That username and post align perfectly.

I agree that learning C teaches (should that be forces?) you to be a better programmer, but disagree about just get any book. If you're going to get a C book, get the original and the best "The C programming language" by K&R.

I think the real scum are the readers of tabloids and gossip magazines. If there wasn't a demand for compromising photos of celebrities, the paparazzi wouldn't exist. They're giving people what they want to see.

In Australia the a nurse takes a blood test back at the cop shop if you blow over the limit. Problem solved.

I'm pretty sure that your emails, BBMs, SMSs etc. all go through Echelon in the UK too. That's the whole point of there being more than one nation involved. e.g. the USA can spy on people in the UK then through intelligence sharing deals share that info with the UK agencies.

Instead of needing to find a job so you have adequate medical care, couldn't you have the government provide access to health care as a service for all?

The parent post isn't interesting, it's ignorant. The clock moves forward and backwards based on how likely the world is to blow everyone away with M.A.D. It's been closer to midnight e.g. during the Cuban missile crisis and much further from midnight e.g. the fall of the Soviet Union.

I wish I had mod points for that post.

It sounds like the UI designer mentioned by the GP is just laying out buttons on a screen without reference to anything. He's designing a UI he likes.

Proper user centred design is about finding out how the actual users of your software work and designing a UI that meets their goals efficiently. Your touch-typist example is a good one. If you're designing software for secretaries then assuming they can touch-type and building a UI that takes advantage of that is probably the right approach.

Wanting the ability to customise all your settings is thinking like a programmer. Different classes of user want things to "just work".

TFA is about ebooks and the poor formatting of their text. eBooks are read by all kinds of people with varying levels of computer skills, not just programmers.

For example, I don't think it's unreasonable for Grandma to expect that when she wants to read a book on her Kindle it displays correctly. Lines, paragraphs, chapters flow just like they would on the page of a print book. She isn't going to want to stuff around for hours setting up a display profile or some nonsense.

The only requirement should be around accessibility - the size of the text can be changed without breaking the layout & flow.

Standards are low (probably always have been). You see plenty of adults reading Harry Potter and Twilight but it's rare you see them reading books written for adults.

That's a myth that adults suck at learning new languages.

Having looked at some of the research while I was at uni, the main difference between adults and children learning language is that adults don't lose their accent.

If anything, adults have certain advantages that children don't in learning a 2nd language. One of these advantages is that they already know how to read and write.

Cool story about Kodak's prototype digital cameras:

One of the Kodak digital prototypes was used to take a photo in Australia at the same location as the very first photo ever taken Australia in the 19th Century. The prototype digital camera came with a portable printer that printed the image. It was one of the few photos taken with that particular prototype as it was stolen soon after that.

Republic doesn't mean representative democracy (with rule of law). That's an American definition. The GP's definitions are correct.

I didn't read TFA, but I did read a different article on the topic a few days ago.

The Chinese government aren't banning western reality shows. They're banning locally produced reality shows that were incredibly popular. Their problem is that the contestants were indirectly criticising government policy and highlighting problems in their society on these shows.