OK,
I have to take exception to this comment about grits.

No good southerner would even conceive of gravy in their grits. Most butter, some cheese, and yes some will have Shrimp N Grits, but never gravy.

Carry on.

as the article states, nexus 7s are bricked, nexus 5s are in a boot loop. You'll find a lot of Twitter activity under #nexus7bricked.

I hate to nitpick but since it does go to your point, actually if you went back you would find Kings and Queens demanding extra pounds added to the portraits. Being overweight was a sign of wealth and very much in style. It isn't just about the images we present to others but also the interpretations a particular culture will make of those images.

Disclaimer: I would love a Tesla model S, but even with the mentioned loans could not possibly justify buying one over saving up for my children's education.

It is ridiculous to try to prop up the success of a company by government backed loans. If electric cars will succeed, let them do so on their own. I personally hope they do, but think that X-Prize style awards for better batteries/chargers is the best way to do that.

However, I think student loans are one of the worst things our government has ever backed(worse than the Tesla loans). By providing them we encourage an already existing problem of people getting degrees when they should be learning a trade instead, and mounting up debt that will take them twice as long to pay back. Scholarships and Pell Grants already exist as an excellent tool for providing assistance to the most needy, and the most deserving. Furthermore, working your way through college is not only doable, but builds character while reducing the amount of trouble students get in to. For those instances where there is a real need for a loan, such as medical school, the government isn't really needed. In addition to grants, the government already provides assistance for those who have served (GI Bill) and those who will promise to serve (ROTC Scholarships). There is some of that in the private sector (hospitals, chick-fil-a, etc.), but I'm all for the government encouraging more of it.

Finally, if we did a better job at the grade school level we wouldn't be trying to squeeze unprepared students into college curriculum while they are building up tremendous debt attending institutions they won't be able to graduate from. The real problem with government assisted student loans (and most risky/payday loans in the private sector, but that is a separate gripe) is that they are an attack on those the current system has already failed while giving an empty promise of an easy out.

Hey, my first car was a Vega and I resent your insinuation. Mine might have been 15 years old the first time I got behind the wheel of it, but it survived that long, and kept on running... I could get over 100 mph (after accelerating about 5 minutes) in that thing, despite parts of it being held together with chicken wire. Just because our nickname for it was "The Green Skunk"... OK, looking back, it might not have been the car it felt like at the time. No wonder my Mom was so quick to pawn it off on me and get a new car.

I think it is VERY valid that software should be written to accommodate localization and the inevitability of non-western names. However, the article is referring to a finite user base (the university students) which will predominately be made up of users uniquely identifiable as first.last name (1.6% collision). I think it would be serious over-engineering for this situation to try to program for every possible conflict (including non-western characters). Auto-add the middle initial, treat any remaining conflicts with a tie-breaker and deal with non-western names on a case by case basis. The real key is to establish in the policy that a user can request a new email alias if the default address does not represent their true name.

I would much rather see a labeling requirement if the government sees a need to interfere with the free market. Inform the consumers, rather than baby-sitting them. Bulb packagaing could be required to print, in an appropriate size, the 5-year average cost of purchasing and using the bulbs(including power and replacements). Add in actual lumen output and consumers can make informed decisions and the market could properly adjust over time.

Consumers should be able to decide if they really want to pay $3.00 for a 6 pack of bulbs they will spend $100 using, or if they want to go ahead and pony up $8 for CFLs with a 5 year cost of $20. I think the incandescent bulbs would die off pretty quickly(except for the niche applications where they are needed). Of course, they could get 6 of the L Prize Philips for $150, but the cost/benefit isn't quite there yet, and the market that wants those is currently buying them.

Ensuring consumers are informed is one of the best uses of government. Limiting freedoms, one of the worst.

You can't use the 70% option for a .99 book. The requirement is a price between 2.99 and 9.99 for the 70% option: List Price Requirements