Either the kid is pretty damn smart, or else the quality of the MCP exam has become so easy even children can pass it.

Ill go for a little from column A and a little from column B. Bright kid probably (and coaching from Dad helped for sure) but MCP probably isn't worth jack shit.

I remember years ago being asked by an MCSE for help... installing Windows 2000 Server. I was a Novell certified engineer and could do it in my sleep.

My password is 1234

Don't tempt me... it is a mother-in-law we are talking about.

Actually, that comment just added nothing, ill give an example.

My mother in law is obese. She suffers from problems with her heart, her thyroid, and a leg joint problem (because after all, those two stubby legs are trying to carry the weight of an elephant).

Doctor has told her she must loose weight, and they can't do anything about her leg until she does.

All she does is consult doctor after doctor until one gives her a new pill to try, because she doesn't want to actually do anything to get healthier, she just wants the pills.

When i try and encourage her to lose weight instead, she points to her illnesses and says she can't exercise because of them.... she says this while sat there drinking coffee, snacking on chocolates and other high fat foods.

In other words, she doesn't want to expend any real effort or change her diet in order to achieve a longer life. She expects miracle cures, even though none have been forthcoming. She simply blames the doctors and looks for a new one.

If she doesn't change her lifestyle, i'm estimating she will be bedridden within 5 years and dead within 10, whereas if she put some effort in, she would have a chance of living a lot longer. She just isn't willing.

^ This.

Its even easier to pull complete support for the game when it depends on their servers!!! This way they can sell Super Mega Game X+1 to those who used to play Super Mega Game X, forcing them to pay for the new shiny versions, which is really almost identical, with no compelling new features, except maybe slightly better graphics and a +1 to the title.

I now stay 100% away from any games which demand an internet connection to play. If a game is online only, but supports local server or can be emulated via Hamachi or something, then i'm cool with it. Otherwise no.

If this means i can't play game X, then i won't die from the lack of it. Plenty of other games out there which I can play, and play how i want.

How do you change SEAL into COAT in just four moves?

SEAL
CLUB
CLUB
CLUB
COAT :D

Cisco simply see a big profit to be made by selling new kit that is specially designed to be able to determine which traffic is from where and priorotize (a bit like QoS but for providers rather than traffic type).

They don't give a shit about the whole neutrality debate really... just more sales. Who cares who or what it harms? Sales comes first!

This is great news for open source fans like myself! I can finally upgrade from CP/M!

Quiet you! You'll give Putin ideas!

Actually, why not? Of course, then your house would be surrounded by a potentially hostile nation. They would have the right to set up a border with which you would need a visa to cross, they could charge you whatever for utilities or cut it off entirely until a trade agreement is in place. Orrr... they could just invade.

First off, to all those who thing that the markets are rational - study a little economic theory and practice. They are far from rational.

Second, Russia (Putin) is willing to cut off his nose to spite his face (ie: sell off all dollars and bonds). If he thinks it will get him what he wants. If you think otherwise, you are sadly mistaken.

Third, a couple of years back Putin ordered all oligarchs and similar to get rid of their dollars and unwind western investments. If anyone lost money or loses money from economic sanctions, Putin will just shrug his shoulders, he warned them, Putin plays the long game, never forget that.

Fourth, do not think Putin is stupid. Megalomaniac perhaps, but certainly not stupid. He knows exactly what he is doing. He might misjudge things, make a mistake somewhere, but you can be sure he has carefully laid his plans and has been doing so for a long time.

Fifth, Russia, Iran and China are having talks about moving to a new petro-Rouble as the currency of trade (for oil/gas) in order to move away from the dollar. Russia wants to get away from the dollar, just like many countries would like to, but simply cannot afford to or simply wouldn't find trade partners for an alternate currency. If this happens, it could have a major impact on the dollar worldwide (yes, could also be negative effects for Russia and China, but see my second point).

Sixth, those who are saying if X (eg: Russia sells off dollars) happens then Y (eg: will be good for US) do not understand if it was that simple, then why wouldn't the US already do those things? And why are those people not multi-millionaires themselves if they understand how well the financial markets works? Perhaps because those who control the US economy do not want that to happen, either for their own nefarious reasons or because it would be bad for the US economy.

I'm not saying I know what will happen either. I'm as much in the dark as most people. I'm just a westerner who lives in Russia so i understand the people on both sides and get to see and read both sides' propaganda. Personally i think both sides are being idiots and the people on all sides are being badly manipulated and used by those with vested interests (hey ho, well, that's usual anyway).

Middlemen are useful for acting as intermediaries between the producer and consumer. However, if the producer can reach the consumer directly, then there need be no laws stopping them doing so. Middlemen add cost to the end customer, so if there the opportunity to cut them out, then it should be taken.

Incidentally, this is why i don't like the idea of american healthcare, as the insurance companies are effectively middlemen who add cost to the whole system with no increase in overall value.

You need to learn more, because it does indeed split the species(es) into hundreds (or more) of different "species" over time - however, we do not generally refer to such as species because they are very tiny changes, many of which will breed back out of the population. However, some mutations tends to accumulate because they provide an advantage (or possibly disadvantage, but there is a second mutation that provides a bigger advantage and so both are perpetuated - this is possible to see in some species today, eg: the peacock - its tail provides a disadvantage, but apparently the female peacocks dig those fancy tails so the ones with the best tails get the chicks to breed with - its an example of a runaway mutation).

If enough within the population receive the mutation and it becomes dominant, this is a step along the path to becoming a new species. Depending on the size of the mutation it may or may not get classified by brainy people as a new species or not, it may take many generations of the change becoming more profound or multiple mutations before it becomes recognized as being a new species.

For this to happen there often also has to be some element of isolation of the group so that the mutation doesn't spread to other populations, or other populations do not interbreed with the new variant and wipe out the new feature.

Anyway, you may then end up with two separate distinct species, or more. Most mutations though do not provide any advantage, so they simply die out. So unless you want to go down the road of classifying every change of DNA as a mutation - which would lead to every single human being classed as a separate species, since all our DNAs are unique - then usually it takes some noticeable difference.

The isolation aspect also comes in with hybrid vigour, which can happen both naturally and artificially.

OMFG... its gone all Windows 8ish.....

Still, i remember everyone whining when the old classic was phased out and the current look and feel came in. Talks of mass boycotts etc... nothing happened. Give it a few months and everyone will be happily using the new version of the site.

Personally, i wish we could go back to the old, old version. But hey ho, and along as slashdot keeps providing me with entertainment*, ill read it.

* = note, i said entertainment. News quality is a separate issue.