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Comment He should count his blessings! (Score 1) 369

Manning wasn't treated any differently than any other maximum-security detainee, especially one displaying signs of mental illness. He was kept under suicide watch for the first six days which included being held naked until he was deemed not a risk to himself. The rest of his time has been in isolation.

Manning has entered a plea which, if accepted, would subject him to a maximum sentence of 16 years. According to AP reporting:
"Earlier Thursday, a military judge, Col. Denise Lind, accepted the terms under which Private Manning would plead guilty to eight charges for sending classified documents to WikiLeaks". The judge’s ruling does not mean the pleas have been formally accepted. That could happen in December. But she approved the language of the offenses to which Private Manning would admit, which she said would carry a total maximum prison term of 16 years.

Manning may have a legitimate complaint for a "speedy trial" appeal but he will have to deal with the fact that the defense team has also asked for delays. And he should be thankful that the extended investigations into his motives and the motives of the recipients have apparently removed the charge of treason from above his head. He could be facing life in prison, or DEATH!

Comment George O. Smith - Venus Equilateral (Score 1) 1130

A brilliant engineer, contemporary and friend of Heinlein and Hubbard.

My father was a friend of his; we lived in the same building in Jackson Heights when I was in elementary school, and we moved into his old apartment when he moved to New Jersey. My father used to say that Scientology began as an argument between Hubbard, Heinlein and Smith in that kitchen. Through the years that apartment probably hosted every member of the "Trap Door Spiders". I wish I had met them all! He did introduce me to Willy Ley and of course I had no idea who he was until "Rockets, Missiles, and Space Travel, (1957)" was published.

Comment Re:Crawling under desks (Score 3, Insightful) 432

Do not crawl under desks; delegate! I once worked at a bank where our IT manager was an extremely competent programmer who had been promoted to AVP. One day the VP, his boss and mentor, caught him going through some code with us and he hit the roof. He actually promised to fire him if he ever caught him at it again.

As far as clothes go, keep in mind that your visibility is now vertical, not horizontal. Dress for your audience. Or follow the consultant guideline, dress one level above your constituents.

I know its BS, but its also reality.

Comment Re:Does it involve a heist, con, or scheme? (Score 2) 112

Lots of politics and intramural rivalries involved. It's tied to the creation of Florida Polytechnic, the STEM school recently separated from USF.

The chairman of the Florida Senate budget committee, JD Alexander, pushed hard for the conversion of USF Polytechnic (campus is in Alexander's district) to a separate university. At the same time he proposed cutting the USF budget by 58%. The budget cuts were significantly modified after it was discovered that USF was to suffer close to 80% of all the cuts to the Florida University system. Someone doesn't like USF! It might be because the upstart school is now tied with Florida State among research institutions.

IMO; JD Alexander, who is a lame duck due to term limits, is trying to create a new home for himself after retirement from the senate. Have you noticed how much public university presidents earn?

Comment Re:Winchester Disks - cram (Score 1) 231

In the '60s NCR had a product called CRAM which stood for Card Random Access Memory. It was a deck of magnetized cards that were towed around a spinning drum. When they crashed, which was often, they shook the office!!

On head crashes in general; I once got an emergency call from a bank customer who needed an emergency replacement of their master software pack (MSP) because of head crashes. When I got to the site the FEs were replacing 3 drives. I asked the operator what happened and he said that the MSP had crashed on drive 1 so he tried it on the other drives. When that didn't work he pulled out the backup MSP and repeated the process! IT support hasn't changed much in forty years, has it?

Comment Oh, the smell! (Score 3, Interesting) 231

In 1970 I was a print jockey feeding six IBM 1403 printers, producing junk mail. When I got home from work I needed a shower before my wife would come near me. The printer dust thrown off as the forms cycled through the printers filled our lungs, clogged our nasal passages, and permeated our clothing.

Comment Re:Damn unfortunate (Score 1) 714

Agreed. Ravi knew he had contributed to his roommate's suicide; he attempted to destroy evidence during the investigation and tried to get his dorm mates to cover for him. Those acts alone demonstrate his guilt. The prosecutors probably added the bias charges because they couldn't tie him directly to the death.

Bottom line; this guy is a despicable coward and doesn't deserve to be in the country.

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