I'm still on my first (used) car. My stereo from 1993 still works fine. I've bought 3 "video screens" over a much longer period as well. Count most of those for my wife as well. Between us we've probably had a dozen iphones.... so iPhone=consumable

I usually ask the HR person if it means they want a programmer with smack problem and will be dead by 27...

Because my kid can eat two legos, have miserable time "passing" them, but most likely avoid surgery.

I am not a fan of over regulation but bucky balls are fairly unique because their danger is not obvious and can not be communicated by it's form. They are too small to have a warning or graphic on them. I've seen a lot of bucky balls, I have NEVER seen the box with warnings (people throw it away). A small sphere (as opposed to say a kitchen knife, or a jart) is almost the definition of safe. Even swallowing one is not a horrible outcome. They are not poisonous. What I'm getting at is it's a very unintuitive danger. It's only when multiple are swallowed that it becomes deadly. So take yourself out of your obvious nerd minds and try to look at this objectively. The personal responsibly arguments hold together in the case of me the parent buying them and me the parent allowing my own toddler to eat them. But it's a big world out there. Your kid could take 2 off your desk. Would you even notice (or do you keep your bucky balls locked up in the gun safe)? She brings them to school. She leaves them on the floor. My younger kid comes by puts them in her mouth. Is this my neglect as a parent? Insert almost anything else into that scenario and the outcome is better because it's either larger, more obviously dangerous, or problematic but not dangerous. For example: Knives/tools/etc- Most reasonable adults and even kids above the age of 5 would intervene or tell someone "Hey, Bobby's trying to eat that knife" Bullets- If you saw a kid playing with a box of bullets, even a strangers kids, hopefully you would intervene. But even if the kid ate one it probably wouldn't kill him. BB's, Coins, Legos- Kids have been swallowing these for years and while it's unpleasant, they survive. The problem is they are small, numerous, easily transportable, and not intuitively dangerous.

Well, thats the odd part... Johny Ive is making the Miesan/MUJI equivalent of a device (steel, glass) and then you've got Forestall making the Hutton Wilkinson or Restoration Hardware equivalent of a UI... no matter what your take on skeuomorphism is it's not "offset" in incongruous. The industrial design is all about the honesty of materials and the UI is about facade.

So, are you saying, from her perspective, the marriage is underwater? :)

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CF0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbc.com%2Fsaturday-night-live%2Fvideo%2Fhappy-fun-ball%2F229058%2F&ei=pW4RUPaBOOjh0QGQkoGYDg&usg=AFQjCNEmsb3EqZ14AH3dNK9pDI8P5UvPLg&sig2=RWsFtT_g8b3Om1FxnMl_vQ

It's not the size that's a problem. There's plenty of small size parts out there. Most kids will eat them pass them fine. What's unique about Buckey balls is when you swallow two or more of them. They attract to each other pinching some vital organ wall in the process, causing the flesh to die or tear resulting in at best major surgery at worst death. My kid could swallow all the marbles they want maybe even a few small muntion rounds and come out of it better. I thought about getting myself a set, and held off when I read these reports. Even then I can't prevent my toddler (who puts everything in their mouth) from encountering them elsewhere, at a relative's house, in a park where some kid dropped them, etc. So as a parent of small children, I see this as pretty unique case, and would gladly give up my freedom of buying them, if it lessens the chances that fewer to no kids have to suffer through an ingestion of them. I grew up fine without Jarts.

"Show us your papers AND your thermostat!"

While he recently became a household name with The Last Lecture, he was a longtime proponent of gaming as a vehicle for computer science education. His work at CMU, and partnerships with Disney and Electronic Arts, helped legitimize gaming and play in the university, and brought the university into the video game industry. Even before The Last Lecture anyone who had the chance to study with him or just chat with him for a few minutes knew they were talking with a man with a passion for play, technology and life, and a lifelong sense of wonder we can all emulate. Three cheers for Randy Pausch!