Just commenting to undo a bad mod. Pity about the good mods, but dems da breaks.

Then Greenpeace and various other eco-loonies convinced the African governments that it was better to starve than to eat our miracle engineered grains.

Really? The article you link to says otherwise. Basically, the African nations were worried about economics, not ecology. They were worried about contamination meaning that they would not be able to export corn and other crops to their largest export market (the EU). Note that the US is already banned from exporting corn to the EU.

And for those wondering if the African nations are being silly not using the new miracle engineered seeds, consider this, also from the same article:

Since the beginning of the biotech revolution in the 1990s, the industry had claimed that its products would eventually save the world from hunger and malnutrition, but it had not worked out that way. The first biotech crops--corn, soybeans, and canola, with "built in" pest and herbicide resistance--were created for the developed world. They boosted corporate profits and were available only to the wealthier farmers who could afford the premium on the new seed.

I'd LIKE it to be all email, but unfortunately, my co-workers prefer to drop in, or worse - call me on the phone.

The problem with your statement is this retarded notion that your phone is a general purpose computer.

I can attach a keyboard, full monitor & mouse to my android phone & use it to do pretty much whatever the fuck I like. I can run a full-blown-browser, ssh server, apache, transcode videos, anything in the entire debian software stack (via chroot).

So, explain to me, exactly why the fuck my phone is not a general purpose computer? Frankly, I think you'll find the only thing that is retarded around here is your comment.

sorry whats the point other than gee whiz factor? Its 20(fuckin)12, with a trip to radio shack a child could whip up a fart chair to signal keyboard input to any OS they choose for under 40 bucks.

Why spend $40, when you can just use the general purpose computer with multiple input devices already sitting in your pocket?

Wow! I assumed your original post was a joke!

But you're not joking are you? You actually believe that the colour green should be reserved in all symbolic references to plants (and I assume you also believe that other other photosynthesising life forms are also green?)

Anyway, let me break it down for you. The colour green has been associated with nature in all its forms for centuries. This is not a modern phenomena. Calling something green that is friendly to the entire ecosystem is not some sort of contradiction in terms.

I'd like a sticker for my CO2 belching SUV that shows a big green tree surrounded by a bunch of people choking to death.

*sigh* Not this one again. I doubt I'm going to convince you, but just in case someone thick is reading. It is a myth to believe that higher CO2 levels will boost plant growth and food production.

Are you some sort of dipshit?

Here's what you originally said:

You do know that it was the Congress... controlled by mostly non-Southern Democrats... that killed the Supercollider, right? With the full support of then-President Bill Clinton. Most Republicans tried to save it as a matter of national prestige.

Then, when called out, you provided a link that directly contradicted your original statement. Lets have a look what the article says:

On Clinton:

On most Republicans trying to save it: From your own figures 115 to kill, 61 to save. Are you maths skills so fucking poor that you think ~35% is most?

Stupid revisionist bullshit.

In my experience, GUIs are the messiest and most difficult part of an application to get right. All that stuff that's just slinging bits around memory under the covers? That's the easy part. The part that faces the user and has to deal with thousands and thousands of possible user actions? Very hard to get right.

You can go and read a Wikipedia article on just about any "complex" algorithm and understand and implement it in the nice safe vaccuum of non-user-facing code quite easily. But providing a consistent, coherent, complete, and bug-free user experience? That is freaking hard.

Or do you think that there is some other reason that free operating systems like Linux are wonderful at everything except GUIs?

Following a companion called Amelia with one called... Amelia. That probably wouldn't work long term but having two Amelias running around for an episode or two could be amusing.

Of course, with all the doppelgangers and whatnot it could just get confusing.

The iPad 3 backlight is very bright. I doubt you could make a brighter display without having a negative affect.

Congratulations. You've just admitted you've never been outside.

$10k per week including accommodation, meals, lift passes and airfares.

WTF? Where do you live in Australia where you need to fly to the snow? If you really need to fly, just fly to fucking New Zealand and enjoy better snow....cheaper.

(disclaimer, I am NOT a kiwi)

Can't you read? I specifically said pre-sandy bridge. ie. Any model of macbook sold prior to the 24th of Feburary 2011.

Are you sure? Macs are usually able to take larger memory modules than were available at the time of release.

He probably bought a pre-Sandy bridge MPB just over a year ago. Pretty sad for a not-even-18-months-old line to be limited to 8GB, but that's Apple for you.

Ironically, the few people I personally know who own Android phones tend to be amongst the most technically clueless

Funnily enough, you're posting this on a website for people who are far from technically clueless, in response to a poll where android users outnumber iphone users 2 to 1.

that there is a Gates Foundation that might pay Gladwell, and there isn't a Jobs foundation that might.

True, but that's kind of the point isn't it?

Both men were (or are) assholes. Businessmen intent on screwing their competitors, colleagues, customers, whoever to make a buck.

But in the end, Gates is using some of his money to give a false impression of philanthronpy, whereas Jobs is just another dead tycoon.