But I'm choosing to ignore it all, entirely based on font.
http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~lgrupp/CV.pdf

Please look at a recent game - and then tell me how you'd just knock this up in a bit of machine code, more efficiently.
Most people don't write hard-core code, well mainly as somebody else has done it for them, allowing them to get on with something more productive.

I completely fail to see how they'd manage to undercut every single existing PC/component manufacturer out there.
Always thought they were missing a trick by not embracing benchmarking though. Your PC gets a steam score/analysis and it tells you how a particular game should run on your system before you buy it.
They could then make a few dollars off certifying platforms - i.e. you buy all these bits, it should be fine - but if you buy this complete Alienware system, then we can tell you right now, you'll get 60fps with everything racked to max.
Probably isn't too possible to be accurate in the world of ever changing drivers - but they could surely certify a few platforms (and get steam to maintain the latest drivers on them).

I'm all for it.
Multi-million dollar marketing, forcing release into a window is not always conducive to a completed product getting shipped.
I presume $40k is the only possible reason that somebody might decide to delay a much-fanfared release until it's ready.
Looking at it the other way, if patching was free, I suspect a shit-load more shoddy stuff would appear.

I'm not having a go at iterative development (minecraft), DLC etc - and I appreciate it when a publisher/developer pushes out a patch to correct an issue that they only came across after release.. Merely pointing out that cost-free patching would undoubtedly create a buggier experience for me.

3d screens seem to be limping onto the market, but with a 3d camera... you're right, it's just going to be used for porn...

Were plenty of other annoyances lurking about after that. Network file 'sharing' (shares/CIF etc) was a world of pain and registry hacking.

I just attached a nyko zoom to my kinnect (set of lenses mounted in a frame that clips over the kinect) - and that knocked a very handy third off the minimum distance I need to be.
Aside from expense and size, there's no reason you couldn't have a kinect with motorized or even swivelling lenses.

In the UK, we have loads of magazines. 95% crap, but a good 5%. Should you come across a UK magazine outside of the UK, then it's likely to come from the 5%.
Feel free to enjoy it, but don't imagine it's representative of the quality of UK magazines as a whole.
Should you wish to buy then, it's usually easy enough to subscribe (http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/gaming/edge-magazine-subscription/) will let you take out a subscription to Edge.
Maybe of note is that I think the quality of many UK magazines is falling. High point in the late 90's, early 00's, but seems to be sliding. Possibly just the market sorting itself out though. Magazines that will survive are those with great big in-depth, well written articles. The more fragmented/thrown-together ones I, quite rightly, been lost to the online world.

because you don't need to.
Reason I'm excited about Raspberry Pi, is that it's designed as a learning tool. I want to play, tinker, blah blah.
Reason I find XMBC on RP exciting, is that this is something I could 'theoretically' make. Now I know full well I don't stand a chance, but definitely provides some inspiration.
The really interesting thing, is that with the hardware price so low, it suddenly means you could make a physical product based upon their hardware, your software and sell it for a reasonable price. Consider how 'app-stores' suddenly allowed so many people to be produce and distribute to a large market. Limitation there, is that every one of your customers has had to fork over a large pile of cash for their hardware. I can quite easily see how I might buy a stack of RP's and just swap a dedicated app between them. XMBC for my TVs. One plugged into a drive as the NAS. Few hosting commodity webcams to make them IP enabled etc

One of the lovely things about IT is that (theoretically) one person can make something that can instantly be used by millions.
Possibly that's a little bit optimistic, but the best motivation for anything I've made is somebody looking at something I've built and and just saying "I like that"
Or maybe even better - "I would like it even more if it did x", then building "x" and then getting the feedback (mainly when you realize not including x was a retarded over-sight).
I'm not quite sure how you support this in the design of the room, but maybe find a way of allowing those not in the class to see what's happening. Windows into the room, something that people can look at if they just wander in - maybe even just a 40" screen outside pointing to stuff available to all on a site of what's been made in the room that day.
I guess my point would be that the room shouldn't just be for people making things (50 ergonomic workstations are lovely - but they'll only ever look like 50 ergonomic workstations) - it should help show the rest of the world what's being produced in that room. 'Selling' what's being made isn't really for the people they're selling to, but to provide encouragement to the creators.