I think if you are worried about the efficiency of their solution you ought to explain complexity/order notation, and then apply it to a some practical data structures, like arrays or hash maps. Even more awesome if you get them to do some time measurements in easy language X so to demonstrate the effect of complexity. At crunch time, if they can judge the design trade-offs of their model&implementation, then that will eclipse any speed benefits of a compiled language. Good luck!

^^ this

And this is why I never let Paypal fund the payment from my bank account and force them to use my credit card.
If there is a problem with the order I just call the credit card company and they will reverse the purchase on their end.
But better I avoid eBay and paypal as much as I can.

Yep. Glass over map, good high-resolution camera mounted above (as far as possible), long steady exposure. Maybe some stitching afterwards.

I'll be happy to take care of any of your clients that are foolish enough to want their websites to look and function similarly across all major browsers. Viva la revolucion!

and what of the client who wants to differentiate his site by offering tech that has emerged and evolved outside the standards, like Flash?

the wheels of the gods grind slowly.

there is nothing to stop some new or unexpected entrant - from unleashing the next must-have plug-in.

the plug-in that is well on its way to 98% penetration of the market before the standards committee can nail down proposals that first saw the light of day over five to ten years ago.
 

> because in this day and age: Name recognition means all.

Yeah especailly when many bloggers and slashdotters couldn't read well enough to tell the difference in names. IPEX, D&H, NewEgg they look all the same right? :)

I also found it slightly amusing to read the posts which said that people in NewEgg should have noticed the fakes because of the typos...

Spelling and grammar errors are so common nowadays, and more and more people seem to take offense when someone points out the errors.

Actually in the US I'm pretty sure they got it finished a few years ago, they just can't figure out where to put the "WARNING! Objects below you may appear more stable than they are!" sticker, the "WARNING! Do not let anyone under the age of 12 ride underneath the rotor blades" sticker and similar important safety informations.

But it's freaking huge! I don't think I could even fit that through the door to my house.

My experience is similar, but the number of people who can take the car to Autozone for a free diagnostic code reading; that tells them to replace the pedal should be everyone, just a matter of confidence.
Unfortunately me experience with dealers is that's also the best they will do regardless if it is electrical or mechanical as well (doesn't really help either argument though.)

But you should be aware that Windows 7's Task Scheduler comes by default (at least mine did) with a background defragmentation task set to run once a week, and only while the computer is idle. That should probably be enough for most users. One should be aware of this if one desires to use another defragmentation utility, because having two defragmenters fight about where a file should go (either actively fight, or just a file is moved between two locations every time the other is run) is not good.

dot.bank model: Let's sell dimes for a nickel and make it up in bailouts...

Today, Windows 7 (NOT AN UPGRADE) [amazon.com] goes for $178.54 on Amazon and lists for $199. According to the Minneapolis Fed [minneapolisfed.org], $99 in 1985 is worth $200.21 in 2010 - in other Words, inflation adjusted, Microsoft hasn't raised the price of Windows. And if you include all of the programs that are included with Windows 7 that you would normally have had to have purchased separately back in '85 (compression, file management, image viewers, etc, etc...) Windows has gone down dramatically. Now, they've been labeled a monopoly in court, but they're pricing isn't that of a monopolist. Actually, they've given the consumer a really nice value.

What happened to hardware prices during that same time?

My company in England has just received information from HM Revenue & Customs (our central tax collection agency) about how to file the various information that we are legally required to submit. In several cases, we are now legally required to submit that information on-line via HMRC's web site. Lack of Internet access would make it impossible to run a business legally with the law as it now stands in the UK.

I'm pretty sure that preventing someone from making a living is going to violate the fundamental right to work enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the associated European Court were created on the basis of that declaration, but don't explicitly recognise the right to work, so I don't know exactly what the legal situation would be there.

Too true, like Beck himself. He's no different than Limbaugh at his peak in the 90s. There will always be some irrationality-spouting, fear mongering chode on the air trying to incite panic from the lesser morons of the world. Personally I find it difficult to believe anyone actually listens to the guy for anything beyond simple laughs.

Don't worry, the UK government has been pushing for this for years. Technically it already exists, and about 5 volunteers have signed up for it. On the other hand, while certain groups have IIRC already been forced to have one, other test groups have outright rejected it.

With an election coming up, I haven't seen a single reference in favour of ID cards from the Labour lot who are in power at the moment, and both the other big parties have said they will scrap the scheme. It's become a political nightmare for the government.

FWIW, the really insidious thing here in the UK isn't actually the cards, it's the all-in-one database that is behind them. Curiously, the Conservatives (who are likely to win power later this year) seem to have been a bit quiet about that.