Amen. Did anyone read the interview about how they went about the monitor design for the original OLPC? That alone was a testament to what good engineering with a goal can accomplish.

[ ... looks for link ... ]

pfft, can't find it. Look it up though, it's well worth it.

I find it interesting that we're willing to push this as an ad hoc solution but not a paradigm. Maybe all manufacturers should be forced to take responsibility for the amount of waste their products generate, not just the makers of soda cans & computers?

And you, in turn, are confusing stoners & homeless guys as Richard Stallman

(My apologies to RMS ... when the humor is just there, right in front of you ... what can you do?)

Jesus had prodigious beard, an unkempt mane of hair, walked around in sandals in all weather, and saw himself as a man with divine powers who was put on the earth to show people "the way".

Jesus was clearly, clearly, a nerd.

I was recently promoted. There was no hard number attached to the promotion immediately, so when I met with my manager & the VP to discuss my new responsibilities I took the opportunity to put a number out there. A week later when the number was actually delivered to me it was more than 15% higher than the one I had suggested. My manager explained that they didn't want to reduce my salary just because I had misread the situation.

So, yes; within certain tolerances they will pay you only what they have to pay you to keep you as long as they need you. What you have to understand is that while this is just business it isn't always inhuman.

You have to think of yourself at all times as a single employee business who's interested in maintaining a relationship with a larger business to mutual benefit. When it ceases to be mutually beneficial then someone will end or change the relationship.

Sometimes I wonder if companies that create security software aren't sometimes guilty of either creating or funding the creation of viruses, trojans, worms, &c. simply to justify their own existence.

Is that cynical?

When someone sees an image of the Virgin Mary burned into their face from the radiation.

I've got a business process patent that I think Microsoft should be aware of: "A specific process and procedure for patenting pre-existing technology in order to build a patent portfolio which can be leveraged using the court system to gain substantive competitive advantage."