I'm not qualified to explain the details, but it comes down to the fact that we had to pick an easily-reproducible definition of the second, and at the time, the ground-state Cs-133 hyperfine transition was the one that made sense.

Today there are more stable clock designs based on other quantum transitions but the caesium standard serves well enough for almost all purposes that it's not worth the trouble to change it.

There is no such thing as "perfect time," or perfect knowledge of just what time it is, but we have a very good wiorking approximation of it, one that has actually outpaced Moore's Law in terms of increasing stability over the past few decades. Time is still the ultimate basis for virtually all other physical measurements, so it pays to define and understand it as precisely as we can.

The ultimate reference is the SI second standard that's based on the difference in energy levels associated with a particular ground-state hyperfine transition in the caesium-133 atom, approximately 9.192 631 770 GHz.

A clock is 'accurate' to the extent that its long-term stability can be traced to the SI second. It is 'stable' if its stability over a given time interval (which must be specified for the term 'stability' to have any meaning) is consistent between intervals.

Better cash in those BallmerBucks(tm) soon. They won't be worth much in a few months, and you'll have nothing to show for your shill posts except for a vaguely dirty feeling.

This. Ballmer had one job: don't fuck up Windows.

He failed at the modest task which was his charge.

In a great many cases, yes. Your point?

You had one job. Billg left you with one job. "Mind the store and don't fuck up Windows."

Well, I guess that was two jobs, technically. Either way, the results need no further elaboration.

Enjoy your retirement.

Is there any way they can both lose?

Sorry, but "life, liberty, and security of person" does not include the right to remain unoffended.

Threats are a different legal matter; separate 'hate speech' laws aren't needed to make physical threats illegal. They are as illegal here in the US as they are in Canada.

I see. Guess they're as bad as the government, then. Another childhood illusion lies in pieces...

Not true. The Mafia's code of conduct does not provide for attacks on family members or other unrelated parties.

This. Game development is something you should get involved with only if you can't imagine yourself doing anything else. It's almost more of a calling than a profession. Not something anyone should be pushed into.

BTW, what was this basic "human right" again? I can't seem to place it from what you're saying. You've just been yacking about "socialized health care".

Question: Do you believe that someone without insurance, or who otherwise has no ability to pay, who is suffering from an acute medical emergency, should be turned away from a hospital emergency room and left to die on the sidewalk?

If the answer is "Yes," then you're some kind of barbarian, and we're done here.

If the answer is "No," then I've got some even worse news for you: we already have "socialized medicine." The patient will, in fact, be treated, and you and I will, in fact, pick up the tab. It just costs us several times more than it would in any other civilized nation on Earth, because unlike those nations, we insist on kidding ourselves.

"In other news, something made by Google turns out to be a half-assed implementation of a good idea, unfavored by management and consequently determined to be a career-limiting move for Googlers unfortunate enough to be assigned to it. Consequently it is allowed to fall into disrepair, and will be scheduled for decommissioning at a time carefully calculated to maximize user inconvenience. Ric Romero has film at 11, so stay tuned for that."

(Shrug) Externalties, whatever. Your odds of dying on a commercial airline flight are approximately one in one billion. I don't think you're going to want to pay to raise those odds another 10x.

Yes, I, too, remember how I felt the first time I watched 2001.

Watch it again.