Oh, hell, I shouldn't have read this article.

They've already called you in the hope of getting direct voice communication. When they get the voicemail message, why should they hang up and then go through the rigmarole of texting you? It's far easier just to leave a message. You're the one being unreasonable by not listening to the message.

Well you would love it. As far as I can tell, all you do on the site (or possibly did, now banning seems off limits) was be a dick in the comments and ban people who disagreed with you. That sort of troll-bait article would be like a unicorn pissing rainbows all over your P60.

Gizmodo grew up?

Anyway else see R2D2 rather than the Tardis?

I rather expected a watch with a big green LED as the face.

But it's not really immortality is it? It's like the ending of Avatar. It's just a really grand version of cut and paste. You're not transferred across, you still die.

He had "One Bad Day".

Huh, sorry, thought you were the chap above you and mis-read your comment. My reply was a little more snarky than necessary. Still, the statistics are accurate.

United nation firearms-related murder statistics:

Technically, the Police wear stab vests, not specifically designed for bullets, due to knife crime being a much higher concern. Only the firearms squad wear full bullet vests, as they are more likely to be involved in a firefight. And corrected for population, the number of gun-related crimes in the US outnumber those…

Assumptions:

Except dimness is defined entirely by societal standards. If you smoke marijuana, society is going to knock you back, giving you smaller chances of surviving and procreating. Given that that's all you're designed to do, it is dim.

Shame you were too pissed for them to employ you!

Honestly, I've more or less stopped being interested in this. We know that basically anything you smoke is bad for you. Let the idiots still prepared to put crap in their lungs get on with it, and tax the fuck out of it. Companies can test for it, and just not employ people dim enough to do it.

Not exactly difficult. We've been making flat glass for decades. It just needs a bigger bath.

What do you think of the central idea of the novel that a single person is capable of controlling an entire community of people for millennia just by being more clever than them? Do you think it really stands up as a concept?

These are not the androids I'm looking for.

If they wanted to, they could. They're essentially working in their free time.

At the minute? Nukes. Most powers have them, and they have horrific after effects. Nanos and GMs aren't a concern yet. Give it twenty years, maybe that'll change, but the most significant risk right now is the middle east getting uppity and firing a couple of nukes about.