I think the fact that so many good programmers are self-taught highlights how coding is a poor fit for the pen-and-paper of traditional academia.

If these online schools get talented coders past HR - and save mileage and minutes in the process - how is this not a good thing?

It's ironic that Ghostery identifies 6 trackers on this very Slashdot page.

It is possible to advertise online without tracking users. It may not be quite as profitable, but it served the Internet well in the early days.

Besides, you don't need tracking to know that Slashdot's audience is full of nerds who will buy open their wallets to companies like ThinkGeek, NewEgg, etc.

I live in Dallas. People are not dying in the streets. We are not living out Monty Python's "Bring Out Your Dead" sketch.

The "emergency" was declared primarily so we could gain access to 5 pesticide-spraying planes from the Texas Department of Emergency Management.

Large Excel files in .xlsx are notably smaller. I use them all the time for intraoffice purposes, since I know everyone here has compatibility.

Hearing aids may be expensive for several reasons: 1. They're often covered under insurance, so there are incentives to keep the retail price artificially high. 2. They involve a lot of labor. Audiologists generally tailor the performance of the hearing aid to the individual user. 3. They're not mass-produced to the same scale consumer electronics are. 4. They bear much more liability potential. If your laptop fails and you lose your Word document, you shrug and replace it. If your hearing aid fails and you don't hear the horn of the car about to hit you, you sue their pants off.

In hindsite, perhaps the developers should have triggered suicide (at least of all non-critical components) whenever contact with the control servers could not be maintained. As it stands, there's still evidence of Flame sitting on disconnected machines.

Europe is truly unholy: Switzerland, Sweden, Spain...

Not necessarily. Some design sites sell non-exclusive rights to use a stock logo. For instance, PixelLogo.

Watermarking is only good when you control the source. However, when a customer buys the non-watermarked image and uses it, it can then be lifted by anyone else.

You suggest some good tools, but they primarily measure network utilization rather than capacity. The question isn't "how much data is my network handling now" but "how much data could my network handle at peak"?

Here's a couple examples of Jesus speaking on generosity:

16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

18 “Which ones?” the man inquired.

19 Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

- Matthew 19:16-23

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

- Matthew 25:40-46

*Corrected: Or at least that's what your grandma said.

that Slashdot stories are getting shittier.

At least one company in the US, Aim Truancy Solutions (http://www.aimtruancy.com/), is tracking students with school-issued GPS devices.

PC World recently covered an early adoption: http://www.pcworld.com/article/220225/california_school_district_battles_truancy_with_gps.html

Financially, it makes sense for the school districts because they lose so much attendance-based funding on truant students.