BEAL'S CONJECTURE: If Ax + By = Cz, where A, B, C, x, y and z are positive integers and x, y and z are all greater than 2, then A, B and C must have a common prime factor

Fermat's Last Theorem is a subset problem, where x=y=z, Since FLT has been proven (that no such solution exists), then we can say that:

• - x, y, and z must all be greater than 2 (as specified in the original conjecture)
• - and x, y, and z cannot all be equal (because then FLT would be wrong)

From the link in the sumary: BEAL'S CONJECTURE: If Ax + By = Cz, where A, B, C, x, y and z are positive integers and x, y and z are all greater than 2, then A, B and C must have a common prime factor

And one is not considered a prime.

Well, you apparently don't read very well. Inhaled radiation is definitely more dangerous. However, ingested radiation depends upon the type of radiation emitted and the specific element. Ingested uranium or plutonium will pass right through the body without being absorbed, so the exposure is very time limited. We ingest radioactive potassium every single day, in fact, our lives depend upon it, and >99% of all potassium on earth is radioactive.

Processes are patentable. Ideas aren't, but a specific idea that is implemented as a process may be patentable. It's still not the software that is being patented, it's the implementation of a specific method/process, not the math involved.

Claiming that software is just math, therefore, nothing written is software can be patented is an absurd claim. All machines are "just engineering" in their implementation, and engineering is just math, therefore, no object would ever be patentable using that absurd logic.

There must be sufficient time for a fully loaded semi-trailer to react to the change, and safely come to a stop, or proceed through the intersection, from at least 5mph under to 5mph over the posted speed limit, in wet road conditions, or it's not safe. These cities are risking your safety to raise more money from bogus fines.

Exactly. That is what everyone who rails that "software is just math" completely misses. It's not the implementation in software that is eligible for patent protection, it's the idea/process that the software is an implementation of that is eligible for patent protection.

Unfortunately, that's often not true. Some people are still blind in hindsight.

Well said. Those who look only at the available data will always miss the next trend, because the data isn't yet available. Sometimes, you have to take the risk and trust you intuition/gut.

er, because that's not what the commenter I replied to stated. He compared it to the price of TWO cheap laptops. You should try reading what you're responding to.

It's also significantly larger and heavier, has shorter battery life, and doesn't run nearly as many apps. As I said, if you want/need a laptop, buy a laptop.

Comprehension fail. I made no such claim.

Well, since you insist...Acer Aspire 722:

• price: $379, not $230.
• weight: 3lbs, 2x as heavy as the iPad, 4x the weight of the iPad Mini.
• Keyboard: crappy, but don't take my word for it, from the above review... "We've always had mixed feelings about Acer's FineTip keyboards, and this one did not impress. The keys lacked good tactile feedback and springiness, and the keyboard flexed noticeably when we typed. This caused us to make more errors than we usually do. We never got comfortable with the layout,..."
• Display: Crappy. again, from the review... "1366 x 768 resolution display has a glossy finish, though it wasn't too reflective under fluorescent lights. Colors are slightly muted, which is unusual for a glossy screen, and even at 100 percent brightness the panel seems slightly dim. Horizontal viewing angles aren't super wide, but three people sitting together should be able to see the screen without encountering color distortion or darkness. While watching an episode of Murder, She Wrote on Netflix, we found that pushing the display past about 25 degrees (when looking at it head-on) made colors look darker and in shadow, so there isn't a wide vertical range, either."
• Sound: Again, from the review..."The two small speakers under the Aspire One 722's front lip don't produce very loud volume - we had to turn the notebook up to 100 percent to get decent audio when playing some Adam Lambert tracks."
• Camera: 0.3MP (std VGA). From the review..."Colors were more washed out than we like,..."

Exactly the point, the Apps were designed for it from the beginning, because Android supported both from the start. iOS was designed from the start as touch only, so any addition of mouse support either needs OS support for using the mouse to emulate multi-touch gestures, or the apps all have to be updated. It's not a trivial thing either way.

No, that's not the only thing that needs to change. As you noted, multi-touch gestures don't work with a standard mouse (could possibly work with Apple's Magix Mouse or Magic Trackpad). You also need to add a mouse pointer so you can see what you're pointing at, scrolling has to be addressed (there are no scroll bars in most apps), and you have to create suitable replacements for touch&hold. And, while the current iOS method of selecting text could be adapted to using a mouse, that would be a clumsy way to use a mouse compared to how we've learned to select text using a mouse for the last 30 years. Certainly, the multi-touch gestures are the biggest obstacle, but there are other obstacles to address. The point is that it's not a trivial issue, it's one that has some real UI and usability questions to address before supporting a mouse.

But you're not comparing to a $400 laptop. iPad Mini = $329 + Apple Wireless Keyboard $69, = $398. iPad 2 = $399 + $69 (AWK) = $468. So, you're comparing to a $200-$235 laptop. Which is going to be both underpowered, and cheap quality. So, I'll stick with my original statement.

MS office never left the Mac.

Do that, and what you have are two cheap laptops that are slow, don't work right, and and are 2-5x the size and 3x-10x what an iPad/iPad Mini weighs. If you need a laptop, by all means buy a laptop. But if what you need is a tablet, buy a tablet.

Well, you're half right. They can use bluetooth keyboards, including the Apple Wireless keyboard and many third party keyboards. Mouse is another matter, the UI is designed for touch, and while a mouse is a pointing device, it's not the same as a touch interface, so there literally is a reason it doesn't support a mouse. It's not that it couldn't support a mouse, but that would require some changes to the UI, and many apps.