Listen, you have every fucker on Earth gunning for Vista to "prove" how stupid Microsoft is and what not - so you HAVE to build an OS to fight that horse shit. In the meantime, OS X and Linux developers are sitting back being arrogant that no one can break them. (Riiiight.) Meaning, they are NOT doing anything as proactive as MS in fighting hackers. At least I've never seen it.

No sir, my money IS on Vista.

Yep, go ahead and mod me down. I firmly believe what I just said and I REFUSE to to say something else just to appease the goddamn MS haters here.

I don't doubt that. I'm just saying, it's really hard for some of us now.

How old are you? I'm in my mid-forties and I've been having a horrible time. It's all about recent experience in - long list of tech.

I almost became an accountant. I really really wish I did.

How do you move when all you've ever done was code? Employers just see "coder" on our resume.

BTW, are all of those folks you know below 40 years of age? That was a rhetorical question.

Please! The metal and parts were bought at Best Buy! The clerk promised that it will be protected for the whole 10,000 years! How can they lose!

Does it run .... wood?

Ha!

You thought "Linux" - didn't you?!?!

Aside from very specialized work or defense contracting, I think that's becoming true of all coding. More and more of it, especially the business development is going overseas or is being replaced by newer types of technology - see BPEL. Who needs a programmer when the accounting department can just draw their process and have something implement it.

And as far as those tools are concerned, you have the very rare CS person design those things and then have the overseas guys code that thing. Even then, all those CS folks that the developing countries are paying to be trained out of the tax dollars, will be able to design and develop their own systems cutting out us in the developed World. India is constantly weeding out the "dumb" folks and sending the smart ones to IIT or over here to study. Which means those of us who are average will be SOL.

There's no more room for average or above average folks anymore in the Globalized World. You are either exceptional or you're working at Walmart. I think the skilled trades are going to have a renaissance in popularity in a few years - that will be one of the few places where a young person will have a future. No wonder parents today are so concerned about their kids and hover around them!

Yes, I am extremely pessimistic about our futures.

With all the WYSIWYG web authoring tools out there and CMS systems, does anyone still sit down and actually write HTML anymore?

I still do because I'm too cheap to buy software and too lazy to look for a F/OSS package.

But really, in a production (i.e. being paid to do it) environment actually code by hand??

It turns everyone gay?

You forgot to add that the money that the banks has is from depositors. Yes, some of those deposits are money from loans. But many of those deposits are from folks who actually saved their money.

No wonder folks hate the Fed - they have no idea what it does.

I heard cocaine will do that to you.

Dick Cheney, I thought you have better things to do now that you're out of office.

But, kudos for giving up the blood of puppies!

Or, we just call it what the old timers originally called it: time sharing.

It fits. Just because it's over the internet as opposed to dedicated lines, I don't see why we need new terminology for basically the same thing.

Exactly. The same goes for traditional cell service. Why just the other day, I was in the grocery store and someone was yacking away about some big business deal in the bread isle. I sat there "shopping" while this guy was talking about financing, etc, etc, etc...

Then, I moved over to the soda isle, this young chicky apparently was having boyfriend troubles and I offered to help but she got all indignant and looks at me like I was a perv or something.

Then, over in the fish isle, this middle aged guy was trying to figure out if he should get the Salmon or the Trout and asking his wife, I think, which should he get. I told him the Trout. Great stuff. Again the funny looks! I don't get it?

The bread isle, this person was pushing their cart talking away and I answered - god I hate those blue tooths! Same thing - weird looks!

I won't tell you about the guy on the street talking really loudly but without and Bluetooth or Cell - he asked me for money.

What was this again about privacy and phone calls? I forgot what we're talking about.

So, in the case of a jet engine or any other gas turbine, the gas is considered to be a liquid?

In my design, I would use very flatulent mind controlled hamsters. Hamsters that are fed beans and drink Guinness beer exclusively. Granted, it smells horrible but I don't have a mince up the hamsters as the parent does. The hamsters would fart into the gas turbine, and considering the methane component of said fart, would ignite.

Unfortunately, industry will stick their noses in when regulations are being written. Wonder why the FDA doesn't have many warning about the mercury in Tuna whereas private consumer groups do?

Let's just say, legally this would be considered hearsay, but it was said that the Tuna industry was literally looking over the FDA'a shoulder when those regs were written.

So, even then, Government is too easily corrupted. Unfortunately, I don't have a better idea.