Full bars are better than fubars...

Now they'll be too busy to get on my lawn!

7 - 10% of the population are left handed (wikipedia), but that doesn't stop almost all handed tools being right handed only.

I think that companies would be prepared for 5 - 10% to be overlooked in the pursuit of new TV/home entertainment/3D-DVD sales...

"There is at present no way to contact the individual"

Well he should have thought of that before handing out all those phones for free!

So, "don't install crap" is now a technical skill? Wow.

My wife his hardly technical, and I haven't had to touch her laptop since I installed the OS on it. And her laptop moves along just fine. Faster than mine, in fact, but I can blame that on the oddly matched hardware I've got.

I tell you what -- setup a linux install for your "non-technical users", give them the root password, and leave them alone for six months. Assuming they don't find a new techie who will let them actually play games on their machine, I'll be they'll wind up every bit as bogged down as as similarly-configured and abandoned windows installation.

Or, you could realize that installing programs is an admin function, that a properly installed program doesn't force a user to run as administrator, and fix the problem on the front end. Hell, you could even post a sticker that says "DO NOT INSTALL ANYTHING" if you want.

Oh, and show me a netbook with a comfortable keyboard, and you'll have a no-brainer. I can't find anyone who can stand the damn things.

Also, I think you have a very glorified idea of peer review.[...]

Not all journals have the same high standards. That's why a paper published in a lesser journal is usually given lesser weight. If a paper makes big claims and is submitted to a prestigious journal, it's expected to be scrutinized very carefully. In fact, some journals from national academies go so far as to require sponsorship from a scientist with high stature before the paper is accepted. It is assumed that the scientist has read the paper, and will be extremely embarrassed to have his name associated with the paper if it turns out to be wrong.

"Except if you called the person in sales one of the "IT People", or vice versa. They'd correct you."

Altered and it's still true.

The content industry plays lip-service to the issue, they insist that there is a public domain but when every work is at least life of author plus seventy-five years or so there is in reality no public domain from my life's point of view.

The answer is to instantly kill anyone who makes a really good movie, or a book, and then just patiently... wait...

On your rocking chair on the porch, with a happy, knowing smile on your face.

Before anyone chips in with "US is corrupt too", a report by Transparency International on worldwide corruption: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8363599.stm

TL;DR US ranked 19th least corrupt, New Zealand #1. Russia seems to be among the worst corrupt states.

I'm not aware of "don't block ads" being a part of the common netiquette (if there is even still such a thing in existence). If anything, by now, some form of adblocking is more likely to be a rule than exception.

A friend of mine could tell the difference if the speakers were moved by more than an inch in his listening room. His wife moved one by accident and he heard the difference. Face it, some people have very keen hearing and they practice to keep it keen. Today very few care, so I expect total crap from the music biz. With mass merchandising king, quality recordings will go the way of the dodo. While I can't tell the difference usually in the car between mp3/cd, the stereo is a different story. Hopefully I'll be dead or deaf before CD dies completely. Call me crazy, but I want the 1000 dollar bottle of wine.

And what? Which phones let you readily install a home-brew version of the OS?

All the links to Google and their vast database of search.
For example, if you are out and about and want food you can easily use your Android handset to Google for the nearest Subway or KFC or McDonald's and have Google Navigation give you turn by turn directions to take you there. Or if you are trying to find someones house, you can grab an address from your phones address book (or from a SMS message or email that someone has sent you) and have Google Navigation give you directions.

As others have said, having a GPS that can download data in real time also means you can get up-to-the-minute reports on traffic and construction and accidents and other delays or hazards. This means that the route it gives you is the fastest/best/shortest/whatever route at the time you are driving it (not the fastest route given ideal road conditions)

And with it being Google, customization will no doubt be a feature.

Now all I need is for Google to buy (or create) some Australian map data and offer Google Navigation for free on an Android set in the land down under.