Uh, we did...in 2012, 2010, and every other (even) year before then. And yet, we've never had less than an 85% re-election rate (http://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/reelect.php). So unless you're in the significant minority that actually voted, and moreso, voted against the incumbent(s), you can find the first person to blame in the mirror. But you'll have another chance in 2014. Use it wisely.

Interesting that all of the places that seem to be at the top of this competition are places that the US has been outsourcing programming to for the last decade or two. When there are lots of (relatively well-paying) jobs available in an industry, more people want to get into that industry. And when more people want to get into an industry (that is pretty specialized and having an education is almost a pre-requisite), they go to school to ensure that they can get into that industry. And when more people go to school, you tend to get more good students. And when you have more good students, you tend to do well in these kinds of competitions.

The corollary to that is that when you don't have jobs (because you're sending them all to countries with a cheaper cost of labor), then you don't have people who want to get into the industry. And when you don't have people who want to get into the industry, they don't go to school for that specialization. And when you have fewer people going to school, you have fewer good students, which means that you don't do as well in those competitions anymore. And that leads to a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth about "How can we get young people interested in working in our industry?"

+1 We've spent the last 20 years shipping those development jobs to India, China, and other countries where the cost of labor is cheaper, and then wonder why nobody is leaping into the industry anymore.

I was introduced to my first computer at age 7 (1975) and thought it was the most amazing thing ever. Pretty much from that point on, I knew that's what I wanted to do with my life, and because of that I wanted to go to MIT. I spent the next ~10 years with that goal in mind, got good grades, great test scores, AP classes, etc. And because of that, I was invited to a special event that MIT held in the D.C. area to recruit the top students, and they had many of their current students from the area attending. It was the most excruciating couple of hours I had spent--they were the most arrogant, conceited individuals I'd ever spent time with. I couldn't possibly see spending the next 4 years of my life like that. And that ended any thought I had of going to MIT. I ended up at the next best dual-degree program I could find (Washington University). Interestingly, my best friend had the same experience as I did--ended up going to Georgia Tech. I've been up to Cambridge a few times, and sometimes really think it might have been a great place...if it weren't for that attitude.

While you can't get an RS-25, you can get some X-34s. From http://gsaxcess.gov/NASAWel.htm: Prescreening Period 14: Start Date - 9/4/2012; Internal prescreening ends - 9/25/2012; External prescreening ends - 10/16/2012 (Includes items from Shuttle, Hubble, and other programs along with X-34 engine nozzles, early Space Shuttle prototype models, X3 solar mirrors, and various Space Shuttle components) New!

So the only facts are those that are historical in nature ("a thing done"). So math is not a fact--just because 1 + 1 has equalled two in the past doesn't mean that it will continue to do so in the future. Anything predictive, no matter how many time it has been shown as accurate, is not "fact". That sound you just heard while making those pedantic observations about those definitions, as opposed to the concept of "scientific theory," was the sound of thousands of years of scientific progress sailing out the window.

I second DeskPins. It even works for popups that you want to ensure always show up on top of everything else.

Yes, if it has an image of [insert holy figure here]> magically appearing on it! Likewise for grilled cheese

I think it's you-EFF-i (or you-EFF-eye) and since you already know who the I and the you (in this case, HW manufacturers and M$) are, I'm sure you can imagine what the F stands for...

Uh, no. If Twitter continues to lead the markets (i.e. people tweet their sentiment first, and act second), and that time period is long enough to act on, then this will be wildly successful, especially because of random events. Granny shows up on TV, many people tweet "Foo Motors tries to kill old people", then unload their stock. If this company can figure that out fast enough, and short sells the stock before the mass unload causes the stock to tank, they'll make a killing.

Uh, actually you cited unnamed sources, which is usually considered about as reliable as personal anecdote.

Probably because gun crime tends to be more fatal than knife crime, due in part to the increased range.

Wouldn't this make the internet into a cyber-france?

In a lot of ways, that might have been the BEST possible way for him to teach that class! Since anything you're taught about computers is mostly obsolete in a few years, learning how to learn on your own is THE most critical skill in the industry, IMHO. Second is learning how to troubleshoot/debug...