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Comment: Re:YAY US (Score 1) 55



With tender, gentlemanly affection,

Your friendly neighbour,


Comment: Re:another language shoved down your throat (Score 4, Insightful) 415

by BForrester (#47409935) Attached to: Python Bumps Off Java As Top Learning Language

java was only "the most popular" because it was force fed to people who didn't want it.

I don't think you understand how schools and their curriculae work. Nobody is holding a gun to the collective and independently-operated heads of CS departments to demand which language they use for beginner courses.

Java was historically chosen because it was a safe option; used widely in industry, decent documentation and tools, it supports good programming practices, and it provides reasonably powerful options while being relatively beginner friendly. Java largely replaced C and C++, which are not beginner friendly.

Comment: Re:What? (Score 4, Informative) 45

by BForrester (#47369285) Attached to: Google Acquires Curated Music Service Songza

What is Songza?

I don't know how popular it is as a browser-based service, but it's a very popular mobile app. Particularly when linked through home media systems, it allows a user to very quickly jump to a playlist based on a desired genre, activity, or mood.

Activities examples:

Breaking Up
Driving in the Left Lane
Getting High
Making Out
Unwinding after work


by BForrester (#47256945) Attached to: Starbucks Offers Workers 2 Years of Free College

This, exactly.

The US entry into WWII had just as much to do with incurring minimal damage as it did with ensuring that the allied nations were sufficiently depleted that they would need to lean on the US for their recovery.

The trope that the US won WWII is ridiculous and myopic. They won the entire post-war long game.


by BForrester (#47256817) Attached to: Starbucks Offers Workers 2 Years of Free College

Why do people from all over the world keep coming to U.S. universities?

See the parent post: prestige. Attendance at those institutions is one of the shiniest resume items that can be earned/bought/bartered.

When someone tells me that they attended an Ivy League institution, I immediately think, "Wow. You must be really smart and/or rich and/or connected."

Comment: Re:Sweden (Score 1) 1040

by BForrester (#47158267) Attached to: Seattle Approves $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage

It *should* work both ways, if we want to be honest.

We shouldn't draw conclusions about socialism from the USSR without considering present-day Northern Europe.
Similarly, the recession-inducing, wealth-consolidating potentialities of capitalism do not erase the benefits of incentive and economic mobility.

There are benefits from both systems - proven by history - available as long as there are counterbalances to the unchecked accumulation of wealth and power.

Comment: Re:Sweden (Score 1) 1040

by BForrester (#47157297) Attached to: Seattle Approves $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage

To be fair, representative democracy is a great first step in terms of avoiding absolute, termless power accumulation. The system just needs additional development.

The problem with capitalism is that it just adds more layers of corporate parasites and concentrates power in the hands of unaccountable plutocrats.
