But does each astronaut have to pay extra (say another 45 million per bag) for their carry-on luggage?
Sony has just issued a firmware update[1] that disables the "OtherOS" support that is used to run alternate operating systems such as Linux on the Playstation 3 (PS3) game console. This was an advertised feature of the PS3 and was a factor in my decision to purchase the product. The firmware update is effectively mandatory; the PS3 will not support online play or game updates/downloads via the Playstation network without it (these are also advertised features).
That a major consumer electronics company can unilaterally remove advertised features from a product that I have bought and paid for is chilling to say the least and appears misleading and deceptive in the classic "bait and switch" style. I request that the ACCC investigate this matter.
[1] http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/03/28/ps3-firmware-v3-21-update/
I've been a professional (and quite successful) programmer for nearly 30 years, and am not too shy to admit that my math skills are practically non-existent. However, that being said, an equally poor memory has polished my *logic* skills to the point where I'm quite adept at designing and understanding computer software (particularly those written in C and assembly language). Although these days, I have the most success (and fun) writing "impossible" SQL queries.
So, I suppose the lesson here is that you can't really generalize that math is vital for computer programmers. Unless you include *logic* as math (and I never have -- it's really a very different animal IMHO). After all, that's why God created computers in the first place, right? To do the math *for* us.
You know Programming is in trouble when being "the goto guy" has become a compliment, rather than an insult.
Ok, here's a really radical idea: Maybe the problem isn't the ads, but that the ads are provided by third party hosting sites that are out of the control of the web site *using* those ads. If the web site hosted the ad file, then *they* would be held responsible for the singing, dancing gophers trying to sell you the latest in prophylactics, and ad-blockers would be less effective.
But in general, the reason ad blocking exists, and will continue to exist is:
1) animation (any kind)
2) sound and/or music
3) popups, pupunders, and any other sort of ad that *demands* your immediate attention like a little kid jumping up and down, waving his hands because he has to go to the bathroom.
Advertisers need to understand: we *tolerate* you. But make yourself too annoying, and we *will* cut you off at the knees. This is true of Television (Tivo), Radio (iPod), Newspapers (yeah, just flip the page here), and now the Internet. Push us too far, and someone *will* develop ad blocking software that happily tells you we are viewing your ad, while at the same time dropping the whole thing in the trash. Please don't turn this into a war. It's one you can't win.
As long as it's not blue and grey. God, I really *hate* desktops that are in shades of blue. It's cold and depressing. Not that the new orange and purple is much better. But at least, you can change it to anything you want.
I use a custom scheme that most of my friends find awful (of course *they* run some variant of Windows so the feeling is mutual). While I dislike the traditional Ubuntu brown and orange, I do like a brown palette. So, here's my preferred combination:
Base Theme: Clearlooks
Icons: ubuntu-sunrise
Wallpaper: Custom dark woodgrain
"Selected Items": medium brown (#752A2A), or for those who dislike brown, dark green (#005830) works
"Windows": medium tan (#D8C0A0)
"Input boxes": off white (#F0E0D0) to reduce eyestrain in terminals and text editors.
Maybe now they'll replace that lame choice for Mary Jane with some hot babe who can pull off that whole "Face it, Tiger, you just hit the jackpot" scene (Pete's first blind date with MJ) from the early Spiderman comics. Yowza!
What do you need documentation for when you've got the source code? Just read *that* if you want to know how the program is supposed to work.
And how many FOSS developers are nodding their heads in agreement right now? Sad, sad, sad!
Hollywood lives in a fantasy world where everyone buys the latest and greatest equipment as soon as it comes on the market. The reality is that there are a lot of people who do not have digital HDMI equipment, don't need it, and don't want it. And don't kid yourselves that this new restriction will be limited to those new movies. The moment Cable companies have the ability to turn off your analog outputs, there will be whole cable networks that will switch them off 24/7 (with the option to have them switched back on for $15 a month). Starting, of course, with the new Comcast/NBC cable networks.
Here's a message for the FCC: Please nip this in the bud now.
Any given program will expand to fill available memory.