Neil Kandalgaonkar

It means you love the tranquility of a giant backyard with alot of ponds, sand traps, and holes in the ground. - imabonehead

Paul, I laughed on reading this. Then something clicked (I'm a little slow) .. is this a comment on all the opinions flying around about politics? - Stu Andrews via twhirl

I drive by Google, Apple and Yahoo quite a bit. Am I an Internet genius now? - AJ Kohn

Many people live next to roads. Still they can't drive. - Jemm

can you see it from your private island? if so - absolutely... - Frederic

I was just watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... At 4:30 McCain explains that Palin understands Russia because Alaska is next to Russia. It's fun to watch people make such preposterous arguments, but presumably it works with a lot of voters. - Paul Buchheit

Paul - 7 years on a golf course (when I was in my 20's). Ball came through the window once. (ugh!!!!). Played Tennis with the guy next door. Never lifted a club. My only motivation to even think about it is that some of the best biz deals are cut out there on the 9th .... or whatever they call it :) - Charlie Anzman

I live next to a woman and I'm an expert on women, so I can believe that Palin could be an expert on Russia. - Gabe

Of course you are! this is soooo logical (nice joke BTW) - Susan Beebe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... - Photonic

I live next to a missile defense something or another. That means I'm an expert on missile defense. The Pentagon should be calling any second now. - Erica Baker

Seriously, I'm rewriting my resume and LinkedIn profile based on geographic proximity. I mean, hey, I worked near the White House back in the day - that means I've got 'executive experience'. - AJ Kohn

Apparently familiarity breeds contempt... do you want to go to war with the golf course nearby? Sarah Palin is ready to invade Russia (she should really read up on her history, especially Napoleon... ) - Jason Carreira

I work at Walt Disney World. Does that make me the happiest person alive? :) - Mike Reynolds

That may make you an expert on having golf balls land in your yard. :) - Morton Fox

Oddly enough both of my brothers live next to golf courses...But only Ben, the middle brother, actually plays. Oh, and my soon to be brother in law manages a golf course. - Alex "Gamerpoints" Scoble

I love this new logic. I'm hoping Maersk will let me drive a container ship, since I've got a Bay view. - mat honan

I live near Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg. I must have vast experience in politics. - Shawn Farner

I live 5 miles from Fort Hood, the largest military post in the free world, I must know all things military. Maybe I can invade Russia! - Michelle Martinez

Paul, you forgot to mention that you sometimes walk near or around the golf course as well. I can almost see your expertise growing. - Clare Dibble

I am a Mexican-American Landscape Architect living in Coastal Florida. That must mean I am an expert in immigration, growth management and energy & environmental issues. Right? ;-) - JA Castillo

JA, you should run for office then! :P - imabonehead

That makes your home insurance higher than the norm! - Mona N.

It is true that Alaska is the only state that borders TWO foreign nations. Is it then preposterous to say that the governor of such a state could have some experience in foreign relations? - klecu

p.s. i live IN a golf course and am definitely no expert on the game - klecu

golf course....you mean worldview? - Bryan Power

Perhaps not an expert on golf, but there are things that you know about golf that many people who live far from golf courses don't know. For example, I would assume that any window facing the course would be endangered; based upon your experience, you would know differently. And if April is a golfer, you'll have even more perspective. - Ontario Emperor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P... "The Pelamis device consists of a series of semi-submerged cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. The wave-induced relative motion of these sections is resisted by hydraulic rams which pump high pressure oil through hydraulic motors via smoothing hydraulic accumulators. The hydraulic motors drive electrical generators to produce electricity." - bob

"offshore data havens?" wow, are they pursuing the "Cryptonomicon" Master Plan or what? :-D next up i guess is the tax-free Google Dollar ;-) - Karim

Double Meh! LMAO - Igor The Troll

The third, actually ;) - Mehrdad Afshari

Chrome is nice, but a browser war this is not. BTW, this would technically be the third browser war. #1: Netscape vs. IE, #2: IE vs. Firefox, #3: IE vs. Firefox vs. Chrome. - Jason Huebel

@Gabe: that reading is very, very generous to the RNC and the police. Even given your farfetched scenario, the police are obliged to check out random allegations before they go in with guns drawn. You should apply Occam's Razor here. What's the obvious reason why they were shut down? - Neil Kandalgaonkar

I'm sorry if it sounded like I actually supported what the police did. If I were one of those arrested, I'd be preparing to sue them for civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 1985. Seriously, though, the simplest reason is that they were just bumbling idiots. That doesn't mean it can't be a conspiracy, but it probably isn't. - Gabe

