The reason that this isn't already a common approach in the industry is that forcing constraints on form factors for SoC devices has some intractable issues. If you have a powerful SoC it demands high power and needs to dissipate heat; so the upper bound of what you can achieve in the packaging and with the connector will be rapidly met u.nless it is massively over specified, and then it will be large and expensive. Also, display technology is not fixed in time, parallel interface signals are already quite out of date as an interface specification , although the actual limit here will probably be down to the PCMCIA connectors impedance discontinuity and consistency after numerous insertions when more modern differential display protocols are adopted. It is a laudable aim, but I doubt this will save the planet from computer waste.

There is definitely an argument for allowing the shit filter of time to do its job on most music, why work so hard at finding the good stuff :) Unfortunately, bands would struggle if we all had this view.

There are more dimensions to music than the sound. For example there is the message, cultural context, delivery vehicle (boy bands fit in here)..

When you are young, music forms part of your identity. I would say that socially, it would be advisable to be open to as many different types of music as possible; as it gives a good basis for common ground with people who could become your peers. Once you path in life and peer group is better determined, this aspect of music isn't so relevant.

Personally, I try to listen to music that challenges me. This doesn't have to be new music. I find BBC Radio 6 tends to do a good job of opening your mind to what is different, which (to me) is more important than new.

I think the system in the UK is functional as it stands nowadays. You are able to do your own electrical work if you want, but it needs signing off for a number of larger jobs. My dad built entire properties from scratch for a living, he was a little annoyed at the legislation, but saw the logic in it too (as do I). As with most new legislation, there is often a little time required for an equilibrium to be obtained. I would suggest that the changes to Part P in April 2013 removed some unnecessary red tape. I wouldn't be surprised to see some more resolutions in the future.

A more insidious aspect to all this is what certification does to the labour market and whether a self sustaining old boys network is being established in certain trades (After all, who decides on the apprentices they are going to take on to get that valuable experience?). But that is a different flame altogether.

Like an awful lot of people I know, I actually enjoy understanding how things work and solving problems. When I was a teenager, I used to repair things for money. On an average day, I could repair 10 TVs and a few video recorders without reaching a sweat. I can honestly say that the 5 years worth of Saturdays I spent doing this to help me though Secondary and Tertiary education was awesome fun. It made me enough money to buy my first car and PC, which lead to even more tinkering!

I suspect that the way we live our lives means that very few people who are technical enough to understand how to repair things, be it a gadget or your neighbours 20 year old car can rationalise the cost in time it takes to do so. I would venture that this has a knock on effect, as those skills don't get communicated to the kids who have been press ganged into action with a wrench, welder or the cold end of a soldering iron.

It is a crying shame to see so much useful equipment in the local land fill site or metal yard. Having said that, I have seen the rather unpleasant underbelly of tinkering. Before the UK laws were tightened up,anyone could effect home wiring repairs; what this lead to was an unholy mass of cruddy electrical wiring in homes up and down the land. I have also seen repair work on cars that is more hiding the full horrors of the structural and mechanical degradation than actually resolving it. During my days as a repair boy, I also saw plainly deadly repairs that people had undertaken with bits of tin foil and good intentions. Obviously, this is not all due to tinkerers, but a fair share of the blame can be levelled here.

I would say that with common sense, tinkering is a joyful endeavour that is its own reward. At least until EVERYONE finds out that you are the guy to go and talk to...

As for the next generation, I'm hopeful that the resurgence in hackable electronics like Arduino and newly accessible technologies like 3D printing will bring a renaissance in how we interact with technology.