I for one welcome our Stargate Atlants inspired nanotech-changeling replicator overlords.

While it's sad when people have to lose their jobs I do feel that it's mostly a good thing that online marketplaces are taking over the traditional store model for games (and other software too). By far the most interesting games I've played lately have been made by small independent teams. Lower barriers for entry into the business makes it easier for independents to get a shot.

Unfortunately, the online marketplaces, especially on consoles, are also in effect a monopoly on the platform. But that will likely change with time.

I do. Meaning I expose myself to a reasonable degree, and accept the risk. Much more fun to live that way IMHO. (Never smoked and hardly ever drink though.)

I'm a little over 30 now. Me getting cancer is relatively probable at some point in my life. The big question is will they cure it first?

Oh, and if cancer doesn't get me, will I have robot attendants at home when I'm old and fragile, or will they just upgrade my body? Medicine is progressing at an amazing rate, really...

But I have a real urge to spew out a YO DAWG meme right now.

I once asked the PHP developers at ZendCon about why they don't gradually clean up the standard library, and the impression that I got was that backwards compatibility is a top priority for PHP and Zend.

While I personally do prefer the Python way of planning gradual changes to the standard library along with migration paths I do also see the strength of leaving things the way they are. Fortunately there is more than one language to use for web develiopment if PHP won't float your boat.

I have to say it... While there have been a lot of issues with Unity and Ubuntu in general I love the fact that Ubuntu dares to try and do genuine innovation.

Let's face it: It's easy to bash something that "sucks", but it requires a lot more courage to risk braking stuff and trying to find genuinely new approaches to existing problems.

There is a very good reason for our team to generally favor using our internal IM server even to the co-worker sitting next to you. Coding is creative, and an IM is much less interruptive than someone walking over to your desk and demanding your attention right now.

(Hint: Disable audio notifications.)

Tehnically: Nothing.

In practice: I don't have to hunt for email addresses or tell my technically clueless friends how to use IM brand X. I just tell them that well talk/message on Facebook and from their perspective, things Just Work.

Facebook is no mere toy. Used properly it is an efficient communications platform. Not perfect by any means, but denying Facebook's strength as a communications platform is really quite ignorant.

Ironically, I like to watch non-American movies because they expose me to other cultures...

Turn off automatic notifications and don't check your email outside working hours.

Volkswagen's solutions fixes the symptoms, but not the cause. Besides, when you _do_ need to send a message outside working hours, how are you supposed to do that?

Michael Ende's The Neverending Story is a great book, which shouldn't be judged by that horrible 80s movie...

I also read Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge a while back (as a result of a Slashdot comment!) and very much recommend it. It's an interesting depiction of a world where the Internet is omnipresent through augmented reality.

In most of Europe, removing a blog like this is a no-brainer. Europe is more concerned with freedom of expression and freedom of the press than the US notion of "free speech". For Europeans free speech as a concept is to be able to express one's ideas and thoughts without harrasment or fear of political oppression.

A blog designed to harrass a single person with no political agenda? "Censoring" that is the sane thing to do if you ask me. Society doesn't exist to protect one person's ability to make another one's life miserable.

An interesting short story about the potential of genetic viral design in the hands of a fundamentalist:
http://eidolon.net/?story=The%20Moral%20Virologist