Used to do a lot of C++ coding, one man and teams. When doing C++, would have problem apps that the c++ expert (often me) had to debug because of crashes, memory leaks, etc. When doing similar things in c#, these problems largely go away. C# is hardly unique in this aspect (Java, etc.)

Though I love me some c/c++, I also know that most programmers will find C# and other higher languages less troublesome in the real world. Deny it if you want, but it my experience there is no contest.

IMO C# is really of nice language, too bad it is effectively MS only -- Mono is not really mainstream, and appears unlikely to ever get this unless a miracle occurs.

Hello ... stripes are thinning. First you get a few females with stripes, guys prefer them -- breeding takes over stripes everywhere.

Lest you think this is jest. Consider the standard evolutionary advantage explanation of peacock plumage as sexual preference based on the appearance. In fact, the literature abounds with appearance based sexual preferences as explanatory.

The real question is why did Zebras evolve "fashion sense"

Flies avoiding stripes, just happened to be a side benefit.

Or they could just hire some kids to load Linux -- I could load Linux on a lot of old computers with a locked down linux and browser. The Chromebooks will be $200 per.

Actually, this is the one thing I actually care about. A little competition in the digital assistant marketplace can only be a good this. The number of deep pockets able to compete here must be pretty limited, and the state of the art can definitely use some improvement. Matters not if MS version is better or not as long as it is decent it will be some additional competition.

I thought it more laughable the parent suggested that MS listened to slashdotters

Microsoft not evil -- I feel like my head is going to exploaaqft

Due to tidal drag the Earth's day is lengthening around 2 ms/day per century. Morlocks are about 8000 centuries in the future. Changing the mean solar day from 86400 seconds to 86416 will not dramatically affect the design of a calendar -- you just tweak how often leap years occur.

As a troglodytic race Morlocks really don't have to do anything about calendars or clocks.

And I predict the US will cease to exist, and be long forgotten before this new calendar is adopted.

The Morlocks might be early adopters of the this new-fangled calendar system.

Unfortunately, the way the credit card companies work, most of the damage is externalized onto the merchants (via reversed charges) and ultimately the consumers -- via higher prices & fees. Of course, this is hardly accidental. Target is certainly guilty of lots of stupidity, but the real players won't change their ways until they really feel the pain -- the whole system is far too easy for the black players to game. Some much business is depending on CC transactions, most businesses have little choice but to play the game.

This pain could be regulatory, financial losses, etc. But, no pain, no improvement.

Unless you are getting multi-meters that "fell off the back of the truck" I don't think anyone is going to confuse a $3000 MM with a cheap knockoff. It's not like buying a fake Rolex, people don't drop 3 large for a MM unless they have very specific requirements, like drop-proof, water-proof, dust-proof, etc. for use in a heavy industrial environment. Most of Fluke's MM's can be purchased for a few hundred USD (depending on your definition of few).

I checked Fluke-Direct.com and there are 2 models over 1000 USD, an industrial strength RED one for $1500, and a bench model for 1065 USD. They had dozens of models less than 500 USD. Lowest price 130 USD.

I've read a number of different estimates for deaths related to coal pollution, 10-15K annually in the US, 150-300K globally. Even if those estimates are 10 time actual, it is hard to beat coal pollution as the top killer for industrial activity. Disasters like collapses of mines, dams, coal ash pond get a lot more attention.

Turning off every coal plant today would be a much bigger disaster -- people freezing, starving, diseases, etc. would be far worse, but hey, I am all for replacing coal with safer nukes, etc. All major systems will results in accidents and deaths, it is kind of the way it is. Even today, $/kwh from coal is generally cheaper than the viable alternatives. Arguably, a new generation of nuclear power could be cheaper than coal (fuel costs on the order of 15-25% of coal), but this is certainly not guaranteed.

You still need transportation fuels (hard to replace jet planes with battery operated or nuclear).,

Bad plan, everyone knows I won't care about watering my lawn post-rapture. Not that there is ever going to be a rapture, or is even mentioned in the Bible rapturists claim to follow.

The predominant theory among creationists is that the water of the flood is mostly most in the oceans -- The elevations of the continental masses where raised, allowing the water to flow to the oceans. This is kind of the same as the scientific opinion except for the timeframe of months vs. millions of years. Well, that and the scientific opinion that there was no world-wide flood/

While an admirable attempt, the password "nicht schiessen" reports a crack time of centuries, yet it is a simple phrase seen in many movies -- It is german, meaning Don't shoot (using ss for the ß character). Using ß is reported as having more entropy, even though logically it would be a simply dictionany pair.

"don't shoot me now" claims 4 years to crack

I use a similar approach on websites I control, but there is really not a simple algorithm that prevents all human stupidity in terms of password selection. My point is not "don't try to test for entropy" but rather know that your test will no be perfect.

The special taste in sea salt is the trace fish poop. What else could it be?