By this metric Java is still kicking everyone's butts. Also... *all* programming languages are "dying".

I've been around the block enough times to know that if you want to survive as a programmer you had better damn well learn to program. And not in just one language, you need to know a survey of language types. Ruby is just one type in the same category as Python and Javascript. If you really want to survive 20 years as a programmer (like I did) you need to branch out more.

Now, you kids get off my lawn.

I think Andy is complaining about the bad CS degree mills that I've run into. I am definitely in the camp that a CS degree should be *harder* to get. That said, we should probably re-evaluate our interview process as an industry. Instead of grilling a kid on if he has skill X ... we need some way to determine if they are smart, competent, and motivated.

If you can't attract smart, competent, and motivated people ... maybe you need to re-examine your organisation.

Sounds like all the Thinkpads and most of the Apple lappies I've had over the years. The stickers are a bit different...mostly either political, Anime/Manga or F/OSS related. But yeah, not a business look, more "geek in the house" look. My new Lenovo Ideapad is still virgin...for now. But it will look like "Ms. Geek's current lappie" soon enough. X60T was a really nice machine.

And now Meg Whitman is finishing the job.

They also collect uber-fail CEOs.

Must not forget, then, "Stand On Zanzibar" which posits what life would be like on a crowded, '60s-inflected world in 2010. Brunner did get one thing right: a worldwide, 24/7 news network called Engrelay Satelserv, English-language Relay Satellite Service. Say it with me in your best imitation of James Earl Jones: THIS IS CNN. From the perspective of two years after 2010 it reads more like a dip into an alternate Earth which zagged where ours zigged sometime in the '70s. Brunner was a genius.

Now that you mention it, I *can* hang around for DAYS on wifi. My record so far is two and a half *days* on wifi. But, I usually use the phone as a mobile computer while traveling. In those situations it's a little TV for around 4 to 5 hours and it's a phone for 2 to 4 hours during lay overs and while navigating airports. For several hours before and after, it's a GPS... but it gets to be plugged into a car during those times.

I bought a triple sized battery for my 4G phone. My phone is friggin' enormous now... but I can use it on 4G for 12 to 16 hours. I have yet to completely kill it... even while using it on coast to coast flights.

If you want your money to go really, really far, I have to recommend the videogame museum we started here in downtown Oakland. We raised $20,000 on Kickstarter and 100% of that money has gone to rent, Internet, and insurance. We've not spent a dime on anything except those expenses. Everything else in the museum is donated, save for the meager tables and shelves we have, which we purchased via funds donated by people visiting the museum (About $400).

Any funds donated to the MADE will be used to continue to keep the doors open. Why is that important? Because we are offering free programming classes for local inner city kids. We currently only have 2 teachers, but we're looking for more. Those teachers spend 1 hour teaching the kids MIT Scratch, then a second hour teaching Python.

Of course, we also have exhibits, events, talks, and adult classes, but all of those are just icing on the cake for our "everything playable" videogame museum. The real change the world part of our organization are our classes. We've only been open since November, but with some more monetary donations and volunteers, we'll be able to expand our classes in 2012, and maybe even offer after school programs instead of just weekend classes.

Oh, and we're 100% volunteer run.

http://www.themade.org/

OK, I've been a fan since about 89, so I have a lot of questions to ask.

First: For each of you, which 1 song of yours is your favorite.

Second: The World's Address is a sad pun that reflects a sadder mess. Where did the idea for this song come from, and why the violin version?

Third: Who thinks she's Edith Head? Some specific person you knew?

Fourth: Any chance of releasing the visual song tie-in games from No on the Web?

Fifth: Do ya'll actually use metal detectors at the beach?

Sixth: What was it like trying to play the that bazookie thing in "older than you've ever been?" Was it a klezmer?

Seventh: I've seen you in concert a few times, and Angel is a tough one to get ya'll to play. It's a popular tune with the fans, is it out of favor with ya'll?

Eighth: What did ya'll think of the Tiny Toons episode your songs were in?