Speak of the devil:

http://developers.slashdot.org/story/12/11/15/2218230/google-targets-android-fragmentation-with-updated-terms-for-sdk

Intriguing. Are you suggesting the tablet as a coding/development tool for programmers? Might be a nice on-the-go coding gadget, but I wouldn't want to compile anything but the simplest programs on such a dainty thing. Perhaps a more practical role as a development TARGET (or prototyping tool ala Arduino) for app builders fully supported by everything open source currently has to offer? I can see how that would appeal to mobile app developers who know their way around a compiler. But the benefits of access to GNU libc and a complete toolchain for the majority of non-coders eludes me at the moment. Maybe slashdot is the wrong place to ask, but how big of a niche is that relative to the tablet market as a whole? I would venture a guess that they'll probably appeal to as many as there existed Linux users back in the mid-late nineties when it was a fledgling thing most people didn't know about. My coding skills have rusted beyond salvage, so the critical justification for me would be: what need does Android currently NOT offer in app space that can be had in a roll-your-own Linux? The article mentioned KDE, but that hardly seems appropriate for a tablet at the moment. Maybe further down the line when that Plasma thing has matured and gained traction. Better suggestions anyone?

I imagine the distinction might intended to be

1) Google's customized and restricted user experience via the necessity of developing apps conforming to their development parameters.

vs

2) A truly RMS-type FOSS alternative that gives anyone with the knowledge and experience to hack code and build a tablet with just what they want.

Think a lot doesn't necessary mean think profound or even think sensible. :-p It's Friday and I've got nothing better to do. Damn, slashdot! I can't believe you gave my brain fart a +5 interesting. Does this mean I'm really good or really bad at trolling?

I've always been curious why the manufacturing outfit is named "FOX"conn. In Chinese folklore, (which is apolitical and applies equally to mainland as well as Taiwan) foxes have a notorious reputation as agents of evil. In stories, the fox spirit, "hu li jin" often takes human form as a young, nubile, seductress and sets out to corrupt scholars and governing officials. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. Afterall, the most successful tech company stateside is named after the fruit that caused Man's expulsion from paradise according to the bible.

Yeah, I have been watching prices as well and I've observed that, although slightly inconsistent, they do seem to be normalizing. Last week, I snagged a deal at newegg for less than $45/TB for a 3TB external. Some in the comments revealed that upon cracking open the enclosure, the actual drive is one of the vendor's fastest model. Bought separately, the bare drive would have costed $30 more. It is unclear to me at this point what is actually happening, but I'm happy to have bought a HD at a reasonable price.

pics or it didn't happen! :-P

I just took a brief glance at your comment history and I have to say: You are a thoughtful, intense, but humorless SOB. Are you a woman? (hint: joke) Or maybe my efforts at levity hit a personal nerve? If that is the case, I'm sorry for your relationship issues. A joke in this context is not intended to be taken personally. Given the nature of your response, I think you would not object to me in honestly wishing BOTH Elon and Talulah well (joking aside) both personally and professionally in their respective lives.

huh. I mostly remember him for once being married to Talulah Riley. How he managed to catch but not hold on to such a hottie will forever taint the guy as a loser in my eyes regardless of how successful he is in other areas of life.

At 20, Alexander the Great began a military campaign that established one of the earliest great empires in human civilization. From beyond the grave, the private words of a young jewish teenager named Anne Frank dares us to ignore the human cost of surrendering to fascism. No more than a few weeks ago. A young Pakistani continued to carry on that spirit showed the world even a child can have the courage to stare down the Taliban and make them blink first. What have you and your arrogant peers done for society to justify your ego?

Thanks! Now, THAT article is worth reading.

I don't know what kind of reputation "THE DIPLOMAT" has in the field of journalism, but this article is just pure crap. Despite the title, the article has almost nothing to do with high speed rail in China. Using recent problems that have come to light with the management of China's rail system, the article is actually just a mostly unflattering portrayal of the fiscal situation in China's military. A more accurate title for the article should be something like "Corruption plagues the PLA".

An excerpt for you:

There is almost nothing of value on high speed rail that has not been already revealed from other media sources.

Agreed. Why on Earth (haha) would you locate such equipment where you'd have to expend energy and fuel going in and out of a gravity well to service and maintain it? As another alternative, wouldn't it be feasible to have it at one of the Earth-Moon Lagrangian points?

Thanks for your insights. Of the many people I've asked so far, your response is the most practical from a "user's" perspective. I've been primed onto this trajectory of inquiry based on one suggestion that I ought to look to specific software packages in determining what hardware is supported. One well known tool from UCSF called "Chimera" does indeed have some relevant documentation.

http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera/data/downloads/1.6.2/stereo.html

But those requirements are way too extravagant for a casual home user like me. Though your response doesn't approach the level of a "drop-in" alternative, I am grateful that your response represents a step in the right contextual direction for my question.

Thanks again!