My ftdi on my arduino does have intermittent upload errors when used inside of VMware. I can live with it as it does a crc check. If your H/W S/W doesn't error check you might want to avoid that combination.

I prefer Solidworks over Autocad.
Solidworks - A Windows application with a 3D solid design for a final product.

Autocad - A DOS application converted to Windows, with a 2d design, and 3d as a added on much later in development.

I have 7 years experience in Autocad, and I found it somewhat easy to transfer to SW. Solidworks usually will output a good STL for use on my companies Connex 350 Resin Multi-Material 3d Printer. but be warned, all CAD programs have their issues.

Both taking classes on how to use the software, and having a copy to "play with" are critical to figuring how best to use the software. Community College classes qualify you for the %90 percent or so student discount. Also in my job my designs are propitiatory, so I can can't post them online, but if you if you can post it, there are many people who will help you though the design challenges.

Screw threads are particularity tricky as SW treats them as a cosmetic feature, and you have to make them by hand. The book "Machinery's Handbook" is a good resource.
lvdata

Unlike many here, I do plan on buying it, but it will be SHELFWARE. The price is too good to pass up as insurance. I can see them saying only Win8 can be upgraded to Win9. I have NO intention of running it however.

For this reason alone I was glad about the switch to HDTV. ALL NTSC CRT's are annoying and I had to turn them up loud to mask out the whine.

Also consider the music being released. I am working on completing my Beatles collection. The only new one I know is Justin Beeber, and that is to avoid him. I AM expanding my taste in music, but it is the older well done music, not the current Autotune boytoy that looks good, but can't sing. Tom Petty would NEVER make it in today's music system.

Why get "new" remastered updated 3d version of Star Wars? I want the version where Han shot first. E-bay or nothing. No new sales are possible on that one. I don't want Battleshit the Movie. I AM back filling my collection of TV with Andromeda and Monty Python. 2nd hand is great for that!

Moderated wrong, posting to erase it.

or pay cash for a non-traceable transaction.

As a ex RadioShack employee, years ago I was forced to sell used and returned computers for full price. On the fly I came up with "We sell used computers AT NEW PRICES!" Nothing says it was New, it was ASSUMED by you that it was.

It would also seem like you could have a Dr working in an VR setup relaying his arm/hand control data to a remote human robot. That would allow for a neurosurgeon in NY to have a untrained remote "hand droid" in Antarctica, orbit or the moon do the surgery. It keeps the number of human onsite low.

It is still faster then my Gen 1 Drobo. I have been getting about 50MB/s transfer rate. 5.00MB/s is all I need through. I just want it in 1 place, with protection against bitrot. I am finding bitrot to be a problem, but so far only my VIDEO DVD ISO's have had problems. I can live with a glitch in a DVD video. Program copies and my personal data SEEM to be OK, but only time will tell. Entropy is a BITCH! :)

I guess I went overboard.
0 - Clear Modem
4 - PC's
2 - Printers
1 - Wireless AP
1 - 8 Port 10/100 Switch
1 - 5 Port 10/100/1000 Switch
1 - NAS
For a total of 10 devices....
I seem to be the only one counting a switch as a device.

See my post about Nexenta for a easier to use system.

I just set up a server with Nexenta Community Edition. Free for 18tb of storage. My system is: Dual Xeon 2.8Ghz 16Gig Ram 1.5TB HD x 8 Dual GigE Adaptec Raid 5805 Controller, used as Sata controller only, NO RAID, each drive shows as separate volume for Nexenta to manage. I went with the Nexenta for two reasons: 1. Inline Deduplication 2. ZFS setup with Raidz-2 for dual drive failure without loosing data. I am demoting my Drobo from primary storage to backup storage, as it only has single disk failure without loosing data. With DeDupe on I am getting write speed in the 40-60MB a sec range. Not quite as good as with the Adaptec in Raid 6 mode, but the dedup is very much worth it. My USB drobo was giving me the occasional transfer error, and corrupting my data. I did a verified copy onto the Nexenta and with ZFS end to end checking of CRC's and monthly error check and correction I HOPE to stop bit rot. With a 8TB data store, across 80gig drives to 2tb drives of various ages, it was time to consolidate, error check and correct. Just my 2 cents as I outgrew my drobo.

Miss

On the Android platform, Angry Birds is ONLY available as a ad supported game. There is NO pay version. I don't know how much AB gets in revenue, but I'd bet they get MORE money from the "free" version with ads, then the paid one on IOS with out ads. Corporate Nintendo probably has NO idea how to compete with free for the long term.