The problem is that this is nonsense. Unless you have a LOT of innate talent, you are unlikely to be "great" at anything. When I was in 7th grade, I joined the school band, and I practiced and practiced and practiced. One day the school music teacher took me aside, and advised me to quit. She explained that I basically sucked at music, and no amount of practice was going to make much difference. She suggested that I go join the computer club instead. That was the best advice I ever had, and it changed my life.

I do not require audio applications, I do not listen to music that much, don't need it but I do not mind it. However if it is an 'audio application' it should be standalone and not tied into any 'platform' whatsoever.

That is only true if you dispute a fraudulent charge in writing within sixty days of the charge. If you don't notice an odd $20 recurring charge, you are screwed out of all but the last two charges. Also if your credit card is stolen, the $50 limit only applies to charges made in the first 48 hours after the theft.

HIPAA doesn't require secure systems. It requires completed checklists. As long as the legacy systems pass the checklist, why replace them?

Agreed.
Here is what I either want to have or can tolerate on the phone:
1. Phone.
2. Address Book / Phone Book.
3. Maps.
4. SMS.
5. Text notes.
6. Camera.
7. Voice recorder (very useful if can also record phone calls).
8. View of images / movies.
9. Browser.
10. Alarm clock.
11. Daily planner.
12. Calculator.
13. File manager.

That is what I think a smartphone is for and I do not want anything else on it.

absolutely.

At the time when an average /.er writes another meaningless statement as to how to use more government violence to steal more money from individuals to create more monstrous government monopolies, Switzerland stands its ground and votes against such notions.

Business in USA naturally follows the guidelines set by the government, which itself puts an overwhelming emphasis on 'improving' numbers and it does it by redefining the scales and de-emphasising absolute values.

The so called 'GDP', the so called 'CPI', the so called 'core inflation', the so called 'unemployment rate' and various other measures are used to manipulate the perception of the economy by the markets and individuals to the great detriment to the actual economy and thus those very individuals.

The real numbers are not taken into account. Destructive inflation is now touted as an economic imperative and falling prices are the 'dreaded deflation'.

In the world where everybody lies to everybody, just another lying set of numbers at Dell is not a big deal until it too leads to destruction.

I got you beat. Last year I made my 80th donation, and was admitted into the ten gallon club. the Red Cross gave me a FREE T-SHIRT to prove it. Anyway, China has a big problem recruiting blood donors. There is a strong cultural taboo about losing blood. Even in America, where hospitals try to match patients with donors by ethnicity, there is a big shortage of Asian blood. My wife is Chinese, and she objected to me donating blood, insisting it would shorten my life, until I showed her that there was plenty of evidence that donating blood is good for you and may lengthen your life.

And free sites. They still exist - I run a couple myself. I found that for me, a mix of free and paid sites covers almost everything I need on the Internet. You just have to spend a little time finding what's for you instead of always following the top three Google hits.

Corporations have a legitimate interest in fighting piracy. It interferes with shipping, and endangers the crews. But it seems silly for the London Police to be involved. It would be more reasonable for anti-piracy to be handled by the Royal Navy, as part of a coordinated international effort. This could include arming merchant ships, providing convoy escorts, and/or retaliation against ports providing sanctuary to pirates.

It proves no such thing. Of course PE ratios and fundamentals are important, but other people are doing it for him. He just follows their lead.

You either have no idea how the stock market works, no idea what a Ponzi Scheme is, or both.

This is almost certainly wrong. You don't need $15B to make $15B in total turnover. He could be buying and selling hundreds of times a day, or tens of thousands of times a year, rolling over the same money.

The "trillion" refers to yen, which are worth less than a penny each.

Baloney. That is the opposite of what happened. The boosters were made in Utah because a senator from Utah headed the appropriations committee that dealt with NASA. The explosion had nothing to do with low-ball capitalism, and everything to do with sleazy pork barrel politics.

How could companies justify plowing money into oil wells, semiconductor plants, toy factories, apple orchards, etc. if they don't have assurances in place that the cash will be recouped? Yet people invest in those things everyday. What makes launch services any different?

Tom Harkin is likely the most left wing senator. Iowa elected him repeatedly for decades. The legislature is balanced, with Democrats controlling the Senate, and Republican the House, neither with much of a majority. The governor is Republican, but the last two were Democrats. Iowa may be right wing compared to, say, France, but by American standards it is centrist.

Two of the states with the most strict car dealer franchise laws are Maryland and New Jersey. Tesla is locked out of both states.