While you're absolutely correct that a fizzbuzz test is not a good way to determine if you *want* to hire someone, I think you're missing the point of these kind of exercises. It's purpose is to weed out candidates who are a complete waste of time. Trivially simple programming tests don't tell you if a person is a good developer. A passed test means basically nothing. However, a failed test means that to spend any time interviewing that candidate is a complete waste.

Note that I'm talking about really simple stuff, with no real time limit and not caring about bullshit syntax (You forgot a semi-colon! Go home!). I would never expect an experienced developer to code out complex sorting or search algorithms from memory. Those tests, for sure, don't tell you anything.

Somehow, I don't suspect we'll see anything different than we saw in the first two: heated exchange of cliches and platitudes, punctuated with awkward smiles. Enjoy it while you can.

Play logical fallacy bingo! It also makes a great drinking game.

I'm not sure how serious you are, but I'll point out the problem at the risk of killing the joke. The issue is in step 2. Photons travel at the speed of light (by definition). Because we cannot send information faster than the speed of light, the photons arrive at Victor strictly before any message from Alice and Bob.

So....never make a friend outside your own family? You can develop meaningful relationships based on a certain level of trust. You can (and should) trust that any person who engages in a civil conversation will not shoot you without provocation. You should not, however, give that person your SSN or credit card information. There's a difference, and isolationism and skepticism of every other human on the planet will not allow you to function properly in society.

You clearly have your mind made up about this, but I'll respond anyway.

A set of temperatures taken over a long period of time (say 50 years) that show a statistically significant decrease in average global temperature in addition to a significant increase in average global CO2 levels over the previous 50 years would falsify this hypothesis. It's really not that complicated. It falsifies global warming at least as much as finding a modern fossil dated to a time when it shouldn't exist falsifies evolution.

You might be making some sort of argument that science can't actually make large scale predictions about the future based on past data, which is a giant sweeping argument about the philosophy of science that I doubt you're trying to get at that here. I'll leave that possibility alone, but if that's what you're talking about, you can go argue about those meaningless definitions with someone else.

Global warming certainly qualifies by any realistic definition of a hypothesis. You might disagree with the hypothesis, but it's at least as falsifiable as Evolution.

Contributed to, at least in part, by human activity, a steady increase in global average temperature will have negative effects on the environment and human society at large.

It's possible that you're talking about some ridiculous exaggeration of that ("OMG we're all gonna burn up in flames because Tom's car only gets 12 MPG!!"), but GW is a pretty clear statement that has plenty of measurable criteria. You can be pedantic and demand exact definitions for human contribution, temperature increase, and whether negative effects are caused by the former, but all are still clearly testable.

It's most definitely science. Much of the disagreement about it comes on disputing the validity of data acquired and how it's interpreted. However, the fact that data is being acquired and interpreted, and the fact that it is under scrutiny, is what makes the entire process scientific and worthwhile in the first place.

Can you provide a single example where Google has ever sold personal information to any third party ever? I get that privacy is important and Google might be pushing the boundaries on it, but spreading FUD like this isn't helping your cause.

Do you actually know any Mormans? Their religion in strange, but so is all of Christianity. They are no more "pseudo" religion than any other religion I've encountered, and the vast majority a better people than the average asshole.

I'm an American, and I think getting rid of pennies entirely would be a great idea. Until we can convince everyone of that, though, making them cheaper to produce seems like the right move

My android phone uses my main account, so I'm not sure what you're talking about there (unless you're just saying that you wanted an account on your phone not tied to you). And my girlfriend just got an iphone, and you absolutely do have to have an apple account to use it (at least we couldn't find a way around it).

Going to invalidate my mod points (I already modded you informative) just to give a clarification:

I tested this out myself, and it's true that it takes you to a page to create your google plus account, and does not give you the option to skip. This is terrible design.
However, if you just leave the bloody page, you have a google account without g+.

This is a very well-reasoned approach to the issue that would largely solve the problem. However, it does not coincide with the reality of country in which we live. "Marriage" is defined by governments and has been since the inception of the nation. Changing it now would be next to impossible, as you would literally have to "abolish marriage" in the process, which neither party would allow you to do. I agree with your ideal, I just wish that it was possible to get there.

While I can see an argument for Democrats heavily favoring culture and entertainment, can you please cite any examples in recent memory where Democrats act in the interest of financial services any more than Republicans? The current democratic president has created an entire oversight body to attempt to reign in the corruption rampant in that industry, and Republicans in congress have blocked it from becoming fully operational until the looming recess appointment of its director.

Legitimate question: are you exaggerating? Average household income in the U.S. 31,000 dollars (in 2007). The countries I see with 1/6th of that are Turkey and Mexico. Are you from either?

Napkin math:

200 employees (random guess, but my gut says that's a low number)
x $75k per year (another random guess, but I don't think it's absurd)
x 5 years in development
= 75 million. Add in marketing, management, and server costs, and you might be there.

Oh, and don't forget license fees. I won't speculate on what Lucas is charging them, but I bet it's mindboggling.