I think the same should be true for the software field.

When that happens, we'll know for sure that the field is completely brain-dead.

The majority of so-called "professions" that require certifications do so precisely because they require no particularly rare skills, therefore they need further barriers to entry to protect the incumbents from competition. In the case of software, you can usually find out very quickly who's a bullshitter.

Yeah, if in the course of getting the government off our backs, we have to radically refashion or abandon copyright, fine. That's an egg I don't mind breaking in order to enjoy my omelette.

It's called the shell game.

Usability is all about making the device simple for someone with limited knowledge or experience to use.

Better to say that it's about making easy tasks easy, and difficult tasks possible. Not original, but very much in line with my experience.

In some contexts, all you have is a population of power users. Their usability requirements are not the same as those of naive users of a mass consumer item. Horses for courses, that's the ticket.

I'm glad that they've finally been so blinded by their greed that they are finally attacking people who can afford to fight back.

No, what we're seeing is a law that originates in a deep-seated fear of sexuality and the belief that legislation can control it. It's not about preventing victimization of children: it's about preventing sexual expression. Just control for its own sake. This can be seen by the inane overreaching of these poorly-formulated laws.

The whole hijab controversy in Europe was just inept marketing. It should have been called an "anti-sexual-harassment women's self-defense garment," then many European and American feminists of the uncritical kind would have embraced it.

The U.S. government has NO money.

You don't understand much about fiscal policy, do you? Or for that matter the government's role in manipulating the money supply.