So now users can call tech support with their mouse plugged into their monitor and say that their "computer doesn't work".

Actually, let's just pause right there. If the monitor has the correct type of outlet for the mouse's plug, why shouldn't the user be able to plug the mouse into the monitor, and have it work fine? It just means that the monitor has to serve as a peripheral hub for the computer.

I don't understand the fixation on making a completely universal plug. It seems good in theory, but what does it actually get us beyond some cable interchanging possibilities and expensive upgrades?

The ability to plug in pretty much any device into your computer without needing to have a special adapter card for it. Do you really want to go back to the bad old days where adding an external peripheral to your computer meant adding a custom adapter card just for that one peripheral?

Here's the devices that I have that plug through USB. Can you imagine what nightmare this would be without an universal plug?

1. Mouse
2. DAC with headphone amplifier
3. iPod
4. Digital camera
5. GPS receiver
6. External HD

Why aren't we working on better wireless communication so that we don't need wires at all? I can't get my wireless mouse 2 feet away from the receiver, and I sure as hell don't want another cable cluttering things up.

Because we don't all really need wireless stuff.

Ugh, not me. I find movies like this and "Catch Me If You Can" like listening to fingernails on a blackboard. The "Lucy Show" was another. Lucy began every show with a lie and then spent the next twenty minutes trying to cover it up, the last two minutes getting caught.

1) look at some weird hobby project you did
2) describe it's functionality in the form of a contest description :)
3) send the contest description to NASA
4) apply your weird hobby project for the contest
5) profit! :D

The standard *nix command to tell your computer (and the rest of the world) that you are not longer you is kill. Your body could be more or less the same, but you are not there anymore. If you refuse to die, the superuser, superhero, or even the government could make sure that you are effectively dead.

Actually ad-blocking is amoral, but not immoral. Try a dictionary. Hell, use google if you have to.

"we're looking at about a user base of 100 people, with around 5-10 questions a minute."

No seriously ... how are 100 users generating that many questions to your helpdesk? If they're spending that much time on with the helpdesk, I question whether they'd be able to actually spend any time doing their actual job. The neediest helpdesk userbase I've ever dealt with had 1000+ users who couldn't generate more than 250-300 requests in a day. Your users generate 1000% the call volume with 10% of the staff? I call BS or at the very least exaggeration. You don't need a call tracking system, you need a subscription to a suicide hotline for your helpdesk techs.

Weird Al puts on a great show. Took the wife to a concert for her birthday. We had aisle seats, and when Weird Al was performing "Wanna B Ur Lovr" in his bright red pimp suit, he jumped up on the seat in front of us and sang a cheesy pickup line right at her. It was awesome. Musicians used to make their money doing just that - putting on a show people are willing to pay for, not being signed with the biggest label.