Those who love sausage and respect the law shouldn't watch either being made.

One of the more eye-opening things that came up in the article was how the earnings from superhero movies have overtaken the earnings from comics -- i.e. the Avenger's movie alone making more money than the entire comic book industry. So the question becomes, why even do comics anymore? Why not just let them wither away and focus on the movies?

I think that would be a huge mistake. Comic books are actually a great proving ground for fantastic stories. Because they are relatively cheap to produce, because the market is smaller, because they can afford to experiment and fail -- the comic books are a perfect incubator for ideas, stories and characters. Once you have a hit graphic novel, then it becomes much more viable to gamble the vast sums of money on a big-budget action-and-effects movie.

Of course we've had novels made into movies (and the converse) for many decades, but I think the comic book medium is a better fit than a written novel. The pacing and the visual nature of it translates much better. I'd even go so far as to suggest that this could work with other genres than superheroes. Maybe the movie studios should open their own comic book brands and get into doing sci-fi comics, horror comics, fantasy comics, and so forth -- not because there's a lot of money in selling them, but more because it's a great (and affordable) way to develop properties for the screen.

"Some people are actually ripping vinyl because some labels are releasing vinyl with more dynamic mastering."

I've seen this. The last few Rush CDs were sonically crushed. I just got their latest (Clockwork Angels) on vinyl, and the dynamic range is practically back to 1980s levels. I also got The Cult's Choice of Weapon (a nifty set with one full LP plus a 12-inch 45-RPM EP on white vinyl) which is a bit compressed, but definitely not crushed. It's faintly ridiculous that LPs are becoming the premium format, even though I'm quite sure that CDs can sound better when mastered properly -- but okay, at least it's possible to get my hands on a non-crushed version of the recording. I'll take it.

Remember when Microsoft ruled the world because they left the dirty, competitive, low-profit-margin work of making actual hardware to other companies? Remember when "beleaguered Apple" was going broke because they still foolishly insisted on making computers instead of licensing their OS to cloners? Remember when mighty IBM fled from the PC business because they just couldn't make it pay?

I'm puzzled over how and why everything now tilts the other way. What changed in the world around us?

The scientific method as I was taught...

        observe a phenomenon
        repeat
                devise a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon
                test the hypothesis
        until( the hypothesis is proven )
        adopt the proven hypothesis as theory

What sometimes happens...

        observe a phenomenon
        repeat
                disregard or explain away the phenomenon
        until( it just can't be ignored any more )
        repeat
                repeat
                        devise a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon
                        attack the credibility of the researcher who proposed the hypothesis
                until( everyone fears even being associated with this field of study )
        until( all the old guys have died off )
        repeat
                devise a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon
                test the hypothesis
        until( the hypothesis is proven )
        adopt the proven hypothesis as theory

It's easy to make fun of a plan that you don't understand (and apparently can't be bothered to research).

As I understand it, the idea is to lower the barriers to entry for budding programmers -- making it cheaper and more convenient. In their interviews Eben Upton and David Braben have gone into considerable detail about how this device can lower both the financial hurdles and the inconveniences (or "energy barrier") that discourage some from ever taking those first steps in programming.

No it's not going to magically addict them to an activity that they otherwise had no interest in, but it could reach those (relatively) few kids who were already interested and give them an easy path. The Raspberry Pi folks said if they get 1000 kids into a programming career path, it'll be a success. With several hundred thousand units already pre-ordered, and with developers working on the software and educational materials, I think that goal should be easy to hit.

I figure most of my needs are well covered with C, Objective-C and Python.

I once tried to learn C++ and it nearly crushed my brain. Maybe it was just a bad introduction, I dunno. I was trying to pick up OOP concepts at the same time, and my textbook offered lots of unfamiliar jargon, not much explanation. I've managed to avoid C++ ever since, and hope I can do so for a long time to come.

As for C#, all I know is that it's something that came out of the Evil Empire, so I can't see any reason to get interested.

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help thinking of this bit...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOi3StWmG7A

My sources inform me that there are still some individuals in England, in certain circles, who actually talk like this.

I'm no crazy artist, and I doubt my mundane snapshots will sway anybody (and I'm still eagerly waiting for my Lytro to show up).... I do think it will be important to consider the whole package, not just the lightfield refocusing aspect. You have to consider the square frame and relatively low definitioin -- and the unsuitability of cropping and editing. You have to consider the instant shutter snap, with no focus delay. It's a snapshot camera, like the old SX-70. Use it that way! It'll definitely be a different experience and viewpoint from shooting with a DSLR, and fill a different role.

I do think that the Lytro technology won't reach its potential until sensors get better. DSLRs are not crying out for more sensor density. The Lytro is!

I miss the way the Amiga handled its display and managed "custom screens" (and later "public screens" too). Amiga screens represented a middle ground between forcing apps to live only in windows or giving one app total control of the monitor (as games typically do today).

You could have multiple apps running full-screen (each with its own resolution and color depth!) and switch between them in an easy-and-standardized way, and even slide a screen downward to partially reveal the one behind. I understand the next Mac OS will have increased support for full-screen apps, but it seems like even Apple have been slowly, timidly groping their way towards what the Amiga had since 1985.

And while I'm at it. . . . It irks me that Mac OS apps sometimes grab the input focus away from the app I'm using, sometimes even when I'm in the middle of typing. Amiga OS never ever did that, and it drives me bonkers when it happens. Hey Apple, when are you gonna finally figure out this newfangled "multi-tasking" OS?

I get the feeling that some of us aren't clear on exactly what he meant by "managing" our computers. So here's my take. . .

* installing programs
* launching and closing programs
* figuring out where to store files
* finding files

And that's without even getting into stuff like antivirus or keeping backups, managing user accounts, etc. I suspect his real complaint is about things so basic that most of us don't even think about, because that's the way computers have always worked. It's the whole applications-and-files model that he's going after.

What mistake? Would it have made more sense to go around randomly upgrading neighborhoods years ago when it wasn't yet clear that electric cars were going to reach the market in any significant numbers??

". . .and for some reason the power companies are proclaiming that the sky is falling."

No. They aren't claiming that at all, as you would know if you had taken a minute to peek at TFA instead of Slashdot's Drudge-like sensationalist yellow journalism summary.

"So the problem for the electric companies then is what, again?"

The "problem" for electric companies is that this could increase their business volume a lot, and they want to be on top of the curve instead of caught behind it. It's not a bad problem to have. It's sort of like having a baby. . . It's exciting and you know it's going to be a wonderful thing, but there's also going to be some learning experiences and some messes to clean up along the way.

I've read that story before, and it's very neat. It's just too bad there's so little truth to it. Here's an example where it really falls apart: "As the railroads were built they were built using the same standard width of all the wagons since the tools had been standardized to that width." Anybody with casual knowledge of railway history should remember the crazy profusion of different -- widely varying -- gauge standards in the early days.