"It isn't helped by the fact he really looks like Hitler."

Its funny but also somewhat scary you say that, because for years I've thought he not only looked like but also behaved very much like Heinrich Himmler. At times I find Mandelson a truly scary character because he seems to have immense political power behind the scenes. Time and time again he has been linked with corruption. He has even been thrown out of Government twice, yet he is back for a 3rd time and within months of being back, somehow he has one of the most powerful jobs in New Labour. He must have some very powerful friends and considering the speed he has got back to such a powerful position, I wonder if he has also enough dirt on other MPs to blackmail and force himself back into such power. In some ways he is just as manipulative and controlling as Heinrich Himmler was. I think if Mandelson ever got anymore political power, He would create a nightmare country with him at the center of power.

Thanks for debugging my code. I wasn't giving it that much thought. I was more interested and focused on the social commentary aspect of it rather than its code integrity. :)

Then again, as its programmers in control of this kind of code, they can cheat by overloading the operators to bias the results to help boost programmers IQ. ;)

This technology is the 1984 Orwellian concept of the Telescreen. I'm sadly dismayed and stunned no one has so far mentioned it on this page?! ... How long before they will be able to use this kind of technology to see who is and isn't watching Party Political Broadcasts (and other political programs including anti-government documentaries) to workout who is and isn't against them?

(By the way, web based TV could in theory be used for this now. After all, knowledge is power and the Internet is a vast source of knowledge so its no wonder people who seek political power would very likely be thinking along these lines to monitor and profile what people do. Political power is the power to influence and control people so they will use whatever technology they can to increase their power).

"Unfortunately I'm pretty sure I'm no more intelligent than most. "

Define "most". The intelligence of the average programmer has to be above the average person, its just most programmers (thankfully) don't bother mixing that often with the average people to see just what they are like.

Here's a summary ;)

if(person == PROGRAMMER)
{
IQ = (averagePerson + rand() & 0x7f) - numberOfSlashdotPostsPerWeek;
}
else if(person == SALES_PERSON)
{
IQ = (averagePerson - rand() & 0x7f) + numberOfSlashdotPostsPerWeek;
}
else if(person == SHOP_ASSISTANT)
{
IQ = rand() & 0x3;
}
else if(person == BOSS)
{
IQ = 0;
DeligateJob();
}
else if(person == POLYMATH)
{
IQ = (average_person * 2) + rand() & 0x1ff;
}
else if(person == NARCISSISTIC_PERSONALITY_DISORDER)
{
IQ = LieFunction();
}
else
{
IQ = average_person;
}

"moral wrongness"

Its not just morally wrong, also its legally wrong, but apparently thats overlooked by the governments.

For example, if I buy a console, and then write a manual about how to modify that console, then legally that is wrong.

However, if I buy a car, and then write a manual about how to modify that car, then legally that is ok. (For example http://www.haynes.co.uk/ have been doing exactly this for decades).

So Lobbyists have fought to distort the legal status of consoles and media in general. An audio/film/game protection system isn't any more important than a car, yet we are all supposed to blindly just accept that it is because Lobbyists say it is and have forced a protectionist market onto these forms of media.

The closed nature of consoles prevents other smaller companies growing to support 3rd party products without the expressed legal permission of the console makers. They therefore control the market and the government helps them. So much for Capitalism's concept of goods traded in a free market when that market is closed off to all but the console makers and anyone forced to pay console makers effectively protection money, preventing the console makers taking legal action against them for violating access to their turf.

"Now how many crimes have you unknowingly broke today, citizen"

Well you've just committed one crime, you've shown decent, citizen, by joking about Big Brother ;). So we need to add you to more of our lists. (After all, we need to know who to round up first, when we next want to distract political opponents).

"more data often makes it more difficult to find the needle in the haystack"

The more haystacks they look through the more needles they can find. It'll just cost a lot more to build such a big system. Luckily money isn't such a worry for them. (For them that is, as they don't end up paying for it! ;) ... Ironic really, they use our money to spy on all of us.

As for tangible results, that's a very interesting question. Who exactly is this huge and ever growing distributed system going to data mine? ... I'm sure the idea of it is sold to everyone on the basis its all part of the war on fear, I mean war on terrorists (hiding on every street corner), but that's the point. Is this directed internally as well as externally?

We all know knowledge is power but with a system of such growing knowledge, what safe guards are in place to prevent greedy people in power exploiting this much growing knowledge (and power) for their own gain?

Because each time some more liberty is taken from us all, someone else (i.e. the people in power and their friends with the money) ends up profiting and gaining personally from our loss of yet more liberty.

In which case, Benjamin Franklin, must be spinning in his grave by now, i.e. "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." ... (Its amazing he said this over 200 years ago, yet still we make the same mistakes).

