SMTP message bodies are quite often HTML. POP and IMAP may suffer the same fate as NNTP in another 10-20 years if the signal-to-noise ratio continues to diminish (goes from 99% to 99.999% spam). BitTorrent uses HTTP for tracker communications, but will never be considered mainstream while it is primarily used for copyright infringement, and IM clients may not be running on port 80 yet but they are increasingly using HTTP (if not HTML formatting as well), specifically to minimize the barrier to adoption posed by firewalls. So these examples support the spirit of my previous observation quite well, thanks.

All of which (except SSH) typically run on port 80 -- we routinely teach our firewalls the difference, and that it no longer matters...

The jury has been out on that for a few hundred years now. Consider 1.) An unenforceable (de jure) law ultimately rewards the dishonest while punishing only the honest who confess their crime (Hobbes). And 2.) From a political standpoint, unenforceable legislation creates the appearance of real moral authority without risk of alienating those constituents who would be punished if were enforceable. Public disregard for enforceability therefore promotes dishonesty of both the citizen and the official -- exactly the sort of business an ethical society should avoid.

Bottom line: race and gender *do* matter. What would become of our beloved Chocolate Factory if it became known that Willy Wonka exclusively used male Oompa Loompas in his production lines?

A variation on this theme, how about displaying an additional desktop from the current user session within a nested X server (a-la Xephyr)? Granted we don't yet have hardware acceleration in Xephyr, but all in good time...

Nytimes.com may succeed, but as a wsj.com subscriber myself, somewhat disappointed with an increasingly noisy site and "front-page" opinion content a-la News corp, I may have to switch.

Ok this may not be quite newsworthy but, it's Sunday right? Anyway, the energy consumed by 26 million CPUs running at or near 100% utilization for 15 or so minutes each day translates to a considerable corporate carbon footprint. It *must* be possible to halve these requirements without impact to actual gameplay.

ILMerge doesn't manage complexity -- it merely hides it. What's really needed is a process capable of merging only the IL needed for a given app, à la OSGi.

1. Legal interpretation aside, this guy practically turned himself in leaving such an obvious digital trail. Had he been intercepting the mail he would have been much harder to track down. Unless it can be shown that making the act of viewing documents illegal will reduce the incidence of identity theft, it would seem the preservation of freedom on this topic remains in our best interest.

2. Before grabbing document x (most likely shared by mistake), ask yourself whether you want to be on the shortlist with morally-challenged folks like this guy.

The example you cite has nothing whatsoever to do with the program, which defines a 'clunker' as a vehicle that gets a max combined economy of 18 MPG. The new vehicle must get no less than 22 MPG. Assuming most of these trade-ins will not get exactly 18 MPG (say 15 is the avg here), and most trade-ups will not get exactly 22 MPG (say 28 is the avg here), the net effect of the program may be to halve the overall fuel requirements of that portion of the populace who participated in the program.

The sort of freedom you cite, the freedom to disregard, is exactly the sort of attitude that if left unchecked will result in the decline of your country. Cheers.

So complete disregard for ones carbon footprint is not irresponsible? Generally speaking, is it acceptable for those in power to endorse policies that reward irresponsible behavior? The term irresponsible, having a precise definition, can be argued and shown to have been used incorrectly. If merely being called out to defend ones actions is offensive, is the act of responding with largely irrelevant, hostile remarks not more so?

If vetting of your idea requires expertise that you yourself don't possess, you should be prepared to offer those you consult with a stake in the venture. Otherwise you'd be guilty of the very thing you seek to prevent.

If you are truly a serious inventor, journal your marketable thoughts, email, print and mail them to yourself to establish authorship. If possible, prototype the idea to establish prior art. Let those you discuss the idea with know the idea is documented and you should be protected as fully as the law allows.

"VOTE, n. The instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country."
â" Ambrose Bierce

To be fair, the US labor market of Carnegie's day was on par with that of most other countries, his railroad empire was largely built on the back of indentured labor (a substantial portion of which had consisted of Chinese immigrants). He maintained a private army to hedge against an armed workforce uprising, which eventually happened -- and during which he retreated to the safety of his personal Scottish castle. Afterward said labor force was promptly replaced with a force entirely composed of desperate immigrants.

It is widely believed his later philanthropic activities were entirely motivated by his damaged reputation and desire to right a fortune built on questionable ethics and ruthless business practices. What do you buy someone who already has everything? Posterity.