AT&T has a point, even if I think they're reacting to it badly. Despite the knee-jerk "Corporate Greed" reaction, the FCC determines what, if any, spectrum is made available and whether or not a merger or acquisition can happen. Since the government has decided that no more spectrum is to be made available, despite the obvious need, and that none of the big 4 are allowed to merge, government regulation has caused more than a few problems that AT&T simply isn't allowed to fix.

AT&T may be acting like a spoiled teenager, but the FCC is very much acting like the stereotypical low-level bureaucrat that gets off on making other peoples' life difficult just to exercise a little power.

I'm also largely self-taught. Hammered out BASIC programs on my TI or C-65 as a kid, took a few classes in college, but mostly learned as I went.

Networking is important. Since your resume/CV isn't likely to turn any heads, someone more established recommending you can go a long way. Friends, online contacts, people you meet at conferences, anyone you can think of to get in your corner will be a big boost.

Have examples to show that you can do the work you claim you can. The Almighty Degree isn't the barrier it used to be, but at some point you will have to show that you can do the work. Also read as much as you can about the technologies you want to work with. You have to be able to be conversant in them during the interview. It isn't difficult to spot someone who is faking it.

Try very hard to work on a team. You'll learn a lot from a group of developers, including what habits are good to pick up and which ones to avoid. Understand, and accept, that you're likely to start close to the bottom as a junior programmer. Not a bad thing, really. Gives you a chance to get a lot of experience, and if the company you're with is the sort that doesn't believe in advancing programmers through their careers, more experience will equal better opportunities elsewhere.

Do you recognize this:

GED/J d-- s:++>: a-- C++(++++) ULU++ P+ L++ E---- W+(-) N+++ o+ K+++ w--- O- M+ V-- PS++>$ PE++>$ Y++ PGP++ t- 5+++ X++ R+++>$ tv+ b+ DI+++ D+++ G++++ e++ h r-- y++**

Yes, and I can interpret it without the guide: 5 points
Yeah- I remember that/ Oh, God, I thought we were done with that nonsense: 3 points
What?: 0 points
Is that HTML?: Go away

Let me reframe the question. Take loyalty out of the question, for a moment, ask yourself if the extra money is worth no longer working with people you really like. I've worked for people who shouldn't be managing anyone, much less IT people. I've worked in situations where developers were poorly regarded and treated badly. Not having to put up with crap like that is worth an offset in pay. How much of an offset is, of course, up to you. HTH. Heck- this is Slashdot. Hope this gets noticed. :)

With Vista?

My BlackBerry is also my alarm clock, so when I wake up I use an app and turn off the alarm, check the home screen weather widget and calendar widget, and then check my email to see if I'm headed for the shower or to my laptop to answer a support call. The fact that any Facebook notifications are also on the home screen is incidental. Not sure why this is bad. It more to keep me organized.

Full disk encryption, a firewall, granular application permissions that can clue you in to and even prevent a lot of the spyware nonsense in applications these days. HTTPS is hardly secure, as a Google search of recent news will show, and neither the BIS or BES connections rely on it. And that's just off the top of my head.

Great! Send me the patent number and I'll have our attorney get a letter to her right away. I'll bet we can get a copyright lawsuit filed within the week. This will cut a month -- maybe two! -- off the time to market for our new product. Thank goodness for patents!

Fixed for you

A historically sensational and anti-military publication prints an article vaguely detailing something "bad" that one guy said happened, while making no attempt at looking at the other side. Since this is Rolling Stone, it must be fact. After all, it's not like they're Fox News.

And therein lies the problem with politics in the U.S. "This guy's awful, but I'm going to vote for him because the other side are all {PartyEndorsedEpithet}"

I had the same reaction in Dragon Age: Awakening when I thought I'd caused the destruction of my keep and everyone I'd left in it. Personally, I like it. Mindless hack 'n' slash has its place, but it takes some real work to provoke real reactions in games. Fallout and Fallout 2 had that ability. That's why I'm kind of looking forward to their MMO- I usually don't get into them much, but if Bioware puts this kind of element into it, I think I'd really like it.

We have "scientific studies" that show vaccinating your kids causes autism. We have "scientific studies" that say eating a high-fat, no-carb diet is healthy. We had "scientific studies" that said smoking actually causes rainbows and happy puppies. We also have scientific studies that show dangerous climate change. And the scientists wonder why no one believes them. I'm not saying the association is accurate, rational, or healthy. But it shouldn't be surprising, either.

Not at all. The issue at hand is my device getting read without a court order. Unless, of course, your tinfoil hat is screwed on tight enough that you believe that the local police have a direct line to the NSA and can break right through all kinds of encryption, CSI-style. As the issue is a simple traffic stop and device reading without a court order, then yes- encryption is the answer in this scenario

And this is why I use a BlackBerry. Full "disk" encryption, including media cards.

My ACT standardized test would have been flagged as the result of cheating. In the math part, my score got progressively higher as the topics got harder. The reason was pretty simple- it had been a couple of years since my algebra classes, and I was a bit rusty on some concepts. however, I was in the middle of studying for my calculus final, and was pretty damn sure of myself on those questions.