The iPad has a lot going for it, especially that you can get one for about 1/3 the price of that thing (if you convert the 1998 dollars, see eldavojon's post) and that you have wireless networking (a major plus).

The thing is, you can't do the math that way. Tech gets cheaper as it gets older, and new tech gets more powerful but remains roughly the same price, whereas inflation just goes up. If you look on Amazon, someone is selling it for $375, used.

Never mind any number of other UMPC devices...

Read, learn:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocortex

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=25283

It's not that crazy. I was on a bus heading to Heathrow airport back around 1999 or so. The speakers on the bus were vibrating in time with the sweeps of the radar.

My head was also throbbing in time with the sweeps of the radar.

Of course, that's a MUCH more powerful signal.

From what I understand the reason people get offended is that M$ implies there is something evil about making $$$.

I just get offended by people saying 'M$' because it paints the Linux community as a bunch of pimply-faced teenage dorks that think that calling Microsoft 'M$' is like the greatest insult in the world. I use Linux at work. It's a great developer platform. I use it t home for my server. Great at that, too. Just have a windows box for games. So you can call me a Linux geek... but I hate two things about the linux community:
Those that insult proprietary companies like a kid would
Those that insult others trying to learn Linux (if someone was to say "RTFM" to a newbie in real life, I'd kick him in the nards)

Really? 401k is a retirement, long-term investment. The market goes up and down, so unless you plan on cashing out your 401k TODAY or next year, I say now is the time to put MORE into the 401k. It's the stock market! When it's low, put in more money, when it's high sell off!

Never ever ever react to a sudden change in the stock market on a long term investment, unless it's something like enron...

Or, like another scientist did recently, you can just take all of the component bits and pieces, freeze it in ice, and leave it for 15 years.

At the end of it, you will have RNA and a bunch of amino acids.

This is why I read New Scientist magazine religiously.

I'm in the iPhone camp and have both of these apps on my iPhone.

The only reason I'd flip to android is that I can write java apps to the android... if you want to write an app to your iPhone, its objective-C, which I know you probably prefer, Barbie, but I'm a java guy ;)
Another advantage of iPhone is maturity. The androids are still level 1.0. I like to wait for the next gen (which is why I have an iPhone 3G, and never had the original iPhone).

LOL! Love the subject, johndiii :D

As with everyone, I'm surprised you lasted this long. A threat to pay is a last resort, company will fall out from under you if you leave, kind of threat, or a threat to someone you want to quit so you don't have to go through any company policy severance...

If you are looking for a job in the states, let me know. My company always appreciates a good developer, and we do placement jobs if you don't want consulting.

Yup... spiders kill the bugs that can carry disease and stuff. As long as they are like up in the ceiling or out of the way areas making webs, I let'm go...

I'm all for reform, but national vote count is a lot easier to corrupt than a bunch of district votes. Checks and balances are in place to prevent corruption. Why are we getting rid of them?

... now that messages are on the front page (or I just found them), I'm late to the party, but allow me to also say "I'm here if you need anything."

I'm a big believer in marriage, and I hope you've tried counseling with both of you before you (will or already have) hung it up.

Best of luck. This is a time thing... it'll take time to get through it all, and you never may get through it entirely, but know there are others out there to help you through it.

Apps worth having:

• TwitterFon: I've tried a variety of twitter apps, fon is free and the best
• Wikipanion: Free wikipedia app that makes it much easier to read wikipedia from the phone
• PNC Mobile: Or any other bank app... if you like to keep track of your banking on the fly
• iFitness: The only app I've purchased. If you work out and want to keep track, its the best out there.
• WebMD: If you do webMD, this has the symptom app already built in
• Dictionary.com: Great app (huuuge 35MB!), but its all offline with pronunciations.
• Shazam & Midomi: Want to know who sings that song with a link to iTunes?
• Stanza: Free online books (download and read on the phone)
• TWC: Local weather + weather channel forecast movies
• Lightsaber: Fun toy ;)
• Trace, CubeRunner, TapDefense are the games I've played and kept
• DirectTV: If you have direct tv, you can log in and set your machine to record shows and stuff

That's my list. I haven't found a decent free chess game (with AI... there are some free online ones, I believe), and there are too many pay ones for me to look at, but if you find a winner, let me know. Sudoku apps are a dime a dozen...

IntelliJ is definitely the cream of the crop when talking about it and eclipse and netbeans... the problem is the latter two are free, but IntelliJ is hundreds of dollars...

eclemma is probably what you are talking about witht he emma/junit.
I'm also a fan of 'findBugs' for statistical analysis and I use Q4E for Maven2 integration.
Also, 'extract method' is a great refactoring thing to know... and you can make it so saves automatically organize imports and format the code...