You're completely right. Going after the advertiser is a waste of time. It would be much simpler to have the broadcasters or TV manufacturers install a simple limiter.

I have had many jobs, from supervising a call center to code-monkeying to serving double-skim-milk-decaf-caramel-lattes and training people at all levels in between. The most important thing i have learned about working with and managing people is that all of your employees needs are different, and while fairness is important, acknowledging the various strengths and weaknesses of your staff is essential as is trying to ensure that they all have work environments that promote productivity. Some people have the ability to tune out background noise and focus themselves on their work. Other people are drawn to every conversation they hear. Some require absolute silence to work productively. Others, like myself, when engaging in code-monkeying or spreadsheet jockeying, find music to be a strong motivator to focus my attention and push me through the grind. That said, I find vocal music very distracting. If I listen to 'songs', the part of my brain that should be working will start to focus on the lyrics. That's why I prefer instrumental and electronic music. Ideally drum and bass or IDM, or goa. Something with a driving beat, interesting sounds, and a pace that picks up my heart beat, but not mundane enough to shut out my brain. That's a personal preference. Obviously, the same is not true for everyone. Some people are simply more productive while listening to music. To ignore this is bad management. If allowing the coders to listen to music at work is unfair to the accountants, marketing, and customer support, then perhaps some employees should be given the option to work from home. This is something else that generally increases productivity (of course, not for everyone).

Wired had a couple good suggestions in this video: http://www.wired.com/video/gadgets/gadget-lab/46211877001/wish-list-5-toys-that-will-bring-out-your-inner-geek/50864036001

Yes. Because George Lucas never made any movies in the star wars universe apart from the original trilogy. He never made prequels about Menacing Phantoms, Clones Attacking or Avenging Siths. No spin-offs about Ewoks Battling for Endor or Courageous Caravans and definitely no tv-series about warring clones.

OMG, yes. Yes it really is worse. I mean, I was able to sit through Ewoks: Battle for Endor all the way through. I couldn't finish watching the Christmas special. I would liken it to being digested in the sarlacc pit (pre-special edition) for thousands of years.

Visit Canada.

Agreed about the joke, but does GNOME and Ubuntu rely on GIMP? I doubt it. Anybody who needs it can still install it, and it will still top most searches as being the only viable free alternative to photoshop.

You're not thinking of James Callis?

No. It should have been called Law & Order: Intergalactic Unit, or better yet CSI: Space

I've been told my friends that do effects that shaky cam is harder because animating 3D and tracking camera motion is more difficult than just animating something in 3D for a non-moving camera.

Agreed. This thread is nothing but an opportunity for developers to whine about the 'poor working conditions' of their jobs. Of course, that isn't going to stop me from reading it.

That sounds a lot like T.I.M, The Incredible Machine. A game they used to make us play at geek camp. Little did we know, we were actually learning something...