Andreas Stefik gave a talk titled The Programming Wars[1] at my school -- I thought it was a fascinating overview and the video is available at the link. If you already are pretty familiar with the history of programming languages (I'm not), it might be less interesting for you.

[1]: http://www.cs.washington.edu/events/colloquia/search/details...

Meanwhile in Europe low-cost carries like Ryanair charge fees for not checking in online or not printing your boarding pass at home.

I really don't think this is a Europe-vs-America issue.

1) I don't think anyone else than Ryanair does that. I do agree they suck though.

2) It is an American issue. Have you been on any airline from Europe, Middle East or Asia? If you generalise the offerings and compare the level of service then you will find that American airlines offers much lower service. Most European airlines are quite good, and most big carriers from Asia and Middle East are much better.

I would say you are probably correct, although the college admissions process isn't exactly cheap as it is.

It normally costs ~$50 to take the SAT once, plus ~$12 per college you want to apply to. Then there are the SAT subject tests, which cost less ($30?) but it's not uncommon for a student looking to get into a selective school to take >3 subject tests. Then, maybe the student needs to retake the SAT, which is pretty standard, so add another ~$50 dollars and now we're looking at several hundred dollars in exams. This isn't counting the $50-100 application fee per school. Having a professor interview applicants would still be impossibly expensive of course. Do you happen to know how well the alumni interviews work? I never had one, but if I understand correctly, they are a part of Ivy League tier applications where a graduate of the school deems if the applicant would be a good fit. I've heard there's not much weight placed on them, however.

I personally think the SATs are better indicators of socio-economic standing than scholastic aptitude, but agree that there's probably nothing better. I kind of wish that the application process was similar to that for graduate school, where there's more weight placed on the relevant subject test and letters of recommendation.

What is the difference, if you don't mind me asking? How does the use of an image instead of text make it seem like it's not actually from Grooveshark?

As far as I understand it, they ignore FAFSA information but could probably still get an idea of the kid's background based on school, personal statements, etc. I'll admit, it sounds like this wouldn't be as effective for helping disadvantaged students. On the other hand, I think it gives schools plausible deniability for admitting a high number of students who wouldn't need financial aid, giving the school more money.

I got that same impression of HPMOR. However, I liked Freakonomics at least because I thought it was better edited or had better explanations.

If you liked Freakonomics' topics, but abhorred the self-serving style, you will love Tom Schelling's The Strategy of Conflict.

Strategy of Conflict is one of THE BEST books for ANYONE to read. Schelling is one of the guys whose job it was to do game theory when "I know that you know that I know" had nuclear annihilation at the other end if you get it wrong. He came up with the Red Telephone between the White House and the Kremlin.

As a book that is literally about negotiating your way out of terminal nuclear war, I've also found it an excellent practical guide to raising a toddler.

Indeed. Schelling constantly brings up the applications to child rearing.

I read his later books, too. They are good, but not as great.

Dude helped save us all from being flash-fried, I'll give him some slack ;-)

Some people argue mutual assured destruction brought us closer to the abyss than anything. (See Dr Strangelove.)

Schelling wrote well, I am not sure about his actual effect on policy. There were other hawks, like von Neumann, another geeks' hero.

Dr Strangelove is actually a treatise on why Smart Contracts are a terrible idea nobody should want - the plot is literally an unstoppable Smart Contract gone wrong.

This looks fascinating -- thank you for the suggestion!

I thought I was missing something because I only hear great things about it but I couldn't stand it. I tried twice to read it but could never understand the appeal. It's nice to know I'm not alone.