This is gonna sound strange an probably not a discussion for HN, but I found the study interesting...<p>I'm a cat person, but I also like dogs - I just don't have the time or space to give them a good home. So, meanwhile I'll suffice with cats. I always make it a point to train my dogs with the utmost respect and obedience, had them most of growing up just like cats, so I usually put in a lot of time training dogs, but we haven't had one in about 4-5 years.<p>Maybe this study does 'suggest' or show something (I haven't seen the data), but I know my cat doesn't control me. At least anyways, when it comes to food. There are some that I can see where they are trying to manipulate, but heck, what would you do if you were starving? I usually leave food down (dry) all day and night for my present felines, unless it's wet food it doesn't smell, and I only give them wet food when I feel they deserve it (maybe once or twice a week), based on the type of day I've had. And reiterating, I'm a bastard when it comes to discipline, so it makes sense when they give my wife more attention...<p>They'll cry when they want to get out of a room that I've locked them in for their safety on some occasions, but that's about it - and when that happens, there's no doubt I'm firm and stubborn, so based on the study, my cats don't yet have the cry down for us, lol.. are they stupid? Maybe. The article says that they've only figured out the call for food - nothing else. Funny? definitely. But evil? Some are, the current ones I own are not, but I have had owned troubled cats before, I've also owned troubled dogs before. My local radio show host insinuated from this and other studies that cats are evil; there's another article floating around about whether they're "Little Satans" and if they get the "concept of nukes" to watch out.<p><a href="http://atheologian.blogspot.com/2009/07/study-suggests-cats-are-antichrist.html" rel="nofollow">http://atheologian.blogspot.com/2009/07/study-suggests-cats-...</a><p>LOL<p>Ultimately, I love animals, and like any good hacker, a cat while typically nocturnal can certainly be a worthwhile companion while hacking away in the wee hours. My advisor when I'm busy at work:
<a href="http://img194.imageshack.us/i/myadvisor.jpg/" rel="nofollow">http://img194.imageshack.us/i/myadvisor.jpg/</a><p>So maybe the topic of hackers owning animals has come up before -- care to share any thoughts on your pets with respect to this article?<p>Cheers