As a quebecer that puts vinegar on his poutine, I'm inclined to agree.

Forgot to check the date. I confirm, this isn't valid

Is that a jab at their design, or an actual request for help? I might have time to throw my hat in.

Hmm...

They did the same thing to our computer skills program in college (emphasis on programming and the business environment, some networking and OS). When I applied, we were 18. Only 2 graduated from that group, and I graduated with the year after that (20 when they started, 4 graduated, me included). The school closed the program, no longer taking new admissions. The ones that were already in the program get to finish, but they're the last wave. and if they flunk any classes they can't take them over. The school claims they're "Redesigning the program" to make it easier so the drop out rate won't be so high. But we all assume the program is just dead. And even if they redesign the program, they had already dumbed it down so much that I don't see how they'll be able to get anyone ready to join the job market in three years.

Wow, that's harsh. I don't see why you guys are ragging on him so much. Isn't this the point of linux? We do it our way, whatever that means? Personally I never went up to gnome 3, I use the shell as much as I can, and I often use AWESOMEWM. But I'm not one to fight with things, if it works I won't bother fixing it.

And what if there was a case of causality there? Maybe alcoholism improves eyesight and increases brain capacity over many generations, and it has nothing to do with high altitudes and poor lighting!

Sound like I better get started :D

You know, I think we might have this all wrong. Maybe good eyesight and large brains causes mountains to sprout under our villages. I think we should try assembling a bunch of big-brained people with 20/20 vision and put them in a pit, as an experiment.

I really think this wall of text says everything that needs to be said about the issue. Yes, google is building all these things with hope of revenue but they're not forcing anybody's hand. Microsoft is notorious for trying to herd it's users and bundle them together into a small enclosure where they only have access to products, hardware, and services that have been microsoft approved. They treat everything else as if it were somehow inherently evil, and feed a sense of "we're the good guys, we'll keep you safe, the outside world is dangerous" to it's users. Microsoft doesn't give room to breath or allow for the creative spirit to grow; it creates boxes from which to better milk you dry (all the while telling you it's for your good). They're business minded, but they have no mind for community or the human spirit of computing.

Google, however, has often given back to the community with open source releases. They host the "Summer of code" every year, supporting the open source community. Ok, they've made their faux-pas (there was a debate, for instance, about google stealing the idea of crowd-sourcing for google maps from openstreetmap) but in general, they do not vulture around smaller companies, they don't buy out competitiors for the sake of bleeding them dry and leaving an empty husk behind, they don't turn their back on the community.

If you like quebecer beer, I sugggest trying beer by "Le grimoire". Their "Noire soeur" tastes really good, a little like coffee and dark chocolate. The golden lion pub makes good beer too but it might be a little hard to find outside of Sherbrooke. The watermelon beer is pretty popular.

Regional beers for me. Unibroue has some good varieties, and I've liked everything I tasted from "Le Grimoire" too. Their Noire Soeur is good slightly chilled. Too cold it doesn't taste like much and too warm the bitterness overpowers the flavour, but in the right temperature range it tastes like alot like coffee and dark chocolate (on top of tasting like beer) I happen to live next to the golden lion microbrewery in Lennoxville, Quebec. Good beer, not too expensive, and they get pretty creative. Watermelon-blueberry beer? And when it comes to selection of microbrewery and regional brewery beer, gotta go to "Lauziere et fils" in Drummondville. There are beers there that I simply can't find anywhere else.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one so geeky as to call my mobile Tricorder. I figured it was hardly original but it's nice to meet someone who is akin.

My computers, laptops, VMs, and storage devices are usually named after fictional characters, following a suffix for purpose or OS (MS for windows, nix for linux distros, .Net for servers.)
For instance my pc NETBIOS is MIKU-MS and Miku.Net at home.