War of 1812 - that's just an example, everyone has their own target for wasteful spending. Granted your priorities may not be mine; I hope I've done at least somewhat of a decent job at "articulating why the science is needed" and why I think this is worthy of federal spending.

Thanks so much for the respectful and constructive reply. I'd try to type up a coherent response about long-term economic risks associated with short-term cuts to environmental research, but that might be too much of a strain on my less than half a brain.