I get annoyed when the premise is so flawed, but stated as fact.

Major projects have been cross-language for decades. In the 70s, Fortran + C + Assembly were in most big languages. Or large systems using COBOL having to interface to non-COBOL systems. By the 80s, many had bits of Pascal (Borland was huge, remember?) and BASIC, with important routines hand-optimized in assembly. Or C. By the 90s, we had SQL and native code, DLLs written in random languages, and often VB for the UI. Most of what you use on a daily basis probably is browser-hosted but includes active controls in C# or C++, back end code in PHP or Java, database code in SQL and browser code in JavaScript or ActionScript. Many of my Android apps are mostly Java with some kernel-level support in C.

Yes, each language has it's own way... COM, exports, dllimport, etc. Until it has one, it's not a very functional language. But this isn't a new development.

Many small businesses use DomainsByProxy. As do many individual domain owners. If you don't have a permanent business address distinct from your home address and aren't using it, you're being foolish.

The problem is, you have no control over your registration data. You use your legal name and mailing address, necessary not just for billing and because the contract requires it but in case of future ownership disputes, but then the automatically get posted on whois. Meaning any crackpot or spammer or salespeople can simply grab that database and call you - yes, by telephone - or drive by. And they do. And it gets aggregated into all sorts of other data. Suddenly everything you've ever done is more easily connected, with a simple Google, than before.

I've had domains since very early on. It's not a nice world out there. Initially I didn't pay extra for that service. Not my best choice ever. You can't put your home address and phone number back into the bag, you can only let them out.

Small businesses often provide better services or custom work than large ones do. And it can be riskier. But hey, I bought a Ford (new) in the mid-80s, I can tell you all about how even large businesses can be evil.

We don't have a liberal arts shortage. We have a STEM shortage. We don't lack educators. We lack programmers. Is it possible that by increasing empathy in these students, we're reducing the traits that nudge kids towards computers, math and science? Since we can't dedicate resources to compensating for that reduction, is it really profitable to do it at all?

Nice thing about my computers is, they don't have need for me to be empathetic.

No more text needed.

I am a developer. I write good bug reports. But when using a product I'm not working on, if the devs or the process seem out of touch, I don't tend to. If there's a crash report, I won't invest much because the seems to be zero investment back.

Whenever a bug is submitted, a real response... not just an automated mailer... should be sent within a day. Get more details if needed, provide an ETA. Otherwise, we're spitting in the wind, and it doesn't seem worth the effort.

It's not blackmail because they aren't doing any harm directly. They run a list. The ISPs are using the list... and deciding what to do with it... voluntarily.

And this philosophy is what brought Europe down and is killing the U.S. It isn't up to you to decide if what I want to do is a good idea.

I run my own mail server. At home. And here's one good reason why.

All my personal contacts, emails, etc. that sync to my smartphone... don't go through Google, Apple or Microsoft. Essentially I run my own cloud.

Is privacy and wanting control of our data/contacts, at least keeping the nexus away from the corporate giants, not a "good reason"? Who are you to unilaterally decide "no"?

I view a union as having a monopoly on the commodity of workers. If the company annoys the union, that resource dries up. But the workers are indeed a commodity... no differentiation.

I have a monopoly on my skillset and hours. If I am more valuable and flexible than another worker, I negotiate for suitable compensation or I shop around for another employer. Unfettered by a system that considers all developers to just be another widget. We have radically different skills, speeds, flexibilities. Why would I want to be lumped in with someone who has checked out already?

Okay, so he's new to the world... many years (decades-plural) ago, when Compute and PC Magazine ruled the earth, I wrote a bunch of freeware and shareware. Lots of awards from the various magazines, placements in the annual top-10s ,etc. Not much money though. I ran into lots of people who would tell me how much they loved my programs and used them constantly. But they'd get a rabbit-in-the-headlights look when I'd mention I don't recall their registration. There were few enough of those (and cheap - like $5) that I -could- remember them.

I didn't really mind; it's how the world works. And the world doesn't change just because we give reality a new name.

That level of "cynicism" does pass over any rational line, sounding more like Les Nesman finding a conspiracy under every rock. Who else don't you trust? Just a general paranoia or specific techie-anarchist? The submission would have been better without cheapening yourself that way.

I have an LG BD390, which for BluRay is fast and reliable. But we get so frustrated with BluRay that I often by DVD instead, and not due to price...

• DVD starts minutes faster than BluRay, and always starts. BluRay is too dratted finicky.
• DVD will auto-resume from where I stopped. BluRay often won't... and forces me to go through the previews again also.
• If we pause and walk away for a bit, BluRay often dies - and makes us restart. DVD never does.

BluRay isn't doing well because it's a PITA to use.

This isn't "news" or an example of overreach. The request is completely legal and shouldn't be considered "intimidating" unless he has really done something wrong. Let's not forget that all of Gov. Walker's emails got FOI'd by the AP in a lawsuit too. Not just some, all. If Cronon considers it harrassment for his to be opened, how does he feel about it applied to Gov. Walker? How is the request "thuggish" compared to the intimidating applied by the Unions during and after the recent debate? Or are these cases of, "It's okay when its us investigating the evil corporate-Republicans, but they're just petty when they use it against us?" If he had any privacy concerns, he should have done what most of us probably do - GMail from a (non-University) cell phone.

Slashdotters know a lot about technology. And apparently little about politics and how to do even a quick Google search.

We (Washington) passed Initiative 960 a few years ago, which required a 2/3 vote to increase taxes. Two years later our Legislature simply struck out those provisions... by majority (not 2/3) vote of them, no public ballot.

The income tax initiative would enable an income tax and limit it to the very rich, but only for two years. Then the tax-hungry reps would almost certainly again overturn the voters and lower the rates by simple majority. They cannot put an income tax in, due to our Constitution, but if WE put one in, they can subvert it in two years.

For once, the rich are fighting for all of us.

Either way it's a travesty. That shouldn't be in the top ten for NASA, and nothing below the top ten deserves mention.

Did y'all already forget... Last week NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told Al Jazeera one of his top priorities from President Obama is to reach out to Muslim countries. If Obama won't allow NASA to stay on-focus, the Senate should cut the funding.