A very simple solution is so obvious as to be overlooked by those blinded by gadgetry. The solution I am talking about, of course, is to go low-tech. Downgrade the handset to a simple phone-only (single purpose device, how quaint!) unit. I would prefer a monochrome display one at that so I can see it in sunlight like my first cell phone, but that's an aside. I have not yet owned a smart phone and the way things are progressing I doubt I ever will. There is no law (yet!) that requires a person to carry one. So why? These things suck at pretty much everything they do, especially making phone calls. They are terrible cameras, terrible computers, terrible TVs, terrible GPS receivers, terrible music players and terrible phones. And on top of it all they provide a single point of failure for your privacy. So, stop the wining and throw away the unnecessary gadgetry that is more cool than useful.

You mean like cell phones, fax machines, computers, photography, and other things that an average person has no clue about how they work? Seriously, people are very easy about using something without even a rudimentary understanding of the underlying technology. People are uneasy about using new things. Once the practice and culture of using a new thing is established people by and large do not bother about knowing how it works. This is not my opinion, it's a fact. Bitcoin is no different than any other currency that is not backed by anything other than the respective issuer's reputation. US dollar is no longer backed by gold, so its value is completely up to the people who believe in it.

"Buy it Now" is set at $1,000 and the starting bid is $300! Good luck with that. A real nice HP netbook like a dm1z goes for under $500 and can run a real OS. Sometimes I do not understand the gadget market...

From summary:
'The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism. In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism,' says Carlo Climati, a member of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome who specializes in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.

My comment:
I wonder if there is a member of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome who specializes in the dangers posed to young people by catholic priests molesting altar boys?

Excellent reference, but may be a bit cryptic to ones not familiar with the piece of literature to which you are referring. Then again, the ignorant can DuckDuckGo/gOOgle (DDG/OO) it.

There is no such thing! There is such a things as CANOLA oil, which is made from rapeseed. CANOLA is a word made up of Canada Oil. It is not a particularly good oil for huma consumption to begin with, let alone GMO version. The thing is it's cheap and plenty and it's hard to find food that does not contain it. Do some research on Canola oil and you will not want to eat it in the first place.

Though your rant about MS catching up to real OS tech is valid, you really need to take step sideways and look at this from a perspective of an everyday computer user. For everyday computer user Linux is a non-entity. Just because Linux has superior technology does not mean it is an option for most "normal" computer users. I am an electrical engineer by education, an embedded real time software engineer by profession and really a computer savvy person, but every time I try Linux, I give up after a few months because it just will not get the fuck out of my way to let me do things. I need to keep screwing with it every time I need to do anything useful. If I want to listen to an MP3 I need to screw with it, if I want to watch a movie I need to screw with it. I am not talking software development, I am talking home appliance use. Linux sucks in this respect BIG TIME! I say that with much sadness and wish that were not the case, but it is. So, comparing the Windows 7 (or any other home appliance OS) to Linux is kind of like comparing bicycle to a unicycle. You need a whole other skill set to use the unicycle to travel from point A to point B than you need to do the same on the bicycle. Is the unicycle better than the bicycle, then? Maybe. It is lighter, cheaper to build, more portable, etc. But the fact is, that almost EVERYONE knows or can learn how to ride a bicycle, but very few people know or can learn how to ride a unicycle. So, yes you can use this topic as another opportunity to show how behind times the MS technology is and you will not be incorrect in all the facts, but what you are neglecting is that most people just can not use Linux as of today. It is simply not ready for prime time. I am not a big fan of Windows, but I tell you, I have been much more frustrated with Linux than I have been with Windows. In my view the best OS is the one you can't perceive. The less I need know about the OS and the fewer new skills I need to acquire to be able to use it, the better it is. Underlying technology be damned. If I need to learn to build packages in order to install them, that's a big minus. If I double click on an MP3 file (or other "proprietary", but otherwise ubiquitous format) and the OS can't play it, that's a huge minus. In order to make Linux do what Windows or Mac OS does out of the box (and that is what most people want to do, I am not talking about software developers), you need to spend a few hours minimum with most Linux distros. So, please re-examine your position from a perspective of "most computer users". Again, most of your technical observations are correct, but the fact remains, Linux is not an option for most computer users who want to plug the machine in and play those music files or videos they downloaded. Not knocking Linux, I think it's great that there is a free alternative. I have a dual boot on my windows desktop myself, just a more mature analysis would probably help the Linux people to compete better in home appliance OS space (it may not be possible for legal and logistical reasons, I don't know).

Replace "caffeine" with "heroine" and your post will arouse a lot more interest. Yet, caffeine is no different from heroine, in fact it may be more dangerous because it is legal and even encouraged by culture. When you completely depend on a drug, be it caffeine, heroine, etc. it's time to stop and think about quitting for good. I was a caffeine addict and had very similar withdrawal symptoms. Could not stand it and the idea of constant replenishment of the drug gave me the creeps similar to ones that I get when I hear about heroine addicts. I quit over some time and now and again still have a small cup of Turkish coffee or an espresso, but I am talking one of these in a a year or so. I find I don't get hooked unless I do a few doses in a short period of time, so I live without coffee. It is possible and is actually much more pleasant. Try it. Or have another fix. Most people on this discussion sound like junkies that they are. Best of luck!

If that's the case, why "upgrade" to Vista? XP would run (almost) fine on 512KB.