can be.

"Because of the wonderful things it does".. Seriously
I use a a variety of operating systems at home and at my job (software developer).
The reason that I am still supporting XP (and probably will for at least several more years
is because of the recent "Windows 7 phone home every 6 months or I stop working" BS WAT patch
When I inform customers of this they immediately say "XP for now, but make sure we can port to
linux/Mac on the next upgrade cycle". IT departments/Companies that I talk to are not taking kindly
to Win 7 because of WAT. I am currently working on 3 projects: one app with enhanced features(still on XP), 2 in an
upgrade cycle and am supporting XP, Debian, RHEL. I suspect they will move to Linux early and only want XP as
as backup, in case the rest of their system has a problem

For my personal use, I use various flavors of Linux for everything except for I keep one XP OS VM (Workstation)
for running Adobe Photoshop CS2 for my photography hobby. Over the last 3 years I have migrated everything
else to Linux, or I live without. I don't do on-line banking because of the IE/ActiveX bullshit that banks pull

On a related note,

I once worked with a sales guy and he once told me that every 2 years, he "accidently" dropped his laptop while on the road just so that he could get a newer model. The company we worked for was very cheap and that was the only way to get an upgrade. At that time, I was using a laptop that was 5 years old, so I guess he knew how to work the system and I didn't....

1) Go out and do a volume purchase of the cheapest Dell system that meets your needs.

2) Remove hard drives

3) Sell hard drives on ebay to offset (reduce) cost of systems

4) Use as thin clients

5) Look for new job, after you got fired when the company you work for realized that thin clients suck and you had to go back and purchase hard drives for all of the systems

Otherwise they may have problems with the Mayan calendar, as it is resetting. Hopefully they get the TZDATA correct. Unlike Ubuntu which seems to update TZDATA continually every week. Seriously does someone know WTF they doing for TZDATA, or is someone, somewhere always changing what timezone the people want to be in?

Windows NT = Genesis (or was this when Hell was created?)

Windows 2000 = Windows NT SP5

Windows XP = Windows 2000 SP5

Windows Vista = Windows XP SP4

Windows 7 = Vista SP3

Windows 8 = Windows 7 SP3

-or just-

" Microsoft X SP20.. "

Wouldn't it just be easier to just keep track of them by absolute Service Pack Number - rather then having to remember names?

I guess the LCD manufacturers have finally figured out how to dump all of the outdated crap 10.1" LCD screens that manufacturers have warehouses full of and still get people to pay top dollar for them - and sell 2 at a time.

Dumb public, they'll buy anything.

"Ants with longer legs would pass the nest on the way home, and ones with shorter legs came up... well... short"

I could understand how one might lengthen legs (e.g. miniature stilts), but how did the scientist shorten their legs? OMG - they cut Kenny's legs off!!!

That demonstration is very misleading.

Observe that the material is not actually fastened to the wall, rather is is anchored to the top of the wall and the bottom of the wall (look at the piece of angle iron in the demo)

This angle iron also distributes the force across the material, without it, it would just rip out where it was anchored, such as if just screws were used to attach it. I would bet that that piece of angle iron is pretty well tightened...

If it were truly fastened as wallpaper, then it may prevent the wall from shattering, however the wall would still collapse where the material stopped unless anchored (as in the demo). Hence, instead of pieces of a wall falling on you, the entire wall would just fall on you, probably killing you...

And yes, the rest of the structure would still collapse on you as well.

This is probably an advance, however it probably would require new structural building techniques, as well as additional steel anchors/angle iron for it to be truly effective. Not something joe public could ever afford, but I am sure governments could "find" the money.....

I do not like Firefox "phoning home" anymore than I like Microsoft "phoning home". I do not care if it's open source or not. I am here to tell Mozilla to STOP phoning home. I don't care what it's for or however good the intentions are... This combined with the apparent complete lack of concern for bugs and stability of Firefox 3.5.x and the apparent desire to just keep pumping out more versions and features, instead of actually releasing a quality version, is making me definitely consider alternatives. It appears that as the Mozilla organization grows in size, it's becoming similar to Microsoft.. This can't be a good thing. And the cut-n-paste has been broken since v3.0 - are they ever going to fix it? - Or just keep putting out newer versions that the more newer it is, the more it crashes.

I have friends that have gone through this...

This doesn't sound like a winning situation for either party, here's why:

1) You don't have an IP and you don't have customers, so what the megacorp is buying is your services. Basically, they are hiring you and giving you a job. If this is the case, The purchase price relects future potential (as a competitor). Considering the money for future potential, you are most probably going to be on the losing end of the deal.

2) Once you are absorbed by the borg, I mean megacorp, you are done. You lose all ability to make choices for yourselves. You have lost control to choose your own destiny and there is a 99% chance you will end up leaving and just starting another company all over again. - This may not be a bad thing, just a pain and you will get tired of doing this after the 1st couple of times.

3) Be very careful of any thing that you sign - especially if it limits your ability to quit, any non-compete agreements, any thing that limits your ability to work for another company (or a new company). Trade secrets - if you do leave, you may not be able to pursue new ideas, if the megacorp is already doing that. - This you probably won't find out until you have joined them - by then it will be too late.

4) In the unlikely event that the amount of money would "set you up for life", then GO FOR IT. Live off of the interest and enjoy yourselves. Life is too short to be spent entirely in front of a computer screen and keyboard - seriously dude, enjoy life - it's wayyyyyyyy tooooo short.....

That's funny, my firewall (and hosts file) is constantly denying access to the following programs:

* Windows Update
* Adobe Flash
* Firefox updates
* Misc firefox plugins
* Antivirus
* and many others, etc....

"The unspoken reality at Microsoft is that there is a large minority of Mormons working in and around Microsoft"

At what point does a "large minority" become a majority? And if they aren't a majority, why the fuck should anyone care?

.for some of the decisions that comes out of Redmound:

"..hiccup..., -I know, I know! - How about we come up with a lame MP3 player and compete directly with Apple? And then give up after a year when it's not making 2000% profit for us"

"..hiccup...., -I know, I know! - How about we release an alpha version of a DRM-bloated OS and get our customers to help us debug it?"

"..hiccup...., -I know, I know! - How about we release an alpha version of a DRM-bloated OS that doesn't work on the hardware, but we'll still say that it's "capable..." (wink, wink)?"

"..hiccup...., -What do you mean he threw a chair through the window? - Yeah, he had just gotten back from the pub, you see..."

"..hiccup...., -I know, I know! - How about we try to patent the internet?"

"..hiccup...., -I know, I know! - How about we try to buy Yahoo - and then show 'em how do a search engine right since we obviously know what we are doing - We'll show that googlely company..."

circa 2007: "..hiccup...., How the hell are we going to make money now that there are better operating systems to use? -I know, I know! - Let's get into the stock market and buy some hedge funds and buy some real estate"..

"..hiccup...., I think I will turn the BSOD into the RSOD, no wait, that reminds me too much of the color of blood, back to the BSOD"...

This is easy,

1) Put a chainlink on it so that it can be carried like a biker's wallett

2) Put a Harley-Davidson sticker on it, or get it painted with one

3) Get a tattoo.

I/dont/think/that/urls/are/too/long/I/think/that/they/should/be/as/long/as/they/need/to/be/after/all/it's/only/bandwidth/and/bandwith/will/always/increase/until/it/doesn't/anymore..