Really? You think its like a window washer doing the work on your car first then asking for money? Perhaps I misunderstand the current situation, but he doesn't seem to have installed it and the company doesn't seem to be using it already. I think it is much more akin to the guy who I pay to do my lawn deciding on his own time to design an irrigation system on his own time then comes to me and says he has designed it, and he would like to implement it but he wants to charge me for the design time. I can choose to pay or not, if I don't he doesn't owe me the system. He simply wasted his time designing something I didn't want to purchase. Again this assumes that the submitter has NOT deployed the system already, if he has its a whole different situation much closer to your perception.

My community college does not have mandatory remedial classes for anyone. When you sign up you take aptitude tests and the results of those tests determines your starting levels in math and English. Don't all colleges employ a similar system?

I personally prefer a teacher because in the time it takes me to read and practice a new concept in programming a teacher can show me two and I'll have learned them both. Now once you factor in the other students who ask about how they personally write code and how the teacher will score them on the tests, it is no longer as efficient, but still preferable for me to have someone on hand who knows the material so well and can automatically steer me away from certain common pitfalls.

You replace TV with Netflix, and you maintain a relationship with the theater. My brother and his 4 kids have TV and replace the theater with Redbox. I myself don't use Redbox because I love going to the theater but I don't have a gaggle of children to incorporate into a theater trip. I think that's the thing about Redbox you weren't quite grasping, that for those who want the top 100 and newest titles only, it is a theater replacement, not TV replacement. I think that is how the Redbox model differs from Netflix beyond nuts and bolts, but conceptually. Just a thought.

You are missing the mastermind behind all of this. The entity that needs to drive usage, and consumption in order to reap profits..... the electric company! They enable piracy, porn, and terrorist communication! How do they get away with it!?!? Down with electricity!!!

I got my email as well, but its been probably 5 years since I played any game on there, and I signed up for EQ at launch. I'll double check the info today when I get a chance to make sure it is nothing important, ie old CC, change password etc.

^^This! I have a Blu-Ray player (PS3), and I have maybe 15 discs bought since I got it, 3 years ago. The fact that I cannot bring them with me wherever I go and be assured that they will be watchable is a small factor, but a factor none the less. For me, it is the few discs I have gotten from Netflix with ads that I couldn't skip direct to menu, none of the menu buttons seemed to go past them. You have to hit next chapter/FF to go past them. That was enough for me to decide it was not worth paying for content that was going to force me to watch or deal with ads. In addition most DVDs are available for ~$15, whereas most Blu-Ray releases are ~$30 locally. Admitedly I don't have a 1080 display other than my monitor, but I do have a great 50" 720p TV, it has mattered a bit to me that I am not getting the full visual upgrade, but I can't afford another TV right now.

One night at 3:30AM local time I called the police because a woman down the street was kicking a garage door and threatening to break into the house she was at. She told the man on the other side of the door that if he didn't give her what she was there for, she would break in and kill him. She claimed a common friend sent her there, she offered to trade her bra for the object in question, and claimed she would get $50 if she talked him into giving her a beer as well. She shouted this over and over. At one point she got in her car, put it into gear, drove 5 feet then parked it and got out an yelled "And another thing". She then returned to her threats. The police showed up, asked her some questions, asked her if the car was hers, and within 5 minutes let her drive off.

I called to complain and spoke to the sergeant and he said it is only a crime if you specify the manner, had she said she would stab him, choke him or shoot him then they could have arrested her. They didn't even take her in for disturbing the peace. So no, I don't think police take threats against regular people as seriously as threats against politicians. I wouldn't suggest that this incident be used as a guide that it is ok to behave that way, but I don't believe that they care that it happens.

I wasn't clear I suppose, I didn't bring them up as issues, they were the first reasons I wanted the iPad instead of a laptop. The iPad being able to type and draw as needed was the lure, it was the lack of the apps I need for my course load that was my issue.

yeah, but at the time I needed Java, C++ and Assembly compilers for my schoolwork. I couldn't find them for iPad at the time, are they now available?

I use my Windows 7 tablet to take notes because not only can I dock it onto a keyboard if I want, I also can use the stylus to draw diagrams etc as needed for the notes. I would have tried the iPad but it wouldn't let me do my homework on it, so unfortunately it doesn't work for me.

That's odd, because I live in Ca and the first 5 CS courses are Algorithm Design, C, Assembly, OO in C++, and Data Structures (in C++) which is the last class I completed last semester. I took a Java class just because I could but it does not count towards my requirements for graduation. I wonder how different the requirements are for a CS degree across the country, it seems much more varied than I would have expected.

My Win 7 Tablet uses a Wacom pen with embedded pen tracking. I can also use my fingers, but I don't usually do so due to it being a work tablet and at work my fingers often are dusty/dirty during the work when I need to use the tablet. I think pen system covers the issue very well, as well as letting me flip the pen over to use the 'eraser' when taking notes.

My concern is that the criteria used are overly simplistic. Clearly a breadmaker and a Blu-ray player are not computers. The satnav may be slightly closer depending on what yours does, mine certainly does all 3 of the judges criteria, storing gigs of data, processing new data, and transmitting data regularly. I wouldn't classify it as a computer either. That said I know people who use actual computers as routers, and I've seen routers with so many features that they surely seemed to be computers. Another poster however clarified, that after checking out the original story, that the intrusion does not expose personal data, it doesn't matter. That makes the whole ordeal seem much more sane. It is a much more clear requirement than the other three and all four balance out pretty well I think.

How many "bits and bytes" does a device have to store to be declared a computer? I mean, mine stores a password, those are a few bits, where is the limit? I don't know enough about the case to comment on the details, but it seems an odd thing to base a ruling on to me.

I am no car expert, far from it... however.. According to Wiki, the Golf mk1 was sold as the Rabbit in the US and had a curb weight of 1,750-2,145lbs. Toyota lists the Prius curb weight as 3,042lbs for the 2011 model. So its ~50% or more increase in vehicle weights. It seems there's a pretty significant difference there in weight.