bowietrousers

Standard single phase grid connection is either 60A, 80A or 100A in the UK. The numbers the OP is quoting here certainly aren't representative.

London gets its own way, with its own affairs, a lot - it already has a mayor, an elected assembly, and its own transport governance.

"You are connecting from IP address: 10.56.111.24, 127.0.0.1"

Err, RFC 1918 anyone?

"Disclaimer: At the time of writing, I don't have any kids of my own, and I have no firsthand knowledge about how to raise kids. Enjoy reading, though!"

Great! So I'm just off to write a blog post on how to produce gold from base metals. I have no firsthand knowledge about alchemy, but how hard can it be?

Except that it's not just 'a link' is it? It's billions of miles of copper, fibre optics, routers, switches, media converters, legal agreements, large buildings, nuclear power stations...

Sounds like the recipe for a monoculture. And people wonder why the Valley gets stick for being exclusive.

No it's not. You're being reductive. Even self-motivated, driven, talented people have shit happen in their lives that can effect their performance and capability at work. Then they will require both formal and informal support from their company, which has a duty of care.

This nirvana of extreme self-motivation at all costs you seem to espouse is not a reality for most people on the planet. It is most likely a privilege.

If only this were true. And yes, it's cutely naive and tunnel-visioned to think so. However, I've been in teams where the drag on the ticket was very much a developer. When that happens, you need processes and experienced people in place to fairly manage their performance, help them into contributing more effectively, and if they don't improve, get rid of them.

A gaggle of developers are not going to be able to do this. Hell, 50% don't even have the social skills to say hello to each other in the morning.

"World Wide Web" != "Internet".

What, hoarding profits is the right thing to do?

If everyone acted like that there wouldn't be an economy.

I know a few people who, if not live exactly like this, certainly think like it.

Walling yourself off from all dependencies (physical, financial, emotional) in order to grow your brain and Just Write Code might seem like a smart thing to do, and the purism of it will appeal to some. If the OP genuinely obtains no enjoyment at all from anything else, then that's fine - that's what it sounds like.

But it's the pay-off that stings, the 'shit you don't need' attitude, which is ultimately judging everyone else as inferior for not making the same choice, or having the (immensely privileged?) ability to 'make your work your life'. I love and value my family & my friends, and spending money to spend time with them enriches my life.

Not everyone wants to be an island.

What happened to four lines and '-- '?

This is a horrifically simplistic argument that doesn't stand up.

We are right to be cynical about everything. Things (technology, products, whatever) need to prove themselves before they are worthy of awe. Especially when the potential ubiquity of things like Glass impacts everybody, not just those who choose to subscribe to the latest whatever.

To see the value of that, you need to have failed (or seen things fail) in the real world. I think this is why those who are having an OMGasm about Glass are either younger than late-20's or professionally biased (ie. tech journos).