Alexander Stepanov, I have never had a chance to ask someone as qualified as you about this topic. I grew up on the opposite side of the Iron Curtain and have constantly wondered if (surely there must have been) alternative computing solutions developed in the USSR prior to Elbrus and SPARC. So my question is whether or not you know of any hardware or instruction set alternatives that died on the vine or were never mass fabricated in Soviet times? I don't expect to you to reveal some super advanced or future predicting instruction set but it has always disturbed me that these things aren't documented somewhere -- as you likely know failures can provide more fruit than successes. Failing that, could you offer us any tails of early computing that only seem to run in Russian circles?

If you can suggest references (preferably in English) I would be most appreciative. I know of only one book and it seems to be a singular point of view.

This is not just making a copy. They used her work in a major motion picture. Big difference, jones. Maybe you're not an artist of any kind, so you wouldn't understand. But those of us who dabble in the arts can tell you it's a very personal expression. That's why copyright is important. People feel like they are entitled to control what they make. That is a very human thing to feel.

Factabunga, dudes!

I don't think we should be teaching our kids exponential running time O(n^2) algorithms. Randomized partitioned merge sort theta(n lg n). Sure, bubble sorts seem harmless today, it leads to criminal token rings.

I feel like I should've known that. Thanks for the correction.

It may not happen; the modern Olympics, quite unlike the ancient Olympics, have not always been purely about physical sports. Competitions like poetry and painting were removed in part because the same entrants won year after year—this has not, so far, been an issue for e-sports.

Best response I've seen all day. But good luck convincing Apple that anybody but a "Genius" should be cracking open an apple device. Aren't they still using those patented fuck-you^W pentalobe screws?

Yeah either the article means BIOS or EEPROM, or Apple is clearly doing it wrong. From the article: "Malicious code installed in the MacBook boot ROM will be executed before the OS is loaded..."

Most of us hate various branches of Sony for different reasons, but remember, Sony Pictures is not the same as Sony BMG, is not the same as PlayStation. I personally don't have a beef with Sony Pictures, except that their DVDs tend to crash MTR.

We won a Fire in a raffle, so I put the next book of a series I've been reading on it. It works fine during the day and on the can, but it's awful right before bed. Even on its lowest brightness setting, it feels like staring into the sun (probably why it chews through battery so fast). Anybody know how to get Kindle books on an old Sony e-reader? Yay LCD!

Yeah, except it's not always a dictator that the US overthrows.

jscript is some hacked implementation of javascript, by Microsoft. Thanks for making my point for me.

Ok ok. I always thought Angular was dependent on node because I always saw them together. I apologize for that one singular inaccuracy. The rest is true.

The point remains. To pick up .NET now, you are marring yourself to an out-of-date tech stack.

I've been a cross-platform coder for about a decade now. I liked the ideas of Java and .NET when they came out, but they were lacking in execution. If you look at everything powering technology today: Big Data, Node.js, Android/iOS, cloud remember (Hotmail was bought by MS, originally on BSD servers) Microsoft hasn't done squat. Meanwhile MS has delivered a lot of failed tech: WinForms, Zune, Windows Phone. (I've only ever seen two people with a Windows Phone) Only the Xbox and .NET have succeeded. I would be very concerned hitching my trailer to MS. They don't do innovation anymore, they don't even do copying (embrace and extend) well.

A big .NET friend of mine has recently taken to web development. He develops on OSX, deploys to Linux (AWS). He loves how he can take one thing and just run it on another. He doesn't have to worry about putting IIS on Linux, Node works everywhere. The code he develops isn't tied to any specific OS platform. Angular is node dependent, but Knockout isn't.

And there in I think the real danger is realized. If you use .NET you are locked into MS stagnant mono-culture, and their failing culture of innovation. If you want bleeding edge, OS agnosticism, MS isn't going to deliver it. Their goal will always be to lock you into their vertical to protect their verticals.

With the very good developments in Linux and the Apple premium is gone, only organizations with legacy applications need consider any Microsoft technology.

PS. I use Qt for everything on Mobile and desktop, Node for server and Knockout/Angular for web client. There is a slight possibility that Qt's QML will work on the web. Python for anything else. This is crossplatform, and not one drop of MS. It is my speculation that MS is a wounded animal, realizing they are like Cadillac. Cadillac realized the average age of their customers were getting older, and over 60 and that market would be no longer driving in a few years. There's an exodus from MS platforms. Their new focus aims to fix this. Buyer beware. Where is the money in it for them?

Except my medical insurance is provided by my company, so all of my insurance claims are filed here at work via email. Employees have access to a benefit network that includes divorce/marriage/psych/legal counseling. Registration for these services goes through our local servers before getting to the service provider. so much for your sage advice.