I don't think that thing that MS uses for make can, in any reasonable sense of the word, be employed to compiling non-Windows software without essentially rewriting the Makefile.

Never say "bandwidth provider" to a telco monopoly. It grates their teeth and raises their dental insurance. They've been staring down the barrel of this reality for 20 years and have done everything they can do, bought every politician and generally screamed bloody murder to get us to where we are. They seriously think the world wants to go back to using them as their AOL/Prodigy/Compuserve.

I don't agree, the internet is the very definition of "all inclusive". There is a ton of stuff on the internet that I do not want, and in some cases outright fear. But I am paying for "internet access" and with that every beltsanders-and-geese-porn type content that someone may unearth from the deepest parts of a russian brothel. It's a given that there is nothing "efficient" about the internet, it is one, giant, bundle. But it's a bundle that allows us to exclude the monopolistic evil that sits between us and the rest of the world so we take it.

Verizon can choose to install a Netflix CDN, or choose to upgrade the peerage link. It's on them to figure out how manage bandwidth costs while delivering optimum service. It costs what it costs. We'd believe Verizon more if they and their ilk didn't so thoroughly block any efforts to have competition, such that prices would balance themselves out.

By playing against other people, they're playing another game that uses DOOM graphics. Yes I've played it over the network, but it wasn't a lot of fun. It's like baseball, it's fun to swing at the ball, it's mildly amusing to catch balls launched into the stratosphere or flying at you at high speeds, or even to see how fast you can throw the ball straight.

Playing a game of baseball is incredibly boring, you get to bat maybe three times, more often than not told to not try to swing for the fence but to just get on base, even if it means jumping in front of the ball to get a free base (taking a ball to the shoulder at 90mph is not MY idea of fun, ymmv), because statistically home runs are unlikely, but a team that gets players on base will almost always get the most runs. Only one guy can be the pitcher so the rest have to stand around the field being bored, waiting for the ball to get near them. Mostly it saps all the fun out of the game.

The same situation exists in football, soccer, and basketball. In my opinion eSports are even worse because the single player game was designed to be fun, while the multiplayer game mechanics tend to deviate very far and you find yourself doing annoying things just to win.

As far as I'm concerned the only thing as stupid as regular sports, are eSports. I will never understand either one, but eSports are perhaps more irritating to me personally since I like video games just fine, but the bastardization that occurred in turning them in to an eSport seems always to have entirely removed every ounce of fun from the game, in favor of the min/max activities required to compete.

DOOM was fun, then I beat it, played it a few more times just for giggles, then never played it again. It just doesn't make sense. Competition without a purpose doesn't make sense, in most cases it seems destructive. In a few cases it might be useful in determining an optimal strategy or team, but I'm not sure what i'd do with a team of footballers or FPSers other than football and FPSes.

Also, having worn glasses for so long I've gotten used to the built in "objects flying at my eye" protection they offer. My glasses have caught more than a few flying objects and/or children's fingers.

Then there's reality:
1) Something might go wrong
2) My eyes are unbelievably important to what i do for a living and how I entertain myself, I'm not sure I'd want to live without them
3) I don't like the idea of being concious while someone/thing is cutting on me, especially my eyes

Do they do a test before they get elected to ensure that no one with an IQ of over 60 can be elected? It seems statistically unlikely that we've developed such an awesome collection of concentrated dumbass in one place on earth without actually trying to do so.

Unifying a base of users is always a good way of forcing change. Otherwise it's just one guy versus a big company. Lots of people on /. use netflix, or at least used to use it when it was still a trendy tech-type company thumbing its nose at The Man. Things have changed in the past ten years, but it is still a useful service for all the wrong reasons (i.e. it's best product has no real "net" in it).

I personally found this to be one of the few useful stories posted today.

Now! Reminds me of my second favorite:

"What are you preparing? You're always preparing? Just go!"

Technically he works for the people of Alabama, and engages in the magical cooperition of federal government that is intended to give us all the feeling he works for the rest of us. Regardless, if he does something good we should all praise him.

Personally I think libertarians are people who worship some strange pagan deity, in the sense that they believe in and worship magical forces of nature which sensible people shield themselves from, so what he's doing is good. Unfortunately I think by the time his position matters, his party will have shut him up.

Nope, never have met anyone who cares for Windows 8, even amongst the unwashed masses. General consensus is that the UI worked and didn't need changing.

Wait, what? People are fleeing TO Unity?

Pretty sure they already have a robot for that.

If I were a shareholder I'd be asking how Microsoft is planning to maintain and regain its market dominance by firing the people who have the skills and motivation to create products that will re-attract interest. If the answer sounded like "We're making good money today, you're wrong", I'd sell. Every single time someone has said that, bad things happened in 5 years while the stocks steadily declined.

They're not selling Cheerio's, the product cannot stay the same forever, it needs continuous reinvestment to stay ahead. MS's mistake, the one that got them where they're at, is not investing in their product and fighting with governments in expensive lawsuits because of anti-competitive practices. That kind of thinking is going to end them, and while I'm sorry for the devs who get laid off, those left holding the reins deserve what they're going to get..

The *real* question is what about companies that do business here

Is there a question at all? If you have a presence here, you are subject to our laws. I expect that the reverse is also true, that if I conduct business overseas that I am also subject to the laws of countries whose policies I do not agree with.

Now perhaps business based elsewhere have a recourse US based business do not have: they can stop doing business here and let the vagaries of extradition processes take control. But I wouldn't put money on my government doing anything for me in that case but jockeying for political advantage and then turning me and throwing me out like rancid meat. My best hope is that there is no agreement for data, and I can somehow fall through the cracks.