There are variants in the instruction set (just like there are in the x86 world, where i686 is a superset of i383 for example). However, that isn't the big problem with ARM; there isn't a single-standard way of booting like there is with x86 (where most things are IBM PC BIOS compatible, with some now moving to EFI/UEFI). Also, there's no device enumeration like ACPI; lots of ARM vendors build their own kernel with a static compiled-in list of devices, rather than having an easy way to probe the hardware at run-time.

Sure there is - you have to have a Facebook account. Facebook can terminate your account for various reasons (or no reason at all), which could render you unable to receive such information in a timely fashion.

I know some people that have tried to work out filtration systems that can handle the volume of air needed for a moderate size data center (so that outside air could be circulated rather than cooling and recirculating the inside air), and it quickly became as big of an expense as just running the A/C. Most data centers are in cities (because that's where the communications infrastructure, operators, and customers are), and city air is dirty.

Aside from the fact that this decision is crap (I agree), and you'd have to spend $$$ to get a tuner card, you might not have to pay your cable company anything for a CableCard. For example, I have Comcast (sucks, but beats my other local cable company in every way: price, channels, and quality), and they include the cost of a tuner box in many of the packages. I have a TiVo instead of one of their boxes, and I get a $2.50/month credit for customer-provided equipment.

"stop working every few hours" would be a welcome improvement; there are people at my office that smoke at least 5 minutes out of every hour. They stink up the office, sometimes blocking the door open because, while they are able to carry a pack, lighter, and cell phone, they can't carry keys. They litter (even though there's a butt-receptacle), and I can't open my office window because of the smoke.

Smoking cigarettes is a filthy addiction, and not just because of the health issues. If I went and rolled in a pile of crap for a few minutes every hour or two and then came and stood in your office, you'd have me thrown out, but somehow smokers are "special".

Yes please! Of course, at the rate Alabama road crews build highways, I'd die of old age before it opened (even if they started tomorrow).

Hardly a similar comparison. We know what it takes to get to space.

Mercury was orbital after the first two manned flights, which used the same vehicle on top of a smaller rocket. Scaled Composites' work is not something that will apply to orbital flight (unless you want to re-create the space shuttle, and take a long time to get there).

Funny you should say that, since none of Virgin, Scaled Composites, and XCOR are working on orbital flight.

As soon as it is up to juries to set precedent, the small-time software developer is going to quit. I certainly wouldn't release or contribute to any free software that could cause me to get sued; I wouldn't have time or money to pay a lawyer to eventually hopefully get a decision in my favor.

If it was possible to prevent all security holes, this wouldn't be a bad idea. However, it is provably impossible to do so. This would just create a new inurance industry, profiting from others' mistakes. It would really only serve to cut down on development, especially from small companies and individuals that couldn't afford to make a single security mistake (or insurance against lawsuits).

I ordered some special-order sliding patio doors at Home Depot recently, and I'm paying to have them installed (next week). I've worked on over two dozen Habitat for Humanity house building projects, I helped when my parents added on to their house when I was a teen, and I have a good supply of my own tools (some of them handed down from my grandfather, who was a contractor). Why am I paying someone else?

• Installing a quality sliding door (especially in the place of a French door that is slightly larger) is a little tricky to get right, and if you don't get a sliding door installed correctly it won't work right. If I installed dozens or hundreds of sliding doors, I'd be able to get it right with ease, but these would have been the only sliding doors I'd ever installed.
• These doors are heavy. They are probably more than my father and I (even with a neighbor) could have easily managed. We sit at desks for a living (I carry the occasional server or router, but not that often). Sliding doors are awkward to handle as well.
• The installer is a professional tradesman with his crew (probably just one other person for this job). They have specialized skills and knowlege, just like I have specialized skills and knowlege. If they want a website, or need a office network, etc., they'll call someone like me.

As for complaining about self-stick flooring or pre-hung windows, WTF? Does this guy make his own plywood too? Guess what; builders have been using such materials for many years. It is quicker and easier, and in many cases allows for a nicer finished product (because a factory can generate a pre-finished piece that is nicer than even most professionals could fabricate on-site).

It got more than drop tests. It went through dynamic testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for something like a year; that was the first time the entire shuttle stack (orbiter, ET, SRBs) was assembled. Without Enterprise and the extensive testing it underwent, the rest of the shuttle program would not have happened.

Do you think there were only 12 men involved in the Apollo program because they were the only ones to walk on the Moon?

Heh, I saw it on the back of the 747 as it landed in 1978 at the Marshall Space Flight Center for dynamic testing. We got to walk up to it (and an external tank) at the NASA employee picnic right after that.