Yes, but a relevant fix on a kernel driver doesn't make you any money at all, whereas some shitty iOS fleshlight app can make you rich and famous. Just ask the guys at Rovio. This is one of the fundamental problems. Programmers have to make ends meet too, and there's apparently no shortage of fools willing to spend money on some stupid iOS/Android app.

I wonder if, "a few years ago" as you put it, the smart people working on some product in Linux distros were still young, in college, and didn't have many bills to worry about. Nowadays, they've gotten older, are married, have more expenses, etc., so they've had to concentrate on jobs which earn them money. Also, it does seem to me that the cost of living has risen greatly in the US in the last 15 years, largely thanks to the housing bubble. Back when I was in college in the 90s, it was easy to find a nice apartment for $400, or share an apartment for $200, and gas was $1/gallon. Now gas is $4/gallon and you're looking at a minimum of $1200/month to rent anything decent; you might get something for $600 if you rent a room in someone's basement and get a PO box because your landlord refuses to let you have your name associated with the address and receive mail there.

If the terrorists really wanted to change things in America, they should blow up Congress. The American people wouldn't mind much since everyone here hates Congress, and there wouldn't be any collateral damage (except maybe aides, but they're really minions of the Congresscritters anyway).

Unfortunately, the security there is probably pretty good actually; it's a lot easier to go after civilian targets.

Yeah, no. You can't enumerate every permutation of every weapon imaginable. At some point, you have to expect an adult to assess a new situation using generally acceptable principals to reach a reasonable conclusion.

Ask a random guy on the street whether Scala is a declarative language and you should expect a random distribution. Ask him whether a disassembled rifle is a weapon and you should expect a solid "yes". You shouldn't need to train on that.

Also, this guy was a dumbass.

You're a little behind the times, that stopped eighteen years ago when PWORA was passed and AFDC abolished.

These days slaves are made with "right to work" laws and strict limits on the extent of the safety net.

I gained my freedom this past February. YAY! Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, I'm free at last!

Indeed, B&N is cheaper and ships faster and carries more books. And your public library is free.

And if you're going to buy a book, buy one of mine!

How many people still use Rios/Zunes/old CD players/etc.? Old iPods (unless they're reeeaalllly old) use the standard Apple connector that was only recently superceded for the iPhone5.

A little harsh but dead accurate. They're not legally obligated to sue the grieving parents. They could even draw up a contract and sell them limited rights to have this one statue in perpetuity for a dollar, or some such. For PR reasons, the DC rep could even donate the dollar to the rights purchaser.

There are many ways DC could do this, legally and protected, without being asswipes. They chose "fuck 'em; none of the above".

That, or they could be normal decent non-fuckhead humans and let a little boy have a grave that looks like the hero he wanted to be. I prefer that option.

How many people actually have dead devices at the TSA line? Definitely not 100%.

Those numbers are somewhat misleading. The big problem is that they don't show the number of passenger-miles traveled per year; this number has risen greatly over the decades. Everyone (in the US) flies these days; back in 1970, only richer people took planes anywhere, or when others did, it was a rare event because it was so expensive.

Also, since this is about American airport security, these numbers are misleading since they show ALL accidents worldwide. There's a lot more air travel internationally than there used to be, as the standards of living rise in developing nations (and everywhere really). Accidents in Malaysia or Brazil by airlines which don't even operate within the US don't really worry Americans much, it's accidents on our own planes in our own country that are concerning.

You don't need hundreds of wall-warts and cables. Lots of hotels have all-in-one cellphone charging stations (and so do lots of airports, just not near TSA lines). There aren't that many cellphone cables, especially now that everyone except stupid Apple has standardized on the microUSB plug. MiniUSB, MicroUSB, and a couple of Apple connectors would work for probably every phone made in the last 8 years that anyone still uses. For laptops, all you need to do is provide electrical outlets, since everyone carries around their charger. One of the $10 universal international power adapters will allow international travelers to use their chargers if they didn't bring a US power cord (every charger operates on 110V-240V, the only problem is the physical plug).

So all the TSA would have to do is provide about $30 worth of extension cords and adapters. Of course, knowing how inept Obama is with everything, that won't happen.

Nope, it is really, REALLY important to run TSA badly and punish innocent people - so they will NOT be providing an electrical plug to allow you to save your $700 phone or $1,500 laptop.

Thanks, Obama!!