I think Amazon (or the vendor) is realizing now that a $0.02 resistor is cheaper than using paint as a resistor.

I am biased I admit, but this also might be what you get when you engineer products using the lowest paid bidder. I mean by the time you get thru all of the layers of middlemen down to the designer, it ends up being a kid just out of college saying "oops.... Sorry about that boss. I never thought about what would happen if the paint came off"...

The problem with the above argument is what I run into on a daily basis... The person with the idea knows the business, but the consultant (programmer) typically just understands the implementation side of it. That is why high paid consultants (in their chosen industry) are worth their weight in gold. Someone else have paid to train them up on the industry (and paid for their learning curve as well).

Also, if it is one lesson I have learned (several times actually) about doing consulting for the last decade, it would be that a good spec doc up front that is written by someone who knows exactly what needs to be built and has a "knack" for attention to detail. Programmers are supposed to be implementers and nothing more. The ideas should have already been flushed out... If this happens, then the projects typically go well. If not, then who knows what will happen

In my opinion, the real issue is the current technology on passwords. Everything should be implemented with smart card command / challenge implementation. Passwords are by the very nature insecure

I am not going to disagree that some platforms are easier than others, but when you are paid to develop software for a living, if makes learning allot easier. Meaning, if you are not good at it, then you don't eat. :)

Other than simple "hello world" type development, most of the time the way you really learn a new platform is by getting a new project and then learning it as you go. Pretty much any senior developer can pickup new platforms with only a slight impact (mostly late nights) in the overall timeline.

For me personally, I have not been able to get any clients to bite on iOS development, but I found early on that android is an almost ideal OI for industrial automation. Hence, why I currently am only doing android development at the moment until I can find someone to fund a iOS project.

Let me guess.... Actually, what this is really about is that the head of NSA is upset that he cannot currently stream HD 1080p porn directly to his desk from another government friend employee. I mean, it is just sooooo choppy. A new network must be made immediately!!!

He apparently seems to have a misunderstanding on what a VPN is as well...

Also, the problem is not "the internet". The problem is people in general. If you only allow a system to be modified by a physical person in front of a unix/linux/vxworks (or similar) terminal with no network connection, then it makes "hacking" something like pretty much impossible unless a person is physically present.

My guess is that it shows the level of frustration Microsoft is having with OSS.

OSS is never on the edge of innovation. In fact, it is almost universally behind the times. However, it forces the industry to innovate to survive, which is great for technology as a whole.

This is great news actually..

I am guessing we will see allot more efuse (Droid) type approaches in the future. Considering this current ruling, I wound if the vender is held legally responsable for damaging (aka bricking) a device if the intent is to prevent it from being tampered with?

Ummm.... It depends what you are doing. Yes, if you want a basic browser with flash, go down to walmart and buy a computer. If you are building a group of opencv (computer vision) frame processing servers, then linux is the only way to go.

Overall, though, I agree with you that the thought of pushing linux desktop PCs is a little puzzling. It is not really what they are best at, and the only reason I ever use one for browsing is because I vertigo anytime I look at a Vista / Windows 7 desktop.

I think you would agree that performance no longer is a problem is most cases... Meaning, those HP desktops most likely will perform just as well (and long) as the new ones of today. Pretty sad if you think about it...

I dont know about him, but my reason is because those *cheap* phones are exactly as they are described. Cheap.... I dont care to have a shell on my iphone, and I sure as heck dont want to waste time modding it. What I want from a phone is allot of functionality, but functionality that is quick and intuitive to pickup. Meaning, I will spend all day screwing around and configuring linux (debian/gentoo/centOS) servers, but the last thing I want is this functionality on my phone.

I understand your frustration. I am an electrical and computer engineer, and really like most (not all) apple products. The problem is that if you talk anything positive about apple, then you must be a "ignorant apple fan boy", which is far from the case. The reality (for me) is that need products that are extremely reliable and integrate well because of the business I am in. Could I use Android? Sure, but it would be be sync'd seamlessly (contacts/emails/etc) with my macbookpro or my iPad.

You know... Making sounds illegal is soooo 8th century BC...

I am a little confused by the article.....

"Narcotics", such as morphine or other opium derivatives, are generally considered sedatives (not stimulants). Meaning, you dont get a "high" off of heroin/morphine. Meaning, narcotics (sedatives) and methylamphetamines (stimulants) are two different categories of drugs.