My biggest issue with Amazon is delivery. It seems like most of the time when I need something, I need it now. For example, the other day I broke the microphone/headset that I use to record video presentations and make Skype calls with my students. I drove down to Best Buy, picked one off the shelf and was back home at work in less than an hour. Waiting two or three days for Amazon to get it to my door really wasn't an option.

I'll admit up front that I haven't read the article but, based just on,

"'involves a graphical user interface on a computer that includes a graphic of an athletic playing field or a portion thereof, and a plurality of player positions on the athletic field. At least some of the player positions contain thumbnail images selected by a first user."

isn't this Madden NFL?

I think we can be pretty confident that he won't be posting the security camera video on YouTube. I don't think you can say the same for video taken by patrons.

I'm a college professor, and my students seem to follow a relatively normal distribution. I have a few who can write well, a few who would have a hard time making a grocery list and a large majority that do okay. The ones who do poorly often do very *very* poorly and I think their relative impact may cause outside observers to overstate the situation. I've also noticed that, predictably, full length papers tend to be more problematic than individual discussion posts. Students who do okay in the discussion often start to go down hill when they have to put together a multi-page argument.

I would be very reluctant to use almost any kind of technology at the elementary school level. In my experience, computers are a great tool for expressing your imagination but they're not so great for helping to develop one which is what students should be doing at that age.

I've never understood this sentiment although I've heard it many times from my father who was a manager for a large part of his career. Why is it okay for management to come to me and say, "We've got some problems with our relationship and, if you don't make some changes, you'll be fired.", but it isn't okay for me to go to management and say, "We've got some problems with our relationship and, if you don't make some changes, I'm going to quit."? Most of the time, management is in a superior bargaining position because it's harder for me to do without a job for a period of time than it is for them to do without someone in my position for a period of time. Would you, as a manager, be reluctant to use that advantage to bring an employ into line with a new set of job requirements that you or senior management felt were necessary?

"What does a software developer know about editing movies?"

If he's spent years developing software for doing it - probably quite a lot. After I spent ten years developing software for a home health company, I knew at least as much about the industry and our specific approach to it as most of the managers who used the software that I developed.

The idea that this year's snow storms are unusual is a myth created by the media to generate stories. When I was a teenager in the 80's living in western Massachusetts we used to get two-three foot snow storms several times each winter and it was considered normal weather. Going back further, I've got pictures of my grandfather when he was a young man in upstate New York standing by snow drifts that were literally up to the tops of telephone polls.

Almost any business that sells information follows this model, e.g. the publishing and movie industries. You may have some idea of what you're going to get but you don't get full disclosure until after you've opened your wallet.

But I don't think that's what you meant. I think you meant, "In what other business do people get to take your money and then tell you the terms under which you can use the product?" I'll admit that that's a strange way to do business but the author of the article isn't even telling his customers the terms after they've got the product. He's just assuming that they're going to know and agree with his position.

When you by software in a store, it comes with a license agreement that lays out what you're getting and what you're not. It sounds like the article's author has his own personal understanding and is assuming that his client is going to pick that up from him telepathically.