Auto-aim shouldn't matter? Why do you even think that? It makes no sense.

IBM makes plenty of money off their patent business. Something like $1billion a year.
You can be sure IBM will be looking to monetize these patents.

It's his own money. Who cares if it's a fallacy? The reality is, eventually we're going to need to switch to renewable energy. Non-renewable energy will run out by definition.

So if he wants to put his money into that, it might make the world a better place. And if it ends up with cheaper energy for everybody, it will make the world a better place. The cheaper energy becomes, the better.

Did you even read your link? It says straight-up that the controller-wielders couldn't compete without aim-assist.

Smash Brothers has a serious scene, there's even a documentary.
Marvel vs Capcom has some intense following.
Streetfighter has had a scene for a while, maybe the oldest, check out this video. To pull of that defense, he had to hit many button presses in a row with millisecond precision.

Frankly, if Microsoft consistently commits millions of dollars in prize money over several years, a competitive scene will grow up around it. I don't think many people will want to watch it, for reasons you mention, but if Microsoft throws a good party, they'll be able to fill a stadium full of gawkers.

Penny Arcade gave them a plot: http://www.penny-arcade.com/S=0/comic/2013/02/01/we-can-help.

Note that part of the reason the price for Windows is lower on a machine from HP (et al) is because they get paid to load the machine with shovelware. All that 'free' software crap that is preinstalled helps reduce the price of the computer.

He did a horrible job. HTC made Windows phones too, but they were smart enough to also make Androids. Same thing with Samsung. Only Nokia was braindead enough to only make Windows Phones. Big mistake.

When I have ad blocking on, the battery in my computer lasts five times longer than when I have it turned off. It's kind of insane.

Anyone who tries to accomplish something worthwhile in this world will be insulted and have people try to tear them down.
Anyone who stands out will be mocked.
Anyone who posts on the internet will eventually get a death threat.

It's the way of life. You can't do anything without someone hating you for it.

There's a quote about Ada that I always think about:

Then there is this quote from the same page:

Of course, the Ariane 5 shows that no language can save you from bad programming. Ultimately it is the people using the language that matters, not the language itself.

The water problems come from the same source as the budgetary problems. Both farmers and city dwellers have been doing a good job reducing their water usage (by letting their lawns die or by using more efficient irrigation techniques). But every time there's a surplus of water, someone says, "Hey, let's use that water for my project over here!" That's poor management, though. You need to save up for the dry years.

That is beautiful. I haven't seen code like that for a long time.

Of course, if you look at the individual page of code for a while, you'll decipher it easily enough. Whether it's manageable or not depends on whether the overall structure is reasonable or not.

If that were true, the country would be destroyed by now, because we're all immigrants.

Do you notice, from your link, that as soon as there's a budget 'surplus,' politicians begin arguing about how exactly to spend it? California is in debt so deeply because, as soon as they get any money, the politicians spend it, and more.