Asus has been a good companion for more than a decade.

I built a 12x16 in 2009 (recently sold it to another in need), and I'm working on my next one now.
Lessons I learned:

1. * Stay away from carpet. It collects dust and is difficult to roll around on. In my new office, I'm using a faux wood floor made of vinyl. It is cheap and durable, provides a flat surface, and is super easy to clean.
2. * 12x16 is too small, unless you are single, childless, and have no friends. I'm going with 16x24 this time.
3. * Put in redundant cables for everything.
4. * Insulate the walls like a house. Do not skimp on this.
5. * Use sheetrock,not OSB. OSB is easier and cheaper, but it just doesn't look good, no matter what you do.
6. * If you are buying a pre-fab, put down another layer of plywood on the floor. The pre-fabs tend to put the joists further apart, and the single layer of plywood will sag and creak. A second layer of 3/4" will make a big difference.
7. * Have at least one window.
8. * Get a metal door with no window and use the deadbolt.
9. * Have video surveillance, an alarm, and perhaps more importantly, put up several signs that say you have cameras watching.
10. * Have a back method for internet connectivity. I had both Cable and DSL, and a Verizon hotspot. You never know when there's going to be an outage.
11. * Get a generator. Preferably a whole house natural gas version, but if not, get a gasoline powered one that can run the office, and be sure to include the means to connect it on the outside of the building.
12. * Speaking of power, put the main breaker in a locked can on the outside of the building, but put another breaker panel for the individual breakers inside.
13. * Label the crap out of all the wires, breakers, outlets, etc.
14. * If you can afford it, put the entire building on a single UPS. It is so much better than individual UPSs for each PC.
15. * Get a steel roof, or, if you already have asphalt, put 2x4s on the asphalt and screw on a steel roof. It makes a huge difference in the ambient temperature.
16. * Don't skimp on the AC. Get a good one, with a remote control.
17. * Have an electrician do the power. It's not cheap, but your insurance may refuse to pay a claim if you burn your house down with an electrical fire.
18. * Speaking of insurance, be sure to get a rider for the office and its contents.

19. I'm sure there are dozens of other bits I can't recall at the moment, but as I'm rebuilding, I'll take notes.

I'm not sure what the big deal is. Between 1985 and 1989 in Louisiana public schools I took Apple BASIC and Pascal. While the programming courses were not required, they were available, and still are, though more current. The only required course at that time was the "Introduction to Computers / Computer History" which included some very basic BASIC programming. It seems to me that this kind of rule should be the responsibility of the school board, not the legislature.

I do not believe they are planning on melting snow or ice with solar panels themselves, but rather using some sort of heating elements to keep the temperature of the blocks above freezing. I didn't get the impression the blocks were meant to be autonomously powered, but rather part of the grid, delivering solar generated electricity to the grid when possible, and pulling from the grid when needed.

Given that Apple's entire marketing strategy is based on pretentiousness, I don't see why their court-ordered "apology" should be any different. The very idea that anyone is copying Apple's "designs" is ludicrous. With the vast amount of prior art available that predates both smartphones and tablets, it seems even Apple's legal strategy is pretentious.

As an afterthought, wouldn't the comparison of dozens (if not hundreds) of models of phones from dozens of different manufacturers all using Android OS vs. the six models of iPhone from Apple require some weighting in this analysis? This kind of math is outside of my ability, but it seems that common sense would suggest we are comparing apple to oranges...;-P

I would expect a fair method of determining a reasonable expectation of market share for the iPhone, could be projected based on historical data comparing Windows PCs to Apple computers. IIRC, there were a lot of court battles over patents between MS and Apple during that time. Am I wrong for thinking this isn't any different?

It seems to me that the numerical comparisons should be weighted to account for carriers.

The iPhone is only available on a few carriers, whereas Android phones are available on nearly all, if not all, carriers. Additionally there should be consideration for the fact that the iPhone is only recently available on carriers other then AT&T, and during its exclusive deal with AT&T, the Android market was exploding.

