Where are you reading this? From your own source *Top Six Smartphone Mobile Operating Systems, Shipments, and Market Share, Q3 2012 (Preliminary) (Units in Millions) :
OS
3Q12 Shipments 26.9
3Q12 Market Share14.9%
3Q11 Shipments 17.1
3Q11 Market Share13.8%
Year-Over-Year Change 57.3%

That is an increase from 13.8 to 14.9%. Not a decrease.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/inside_ms.aspx
Revenue and Headcount Last updated: June 30, 2012 Headcount & Revenue Growth Microsoft's worldwide headcount and revenue growth for the past 10 fiscal yearsare summarized below (click headings to sort): Fiscal Year Ending Head Count Net Revenue (US$) Growth Net Income (US$) Growth
June 30, 2012** 94,290 $74.30B 6% $23.60B 5%
June 30, 2011 90,412 $69.94B 13% $23.15B 23%
June 30, 2010 88,596 $62.48B 7% $18.76B 29%
June 30, 2009 92,736 $58.44B -3% $14.57B -18%
June 30, 2008 91,259 $60.42B 18% $17.68B 26%
June 30, 2007 78,565 $51.12B 15% $14.07B 12%
June 30, 2006 71,172 $44.28B 11% $12.60B 3%
June 30, 2005 61,000 $39.79B 8% $12.25B 50%
June 30, 2004 57,086 $36.84B 14% $8.17B 8%
June 30, 2003* 54,468 $32.19B 13% $7.53B 29%
* Fiscal year 2003 results have been restated to reflect the retroactive adoption of SFAS 123, Accounting for Stock Based Compensation. ** Fiscal year 2012 results are adjusted for Windows Upgrade Offer deferral and goodwill impairment charge.

Where I live most of the kids do not ride bikes. When I was kid we all did. Seems less common now.

Any contractor can be given a 'Cause letter' that basically states they are getting terminated due to failure on the contractors part. This can and will have a huge negative affect on future contracts that the contrator bids on. It is up to government officials to ensure contractors are doing their jobs.

Energy does not have to be produced 24/7, 365 days a year. A smarter grid should be able to compensate for a local lack of power generation. For instance, if every home, or perhaps just at a block level, had a fuel cell then there can be local power without local generation. This has the positive side affect of to provide some power even when some event cuts distribution upstream.

The intent of the article was more to demonstrate the growth in solar power generation over a short period of time and less about an analysis of direct or indirect costs. To see what was achieved really is impressive.

Clearly this was done without bankrupting Germany. Also, clearly Germany has maintained a base of operating nuclear plants. And finally this issue of how to provide power is one without a black and white answer. I think we should keeps both our minds and our options open. If I was the one charged with making an energy strategy I would invest heavily in new technologies and maintain a diverse operation of proven supplies. On that note, i can add this: Hopefully those in charge have more know how than I.

World wide that is.

China actually does not have a huge ICBM threat. The best they can hope to do is some serious damage. They come nowhere near being able to stop a far more deadly counter strike. We are at more risk from a large earthquake and\or title wave on the west coast.

Even without a counter strike China would not launch ICBMs at us. They both need and want us as trading partners. Plus nuclear fallout from any large scale strike would be a downer would wide.

We have improved auto safety a lot in the U.S. over the last 20 or 30 years. However we could do much, much more. If we took all the money from tsa and put that into safer roads how many lives would it save? For example, not to far from where I live there is an interchange that once was without guard rails. Around 1999 a new driver lost control, went of the road, hit a tree and died. Based on road conditions and volumn of traffic the stretch did not qualify for funding to get guard rails. 5 years later another new driver also went off the road in the exact same place. Hit a tree and died. Now, based on higher volumn, the road qualifies for and does have guard rails. With more money the thresh hold for funding for that safety feature could have been reached earlier and lives saved.

This!

I had an iPhone 4. It had far better reception than my previous AT&T non smart phone. I did not have any problems with dropped calls. My sons phone at the time seemed to have weaker reception than the iPhone. I was able, only by trying, to get the grip of death. But with moderate to heavy use I never had any problems. (At least not in that regard - it did seem that anytime I was at any event my AT&T Internet bandwidth would go to near 0 once a healthy attendance arrived, but I digress...) Oh, and I did not ever have a case or bumper either. So at the end of the day I was very satisfied with the phone. I have a 4s now. (And the Internet bandwidth in crowds is better - but still sometimes an issue )

The FOIA request was just a fishing expedition. Nothing more. Without some other evidence I believe this to be wrong. It would be like knocking on random peoples doors and asking them for some evidence that they did not do a crime. That is not how it should work and the courts agree.
Also I am not sure what loads of money means. I do believe the amount of money in question is actually somewhat small in relation to all things VA government related. If it were the money alone then it would seem to be to small for the AG. It would be some low level procedural event. (Unless there is a lot more money than what I see being spent here.)

This is a scary position to take. This is not a case off someone making up data or outright fraud. This is a case where a real professor did real experiments and published the results with his conclusions. Then the government, or in this case Ken Cuccinelli, disagreed with those conclusions and decided to try to intervene with the big heavy hand of government. This is Ken's M.O. - he did when he sued Universities for having pledges/rules to not discriminate against gays and he is doing it here. I have no issues with folks saying that the conclusions that the professor came up with incorrect. But criminalization is just crazy. And the attacks on both Science and Education by the Right wing are foolish, scary, and in this case a huge waste of tax payer money.

What exactly is your point? Other than relieving frustration? (And if it is just for the frustration - well then, I can understand that..)

This is so true.

There is a battle going on between the bean counters and the front line management. Bean counters want very specific and cheat labor. Front line management wants workers that can get the job done. Sometime front management wins and folks with good experience are hired. Sometimes the damn bean counters win and cheap is hired. Often the quality of the final product is determined by worker qualities that are very hard to measure and put a specific price on. A project's level of those hard to measure qualities probably depends on who has more influence with high level management - bean counters or front line management.