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Comment: Re:rampage killers (Score 1) 2987

by Fastball (#42294427) Attached to: 27 Reported Killed In Connecticut Elementary School Shooting

Why should a discussion about one matter (mental health) exclude discussion about another matter (gun violence/access/control) or vice versa? Police detectives don't go looking for motive and call it a day nor do they locate a murder weapon and stamp a file folder "case closed."

Mental health and easy access to guns are all on the table as far as I'm concerned.

Comment: Almost there with their keyboards (Score 2) 577

by Fastball (#36363380) Attached to: Could Apple Kill Off Mac OS X?

I figured this might be coming. Between Windows 8 trying to become a cell phone UI and Apple's brilliant idea to place an eject key on its keyboards instead of a forward delete key, it won't be long before a PC is completely gimped and useless to anyone that produces anything. Apple hit it big with its touch screen UI. So big that they're going to impale themselves on it.

Comment: Re:Improved tablets (Score 1) 643

by Fastball (#35673156) Attached to: MS Global Strategy Chief: Tablets Are a Fad

There's already a concept for this: the cloud. Folks already have a range of devices that scale as you describe. It's just that they all need access to the data and content universally. While the hardware is having it's day right now, it's the access to relevant zeroes and ones that makes any of it worth a hoot.

Comment: Re:Microsoft is really a bunch of tech companies (Score 1) 370

by Fastball (#35143194) Attached to: Ballmer Turns To Geeks For Salvation

Yes, conglomerates are going out of style lately. Investors have good reason, because the sum of the parts would be worth more instead of languishing under the same roof. You've got MSFT split out similarly to how I see them. Some of the businesses (desktop and business) are mature cash cows with good cash flows and should have rich dividends. Others (consumer products and internet) should be freed from the conservative yoke and strive for accelerated growth. All would get a boost from an announcement that Ballmer was stepping down to "spend more time with his family."

$41 billion in cash and short term investments and no material debt. Love 'em or hate 'em, they have considerable resources to make gains for consumers and investors alike.

Comment: MOD PARENT UP (Score 1) 694

by Fastball (#31901162) Attached to: Why Computer Science Students Cheat

The freshman and especially sophomore level courses I took were far and away the most difficult. They also caused me to pursue a minor in C.S. as opposed to majoring.

This includes curriculum requirements where grading on the curve meant scoring 40 on a test was an A. Yes, I'm staring at you sophomore physics. After my sophomore year, I didn't know up from down.

Challenging coursework should still be engaging and stoke a young mind. Unfortunately, mine was more of the demoralizing kind.

God doesn't play dice. -- Albert Einstein