Have you watched the news lately? If you haven't noticed, that's about all the news is these days...unless you want to include the steamy lives of celebrities.

People who invent things that save lives...SHOULD be rewarded. It's nice to see somebody get the benefit of their own contribution to humanity. Kudos!

HE'S the guy that puts up all those web sites that have nothing on them except links that are designed to get unsuspecting people to click on them, for the ad revenue.

If this leakage is really happening, it would seem to violate the law of conservation of matter and energy, at least as it could be observed in this universe. Once these neutrons "leak" out of our universe, they would no longer be "here." Even if the law is technically preserved because they are now in another universe, this is a really big pill to swallow.

Yes, and if you're going to GNC to improve your health, you are also very confused. The entire homeopathic remedy industry has been full of quacks since...snake oil. And it hasn't gotten any better since.

The article says only 5,000 have been laid off, but "the rest are being laid off without being laid off." That sounds like hand-waving to me. I suspect the truth is somewhere in between the two numbers.

...for a building block.

You hit the nail on the head about being early to the game.

The problem was, then they just sat there. They became a toy store, then a cell phone store. Nowadays, you can't even get special-purpose adapters, just the common ones. You know, like 90-degree USB connectors, or S-Video to HDMI.

If Radio Shack had stuck to its mission, they would be the place to go for 3-D printers, Arduino, HDMI computers, and A/C network adapters.

The fact is, they forgot about us tinkerers, and tried to become mainstream. It may cost them their very existence.

It at least protects the parties from possible physical harm. But it's still quite possible to get taken for a ride--in a police station.

Even when doing business with someone you don't know, it's possible to look for, and read, clues as to the kind of person you are dealing with. Do they call back when promised? Do you notice any "little lies"? Does the story change over time?

I've bought personal vehicles on Craigslist for years, and there are a lot of good clues. For example, when you ask whether the car is still for sale, and they answer "Which one?" you know you're talking to a dealer, not an individual. Ask lots of questions, then mention that you will be pulling the CarFax report, and watch what happens. If they start changing the story, walk away! Clues as simple as how the person dresses can tell you a lot about what kind of person they are.

No system is perfect, but it's important to do your homework, even if you are meeting in a police station.

How sad that this is needed!

Some people will sue McDonalds when they spill hot coffee on themselves. Some people will sue a building owner when they trip and fall. Some people will sue to try to get back their IP that they clearly gave away to the public domain. We can't stop stupid people from being stupid.

Only a (stupid) lawyer could love a copyright loophole like the one described in the article. But we can't live in fear of these people. If somebody dedicates their work to the public domain, we have to trust that they will keep their word. Sometimes they don't, but sometimes people don't honor legally binding contracts, either.

It's not the language, it's the ecosystem.

The fact is, I don't want to write every function and class from scratch. With JavaScript, C#, C++, or Java, there are tons of source code snips, classes, and libraries out there to do just about anything you could imagine doing on a computer. This lets me (mostly) focus on what I'm trying to get done, rather than focusing on how to make the tools to get my job done.

After using dozens of languages in my career, I'm pretty language-agnostic. Most of them can do the job. But the ones that make me the most productive, are the ones that are thriving on Stack Overflow and Code Project.

I mostly agree. But there are some kinds of robocalls that are actually helpful. Our kids' school, for example, uses a robo-call system to let parents know when school is canceled due to weather or other reasons.

Right. Maybe we should all switch to Skype, or Facebook, or email, for all our communication. The telemarketers would never find us there!

The summary, and article, are predicated on the notion that it can't be true that certain occupations require inborn ability.

The truth is, people are born with certain talents and abilities. Some are good at art, some are good at science,, some are good at teaching. Why do we keep trying to force everyone to be equally good at everything?