The point is that the government attorney was seeking 35 years. That's not a reasonable punishment for the government to seek. Now more information about Carmen Ortiz is surfacing and it's just getting worse and worse for the government.

How many immediate family members do not recognize a suicidal condition in someone? But we expect a lawyer to see it?

First, lots of people knew about Swartz' depression, especially his family. Secondly, the US attorney's office is being criticized for not seeking justice, but for seeking unusually harsh punishment. Swartz was afraid of being sentenced to 30 years in prison. You don't think 30 years is excessive?

Like John Lennon once said, time you enjoy wasting isn't wasted.

I was responding to the claim that Metro apps are designed to be used on desktops with mouse & keyboard *and* touch devices by pointing out big problems with Metro on the desktop.

So, Metro apps are designed to be used by both Desktops with keyboards and mice, and touch devices (some of which are also desktops).

Metro works nicely on handheld touchscreen devices. On the desktop? Meh. I have a couple of 2560x1440 panels. Windows knows that I have a mouse and keyboard and the monitors are not touch screens. It should be smart enough to come up with a better UI for this configuration. It's ridiculous that when I open the weather app, it goes full screen. Does Microsoft really believe four million pixels are needed to tell me if it's going to rain tomorrow?

As a developer, Metro sucks. Windows really are invaluable when programming. I want my IDE open, API docs open, the application running, a console tailing a log, and maybe even a chat window or email client running. I have more than enough pixels and I'm running an operating system called "Windows". Why can't I actually have windows?

People aren't more hyped because console gaming just isn't that interesting anymore. In our house we have a Wii and a PS3. My kids have iPod touches, my wife has an iPad. Lots of video games are played in my house - all of them on the handheld devices. I'm the only one who ever powers up the PS3 anymore and that's to play Rocksmith once or twice a month.

The console makers aren't just competing with each other, they are also competing with platforms that have free and very low cost games. I really have a hard time spending more than $10 for a game these days. There are just too many awesome low cost choices out there these days and I don't have enough time to take advantage of all of them.

2560x1440 is still pretty low res on anything bigger than a handheld device. I work with text all day and I want at least a 300 dpi display.

Lots of people understand perfectly well how the new interface works but still prefer the old interface because for what they do, it is better.

I'll probably switch to Windows 8 for the performance improvements and buy a better window manager (or whatever it's called in the Windows world).

It's interesting that you didn't argue against the brutal ugliness and crappy UX of business software.

Obviously, some people are into this stuff as you obviously are, but you have to admit that most VS devs are in it only for that red hot job market.

I recommend trying some objective-c development. It's actually pretty cool. I've only done the most rudimentary stuff, but I wish I could do more.

Part of the reason I think Microsoft's grip is slipping is the brutal ugliness of so many business apps that crappy corporate devs crank out with their wizardly IDEs. Businesses depend on it, but nobody likes it and nobody is passionate about it.

Fortunately for Microsoft, Apple seems to be trying to get rid of any non-consumer use of their products. Despite this, businesses are looking for ways to accommodate employees who want to use the Apple gear at work.

1280x720? That's disappointing. What the hell is Microsoft thinking?

Microsoft is making more money as they become less influential and relevant to consumer electronics.

NASA should be doing pure science, and that should be reason enough to excite Joe Public.

This just in: not everybody likes the same stuff you do.

NASA is regularly forced to do shitty high-profile, useless and pathetic "interstellar internet" stunts with shitty dotcoms to attract attention

So negative! Did you ever think the people at JPL/NASA did this because it's fun? There are lots of us who absolutely have our minds blown by the success of Curiosity AND think stuff like this is neat too.

Nokia is still screwed. Maps are important, but in the end they are just another app on the phone and one great map app isn't enough to make up for the rest of the missing apps for Windows Phone. Nokia could win (ie survive) if they can build developer interest faster than Apple can build a map application. They might also do exceedingly well in certain verticals where employees don't get to choose their phone.

Apple is on a maps hiring spree right now. How long do you think it will take them to hire away the best Nokia developers?

Mandriva and kubuntu and likely others are head and shoulders above Windows in every measure except "shiny". Windows has no features those distros lack, and they have many features Windows lacks.

How many people do you think choose an operating system based on features? The operating system is boring infrastructure and all that matters is that it can support doing the things you want to do on your machine with little hassle. If they can afford it, many will choose a Mac because it can legally run more software than any other platform. Otherwise, they will choose the platform that best matches their needs (which is often an iPad device these days).

Mandriva may be the slickest OS ever, but if you have to run XCode or Visual Studio all day, it's useless.