Fortunately we don't live in a collective like ants and aren't driven by biological forces to carry out tasks we were predetermined for at birth. I call bullshit.
I think as a language C# is superior to Java. That being said, learn Java. The open source community alone makes it a much more attractive platform to build apps on. The number of choices in terms of frameworks + no vendor lock in makes it a winner. If you're serious about learning it pick up a copy of Effective Java by Joshua Bloch -- by far the best general Java book out there.
Around here OCLC (Columbus, OH - where it's headquartered) is known as a place developers go to retire. Pretty good pay, flex time, good benefits and a sweet campus. Their time tables are also huge so it's a good place to go if you don't mind taking your good old time finishing projects. I cannot really comment on anything else, although the few people I've known to work there enjoy it. Personally I think the slow timetables would drive me up a wall.
Did anyone who supported the bailout actually expect nothing like this to happen? The government is pumping SEVEN-HUNDRED-BILLION DOLLARS into the economy and every major company is going to try and get a piece. Companies will (and should) always try and do what is in their best interest in order to stay competitive and make money. No one is to blame except the senators and congressman who passed this atrocious legislation. Meddle with the market and this will always happen.
Hrmm...I was under the impression all new language support (JS, Flex, Ruby, etc.) would be rolled into IDEA in the form of a new plugin architecture that was to be release with v8. This is an interesting development indeed.
While I agree a fuel efficient vehicle is going to hold it's value better, the article neglects to mention that F150 trucks are generally used to haul heavy loads, plow snow, and otherwise be abused in order to get work done. A Prius on the other hand will probably never be put through the same abuse an F150 will endure so it will be in much better shape -- thus giving it a much higher resell value.
100n^3 and 30n^3 are both O(n^3)...no improvement, hence it won't be published. Depending on the problem the algorithm is solving O(n^3) to O(n^2) can be a massive improvement.