I had managed to get two orders for a 16gb model in on the Small/Medium Business site. One was before they said they were out of stock. The second one I placed after they had declared that stock was depleted. There was a link going around that let you add it to your cart even though the product page said "out of stock."

They sent an email not long after stating that my order would be cancelled due to being placed after they ran out. Then, a few weeks ago I got two emails saying my order would be shipped within two weeks, specifying two different order numbers.

Sure enough, this past week I got two 16gb Touchpads via Fedex. So, it wasn't just the employees that wiped out the supply, but all the past-posted orders as well.

Well, we can keep our fingers crossed for the Voynich manuscript... maybe that one will prove to be juicier. Or, maybe Shakespeare's first folio... I hear there's something funky in the typefaces in that one.

But, the ritual itself is an encoding of esoteric knowledge. Or, at least, that's how all secret society ritual I've studied is. That's the point... the ritual is easy to remember and pass down to future generations. It acts as a mnemonic device for the knowledge itself. It may not be obvious or explicit in the ritual, but in theory one should be able to glean the knowledge solely from study of the ritual and its related symbolism.

The esoteric knowledge would never be committed to writing in explicit form. That is only passed from lip to ear.

Two things I haven't seen mentioned yet:

I use a Cyborg RAT 7 mouse. It has a two-way adjustable thumb rest, adjustable palm rest (which I removed completely) and interchangeable pinky rests. You can also adjust its weight. I set the sensitivity very high to minimize the amount I have to move it. There's a button on the side you can hold down to drop down the dpi for precise movements, too.

Exercise has been mentioned, but I specifically suggest martial arts. Within a month of training twice weekly I could notice a difference. My posture is better in general. My muscles are more toned. I'm more aware of my body mechanics. And, it doesn't feel like I'm exercising... it feels like I'm doing something fun and happen to get exercise along the way.

I believe that practicing martial arts will strengthen your bones, tendons and ligaments in addition to muscles. Also, punching drills will teach you to keep your wrists straight very quickly. You'll be around people who understand body mechanics very well and who can give you good advice on keeping in good shape.

Shop around to find a school that suits you. Look for someplace that teaches a wide variety of techniques and will work every muscle in your body. Avoid places that give black belts to children. Avoid schools that require to you sign a long term contract. Hopefully you can find a passionate teacher with more than a few geeks in the classes. Bullshido is a good place to go to get expert opinions on the schools you check out.

The school I train at teaches a type of Kajukenbo. They cover a huge variety of practical techniques. The head teacher is an MD PhD student and most of the students are geeks... seriously, like playing D&D and going to renaissance fairs. It's the best thing I've done for my body since becoming a full time developer, and has been good for my social life to boot.

I agree with your post for the most part, but I'd argue that computer programmers have more ability to assure their lack of competition from computer applications than lawyers. Creating software to mine data and analyze it is one thing. Creating software to create software to mine data and analyze it is another.

I don't imagine software will replace lawyers in the courtroom any time soon, if ever. But, the grunt work like document review is already being done by software instead of high-hourly-rate lawyers. I thought this was covered here, but can't find it. The NY Times covered it with the headline Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software

I got the email as well, and have never used NWN. I have Battlefield Bad Company 2 as the only game listed in my account. Hope we can get some more details on this before long.

Skype definitely has great brand recognition and image. They have a huge user base. These surely appeal to MS, but I can't help wondering if what they are really interested in is keeping their competitors from acquiring these things. I think they fear that should Facebook, Google or Apple acquire Skype it would deal a huge blow to old MS while they're already lagging in the mobile market.

I'm sure they'll do their best to put Skype to work for them, but I keep thinking this was more of a defensive move.

Looks like the current orbit will take it right over Tripoli.
http://www.n2yo.com/?s=37375

I'm with you on this one. For instance, I run a site that allows users to adjust the text size with handy javascript buttons. Cookies are what lets the site remember what text size a user prefers when they come back. Sure, I could use buttons that trigger a php script and store the preference in a session variable. But, then their preference is only saved for the duration of the session, and they have to reload the page just to change text size one notch... why bother? If we need cookie legislation, it should be crafted to target the problematic areas of the technology -- not the entire concept.