If you are so keen on raging, try to talk about quakes.

Well, I expect computers to become really good at law.
The big idea with legal systems is to refer to some written laws and precedents rather than the whim of the judge. Basically it's a search problem and it's one of the things that computers do best.

These bitcoins probably weren't intended to stay as bitcoins forever.
The flow probably looks like this : buyer uses USD to buy BTC, buyer transfers BTC to seller, seller sells BTC to get USD. That's pretty much the definition of money laundering.

Even if technology can give us everything we need with no actual human work (i.e. infinite efficency), we are still social animals.
It means that people will gladly pay just so they can interact with actual human beings.

Writing small, tricky, code require a certain set of skills but I believe that the mark of great programmers is the ability to scale up. That means writing clean, efficient and flexible code even on large projects.
Demos for example may look impressive but due to their non-interactive nature, they can use plenty of tricks that won't work in more general cases.

It's actually a serious punishment if it's just the act of using the DB for personal reasons.
If you are using that info to commit another crime, you will probably get a second aggravated sentence.

I don't know how it is in the US but in France, many pedestrians don't give a fuck about signals so we might as well remove them.

I believe that the reasoning is :
- diversity is good
- finding minorities with the required skills is hard
- hiring under-skilled people just because they are minorities is bad
=> we need to give minorities the required skills

I think it is some kind of a long-term experiment, an attempt to increase diversity without compromising skills.

If you have a light aircraft you can pretty much bomb anyplace you want. Areas directly over sensitive facilities are usually prohibited zones, which means that if you penetrate them you may be "pulled over" by a fighter jet and face big trouble after you land. They won't shoot if they can avoid it.

Trouble is, these zones are usually pretty small compared to the speed of even a small plane. For example, if you have zone with a 10 NM radius and you are flying at 120 kts, it only takes 5 minutes to reach the center. During this time, they have to notice you, dispatch an interceptor airplane, intercept you, send you a few signals, notice that you don't intend to comply and finally shoot you.

I don't consider phones without user replaceable batteries "quality design". For real quality oriented design, the goal should be "as long as a network exists". And considering that batteries are expected to last for about 3 years, they make for an obvious planned obsolescence.
My old Nexus One is still in use today( although not my me and with a new battery) and there is no reason to dump it as it still works as well as it did when I bought it. The 2 or even 3 year smartphone is a pure fabrication. For normal (non-geek) people, keeping a smartphone for 5-10 years should be the norm.

The idea of opportunity cost is valid, however saying that all pirates would have bought the game is wrong, and that's how they inflate their numbers.

If we somehow managed to make piracy impossible, would be pirates could simply not play the game.
- because they don't have the budget
- because it's not easily available
- because of restrictions (invasive DRM, internet connection, ...)
- because the competition is cheaper (Photoshop piracy probably hurt Paint Shop Pro more than Photoshop itself)

Is the number of patents really meaningful ?
For example, a patent on the ballpoint pen is much more powerful than 1000 patents on various ways of making ink cartridges for fountain pens.

It may not be a bad thing you know.
Strict timing rules provide a clear separation between work time and personal time and it can be beneficial to both the employer and the employee. Basically trading reactivity for consistency.
Not all companies want "110%" and "amazing work ethic". Many prefer a good "100%" and "do what I pay you for" instead.

Of course, a company closely monitoring things such as break time shouldn't expect (or even allow) their employees to work overtime. It means that what you did is normal. No need to be defiant.

Note that it is not how I like to work. But it is a matter personal preference. Many people I know are more than ready to give up flexibility in exchange for well defined work hours.

Hiroshima today is a very beautiful city. If you happen to plan a trip to Japan, I highly recommend it.
The only traces left of the bombardment are the memorials.

I didn't go to Nagasaki but AFAIK it is also a very nice place.

Men and women are different you know. Different bodies, different brains, so it's only natural that men and women want different things and tend to have different sets of skills. Just because men and women deserve the same rights and opportunities doesn't mean that we are the same.