Sorry I'm late responding. I'm actually NOT one of those guys. I absolutely believe that the US government has taken far too many liberties in restricting constitutional protections, and I don't want to see the second amendment hamstrung any more than I want to be told what time of the day is acceptable for me to poop. I just thought AC's comment was overemotional.

IMHO, responding to "you're crazy if you're a member of group X" with, "I'm not crazy, and if you call me crazy again I may do something stereotypically associated with group X" just ain't the way to maintain credibility.

And (unless you use a proxy for everything) at least a small handful of IP addresses, which would probably trace back to you if someone really cared enough to really go looking.

Yeah, that's it! Threaten him with being shot! That'll be SURE to demonstrate that you're a rational, level-headed person!

Shouldn't you be in school?

Keeping a really large single stage sugar/fertilizer rocket from blowing up on the launch pad and taking out your monkey is a lot tougher than it sounds.

Exactly. Particularly at the "upper echelons of the profession." It's high enough to provoke articles about how it's difficult for women to advance into those positions.

My best guess, based on what's in the article: HP initially developed the system, probably while administering the State's IT systems. Later, the state changed vendors from HP to Xerox, and Xerox took over managing the HP-designed solution. Eventually the solution broke, or Xerox wanted to move it to a newer system, couldn't figure out how to make it work, called on HP to get assistance with the transition, likely got a green tech who recommended something like updating from a 10-year-old version of Java, and this then caused the system to go down, leaving the mess thoroughly all over Xerox's hands.

Guaranteed: if Xerox fixed it, it was Xerox's screw up, and certainly their responsibility. TFA doesn't specify anything about patching, so I'm thinking that this whole monster is likely a disparate collection of antiquated software that's gotten gradually more crotchety and difficult to maintain over the years, and is probably long overdue to be rebuilt from scratch.

And there's the real reason that most office environments will never successfully go paperless: if they did, where would employees steal paper for their home printers from?

So, sort of, "shoot first, ask questions later?"

I can't imagine what could possibly go wrong with this as a scientific approach.

Unless he works for the entertainment industry . . .

...stuff that matters.

Oh, what sweet irony.

Easy, there. While this might be okay on a voluntary basis to prove innocence, I'd guess that the right to protection against self-incrimination in the fifth amendment would probably prohibit this from being used to prove guilt or suspend the need for trials.

"Ok, here we go. Whatever you do don't think about blowing up the plane."

Do combat fighter pilots often perform maneuvers with the canopy open? Was it really exceptionally warm, on that particular day, and he was just out for a spin, chatting with his girlfriend on his iPhone, with his helmet and mask pulled off and the wind rushing through his hair?

I'm sorry, I guess I'm just having a difficult time reconciling any part of this story with my "Top Gun"-perspective of fighter aircraft.