While strictly correct it's also the case that being diabetic alone almost doubles your 5 year cardiovascular risk, i.e. risk of heart attack or stroke in the next 5 years. There are plenty of diabetics having heart attacks who probably wouldn't have had one if they weren't diabetic, so it wouldn't be completely wrong to think of them as "diabetic heart attacks". And yes, I *am* a doctor.

Not something we have in Australia. We have states. I believe you may be confusing us for Canada - to be sure we are both Commonwealth countries with big chunks of land, but different hemispheres and we don't speak much French down here.

... as a "metric ton" FFS. The ton is an imperial unit of measure (2000 lbs in the US, 2240 lbs in the UK). The metric unit of measure for 1000 kgs is the TONNE. Ton rhymes with run, tonne rhymes with yon (although that is moot in the US and perhaps Ireland where all those words rhyme). I know metric is a bit of a mystery to you guys, but come on. Surely we can get units of measure right on a nerdy forum like this.

Can we please stop saying "metric tons" - that's like calling a kilometre a "metric mile". The unit of measure is the tonne, equal to 1000 kg. There is no "ton" in the metric system.

A "metric ton"? So that would be a tonne then. Come on, really.

Oh lordy, OCD+ASD to the max methinks. If this trivia is enough for him to work up a head of steam then all else must be full of rosy awesomeness in Linuxland.

I use MP v1 because there is a rich ecosystem of plug-ins, including e.g. skipping TV commercials automagically (v2 doesn't support this yet). It's a mature product that pretty much just works. I've set up the Kodi client but find that the majority of the time the MP client does the job just fine. If you want to watch/record free-to-air or cable TV MP supports most cards out there. There is a good plug-in for movies (Moving Pictures) that will categorise your movies and pull in all the artwork and data from moviedb or IMDB for you with minimal intervention. TV series are well catered for with another plug-in (TV Series) that does a similar job. I use the out-of-the-box functionality for music and it's fine. There are lots of skins around to suit every taste. It is a Windows-specific setup though so if you aren't into Windows it's probably not for you.

... so that would be "tonnes" then.

For me the question really comes down to this: what are you really passionate about? Does what you do each day still light your fire? Do you find fulfilment and challenge in your work? I'm 45 and got laid off six months ago (third time in 20 years in IT). It was a marvellous opportunity to sit back, take stock and think - do I really want to do this for another 20 years? It surprised me how simple the answer to this was. Although it has been a good career and the money has been pretty good, I know that forward options for me are becoming limited. I don't want to go into management; as an architect I'm not too far from the upper limit of the technical stream; I have zero interest in switching to allied fields (e.g. technical sales), and I'm pretty over having to relearn stuff every five years or so to stay employable. Most of all, I'm sick of doing work that makes no discernable difference to anyone's life... in a global sense it's pretty meaningless. So - I've tossed in the towel and am studying medicine instead. It didn't take too much thinking to realise that this is where my passions really lie... life's too short for regret, so I'm grasping the opportunity while I'm still young enough to get the study done and have time left to practise medicine. If your answers to my first questions point you to the areas you already work in, then great - figure out ways to make your career sustainable for another 20 years or so, and be prepared for compromises. If not, now is the time to grasp the nettle and make real changes, while you still have time for them to make a difference. But know what you are passionate about! This is what will power you.

I hear you! I've decided this year to toss it in after 20 years in software engineering; I'm tired of the fact that nothing I do really makes any difference to anyone's life. It's just the same endless procession of one project after another - same old same old year after year. So - I'm applying for entry into medical school. I sit the entry exam at the end of March for entry in 2013. I figure at age 45 I've still got time to train and have a productive working life before I get sealed up in a box.

Screw the self-serving pontificating. I'm colourblind and would give a great deal not to be. Part of my body is incapable of performing basic operations that others do with ease - if that's not a disability I don't know what is. If there's a fix, and it's affordable, I'm grabbing it with both hands! I respect the views of other colourblind people who feel differently about their condition, but it's pretty offensive to be told by people with perfect colour vision that I should be happy with my lot, or that people shouldn't "judge", or whatever PC crap happens to be the flavour of the day.

My local Blockbuster offers a resurfacing service for customers' CDs/DVDs at a few bucks a pop, using their U-beaut expensive machine that makes it look brand new again. Perhaps your local video store also offers such a service, or would be prepared to do it for you if you asked.