[X] My Assistant

[imran]

Jason,

Are you really shutting down this site? I must say I'm really sad to hear this. (((
It was one of my favorite sites and I relied on it for up-to-date news on Titan and the Cassini Mission. I just want to commend you for your great work and hope you keep providing us with your valuable insights here. Keep up the good work Jason!

[dvandorn]

I do want to remind everyone that institutions are institutions, regardless of whether they are "scientific" or "engineering" or even "commercial" institutions. And the corporate mentality is quite capable of reacting harshly to anything that they even *suspect* will put them in a bad light.

There was a case of a fellow who used to post regularly to the Usenet group sci.space.shuttle, who worked for the guys who refurbish the Shuttles and got them ready for re-launch. He also had a website, in which he talked about the daily challenges, joys and frustrations of his work.

He was fired by the company (I think it was Alliance Space Systems, or something like that -- I know I ought to remember the name of the company, but it's late and I'm tired). One of the reasons was that the information he shared on his website and in his Usenet postings could "violate safety and corporate security clauses" in his contract. That was a lot of horse manure, of course -- but it didn't stop them from firing him.

So, don't ever think that *any* institution is incapable of firing people for sharing information about their jobs. It's more the rule than the exception.

-the other Doug