I have a good anecdote for this. I recently installed a home theater with in-wall 5.1 surround sound speakers. I sat my 12 year old son down and played through some classic rock - Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc. At the end of the session he said, "I'm never going to listen to my ipod again."

I would agree that finding good torrents has gotten harder. I have also decided that my time is worth something. I am willing to pay a few dollars to watch a movie on amazon instant video or my cable service. While the quality isn't as good as DVD/BD it is good enough and about equal to most torrents. The thing about torrents is lack of consistency. There are also the bad rips, honeypots, etc.

"So long and thanks for all the fish."

The original RAZR was the best PHONE ever. I really miss it. I now have the RAZR M which is a fully functional smart phone that fits nicely in my pocket without looking like I'm smuggling contraband.

SharePoint - where documents go to die.

Are you kidding? The only thing /. hates more than Microsoft is Apple. So I guess if you are Apple fanboy you might see it that way. Oh... Never mind.

Whoa! You just gave me flashbacks of X / Motif coding. Time to curl up into a ball and suck my thumb until the bad thoughts go away.

In the 1990's I worked in a group of 50 brilliant engineers including a gaggle of Phds. The Phds were always good at coming up with ideas and writing papers, but couldn't code themselves out of a cardboard box. The rest of us got things done, producing software actually used by customers. We called ourselves the "rowers". Some of the smartest / capable engineers had bachelor degrees in Psychology and other unrelated fields.

I don't resent CS Phd's but I am guarded as to whether they can do real work in a timely manner.

All great points. It reminds me of a project I took over from an engineer that was leaving the company. He had created an overly complex design that didn't add much value. I implemented his design in part, while leaving out the superfluous parts. He was furious that I didn't implement exactly to his spec. Since he was on the way out, I politely told him to F off.

Regarding reuse, the rule of thumb is that any design that is alleged to be reusable can only make that claim after it has been used more than once. You really need 3+ instance of a reusable design to prove it is truly reusable.

KHAAANNNN!

At the risk of being pedantic, Daisy comes up later when Dave is in the process of disconnecting HAL.

The full conversation when Dave is outside the ship goes like this: (from imdb)
Dave Bowman: Hello, HAL. Do you read me, HAL?
HAL: Affirmative, Dave. I read you.
Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
Dave Bowman: What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL.
HAL: I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Bowman: [feigning ignorance] Where the hell did you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
Dave Bowman: Alright, HAL. I'll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave? You're going to find that rather difficult.
Dave Bowman: HAL, I won't argue with you anymore! Open the doors!
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

Open the pod bay doors HAL.

If you are looking for an FPS game, then the Half-Life series is #1 in my opinion and many others.

For turn-based strategy, Civilization V is the best.

For board games, Settlers of Catan is the greatest.

I just wasn't in the mood to bust out my hacker skills. I wanted to watch "The Matrix" with my son. Sometimes we need to find the path of least resistance.

Indeed! The DVD "experience" has made streaming adoption that much faster. When I moved to my new home, I didn't even hook up a DVD player. I figured I had a PC hooked to the TV, so that would serve the purpose. The other day my son wanted to watch The Matrix. After fighting with the PC and it's rejection of the DVD because I didn't have the right decoder, we gave up. I paid $4 to watch it on Amazon Instant Video. Sure it isn't as good as the DVD, but convenience won out.

Comcast can burn in hell. I really really hope the merger with TWC is blocked.