While the design is constrained there really is no restriction on the input methods. The surface pro has full sized USB ports and is running Windows 8. It will recognize any USB keyboard or mouse you plug into it. Or any other USB accessory you plug in (provided it has Windows 8 drivers). There is no one app per screen restriction on the pro either. It has desktop mode just like any Windows 8 machine. Meanwhile, show me a laptop with a touchscreen, pen input, and the ability to just take the damn keyboard off if I don't want to lug it around. I'm not certain about the secure boot settings on the pro, but I'm pretty sure they're unlocked. So, it will even run Linux if you want. Good luck getting either of the digitizers to work though.

I don't know about you, but my mid-size tower would look a little funny hanging on the wall next to my flat screen. Sure, I could buy a 30' hdmi cable, but I've yet to find a decent wireless keyboard and mouse that works from more than 15' away and doesn't cost $100.

It makes them no worse than cable, and about $50 cheaper where I am.

Personal information from financial institutions? They had that decades ago.

You're assuming that gasoline and fracking compounds are equally toxic, and penetrate the soil equally. Since they won't disclose the formulas, we have no way of knowing that. Also gasoline would be spilt on the surface, not leaked out at water table levels (in cases when wells fail). Making it much easier to clean up. And copy-and-paste or not, the OP has a point when they ask what happens (and how do we know) when a well fails. Is it really too much to ask that they put a marker in all of their fluid?

Exactly! If the contract is a set bid he shouldn't be paying in full until he has an acceptable product. However, if his contractors are hourly then you do have to pay for bug fixes or they just walk away when they realize he wants them to work for free.

Nope. The DMCA prohibits unauthorized decryption, but simply dumping unaltered data for backup is not prohibited. Similarly 1:1 backup copies of DVDs are okay, but decrypting the stream to remove previews or compress it to fit on a single layer disc is not.

The problem with car analogies is that they so rarely equate. Enabling encryption in a wireless network is as simple as enabling a feature that is already present on both your router and your wireless devices. However, adding a combination lock to an automobile is a complicated and expensive process.

Not to mention that a keyed door lock is already fairly secure. While an unencrypted wireless access point, broadcasting it's id, is completely insecure.

Cities get a portion of sales tax. State, county and city each add a percentage. If I purchase an item in a neighboring city I pay about 9.5%. If I have the same item delivered to my door, I only pay about 9%. That's how works in Washington state at least. Each state is, at least, slightly different.

That's why it's such a PITA to collect sales tax. It's a big enough headache to keep track of one states tax laws, and tax boundaries (which rarely correspond with ZIP codes).

Way to cherry pick a quote. Here's the rest of it.

This test appears to be about safety and confirming some sort of t-cell response, not effectiveness.

IANAL but... The big thing in the US is that the burden of proof is on the plantiff. The plaintiff must prove that what was said is false, and that the defendant knew that it was false at the time.

Amazon has the convenience factor on their side. I, for one, would gladly pay 90% the paperback cost for an eBook, when I just pick up the device, search for the book, and download it. No computer, no pulling out my wallet to check my CC numbers. I don't even have to get off the toilet.

No, the 40 watt and most of the 60 watt (I've even found a 75 watt that is only slightly larger) CFL equivalents are the same size, or smaller than, an incandescent, but almost all 75 watt and 100 watt equivalents are larger than an incandescent bulb. And every last one of them is larger at the base. I have several fixtures that I can't get the smallest CFL into because of the ballast.

Just because the damn things work for you doesn't mean they work everywhere.

And just so you know that I'm not "whining and whimpering like a neocon" I have CFLs in every fixture that they will fit in and still give me a decent amount of light.

You're assuming manufacturers are going to produce a separate line of motherboards for home use and office use? I think that would drive the cost of hardware up.

On a typical user's desktop forging attestations doesn't really have any legitimate uses, only evil ones.

Honestly, turning the attestations off may happen, but do you really think the hardware manufacturers are going to let you forge them?