Not 'find out the gossip around you' (although that can be helpful to know) but find out if what you're communicating (verbal, written) is conveying what you hope it communicates. Sometimes we do/do not include details that the receiver needs. Sometimes our tone isn't what we intended. The only way to find out is to ask (and hopefully the open communication culture you indicate will provide you honest and helpful feedback). Perhaps you'll discover that you need to include a little more detail (or less!) or watch how you word ideas so they don't come across poorly. On the other hand, you may discover that all your peers and friends have no issues with your communication. At that point, sit down with your manager(s) and find out what they expect. As long as the mood is positive at your company, all this is good stuff. It's when company culture starts going south (or there is a bad manager) that this kind of self-improvement/discovery can turn nasty. Clear communication is critical for great relationships at work and home. Learning about yourself and how to better communicate is a great thing at any age.

Turn off a co-worker's alarm before a big event. Nasty.

Been following this for a few years - there's research going on to study "digital learning" (that's probably not the official academic term) versus old school pen/paper. Some studies suggest the physical act of writing helps us remember things (we have a general "page 5, top right corner I wrote..." that helps us recall) that we don't experience virtually. Things like eReaders don't have 'page numbers' like we used to so it's challenging to have additional memory cues. With the new students not ever having physical cues, I wonder if they simply adapt new learning mechanisms? That remains to be seen. You have an opportunity to learn about the new but should keep in mind that the paradigm in which you learned might make it difficult to transition to the "new" one.

Hear! Hear! All legislation should have real teeth - or they're just wasting the paper they're printed on.

I worked at a company, some years ago, when the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing" (CAN-SPAM Act) came out. It made spam 'illegal' (hard to enforce, though) but had a specific exception if the customer recently engaged or transacted with you. So, by receiving a good or service you've basically opt-ed in! Like most of the other posters I assume by providing an email I'll be spammed - so I use an email address specifically set up for that purpose.

Although Apache says it's one-time use passwords were a lifesaver, that would be to itself? As many people use the same password for multiple systems, isn't there a pretty large risk of this impacting many, many other systems. Perhaps these techies wouldn't use such practices, but I'm guessing it's common enough. How many 'admin passwords' are now in the hands of these criminals? The damage from this could be pretty severe but will we ever know this?

My wife and friends got terrible headaches/motion sickness in Avatar. If this is supposed to make marginal movies more watchable, count many people out.

We are living in a culture where there is great talk of transparency (i.e. healthcare) and communication (i.e. facebook) but there is little really being done (or said). I'm not that old but I find myself 'yearning for the days' when people walked their walk and sat down face to face for some quality time with friends. Maybe I should start a facebook group...

Magic is great if you have 'spare cash' lying around. With people concerned about getting the best 'bang for their buck' they'll look for a practical device that's cheaper. If Apple is only targeting luxury buyers I can't imagine their market penetration will be significant enough to impact netbooks.

A related issue is the 'downtime' associated with some productive programmers. I have a really good, really experienced programmer that does work in 'cycles.' Super productive, head-down, jam until fixed/completed, then a period of 'less productive' research, a proclivity to chat, and some fooling around. Overall, more productive than most other programmers I've worked with plus high quality code. Outsiders (even 'IT outsiders' who don't understand programming) look and question this guy's productivity and wonder if he should be replaced with a less expensive option (i.e. 'hungry' newbie). Experience helps you see things the new guy won't and, in many cases, helps you be more productive instead of busy flailing around.

There are probably great economies of scale for datacenters, but what about Joe User? The article wasn't clear if 'included in the manufacturing process' would include consumer level systems. Just thinking that cost savings for datacenters is great, but I'd be really interested if it helped out the regular consumer (not to mention what kind of operational issues might this bring up?).

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910220360

Asia has traditionally rewarded intelligence and hard work (versus jockdom). The smart ones (who score really high on standardized tests) get that way from hours (had been 12+ hour days of before school, school, and after school including weekends) of studying. Less so now, but in the past if you scored well you got into the best schools, best universities, then automatically into the best jobs in the country. Take baseball in Japan as an example of their 'jockdom.' They're paid well, but no where near UH levels. They play hard (practices are grueling) and people expect them to essentially 'use themselves up' during the course of their careers. US ballplayers (in the 80s) who went over had 'special treatment' as they were excused from the more rigorous work by the Japan players. Other cultures and nations simply do not put athletes on pedestals like we do in the US. They admire their skill but don't treat them like they're the most important people in the country. People who work hard, are skilled (craftsmen, artisans), or smart (scientists, engineers) are appropriately valued.

Available in the US? Still waiting for a number in a Hawaii area code...

What's been more successful? Marvel adaptations or Manga? DC or Darkhorse for that matter?