You know, for a perfectionist, you sure did a lousy job understanding what the story was about before writing your little rant about how you couldn't cut it as a software developer.

To follow up my previous comment, an example of a program started with good intentions that has made things worse would be the DHS or any of its agencies (esp. TSA).

The Post Office is only bankrupt because of the internet. Medicare and Social Security are losing money because of improvements in life expectancy. The fact that government programs are not keeping up with technological advances is not a fault of the program per se, but rather of subsequent generations of legislators inaction in updating the program. Amtrak was created precisely because existing passenger rail programs were going bankrupt. Its intent all along has been socialized train travel. Plus, you'd be hard pressed to argue mail delivery is worse now than it was before the creation of the post office, or that retirement for Americans is worse now than it was before Social Security and Medicare.

I am dumbfounded by HP's decision-making here. "What we discovered is that people were not bothered by it [an advertisement]," Nigro said. "Part of it I think our belief is you're used to it. You're used to seeing things with ads."

That sounds like a ringing endorsement for the printer. "Buy our printer! It will make you feel all warm and cozy because it has ads, like everything else in your life!" Ugh. It's appalling.

Doctors are notoriously stubborn and arrogant about their abilities, and they refuse to believe that a significant share of medical practice can be routinized to be performed by much lower skilled and educated people. From simple hand washing to using checklists, doctors have steadfastly resisted any change that implies they could be doing their job better, or that someone with less training could do the same job.

Nobody is suggesting the smartphone perform open heart surgery, but if it can use image recognition on a rash to tell you to try calamine lotion before going to see a dermatologist, that can save everyone a lot of time and money. Or, to use a personal example, after I fell on my shoulder, it could guide me through a series of tests (of the type "does it hurt when you do X?") and suggest I may have an AC joint separation and I should see an orthopedist. In the last example, I was originally diagnosed over the phone (by a non-orthopedist doctor) after exactly that experience. The default choice in a case such as mine would be to go to the ER. That would have turned out to be an inefficient and expensive choice and wasted a lot of people's time.

Hey wait a minute. Who installed Microsoft software in the first place? Clearly it's the users and admins who put the systems at risk, not Microsoft!

First, who are you talking to? Second, we have already seen an appreciable rise in sea levels over the last century. Third, even the IPCC estimates tens of millions of displaced persons from low-lying coastal areas by 2050 at current rates. And fourth, you seem to have forgotten about Greenland and mountain ice caps as significant sources of land-based ice. Regardless, most sea level rise is due to thermal expansion of the oceans, not ice melt.

The biggest problem is you can't drive a car within a few hundred yards of the front door. Unloading groceries must be a pain in the ass!

In his defense, the submitter concludes that F-Spot needed to be replaced for everyone because it crashed when he used it.

Wait, since these bulbs also give off light, if you use the light from the solar-charged bulb to charge more bulbs, you can then use those bulbs when the first one goes out, and use the second round of bulbs to re-charge the first round, ad infinitum! Suck on that von Mayer!

If they had a big sign on their street view vans that said "All your data are belong to us", that would be good enough for everyone currently complaining? I doubt it. So why would it be good enough if they post something anywhere on their websites that says the same thing? It's not like people are agreeing to some terms-of-service with Google when they buy their house!

Great idea. Then let's see them defend their news search from lawsuits claiming they are re-publishing copyrighted material without permission.

Do some research and get good estimates of what people doing your job(s) in the area earn. Figure out how much you are worth based on how much time you spend doing each of these jobs and sit down with the person who has the power to give you the raise you deserve and present your case. You'd be surprised how willing most bosses are to give you a small bump to keep you happy, especially if they know you are being overworked. On the other hand, if this company is going through budget cuts and layoffs and can't afford to hire the right people for the job, you might be better off keeping your mouth shut, updating your resume, and shopping for a new job.

There's a major flaw in your idea: Nobody has made any money investing for the long term in more than a decade. Well, except maybe Warren Buffett. The stock market is trading at levels seen in the 1990s.

RTFS. As long as the transaction costs are less than 1% of the transaction, it will be making a profit.