We got way too sensitive. If we don't nip this thing in the bud quickly, the next thing you know, people on the street will be smiling at you for no reason and asking "how are you", like they do in America. And the next thing you know, there will be large men wearing heels, carrying tampons in their purses, like they do in America...

Spamming is a technical problem with a technical solution. On a personal level, I feel deeply suspicious of people who take it upon themselves to act in what they assume might as well be my best interests. There are laws controlling spam and there are law enforcement agencies (God knows the US has no shortage of those). Silverstein should find a new hobby, like suing his neighbors for not trimming their lawns on time or failing to scoop dog shit.

These anti-spam crusaders are getting annoying. Seriously, people have nothing better to do with their time. They fancy themselves nothing short of Nazi hunters. Get a spam filter or open a gmail account.

Obviously, the "no reboot" dude operates in a generously staffed environment, allowing him plenty of time to dick around with stale NFS mountpoints and memory leaks. Most of us don't have the luxury of time.

If they didn't rescue Goldman Sachs, who would have given Facebook the billion dollars? Thanks to the prompt response by the Federal government, I may finally get a working Facebook app for my iPhone. So think before you talk!

So, security-wise, how is this LED transceiver different from a regular WiFi access point? You know they both use EM waves. Just different frequencies. It should be more secure because it is more directional and short-range. And you can always close the curtains if you need privacy. And there is no interference from a hundred other WiFi systems in your office building.

Really, who cares how they spell things in Oregon? Personally, I find all this talk about improving our education system quite unpatriotic. How would the US survive if its population became well-educated? Who would fight wars? Who would overpay taxes? Who would bother to vote? Who would watch TV, do Christmas shopping, eat fast food, or shop at Walmart? Oregon can't sustain our entire economy, you know. We all need to pitch in. Good education is a privilege, not a right.

So you are advocating doing away with windows as a concept?

And what would a reasonable person expect to see in a photo of your bedroom or backyard online?

You mean it is OK to photograph everything, but not OK to photograph something? And what do you mean by "going out of my way"? I just happen to have a night vision camera, so it's no trouble at all.

Let's say your girlfriend's naked ass showering in your bathroom is visible to my naked eye from a public place (at the end of your driveway, where I parked my cherry picker). I just happen to have brought a pair of Celestron SkyMaster zoom binoculars for no particular reason. Perhaps I am an amateur asstronomer.

You'd be surprised how much of your private life can be glimpsed from a public place. Would you get upset if I used a telephoto lens with night vision to film you shagging in your bedroom and posted it online along with your address? Naturally, I would only be filming you from a publicly accessible location. Or will you now expand your "common sense" point of view to include a limitation on equipment and intent?

It's Switzerland. They do have gnomes, you know.

My bud Joe Lieberman will jump right on it. I think we will also bring the Swedes into this. I am sure that sheriff's been sleeping around...

By "good" sysadmin I don't mean a doormat. Sysadmins are also people, but not all managers treat them as such. Sometimes they confuse "servers" with "servants". So, yes, it is entirely conceivable that even a mistreated good sysadmin, upon departure, may want to enhance his former employer's systems even more. This is why no employer should ever fire his last good sysadmin. Otherwise there will be nobody left to appreciate all this hard work.

Imagine this: an operating environment where neither the users nor user applications can modify the system. What a novel idea.