Well, that's funny, I also worked in the amazon for several months at a time, away from the internet (in eastern ecuador). I can't say I missed it -- no, I couldn't browse the web, but I also didn't have to deal with email and cell phone calls about stupid stuff. In that sense it was quite liberating.
It gave me a new perspective on my online life, and how much time I used to waste on stupidity like Facebook, for instance.
Most of them were in high school or junior high, and too busy being teenagers and worrying about the things teenagers normally worry about. All they are asking for is the same opportunity their parents had. You know, those people who actually were old to behave like responsible adults, old enough to vote, and actually did vote through all those costly initiatives and tax cuts that led this state to it's current dismal condition.
Compared to their parents, UC students today have to pay more, have to go deeper into debt, and to expect fewer services, and that's not their fault. Just be glad the UC system hasn't instituted the mandatory furloughs that the CSU system has, effectively shortening each semester by more than a week. College level education in this state is an utter mess. They have every right to be upset IMO, even if they are doing the silly protest and all that that college students always do.
"And yes, Java (and Windows) was designed to use low-skilled labor."
This is an assertion I've seen repeated many times, but never with anything to back it up. Do have any evidence for this, or is it just a feeling that you have? Based on what I've read, Java was designed for use in embedded systems like set top boxes, and the authors wanted to design away some common developer errors. An evolutionary biologist might say that Java was "pre-adapted" for use by low-skilled labor, but I don't think there is any indication that it was designed for it.
I'm not sure I'd describe them as healthy, exactly. They do place a strong emphasis on using good ingedients, but portion sizes are huge -- a chicken burrito is more than 1,000 calories.
On a computer, you have to also be concerned about error propagation and efficiency, and that can take what might be a very beautiful, simple solution on paper and explode it into a big ugly mess in code.
That doesn't mean it isn't fun, but it's a lot less clean than you might think.
I have used an exercise ball instead of a chair for the past year or so and really like it. I tend to have a lot of nervous energy, and being able to bounce on the ball while still seated at my desk help a lot, without having to get up, walk around, and getting too distracted from what I am doing. A couple of caveats, though: 1) You really do look pretty silly, especially if you bounce 2) Some people develop lower back problems when using a ball for long periods; be careful! 3) Office mates always seem to like stealing it and kicking it down the hallway (which is actually a lot of fun, but also annoying) and 3) If you had beans for dinner, beware, the ball tends to amplify sounds from down there :)
Toyota has had a long history with circular looms. Sakichi Toyoda invented the circular loom in 1906. The profits from his automatic loom business were used to start his son's automobile manufacturing company.
The first hard drive my father bought was 5mb. It connected to an Atari 800 through the Atari's 4 joystick ports. It's price was somewhere around $2000. That fact is utterly meaningless when comparing the price of HDs and SSDs (which are significantly more expensive than HDs) in the marketplace. Today.
What I don't understand is why Intel didn't use the real Ajay in their ads. Here's someone who they are supposedly honoring as a rock star, and yet when it comes to the ads, instead of using him, they hire an actor. How big of an Intel star can you be, if you aren't good enough to appear on TV?
http://www.mahalo.com/mahalo
How many other web companies serve ads on their "about" page? It seems like a really odd thing to do.