Do we change our coding habits to use any of this new-found capability?
No. We insist on scrunching our code in the left-hand column.
We shrink tabs from 8 to 4 or even 2 spaces.
We use carriage returns like crazy.

I did none of those things during my coding days. I always got lauded for the readability of my code and I credit the fact that I actually ignored inane coding guidelines like 80 chars per line, etc...

It's coding guidelines that often impose this crap and those annoy the shit out of me.

You journal was unreadable, by the way, but I guess that was on purpose. So I stopped reading until the quoted text.

Judging by the number of people still running on antiquated WinXP machines,

WinXP is not antiquated, it's mature.

Forget my comment... Within the context of the parent poster (which I didn't see), your comment makes sense and says the same I said.

My excuses.

Seriously, when was the last time your CPU died? Last time for me was years ago, when one of my Athlon MPs fans got stuck and it overheated. That's because Athlon XP/MP had no thermal protection. All modern AMD CPUs do, and Intels have had it since the Pentium Pro days (if not earlier, but I had our PPro overheat because of a defective fan, and after replacing the fan it worked fine again.

As for the fileserver/Media PC example, I wonder why you'd ever want to shell out $300 for such a thing. The Atom offerings are more than enough for doing that (For a mere fileserver, it's overkill: I use a Soekris net5501-70 for that.) Take an Atom 330 with an ION chipset or go for an Atom D5xx (You'll have to look, not all come with DVI/HDMI) and you're set for $150 given your requirements. If it breaks, and it won't unless you have a lemon, replacing it won't be expensive at all.

Oh, and in your scenario, you could just as well buy an older CPU for very cheap. CPUs for older sockets are still being sold. You want a 775-socket CPU? No problem! It's been out since July 2006 and you can still buy CPUs and they're cheap. So for just repairing the situation, shell out the minimum and be happy again for the next 3 years... until the CPU burns out again (unlikely). In that time, yet aside $10 per month for a future replacement, and you'll have a grand total of $360 to spend on new gear...

The problem with your scenario is that you want to use the "broken PC" situation as an excuse to upgrade. However, from the scenario, what is important is that you get the machine back up and running, ASAP so that the incoming visit can watch movies with you. Get your priorities right, and the scenario has only one valid solution: replace CPU with cheap replacement and get on with business.

Indeed, if you want "weird" stuff or make a machine from old parts and new parts, ASRock has some nifty options. My primary desktop is now based upon ASRock 939A785GMH/128M, which enabled me to re-use a Socket 939 Athlon 64 X2, which I removed from a computer with a broken motherboard, and 4x1GB DDR RAM (Removed from two other older computers), supports SATA-II, including an eSATA port and has an acceptable integrated graphics solution. The board was relatively expensive (~80€), but since it's the only part I had to buy, it was a great upgrade for an unbeatable price.

I admit, it isn't one of their most exotic boards, but it suited my needs perfectly.

Absolutely agree... (So, yes, that's part of "setting up computers", IMHO)

Only if you suck at setting up computers....

Absolutely, that one was the best April Fools of all times IMHO.

I was waiting for the 1st April Slashdot article.

Haven't seen anything weird today. Sure the occasional "must be aprils fools" article, but even that seems to be limited. (Status: 13h26CEST... )

Yes, it does... Because the stereotype is that we don't pay any taxes. I can assure you that's not true: we provide safe haven for tax dodgers (and even that's waning), but citizens pay taxes. The initial income tax isn't high, but they come at the end of the year and when you earn enough you pay through the nose. As a matter of fact, combined income of me and my wife results in us paying my net salary every three months in "advances"... Knowing them, I'm pretty sure that at the end of the year they'll still be hungry for more. Do note that it makes extremely hard to budget things, if you don't really know what you earn per month, as you can't really foresee the "surprise" at the end of the year. I'd rather be taxed more heavily initially on my income.

Luxembourgish taxes: Good for foreigners and people with a mortgage and lots of kids...

I'm well aware the stereotype exists... If I'd get 1€ for every time someone told me I don't pay taxes, I'd.... well... pay even more taxes, I guess :-(

For the record: I was born Belgian and have a lot of friends and family over there. I took the Luxembourgish nationality around ten years ago. I know of first hand experience that the Belgian national sport is tax dodging, and "black money" is way too common. Belgians admit that openly, though... Well unless he's talking to a tax inspector of course :-p

Sure, investing your black money... since we know all Belgians are tax dodgers with illegal incomes.

Here in Luxembourg, some gas stations have queues every damned weekend from non locals filling up. While I have a gas guzzler (~9l/100km to 7.5l/100km... it's a 11 year old car by now, which I bought new back in the day. It suits my needs and I see no reason replacing it with something new, even if it would be more economical... Breaking even would take years), I would applaud if they matched gas prices in neighbouring countries.

As a matter of fact, this is one of the places where the EU should step in and harmonize the prices and taxation over the whole EU.

Let's hang the landlords. All of them. All proper revolutions start that way, with good reason.

Pray please? How about overgeneralising? My dad happens to be a landlord, well, he used to be. He bought apartments for his kids and he rented them out during the time we didn't need them (yet). He ALWAYS made sure that the tenants had everything they needed (something broke, he was there immediately), and the rents were below market rate. The apartment themselves, were in a good neighborhood, close to public transport, with private parking and in vicinity of a supermarket, post office, schools, pharmacy, several restaurants, and all that kind of stuff. Not cheap... Market rate would be 1300€/month cold.

Several reasons, he liked to help young families, who were able to save up a bit more and hence eventually buy their own thing quicker (which many did!). He's too kind hearted sometimes :-P. He knew that if he made money on the apartments he would have to pay exorbitant taxes on the income generated by them. So basically, he let them pay off the loan, minus a certain amount, which he chipped in and then could declare to the taxman that he was in debt and earned nothing on it.

Not all landlords are evil. Mine, being my dad, asks me nothing as rent, except that I have to put the rent I would have paid aside for eventual future use. (Which might be coming soon!)

It again boils down to the fact that real estate should be bought for the real estate itself and not for making money.

Your post is overflowing with puns.