You mean big japanese robots prancing around as if they were riding a horse? That I would like to see.

I would second this. I program for the day job but a few years ago i got an iPhone. I had always looked down on shareware and freeware but once i got my first app on the app store I was converted. As long as you come up with a vaguely original idea you can write a small puzzle/board game in a month or two of evenings. Probably quicker if its full time. Make it free and people WILL download it. Objective C is fairly good now they have sorted the memory management.

Sorry, but learning C++ is a bit like learning Latin. It is good if you want to understand the background of todays modern languages but really, there are so many better and well thought out languages these days that you shouldn't really need to.

Well, C is one step above assembler but not much more than that. Most of its commands and operations map onto assembly quite nicely (x++ to increment a variable, etc) and outside of the libraries, there is not much "high level" functionality built into it. Its portable as most of it is "lowest common denominator" stuff.

And for that matter, don't get me started on Objective C either. Worst of both worlds.

Unless you are doing string or memory manipulation in c, then yes, you can use them. In all other languages it should be banned. I remember tutting when i read that c# had caved in to the c programmers and included it. There is just no need because 1) it is not obvious (eg, _month[0]="Jan" or things like that). 2)Use an iterator, that's what they are there for.

Of course that is just my opinion.

Wrong. First you write the documentation, then you write the tests and then, if you have time, you write the code.

Technically, but it depends on the project. Some times there is a certain amount of implied pre-ordering going on. You just have to read between the lines on the project description. No compensation though f it does fall through.

I love Kickstarter, it is one of my secret vices. First rule though, never pledge any more than you can afford to write off and still keep a smile on your face. I have pledged to a couple of dozen projects from books and CDs, to paintings and sculptures, to gadgets and tech. Only one has failed to deliver so far, though after a year of silence, that seems to be getting back on track.

The worst thing that can happen to a Kickstarter project is for it to be TOO successful. You have a crazy idea to build something, Kickstart it and suddenly there are a thousand people after it. All of a sudden you are talking serious money and serious organizational skills to produce it. If they just want the money to bring something to market (you are essentially preordering) then fine, if its to do some R&D and actually design the thing then I'd be careful.

I just think of it as a way to be a kind of "patron to the arts" and to find some cool stuff along the way.

Finally, want to get a surefire success for your project? Just stick the words "Neil Gaiman" in in somewhere. They love him. ;)

Now there was a good idea that never got off the ground.

TFA is quite interesting. His problem is not with Linux, but with his belief in it. It sounded a bit like one of those articles where the "religious believer" starts to question why their particular "god" inflicts so much suffering on the world. I am sure that all that is keeping the notion of the Linux Desktop alive is the belief of all those "Gnomies" out there that it is a real possibility. Should they all however "wake up and smell the coffee" then /. may collapse.

How is the Pi going to affect the Arduino market? Is the Pi higher specced and cheaper?

They will probably just have auto drive motorways. You drive from home to the motorway and then stick it on auto till you reach the urban sprawl of your choice. Probably charge a toll for it as well.

I think you will find they were serious about disco.

I had a TV remote, a PVR remote, a Blu-Ray remote and a 360 controller. Now I have a Harmony 4in1 remote and it is a lot less hassle. It will turn on the TV and Blu-Ray, change channel and even control the correct volume. Nearly gadget of the decade just for that.