If Microsoft created a render server (think OnLive on the LAN) where I can have a box stuffed full of GPUs, and machines on the LAN send it the graphics commends, and get real time streaming video back, then I'd be worried about Steam machines.

This setup? Not so much.

Actually the key at that position was often called "Meta". This was true on early Linux X11 as well. For some reason it was changed to "Super" around 2000, thus breaking a lot of software that assumed it was Meta.

I think you will find a lot of Linux desktops have copied the actions from Windows for the Windows key (Linux calls it the Super key). Super-R for a run box, for instance.

Probably going to be told I am a noob, but:

I have a dual-boot machine. It is an Acer machine and has a legitimate Windows 7 license and I installed Linux, keeping Windows 7 in a resized partition, and occasionally boot into it (it has a bug where it will not boot without a usb keyboard plugged in so I don't do it as often as I thought I would as I have to dig out that keyboard and plug it in). Linux is the default boot. I have no "recovery disk" and I may have lost any paperwork that came with the machine but it is a real legal copy.

So the question is: can I replace 7 with 10? Without damaging the Linux install? If it screws up grub how do I get it back?

He was complaining that Gnome 2.0 removed desktops, and feels vindicated that Microsoft finally added them.

I sort of like all my wrinkles. Which is just, um, weird. My girlfriend freaks out about hers. I catch sight of mine in a mirror and it just makes me laugh, which causes her to lecture me about not making the laugh lines worse (which just makes it harder not to laugh).

"One man's wrinkles are another man's laughter lines."

It's probably not worth the effort of trying the line on your girlfriend. She's going to kill you for mentioning them anyway, though you might get a slightly quicker and less agonising death. Which might be a small gain.

Bingo. People are throwing up their hands and surrendering, when in reality, the bad guys tend to use fairly simple means to get their data.

A few things that help privacy for me:

1: Visit people, and have face to face conversations. Phones should go off, or in a pocket.

2: Have 2FA. This right here stops all but targeted attacks where an attacker is spending resources just to nail one certain person. To help with recovery, buy the new iPod Touch and copy your 2FA info onto that as well, so more than one device has the 2FA apps and codes.

3: Separate boot authentication from user authentication. My Windows box requires a hefty password to boot with BitLocker. Similar with my Linux machines and LUKS.

4: AdBlock, FlashBlock/ClickToPlay, and run your Web browser in a VM. Also work on dealing with Web fingerprinting (visit EFF's Panopticlick for more details.)

5: Avoid social networks. Once stuff goes there, it stays there.

6: Virtualize everything. Using Quickbooks or Peachtree? Put it in an encrypted VM.

7: Since some games will autoban you if you run them in a VM, perhaps consider a dedicated Windows partition just for those.

8: Here in the US? Go with EMV credit cards with no stripe. Banks are slowly rolling them out. This way, a credit card number can be grabbed, but it would be a card not present transaction, as opposed to slurping the info off the magstripe.

9: Minimize use of IoT devices. No Wi-Fi deadbolts, etc.

10: Have a smart firewall. One that blocks outgoing traffic. I used to have one that used a cheap remote that would raise/drop a voltage on a serial port, so when I left, I could hit the remote, and the machine handling the routing duty would insert an "away" ACL set (which basically blocked outgoing traffic except for OS updates.)

I can see this being used two ways:

A fast SSD.

A swap device/slow RAM.

This can make things interesting for SANs, especially because it adds another tier to the disk type hierarchy.

I'd like to see it used as a cache, as well for swap and the core OS files so booting is made quicker. However, it would be useful for database index volumes as well.

If the BBC opened up all their content online and then instead of using geoblocking, used geotargetted ads

There are minor outlets of the BBC that use adverts - they were annoying me in Turkey a couple of weeks ago - but the BBC as a corporation doe not do broadcast advertising. They do have appropriate infrastructure for trailers and internal advertising of next weeks Downton Pigs or Vetbum Abbey, which is probably coordinated with the advertising breaks on their affiliates international broadcasting. But for their core market, the BBC does not do adverts. That's why their more recent programming has included a 10-minute segment in at the end of each hour of programme time with things like "making of Dances with Whales" or "Being Eaten By Cats - camaeraman's diary" : it provides chunks of programming that can be detached from the editorial stream (maybe broadcast later) and frees up 10 minutes of screen time per hour for soap adverts.

None of the broadcasters in the world is set up on the basis of serving the globe, not even "giants" like NBC, CBS, ABC, or the BBC.

Yet.

And the interesting thing is with there being about 4 markets in the world (China - about a billion ; India, potential of a billion ; Europe at a half-billion ; North America, a third of a billion) then the broadcaster that doesn't get into those markets soon is not going to survive against it's global competitors. Particularly the ones that broadcast in common languages - Mandarin and English.

The only thing that changes for (say) BBC is that they chuck out or switch off their Geo-IP management servers at their gateway. Where the data goes to after that isn't their concern. That's the point about IP being an unbiased transmission protocol.

(I don't know the answer. I raise the point to illustrate the complexity of the problem, and to show what problems the EU is about removing.

It was just a joke bro .. who would be insulted by it?

Someone who is worried about their slowly deteriorating sight and has their worst fears raised by this deliberately crude joke.

OP might wish to spend a few hours trying to navigate the world without vision - or with severely degraded vision. In fact, it's an experiment that almost anyone who isn't already severely visually impaired would benefit from. It's the old "walking a mile in another man's shoes" thing.

Try it one day. If you don't hate and fear the experience, then you're very unusual.

BTW, did you know that there's an STD that has a 35 year symptom-free incubation period. You could have caught it from the person (or farm animal) that you lost your virginity to.

I've only worn glasses since I was thirty. Two years ago I had to get a second pair for distanc

I hate to tell you this, but you're well within the normal range of variation. Sorry to break the news to you.

You will die ; maybe not because of this medical issue, but you will die.

Incidentally, I'm following the same progress of eye disease, within about 25%. I'm going to die too.