i am alive i am bored

Most of my friends and people in my social networks are the most politically unmotivated people I know. If anything the social network promotes apathy and isolation as much or more as it promotes the opposite. The medium is not the message. Individuals will seek whatever means to find the message they seek, the medium is not the issue.

I repair computers at home for people who cannot afford geek squad, best buy etc. Many old dells like these have been across my bench, invariably after the warranty was over, the end user was stuck with the cost. Of course I helped then out by replacing the board with an afforadble ECS model or an ASROCK. Still sad that many single mothers and people on welfare, shut ins etc. that I help out were stuck with the cost, while thinking they were getting a good deal from DELL.

Get off it. iPhone is still owned by a corporation that has gone from innovative, to more constraining and restrictive than the RIAA in many respects.

I must protest... iPhone's are for nerds. Geeks use droids.

9 / 11 yoU DO NOT want to get me started on that

if we can convince even 1/100th of a percent of all the people who read this to cancel cable or satellite, it will have been worth it.

of mass media only profit from perceived returns. As long as the masses pay for their TV through satellite and cable services they remain content. As more and more move towards non traditional mediums they will devise defensive situations to corral the media hungry into their pens. It is basically a cattle herding effect. The more viewers they can prove, the more they demand for their ad space. My family and I have become rebels in that respect, as we have not had a paid television service in over 5 years. Unless you count online fees for internet access. All our television entertainment comes from Netflix, Hulu, and DVD rentals and purchases. When I share this with people they are stunned and aghast that we can even survive without paid TV in our homes. The day we cancelled our satellite, the operator called us liars when they asked what service we would be switching to. As our answer was that we would not have cable or satellite. It is beyond the average persons comprehension that you can survive with out paid TV. Try it you will like it was my answer. The added time and freedom of not being saddled with monthly payments for television is a gift that will repay you many times over. Buck the system dump the cable and satellite.

I'd like to hear more on your suggestion to "avoid web application programming like the plague". Why? I'm genuinely curious as this is where most of my own experience is.

If they insist on it only mattering how much advertising you watch then shouldn't they be rating it as show per advertisement minute? It would even allow the studios to do interesting analysis like, is it worth it to have a 30-minute show that's only got 3 minutes of ads rather than the standard 8 since it increases viewership to unforeseen heights? (Not likely, actually, but still an interesting question.) Also, shouldn't they care about per ad-minute per ad as well? I mean, I figure there's some reinforcement value to watching the same advertisement twice but the same commercial three times in a row (it has happened when I still watched normal broadcast TV) when I've seen it 20 times that week probably doesn't help that much. Also, shouldn't the execs care that advertising on Hulu can be far more directed? For example, if I actually rate that I really liked the trailer for Movie X and actually go watch Movie X after seeing the trailer on Hulu it'd be cool if Hulu gave me more trailers for movies like Movie X (Netflix-style like here). And if I'm repeatedly marking down Product Y since it's a food in a category I don't eat can I please get not only no more adverts for Product Y but also no more product Y-2? I mean, we give them the perfect medium for directing advertising directly at as to maximize its effect and they just sneer at it. When will they learn?

My view is that this is the best part of the Constellation program. The space capsule remains a great space vehicle design. The new ground that Orion breaks here is the use of modern materials and electronics systems. Down the road, I can see the manufacture of space capsules as being somewhere between an advanced bike and a modern car in complexity and cost.

I'm not equating intelligence with malevolence, I'm saying there is no correlation between intelligence and malevolence. If the aliens are friendly, great, but don't discount the possibility that they may not be friendly. If they're unfriendly AND more intelligent (and they'd have to be to actually reach us), we're in deep trouble.

some of us are quivering hot man-studs with bushy chests, winning smiles and real biceps

Dream on! Actually, though, I gave up the coke bottle glasses a few years ago, and after growing a goatee I don't have much trouble getting women. Unfortunately, dating is damned expensive; I'm always broke. I was better off when I couldn't get a date =(

By 1989 I was making over $60k year. That's 20 years ago! If you can't make over $60K year today with decent programming skills then either you are not very good or not very aggressive and should consider a different career.

If you found a solution that would work, and it isn't. Then find a solution that does. Does everyone come to the office every week? If so, why not set up a back up process that backs up the changes via the companies network (wireless, or ethernet) automatically.

I am so through with the blue. Black is a pleasant change, and I welcome it.