jamesbressi

What does it mean when you can't answer the question properly and said "4.5"?

I smell fear. I am not a Microsoft fan-boy... far from it, but I have been wondering for years if Microsoft is ever going to drop the hammer and get some control on their software distribution by designing hardware with the intention of allowing the software to run as intended.

For many years I watched the bloatware that totally ruined the user experience, especially at the turn of the century.

Can Microsoft make quality hardware to compliment their software and in turn make their software feel "better" to the many of those who have turned away from it? They have the capital to figure it out.

The only "huge negative impact" that I can see from this is pushing the hardware manufacturers to innovate harder and do better with the use and distribution of the software. It is going to thin the herd for sure. I think this is necessary for Microsoft to gain some control over the user experience.

Yes, resellers and hardware manufacturers helped make Microsoft the huge corporation it is today, but the time has come. I think Microsoft only has to gain from this--if they do the hardware right.

If your math is right, then yes I think anyone would agree that the mind share of each active user on FB is worth even more than $100 bucks.

But, the problem is they have not proven they can monetize those users efficiently and effectively yet.

I remember when everyone questioned how Google was going to monetize on their traffic and they figured it out and hopefully FB will too.

The one interesting thing that is a big difference between Google and FB though is that Google had "traffic" and FB has a group of people hanging out so to speak. You would think that FB has the better potential to maximize monetization of customers, but how remains to be seen.

I wish we could get this on the East Coast. D.C. -> Philadelphia -> NYC -> Boston

I would easily pay $1000 to $1500 a month.

It would as affordable as an Amtrak pass and just as convenient.

The possibilities for those who don't want to move to another city for work but want to broaden their options (or course if your salary range allows--but if you are making 100k or more it is brilliant).

I can't find any further news on this, specifically the following is of interest:

"Several such balls have dropped in southern Africa, Australia and Latin America in the past twenty years, authorities found in an Internet search."

I haven't heard of this and have they identified what the origin of the other "several such balls" was?

Very well done. It would be interesting to have the ability to click on one of the reports and get details--something I'm sure you would have done if it was available or possible.

It was exciting. Yup, I sound like a complete dork, but for someone who just doesn't have the ability to pick up coding like he used to, this was great. A few explanations in the tutorial confused me from a complete novice standpoint, but I am really looking forward to the "Blog in 30 minutes"! Glad I signed up, and if I'm your target "customer" then feel free to email me if you want feedback, etc. I'd like to see something exactly like this for Objective C and developing iPhone apps.

tl;dr

"The buying and selling of stock by corporate insiders who have access to non-public information that could affect the stock price can be a criminal offense, just ask hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam who recently got 11 years in prison for doing it. But, congressional lawmakers have no corporate responsibilities and have long been considered exempt from insider trading laws, even though they have daily access to non-public information and plenty of opportunities to trade on it."

That was my first thought. I'm sure a few of us would pitch in and see if we can hack one of these together for freejack!

Yes, I am aware of the alternatives though I haven't looked in a long time. I have always found customization a real pain without advanced PHP knowledge when installing features.

Any open source ecomm sites being built?

If it works that well in the desert, then the application has great residential commercial viability--like the aquaglobe without having to refill it!

I'd like to see a scale of it commercialized for us non-farming types so then profits can help a philanthropic mission like bringing low-tech irrigation to third world countries in need.