Wow. Just, wow.

Let's say I buy an electric car and drive it for five years. By then, it will be about time to replace the batteries. Buying a new set of batteries would cost about as much as I could get for a five year old car. So, I would get almost nothing on the resale. Or I could try to sell it with the old batteries for almost nothing and the new owner would have to get a new set installed.

Unless the car comes with a voucher for a brand new set of batteries and installation, that I can redeem before I sell the thing, it just looks like a pose-lose proposition for me.

I had a friend who's job it was to find a way to break satellites. She said she was quite often successful.

(Hey, the OP didn't say it had to be an accident.)

That doesn't mean the MJ caused him to be violent. He may have been trying to mellow out but couldn't get enough to do the job.

If she is a decent writer, she could parlay her programming experience into a technical writing position. Many require programming experience. The hours and work environment are more like a regular job.

So, I should specify hardware with a sweater hanging around its neck? Or should I wear the sweater while specifying the hardware?

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

I take disk images (OS and major apps) after every fresh install. Then I can periodically reapply the image, install latest patches, and install any additional apps I have decided are keepers. Over the decades I have become an expert at uninstalling bloatware and configuring Windows for maximum efficiency. However, I have STILL noticed a rapid increase in down-slowing as new versions approach.

That tinfoil must make you see the past better. Back in the DOS days I would regularly see articles about how yet another researcher had decompiled DOS to uncover yet another instance of code in DOS that could only have been put there to slow down a competitor's product. In the early internet days, researchers would find instance after instance where Win95 was sending your personal data back to MS. They would deny it until it became undeniable, then say it was a bug (you know, a bug that accidentally searched for and collected your data, then accidentally waited till you were on-line, then accidentally opened a connection with MS owned servers, then accidentally transmitted your data, then accidentally covered it's tracks) and say they would issue a patch, which would then take forever.

It was common knowledge on Usenet that the mantra at MS before DOS 3.3 was released was "DOS isn't done till Lotus won't run."

Until recently, I used NetWare protocols over my home network but a Windows update (unrelated to networking) turned that off for no darn good reason.

So, I don't put ANYTHING past Microsoft. Of course, I wouldn't put anything past ANY of the big tech companies.

I have supported a LOT of PCs from DOS 6.2 up and I have noticed the same thing you speculated about. In addition to the slow, progressive slowdown that occurs over time, I have seen the "down-slowing" ramp up just as the next version is coming out. AND just after upgrades. Now this could just be all the cruft reaching critical mass, thus indicating the need for an upgrade. But I think there are plenty of valid reasons to be suspicious.

It's called a neti pot.

I had a girlfriend who used one all the time.

I will never buy from Apple and will never develop for Apple platforms.

Of course that only works if the other party is actually trustworthy.

I knew somebody would beat me to it.

Just like the real meaning to the Cylon Prayer, "All this has happened before and will happen again." Certain things are inevitable. There are countries and scientists who will have no problem with the the thousands of "failed experiments" necessary to perfect these techniques. The only question is whether we will die in eugenics wars, or at the hands of super-AI, or from runaway global warming.

Oh, I don't doubt that. I was just challenging the "just a hydrocarbon" fallacious generalization of that fact.

A lot more hydrocarbons are getting into water than just methane and natural gas.

Yeah, gasoline is "just a hydrocarbon." Drink up, buddy!

I bet you earned all of two cents for that post. Hope it was worth it.

"Now"???