I used to think like you. I was a year and a half into my degree and was wondering why I'd ever need to learn what a B-Tree does. Or the algorithmic complexity of merge sort. Or why I'd need to learn Haskell. But, it turns out, you actually do need those things to be a good web developer. I know, because prior to my current job, I was a good web developer (I'm now working on a new test automation suite, but I do web dev on the side), working among a sea of awful web developers (yeah, I would think that maybe I sucked, but I was the person managers called on when they needed a project done on time, or to fix something that someone else screwed up. Customers specifically asked for me). Awful developers had 2 year degrees in CIS, or none at all, or a degree from the local school who has probably the worst CS department in the country (I'm looking at you, UCF. I had a person tell me they had never heard of a tree structure, and had no idea how to traverse one. WTF).

So here's the thing. You can go learn PHP or C# or Java and become a web developer without a degree. And you will probably think you are very good at your job, and you will probably be happy with your paycheck. But then you're going to turn out a piece of shit web app. It will happen, trust me. Everyone, even those with degrees, turns out a piece of shit at first. It won't work right, it will be too slow, it will not conform to UI standards, so on and so forth. Now you're going to have several problems. One, unless you're really bright (which statistically, you aren't), you won't know where to start with regards to making your app run faster, or work better, or do all the things that it needs to do to be a usable app. And that sucks for you, because it's going to take you time to learn that sort of thing, which you could have learned part of in college. And now your employer is going to wonder "why did we hire this kid when there are 10 kids with degrees waiting for jobs? He's no better, and he's costing us time and money". And that's going to suck for you because you are no longer going to be happy with your paycheck. And then someone like me is going to have to fix your shitty web app. So I guess it works out for me, cause I get paid, except that I hate fixing shitty web apps.

Says a guy who hasn't used it. If you have it in quick launch, it's "move mouse to bottom left corner, move to tile, click". All your commonly used apps are right there in front of you. If you want a-non commonly used app, it's "mouse to bottom left corner, click the programs tile, click your app tile". Not really any different than the start menu. It's just laid out a little differently and uses the whole screen. Takes a little getting used to, I'll admit, but it's not this crazy abomination that some people make it out to be.

Seriously. It's the same, with a small UI change. The Start Menu is now accessed by moving your mouse to bottom left corner of the screen, and it's redesigned in a tile format. Other than that small change (which people make way too big a deal of), and moving the Control Panel to the settings menu (bottom right corner, click Settings), it works exactly the same, in my experience.

The car one is pretty easy to explain.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler all share US manufacturers for smaller parts of their cars. Ford did not take bailout money, but did argue for the other companies to be bailed out. Why? Because the smaller companies that they all share would suddenly have 2/3's of their customers cut out from under them, all at once. because economies of scale no longer work for the suppliers, parts prices go up severely and immediately. Demand for Ford cars may shift upwards, and increased production could be an outcome eventually, but the immediate price increases make Ford increase their prices, effectively pricing themselves out of their own market because their competitors failed too quickly. This leaves most of the state of Michigan completely devastated.

I'm not against the companies failing. In fact I would applaud it, because GMs and Chryslers have sucked so hard for so long. But it works out better for everyone if it's a more gradual process. This is the same case for the banks. Bad banks need to fail by customers moving their money out of them, so as to keep the least amount of innocent bystanders affected.

Not liking sports is one thing, but not caring about human interaction is decidedly more robotic.

i5s are quad core in about half the cases: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core#Core_2_Quad

So far I really like my TP-LINK. I haven't had any problems with it, the throughput is fast, the range is good, and the config software is about what you expect. And it wasn't expensive. And it has a USB on it to work as a print or file server. I like that.

You'll note that those are all relatively new cities (even though you're wrong about Chicago, and probably Seattle). Older cities were built near rivers, on flood plains, because that's where they needed to be for shipping, food, and a clean water source. Even now these things are pretty important. Los Angeles wouldn't exist without a completely diverted river, for instance.

Can you name a major city not in a flood plain?

It's short for "This is what I wanted to say"

Because then you look like a weirdo in your office. Geeks a lot of times have issues feeling awkward. This won't help.

I'm an Aikido guy (2nd Degree Black belt). It's fairly useful in a fight (depending on your teacher, I guess). Mostly for teaching you how to get around one, or making it look like all self defense. My Dad (4th Degree, owns his own club) has taught SWAT teams and Police forces, because it's pretty good for subduing attackers without a lot of blood.

Why would anyone take a petition seriously when it wants to completely dismantle a government agency?

Seriously, guys. Everyone knows the old "First they arrested..." adage. It's saying that freedoms erode slowly and you have to be careful not to let them. But for some reason, everyone forgets that the opposite is also true. If you want your freedoms back, you have to take small steps to erode corruption. Make a petition to allow drinks past the security checkpoint. That might get a decent answer.

But...yes you do benefit from those things. You get "not having poor people all over your streets begging you for money or robbing you blind". You get the added benefit of being able to take more risk in a small business, because you know you won't go hungry and cold if you lose everything.