Speaking of stealth games, Slashdot recently had an article on, The Dark Mod, which has totally sucked me in, as much to play, as create thieving missions (of which there are over 70 already, averaging a couple released monthly), which is kind of like a puzzle in itself, figuring out the best way to implement your desired game-play elements.

I had a similar issue with my phone (top of the line back in 2005), battery lasting less than fourteen hours some days (more roaming searching) and bulging. Got a brand new battery on eBay for a few dollars with free shipping, hopefully good for another decade or so.

Expectations, not entitlement.

If you provide a service and lead people to believe they'll be able to use it, then yes, they'll be upset if you pull it out from under them (free or not, the free is irrelevant). That's not entitlement, that's having been deceived.

If you provide a service and indicate at some point of time it'll be discontinued/rates raised, informed folks will expect it and be fine. Ignorant folks will be upset initially.

If I'm a paying customer, who is aware you have treated users of your free service to no notice, I expect you'll treat me the same way at some point, and will invest in finding another supplier, because a contract limiting your bad behavior requires going after you when you breach it.

Past behavior is the best indicator of future actions and values.

Hear, hear. Although I'd not have said it was imaginary as much as a label for a measuring system. Saying "time travel" is as nonsensical as saying "metric travel" or "quantity travel".

Interestingly, there is a culture/language without time. No words for year or yesterday, grandparents were "respected". The people were able to understand the premise if taught the concept of time measurements, but had functioned (and may well still function) quite well never using the system or even being aware of it.

They used to offer the core functionality, without all the extra clutter and crap the regular version had. Mobile websites were quicker to load. Then mobile exploded in the marketplace, more companies started paying more attention to their mobile presence, and now often the mobile sites are no better than the web versions.

Either are improved by focusing on functionality first.

Trust.

It's earned from open communication, then living up to your word. No disclosure, no trust, no investment.

As an employee, my next question would be, if they aren't communicating with their most valuable assets (customers), what aren't they communicating with their next most valuable assets (staff)?

Business will help you no matter what you get in to. It's worthwhile, but if you don't care about it, you won't invest yourself in it and really appreciate it.

Sales/marketing takes more natural ability than book teaching in my experience. Here you REALLY have to have a desire for it, or you get burned out quickly and hate your job.

Starting your own business requires some level of knowledge of both, as well as finance/economics, or complementing your team with those knowledgeable/trustworthy where you lack.

So you have figured out what you are currently doing isn't your passion, now figure out what IS your passion. The only reason I was happy with the career I've had is because the day to day job I enjoyed, in all aspects of my career, including current. Explore other venues, talk to friends, see what excites you, then pursue what permits you to be involved in that.

(I've managed multiple businesses, owned a tiny company [short-lived], then worked for others in creative fields, now manage property investments and wear multiple hats, none of which required even my high school diploma, heh.)

The other trick is to find something fulfilling that capitalizes on skills you have in other ways. Also, ask friends what they see you possibly doing other than what you are doing. I encouraged a friend to become a childrens' librarian over a decade ago, she's been enjoying that work ever since. Another friend is in the process of transitioning his career to reselling/auctioning, totally up his alley.

PS: Networking is required/a given in all options, to various degrees, so it's not a separate consideration.

Coed, "There I was giving this bloke a blowie out back when WHAM, I get knocked out by an economics text...what are they suggesting?"

Odd, in my state it worked fine...no, wait a minute, it's only Oct. 4th, who in their right mind with technical savvy or experience would access such a new product in the first week of it's availability?

I live in one of the most population dense states. My current health insurance is paid up through the end of the month. I won't be accessing the exchange for three weeks yet because everything in the article is obvious, but even if implemented within the time constraints to the best of their ability, will still probably have issues in the first few days.

Duh.

Either way, the part that cracks me up, is the NSA was outed, but Euro countries have been doing the same thing, China has been actively attacking, aside from presumably passively monitoring traffic, any country would be foolish to not use the resource available to them...which means specifying routing just means you are choosing who listens in on you, and their friends, and the company the NSA sets up there.

That fails cost/benefit analysis.

The virtual world of Second Life was inspired from an attendance of the Burning Man festival.

Why would nerds want to socialize with other nerds and creative people and others? To be inspired, to network, to create, to pursue their desires, to recreate, to experience life, to [i]fill in the blank[/i].

Most folks I've met who knew what the Burning Man festival was have been nerds. Who else would engineer the various contraptions that Burning Man features/celebrates? Ever see an overhead shot of the geometrical layout of the city?

Many nerds don't hate others, or even their comments.

In this case, they explicitly say not to strike, but to use the preexisting system rather than the fingerprint scanners.

They might lose luggage more if it results in others paying to promote their brand name! Folks down the road won't remember why BA is in the forefront of their subconscious when they go to purchase tickets... Smart of Jet Blue to try to get in on the attention too.

This is one of the big problems with trying to warn folks off bad service, you really need to promote every company save the one you aren't a fan of or it just ends up good for them in the long run.

Destroy it, heck no! Think of the possibilities? Teen girls could prevent their boyfriend(s) from texting anyone other than them. Enemies can disable one's fav game or pr0n access. In the midst of a test, mysteriously cheat notes aren't accessible. The kids who hack this stand to make lotsa' cash, or gain sexual favors, or whatever kids want nowadays...Adderall.

No worries, it'll never hit the market, the summary says MS is seeking a patent for it. Of course, the government might realize granting a patent means preventing this tech from becoming available, but probably too late. ;-)