I think the internet (and specially facebook) had a big role too. Facebook videos were crucial to show that the people were not giving up specially when the television was silent about the whole thing.
> The best books I have read are ones that walk through a project from start to finish.
When I want to learn a new programming language or a new framwork, I always look for that kind of books. The last one I did was "Agile Web Development with Rails" a few years ago.
May be you need a coding buddy. Sharing the ideas and working together on a project always gives me strong motivational boosts. Plus having to explain ideas to others helps in finding flaws.
My first laptop was an Asus and one of reasons I got it was the feature that you could remove the optical drive and put a second battery instead. I remember using the optical drive only 3 or 4 times. That was 6 years ago.
> It would appear that the French government is opting for gaol time and enormous fines to make individual traders act responsibly, even when their employer refuses to.
It's difficult enough to find a job as a trader now.
The banks would simply choose the traders with the most risk taking potential.
I personally think it's a step in the wrong direction. It's the employer who has to be made act responsibly, not the individual traders.
This is the message the french court is giving: "As long as you make money, risk taking is ok. If you screw up, it's your fault. You pay everything back."