Wouldn't this be completely besides the point as long as we keep enough spice in their tanks? They can always just think their way back on course.

There's a great grocery store near my house called Sprouts (imagine a Whole Foods Market without all the near iPod level smug and pretentiousness). It focuses on two things.
a) Getting foods from local sources, or farms as nearby as possible.
b) Getting more organic produce whenever possible.

Now, this place consistently has better looking, fresher, and better tasting produce than any of the other grocery stores around. Maybe it's because of column a), maybe it's column b) , maybe it's a little from both. Either way, for a reasonably small price increase we get far better produce so the wife and I make it a habit to shop there.

At least I wasn't the only one of the walking ancients who thought this.....

It would make more sense for this to use an adapted version of the Andriod GUI rather than X.

But the original point of the article is about teaching people who are mathematicians (not programmers) FORTRAN or a newer language such as Python. These aren't people who, most probably, won't be coding for a living. Although knowing how a code a little will come in handy. To that extent it's more like the fact that most homeowner own a hammer and know how to use it, but don't have a need to buy a nail gun and learn how to use that. (admittedly buying a nail gun for a homeowner is really about how much FUN it is to have a nail gun handy all the time!)

On a side note : How many of those roofers and framers learned to use a nail gun before a hammer?

Nail guns have been around for a while, but a lot of houses still get built with hammers.

If a simple tool does a job efficiently and effectively then why "change for the sake of change"?

Of all the possible targets I would have to say this one has a lot of solid reason behind it.

They want to be the "software for everyone" and that means running businesses. One reason the PC took off over the Mac was that many people used PC's at work, so used them at home. Make sure people see lots of Microsoft at work, they will be more likely to run it at home.

Preface : I am a lifelong Trek fan. I'm not "hardcore", I haven't ever been to a convention, but I have enjoyed the franchise.

For those complaining that Abrahms "wiped his ass" with the franchise ask yourself one question:

Would you rather there be no more Star Trek?

That was the option, re-invent & reboot or buh-bye. I'm glad they chose the former. They even took considerable pains to write into the story a plausible reason for it (time travel creating a splinter/alternate main timeline.) Admittedly this is a departure from some of the previous handling of temporal plot lines, but I'm workable because they needed a reboot. You still get Nimoy as Spock. I'm honestly glad he was the only original cast member in it.

My wife is a more intense fan than I am, to the point of having a real emotional attachment to the Trek universe/story. The first 8 minutes of the movie made her cry it was intense enough. She loved it and is already planning when we'll be going to see it again.

Even Nimoy said in an interview said that people who were hurt because it was disregarding previous canon and resetting things were doing so because they had an illogical connection to the minutiae of the universe rather than the story of the universe.

Besides, they didn't reset everything. Apparently Enterprise is still canon. (i.e. reference to Archer and his beagle)

A reason to care:

If you like the movie and want to see more in the franchise then the franchise needs to be profitable for the company producing it.

You know that you don't buy MSDN subscriptions to test Microsoft apps right?? You buy it to test your OWN apps and how they interact with MS products.

If you have an application that deals with windows desktops, traffic between exchange servers, traffic on MS-SQL servers, authentication checking against old school domain controllers and new school active directory services that's a lot of MS product to be purchasing so you can make sure your stuff works.

Or you get an MSDN subscription and effectively have one copy of every MS app for your use and testing. It's really very cost effective if used for it's intended purpose.

Have you stopped to consider how many of the innovations America has given the world came from.. dare I say this... researching "war toys"?

Computers as we know them today? The Atomic Age?

The need to find newer, faster, and more efficient ways to kill people has always been a phenomenal "mother of invention"

Easiest way to get the country developing alternate energy technology? Declare that starting 2-4 years from now the US government won't buy any ground vehicles for the government or military that don't run on renewable fuels.

And that we won't build any new bases or government facilities that aren't solar or powered by renewable energy sources.

"If the government does it, then it isn't illegal"

Where have I heard that argument before? It was a pretty famous president as I recall.

Or are they arguing that it probably is illegal, but you can't bring it up or take them to court over it cause they're the government. Is that functionally any different?

I will also second the "meet the new boss..." sentiment.

The only "change" we got was which direction the assault on our liberties comes from.

Ah, I was worried it meant I would be thrown out of a high rise by a slender man of questionable sexual orientation (nttawwt) soon. I have the button and everything.