I really miss Think Geek :-(

> What on earth were those 30k people doing?!

Could be lawyers.

Would we be sad if they were lawyers?

Indeed. Oracle runs on z/OS as well.

People also marry the database when a significant amount of logic is in stored procedures.

> Every company I've worked for has avoided Oracle software of any kind.

Lucky you. Sadly, not all companies are new enough to be able to do that. Some embarked on Java when it was Sun, and Oracle when the only alternative would have been SQL Server (or DB2 on AIX, AS/400, or MVS).

> Clojure

Apple should do more of that - they make cool computers, and should use cool languages.

> The only developers I know who write Java full time work in systems that take pictures of things from far away.

We all have different circles. I work for a bank and the bulk of the LOB code here is Java (or something that runs under a JVM). There are no Oracle databases as far as I know, but my visibility is limited.

Also, Oracle Applications for things like HR.

Imagine if NASA had the resources and the freedom to pursue a high-risk high-return strategy the same way SpaceX did. NASA can't afford high-profile failures because it needs political support to function from a Congress that doesn't understand engineering.

Now imagine the public good will if the US could have built a network of LEO satellites providing communications to everyone on Earth regardless of nationality, with equal access and funded by governments so that all their residents could have access to it for free (once they buy an antenna made in the US).

Some will say it'd be communism. I would say it could be part of a Pax Americana that doesn't involve coups, but is based on willing cooperation.

We have regions where we deliberately minimize light pollution, but those regions aren't immune to Elon's swarm of photobombing satellites.

Not that I don't think it's cool to have a web of spacecraft enveloping the planet and bringing high-speed communications to everyone everywhere - it's pretty impressive to point up and show a train of satellites to a kid - but astronomers have been complaining about them and they are right.

I only suggested a Falcon Heavy because the rocket exists, is flight proven, and has enough capacity to shoot an Orion to any trajectory it is expected to encounter.

> more than 95% of all satellites launched are launched by SpaceX

Another way to look at this number is that they are responsible for 95% of the light pollution caused by orbiting objects.

I don't have much love for Java - it's an OK statically typed language - but I have the utmost respect for the Java runtime environment.

Clojure is a beautiful Lisp, and coupled with the JVM it's extremely powerful.

A lot of people abandon tech for less stressful careers. Things like air traffic control and firefighting, or deep sea diving for the oil industry.