What theory of numeration are you using, that has all numbers rational? I'm sorry, but even the humble square root is something I don't want to give up, to say nothing of transcendental functions. The theory of exact arithmetic on the reals is not all that well developed. Bill Gosper makes a start, and a handful of researchers take it somewhat further, but actually using exact arithmetic for everything you'd want to do remains a mirage.

Well, it's at least a start. Now instead of having one case against defendants across the whole US, the lawyers have to refile in all 92 district courts, multiplying their expenses considerably. (Particularly since a lawyer who files pro hac vice in many of the districts must retain local counsel.) Moreover, the defendants will be sued in their home districts. They don't need to retain counsel and appear in DC to contest their cases. (If a distant court finds a way to assert personal jurisdiction, you're well advised either to prosecute an interlocutory appeal or settle, because the expense of simply making all the required appearances in the distant state will be ruinous.)

This was also a mandatory first move on the defendants' part. Once you've filed any paperwork with the court without contesting its jurisdiction, you've lost your chance. If you've been sued in the wrong place, you get only one short opportunity to tell that to the judge. After that, you're deemed to have acquiesced on the point. That's unbelievably harsh against pro se defendants, who may not have even been able to find a lawyer (especially since the notice served against them states that they need fo find one in the distant state) by the time they're required to file an answer, but it's the law.

So it's not a major victory, but it would have gone considerably worse for the defendants had the judge asserted personal jurisdiction against them.

And yet... ... try and find a competent journeyman plumber in America (perhaps outside a few major cities) at any price. And that's a job that can't be shipped offshore.

Just where in India, China or Russia are you finding folks who can do Fourier-domain image processing on hardware microarchitecture? I could use a few, and don't much care if they're American, Chinese, Indian, Russian, or beings from Aldebaran IV with green and purple feathers. Incidentally, I don't think that people like that are getting any rarer: we've always been few and far between. But the code monkeys are getting commoner, and the slushpile of CV's gets bigger and bigger with only the same few really promising candidates buried under all the others. (Summary: I'm an American, MSEE/PhDCS, and *can* do all the things you mention. I'm also, uhm, on the high side of fifty, quite expensive, and not in the market at the moment because I've had no trouble finding customers.

I love it: "Required: Proficiency in Hindi, Telugu, or Kannada." It's even relevant to the job because the candidate will have to communicate with all the *other* Indians already working on the project.

Remember, you'll all be cuffed. Neither you nor the models will be able to reach your you-know-what. Still sure you're happy?

The news story was dated October 6, and I'm pretty sure I remember reading about it in Slashdot a couple of months ago. Anyway, Mike loves jerking the chain of the legal system. I'm making popcorn.

bus driver: "Where's the toilet?"

Video of the Risk game is already up.