My MITS Altair 8800 from 1975 is still going strong with no component failures since my father assembled it in 1975.. Can't say as much for the paper tape reader that died sometime in the mid 1980's..

I'm glad someone made this point, and beat me to the punch. This is an example of competition. Hey JERK! I was gonna post that and bask in the glory of everyone telling me how insightful my comment is. Not fair! In fact I think that I can prove that I had the thought before you and sue you for actually getting it done before me. Butthead! I know where you live and I hope your car is insured .. Negativity. Now which one do you think is more productive and condussive of real progress?

Let's just hope it doesn't feature a fat oafish stereotypical insecure male, a hot wife, and a talking animal

I have always wanted to see something similar to a firewall embedded in phones that allows you to completely block specific phone numbers. They would get a short message stating they are blocked from the number. First time they call it's a pain, but you block them and enjoy the hassle-free life once more. The FTC could then have some way of citizens posting those numbers. FTC gets one heck of a lead sheet and my family and I can be assured that every time our phone rings, it's someone we actually want to call...

How do you choose which new technologies (new standards, libraries, os refinements, etc) will be included in new kernel versions?

I just had to get in on this epic comment thread... Polls almost always rely on relatively small samples from certain areas.. 100,000 , 1,000,000, even 10,000,000 individuals in a poll cannot speak for 300,000,000... show me a poll where I actually got to put my 2 cents in and I'll believe it.. Point being, Why has Gallop never asked me about this stuff?? o.0

I personally work in education in a fairly large school district.. Whenever people discuss this topic, they tend to focus on the wrong things in my opinion. What we need to focus on: 1) Is this a matter of taking a technology that was developed for personal entertainment and trying to make it conform to "serious education". 2) If kids can't write/express succinctly on paper or read a book, what makes you think that some shiny $500 tablet will? 3) Total cost of the device, not just initial.. you look at your average tablet plus e-books, plus apps and you have a very expensive alternative to plain ole notebooks, pencils, and textbooks 4) Management.. Schools quickly learn that just giving these things away to students quickly amounts to a management nightmare they didn't foresee.. Everything from warranty repair, broken glass, application deployment/updates and acceptable content are only possible with a well thought out plan, and school-wide participation at all levels..

Ningis.. Gotta love huge pink rubber triangles..

I'm willing to bet that at least 50% of uploaded images were pornography of some sorts... Y'all should have seen the thousands of posts to chan boards featuring human sexuality in all its "splendor"...

Commenting well in a program can be the difference between hours of backtracking, reverse engineering, and other wastes of time. Even if the original programmer is the only one who will ever see them, good comments are just as important as good code. I don't know about you guys, but I find myself having to go back to something I did months and even years ago. Comments make the total difference between a quick add-on/fix or hours of hair pulling frustration. Learn to Code, then learn to comment. That combo is unstoppable

Call me lucky, but I have no paper on the wall.. just lots of experience (and more importantly I have found), a great reputation for quality... both of which you cannot gain in 4 years of college/vocational school. I think that the big fallacy when attempting to discuss these kinds of problems is being caught up in the "market" in one's specific geographic area. What is true with the "Big Cities", is not true for the rest of the world. In fact, areas like the one I live in, have a vacuum of talent. People need coding done and will pay regardless of what's on your wall. It comes down to "Can you do It?","How long will it take?" and "How much will it cost?".

Number One Observatory Circle, Washington D.C.

Aluminum Oxide paste is the best thing I have found. You can get it from various electronic and retail stores (Usually marketed for Disc repair). Unlike toothpaste, Aluminum Oxide wipes clean without the sugary haze you can get from toothpaste.