I agree. My wife remembers all kinds of things (including phone numbers) with no effort at all. Me? I'd forget the sub groups, too. I was so grateful to learn the "writing with my finger" trick. Then again, I remember places and directions even years later quite naturally.

A memory trick I once learned (for remember names or phone numbers, for example) is to write the item with your finger on a roughish surface like your pants 3 times. This often works for me.

There have been studies (like this one) that seem to show that writing something down by hand reinforces learning. I'm surprised the author didn't think this might be relevant.

This is true. Microsoft creating such a UI and putting it on computers with a mouse and keyboard (and no touchscreen) is the cause of most Windows 8 angst that I've personally observed. You do eventually figure your way around, and 8.1 looks like it will address this.

I have a co-worker who's happy with his Windows 8 tablet. It seems intuitive and powerful. But it's also expensive.

There are a couple of applications I'd like on a tablet that are only available for Windows (non-RT) and OS X. They are not available for iOS, Android, or Windows RT. Hence my pondering about OS X on a tablet.

Yes.

I'd gladly purchase a Surface Pro (with Real Windows) for a little more than the price they're now charging for the ones with RT. But $900? No, thank you.

I'd rather have Android or iOS than Windows RT, if I'm buying a tablet that can't run Windows apps.

On a related note: 'Wonder why Apple doesn't try a tablet with OS X for a bit more than an iPad?

BWAHAHA! Keystone Cops outsourcing their "job" to high school students.

Come to think of it, the valets might be *more* qualified...

They can do that already. Without giving you notice. Without the TSA telling them to do anything.

The news isn't that valets have access to your car. The news is that the TSA is having them search it.

Ok, yes they are. But they certainly are not scantily clad. The one on the right might be attempting a provocative stance. Or she just stands that way.

'Wonder what the funky eye makeup is supposed to mean?

I may as well fess up: I've never really liked trade shows. I don't "get" them. I haven't been to one in several years. Maybe it's because my Live-In Booth Babe for the last 22 years is also my best friend and I'd rather go for a hike with her.

So, any takers on the eye makeup?

Ok, Off-Topic, and I feel awful for that.

Julia Gillard looks a lot like Jodie Foster in the picture on her Wikipedia page, IMHO.

That really is all I had to say.

My first "real" job as a software developer was writing PDP-8 assembler. We had a set of assembler macros that did a lot of the repetitive stuff. Originally, it all ran on actual PDP-8s, then we migrated to a microprocessor that ran the same instruction set.

Ah for the days when you could actually remember all of the instructions (and not just the mnemonics, either) your processor knew. :)

I've taken classes in Basic, C++, Java, other languages. I've read "exceptional" and "effective" and other books to improve my craft over the years.

But building from the ground up in an introduction to digital logic class way back in 1978 still had the most profound impact on my ability to know what's happening in a computer and on my ability to understand what's really going on "under the hood", even 35 years later.

It literally started with diodes and transistors. Building 'and' and 'or' and 'nor' (and...) gates. Hooking them together to make a flip flop. Then taking pre-built gates and making a counter. On to a simple cpu (that only knew a couple of 'instructions', IIRC). When I built an 8080 based computer, I actually knew how it worked. There has always been something comforting knowing that, deep down inside even the most powerful processors, it's still just a bunch (ok, a WHOLE LOT) of gates.

Unless this whole quantum thing gets properly defined and implemented and catches on. Maybe I'll get to start over.

Just curious - since the continental drift we acknowledge is about a cm per year, and we're all floating anyway, could this also be seen as a drift of the whole surface? I.e.: Could it be that the poles are actually stationary and the surface as a whole (as opposed to continents drifting relative to each other) moves?

I stopped reading reddit, so maybe they linked to it, too. I guess I was a little surprised that this would happen, given that we Linux people remain somewhat of a niche.