"...How many times does this have to happen...do people have some inability to know who and what they are dealing with?"

I believe the saying goes, "A fool is born every minute."

"Just because they point to something as their justification does not mean it actually justifies said behavior."

I thought this is exactly what government does and legislation that has passed approval in 2 of the 3 branches, a.k.a. laws, are the thing they point to. Unless a law is amended or repealed altogether then it actually DOES justify the behavior when manipulated against your perceived interpretation.

I missed the part of this particular conversation where "..."pass by reference"...make it impossible to pass NULL..." and the use of typecast are the mechanism for proving the original assertion incorrect; the semantics of passing by reference instead of passing by pointer.

As an aside those are C-style typecast and use none of the C++ typecast semantics specifically made ass ugly in order to expose potentially dangerous characteristics.

"In C++ it's harder to shoot yourself in the foot, but when you do, you blow off your whole leg." - Bjarne Stroustrup

I suppose this is a solid example of why this quote exist.

I think you should read that as:

(Mac with an Intel processor) or (a Power PC G5, G4, or G3 processor and built-in FireWireî)

and not

(Mac with an Intel processor or a Power PC G5, G4, or G3 processor) and (built-in FireWireî)

I'd be skeptical of someone, especially in IT, who has no online presence. I believe it is good to build up a brand around your name on the internet. You should be in control of what potential future employers see when they Google you. It is better for you to be in the top spot for your name then someone else talking about you, or something with the same name.

When I first joined the internet, I asked my parents if I could have a website on Geocities. They said no. I didn't listen and went behind their back to create it. I didn't have any info besides my first name, so there was no real harm (and I was smart enough not to meet up alone with random strangers, not that I was ever propositioned).

In 2001 I bought a domain named after me and blogged on it (although, it took years for me to admit it was a blog, since those had a bad stigma attached :) ). More recently I've posted the occasional technical entry. Because of this I've been cold called (well, e-mailed) from major companies asking if I want to interview.

It is 2009, nearly everyone has some sort of online presence now. It is unlikely you'll be targeted just for having your name out there. It is much more likely bad things will happen when a company you deal with is hacked and your information is stolen that way. Plus, you can use your presence as a defense. If I wasn't the top result on Google for my name, people might think I was an anti-semite author.

Andrew Hitchcock

This isn't Wikipedia, we call them "KB" here. Thanks.

I pay income tax, but barely ever use freeways (mainly when I'm on the bus). Why should I subsidize your use of the roads? Also, congestion tolling makes the roads more efficient and keeps the average speed higher.