I've never got that use case. No one I know watches Netflix on their phone or tablet. Granted, it's all anecedotal of course, but Netflix is for longer content. Youtube videos sure, but everyone I know who does Netflix/Hulu, etc, uses either their desktop computer or more commonly, a set-top box like a FireTV, Roku, etc. Watching longer content a tiny screen just doesn't seem enticing unless you're on a flight or something.

That's actually a path I don't like much myself. I too took AP Calc in high school and though I passed the test and exempted Calc 101, Calc 102 was just a bit too much too fast. I ended up having to drop it the first time and take it a second time to actually get my credit.

I kinda worry about that with CS too. There are a lot of people who may think they have a good foundation going in (and they likely do), but for anyone that doesn't already have the formal education they all pick up a least a FEW new things in an intro class. Those few new things can be the difference between the 2nd class in the series being overly difficult or manageable.

I'd say that was more the fault of your teacher than the experienced student.

I started in 1999 myself (though I was 17), and had been programming at home in BASIC for 6-7 years at that point. Things went MUCH smoother for me than my roommate (also a CS Major) who was starting completely fresh. As long as the experienced students don't try to change the tempo of the class (ie, yes you know what a variable is already, but just be quiet and let everyone else hear the lecture), I don't see the issue.

Certainly wasn't when I was in college (though that's been 11 years ago at this point). I had always heard hearsay and urban legends about professors who would give only a set number of letter grades based on a curve, but never experienced it.

About the closest I got was a particularly lenient History teacher who at the end of the semester gave everyone with averages 85-100 an A, 70-85 a B, 55-70 a C, and 40-55 a D. Still wasn't a set # of grades though - he just adjusted what numeric average corresponded to what letter grade. In all fairness though that class was a bit hard to score well in numerically - the only grades in the class were from 3 tests - all of which were composed of only 3 essay questions.

I think the set # of grades thing is mostly a myth and something you see in movies.

Sorry, but that's part of the compromise.

I'm very much for personal freedoms. I don't believe much of anything should be required - particularly for medical treatments (that's not to say I'm anti-vaccine - on the contrary I've pretty much all of them and do a yearly flu-shot).

HOWEVER, part of the social contract is that if you want to participate in the group's collaborate efforts, then you have to abide by some rules. Ergo, if you don't want to vaccinate your child you're free to do that, but be prepared to pay for private education. You can't have the best of both worlds - taking advantage of the publicly funded education system whilst endangering the health of the other participants.

As another person pointed out - a coffee filter and used up coffee grounds not that detrimental to the environment - there's a high level of biodegrability there.

Plastic cups? Not so much.

This also negates the fact that from a cost perspective, regular ground coffee (even better varieties) cost significantly less than K-cups. You may be financially ahead throwing out your extra.

Because tablets still suck for browsing the web. Data entry on such devices moves along at a snail's pace compared to an actual keyboard and mouse - and using the web still involves a lot of data entry (search boxes, logins, forum posts, etc).

I have a tablet I use it a lot - when travelling. Their portability is amazing. I'd rather drive a nail through my foot than use one at home or work though - even for just browsing the web.

Yep. I've personally been working state government for 10 years now, and it's take 10 years to work UP to over $60k/year. I started out with a Computer Science degree doing actual programming at $28k/year (though I am thankful they took me with zero work experience).

The pay really does stink. The only bright sides are that I get to live where I want (basically near family - I have no desire to move for a better job), my employer pays for my health insurance 100%, and I'll be eligible to retire with a real pension plan (50% of my average salary, adjusted for inflation) at 51 years old. If I'm being completely honest I don't see myself leaving until I retire. The job is just to stable to give up. After retiring I may look elsewhere, but if I can't find anything or it takes a long while I'll have enough cushion that I can make it anyways.

That's because it's government work. Government jobs (particularly state or local) tend to pay less than private sector, so you end up with a lot of older folks who have trouble finding work elsewhere.

Where I'm at (also government) I'm currently interviewing candidates for a web developer position. They want 6 years of experience and are willing to start at $40k per year - and they're shocked when all we can get are people who are obviously unqualified, people just looking for something to bridge the gap between unemployment and retirement, and people who are obviously just looking for something to tie them over until they find a "real" job. The latter category typically gets hired - and they can't figure out why the last 3 people in this position stayed less than 2 years.

FWIW, if I can find anyone qualified, I typically don't care how old they are. At what we're offering I'll take what I can get. Also, FWIW, at 34 years old out of a 25 person department I'm the 2nd youngest except for the secretaries.

You're misunderstanding the premise. It's not that the helmet would be scanning the player's head for injuries, its that it would be active during the game and would have sensors that say "You know what - I just detected a blow of significant force on this side of the helmet - that's probably enough to give the player a concussion.".

That said - I just don't see this happening from a financial perspective. Most high school football team budgets are probably less than ONE of these helmets would cost. They'd probably have to give up the game entirely if force to use such a thing.

Realistically - football is a rough sport. You have to know that going in and accept the risks. I personally played in high school and never suffered a concussion, but did get a hairline fracture on my arm that bothered me for quite a while. It's just part of the sport.

Wal-mart isn't overpricing anything. They may have made a fortune, but their margins are pretty darned thin - they make it up on volume. Many sales deals are actually loss-leaders. IE, they get you in the store and hope that you buy enough other stuff to make up their loss.

By price matching, Wal-mart is hoping to get you in THEIR store rather than the competitors. And if you happen to just need to pickup bread, milk, some sheets, and fill your prescriptions while you're there, then they're ok with losing a bit of money on that one price match.

Never trust an in-store rep to do ANYTHING. They will say one thing and when the plan is changed they can't get it back.

If you're going to upgrade, you upgrade at full price, and you do it from the website where you can verify yourself that the plan is still the same.

Way back when each individual part was serialized (and for such guns an "all matching" gun is indeed worth a premium), but these days its just not efficient. Plus we've come a long ways in parts interchangeability. 100 years ago if you bought a part for a gun it needed to be fitted to that gun to work (and that is still true today for many "old" designs from that era, such as the 1911 handgun). On most newly designed guns parts just drop in and work. Being able to match it to a certain gun just isn't important.

That may have once been true (about the price), but not really anymore. The Mini-14 starts at around $750. You can get AR-15's for under $600 now.

A big reason for that is simply market competition - the AR-15 patents have long expired and it's popularity has led to be it being one of the most heavily cloned rifles in the world, so all sorts of companies are making them (its to rifles what the 1911 is to handguns).

It also presents a problem for the anti-gun folks trying to present the gun as some niche purchase for whackos - its by far the most popularly sold model of rifle in the country.

By your logic its ok for the government to tell you you can't wear a shirt with a certain logo, so long as you're allowed to wear another shirt with an approved logo.