Honestly, I don't think the problem is that people don't really know this and are arguing against the human effect of carbon emissions on our planet's environment. The problem is our modern society at its foundation is completely based on carbon based fuel and combustion engines. A group of brilliant scientists, no matter how intelligent or correct they are, is not going to convince the entire modern world to stop what it's doing, shut down society and restructure it for the long term health of the planet.

Two things to note about this: 1) That would have a devastating impact because of the chaos it would create and 2) There's not enough motivation because it's not going to affect anyone currently here in their lifetime. By the time it's a problem, it will be a future generation and it will be too late.

Now I know this is a bitter bill for geeks to swallow but you'll have to negotiate the win/win, not just use pure logic. Fortunately, you're the smart group and what you should use your intelligence for is to find an economically equivalent or better, cleaner, environment friendly source of energy and propulsion. Get to work! We're depending on you to solve the problem.

Since this is slashdot let's apply mathematical induction to your proposition. One lie is either bad or inconclusive but two or more lies are good. The fact that we argue to prove this is what makes us stupid and enables us to be tricked over and over and over again by our leaders.

No it's not the same thing. It's more like all the restaurant patrons signed an agreement to be able to be patrons of the establishment. They all agreed that there would be no violence in the establishment. One person sneaks in without signing the agreement and decides to commit a violent act in the establishment and receives the appropriate response based on the terms of the agreement. Failure to do anything to enforce the agreement renders the agreement meaningless.

Come back with a better metaphor after you read up on the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993.

It was 56k dialup and that's correct, it was only theoretical. No one ever connected at 56k. Back in that day there were two competing standards K56Flex and USR. USR was the superior standard and I think it could connect every once in awhile at 52 or 53k if the line quality was pristine. I always thought it was funny how the USR 56k handshake always sounded like something bouncy.

I disagree with Carmack's assessment that the handheld gaming market is being consumed by mobile devices. The games available for tablets and phones are VERY inferior compared to handheld gaming devices. There have only been a few worthwhile games for the iPad that I've found such as Tales from Monkey Island, Kingdom Rush and Machinarium are all great games but there are so few good titles to choose from. There are tons of great titles to choose from on 3DS and PS Vita though.

The mobile market is still primarily about casual games like Words with Friends. For games with more depth, you'll be hard-pressed to find that with the exception of a few gems like the ones I mentioned above.

Oh great let's throw the baby out with the bath water. What moral doctrine do you subscribe to anyway? I'd rather teach my kids some values in the Bible, especially Romans 12 than let them be brainwashed by pop culture and advertising that will preach anything to make a buck including demoralizing women and encouraging voracious consumption to the detriment of the consumer! That makes for a great society with fantastic values especially in America. A bunch of citizens subscribing to the doctrine of debt, debauchery, selfishness and gluttony. So, enlighten us, oh wise one. What should we all follow that will make our countries filled with better citizens and more prosperity?

You are very ignorant. Just because organized religion has its shortcomings isn't a reason to bash a much more sound explanation of the the origin of the universe. Intelligent Design is not the same thing as creationism or religion. You, sir, need to understand meta thinking. You know the system outside the system? Outside the box my friend. :) Our universe has a set of constant properties. Intelligent Design merely asks the question "Where did these properties come from?" Who decided there was gravity, electromagnetism, photons, protons, neutrons, neutrinos, quantum entanglement and any number of different fundamental building blocks that are all finely in balance with each other to allow this universe to have existed for billions of years in amazing harmonious balance.

Let me guess my Atheist friend, it all emerged from chaos. Where did the chaos come from? Report back when you have a better explanation than a very intelligent Architect that has intelligence so vastly superior to ours that we cannot even begin to comprehend it. I patiently await your response.

I don't think that last bit is necessarily true. I would buy a laptop with a touch screen built-in but I'm certainly not going to pay a premium price for it. I think consumers like me are looking at it like "that's cool but it isn't worth the price." Give it to me for free and more discounted and I may adopt it.

The other thing is Windows 8 pretty much kicked the mouse/keyboard user in the balls when there are a plethora of tasks that can be done with a mouse and keyboard but not realistically with a touch screen. Maybe I could do some graphic design with a stylus but who does that with the screen tilted up? Graphic tablets are different.

In a nut shell, Microsoft doesn't understand the market, doesn't understand its customers and doesn't understand its partners. That is why they are failing to capitalize.

Some girls don't like games but here are some to try that the female population seems to be more receptive to in my experience:

Party Games: Guitar Hero, Mario Party, Wii Party, Scene It, Monopoly Streets
Multiplayer Platformers: Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, Little Big Planet
Puzzle Games: Bejeweled, Peggle, Hidden Object Games like Mystery Case Files
Adventure Games: Back to the Future (big hit with my fiancee, we played through the whole thing)

For the more girly girls, you might need to go with something with the "cute" factor. Little Big Planet is especially good at this one. You can put stickers on stuff and dress your sack boy/girl. It's also multiplayer. Co-op is usually a plus.

This is what I find funny about C++ zealots who hate .NET and java. Interestingly enough, Microsoft had an incubating effort to build a "framework" called Casablanca that would give C++ developers an easy way to host a web server or a RESTful web service. Part of the C++11 standard is incorporating features in languages like C# and java. It's interesting to watch the pendulum shift back and forth and the philosophical arguments being argued from ivory towers.