Wogan

"I suppose it's only natural to see correlations in this. Art is human expression, and the better the art is, the stronger response you'll generate across the board. Fanfiction is no exception, and you're right: it should be treated as valid feedback. If only it were possible to convince the lawsuit-happy types of this :/ Good analysis, too - as someone who deals with complicated reports on a daily basis, I can only imagine how much fun it was ;)" - Wogan

"Mmmpf, sorry, all that sushi got to me. Especially love the way it's prepared in Cape Town, South AFRICA." - Wogan

""Supercore", lol" - Wogan

"Monopolies suck. Not in the naive everything-I-don't-understand-sucks way, but the simple fact is that they do. Monopolies are only good for the highest stakeholders - the rest of us, ie. the consumers on the ground, ultimately suffer. Which is why it's good to hear that there are still some people out there who wouldn't sell out nearly as quickly. What we NEED is more - more sites, more companies, more approaches to a given niche of human culture. Capitalistic optimization was never good for the spirit of creativity. So on those grounds, Laura, well done - without even getting into the specifics of Wikia's offer ;) And, holy cow, 800k pages? :|" - Wogan

"1: "...containing *custom* XML". Custom XML? Are you serious? The X stands for "eXtensible" - THE WHOLE LANGUAGE IS CUSTOM! This is an absolutely ridiculous injunction - I don't expect anything less than the whole thing being overturned in MS' favor." - Wogan

"Well, slap me silly - spies are human beings too." - Wogan

"Yup. Americans are crazy on their texting. Mostly because they get unlimited plans, which obviously makes it a whole lot more affordable - and a substitute for, like, real conversations and stuff. Edit: It should also be pointed out, that at Vodacom's largest SMS bundle, 14k SMSes a month costs about R3150. That's one reason SA users aren't SMS-heavy ;)" - Wogan

"As far as education goes, I think most people have it wrong. It's not about teaching - it's about enabling your students to learn. And that enablement is really more of a burden on the student than anyone else - how many college dropout millionaires can you name? Of course, these days, to excel is not necessary in order to survive. Qualifications have become a commodity, and careers can be bought and sold. In this type of world, why bother trying to stand head and shoulders above the rest? It might have mattered in the Industrial Revolution (and the Cold War, and the digital revolution), where every new day was a struggle to innovate and come out on top, but not so anymore. And this is why so few take the initiative to push the boundaries - to "fight mediocrity". We've built a system that thrives on (indeed, *demands*) mediocrity, and punishes those who dare to break step. We're seeing a change only now, with the global recession and the rise of work-at-home digital freelancers, but..." - Wogan