Well at this point the primary story is the meta story about how otherwise sophisticated investors put in tons of money behind the the young, attractive, blonde woman even though they were shown very little evidence. That meta story is both entertaining and fact based.

Actually it sounds like it is not even a lab demo, but a theoretical estimate.

What is missing from the article is an actual comparison between people with and without GPS. Yes there are anecdotes of people driving way off with GPS, but are there not also cases of people without GPS going completely the wrong way? That sort of comparison is necessary before arriving at the conclusion "forget the GPS device".

If you are offended by a woman wearing a spaghetti strainer on her head, perhaps you should critically examine some of your own beliefs and whether your religion really offers a compelling source of information about the mysteries of the world.

In the latest quarterly report they reported about $500 million in revenues and about $630 million in cost (including administrative and R&D) for a total loss of $130 million.

Pretty incredible raking in half a billion on online advertisement and still make a loss.

For camera I would recommend a mid-high end compact. Look for ease of use and fast autofocus, not for megapixels or many features. I would not get a DSLR if you have not had one before.

For storage there are any number of options but if you are serious about durability get m-disc and recorder; this is a special type of DVD that is predicted to last for a thousand years.

In competitive markets what the market will bear is driven by the cost to provide the product. This is true even if you are required by law to by the product. The auto insurance market is very competitive ("15 minutes will save you...")

So you would explain the signficant differences in states by different parent behavior? That doesn't seem very plausible.

Sony-Ericsson actually DID release iPhone-like devices (e.g. P800,P900) before Apple. They did not sell very well, at least not compared to iPhone. They just weren't as slick. And Microsoft isn't exactly known for releasing very slick products either - so even if they had released it it is far from obvious that they had been successful.

I used to do same, then I realized the saving in redbox vs Vudu really was not worth it. If you drive a few miles to nearest red box (back and forth, twice) you probably spent a dollar on gas, for a total price delta of less than $2. And you spent thirty minutes of your life to get this saving.

"For Americans, I would assume it's because we associate fantasy with the Old World because that's where most of our myths and legends originate."

Yes, but we associate wrong because modern American English actually sounds more like old English than does modern British English.

It may be true that they make more money on poker, but it is still an easier game to beat, because you primarily fight other players and not the house.

In black jack, only the most extremely skilled players under very unusual conditions can generate a positive average return based on their strategy.

In poker, there may be one player at every table of 10 (i.e. 10%) that shows a positive average return based on their strategy.

Luck is a huge component, as the winner himself said he was ready to walk away with a $400k loss which could have happened had the cards come out differently.

Only if you have an infinite amount of time and an infinite loss tolerance (or if you cheat) can you avoid the impact of luck.

Just a clarification. There is an international program called Global Entry, that is $100. You can get invited to the domestic program PreCheck either by being a frequent flier or being part of Global Entry. I am a frequent flier and participated in PreCheck, did not cost me anything. I did not pay $100 to join the Global Entry program. And btw, they still randomize more thorough searches.

I think in general it is very difficult to have two groups of separate people, one who understands the problems, and another who understands how to write code.

IN theory you let the users write down a list of specifications, but it rarely works into problems. You always run into trade-offs and conflicts involving functionality vs complexity for example, only somebody who understands both the software and the problem situation can resolve this well.

I agree with you that the best solution is to have the users learn how to code, or possibly let the coders learn how to run the business. Unfortunately I think it is rare to find the right combination of talent. And certainly users without coding talent are not going to declare themselves incompetent to manage in business with increasing software content. And coders are all too comfortable letting somebody else specify what to code and not taking ownership for a product that actually adds value.