Open floor plans have nothing to do with improving innovation or creativity. That's just what they tell people.

The real reason is the realest of all reasons: cost savings.

In the 90s software companies offered everyone "their own office". It was a source of pride for them (I've never worked any other way).
There was also research that supported it. A famous book was Tom DeMarco's "Peopleware" that stated that companies with private offices had programmers that were 5-10x more productive. (This book also started the "rock star" idea that some programmers are 10x more productive.. but people have forgotten that the central conclusion was that PRIVATE OFFICES were a key piece of this equation)

Then these companies come along in the post-dotCom era and say that productivity will be better with smaller offices. They simply are making things up to make the MBAs happy.

Side businesses are risky.. there are safer ways to invest that use up less of your precious time.

So does it turn into rocket fuel when it catches fire and you blow a high powered fan on it?

If a 99% accurate test is true, but the probability of the condition is only 0.0001%, it is still highly improbable that the person is afflicted by the condition on the basis of the test alone. Its important to narrow down the population before any testing is effective.

Do you think investment bankers, hedge fund managers, and especially politicians are "happy"?

Happiness is not a function of money.. those that spend their lives chasing money are rarely happy.

"Coding jobs can be easily outsourced to wherever the going rate for labor is cheapest. Google's "coder shortage" seems completely imaginary. They're an advertising company whose greatest trick was convincing the world they are a software company."

Wouldn't it be interesting if Google was really just a front for the NSA?

They did it in Argo.. why not make a company with irresistible tech that makes everyone give the company their secrets. Sounds easier to do then breaking cryptographic codes all day.

I don't think they presume.. they have more data on each of us than we have on ourselves!!

They probably know what you're doing right now!

(I'm safe, I have a tin foil hat)

Check out this movie:

http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie...

Gives an interesting inside look at Markerbot and its main competition at the time.

Try a human trafficking shop.. they seem to specialize in this field.. (he might miss school though)

Try code.org

fun angry birds programming game

They can't afford TAs because they're busy building rec centers with tuition money... priorities!

In many organizations the App is not king. The database is.

For such organizations using an in-memory database is usually frowned upon. SQL is king of the hill.

"Recently an opensource game release story was removed due to the game developer's open sexism(0) and harrasment(1) of women in tech."

I think its one thing to voice an opinion.... quite another to harass.. Harassment can be a crime.

"Most of the people in India agree with him, including women."

Get off your high horse dude.
The US has its own rape culture. Its called "fraternities" that promote misogyny and even rape quite effectively.

Rape is an old problem which some cultures struggle with more than others.. but don't pretend that it is only an "India" problem. Have you seen those blue lights in college campuses lately? (Hint: its to protect the women from US-home-grown rapists!)

"Other energy sources would be vastly more costly if their waste products weren't already grandfathered in to the public mindset and their true impacts to safety and environmental impact "

This is actually a very insightful point. Imagine how costly coal would be if its numerous environmental costs were included in calculations (as they are done in nuclear).