Could it be that Apple stunted their own growth initially with the exclusive deal with AT&T, rather than suffering market loss due to alleged patent infringement?

In January 1978, my family moved to Saudi Arabia. I don't know who designed the curriculum for the Aramco schools, but we were learning Logo and BASIC in 1st grade on Apple ]['s. Although I didn't become a programmer as a profession, I've never forgotten the skills we were taught at such an early age. I send my son to a private school, and their so-called 'computer' class is a joke. The school has a room with several Macs, and at the 4th grade level, they are just learning to type and playing Minecraft. I wish they would start them on programming much earlier.

Point 1 - The premise that we are entering a "Post-PC" era requires some evidence to back the theory. TFA didn't provide anything, other than a reference to Newegg pulling out of their IPO in May 2011. And even with that statement, Kevin Purdy says, "What happened? The internal factors are unknown." That does not provide sufficient data to support his premise. Shame on you, Kevin Purdy, for your sensationalism.

Point 2 - Newegg.com sells a great deal more than just PC parts. Even if Kevin Purdy's apocalypse were to occur, Newegg has a great deal of other business to support their profits margins. Last time I checked, you can buy phones, tablets and ultrathin laptops from Newegg.com.

Point 3 - There is sufficient evidence that we are, in fact, in the midst of a PC expansion. Nvidia just made the claim that PC sales will overtake consoles by 2014, Microsoft believes in the prominence of the PC, Michael Dell comments on his predictions, Epic thinks the PC has been 2nd fiddle to the console for too long, and MaximumPC has an article showing the results of a Baird survey relevant to the issue.

Will some people buy phones, tablets and laptops (ultrathin or otherwise) instead of a PC? They have been for years, why would that change now?

Will the PC market dry up and force PC Enthusiasts into a world of non-replaceable component devices, where we will be forced to feed on the scraps of outdated machines? Doubtful. I point to the Audiophile market as a comparative case study, where you can spend an incredible amount of money on components that some might argue have been replaced by smaller and better integrated devices. I suspect the home built PC market will survive phones, tablets and ultrathin laptops, just as it survived Dell, Gateway, Micron, Acer, et al.

Only a Sith speaks in absolutes...uh, and me apparently, at least when I'm speaking about the Sith.

I see a couple of problems here:

1. In Michigan, for Computer Misuse to become a felony, there must be over $1000 in actual damages as a direct result of the crime.

2. Computer Misuse is defined as "willfully, knowingly or purposely accessing computer-based data with intent to steal, destroy or alter computer-based information, steal services, passwords, or otherwise interfere with hardware or software, etc."

Neither of these appear to be the case in this circumstance, though the articles are severely lacking in detail, and none of the press seemed to do any research whatsoever.

Additionally, one could argue that both the computer used, and the email account accessed were community property of the family, and that the husband had the legal right to view the emails in the account. Further, the husband didn't even have to hack the account (or "breaking in" as Paul Lilly wrote) because the spouse didn't take any reasonable precautions against protecting the account; she left passwords in notebooks around the house. This means there cannot be any reasonable expectation of privacy on the part of the wife.

Taking all of this into account, the prosecutor seems to be either emotionally invested in the outcome of the trial (i.e. he's somehow connected to the wife or her attorney and is doing them a favor) or he's trying to set some sort of new precedent for Computer Misuse.

Rubens is basically blaming hardware and software makers for buiding machines and distributing code he considers too complex, and then not going out and ensuring that every PC repairman knows how to both solder a burned out CPU back to working condition as well as reverse-engineer and patch source code for every program ever written.

All of this probably because he forgot to use a virus scanner on an email attachment with the subject line: Big Hot Tits!

Loser.

If you can't figure out how to take care of something you own, don't keep it around. Don't try to pass the buck back to the manufacturers simply because you're too lazy to read the manual.