Earth is only 4.5 billion years old, so the question is a bit silly. But the universe 13.3 billion years ago (420 million years old) was already quite big, or it could not have been forming galaxies. (I don't have numbers, but the exponential inflationary period was definitely much earlier. After that growth glowed down for a couple of billion years, and now it's speeding up again because of dark matter ).

More about measuring distance on space-time here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_expansion_of_space

OK, granted, I misread you on purpose, go for the easy mod points.

Still, do you really think talking to your computer, or drawing pictures for it, is going to make programming easier or more fun or less work? I very strongly doubt that. When programming becomes repetitive, you should find some way to automate that part; code it differently, develop a tool or invent a new language. And ultimately, it would be great if some AI would just write programs for our problems. Before that, there will be some typing. But not too much if you do it right.

If coding is like typing for you, you've never done any real programming. Coding is about thinking out elegant solutions to interesting problems. I don't think that's boring at all.

Thank you. This is the truth and no mistake. Amen.

I have a Ph.D. in CS, and although I am highly respected by my colleagues, and currently involved in interesting projects, it did not help me much when looking for work. During various job interviews I got the impression that years of experience in the software business is considered more valuable than a Ph.D. When I did get hired, the interviewer actually had a Ph.D. himself, so he did see the value. If you look at CS job descriptions, a Ph.D. is almost never a requirement, except for university positions and some research positions, but those are scarce (in the current economy). So, a Ph.D. is no guarantee for an interesting job. There are lots of Ph.D.'s out there doing work that they are overqualified for.

A Ph.D. is really a training program for an academic career, not for a business career. The subject of a Ph.D. is often highly specialised or even obscure. So, unless you happen to know (and if you have a choice for a Ph.D. subject) what research area will become important at the big software companies in three or four years time, the subject of your Ph.D. is irrelevant, or even detrimental, for your career. (That also goes for university careers: its very difficult to fight your way into a different specialisation).

That said, I loved my time as a Ph.D. student and post-doc researcher. You should only do a Ph.D. if you are passionate about a subject. So, if you have the opportunity to do a Ph.D. and you can afford to do it, and you are inspired by the subject and driven enough to finish it, then go for it. But it's not necessarily a good career move.

The ISP replaced it with another weak password? What? welkom02? Why not a strong password? Strong passwords do not have to be hard to remember or type, see: http://xkcd.com/936/

Phones and tablet computers already have a 'start page' in the form of the launcher screen with live widgets. I guess iGoogle makes less sense on those platforms. On the desktop, it is possible to customize your desktop with live widgets, but I most people I know don't bother (including myself, I like a clean desktop). I suppose that with Windows 8 people will get used to having launcher with live widgets again. Microsoft has been pushing the idea of a live desktop for a while. I suppose Gnome and KDE will follow suit too, sooner or later.

Seems that's what this blogger is saying. I am a consumer, we all are, and I happen to love the CLI.

6 months? Big deal. That's just the normal delay to get something published in a peer reviewed journal. For some journals it can take up to a year.

or immoral values... religion can and has been used to indoctrinate people with anything. Anyway, Sharia is not a religion, but a set of laws (inspired by religion, but so is Western law). And laws don't enforce themselves! You need a police and a justice system for that, which Iraq didn't have at the time.

Software engineering is more than just coding and testing. It about getting exact requirements from the client; documentation and boring paperwork (always more paperwork!), collaboration, time management...

You could say software engineering is coding with the fun taken out of it. My advice: try to get a in house job in a tech firm, where the 'client' are technical people who know what they need, and to whom interesting problems and clever algorithms matter. That way you'll spend more time coding and less time on paperwork and moving buttons in a user interface.

Everyone knows the law was created by aliens, to prevent humans from becoming a successful space-going race.
Also, some crazies say the law was created created by God. To prevent humans from becoming a successful heaven-going race. Haaa aaah haaaaaaa.

Antarctica is heating up too you know. This Christmas they had the warmest day ever recorded, at -12.5 degrees Celcius.

Yes, lets STOP EVERYTHING because some bankers fucked up their bookkeeping.

Sadly, the parent post is probably right, that is what's going to happen to this project.

Let's fire all scientists and stop funding whatever makes society worth while, like schools and social security and infrastructure and such nonsense. Instead, let's write big checks to the banks that caused all this mess and lower taxes for high incomes like bank directors.

rant, rant, rant, sigh....

The internet, that's what happened.

Before the internet (or more accurately, before internet access was common, say, the 90s) nobody had an interest to control your computer. Software makers just wanted you to buy their software, so they tried to make good software. Viruses, typically made by pranksters and spread via floppies, were mostly annoying, and in the worst case destroyed your data.

Wide spread use of internet access opened up the possibility for internet commerce, and crime. Now big corporations have an interest in your data, so they can profile you and manipulate you into buying their products. They want control over your computer so you can only buy and run their products. Viruses and malware are also after your data, or want to control your computer for illegal purposes (sending spam). The government wants to watch your computer to catch criminals and enemies of the state.