Troll, its a *FACT* he has been in there 14 years!!! ... so you've totally missed the point, in your very off topic troll rant about easy web page editing?!?

"Why is he getting out now then" and "He either cannot or will not ever pay up"

They are very good questions. All the links tend to give the same information, so I did some more searching and found this...
"The petitioner, Mr. Chadwick, has been imprisoned without trial for eight years in Delaware County, Pennsylvania for 'civil' contempt because he has been unable to deposit with the court $2.5 million in cash, funds which he maintains were part of an illiquid overseas real estate investment he does not control."
http://www.amatterofjustice.org/amoj/cases/chadwick3.htm

This news was from 2003, so its very disturbing if he has been held 14 years without trial?. Also surely they would know after 14 years the legal status of his overseas real estate investments?.

It seems the legal system and government suffers from systemic procedural bureaucracy so bad that its taken years more to final free him, but suffocatingly bad bureaucracy is no excuse to allow the legal system to behave the way we have been lead to believe only happens in police state countries.

Talking about 1000 and 2000 years in the past, I prefer to think about what it could be like when we are seen as the distant past.

It seems very likely the changes in the next 1000 years are going to be much bigger than the changes in the previous 1000 years simply as we have so many better tools today, including far better information tools which helps to accelerate creating new technology.

I hope in 1000 years from now they will look back at us as if we are some kind of very early version of what they see as their technological dark ages. Although I would like to hope in 2000 years from now, the people then would be able to ask some of their oldest friends what it was like 1000 years ago.

"all rolled into one"

Yes but what they didn't tell you is the protein comes from a radioactive spider. Now I just need some Spandex.

You need to learn to recognize when someone isn't joking, but then you are too busy pointlessly trolling, rather than trying to help.

"extended copyright might kill another production"

No, its the greedy, self serving, money grabbing, Narcissistic, control freaks who so often seek powerful jobs in big companies like Time Warner who are to blame (as usual). Their Narcissistic self interest at the expense of others forces people to finally take action against this kind of unfair treatment. They have tried for years to get some kind of fairness out of Time Warner.

If Windows 7 success is judged by how cheaply they sell it for, then how many more people would want to try it if they gave it away for free?

(Also surely this Microsoft & Amazon PR stunt is actually the opposite of success? ... Because if any company released a truly desirable product people would be willing to pay a premium to own that product. Yet Microsoft & Amazon are trying to claim success by reducing its price... (talk about lies, damned lies and PR)).

"Why call it a flip-flop when you can give it it's proper name: an astable multivibrator?"

Because for decades its *also* been known as a flip-flop by millions of electronics engineers and its also a very visually descriptive name and yes its a fun name, that kids would *remember*

Also every single electronics engineer on the planet knows what a flip-flop is.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people are so inflexible in their thinking, as you have just shown. It seems its only you who wants to avoid the name due to some people may laugh! ... good, let them laugh, and while they are laughing they will remember it all the more. Educating the kids with formal detailed names can come later. Unless that is you wish to alienate kids from subjects by boring them with way too much detail early on. I'm happy you were not my teacher. Any kid who starts to get entertained and interested in the subject will seek out more detailed information on their own and surely that is the greatest achievement of any teacher, to encourage kids to want to learn more on their own. The teachers who can inspire like that are some of the best teachers we remember the most throughout the rest of our lives.

1) Is fun
2) Teaches about circuits that are relevant to their life.
3) Doesn't rely too heavily on a black box microcontroller.
4) Individual components would probably be better.
5) I want them to understand the circuitry behind modern tech.

Given these criteria, I would vote, go for a flip-flop. Even the name appeals to kids. Its also historically the basis of a lot of digital electronics design. Its also fun as kids can see the LEDs working and replacing the resistors with potentiometers makes it easily to alter its speed interactively which is always fun for kids to see.

For example...
http://talkingelectronics.com/FreeProjects/5-Projects/Page16.html

But I would say, as you are teaching electronics, before you move onto the flip-flop then first show them a single Transistor with a small switch wired to its base, showing the Transistor can itself act like a switch (use it to control an LED). They need to learn how transistors switch. (You can go onto explain about amplifying later ... start with digital on-off operation, then expand to in between voltages, using a potentiometer on its base).

Both the flip-flop and the switch with a transistor + LED (and a few resistors), all adds up to less than $5 for the lot and you have a few important lessons easily covered in an interesting and visual way.

You can also make the flip-flop switch faster so they can't see the LEDs flashing any more, and then connect up a small cheap speaker, so they can hear it buzzing to show its still flipping. Its a very interactive way for kids to learn electronics, and its cheap and easy to make without even needing a circuit board. Just use tinned wires to form the circuit exactly like its circuit diagram. :)