"is associated with crashing, unreliability, complexity and malware.....and don't want to bring these problems to their phones."
don't know about that, android seems to be a big seller.

Not really a new idea, using facebook likes or check-ins to allow wifi access has been a feature of many captive portals for a while now.
see http://www.recaptive.net/features/facebookgate/ , http://www.cloud4wi.com/social-login to name two off the top of my head.

The only thing now is that facebook is providing a direct authentication return to the access point, currently cisco and Meraki (not mentioned in the summary) and no doubt coming to Aerohive, Aruba etc very soon . They're just making it easier to configure without a third party or your own coding. The only thing is that then is your only social login mechanism, most social login providers give the option of the major players (google, facebook, twitter etc) and some internal mechanism. so a retrograde step

all the comments above speculating on capturing demographic data, posting or checking in on your behalf etc is moot - it's already available and being used effectively

There's a multitude that feel sick playing certain games, as another poster pointed out above - what's a trigger for one individual may be perfectly ok for another who is sensitive to another motion. It's been noted for years, but it's now just like car sickness - you don't hear it reported every time someone feels sick in a car now.
I have a friend who definitely does throw up when retrying FPS and finally gave up; so most people just know and don't buy/play the game - but in this case the cause of the symptoms has been pushed onto a device they may have been using happily for a while with no ill-effects. Definitely news worthy?
In an appropriate turn of events, it's been reported now because the effects are, for the first time, being used extensively "... on a mobile device"

next article "SkyOS renamed after legal battle" (ref)

You stop thumb drives entering or leaving the premises. If the data needs such efforts, then there should also be no 'server that can be accessed from home'.
Access/Elevation should be audited to trap illegal copy operations.
Last resort, but impractical unless at the highest levels - destroy the usb ports or physically lock them.

let me guess, it just says "wipe here"?

Which is why Richard the Third wanted one so badly at the end. If he'd had one at Bosworth then Henry would've been dust.
Instead the fools tried to bring him a slightly panicky pony.

Unconfirmed, but I'd expect a group policy setting or perhaps defaulting to off when on a domain/non 'home' version. Extended search (along with pretty much anything else in the OS) has always been manageable by GPO so I can't see this being any different

Menwith Hill is not a 'major GCHQ installation', it is RAF owned land and leased to the US where it is operated by the NSA and houses a USAF Intelligence Squadron. If you had said "furthermore it's also well known that a Major NSA installation, Menwith Hill, actually has GCHQ officers" then the rest of your argument may have had weight, but you're supporting it with an incorrect statement from the outset.

There's a little bit more to it, but basically for this DIY project he's bought a gimbal that's meant to provide steady images on a model helicopter and mounted it to himself?
Not quite "DIY steadycam from Helicopter parts"
In fact, and I realise this is nothing new, the title is completely wrong.

Reflecting historical corporate ID (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7271036.stm)

for general websites, none. But in the case of the BBC the clock had been used for years as part of the station ident between programmes and could easily be justified as reflecting the corporate brand. see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7271036.stm for more info.

where did you get your info? As I understand it, it took 14 minutes for the first armed police to arrive on scene from the first emergency call, which was about a RTA/assault. It was ten minutes from when the operators were notified that the perpetrators were armed to when those armed officers arrived. Now, ten minutes is all the time needed in a crime like this, but we don't have armed police on every block over here (not in Woolwich - central London and specific areas have roaming units). Now, it may sound hollow but that was actually a 'good' response. And I'm not sure how quickly police could arrive to a 'murder in progress' anyway, in order to stop it - if any victim is alive when they arrive, it's more likely a hostage situation (which may end up as a murder). Drummer Rigby (RIP) was dead before any response could have been made, unfortunately.

It came as news to me, seems quite healthy.

Commodore? :-b