I imagine Wolfram Alpha singing in a vaguely HAL-esque way, except more playful and less "I'm sorry, Dave, you're going out the airlock," kind of way.

Don't worry. Last time I checked there were 900+ people in the XDA circle, and we've got several active huddles going that are all focused on breaking every part of Google+ to help make it work better. Everything's getting reported. ;-)

You're right, that's actually poorly worded on my part. The main gist of it is that, unless you take the extra step of hiding your own circles from your friends (the default being everything is visible to extended networks), any of your acquaintances can spam your entire network of friends and family.

It's not terribly surprising... it is a closed beta. I've found a few bugs/misfeatures in just the first couple of days of using it.

Perfect solution. Also for baggage handlers, I think.

Yeah, I have one of those. Actually I have both, a stereo and a clock in the dash. That doesn't really solve all my other time-telling needs, though, does it?

Huh. I'll admit that I wear a watch because I've always worn one (I'm diabetic, and while I no longer have to eat on a strict time schedule, I used to), but I also find it generally faster. Not that whipping out the phone is time consuming, but rolling my wrist over is definitely faster. Especially when driving, with…

Sometimes less is more.

I am a battleship. BOOM! EEEEEEEEEER! BLAMO!

@woozzy I'm just going to copy and paste the last paragraph from my reply to PiltdownMan, above. It should cover your questions as well. If not, let me know, and I'll find more information for you.

@PiltdownMan So let's look at this system you're proposing. Right now we have an existing architecture of oil and gas usage that accounts for 32-53% of all energy consumed worldwide (depending on the country; 40% of American energy). You're proposing that someone whose sole motive was to seek profit would decide to…

I'd be curious to hear in what way you feel the scientific evidence in support of climate change is weak. Especially given that it has the support of a majority of scientists (2) (3). Presumably if you're opposing it on a scientific ground you know something that 97% of scientists surveyed don't know - or else 97% of…

You must realize that your statement defies logic, right? I mean, you actually manage to crack two logical fallacies in one sentence - an ad hominem (which is attacking a person while ignoring whether their argument is true or not) and composition (where you draw conclusions about a group based on the traits of a…

I don't know about engineering departments, but we upgrade computers somewhat sporadically because they're expensive (we have something like 350 in the department) and we don't need new ones. Most of the work we do on an actual computer is just statistical analysis, which could probably be done on a TI-83.

Letting companies trying to gain regulatory approval perform their own studies showing the efficacy or safety of a procedure/medication/whatever has got to be the dumbest part of our regulatory system. Billions of dollars in potential sales and all I have to do is come up with a study that says my product is safe? How…

"Software Data Cable?" Really? I guess they thought "FTP" was too obscure.

@ Cratilo Two things. First, there is nothing about neurofeedback that's even remotely related to "wiping the soldier's mind." There's no alteration to their memory whatsoever (in fact, memory typically improves after treatment for PTSD). The whole neurofeedback system is utterly passive - it's controlled by the…

You're implying a lot of power to neurofeedback that it simply doesn't have. The technology has existed for decades, and is already used fairly widely by psychologists in private practice to treat similar disorders in civilians. It's not capable of "making" you do anything. For one thing, all the cap does is read EEG…

In fact, neurofeedback is fairly commonly used to treat other anxiety disorders... social phobias not so much (since the vast majority tend to respond well to the much cheaper exposure and response prevention [ERP] therapy). But, it's in use for a variety of anxiety and stress disorders.

Some estimates suggest it may account for as much as half of the effect seen from antidepressant medications - but so what, right? If the placebo effect works, use it. If it has long-lasting effects on people's suffering, then it's okay by me. Technically, this is a violation of a patient's right to autonomy, or the…