> I'm never going to get one of these because they had to add
> region locking

I second that.

> the trust issue has been largely fixed with IM. Most networks won't
> deliver a message unless someone is explicitly whitelisted.

The same thing could long have been done with e-mail. Especially if the messages were routinely GPG-signed. You could whitelist senders the first time you get a message from them.
Everything else goes by default into the SPAM folder (unless sender's signature is known & verified via GPG intermediates).

Why aren't we doing it? Because no freaking client I know of ever turned encryption and signing on by default! And that's why we have such a sorry state of affairs on so many levels, incl. spam and phishing, which is only an authentication issue.

> As for Switzerland, you might be unaware that there's a rampant
> and growing "screw rich foreigners, they deserve to get taxed
> more" sentiment. As in an über-tax the blasted creeps who buy
> Swiss Francs as a store of wealth, screwing exports in the
> process kind of sentiment.

Actually you are unaware or uninformed. Swiss have little against the rich...themselves being pretty well-off for the most part (compared with other places).
The tax you're referring to is basically a flat-tax for rich foreigners living in Switzerland but who are not working there (if they would, they'd pay normal taxes on their wages).
Instead it's based on their living expenditures and thus the tax for these very well-off foreigners is in most cases *significantly lower* than for folks, swiss or foreigner, who are actually working for a living. So if anything, the Swiss feel, that the same (tax) rules should apply to everybody.
What this has to do with swiss francs and exports, probably only you know (again...those folks LIVE there by choice, not because they feel philantropic about the swiss economy!).

> Oh and let's not even talk about his insane fiscal policies, which
> can be summarized as pure unrepentant goldbuggery and free
> market fundamentalism.

As opposed to...?

> > TFA doesn't mention [...] anything about [...] promoting violence

> Ahem. 'A visit in 2009 to Slough, in Berkshire, where Mr Larkin held
> a class intended to teach how to "maim and kill in self-defence"'

Dude, get out of your Disneyland-Mindset and acknowledge reality. Self-Defense, by definition, is gonna be ugly. If it isn't, then YOU are gonna look and feel ugly after an unprovoked and unavoidable attack...or your loved one's respectively, as they stand around on your wake because you had nothing other than cotton-balls to deal with the situation!
To teach inflicting harm in the course of self-defense is absolutely reasonable, and has nothing to do whatsoever with "promoting violence"! In fact, anybody claiming to teach 'self-defense' or 'martial arts' without teaching violent ways to disable the (attacker's) human body is a scam!

> there is nothing more heartbreaking than to tell some girl those
> pictures of her dead mother are most likely gone forever because
> her laptop got trashed and she didn't have backups.

1. Console sad girl over lost pictures
2. ??
3. PROFIT!!

> You can't hand someone cash over the web.

That is, in fact, the single-most important shortcoming of the much-touted 'e-commerce'. What would I give to have in-browser pre-loaded wallet (let's say, 20 bucks), where I could instantly buy something off a web site...without having to register first, type my address and all that other cumbersome and privacy-invading nonsense. Imagine a TRUE one-click purchase via instant anonymous e-cash transfer! The way we buy things...and the way people sell things...would change dramatically. But only, if the pricing is correct...which it will be eventually, when artists (among others) can sell directly and get ALL the proceeds without middlemen-skimmers a la Apple, Record companies, Publishing houses etc.pp..

Gen. Keith Alexander also denied the existence of Gen. Keith Alexander, thought to be NSA's Chief General. When questioned upon this subject, Alexander said: "If such a person would be at NSA, I could not comment upon that.". When asked, however, by a curious Congressman Hank Johnson, a Georgia Democrat, whether "NSA" might stand for "No Such Alexander", Gen. Alexander did not hesitate to confirm with "Yes", marking the first time a high-ranking NSA-official has made such a revealing statement publicly. Yet the astonished Congressman Johnson, new to Congress and unfamiliar with such sensitive matters, asked the NSA's envoy once more in, what was perceived as too direct a fashion: "But General Alexander, if such a Person does not exist at NSA, then who are we talking to today?" After the gasps of horror subsided, Gen. Alexander answered in his usual humorous fashion, that he became well-known for ever since serving in Germany: "I could tell you, but zen you wudd be dedd! HA HA HA".
After the meeting adjourned, another member of Congress sighed (under condition of anonymity), that he still doesn't know who they questioned today. "I mean, there's really no such person working in no such agency (and I have no reason to doubt that this is the case), but still you sit there and listen to this person from that agency and it's like totally freaking you out, man!"
Congressman Johnson was unfortunately unavailable for an interview. He was found dead the next morning in the Potomac river, having died of accidental causes according to, strangely, Utah Police. A spokesman said "You know, we get that a lot over there in D.C...that people drink a little too much, stumble around with their feet in some fresh concrete and then jump in the river to cool of from the intoxication, where, tragically, they get pulled to the bottom by the now solid bricks encasing their expensive shoes." The NSA was unavailable for comment...

> Kid: "These two kids beat each other up in the shower."

> Parent: "Did you just say two kids beat each other off in the shower?!?!?"

Kid: "And one even DIED from it!!"

TFIFY. :-)

> like you're going to have a readable printed piece of paper (printed
> photograph, canvas, whatever) 10,000 years from now.

An interesting point. Are the EB books printed for longevity (without acid or corrosive inks etc.)? How long would such a book, under normal conditions, roughly last?

> You can download the entirety of Wikipedia and read it on your
> Kindle, Ipad, etc. as a physical book.

How would you go about that?

I wouldn't mind having the entire set nicely as EPUB's on my e-reader. That'd be something I'd pay a reasonable amount for...do they have it?

Ditto for Wikipedia, btw...for offline access.

> Google and Facebook were just NSA and CIA fronts.

Well, it was nice knowing you, man! Such a bright future ahead of you and now all for nothin'. Because you couldn't keep your mouth shut! :-/

> I just hope the person performing the surgery isn't a reptile. He or she or it might kill me on the operating table. You know how They are. They are always
> plotting against us, and they have been slithering around in the highest offices for so long...

I am a reptile and would like to subscribe to your surely intriguing newsletter! :-)

> Will it blend?

Sure Will, but it will also explode big time because you made a phone call!