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Comment Re:Seconded (Score 3, Insightful) 306

I agree. I think the current "future" is Single Page Applications with HTML and Javascript (subject to change at a moment's notice).....whether it's Angular or Knockout based, SPA apps seem to be the way to go (for now). It's probably the closest we've come to the write once / run anywhere......it works on the desktop and on the device, doesn't require anything other than a decent browser, and requires very little infrastructure (a basic web server).

Comment Re:Practical application is the only way (Score 2) 306

This, but also get a mentor. I more or less took a guy through this type of exercise and had him rewrite the same application four times to teach various concepts. But by being his mentor, he was able to grok the design considerations of the new technology to even know what to look up......

Rewriting an app the same way you always have but in a new platform doesn't teach you the best practices and new approaches. And not having the knowledge or experience to know the better ways makes it really hard to search for them. A mentor's job is to point you in the right direction.

The Almighty Buck

Silicon Valley Billionaire Takes Out $201 Million Life Insurance Policy 300

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "The Mercury News reports that somewhere in Silicon Valley, a 'mystery billionaire' has bought what the Guinness Book of World Records says is the most valuable life insurance policy in history — a policy that will pay his survivors a cool $201 million. Was it Larry Ellison? Eric Schmidt? Elon Musk? Zuck? Nobody knows because the name of the buyer is a closely guarded secret. 'We don't want hit men running around Palo Alto trying to find him — or members of his own estate,' joked Dovi Frances, the Southern California financial services provider who sold the policy. By last count, California boasts 111 billionaires with more than a third of them in tech, while San Francisco has 20 billionaires alone so it could be any of them. But why does a billionaire even need to take out life insurance when he or she has so many other assets. The most likely answer to this question is taxes and estate planning.

Upon death, an estate would be liable to pay off loans on any leveraged properties, plus a lot of money as part of the death taxes owed. This could force the estate to liquidate holdings to raise the money to pay off these liabilities even if it weren't the most opportune time to sell the assets. By taking out the life insurance policy, it would give the estate more flexibility in paying off the taxes and other debts owed, without necessarily having to sell assets to do so. 'In California, there are state death taxes that are exceptionally high (45 percent),' says Frances adding that the policy is actually a combination of more than two dozen policies, underwritten by 19 different insurers because if any single company had to pay out such a lavish benefit, it could be crippling. 'If your properties are leveraged then those loans are called immediately and need to be paid off, you want to hedge yourself against such a risk so [your beneficiary] can receive the proceeds without being exposed to taxes.'"

Comment Re:US dollar (Score 1) 192

I'd argue that you really need a non-insignificant portion of the company to work harder. I used to work for a rather large company and received options and also participated in the stock purchase plan. But my little blip of ownership wasn't enough for me to work any harder than I already did. Sure, I liked it when options vested and/or the stock price went up.....but I looked at that as "vacation money" or "new toy money" and not as a reward for working harder. Had I received options in the realm of the executives, then sure, I would have worked hard to make sure they stock price was jumping by leaps and bounds.....but for us peons, it didn't make much difference.

Comment Re:US dollar (Score 1) 192

It is legal tender for those debts, but it isn't required that all debts accept it. Something that ISN'T legal tender for all debts is sex (in certain locales, others may allow it). You aren't legally allowed to pay for a debt with sex.

Comment Re:Other mobile OS? No, thanks (Score 1) 125

Go check out the Nokia 520. http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lu...

That's not a contract price, that's to buy it straight out. If you play with the phone, it's responsive and for the money, the specs aren't bad (5MP camera, dual-core 1Ghz CPU, etc.). There are apps that won't run on it, but most will. And it's the Nokia design. If you want to play around with Windows Phone development, it's a great dev phone.

Comment Re:Other mobile OS? No, thanks (Score 1) 125

Great performance on lesser hardware. Windows Phone is more responsive on comparable hardware than Android or iOS. If it's free to license, I think you'll see Windows Phone make a good run at the lower-end phone market......it already does fairly well there in Europe, we'll see what this does for their position in India.

Comment Re:How are those kind of things patentable? (Score 5, Insightful) 406

I've solved plenty of problems in novel ways. I've also solved problems based on a post I found on Stack Overflow.

My main complaint is that software patents don't reveal how to implement them. So I can't know whether I've devised a new and novel way of sliding to unlock or not. Software patents are akin to patenting "engines" and suing for billions when the rotary engine even though you invented the carburated combustion engine

Comment Re:so much hate (Score 1) 310

I've long been a proponent of the "fall back 30 minutes and leave it alone". Split the difference.

The thing that bugs me most about the time change is the nagging from my wife to adjust all of the clocks. And of course she wants them to PRETTY instead of being the self adjusting kind (women and their aesthetics....)

Censorship

Youtube and Facebook May Be Banned In Turkey, Again 57

Taco Cowboy writes "Istanbul (dpa) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is considering banning YouTube and Facebook after local elections at the end of this month, according to remarks carried by local media Friday. It may, or may not be related to the criticisms arising from (not-yet verified) leaked recordings of Mr. Erdogan's involvement with corruption. 'We will not let YouTube and Facebook destroy our nation. We will take measures, including closure,' said Erdogan, who has previously made comments against social media sites. YouTube had been banned in the country for two years and was recently unblocked."

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