They are going about this the wrong way. You don't want a bunch of software developers coming up with this stuff in competition. I'm sure there are plenty of very competent software developers out there, but what you want is a collaborative group of computer scientists with specializations in cyber security and encryption. This isn't exactly something you want to leave to the lowest bidder. If you want it to be a success, you need to know this system is going to be secure for a long time. How do they plan on judging the security of the contestant entries? With a crack team of security and encryption experts? Why not just have those people design the damn thing, it would take nearly just as long for how thorough they should need to be.

first

17% of the time, you die 100% of the time?

I am aware of this, but this is an entirely different phenomenon. Furthermore, I was only considering the ability of the laser to curve, not its potential lightning inducing qualities.

...that this only works with lasers fired in an atmosphere? This would not work in space, right?

I tend to think that the same fear and unwillingness to consider the potentially terrifying thought of non-existence that drive them to religion in search of an afterlife are the same forces that drive them to be so adamant about clinging to the life that currently prevents them from having to deal with the idea of non-existence.

Maybe they have nothing that is in its gaseous form at the bottom of the ocean, but bring it up to the surface and it may turn into gas without all that pressure. And lets not forget, just because something is made of mostly water doesn't mean water is the ONLY thing it's made of. And the entire fish doesn't have to explode to make studying the eye difficult, just enough cellular damage in the eyes has to occur.

Space-time: it's not a continuum, it's more like a series of cubes.

Not that I'm trying to argue with your last bit about:

But, speeding is a crime in that by speeding you are needlessly endangering other people's lives. Laws are not necessarily what is moral and in some cases for need of practicality, laws must be preventative instead of reactionary. Not that I'm advocating the extent to which they go, but by your logic we should remove ALL airport security.

or 3. anyone who uses the internet and is familiar with internet culture. Shit, go to www.4chan.org and troll the /b/ forum. It is all for the lulz.

Even irl there's such a thing as wind, and even differences in air temperature along the path of travel can affect the path of the bullet. Not to mention irl you have to lead ahead of a moving target and account for the fact that the bullet will fall a bit on its way. :)

Heh, soggy bits.

First, I'm fairly certain the coordinate system is based on 0,0,0 being the center of the galaxy. Also, when the refer to earth being at (0,0,1), they say that it is at sector 0,0,1. Potentially, the galaxy could be divided into relatively few sectors. Also, universal translators automatically convert units of measurement into those used by humans. So, even if the borg queen specified earth's location in some other coordinate system, it would be translated automatically into sector 0,0,1.

There is more than one reason to send people to prison. And some would disagree as to what those reasons are. Your comment suggests that you believe that punishment or retribution are the primary reason. However, prison can also be for rehabilitation and to simply remove criminals from society. If rehabilitation or societal removal were our primary goals, then making their lives a complete living hell is unnecessary. Especially if our goal is rehabilitation, making their lives unnecessarily unbearable could be counterproductive.