But the clickpad has been in the Thinkpad line for years now. And it sucks there too. I don't mind the clickpad on OS X, but under Windows and Linux it's horrible.

Running Mint on my X220, and I cannot get the clickpad to work worth a darn It's jumpy, and the clicking part always moves the mouse cursor when I hit it. Also I can't rest my thumb on the pad while moving my index finger. The cursor just won't go anywhere. It's extremely annoying. I'm not sure whether this is Linux at fault or the pad itself. It might be the latter because I think Windows has the same problem. But either way the clickpad needs a lot more Linux developer love. At least the X220 has real buttons above the trackpad, and the trackpoint.

I disagree. Uselessd shows that systemd's parts are not as tightly coupled as people suppose. Just because they are all part of one umbrella project does not, in fact, mean they are tightly coupled and integrated in some sort of orwellian fashion. Uselessd proves this fact. And Uselessd is a good thing to have. Provides competition for systemd, provides a few features people want, and could pave the way for modern desktops like Gnome to run on non-linux systems such as BSD. Gnome isn't bent on having *the* "systemd" just the capabilities that systemd provides. If Uselessd can do it, so much the better.

As far as I can tell, Swift is just a new front-end to the Objective-C object system. So knowing how Objective-C works will be beneficial to working in Swift.

Also most of the libraries and frameworks you will be working with are Objective-C and most of the current tutorials and online resources probably use Objective-C in their examples. That's not to say you need to start with ObjC, but be prepared as you use Swift to learn a bit about it, at least enough to read and translate example snippets you see.

If my understanding of Swift is accurate, one can intermingle Swing and ObjC libraries and modules. They should have the exact same calling convention and object semantics. Perhaps Swift is easier to remember without some of the more unusual aspects of ObjC's syntax.

Umm no. I meant that besides my own phone I've seen countless android phones of different kinds (mostly Samsung) and not one with a shattered screen. I've seen many shattered iPhones though.

When this new distro no longer refers to *any* debian repos, maintaining and compiling their own deb packages entirely, then I'll recognize it as a fork. Until then it's just one of many distros that base themselves off of debian and its package base while changing parts they don't like.

I bet there is a high probability that Devuan will be based on uselessd. If so it will be interesting to watch the approach. Uselessd, if anything, validates the original ideas of systemd, just taking issue with the packaging, as near as I can tell.

I too wish them well, but I do not hold out much hope that they will go anywhere.

Really? Posix dictates a particular init system? I don't think you really understand what Posix means.

Lame!

It's not a "drone" with all the sinister connotations. It's a radio-controlled flying toy that you are really after.

The cheapest, best, off-the-shelf one you can buy right now is the DJI series and it's about $1200. And that's more of a mapping and photography tool than a toy.

You can, however, build an RC toy for about the price you mention, and it would be a lot more fun. Forget the camera for now (though you can add a camera later easily enough). Some wood scraps, motors, speed controls, props, battery, radio with receiver, and a HobbyKing KK multirotor controller and you're in business. A tri-copter would be quite fun to build and fly (requires a servo to tilt the one rotor). I think you would get far more long-term fun from a project like that.

http://www.instructables.com/i...

A prebuilt unit that costs $150 will be fun for a day or to for you, and then I suspect it will be crashed and lie broken in a drawer.

People seem to think that RC aircraft are things they can just toss into the air and enjoy for hours. But it will take some serious work and training to learn how to fly them. If you take a bit seriously I guarantee you'll have a lot of fun.

I fly fixed wing and think that's funner than multi-rotor, but to each his own. I do plan to buy a DJI soon, though, although even in Canada the regs for using them in a pseudo-commercial way (say mapping) are murky.

What you say has a ring of truth to it, but from what I've read in the car magazines auto ownership is certainly stagnant, and the growth saw in the past is gone, and car companies seem to not know what to do to get demand back. They've tried the idea of a car being a lifestyle, and that didn't seem to do much especially. Now they are trying to go the entertainment route, putting everything and the kitchen sink into the center console. I highly doubt that's going to do much. Basically car makers are victims of their own success. They've saturated the market, cars are quite reliable now with minimal maintenance, and they are perceived as commodity items (albeit expensive ones). I think your arguments are likely to hold for some time yet, but the article's arguments are likely to hold more sway in the long term. The number of teenagers getting a drivinglicense is steadily declining from 30 years ago. Now arguably one huge factor in this is that they depend on others to drive them (parents or friends), but as they become adults they are likely to take their car apathy with them into the next generation. To them cars are just tools. They aren't lifestyle items anymore or fashion accessories. Just tools. When these kids who aren't car crazy begin to vote they might start voting for better public transportation, autonomous cars, etc.

I have an old T-mobile Galaxy II (989) that supposedly has gorilla glass on the screen. I've dropped it numerous times and it's never once broken or shattered, and it's now an ancient phone by internet standards. Yet I've seen countless iphones with broken glass. Perhaps the more flimsy, plasticy Android phones actually have an advantage here by flexing instead of shattering? Or is there some other reason this is an Apple problem?

Even if you're trying to be funny, a falsehood is still a falsehood. So kindly please stop saying things that we know are untrue. Assange has neither been charged with nor convicted of rape. He is innocent until proven guilty, no matter what we know about his actions and lifestyle.

The swedes want him for questioning in regards to two (if I recall correctly) alleged rapes. However it's unlikely that if he did return to Sweden that they would even be able to charge him let alone convict him of rape. But getting him in Swedish custody paves the way for extradition to the United States where the current government wishes to punish him severely for exposing their sins. There's near certainty that's why the Swedes have pursued him thus. And that's why he's fighting this extradition tooth and nail.

It's kind of like how the mob bosses in 1930s Chicago were brought down. They never could make actual charges of murder stick, so they got him on tax evasion. Means to an end for the US government.

Yes I agree. I was wondering if Microsoft was going to be shipping the patch to customers on tapes, or what.

Wow, that was an amazing set of videos. Particularly how the machine can do decomposition. What a brilliant man who designed this machine.

All analog computers fascinate me. Apparently analog computers implemented fire control on navy ships for many years, compensating for the speed, direction, and roll of the ship in order to aim guns. The accuracy of such a system was impressive, and they were used up until the 1980s on some older ships. Digital systems simply couldn't get the accuracy for many years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Slide rules are very cool as well. I want to learn how to use one.

Well said. There's a lot of disinformation being spread by well-meaning individuals, and by some not-so-well meaning individuals. Especially rubbish like "hybrid seeds are bred... [to] typically need chemicals to thrive." Except that it's strictly true; they do need chemicals like water, CO2, Nitrates to survive. But to say they *need* pesticides suggests that the pesticides are directly causing growth and contributing to the plant, with the innuendo that our food is laced (purposely even) with toxic chemicals, is dishonest.

There are lots of issues at play here with sustaining food production for the future, but articles like this one don't bring anything to the table.

Except that on windows you get the 32 bit baggage whether you want or need it. It's not like Linux where you can install a 64 bit pure distro. So in the Windows world, moving to 64 bits just for the sake of 64 bits doesn't make as much sense. It doesn't save much.