Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

It's not their jurisdiction. The CPSC shouldn't exist. That should be left to the states. So if Florida or California or Texas or whoever decides they want to slap a label on their video games because parents would rather have a nanny state than take responsibility for their own kids, they're welcome to do so. Then, when academic research proves out that kids in the nanny state are no less violent than any other, the rest of us can point and laugh and then go about our business.

Instead, we hide behind the grossly-over-interpreted commerce clause and let everything happen in Washington, where lobbyists have all the power and legislation like this is just pandering to keep voters from paying attention to all of the real issues. /rant

There are three arguments:

1. They're right, and labels should be added.
2. They're wrong, and labels shouldn't be added.
3. It's not their jurisdiction.

The most distressing part of news items like this is that the third argument is so frequently overlooked.

First, the wicd example was from Debian Squeeze. You're right, Network Manager does a fine job. That's why I'm back to running 10.04.

Second, I think you're missing the distinction between "does not work" and "does not work well". I would refer to the former as a functional issue, and the latter as a nonfunctional issue. What you're describing are nonfunctional issues.

Furthermore, what you're calling an issue is just fine for some people (like myself, obviously). So the justification for fixing these issues is subject to the audience. Going back to that VPN example, no matter of opinion is going to change the fact that PPTP on wicd on Xfce on Debian Squeeze does not work. On the other hand, I would say that the menu system works fine. That's my opinion.

As for supporting different UI styles, I would argue that maintaining the current one while developing a second one is a valid approach. If you were to propose developing two UI styles side-by-side, I would see the problem with that. But Ubuntu already has/had one good UI. What's the harm in allowing it to persist?

First, thank you for replying sincerely. Second, I understand these complaints, but they're not functional issues. Call them whatever else you want, but they don't keep the operating system from operating. On the other hand, I had to revert back to Ubuntu from Debian Squeeze with Xfce (which I tried after seeing Unity firsthand) because PPTP VPN access (a feature I need) is not available using wicd. That's a functional issue. It flat-out doesn't work.

By the same token, there are plenty of does-not-work issues in Ubuntu. Instead of reinventing the GUI, fix those. That's what I'd like to see. Or, if you are going to reinvent it, allow crusty old fools like me to keep doing it the old way.

Ok, then a more accurate statement: There is no problem that is apparent to me. But what I believe to be a problem is the need to change for what appears to me to be change's sake. But if there is indeed a functional issue with the menu-driven system, then what is it? I'm genuinely curious.

I tried Unity. I hated Unity. I went back to what I think is the best Ubuntu to-date, 10.04. I have no intention of trying to acclimate myself to yet another GUI either. Why fix what isn't broken? What's so wrong with the menu-driven system that it needs "fixing"? First Microsoft's ribbon, then Unity, now this. Their time would be better spent making the graphics work more smoothly with more cards. I know I'd be appreciative.

I work for a firm that conducts a periodic release of code to its production environment. Those of us who regularly work the "release night" know what it means to document code well (and no, it's not just comments in the code). What our firm, and others like us, needs to do is rotate everyone through that situation, or others like it, so that they can see the flipside of their effort. Having to troubleshoot poorly documented code is a good way to instill in a developer good documentation habits.

First, not having a four-year degree has held me back more than once. It sucks, but that's the way it is. Strangely, I think I could've had a degree in just about anything as long as I had one.

Second, agencies that place you as a contractor someplace are good. That's how I got my current job. I started as a contractor, proved myself, and got hired full-time. My previous job was also as a contractor, after having been fired from the one before that (and therefore a high-risk candidate).

Third, have proof of your work handy. Provide code samples, screen shots, whatever you can produce quickly and conveniently in the interview. When I switched industries (going from working in industrial control systems to a true full-time software shop), I had a three-ring binder full of examples of my work. It was old-school, but (a) it was 2005, and (b) I wouldn't want the success of my interview to be dependent on an internet connection, no matter how reliable.

Finally, know people. Network. Make friends and stay in contact with them. I've obtained more than one job because of who I knew, not what I knew (especially early on, when I didn't know much).

Get yourself on the terrorist watchlist, and let the government do the rest.

I have a feeling that our development group would engage in a competition to see who could get the highest/lowest score.

It wasn't the TV (Vizio VA22L). It was a combination of the WinTV card (WinTV-HVR-1600) and the HDMI-out video card (MSI GEForce 9500 GT 512MB DDR2 V133 v1.1 (nvidia NV50 family : NV96 (G96))). I still think the WinTV card is junk, but it works just well enough. And despite it being a low-end video card, that works fine under XP.

Seriously, most of the responses are going to be along the same lines: games, work, not on windows. I'd be interested in the numbers.

As for me, personally, I run Win7 at work because I have to, Win7 on the "family" computer because that's where the games are, WinXP on the HTPC because that's what I got to work (after trying Ubuntu, Mythbuntu, Win2k, and Win7), and Debian/Xfce on my personal laptop because the other systems address all of my issues with doing so.

After 20 years in the industry, in various forms, I've come to this realization: C++, Java, Hadoop, Ruby on Rails, PHP... all these things are the airgun and socket wrench and grinder and welder and all the other tools in the garage. What matters is if you have experience working on BMW's or Kenworths or IndyCars or Harley-Davidsons. In other words, have you written accounting systems, industrial control systems, customer-facing websites, etc. I don't want to work for someone who's going to hire me because I'm a C# guru. I want to work for someone who recognizes that my background in financial systems fits their need on a loan processing project. Ok, not really, because that would bore me to tears, but you get my point.

I hate DST. I hate DST. I hate DST. I hate DST. I hate DST. I hate DST. I hate DST. I hate DST. I hate DST.

There. I feel better now.

Seriously, switching Indiana to DST was done to make businesses happy. That's it. I wish I'd wake up and find that it was a bad dream. And class basketball, too.

I was happy with Windows 2000. Then XP came along and some stuff got shifted around. Some of it made sense, some didn't. But it wasn't a big adjustment. Then came Vista and Windows 7 and the new Office with the ribbon thing. My reaction? Ubuntu and OpenOffice.org, which looked a whole lot more like what I was used to than the new stuff. And what matters to me is being able to find things where I expect them to be so that I'm not wasting time. So then I finally decided to upgrade from 10.04, took one look at Unity, and went to Debian and Xfce. I'm very happy with it (albeit after only 24 hours). I'm hoping the "less is more" design principal of Xfce keeps it from being the next interface I leave behind.