Good then we're agreed, buffer overflows are not the most common security vuln.

All we need now is for you to realize that, if someone thinks the language means they don't need to worry about security, then their code will be much more vulnerable, even if they write in Java. Once you realize that, then we will be completely agreed.

If you're talking about the x11 stipple functions, then they're not a reason to replace X11 either, just ignore them until no one uses them, then remove them. If people are using them, then there's a reason to not remove them.

Being old is not a reason to replace software. Being new does not make software better.

Although, if you'd like to tell me how the computing landscape has moved on significantly, I'm sure I'd be entertained to hear it.

I thought the point of the charge was to make the "wooly" side-fibers of the strands wrap around the prey's limbs and/or the microscopic irregularities in the exoskeleton, tangling to it. "Tying" the fibers to the prey would have a similar binding effect to gluing them to it, without the need for glue, and lots of little fibers could make a very strong attachment.

(Stretching fibers made of long chains makes them stronger by aligning the chains along the direction of the stretch.)

That's hilarious. The "liberal media" in Texas is owned by oil companies. The stories about all the earthquakes around Dallas explain how it's not fracking, and if it were fracking, it's a good thing, as the more common smaller earthquakes release pressure, preventing a larger one later.

And I'm referring to Belo, whose owners have ties to the West Texas oil fields. No, Mobile doesn't own Belo, but the owners of Belo have ties to oil.

Paying for the services you use is not ethical? They use roads, education, police, and all sorts of services. If they had their $22B in cash under their mattress, there are countries that would invade to take it, so they use the military much more than anyone else.

Indent isn't meaningless. But there's no reason to double-space an indent. It carries a reading meaning, related to nesting of code.

Code "feels" smaller when it's compact. Also, having a single spacing method uniform across everyone makes for easier cut-and paste sharing. Having one person space things differently than another will result in decreased readability.

The hard part is finding the capable (expensive) people, even if you are willing to pay a lot. Programmers and IT guys are not hard to find in America, but capable ones are.

The problem comes when a student needs a computer for homework or a hobby, but the parent is unwilling to provide one because "You have an iPad; why aren't you happy with that?" See previous comments by betterunixthanunix and Anonymous Coward.

Both to them and to the cellular carrier. Connecting to them requires a valid subscription to Internet access. Doing so while riding transit requires a separate subscription to cellular Internet access in addition to what you already pay for Internet at home.

Anything that requires multiple windows on screen at once. One example is using a calculator that doesn't fill the screen. Another example is putting a source code window on one half of the screen and the output window on the other half.

Or applications that Apple has not approved. One of them is programming for a class or a hobby. Last time I checked, programming on iOS was limited to a small selection of interpreters for dynamically typed scripting languages such as Codea (a Lua interpreter) and Pythonista (a Python interpreter). On a netbook, on the other hand, if I want to use C++, Java, Fortran, 6502 assembly language, or any other language, usable tools are a sudo apt-get install away.

(For the purposes of this post, I'm treating the ASUS Transformer Book, Surface Pro 3, and other Windows x86 tablets as laptops. My objection is not to the tablet form factor but to the restrictions inherent in iOS.)

Youtube just switched to HTML5 video by default, so perhaps we can uninstall Flash for good now!

But can it play "Badger Badger Badger"?

Why are they still using C to deal with network protocol? Is the performance so critical that it's worth all the troubles?

Also, because there's a lot of C code that has been in heavy use, and tested for correctness, for decades, suitable for reuse with substantial confidence that it's correct (though you check it anyhow...).

Let's see you find code like THAT for a language that hasn't been AROUND for decades. B-)

git/cvs/svn/mercurial blame can tell you who wrote whatever code. Please tell me you are using some kind of source repository.......

Why are they still using C to deal with network protocol?

For starters, because it's transparent. The "K&R compliant assembly laguage", as one of my former colleagues once characterized it, translates to object in a clearly understandable way (especially if you turn optimization down or off). Though it gives you more opportunities to create bugs, it makes it hard for the bugs to hide from inspection.

The "higher-level" the language, the more it takes over and inserts its own stuff between you and the metal, and the more opportunity for that to inject an invisible vulnerability - which you might have trouble removing even if you DO discover it.

Meanwhile, many of the things "higher-level" languages protect you from can also be detected and flagged by both modern C compilers and code examination tools - starting with the venerable "lint".

Yeah, once again, compare the dross on the internet to the good things. Slashdot, Wikipedia, a bunch of corporate websites you can visit to learn about their company, restaurant websites, Linkedin seems to be a decent place to look for a job, ebay, amazon, some news websites. Slashdot and some news websites would die without advertising, but I would be willing to subscribe to those.

Now look at all the negative stuff. Buzzfeed, wired.com, all those websites that spew crap in order to attract your eyeballs. Out of all of that, are there any websites that would die without advertising, which you would also not be willing to subscribe to?

The only one I can think of is Facebook, and if that one died, it would only encourage a distributed model, where everyone essentially ran their own RSS feed for their friends to look at (or something similar).

So let the advertising die, I say, the internet will be a better place for it.