It's obvious to me too, but I'm a computer nerd and odds are you are too. It irritates me to think people not familiar with computers think *I* am the one spamming them.

They've rudely forgotten my demographic. I'm for GMO use. If we can reduce the spraying of pesticides I don't see what the issue is. There are certain practices (like making seeds of grown food sterile) that I find disturbing but genetically modified foods which are stronger and better? I'm all for it.

After the assault weapons ban expired crime dropped. If we're to use correlation we can "prove" exactly the opposite point. Fact is that this is social science and drawing firm conclusions from data correlations are questionable at best.

I agree. Take the high road. If you show you can deliver all the way through and successfully provided the initial value, your client will remember this when they need another new system. You can also keep an eye out for the next gig once your replacement gets his stuff in relative gear. Exit gracefully and don't burn a bridge.

That'll get you a referral more than a "figure it out for yourself kid" style as some advocate. It'll also do right by the kid who is in the position we all were in at one point. If you do that enough times you'll probably find yourself with the best kind of work and a great network of happy, former (future) coworkers.

Cruel... and unusual. I like it!

But really... where is a viable ./ replacement? I'm open to ideas. There are a lot of idiots here (obviously not you my dear reader!) but there's brilliant people here. Anywhere kind of sort of like this place was... a few (ok, several) years back?

Wow - FUCK THAT

Angry much?

I don't know. Personally whenever I see machines with specs like these I get the idea that the only practical application would be advanced AI.

Yes, I know the NNSA and others use this type of hardware to simulate physical environments and nuclear events but I just can't help but think there's a pretty good possibility our government is racing toward advanced AI systems. These computer folks are some of the best in the world and they know as well as anyone what an advancement in weapons tech an AI would be. At least that's what I'd be telling my superiors if I were working in these high computing departments.

Just remember to pay your bill. Otherwise they'll cut off your Cox.

I guess the original TNG set was *intentionally* destroyed by Paramount in the making of Generations? I actually didn't know that. Here's a little paragraph explaining. If anyone has a bit more info, let me know.

http://movies.trekcore.com/generations/behindthescenes.html (see "Brent Spiner also comments on filming the saucer crash scene:" section)

I'm actually surprised a set would be usable as a destroyed starship set. You'd think the cheap, fake plastic parts would be obvious on screen?

Well, in their defense, I've noticed they tend to drive slowly because they're also usually stoned, lol

I'd suggest you read his test if you haven't already. Yes, it is still a problem but this approach is still the best one I've seen and pretty ingenious, imo. The car doesn't "trust" anyone, per se. But it does use some kind of reputation system (while still thinking on its own) to make better decisions. Theoretically.

But if your point is that it is still not perfect, I agree.

Brad Templeton proposed a solution many years ago... The school of fish test. http://www.templetons.com/brad/robocars/fish-test.html

Illegal Mexicans tend to be better drivers, in my experience, because they don't have car insurance. If they get in an accident they are deported. That's a real incentive to drive slowly.