I probably need to find another website to chime in on my opinion on the subject (confirmation bias anyone?) but after working with skydrive (consumer cloud storage) and MS office 2013 (not the 365 subscription one, I can't address that). The pretty much seamless integration between the two, with native app support on a few platforms I use frequently (android, iOS, windows) as well as a pretty solid web based version of office for many other situations has been great for me. I haven't had any down time (probably happened - didn't affect me yet). Since it automatically syncs to local storage on as many platforms as you want, a dropout (short-term) wouldn't hurt too bad.

There are some downsides - only basic file system usage on Linux - can mount it R/W but that's about it. I spend about half my time doing tech work in the Linux world and the other half doing reporting, analysis, power point engineering and other administrative work in the windows world. I suggest anyone with a similar mix (or more slanted towards windows) give it shot. For much of my work none of the cloud services are secure enough for usage, so there are some limitations. I was using Google for these activities, and for me MS is the clear winner on this type of service.

So don't focus completely on the bad news with a dropout on a MS cloud service, and open your eyes a bit on their other progress on the user experience with consumer cloud services. You might be surprised. Or you might have your mind made up before you do.

I'm not a shill, I like all OSes from Windows to VxWorks - they ALL have their uses in the right environments depending on your needs.You may note I didn't crap on any of them.

I need a moderation option for 'good points, but excessive dickishness' Anyways, I do pretty much exactly the same as you do; although in the firmware world.

First time I've seen compounded "That is to say's" in the wild.

The First Council of the Druids will find a way to recover the data.

Not to be pedantic, but that is an impressive way to misspell 'messureents'.

Some options for all the knee-jerk complainers (pick the one that fits):

1. Don't watch any of them.
2. Wait until they are all out on blu-ray; then watch them (see Misagon's post)
3. Peter Jackson (and co.) can make as many movies as they want with the IP they 'own'. Get over it. See tip #1.
4. If you want a different story told, write some fan-fic. Otherwise either enjoy his vision, or go to tip #1

I guessing I'm whining now too; it's contagious.

I'll watch them when they are released - I enjoyed his interpretation of the LOTR books, and I expect to enjoy the Hobbit movies as well. If not, then that's a bummer; not psychotic nerd-rage inducement.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=NAS

Little bit of hyperbole there - IT systems are absolutely critical in many ways, but I think you might want to consider other areas where inferior quality introduced by quota systems could be more or at least as harmful: Infrastructure design / construction, military contractors, nuclear site security, etc.

Just a nitpick; I agree with you in general. This is a situation where the policy may be well meaning, but it needs an exit ramp for situations where it is not applicable - first pass being qualifications, second pass being quota based; final choice then based on full project criteria - Obviously if there are insufficient qualified companies / individuals, the related quota must be irrelevant.

Archer > Janeway > Kirk > Picard. Somebody had to state the painful truth.

I followed your link, and read the following, which is incredibly depressing:

When asked for their views on the origin and development of human beings, between 40% and 50% of adults in the United States say they share the beliefs of young Earth creationism, depending on the poll. The percentage of believers decreases as the level of education increases—only 22% of respondents with postgraduate degrees believed compared with 47% of those with a high school education or less.

If you aren't in Texas, I would be a bit worried about this being looked at as a 'booby trap' as opposed to a honey pot. If the barrel is solder filled, and it's not obvious to the thief, the first time they try to fire that gun - bye bye hand / arm / face. This assumes that you hid the solder 'work' sufficiently that the thief would even bother to take it.

Not saying I disagree with you though - good thinking!

Having driven on rural roads in Nevada, I would hope you don't need a GPS for help - i.e. take next left turn in 115 miles. First business on left (28 miles).

I'm flying out for a 2 week vacation in April, I'm assuming we will get a season's worth of snow the day of the flight as well. (New Hampshire - only real snow this year was just before Halloween).