Google should have realized they were entering into a potentially hostile environment. As such, I would have expected them to limit their exposure as much as possible. We'll see.

*sniff* Makes me want to pull out my stack of worthless stock options and wipe my ass with them, as I always said I would do.

Irrelevant - Squidward is a squid.

Worse. Spongebob Reference. Ever.

(someone shoot me for that)

The problem with right-designing (and I do like the designation, btw) is that having multiple methodologies can create confusion. Consider the corporate IT shop. Hundreds of IT folk of various skill sets working in an organization with strict auditing and quality controls. Repeatable, predicatable processes work best in this environment... pick one and stick with it as best as you can so everyone's on the same page. It's a trade-off to be sure, but in some environments you have to learn to work within such limitations for the greater good.

We are currently using Agile (Scrum) and Waterfall because we're in transition (to mostly Agile.) Agile is new to me still, but I cannot deny how the added transparency and shorter dev cycles have begun to streamline our development. Life will be better still when Agile is in full swing here and all involved have been properly introduced to the concept.

As much as I'd like to agree with you, I'm getting older now and the reality and logistics involved in getting laid by 72 virgins invokes a certain amount of, well, fear.

Just keepin' it real, man. Perhaps if they were on a quarterly rotation... Then again, maybe I think too much.

"the government's target of identifying, by 2020, at least 90% of the giant space rocks that pose a threat to Earth"

If they don't know how many there are, then how do they know when they've identified 90% of them? Did I miss something there?

I understand there are complexities to any software project - I've been doing this stuff professionally for over 10 years now, and I still fail to see what's so hard about capturing votes. My only real guess is that Diebold and others are re-inventing the wheel - coding a complete system from the ground up and making a lot of mistakes along the way.

But seriously, if your entire business model was based on a machine that exists to simply tabulate votes, don't you think you'd have the bandwidth to do it very well?

IMO, not troll at all. Probably not popular with The Man, but not troll.

I harvest the magnets as well. We use them for 'fridge magnets. Some people just put pictures and take-out menus on their 'fridge doors - we hang the yellow pages.

Just don't look. Mothers have a right to feed their babies. My wife used to be very sensitive to people who may not want to see that kind of thing, but where are these private places of which you speak? They do not exist, for the most part. Some malls, workplaces, and other businesses have places set aside, but most do not. And no, my kid is not going to be fed in a bathroom.

And there's no reason at all to compare urination to breast feeding. That's the weakest argument I've ever heard, but unfortunately I hear it a lot (and multiple times in this thread.)

As for FB, well... I can't say I would want pictures of my wife breastfeeding posted on facebook anyway, so I guess I don't understand the big deal. It's their site... if they don't want pictures of a certain category there, then that's their business. The attitude behind their policy is wrong, I think, but they are within their rights to exercise it.

You need a reason?

I should clarify - I meant that *MY* artsy side of the brain is stupid. Not that it's stupid in general. Sorry.

I have a couple I'm working through to help with the other side of my brain (the stupid side).

Designing Interfaces, Jenifer Tidwell
Information Dashboard Design, Stephen Few

Both have been very helpful... mostly, I'm able to much better explain several design principles that I've known somewhat intuitively for a long time - I just couldn't talk the talk. Comes in handy when I'm justifying a UI design to the business folks, or trying to communicate what I need to an actual designer.

Along the same lines, I shared an elevator with a cop the other day. I just looked at him and said "I didn't do it". Without skipping a beat, he said "Yes you did - you just haven't been caught yet". I'm pretty sure at least one of us was joking.

How about that software that plays music, and is attuned to the load of each server?

You could tie it in with the lighting and environmental controls - if someone walks in on you and the lights are dim, it's hot as hell, and there's dramatic music in the background they know to leave you alone. Perhaps some torture-chamber sound effects could be included.