`When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, `it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.'

From a Google search on "vanishingly small", you can see that the phrase is used to describe something very small, but not equal to zero. In this case, the probability *is* zero, so "vanishingly small" is incorrect. Of course, you're free to prove me wrong and provide a credible reference where the phrase is used the way you describe.

We're having a discussion about mathematics. Let's not screw things up by using language incorrectly!

Just because you were caught posting with your pants down ( -- allusion!) doesn't mean you have to be rude to me :)

Enjoy getting the final word in after this post. Bye.

If you're trying to provide better intuition, don't increase the number of doors to infinity! Most people don't understand or intuit infinity. In fact, the parent doesn't understand infinity, because with an infinite number of doors,, the probability that you picked the car is exactly zero, not "vanishingly small", and the odds are not "very, very high" but exactly 1 that you picked a goat to start with.

Stick with about 1000 doors - that usually delivers the intuition without confusing people!

Perhaps they can now stop worrying about plugging the analog hole.

I think the reason people will continue to use Windows rather than Linux is the relative certainty that any peripheral you buy will work with Windows. This is because if you're a hardware manufacturer, and you're only going to build one driver, it's going to be the Windows driver.

I use Windows XP. I can plug in the newest blackberry, the newest iPhone, my Hauppauge HD PVR, my logitech webcam with integrated mic, my canon camcorder and point-and-shoot, my son's speaking bear that downloads custom songs, my eSata card interfacing with external hard drive enclosure, my network all-in-one HP printer/scanner/fax, and anything else I choose to pick up off the shelf from Newegg or Best Buy.

Before you post telling me how you can run all these things on Linux, please understand that with Windows, I get to use the manufacturer's drivers, which is what the hardware was probably developed and tested with. I don't have to wait for the reverse-engineered open source version, or the crippled Linux beta driver from the manufacturer. I don't have to worry that the integrated mic on my webcam won't work, or that all the fancy features on my wireless mouse and keyboard are not supported by the driver.

Again, it's not that you can't get any single one of the peripherals above to work with your chosen flavor of Linux, if you try hard enough (maybe). It's the fact that I *know* that any current or future peripheral (with all its features) will be immediately supported by Windows. There's no such guarantee for Linux.

You're certainly free to resell the book. But depending on the license for the software code in the book, you may not be free to type that code and use it any way you want.

The problem is that [censored] matters. For example, if [censored] = movie DVD, even though you own the movie DVD, you do NOT have the right to stick it in a DVD player and display the movie in a public place. You certainly can't sell tickets to that movie. But if [censored] = bread, you're free to display that loaf, even sell sandwiches you made with it.

What if you never walk into a store and never buy something off the shelf, but you download the software instead? What if they make you click the EULA before you download the software. Would it be more legitimate to claim you're only buying a license in this case?

I don't think it's at all obvious whether you're buying the software or buying a license to use it.

Or a laptop with HDMI out capable of 1080p. Pricier, but more attractive than most nettops and also doubles as a laptop :)

You're much more likely to drop your paperback in the tub or leave it lying on your chair in the laundromat *because* the thing costs $6. You'll just be more careful with an ebook reader, same way you're careful with your $200 smartphone or camera wherever you take them.

Wrong analogy. More iPads sold now means fewer Win7 tablets sold later and a harder time for MS to catch up to Apple - Ballmer's position is perfectly sensible. This is different from being opposed to something that helps both iPads and Win7 tablets, which would be irrational.

I agree. When B&N launched the nook (supports epub!) sans 3G a couple of months ago, I took the plunge ($149). It made sense that Amazon would follow. $50 is not bad for lifetime 3G, but I personally wouldn't use it - at least with the current state of eReader hardware. Of course, when the predicted 'tablet convergence' occurs, free lifetime 3G will disappear, to be replaced with iPad-type monthly data plans.

With Kindles and Nooks headed below $100, probably by Christmas, this is not worth the eyestrain and massive headaches!

For updated Synergy, try the maintenance fork at http://code.google.com/p/synergy-plus/

Why is this 'insightful'? Market cap is, by definition, the value of a company. And one of the most basic theories about market valuations is that they reflect all relevant information about the future of the company valued. Anyone who predicts the future direction of a particular stock is doing no better than flipping a coin.

Um, you can do that anyway - Facebook or not.