... as opposed to the other kind?

And right there we have "tautology of the week"

The NSA?

It's mostly based on the fact that gold is pretty...

I don't think that your statement of a generality applies to the specific, Bruce. The modifier "if you want to patent the changes" must not be discounted. So if you write a research paper on how you can tweak their architecture to produce some feature, you can simply elect not to patent it. If somebody else tries to patent the same thing, even the company in question, your research is prior art that anybody can use to strike the patent down.

As an academic who has done patentable research, I can tell you that universities are keenly interested in building their IP portfolios. And any informed patent holder knows that any violation must be prosecuted, or the validity of the patent evaporates. End result: taxpayers getting sued for violating patents generated 100% within universities with public funding. No company need get involved.

I don't know what century you live in... but universities operate like large corporations these days. They mistreat and underpay their workers as much as the law allows, they build massive IP portfolios, they pay their executives millions of dollars... I could go on.

I see very little good code. I see an awful lot of bad code

Sadly, there also always been buyers for bad code.

Altruism, what? This has "company town" written all over it.

He's building low-income housing so his low-income code monkeys have a shorter commute. So they can spend more time at work.

What? There are upsides to everything! "Excuse me, Office of the Panopticon! How does this outfit look?" "It's okay, but your shirt is untucked in the back. I'm not a big fan of the yellow, but historic data seems to show that your style works for you. Good luck on your third date tonight! You might want to pick up the tab tonight, though. Your intended has told her friends that you might be a cheapskate."

Did you read that clause?

(or intended to be sold, offered, or otherwise provided by Amazon in the future)

No matter what job the employee tries to get, all Amazon would have to do is draw up some business plan to enter that field. With the increasing trend of privitization of government services, not even public sector jobs are safe. This is an 18-month unemployment clause, plain and simple.

Seriously, though. Weinersmith! How did it come to pass that yourwife opt to took this incredibly amazing name, mid-academic-career, and you didn't with your awesome career that could only benefit from having the name Weinersmith?

Damn, if only I had mod points. I'm so happy to be aware of your curiosity surrounding GP's chess skills, interest in Go, and metal capacity. I was wondering if anybody else had been wondering these things about GP, but had been afraid to ask if I was the only one. Your post has given me validation, and I now have a reason to live to see tomorrow. What a wonderful and supportive community we have here. Keep up the good work, anonymous champion!

Nope. That's return on investment. The inventor invested time & money. The clinic that bought the device did so with money. The technician who operates the device invested time & money into their education. Everybody wants to make a profit.

If this was an AIDS vaccine or something, I'd say "yeah man, but the greater good!" But this is a device invented to efficiently separate fools from their money. More power to 'em.

Psssst! Buddy! I've got a laser. I'll shine it in your eyes and turn 'em blue for $5!

Dumbass. The $5k is called Return on Investment.

Aaaand, that's where you lost my attention.

Indeed, recursion is just looping with a stack. When you need a stack, recurse. Otherwise, loop. Contrary to TFS, there is clear reasoning behind a competent programmer's choice. The viewpoint of this being a capricious choice made at the "preference" of the programmer suggests that the submitter doesn't understand the vast differences in the internal impelementations of various languages.