Somewhat OT, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of third-party sources to repair micro USB connectors. I don't know if it was a manufacturing issue, but the micro USB went on my Samsung & HTC at about the same time. For around $30 to $40 each, I was able to get them repaired.

As long as what you want isn't iSCSI, FCoE or 10gig either.

I'm waiting for someone to announce a rack mount kit for a tubular computer case. Actually, anyone who needs cheap computing horsepower probably isn't buying mac computers. These are targeted at the single-shingle video producers and others for whom a single "work station" is fine. At the high end, all of the disk is iSCSI or something similar so TB doesn't matter.

At least on the Prius once the car is running even if you move the key fob out of range, the car keeps running (actually a good safety feature as you wouldn't want the car to shutdown on a key fob failure.) On the Prius (and maybe other Toyotas), there is a metal key for mechanically unlocking the driver's side door and a electronic slot for starting the car. You can use the electronic slot if the key fob batter is completely dead so I suspect it's a passive NFC device. There is also a mode that you can disable the active detection feature and always have to use the dashboard slot. Other models probably have similar features.

Other than the looks, you don't really need the MBP sitting on your desk. You could use any commodity laptop to SSH into the server farm. Nothing wrong with the MBP, but overkill as a dumb terminal.

In the late 70's I worked on one of the original Crays and it had an option to specify a file deletion date (or retention time) when you created a file. The file would be automatically deleted (or maybe archived) at the appointed time. I've often thought that this would be useful in a desktop OS--when I create the file, specify that it should be deleted in 2 weeks. Same with email--it would be great if you could read an email and then indicate that its retention should be two weeks or one year... and then it would automatically disappear.

The approach proposed is that it teaches you a trade. The problem is that you will likely quickly cap out on salary and opportunity. Much like a plumber can get a license in a year or so and start making 30-50K... that's pretty much the max (unless you start your own business).

In the tech field, there is always another kid coming along with more current skills and willing to work at a starter salary.

Ideally, a college education teaches you how to learn... not merely a trade.

If you're looking to learn a trade, the 10-week "truck driver training school" approach might work.

Of course, there are the few rare exceptions where a non-college graduate has gone on to great things. But for the vast major of people a good solid education is more likely to equip them for a lifetime career than gambling on starting a hit business.

Although the original posted pointed out a handful of successful non-college graduates, I'm guessing that there are millions of non-college graduate failures that you've never heard of.

Actually the buggy whip business isn't dead, but has turned into a niche market. A quick google search revealed http://www.jedediahsbuggywhip.org/sales.nxg which goes after the accurate period reproduction whips and repairs and has been in business since 1851. A different company has gone after the modern market with LED buggy whips (for visibility at night). The advantage is that these stores can reach a national market from a centralized location (much like Netflix).

The real solution is to redefine the business using the existing customers as a base...video game rentals, snack food/beer with a side of video. But it's a pretty tough challenge in a saturated retail market with not a lot of IP other than a customer list, knowledge of movies and location.

I believe hardware is done by an electrical engineer.

Unlike many other databases, errors can be tolerated in facebook. If a post gets lost or a connection or two dropped it really doesn't cost Facebook anything--and it's unlikely to be noticed. And downtime and retries are tolerated by the users.

  Try running a real-time, financial system like credit card authorization & processing (which probably has more than 1 billion users), needs to balance at the end of the day and has response requirements measuring under 250 ms.

  Facebook is just better at promotions. There are other databases that are bigger, have tighter response requirements and are more complex. It's all about buzz.

Starting a new business is reallly hard. Why make it more complicated by trying to piece together a bunch of software that sort-of works. You didn't say what kind of business you're starting, but for a 5 employee or fewer business quickbook is really pretty good. And there is no reason to do payroll your self. It's really just too hard to get right, and you can get it almost for free from Quicken or your bank.

If you think you might be looking for a credit facility (aka a loan) your bank will be looking for specific items in your financial statements. They will not be impressed that you're supporting the FOSS community.

I'd look for the software that meets your needs--if it helps your business prosper and if costs a few hundred bucks it's a good investment. A license for Office is about $200, quickbook pro (with payroll) is about $40 per month.

In starting a business, your time is probably the most valuable thing you have. Get out there and sell!

When I was fairly young, I remember being allowed to spend the night at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia by myself to watch the first moon landing live. The moon landings certainly inspired a generation of engineers and scientists. I'm not sure what the equivalent is today? (Watching Wall Street and becoming a hedge fund manager?)

If you want to read a great book about JPL, check out "Moon Hunters: NASA's Remarkable Expeditions to the Ends of the Solar Systems". Out of print, but probably available in your library.

I looked into Google for SMB mail, but if you need permanent archiving and search there isn't a good solution. Deleted emails are really gone and there isn't an easy was to search across all of the users emails if the need ever arises.

For many businesses this isn't a big deal, but if you're in financial services, health or other regulated industries it is important.