I've done a lot of work in windows kernel development, and some linux kernel too. I understand that the system is in a bad state when the BSoD happens, but I've always thought that instead of the only option being to 'reboot' and lose what you're working on, things should be a little more choice based. Instead of just the BSoD, perhaps we could be given some information about the thread, call stack and call that initiated the KeBugCheck - then we could decide if we wanted to risk trying to go back in and save our work. Like - if the bugcheck occurs in the USB stack somewhere, maybe I'd elect to just suspend that thread and device stack, go back in and see if I could save my work. I'm tempted to think, "What's worse than a forced immediate reboot" - though I know that if some thread starts scribbling on memory in an out of control fashion that - yes - things could get a lot worse. But maybe not if that thread were immediately suspended.

So, artists who create music get paid because they created something... But engineers who create the software don't deserve anything because software shouldn't have a monetary value associated with it? With all due respect, I still don't get it.

I actually have always thought that vehicles should all have a protocol such that they talk to other vehicles within a certain range - so I'm all for this technology as long as it isn't server based. That is, i'll be pissed if all the cars communicate to some server that is a go-between. It should work as a direct link to whatever the signal range is, and then i have no privacy concerns, as anyone around you already knows that you're there.

If I were going to write a universe simulator, It would probably start at the big bang - then as the universe spread out, it would only do real calculations on certain "frames" of the universe that mattered. The real way to test that would be to send an object outside the frame... The simulation would GPF I suppose.

Why is this groundbreaking - when the government can just force the cell phone company to hand over this information at will? And it's free that way. I found it amusing during the Aaron Hernandez case, when they came up with detailed information of his whereabouts - to the second - after the fact that he was suspected of murdering someone.

I'm surprised no one said it... I think they've just run out of Myths! A lot of the new shows - it really seems like they're reaching. And as other people did mention, they have about 15 minutes of content in an hour of show with the commercial->recap->brief content->preview->commercial->repeat format. Yeah, I just really don't think they can make another season of shows without halving the number of myths that they have to come up with..

Generally, for a given operating system you try to make your software so that it functions in similar ways to other software. That way, in order to use an app a lot of the fundamental things are trivial. Whenever I've written apps in Windows, for any particular function, I look at how another app accomplished the same task and made mine work like that. A user should be able to perform basic functions of an application without going to the documentation.

If they already have it archived, doesn't that make them guilty of possession of child porn?

Agreed. And if you have a talent for programming, you can get vast amounts of stuff done this way. The problem is, when you get into the corporate environment they tell you HOW to solve the problem, how they want the tic tac toe engine written and what variety of project management tools that you need to satisfy each and every time you make a change to your fart joke generator.

My Core 2 Duo machine that I built is just about as fast as the core i7 that I built not long after... The difference being, the Duo has about the fastest CPU that I can put in it, while the i7 has about the slowest. There was a time - I don't know if you still can - when you could get the qx9650 (quad core extreme 3.0 ghz) chips for less than 200 bucks... Definitely worth it - this old machine is going to be relevant for a long time as far as I can tell. Yeah, you can still find them on pricewatch for about 250 bucks...

lHow can they possibly tell how much of the matter is "Dark"? I can get the idea of what they're doing - using the relative speeds of each local galaxy to determine the masses contained within each, but how could they possible determine how much mass in each galaxy wouldn't be seen by using light within the bounds of the visible spectrum?

Yeah, it was the touch pro 2... I would have to say that this is the ultimate design for a mobil smartphone (for those of us who like keyboards). I held on to that thing long after it was obsolete - I got a lot of funny looks from people at work, especially considering I'm the gadget guy.

Or does it seem like they keep coming up with these cool shaped molecules, then spend years tying to figure out what to do with them?

That had this great slide out keyboard. I think I was the only person in the world that bought one. The real keyboard was fantastic, but when I finally had to upgrade (the hardware did finally kick the bucket), there was no such thing as real keyboards anymore. So I figured I'd "get with the times". I had taken a lot of heat for sticking with that phone because it was really becoming a dinosaur. Though I gotta say there are still things that I miss about it. Besides the real keyboard (which did NOT make any noise as far as I can remember), the old Win OS was not store driven - so you could still download any .cab that you could find on the internet and install it. It's ironic how technology is moving forward, but functionality is moving backward!

well there's some truth to what you say - I've realized that as well. it's quite clairvoyant of you to figure that from the small post. I think most of it stems from the disappointment in my career though. I've had to grow and watch some of my friends become quite successful (in other fields), despite not really having done anything spectacularly clever, or having had the type of 'gift' that I had - being able to understand and work with such complexity (as I suspect most of the people here do - I'm not saying I'm any better than the rest of us here - it's a bright bunch). I agree with what you say about switching careers - I've thought about it often, though it's just not that simple. Firstly, it feels like giving up. I could get over that if it could lead to some sort of success though. Secondly, I'm in my mid 40s - and have lots of responsibility - big mortgage, teenish kids, needy wife, etc - life isn't really going to give me the time to switch things up. I do actually make 150ish, but that isn't big money around here, my wife doesn't make much, and with the cost of living we still live check to check. That said, if I were to somehow stumble on a chunk of cash that could support me for 6 months or so, I'd love to figure out something else to do. What bothers me still though, is that this system that we're involved in - would have someone who is capable of so much be looking to do something more rewarding. And we wonder why people aren't seeking STEM careers? The best and brightest are seeking other paths... I'm the dope that was too stubborn to not do so. The idea that we put trades, marketing, sales and such in the same category as our scientists is very frustrating to me. More to the topic of the article, we should be seeking out those gifted for STEM and finding ways to make that a desirable career - not 'training' people who aren't even interested, based on their gender or race. I do feel like I've wasted 20 years, but it's hard to give up on it. Once I hit the lottery, I'll start my own company and do things my way. Until then, I don't see any other way to do right by my kids except to stay the path, keep wasting my time and basically forfeit my happiness.