I agree on this. When you're just getting into programming, getting hung up on formatting can be frustrating. For the first simple hello world programs, formatting should not be necessary. I think that Basic is a great first language, for the first week or so, because you don't even have to worry about functions, or importing libraries or any of the other unnecessary things you have to do in other languages in order to just get things running. In C, you have to have a function called main with a bunch of arguments you don't understand just to create a hello world program. In Java, it's even worse, because you have to create that function in a class, before you even know what a class is. In Basic, you can just start typing commands. No need to have functions, classes, or anything else, because it's not necessary.

Maybe good for those starting out in the field, but I read it after a few years in the field, where I had already been through a few big projects. I didn't much I didn't really know or suspect already. It's pretty obvious working in the field that adding more people to a project, especially when it's already late doesn't make things go faster. I think that probably applies to many types of projects, not just software development. I can see how it might be useful for non-technical managers read it, because if some of the concepts may be new to people who haven't worked in the trenches before. But I also think people who haven't worked in the trenches in most cases are the best candidates for managing a big project.

Same thing goes on my Surface2. The Windows 8 interface really shines on a touch screen device. It's also worth pointing out that you don't need as many apps on Surface as you would on an iPad, because it has a lot of functionality built in. Getting videos to play off my shared folder on the main PC was a piece of cake with Surface. With iPad, it was a royal pain, and it still doesn't work well with certain videos.

If you could get a 9 inch tablet for that ran full windows, you could have a very portable computer that you could just plug into full size monitor, keyboard and mouse, and use it as a full desktop. You wouldn't need any cloud services like drop box because you could literally bring your whole desktop computer with you wherever you go. This is the main point of the Surface Pro that most people seem to forget. You have this ultraportable machine about the same size as an ipad, but that you can hook up standard peripherals to and make it work as a full fledged desktop. The Surface Pro is a little outside most people's budgets, but the ASUS Transformer Book T100 is a little cheaper, and can still run most desktop apps.

Yeah, the ISPs in my area all have really low monthly limits. I did some calculations, and found that no matter which package you choose, you only get around 9-15 hours of full speed transfer before you go over your quota. And you don't always get more hours by moving up to the next tier. Sometimes moving up to the next tier means you get less time on your full speed connection than on the lower package. And 250-350 would be more than I would ever use. The ISPs in my area seem to think that 80-150 should be enough, and even if you're paying for a 25 mbit connection, you should still only need 80 GB of transfer a month.

Exactly. High speed connections aren't any good if your ping times are terrible because you're so far away from civilization. Also, once you get up around 100 mbit/s, it doesn't really matter how fast the connection is. At that point you could stream more than a few HD movies. Let us also not forget that many spinning platter drives have sustained write speeds of less than 100 MB per second, which means that as you approach gigabit speeds, you network connection actually exceeds the speed you can write the data to disk.

Personally, I find that I often end up tuning out the music or podcasts when I'm listening to them what I start to think of something. They'll often mention something in a podcast, which will get me thinking about some other non-related issue, and I'll completely miss entire sections of podcasts.

I guess it depends on how you travel. If you travel mostly by car, there is little reason to have headphones most of the time, because you can't use them anyway. If you usually travel by public transit, having headphones is almost a necessity. Then again, I'll see people just sit there and do nothing for the entire transit trip. Perhaps they are thinking, but probably not, because they look bored out of their skull. I don't know why everyone isn't doing something on public transit now, be it reading, listening to music/podcasts/radio, or even watching videos. Sitting there, doing nothing, just seems like such a waste of time.

Most people don't quit marriage altogether, they just move onto a new model.

With the advent of LED light bulbs, I don't know why things haven't been made more modular. They could easily make individual LEDs (or small groups of them) within the bulb replaceable, and allow the AC/DC converter, as well as any other circuitry replaceable without requiring that the entire bulb be replaced every time a single component dies.

Why not use robotics to work with the samples remotely? Put a laboratory in a remote place, heavily guarded, but don't require scientists to be physically present to do their work. This is probably the only way something like this could make sense on the moon. But then again, the transmission time to the moon, could make robotics tricky if you required real time control.

Cars have become safer, and them are more reliable, but this isn't because we have added more components. Bicycles have also become safer and more reliable over the years and isn't because manufacturers starting adding tons of extra components to them. They have also become a lot cheaper (relative to inflation) than they once were. Aerodynamics and crumple zones are examples of technology that is good for cars. Things like mandatory rear view cameras for people who are too lazy to look in the rear view mirror they already have are an example of technology that isn't really helping anything.

I agree. As someone who doesn't own a car, because of the expense, this isn't likely to make me want to buy a new one. With all the stuff they have to include now, a car in way more complicated, way more expensive to buy, and way more expensive to maintain than it needs to be. Cars would probably be a lot safer if they were made more simply, and they didn't change the design ever 2 or 3 years. Stick with time tested designs and get all the bugs out and you'd end up with a car that was reliable and safe.

Wouldn't that actually make the closed eye light up? Since you eyelid is filled with blood vessels which are body temperature.

The problem is that you can't just fill out some forms, meet a bunch of requirements, pay a fee and become a licensed taxi service. In many places, the currently operating taxi companies are the only companies allowed to operate taxis. There's a government controlled monopoly. I'm all fine for everybody operating under the same rules, but government shouldn't make it impossible for a potential competitor to enter into the market.

Double THIS

While there is a need for people to be able to support their families, not every job out there should be required to be a job that someone can support their family on. I can't imagine how hard it must be for kids in highschool or college to get a part time job now that the minimum wage is so high. Some people just want a little money, and want to keep busy. they don't need to buy food, pay for housing, or do any of the other things you need to support a family. If you want to raise a family, your aspirations should be much higher than working at Walmart. If you're working at Walmart, and trying to live off that income, try taking a tip from students, and get some roommates. Putting 4-5 people in a rental townhouse can really bring down the cost of living if you all chip in your fair share.