So was (is) Obama. Anyone who is just left of Right-wing Extremist is labeled a "far-left communist".

I would bet that if Nixon or Reagan ran today they would be lambasted as tree-hugging pinkos by the current "conservative" leadership.

Plus it isn't that hard or expensive to "retrofit" a toilet to use less water. It can be done with either a pair of pliers (bend the rod that the float-ball is connected to so that it stops at a lower water level) or a bag of rocks (Place a sealed bag of rocks or really anything that is heavy and takes up volume in the reservoir tank to reduce the amount of water the tank holds).

No real point to buying a brand new toilet just to reduce water usage.

I'm sorry that you feel that way. As an Engineer who has experience with 3D CAD modeling, I love my printer. If I can design it, I can print it. I can understand that this is an extremely niche market right now and I don't expect everyone to want to run out and blow a grand or two on a personal printer, however that doesn't mean that the whole technology should be painted as irrelevant.

I don't expect these to be in every home in the next 20 years, but I can see them in more than a few garages. Just as most people don't need woodworking and metalworking tools there still plenty of hobbyists with table saws and welding gear in their garage. However, I think the real promise is going to be companies with high-end (think multi-million dollar printers able to print everything from ceramics to metals to plastics) catering to cheap one off or personalized knickknacks. It is already happening with outfits like Shapeways and as prices keep falling it will eventually become competitive with more traditional forms of manufacturing for low volume items.

I know it was a joke, but yes, there is a filament called Ninjaflex that is both soft and flexible and will print on most types of ABS filament printers. I probably wouldn't recommend it for sex toys but it does make a good material for bracelets and such.

When I graduated college, I got something like that. I graduated with a BS in Computer Engineering from an ABET accredited college, near the top of my class. I had some projects and job experience on my resume and professor's recommendations out the ass. However, It was also during the recession, so jobs were a bit hard to come by.

I went to one of those recruiters / contractor agencies and was in no uncertain terms told that no company would hire me (not like I had a criminal record or tattoos or anything) and that all of my skills were not only not in demand but were about 50 years obsolete (I specialized in low level system programming in C++ and programming language design). When he saw that my minimum asking salary was $30,000 a year (research showed that in my area, near the center of a major North-Eastern tech hub, the average starting salary for a Programmer / EE was between $35,000 and $45,000 a year), he laughed for about 5 minutes and told me I was horribly unrealistic.

After I left, about 45 minutes later, I was called with a job offer scrubbing toilets at a Masonic retirement home for minimum wage. I promptly told him to to shove it but was told that, "that was about the best I was ever going to get."

About 6 months later, I finally found a job doing systems programming on microcontrollers and robots. So fuck those recruiters.

\CSB?

Apparently there are Wireless routers that are designed to connect via dialup (for instance This Router.) With that, I would go with a Chromebook / Chromebox or an iPad.

Given the constraints, that is probably the best you can get. However, you could probably experiment with an old Win CE Thin Client or an old WebTV and try to get either to work, but neither are particularly great solutions.

I can't wait for the SQL: Data Minecraft!

So should everyone lend credence to any claim that is made? Should every old book of fairy tales be taken as truth until it is systematically proven as false beyond any shadow of doubt?

If I say there is an invisible tiger patiently waiting behind you ready to eat you the second you did something he doesn't like, would you believe it? I offer you no real proof other than my word that it is written in an old book that I found. Is it arrogant to assume that it is just plain superstition at best and probably just outright lies on my part at worst until some semblance of proof was offered on my end?

As for the Higg's Boson, it wasn't something whose only basis is, "some guy said it is true". There are mathematical models that suggest its existence which warrants testing (Just as any search for a supposed deity warrants testing.) Few people claim that the Higg's boson is a certainty and those who do are scientific extremists jumping to conclusions.

A line must be drawn somewhere. The burden of proof is on you to prove the claim is true, not for me to prove it is false. I understand there must be a modicum of faith in a belief to actually test the idea in order to generate evidence. The problem is that too much blind faith in any idea makes it easy to go down a destructive or self-defeating path. What makes things worse is that to question those who believe is heresy, dissent to be destroyed at any cost because those who request evidence are a threat to the faith.

90% of all the jobs I have seen listed were either Java, SQL, or C#, with the occasional reference to iPhone programming.

C++ is not even remotely close to being a popular language unless you are looking for jobs that require a masters / Ph.D in electrical engineering.

No, it's cool. Deadmau5 is the last of the Deadmaus. Deadmau 0-3 were destroyed by terrorists. Deadmau4 was sent back in time to help fight the first Shadow War. Deadmau5 is Earths last, best hope for funk.

No, this is Steve Ballmer, not a Dalek. It would have been, "FUCKING KILL! FUCKING KILL! FUCKING KILL! "(TM)

There once was a CEO named Steve,
Who threw chairs at employees for reprieve,
He shot lasers from his eyes
To bury other guys,
And he'll Fucking Kill you if you don't believe.

We're sorry, Someone threw a chair and smashed your Windows. Please press CTRL+ALT+DEL to reboot.

Maybe, but even assuming that everyone on earth would give them a dollar, do you think they stop their plan or simply pocket the cash and continue anyway?

I'm guessing they would still do it anyway.

Stay away! Long hours, crappy pay working for a company that will use you for everything you are worth, chew you up, and when you turn 35-40, will spit you out. Only those few who specialized in now ancient technologies will have any prospects beyond age 40. The worst part is, there is no such thing as job security. No matter how much of a rockstar you are, at any time you are at risk of being replace by a kid from India or China, if for no other reason than the CTO needs a few extra dollars to get a new company Lexus.

Sure, the idea of joining a startup and becoming an overnight billionaire sounds appealing, but except for a very small handful, IT WONT HAPPEN. If you want to join the Video Game Industry, all this same stuff applies, only cranked up to 11!

For your own sake, stay away. Don't make the same mistake that I made. Get a real job, spend time with your family, go outside and enjoy life.

Really? Here is my anecdotal datem point on the subject. I have been a gamer since the Atari 2600 and NES era. I have been involved in the gaming culture since there was gaming culture (same with the computer and internet cultures as well). Thus far, I have owned and played every major Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft platform made (except the PS4 and XBone due to the still lack of games) as well as many others. My current library spans well over 500 games between consoles and PC (especially Steam). When I go on business trips, my laptop with my Steam library and 3DS goes with me.

For all intents and purposes, I consider myself a gamer. Being on the backside of the 18-34 demographic, I have a full time engineering job with its own hours and obligations. So while I don't put myself in the league of those who play games as their main and only hobby, I am still part of the core gaming audience.

With that out of the way, between professional and personal obligations, I am lucky if I can actually play games for 2 hours a week. This is usually when I can block out one night just to sit down with a game until I have to get to bed. Sometimes, I might get lucky and have a lazy Friday night or Saturday to just sit down and play. Meanwhile, my Mom, Dad, Girlfriend, Grandma, and Step-Mom have kindle tablets, and iPhones and can play one of their dozens of free-to-play casual games for 5-15 minutes a piece whenever they have a few minutes downtime. My girlfriend also occasionally plays a few rounds of Mario World or Mario Kart with me on the Wii U.

Now the question, who is the real gamer My family or myself. Certainly, I buy more games, am a part of the gaming scene, and play hardcore games. Meanwhile they just play games in short bits and pieces many times a day. They don't care about the latest shooter, the next Civ game, what EA is doing to piss-off gamers this week. They don't know who Tim Schafer, Reggie Fils-Aime, Jim Sterling, or Master Chief is, they just play their games.