Not to mention the small claims court you have to file with may be a long distance away -- in another jurisdiction.

I find the "communities" better on Google+, but all my friends post there normal stuff on facebook. I find the technical forums (the few that I am a member of) are asking a newbie question (nothing really interesting) like how do I print a number..... when it is facebook, but much more interesting communitie tech posts on google+.

I have to disagree with your analysis. Phone and tablet is more of a consumption device or a multi-media menu system, but it is not going to displace the computer - just give more options (computer is more of a work instrument - i.e. creation rather than consumption). The reduction of prices since I started using personal computers (my first one bought by my father was an IBM PC DOS 1.1 machine for $6,400 which included a 20% discount (2 floppy drive, electrohome cga monitor and a crappy dot matrix). Now with the lower prices, I have an iphone, tablet, and personal computer all for a fraction of the price. Each serves a purpose. I don't really want a device to try to be all things to all people and do nothing great. I do want my devices to work together seamlessly (cloud is the first step). I find a tablet works great for reading, some browsing and watching videos and maybe menu entry -- but it would kill me to have to sit in front of one trying work with it. I sit far enough away from the computer that having a touch interface is a hassle. You can make an operating system that is the same for all devices (if they are powerful enough) but the user interfaces should not all be the same since you don't use them all the same way. That is why Microsoft has had such problems with adoption with Windows 8. If I want lots of functionality and a large screen - I will use my computer -- not a tablet.

$1.7 Billion Dollar loss. Surface (even subsidized) is still not selling well, they have managed to get a few countries to stock-out on introduction by keeping the supply very low. Probably a good thing because if they supplied more the loss would be greater :o That is what I call a failure. Expect Microsoft to exit the "Surface" hardware market soon.

Cloning something a failure like Surface seems silly, if you're going to clone something clone something that is a success in the marketplace. If I want a table, I will buy an iPad - it works nicely as a consumption device. If I want to do a little more work, I will buy a Macbook Air. I don't really need a touch screen, in fact I find it a little annoying having fingerprints all over the screen. I also tend to sit back when using the computer and having to lean forward to touch the screen is actually more effort than just using my mouse. Call me old fashioned.... but I don't find it an improvement in usability when it comes to working on a computer. It works nicely when you are using an iPad and reading a book or watching a video.... Two different user interfaces in one machine is not useful to most.

If they got a proper enterprise router the router would not get overloaded -- and you could restrict a single logons connections to the point that they don't swamp everyone else. Both you and the other one should be banned for abuse of the network.

So I had no option to pay for it in Canada as well. But back to the point of this article, NEW scientific advances would not benefit the Canadian Health system until it became old and cheaper.

The waiting list for the MRI once it was deemed necessary would not have been 8+ months though. One of the professional teams (think it was the Maple Leafs) offered to buy 3 MRI machines for 3 hospitals around Metro Toronto and the cost of staff - with the caveat that if their player gets injured -- they have priority.... Ontario Health said it was not possible... so they bought only one for the dressing room and no-one else had access to it.

The health-care system works perfectly as long as you don't need something special or new (so new advances are often not available because of cost). I had a torn knee cartilage and it took many many months before I gave up and "jumped the queue" to have an MRI done in Buffalo for $450 (the day following the appointment). They schedule cheaper "tests" first, then after those failed to find anything they scheduled an ultrasound.... I asked what the doctor expected to find - he told me nothing but he had to schedule it first before more expensive tests..... after a couple of months in different queues I was getting a little impatient.... I asked if they could schedule the MRI now since their was a long queue for it and cancel it if not needed -- he told me no.... I had to come back with a negative on the ultrasound before the next test was scheduled -- and the queue for the MRI was at least 8 months at the time. That friday I called up a clinic in Buffalo and asked the cost and when they could schedule me.... they said.... tomorrow and $450.... I jumped, if I was waiting on the Canadian Healthcare system for my knee - I would probably still be waiting. 90% don't need it for anything more than the odd consult and for those 90% it works perfectly....

Learning a language is easy, but learning a paradigm is not. I usually pick up a language in a matter of days and can program fairly competitively pretty soon.... but I found that most developers that came to Java programmed how they did before because they failed to grasp the paradigm that the language was designed for. Programmed in Java for 15+ years, but prefer programming in Scala over Java. Java ecosystem is scattered with "advancements" that only later did we learn was holding us back. I am sure Scala will eventually be the same way. I found that moving to Scala with it's full support of object-oriented paradigm and full support of functional paradigm has allowed me to produce cleaner more concise code.

I had bought a bunch of futures based on there being an impact in that year....

I have to agree with that - higher than average intelligence in too slow of course = boredom.... which means lack of interest and you end up investing your time elsewhere. The most extreme example (although more reflective of memory than intelligence) was a grade 9 class (was more to do with geology - can't remember the name). I did not do any of the assignments which meant the highest mark I could get 60%..... when the final exam came around I had to get 96% to pass according to the teacher -- and again did not bother to study.... I ended up getting 97% on the exam which gave me a final 50 or 51% overall. That mark was not reflective of knowledge, it was reflective of poor discipline when being bored.

Disappointing to see such an important long term research project get shelved by politicians.

The answer to this - have the same people that run Singapore Airport run airports in North America. They are probably more secure than North American airports and the average time from landing to being out the door in a taxi or on the MRT subway..... is 15 - 17 minutes (and most of that is walking). I go through that airport around once a month and it is amazing in comparison to North American airports.

When I was working in the UK and flying from Canada or the US the jet lag tended to be brutal for the first few days to as much as a week or two. We would fly, then arrive in the morning -- then make it through most of the work day ..... then try to keep each other awake until evening..... but eventually we would end up sleeping too early and it would set the cycle out of order for a while. In fact what would happen is that we would get to the point where each day we were closer to being in sync with the local time - then think we have adjusted - only to have a boomerang effect (would adjust the wrong way for while).... But when travelling 24 hours the opposite direction to asia I would land - go to sleep ... and adjust almost immediately. Probably had something to do with the fact that I could never sleep on any plane - so I was dead tired and slept until the following morning which started me off on the right cycle.