My first internship during college involved pawing through enormous amounts of data. I had more knowledge about excel than my boss, and was consequently able to do it very efficiently. At the end of the summer I got a spectacular letter of recommendation from him (a fairly famous researcher in my field) that was…

Run unix - oh wait :)

It used to be compatibility, but today I literally cannot think of one program I run that is not cross platform. The two things that keep me on windows are cost and inertia. I can get an top of the line windows laptop every 2 years for the same price as (or less than) buying an upper-mid range…

My wife vetoed me on getting one... maybe for the next kid.

My daughter has loved to use our swiffer ever since she could walk. We now own 2, 1 intentionally missing a section so it is her height. She is only 2 so it isn't ever a systematic cleaning, but running a swiffer over the hardwood even in random patterns is better than nothing, and her wanting to use the swiffer gives…

I have a former roommate who shoots occasionally and owns a 10 year old basic system, but rents top of the line when he gets a paying gig.

Also consider how much you will interact with the product. You can spend $100 on a laptop, or over $1500. I know, because I just bought one of each. I bought one to run a piece of equipment I use a couple hours every every couple weeks, and I bought one that I use >5 hours per day. $1500 may be a lot considering I…

Great point! Applies to everyone, but especially people on contract work. If you can save money on something but it loses you a single client, you better have saved more than the client was willing to pay.

One word solution - referrals.

And while the body may be "outdated" in 3 years, and you may replace it every 5-8 years, the prime lenses will be as good and valuable as the day you bought them decades from now...

Cars, Bikes, and Other Modes of Transportation: When you're ready to buy a car, a bike, or invest in any other method of getting around, buying cheap for the sake of saving money is always a bad idea. Total cost of ownership—including maintenance, repairs, fuel, storage or parking, and other costs also play into your…

But buy locally with some knowledge of the seasons and your weather. There are a lot of studies showing that growing fruits and vegetables that don't thrive in your climate requires local growers to use extra water, artificial lights, and other expenditures that are more damaging to the environment than a truck…

"Herbicide-resistant crops encourage more use of herbicide (which is arguably why they were developed by herbicide companies in the first place), while insect-resistant crops should decrease insecticides."

Don't assume organic pesticides are better than synthetic without data to back it up. A very common organic pesticide, Rotenone, was used for decades and only recently banned in the US for causing Parkinson's Disease symptoms. There are other studies now suggesting that many organic pesticides are more toxic than…

Here are the facts behind this, please tell me where I am mistaken:

A good response, and back to my favorite principle: Just because something is bad, doesn't mean the alternative is better.

That assumes everyone has a skill developed to the point it is worth paying for. Most of my students do research that will be seen by 100s at most.

As a professor in the sciences, I recommend asking a different but similar question for aspiring researchers: When and where the data will be published? Don't forget to be a little cynical/ skeptical of their promises. You should look for 3 things:

As a Biochemistry professor, I greatly appreciate this article.

They can, but sadly it tends to be the same students who are poor in computer skills that also have older versions that aren't as compatible. Maybe I'm just too nice to them, but multiple times a semester I have a email back and forth that takes multiple tries before they send me a file that I can actually open. From…

I think this is more important for adoption than some realize. As a professor who has only windows PCs, I am often frustrated by students who submit pages and numbers documents to me. Our university provides Office free for students, so I now include directions on how to install it and that all data processing must be…