Exactly. When I saw the title, the first that hit me is that these two characteristics are states of mind, not a whole person. I could be narcissistic one day, and have low self esteem another day (although, wouldn't that also be characterized as a depression? ;). Most people on my FB page are just using it for games, or the occasional funny link they found. Not everybody takes it to the South Park level of commitment.

How could vim compete with an almost complete OS without a decent text editor?

Exactly, and furthermore Mozilla and Opera have had the same struggle for a fan base in the same period. Mozilla not only did good marketing, but they also managed to create a browser, that people really wanted to use (Opera just is to weird for some people, like me, although I liked Opera Mini on my old Symbian phone).

Sure, but where are the games for them?

I though the same thoughts when I bought my PS3 some years ago, but mainly being a strategy player, it doesn't fulfill my needs (always simplified games, with a control scheme for hardcore console users). I used mouse and keyboard since Amiga 500 for gaming, and I really like the immersion, but I do understand those who only grew up with PS1-2-Xbox, wanting something for their needs as well.

It is not like (some) Asian cultures are the only one to put bread in the context of cake. When I grew up in southern Denmark, white bread literally is called cake (though, it might be because white bread was considered a "rich man food" in the past, and not because of the concentrated carbs).

They won't upgrade the firmware? Sony cannot remove OtherOS on current firmwares, but if you choose to use their PSN-services, you're forced to upgrade. I don't think any of the supercomputers, that is build with PS3s, have used any of the firmware updates so far.

I don't know how they are doing it in the UK, but already several European countries (e.g. Denmark, Germany) also charges for an Internet connection as well. They actually found a way to tax access to the Internet, with the reason that you have the possibility to use the state radio/television online services. Many have been wondering if binoculars will be next (watching TV from your neighbor could be a possibility of use as well).

After reading Gary Taubes "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and this I fully agree with you. I am thinking about trying the paleo diet, to compensate with some athletics (running as if it was "the hunt"), but my addiction to sugar is still at large (though, I have cut down on starches a lot).

When I was a child, soda was something you would get at a birthday party, maybe every 2nd month, but today most people I know drink at least a can of soda every day. And diet coke isn't much better (I am also aspartam intolerant, hurray :P), since it makes your stomach believe that you are hungry.

"unbelievable price" = even more expensive that you would ever have dreamed of!

Somewhat :) When the owner of Ikea got tired of Swedish taxes (1960/70s I think), he moved the company to Denmark. Denmark later on also went on the same boat with outrageous taxation, and he moved again. I guess Switzerland is probably the best place to be in Europe, if you are evading taxes (if you're rich enough, you can negotiate your own tax-rate with the local government). Placing the company in the EU, it is in a good position to the internal market.

I installed Linux Mint on my father's laptop last summer, after years of resentment "Linux? what's that, I need to use programs others use as well!". There was Vista preinstalled, but it seemed alienated to him and bloated (couldn't even connect to my wireless network), that he agreed to change it to "whatever". He uses it only for web, email and some office work (Firefox, Thunderbird and OO did the trick).

I had to leave early after the installation, so I didn't get much feedback, but I didn't hear any cry for help. In the holidays, he expressed gratitude, and "how can unorganized people make so good a system?", hehe. He looked skeptical, when I started to upgrade the machine, as he is used to Microsoft's shenanigans (New flashy GUIs he doesn't really need!). But after the update from 5 to 7 (was pretty hard though, should probably have done a 5-6-7 and ATI closed source driver isn't supported any longer), I changed the theme back, and he went on using it, as nothing has happened :)

Apparently he isn't a total non-techie, since he managed to installed some programs, since I have been away. And this was without showing him. But he didn't do any updates (I don't know why Mint uses a Lock as a update-symbol, it doesn't do the trick in my book (as a M.Sc. Interaction Designer and a study of visual design especially).

On a side note, I am pretty annoyed about Ubuntu's screwups of the audio system though! On my laptop (Mint), I need PCM at 90, so it would sound ok, but Pulseaudio puts it at 100 at every use (so I use alsamixer instead). On my mediacenter (Ubuntu minimal), the AUX is making a hissing noise, so I have to turn it off at every boot, since it doesn't save alsa settings (and since it is minimal installation, it is not even pulseaudio that screws up this time). Both issues has happen recently at an update, but I have read on google, that many more have had this for years ...

In many European countries it is usually made up this way:
Bourgeois: Classic liberals and conservatives, who put their focus on authority, morality and crony capitalism (fascism).
Radical: Communists and democrats, who put their focus on liberty, creativity and government handouts (socialism).

New Labour is a mix of all the worst IMO: socialistic, fascist and authoritarian without regard to morality and liberty. But then again I am not a Brit, and only hear the worst news.

(if you wonder what I believe in: anarchistic capitalism in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson).

I think Kennedy said it best: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

It is becoming popular in Denmark these days, since people are losing faith in the justice system. Civil disobedience is not about winning the case, but exposing the (unjust, unclear, stupid?) law to the public (whereas the newspapers never cared about in the first place).

It seems to work for this guy ;)

Another guy from Facebook, is questioning the morality of the tv-license system in Denmark (or Europe in general), since it also applies to an (min. 256kbit) Internet connection. He is also awaiting court, for not paying it, to make his stand.