...against all expectations on my USB modem using a metal bowl I had lying around (think of a paraboloid with a flat bottom). Boosted download speeds on 3 consecutive tests by 50% (with bowl over without). Also, 3 tests in a row with no bowl showed some variation, but didn't peak at the same speed as with the bowl. Whod've thunk it.

...I don't buy the distraction argument. If you need to concentrate to code, it's fine. If you need to deal with the phone though, I'd appreciate you keeping the volume low enough to hear the ring (and yes, some people prefer to talk rather than email - mainly because it actually gets a result)

"Try looking up what happened to the paediatrician who looked a bit like a low-res photo of a suspected paedophile that was published in a British newspaper."

I did. If this is the case to which you refer - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4719364.stm -, it turns out the 'tale has grown in the telling'.

There was no angry mob. There was one piece of spray painted graffiti by (supposedly) a couple of teenagers who confused the person's job title.

I know, it's hidden in plain sight in the source code. No-one will ever look there when assessing the security of an application

I don't know why some people seem so upset. So the French Right have hacked the political system and found an exploit to get their legislation passed. The Left know the rules too, they stuffed up by letting it happen.

If it was an obscure hack to calculate square roots five times faster, we would be applauding but because it's a hack about something we don't agree with, then we're upset. Hats off to them for being smart.

And I have to say neither the headline nor the linked article actually explain what this is about. For all I can tell, it is an amendment to the laws of Petanque.

It's comments like this that make me unhappy that scores max out at +5