That's a little off-topic, but at the same time, I think comparing a surface to a Linux tablet makes more sense than comparing a Surface to an iPad or an Android tablet: The Surface is a full-featured PC in a tablet form factor, but iPad and Android are basically spiffed-up cell phones in a tablet form factor.

Considering how hard it is to find "accidentally leak a couple of bits of your private key" bugs when you've got the original source code, I don't know if that improves the situation. I'm too lazy to click around and find out, but I assume they published their protocol so there can be multiple implementations of the client.

You're that guy who gets in the carpool lane and drives at exactly the speed limit, aren't you?

I like Cuban rum and cigars, and I disagree with the outdated embargo law that prevents me from getting them at the local rum and cigar store.

What would happen if you gave up meat but didn't substitute it with anything? Go to a vegetarian Indian restaurant sometime and see if you can't have a perfectly tasty, filling meal without eating any meat or "substitute" thereof.

I'm not sure how it got this way, but in western culture, a lot of people see giving up meat in their diet as something akin to turning in their guns, getting castrated, and buying a Prius. It's not *really* about the sublime flavor of a perfectly-seared rare steak, and therefore no artificial meat product, no matter how convincing, will succeed on a large scale as long as that sentiment exists. That, and the fact that there's a whole world of perfectly good food that doesn't even attempt to emulate meat means that artificial meats are doomed to forever be a specialty product, like nicotine patches and hairpieces. Carnivores don't need them and vegetarians don't need them.

...successful companies dodge their taxes is on par with the observation that successful squirrels dodge cars. A company that stands in place and pays out whatever money their local government demands is lacking in some fundamental qualities that make a business successful. If they're dumb enough to fire their accountant and hand over billions of dollars, because patriotism, they're probably not making good business decisions in a ton of other areas as well.

*Beep* HELIUM DETECTED *Beep* COSMIC RAY *Beep* MORE HELIUM *Beep* AIR'S KINDA THIN UP HERE *Beep* FOR GOD'S SAKE GUYS LET ME DIE *Beep*