I'm not surprised that you''re befuddled, since you seem to not see the difference between storing data and doing data analysis.

The data sets is in tens of PB, so SSD is way out for cost reasons. But that doesn't matter much, since a small cheap server with 16 7k2 rpm drives can saturate 10Gbit/s networking, in real life use with the storage software written in Java (this position). And we need lots of these servers to make the volume up, so the aggregate bandwidth is pretty large.

The analysis software is up to my users, the LHC experiments, and is mostly C++, but with parts in python and probably some fortran libraries too.

Exactly! This is why I work as a sysadmin to support science, instead of working as a sysadmin to support profit or entertainment. I've had to make this call a couple of times in my career, and so far I've chosen to stay on the side that improves the world. Not always an easy choice though, given the incentives of the short term profit side.

You don't even need an academic career to do this either, there is plenty of us that have trouble recruiting competent programmers or sysadmins because the pay isn't as good. Which, I guess, tells us a bit of the priorities of society as seen by rewards structure, where making mobile games and banking is considered more important than making the world a better place.

PS, I'm right now looking for an excellent java developer working on free software that enables storage for huge data science, like the LHC experiments. This is the kind of role that is part of the infrastructure needed to make science happen these days:
https://neic.nordforsk.org/201...

Bad move...

I disagree. I have a Tesla Model S and it drives perfectly fine for me every day in stop and go traffic. At higher speeds it works well too but it is prudent to keep a close eye on it. I think autonomous driving in limited situations is still helpful even if it doesn't work everywhere.

I think within a year or two, Tesla will be able to drive long distances on major freeways with little or no human intervention. That's a huge value to me as a driver.

If my car can handle both stop-and-go traffic and long-distance boring driving, I can handle the rest no problem.

Technically Big Brother is the state. You can choose not to use Google products, but in the book 1984 you couldn't choose to avoid Big Brother.

Simple solution: Gaffer's Tape

Actually, the Tesla is very efficient. Accelerating to 100mph with Ludicrous mode doesn't take significantly more energy than without it. Now doing it, stopping, doing it again, again, again, etc, will start to burn the battery.

Yes, and if the UK rejects freedom of movement, a) Japan won't be happy as per the document referenced above and b) I'm not sure the UK can hope for a better deal than tariff-free exchange of goods. Certainly there will be countries going "well, if Polish plumbers can't sell their services in Manchester, UK banks will have to open EU offices to sell financial services to Berlin". And this still wouldn't be "punishment", but grounds for a fair deal, IMO.

And yes, I know that May has rejected freedom of movement. But she has also rejected border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland, so apparently there will be free movement of people through that border?

Also, yes, Spain is a bit strange, unemployment is very unevenly distributed. But that's a topic for another thread, I think. :)

i think all EU countries would welcome a "Norwegian" deal where all four freedoms (including movement of people) are in, and the UK keeps implementing laws and paying without having a vote in new legislation. That's basically what Japan is asking for too. And I very much think they could get it, if they want it. But that would mean accepting free movement of people, and not "taking back control".

The thing is, no one knows what the UK wants. The political leadership is down to "brainstorming" to figure out what to fill the blank page with, under the heading "Brexit means Brexit". I mean, you hear PM May say in the same week that there will be strong immigration controls, but also no border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland. WTF? The only way I can put those two together is by handing Northern Ireland over to independence within the EU or as a part of Ireland...

And until a clear path is in place, if I was Nissan, I'd not lose time "diversifying" the supply of cars to the EU by opening a second factory in Spain or Poland or Finland or so. All this uncertainty means you have to assume that the worst case could happen...

We're all @Snowden on Twitter, right?

No, but he might start an SS in the United States.

As others have pointed out the sample size is too small to be scientifically valid, but even if you want to draw conclusions from it, how about the astronauts that went into deep space lived 11.9 years LONGER than those that did not fly, and 9.2 years longer than those that made LEO? Plus many of them are still alive in the 70s and 80s.