When I first got into computer for REALZ in the 90s, I let them consume me. I think that is a natural first reaction to the power of technology.

But after a while, I realized I needed a better balance in my life and learned a secret: you can choose NOT to look at the computer. Or email. Or IRC. Or IM. Or Facebook. Or slashdot (sorry).

When I hear experters fret over the dehumanizing affects of technology, I laugh. Some people just don't have enough patience. The rebalance will come to the majority soon enough. In the 50s-80s, the technology monster was TV. Before that, it was radio. Now it is smartphones. Soon it may be smart glasses or smart wrist watches.

However, being an alarmist sells papers.

"No person shall be considered for any public office who cannot sign up for a free web mail account and send an email by his or her self."

That should reduce the political idiocy by a third, I hope.

I am a big proponent of NASA. I would like to see the budget increased. I would do it with cuts in the military and corporate subsidies (particular to oil companies).

Then next time a stupid survey asks "would you like to increase spending" I really wish there were a follow-up question "what would you give up to see this happen."

Heck, I give 110% at my job and SO SHOULD THE BUDGET!

Wow. 109. You should eBay that sucker. :-D

We need to progressive reforms to save us from this Gilded Age of Bacon Barons!

You can see Bill in the documentary film Objectified, which is about industrial design. Really, it's a must see for folks who read this site.

http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/

I quit a job with a manager who didn't think that "work-life balance" was valid.

Even in the face of a terrible economy. Engineering requires a functioning brain.

Perhaps the world would be a better place if more people took time off.

Twitter is working to make their developer ecosystem not smaller but more selective.

1993 is currently 19 years ago.

Goodnight from Old Guy News Tonight!

I despise articles like this.

Can you get hardware and software for free? Yes. You need to do a lot of hustling though to get the components, assemble the network and keep it running. Additional, electricity and internet access are never free. Someone has to maintain the network, install software and answer user questions.

You can't whip a linux network on a bunch of teachers and expected it to be useful. I can't even do that with IT professionals.

I use both FB and G+. FB is useful to friends and family. G+ is superior as a hobby news stream. G+ has a more focused, less cluttered UI.

And hangouts? FOR THE WIN.

I appreciate that this just one nerd's opinion. YMMV.

Agile is not a product. It is a mindset. Each team needs to workout what that means for them. I have been in teams for two companies that used Agile methods heavily and it has worked out very well for business units (predictable deliveries), developers (predictable work hours) and customers (higher quality releases).

I am positive Agile is not a silver bullet for every project. Software engineering is still a hard problem to generalize.

Man, how does The Onion continue to deliver such great comedy after all these years?

"...specifically, whether [the command line has] outlived its usefulness in this era of the GUI"

Great stuff! I am still laughing.

I don't need to explain why training terrorists might not be the best idea for our long term interest, right?