I use Startpage.com for almost every search I do, the anonymous nature is sweet and it does have the Google search engine behind it.

I say almost because I still use Google's image search tool when I require some images that I might be using in any 'customer' facing work as it allows me to sort by what is labeled for commercial/non-commercial/modification reuse.

Google images is a well under utilised and misunderstood tool which gives a lot of power to people that they then completely fail to use. I teach in higher education and I see a lot of people submit images in their work that they have just pulled of a Google search without realising that they have the tools available to stop them committing copyright violations on the very tool they are using so my first class for every group is how to use both Startpage and Google image search properly.

I have been, for the last 12 months, teaching in a new Cyber Security qualification and it is amazing how little people consider these basic interactions with the Internet.

Yesterday I was trying to install D2 and LOD from my account into a Windows 7 install and it just would not work.
So, I put in the good old Blizzard support ticket highlighting all the issues I had.

Today it's been fixed and works perfectly.

Not saying that I caused this, but you are all welcome anyway ;-p

Well, it is considered that the plural of LEGO is LEGO, but let's look at this properly.
LEGO the company make a ABS interlocking building brick. That brick is a "LEGO brick", not a LEGO (because that is the company's name)
So the correct plural is LEGO bricks, not LEGOs
And in case you are curious the reason I am using the capitalised word LEGO is that that is how the company lay out the use of their name in their style guide.

Hehehe, I actually know a couple of the guys who worked on that title (Melbourne House) I may have mentioned this to one of them today and he thought it seemed like "a clever way to pirate"

Well, sadly it isn't as simple as restoring a old UI, as the new UI was built from the begining specifically for touch devices. Even Apple recognised that a tablet OS and a desktop OS are two different things (although there is more commonality then there used to be)

As for Office (2007 onwards) that is an even more ammusing story, which probably holds some understanding as to why Windows 8 is the way it is.

Story goes that after Office 2003 was released MS asked a lot of their customers what they wanted to see in the next version of Office. A large portion of what was suggested already existed. MS's takeaway was that the current menu system was to complex and they introduced the ribbon to simplify the interface. My takeawy is that most Office users use it for basic tasks only

Given what MS did with the Start screen in Win 8, I have no trouble believing that. Perhaps MS need to do a little more research into the people who are currently using thier products instead of purely focusing on the new aspects.

Admittedly it has been many years since I took a CS class as a student, but there was always an 'Us' vs 'Them' attitude. We were the under appreciated group and we would show 'Them'.

During my University years this would take the shape of our classes arranging to have exclusive assess to the University's Computer Labs (kinda like gerrymandering) during assignments submissions (which adversely affected other students outside of our CS course) and taking a dim view of people who took CS units as an elective.

I now teach in IT and I have to say this attitude is still displayed by many male students. Sometimes the attitude of the males students to the few females in the class is appalling, and I always call them on it.

The industry isn't racist or sexist, but I have to say that sadly many of the practitioners in our industry appear to be and THAT IS JUST AS BAD.

As an Industry we do need to be aware of this and address it as early as possible and punish those who display these sexist and racist attitudes and not punish the victims of these behaviors.

It will take time, but if we claim to be inclusive that means that we have to work at making sure that, as an industry, we are, and we also need to identify those who are not.

You see, I used to use Winamp back in the day, and for my meager MP3 collection it was perfect, but I never really liked the management of playlists/library.

I do remember sending an email to the "Development Team" in 1998 asking about what changes were going to occur with the Library/Playlist manager and I got an email back that basically was full of abuse that I would dare ask such a "Fucking stupid question" and that I should "Fuck off and die"

Yeah, so I never used Winamp again. Sonique was pretty good, but that is also a proprietary license, so doesn't answer your question

The whole thing breaks down when you view it as the way we are trained look at things to in a capitalist society, yes. The concepts of Communism are not the evil that many people play them out to be, just as the conceptual good of Capitalism is not the same as people make it out to be.

Truthfully we probably cannot properly exist in either extreme and reality is somewhere in the middle, until we can free ourselfs from the need to work, and spend our time in the upper layers of Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Woz and Apple have a history, he was the brains behind the hardware and Jobs was the salesman... and a Salesman managed to convince people that his truth was the truth?

Wow, what a surprise... I guess that you don't trust anything that is said by anyone, ever. Though I would like to see the evidence that Woz had the wool pulled over his eyes. He didn't make out as well as Jobs did, but there were more factors that Steve Jobs at play there.

I assist at a local high school with their Robocup program (admittedly we mostly use LEGO Mindstorms, but some of the senior students use Arduino) and I think that is an awesome way in.
Robocup
Get yourself whatever kit you like and try to make a soccer robot, or a rescue robot, it will give you a nice and clearly defined target to aim for, but will also allow you to experience the little technical challanges that you will need to overcome. Even if you have no intention of competing, it is a good base to start from, and if you have the time or the desire you can assist schools and kids getting involved in the hobby too.

The most pertinent question here I believe is the "Contract" question. EULAs have been ruled on a few occasions in assorted court cases to be agreements, not contracts.

Personally I think this will go nowhere, but IF the Italian courts rule that a EULA it is indeed a contract then EULAs will take on a new legal meaning, at least in Italy, and possibly the rest of the Eurozone (I am not a legal expert, so I don't understand the full ramifications of this, just postulating)

I remember the China example but you will have to remind me of the small breast thing

Personal Manufacture is your right, ah, unless that is stated in the laws of the land (and it isn't in Australia) then I call bullshine on that.

This may come as a surprise but we have fairly good gun control in Australia, people who hunt are allowed to own guns, all gun owners are licensed (except for illegal guns of course) and gun violence is fairly uncommon (it has flared up a bit of late, a few drive bys and shootings, but every time someone gets shot that is a national news item so yeah, not at all common) so I have no issue with what the police are suggesting here, but as I have said, very difficult to regulate.

Your freedoms are defined by law, and as such will always be at the whim of politics. You do not have "Freedoms" just because you think you should.

A creative enough person could kill another without a weapon, and a weapon could be made from many ordinary household objects.

But this gun is only a gun, an unliscenced, unregulated gun that has proven to be less safe than an actual gun.
I see no problem which what the police are saying here, but it is a very difficult thing to regulate.

This is pretty awesome, but Largest LEGO model, no way
LEGO House