How about... oh I don't know... to finish the story?

Employers know what DEFCON is, and there is nothing formal about any training received there. The topics are invaluable, the experience gained there can beneficial, and the social networking has potential. However the bottom line is that DEFCON is not formal training by any means. You can not cram the value and complexity of a properly planned conference, into just one of the 45 minute talks presented there. Also, at official business conferences you do not have laptops and ATM machines coated in imagery that makes hardcore pornography look like G rated material, and people drinking vodka from plastic bottles from dawn to dawn. I enjoy a trip to DEFCON. However I would never expect my employer to pay. You might as well ask them to pay to send you to Comic Con.

I went to Defcon 15 and 16. Both years it was just tons of porn on every screen, people drinking all day long, and ill mannered conversation. Aside from a very inspiring talk by G-Mark, I did not see much benefit in going. I would attend speakers who attempted to explain some complicated topic in 30 - 45 minute windows, and essentially did not teach anything. Rather they would just tell stories about how they hacked such and such places and had the audience cheering for them. I fail to see what Fed's even gain from attending.

You said: "Android comes out as clear winner to me." Obviously you haven't looked very close at the market. It's not Android my friend. With all of the Google support for iPhone, you don't need Android. All of your complaints are solved by iOS. If you don't like networking your contacts, then don't use Google Sync on your iPhone nor iCloud and just manually enter your contacts. Sync your mail via gmail, exchange, or plain ol imap. Use a non networked iCalendar. Disable bluetooth when not using it. Lock your phone with a real password, not a passcode. Clear your call and text history. Then backup your phone with the click of a button entirely with iTunes to "centralize your world" as you are asking. All offline by choice. If you don't already use gmail, you won't be forced to create one. Just use whatever email identity you have already established in your life. Android struggles with polishing these basic abilities across their 100's of phones and multiple chaotic vendors as compared to Apples simpler and more successful 5 phones.

Global Warming Does Not Exist.

This must be the most retarded post ever. It's like reading a headline that says "Beef expert says raising more cattle will help with the beef shortage."

I really find it interesting how these Slashdot articles are stated lately. Firefox "is" the current browser that is "healthy". It has the most maturity of any of the other browsers. The others are what should be asked "what is the point of them". If you are going to make such an empty statement, then provide what your basis is. Otherwise your article is just empty space on the net with no reason to be read. This goes along with the Linux on the Desktop is Dead article. -bytes

Good! I don't want to see 3D. I want to see focus on HD and Quality. 3D is the most non-relaxing escape from your day after work I've ever experienced. Everything I see in my TV screen is already in 3D anyhow. I can tell what's behind something. 3D is blurry, darker, messes with frame rates, and simply put is unnatural. It is not the future. -bytes