Duh, I thought everyone figured this out once they released the movie!

Prototype for "WIFE"

Personally, I find it hard to believe that a cell phone or wireless device can bring down an airliner. Why would a terrorist use a bomb? Why not simply turn on your iPhone?

If I add the lost productivity using TFS vs any of the FOSS SDLC or even simple version control software. The only statement we have been hearing from our MS tickets is "It shouldnt do that" Or "That was by design"... So far I a loosing about 1 man day every 4. And now that we have an "expert" on site, I am full time trying to debug this for MS.

Just think of what this could mean to a handicapped person! Clunky interfaces can no be replaced with gestures! Having helped a couple of handicapped users, this is a dream come true.

This drives me absolutely insane. I am well past my college years, but still attend/teach the occasional course/seminar. Use what ever you want, but if I hear the clicky click click click of your keyboard and trackpad. I WILL ask you to stop (both as lecturer, or student). With the tablets and handwriting recognition available now this issue will quickly disappear.

Because the plane is VERY crowded. Most Mr. Smiths have little or poor weapons training, heck even a number of police officers have trouble maintaining their permits. Because a stray bullet can do a lot of damage. IE puncture a window and watch. So even if Mr. Smith misses all of the people on the plane, he has the potential to do just as much damage as the original terrorist. At least the ground wont crash (in most cases) if Mr. Smith misses.

So how do you identify the terrorists from your own citizens? With a little bit of makeup we can look like anyone...

I agree, the "air marshal" works, but imagine the mayhem if there were no security, and everyone was allowed to board with "whatever" they could hide under a jacket. Mr. Smith with his .38 and 1 hour of training is not who I want on board if a situation starts to arise.

I travel a reasonable amount and for the last 20 years haven't been able to walk through a metal detector anywhere. I have enough metal parts to excite most scrapyards. I know security is a little bit of a placebo for the public. But what is the alternative? Let anyone walk on with anything? This light measure of security means that we at least stop some of the armatures and make the pros look for easier targets (and their are lots!). I continually see people getting upset over being searched. Why? Should we simply racially profile and only search those that "look" guilty? Look at the "Old" man that just boarded a plane with a great makeup job. My take is that when they search me, and they ALWAYS do because my cyborg joints and parts, I feel like they are actually catching the obvious. When someone is searched, I am not sure why they are getting upset. The reasons are: Look guilty, interesting items, a random number, or a targeted demographic. At least there is some measure of security. To these workers, they don't necessarily think YOU are guilty, you just have something (even the random number) that has triggered a search. The problem I see is the perception that the security people are not viewed as professionals. The media has us convinced that they are all unemployed street junkies that got the only job they could. So far everyone that has searched me, and I fly 3 - 4 times per year, has been more than professional and discrete. If we as a public helped them instead of fighting them, security would probably increase. The media could choose to help, but it easier to find fault than help. Think about how many people fly each day, how many "Terror" incidents there are. Are they successful? When there is a failure, how much is it publicized? When there is a success, where is the publicity? We also need to decide how much security is worth. Are you willing to spend and extra $20 per flight for enhanced security? What really scared me was last Christmas there was an orange alert, and for the first time I walked clean through the scanner without a sound in Cancun. Personally I'm up for the $20.

Seriously, when they started scrambling sat tv. The descramblers crawled out of the wood work. So how much do you think it will cost for a hidden kill switch for descrambler? It needs to be a hidden kill switch so that if you are pulled over, you can point to your inactive cell phone and shrug. Lastly, I am sure they wont pass the cost of the cell phone blocker on to the customer. That will simply be donated by the WeBocCells company and installed as a public service...

I don't know what it is, but I know its not a cell phone. The lady in question appears to be the same age as my mother. She lives in the era of cell phones and has trouble because there is no rotary thing, just buttons; ergo, this old lady can not be using a cell phone or a time travel device. (unless the buttons were really big)

The leafs have not lost in regular time (1 OTL) and are in first place. Satan is buying winter coats and the Apocalypse is nigh.

Today we live in an A' La Carte society. The gov't has deemed us smart enough to know what kind of insurance and service we need and want. And we pay for each and everyone of them. For the smart people, they will assess their situation and purchase appropriate coverage's and service. Many of us would deem fire protection a necessity . Along with things like health ins. (which seems like a waste until you are sick) or even auto insurance.
But the reality is that "stuff happens", and unfortunately this A' La Carte society allows people to make the choice between health coverage or a new mustang. Smart people, will look at the shiny mustang and start saving. Darwin's proof population will look at the insurance bill and post in the "pay later" spike only to bury the other 10 "optional" bills that were delayed for the large screen TV and Pay Per View WWE event.
Unfortunately, these people are hazardous not only to themselves but the rest of society. See the pets and neighbor in the article. Government serves to serve the general population, and I for one would like them to mandate payment through taxes for things like healthcare, fire, police, roads, all of the basic services that ensure society runs (albeit to my standards). The payment for these services should be in the form of Taxes. They are as optional as death, but it is also what keeps our society functioning.

young gun

Well, if 50 is young in your book, then I guess I am a young gun. And I disagree with your bargaining power statement.

There once was a company with a great machine that borked. Consultant after consultant was brought in to unbork the great machine. After a couple of years, management finally called in the high priced expert. The expert walked in, looked around for 5 min and pressed a button. The machine roared to life. Upon presenting his $150k bill management asked, isnt that a little excessive for 5 min of work? All of these other consultants didnt charge that much and they worked for months! The expert then commented that its not the time, its the knowledge and knowing which button to press.

In the above scenario, two people made serious money. The agent of all the consultants (head hunter or union) as 2 years worth of fees were collected. And the expert. You can either be the union boss or the expert if you want to make serious cash. The consultants are still looking for their next project as the union boss and expert sip single malts together looking for the next borked machine/process.

My greatest card when bargaining is my history of successful projects, knowledge, and presentation that raises me above the "large labor force". I try to represent myself as something worth more than the average worker. Thus I have had an extremely successful career so far.

As far as Dad goes. He ran his company as like this:

Workers were required to work hard. Sometimes overtime, which he paid OT rates for (dont forget tinbashers are trade) For this hard work, he bought every worker and their wife a trip to hawaii. Another year, they all went to vegas. Each year he would try and do something like this. Staff took the company trucks home instead of driving their own vehicles. In becoming a Union shop, the biggest factor was the "stability" a union shop provided. However, this gave some of the guys the "I will report it to the union" card. So in trade for the stability, the trips disappeared, the trucks stayed in the yard, breaks became regulation 15 min, ie work to rule. Dad was 62 years old and said, Mexico sounds real good, and I have a buyer... Why not retire a couple of years early? (I hope to retire in 5 years)