@Gabe: If it had been random idiocy, random people would be targeted. They are systematically intimidating the very activists who documented police misconduct during RNC 2004. - Neil Kandalgaonkar

Is true value determined by the market? Cultural prejudice? Pop culture? A cabal of high priests? It may differ by subject. - todd

This is something that we as a society are responsible for, it is no different to bad food or alcohol. Moderation is the key and something that people do not understand, why can't I have 65 cheese burgers with dinner, while I watch 4 hours of reality television and read about Britney's love child alien abduction ? And we in the geek world enable people to be idiots, by treating them like adults and expecting them to understand that crapware should be in moderation, like everything else. /rant over Great article. - Jonathan Ferguson

great comment - j1m

this is the same thing artists go through, making a painting is 1000 moments of dissatisfaction or confusion, and one aha at the end. it is a kind of hell if you are thinking about it as you go along. and a kind of heaven if you are simply lost in the absorption, the process, and don't mind what your mind is saying. because the mind only feels good at the end, on the way it is comparing and judging and is really an obstacle to the full creative process. - Gregory Lent

I think many of us avoid confusion the same way we avoid physical and emotional pain. Confusion is intellectual pain. And if you are highly intelligent, confusion can crush your self-concept/ego because it reveals your limitations. But there is no real logical reason to avoid confusion. It is a result of attempting to understand. - Steve Olson

I think confusion in a intellectual flowers into important thoughts and benefits everyone - Aarthy

I agree with Steve. Many people (including yours truly) go as far as trying to avoid confusion altogether by not thinking, because, yes, it's painful and it's crushing to know that you don't know all that much. But it's the realization of your own intellectual limitations that's important in fueling that desire to learn, imho. I find that intelligence is more about knowing you don't really know all that much and being open to learning. - April Buchheit

@Aarthy: I'm confused _all_ the time. I don't see how my particular brand of confusion is beneficial to anyone. I'm confused by my own confusion. - April Buchheit

April, When I was a student I was afraid of being wrong so I avoided confusion. It seems as though I was taught that not knowing was a bad thing, so I stuck with safety, what was known. Now I love confusion, because I realized later in life that feelings like confusion and anxiety mean I am approaching something worth doing or knowing. - Steve Olson

I feel that it is important to feel and not to think to much about something because that can lead to rationing your thoughts onto something and finding it hard to let go, I think that if I feel that I'm thinking then it takes you down roads which become harder because you are no longer feeling the thing you are thinking and so make decisions which mean that you plan and thus time of doing becomes a time about thinking of doing and not much gets done. Anyway I feel that I'm hungry and foodstomp time. - Jason Brooks

In other news, the number of people wanting to work at Google has dropped by 15%. - possible248

Hard to believe. Maybe they decided to be penny wise and pound foolish after all. - Paul Buchheit

This is similar to when the fine microbrews at various startups were replaced with PBR and Beast. Served warm. In a communal set of tumblers. - qthrul

File under "I CAN'T HAS CHEEZBURGER." Attention all staff: Due to budgetary constraints, the hot and cold running champagne taps will be switched to non-vintage blends until further further notice. That is all. - Karim

I guess they decided they don't want people working late. - Gabe

can u say JUMPED THE SHARK. - dave mcclure

harsh. - James Miao

End of the new beginning??? - Jigar Mehta

Dinner was always the least effective meal at keeping geeks at their desks. I saw it mostly abused by families who would zoom in to have dinner with Dad or Mom and then they'd all leave together. To my knowledge Google didn't even have a dinner serving before 2005 or so, anyway. - Neil Kandalgaonkar

In my experience it's always far worse when a company removes a perk than if they'd never introduced it at all. It's like removing features from software--even if it should never have been there in the first place, users will scream murder if you try and remove something in a future release. - Reto Meier

funny, funny (just coming back from my Google Dinner). this story is fake, as you can guess. - Ihar Mahaniok

@Ihar nope, I couldn't guess that - at least based on the contents of that article. Why do you think it's fake? - /(bb|[^b]{2})/ (Kamath)

Kamath, because I know. I work at Google, I have eaten my dinner one hour ago, and my colleagues in MV are having their dinner in a few hours from now. Do I need to post pictures to prove this? :) - Ihar Mahaniok

Ihar, maybe it's the Last Supper? Sorry, couldn't resist. - Sprague D