"sudden" success of "netbooks," those mini-laptops that are suddenly selling like crazy. As he notes, smaller laptops are not a new idea, and have been tried for many years in varying formats without much success. But, for some reason, after so many different experiments, it seems that the sweet spot in terms of size, usability and price have all been found.

This actually highlights something quite common in technology innovation: the difference between the idea, the invention and the actual innovation. Just the idea alone wasn't enough to actually make the product valuable. Finding that real sweetspot is a challenge for just about any product, and it involves an awful lot of experimentation to make it work. I've been reading about the early days of a number of inventions lately, and you see this story over and over again, where the initial versions really have no market, and it's a later, totally minor tweak that suddenly makes it valuable. And, of course, the best way to get that tweak to happen quickly (and thus expand a market, and improve the overall economy) is to let a lot of different players experiment to throw a lot of ideas at the market to see what actually does hit that sweet spot. Tragically, with a patent system that grants monopoly protection at the invention stage, this is often a lot more difficult, slowing down the attempts to actually hit that sweetspot.

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Although parents take so Francesco Biasia trouble to choose a high quality baby car seat to carry their precious bundle of joy in the car, one of the saddest aspects of child safety on the roads is that in most cases they do not fit the seat correctly. According to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) almost 80% of child safety seats are badly fitted or misused.
The most common errors are harness straps that were loose and safety belt attachments that are incorrectly fastened. These mistakes are defined by the NHTSA as 'critical' because there is a possibility of serious injury in the event of an accident. So most baby safety seats are not nearly as safe as parents think, and many babies are at risk.
How then can you be sure that your baby will be safe in the car?
First, make sure that you are using the right type of seat for your baby's age and weight, and that it is facing the right way. Some multi-purpose seats can be fitted to face either forward or backward and the fitting will change as your child grows. Babies under one year old and under 20 lb in weight should have rear-facing seats. But note that all child safety seats, whether forward or backward facing, should be fitted on the back seat of the car.
It is also possible to buy infant seats for young babies. These are designed to be rear-facing only, so you will need a new seat when your child gets bigger. However, they will be a better fit for your newborn baby and they are easier to store and carry, being smaller. You can carry your sleeping baby around in his or her safety seat.
If you prefer, you can buy a convertible seat that can be adapted to fit babies and toddlers. Convertible seats are larger and heavier and you are more likely to leave them in the car all of the time. They must be fitted in the rear facing position for young babies and then when the child turns one or weighs over 20 lb, the seat can be turned around to face the front. A convertible seat will usually hold children up to 40 lb.
But whatever type of seat you select, the most important point is to fit it correctly. You must read both the instructions that come with the car seat and the owner's manual for your car. First, make sure that you have the seat firmly and correctly buckled into the car. Then make sure you know how to fit and secure the harness straps that hold your baby inside the seat.
Don't guess - have your baby's seat checked by a qualified technician if you are not 100% sure that you have it correct. US visitors can go to http://www.seatcheck.org to find a child safety seat inspection center near you.
If you are considering buying a used seat or accepting one as a gift, consider the age and condition of the seat. Seats that have been used by several children in a family, or seats that have been in an accident, may be worn or broken and not safe for a baby any more. The label should tell you the date of manufacture and you should not use a seat that is more than five years old. Make sure that you have the manufacturer's instructions and that all the parts are included. If the instructions have been lost, you may be able to find a copy online, but make sure you have the right manual for your exact safety seat. If not, do not use the seat, even if it was a gift. It is not worth taking the chance.
Above all remember that in an accident, your child's life depends on the baby car seat.
Another great concern when it comes to your baby's safety is choosing a safe baby crib. Check out my article Baby Crib Safety for useful information on how to choose a safe baby crib.

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excellent introduction to this). To take advantage of configuration information, you need to add a new constructor to your plugin and then write code to read the settings.
You can just copy and paste his code if you'd like, but in all likelihood you'll probably want to write something specifically suited to your needs. Normally this would be something you'd just create in a library and attach as a reference to your project. However because of the plugin registration process, you'll typically want to work with as few dll's as possible (assemblies which reside in the Global Assembly Cache are an exception to this because you don't need to do anything special to use them).
Anyway, I found myself copying and pasting the same class over and over into each plugin I wrote and it was something that got old quickly. Additionally, when ever developers come on board who aren't familiar with Plugin development, they will typically get stuck making the same mistakes you made when you first started writing plugins, something which can cost a lot of time and frustration.

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