So true. They are the crappiest headphones out there. I can get a pair of Panasonic ear buds for under ten bucks that sound worlds better.

...when the Koch brothers and other corporations peddle influence and push the Tea Party movement on the right; but, when Google et al push on the left, all of a sudden, we need overtsight? Don't get me wrong. Any undue monetary influence on government officials is wrong. It's just interesting how the same people who bemoan Google and Facebook doing this, are the same ass-hats who turn a blind eye to influence on the right.

...until you get that electric short, and are blind in your side and/or rear view. It's called redundancy. You can't just have it all-electrical. Otherwise, you are asking for trouble.

Part of it is we think anything electronic will be better than having a human be required to...say...check their fucking mirrors? Or, in the case of the rear camera, make sure their brat isn't wandering around the vehicle before deciding to slam it in reverse(though, in that case, someone that dumb shouldn't be having offspring)? It's a combination of not setting boundaries to what you do in a 2-3 ton vehicle(smart phone, navigation system, entertainment system...eating!); and just getting lazy behind the wheel. Instead of creating the equivalent of the foam safety system in Demolition Man, how about we hold people to a higher driving standard?

Great short-term thinking. We have 7 billion plus people on this rock. Every great scientific mind in recent times has said, if we are to survive as a species, we must leave the binds of the Earth for other worlds. The Chinese look at things a lot more long-term than you, or most Americans, do. In ten years, they already have the basics of a space station, and have a long-term plan for Mars. If you take the long view, you see that robots alone aren't gonna cut it. The whole point, down the road, is colonization and resources. That way, you don't have all your eggs in one basket when or if we make this world uninhabitable, or fall into chaos. Of course, when you are worried about the yearly budget and quarterly profits, it makes a mind too small to see these realities.

From the contract work I've seen, you hire a contractor, who hires employees to build that wall. The mason building the wall can be fired if he does a bad job, but he isn't responsible for guaranteeing the wall's quality. The contractor is responsible. He supervises the job, and checks on the quality. A GOOD software company has the same thing. The company or supervisor is responsible for the quality of the software, and, if they know what they are doing, have QC set in place to bug-check, offering incentives for finding bugs/creating good software.

It sounds like the boss is using a bad analogy to make sure you think the weight of any bugs falls on your shoulders, not his. You are the brick layer. He is the contractor. You don't sign the contract. He does, or the company does.

There's already a currency available world-wide, used instead of local currencies of dictatorships. It's also the preferred currency of such nations as Saudi Arabia and other Arab states...as well as Iran. It's called the US dollar.

There are about as many dollars in circulation outside the us as there are here. It's why more nations invest in the US than in any other nation, with treasury bonds. The Euro stinks, and they can't trust the Chinese to not futz with their system.

Now, if we keep going with this default business...

You guys are posting this as if it were some mainstream performer, who is down on their luck because of internet music streaming. Hey, I'm sorry you aren't making Yo-Yo Ma money; but no other cellist is, either. Most cellists work to perform in an orchestra for money, or play for the art. If you wanted to make money in music, you are playing the WRONG instrument.

Seriously, why is it even an issue? She's lucky to be getting that many people even listening to her, or getting paid that much. Yo Yo Ma makes his money in performances. The music industry is, in a way, going backwards. You have a few studio chimps and "lucky ones" who will sell a bunch of albums. Most others, if they want to make money, will do it old school...on the road. Led Zeppelin got their own plane from their tour earnings, not from album sales; though those were big, as well. Most bands in the alt-indie circuit earned through regional venue appearances. In Asheville we have plenty of groups who make their fill touring regionally. Yes, they aren't making coke and limousine money; but it's ridiculous to think you can.

Music performers seem to forget: they are artists and entertainers. Their job isn't a 9-5'er, where they are owed a steady paycheck. Sorry, honey, but the onus of earning money is on YOU. You have a web site. You have a contract with Pandora and Spotify better than any you would get with radio(good luck getting a station to play an "avant-gard cellist", lol). Quit the crying and work on that server job at TGIFriday's, or get out there performing; but don't go crying about how hard it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzK5dmZHqr0

It might not be needed for a Poly-Sci major(love the contradiction of calling that a science). For those who want to exercise their mind, and to have a head up on most others around them, however, yes, understanding Algebra(and I might argue Geometry and Trigonometry) is necessary. This is just another argument to dumb down classes so parents who raise their children like veal can be happy with even more devalued A's in class. The only good thing is, Those whose kids actually work hard and do it the right way will be the bosses, while those awesome LA and PS degree kids will do what they've been doing...taking my order and getting my drink at the restaurant.

If someone wants to juice up or use other substances to make themselves bigger, stronger or faster, go for it. Hell, open up the Olympics to them. Steroids and HGH have severe hormonal effects and can kill the thyroid. The fast increase in muscle mass does irreversible long-term damage to the ligaments and tendons; it also damages the heart. The kidneys get shot from all the supplements which are filtered through them, as is the liver. Finally, if you jack up the metabolism too high, it's like running a car at high speed too long. It's gonna wear out faster.

Which is fine by me! True evolution is not the strongest surviving, but those who stay under the radar, have genetic diversity, and pass that diversity on. Hard to do that with testicles fried into non-existence or ovaries shot from "enhancement."

Buy your own, unlocked phone. 50 bucks a month will get you unlimited data, talk and text on Verizon and other networks. The phone you get may not be the shiniest thing on the market, but they are plenty capable; and 4G LTE phones are coming out for prepay. Plus, unless you want someone to know, your number is anonymous. That, alone, is worth the price.

Treat it as you do a military mission. They are soldiers. Every soldier goes into a situation knowing there is a chance he may die. You make it safe as possible(situation awareness, body armor, weaponry), but you know that part of your mission is, if necessary, to die. I would argue manned space flight, especially for the USSR and US in the 60's, was the same. Your life is at risk, yes; but the thrill of going into space, and the achievement for mankind, outweighs the risks.

It was never the astronauts who worried about the risk, anyway. It was the pussified, weak public, who, raised on the wimpy, never-risked-anything-in-their-lives 60's generation(other than vets and true activists), can't understand the risk-reward concept is necessary not just for achievements, but for the advancement of our species as a whole. They don't get that, if we don't do it, another group will. You can land all the robots you want; but if there are no people there to claim it, they mean nothing. It will be the Chinese astronaut standing next to the flag on Mars that matters, not the American Tonka toys collecting dust.

Calling for the end of the PC forgets the definition of a personal computer. I'd say that, far from being the end, Smart phones and tablets are more the "personal" part of the PC than a Desktop. Besides, until you can have the graphics and cooling that a PC has, handhelds will never meet the gaming or graphics design requirements of PC's. The traditional desktop is becoming a niche type of PC, not disappearing.

I would argue, however, that the laptop IS threatened. Wedged between the portability of a smartphone and the expandability and durability of a desktop, the laptop, even in ultra form, is fast becoming obsolete. If others go the way of Apple, and do away with the ability to even fix them or expand them, in five years laptops may go the way of netbooks.

GG luddite.

I'll listen to the hundreds of Ph.D's that have been dealing with this day in and day out, and knew beforehand to make sure they had a high confidence level before releasing the info. They had this stuff over 6 months ago, maybe longer; and vetted it, making sure it was sigma 5 before letting it loose. They did that because there are ass hats like yourself even in their own community. The fact that Stephen Hawking(a much greater mind than you) was confident enough in the results to say he lost a hundred dollars on betting they wouldn't find it, says a lot. So really, I'll take their word for it, since your "confidence level" means fuck-all.

I can't believe everyone missed this fact: now we finally have the Lightning guns to fight Godzilla!