Wow... that's a potent statement.

Well said, Matt.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3774

100.0% in agreement. Well said.

(Bonus marks for the awesome sig!)

Are you sure the problem isn't in your browser? If you have your browser set to accept Japanese, the web server can act accordingly; this would have nothing to do with IP-based geolocation.

http://www.openinternetlexicon.com/HowTo/HowToServe.html

You haven't watched Fight Club, have you?

I absolutely, wholeheartedly second this. (The infomation-sponge and CCNA in me both approve, too.)

This is good advice, and gives me an opportunity to speak to the community at large: some of us who go to cons and are in a position to shake tons of hands politely decline. It's not because we're being dicks, it's because we know it's a good way to substantially decrease our chances of catching and spreading any germs.

I played the PAX Pandemic game, where the Enforcers handed out stickers to attendees that read [Carrier] [Infected] or [Immune] (There was also a [Patient Zero].

I got the [Immune] sticker, and by the time I got home on Monday, it was clear that I had the flu. I've had a fever between 100 and 104 all week that finally broke last night, but I'm going to the doctor today because I think whatever I had settled into my lungs. I'll tell him about the H1N1 outbreak and get tested if he wants to run the test, but at this point I think it's safe to assume that I was [Immune] to the Pig Plague, but definitely [Infected] with the damn PAX pox.

Even though it's been a week of misery, it was entirely worth it, and I don't regret going to PAX for a single second.

Get a job -- any job -- that pays your bills and gives you enough free time to continue working on your project. Convenience store, fast food, call center, whatever. It's inglorious but it'll do until you can rake in the Big Bucks.

I stole it. (They only look at the last name when they ask for ID, anyway.)

Plus, it boggles the mind that your nation still relies on horrendously-antiquated checks. We graduated from that over ten years ago now, and it's been almost a year since I saw anyone's checkbook in public.

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Do you really think it's wise or responsible to be using a piece of closed-source software (and one not known for its security, to say the least) so many years after the vendor has stopped supporting or releasing patches for it, and for which known exploits are in the wild?

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In what way does, for example, Google Apps Standard Edition ($0/year), cost more -- either up-front or in the long term?

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Do you not think using current tools at the time to produce a file, then ensuring the file is stored in an industry-standard open file format (such as ODF, RTF, plain text, HTML, TeX, or PDF -- or even better, more than one), is an acceptable archive, without needing to also archive a copy of (or later run) a dated (and bug-ridden and proprietary, in this case) application along with it -- which may not even run on machines "15 or 20 years" later, as you mention?

Right here.

Quoting the Google:

Now businesses can run Microsoft Outlook on Google Apps instead of Microsoft Exchange, so they can achieve the cost savings, security and reliability of Google Apps while employees use the interface they prefer for email, contacts and calendar.

Oh, and it works with all editions of Google Apps, both free and paid, and it costs $0 extra.

You're welcome.

DVI was great when it first came out; HDMI has obsoleted it in home theater and Mini DisplayPort is beginning to do the same in IT.

DVI is just too big a connector for some applications; look at the port side of any Unibody MacBook Pro and you'll see that the use of a DVI connector would have resulted in the loss of a USB port, since the ports are stuffed edge-to-edge on the board.

Mini DisplayPort is part of the VESA DisplayPort 1.2 open standard.

Did you complain when DVI ports were brand-new and required a DVI-VGA adapter for most endusers to be able to use? This is exactly the same concept.

If you don't like Apple's price on the adapter, buy it from elsewhere (like monoprice.com).