Are you still seeing two sides in this game? The enemy of my enemy of my enemy of my enemy is very much alive here. Google will bolster iOS momentarily just enough to bring Win8 down.

Everyone just needs to get over it and use Dropbox with TrueCrypt or whatever their private cloud solution is and stop bitching. There's plenty of examples of people's encryption being broken by social engineering. Most people have to sticky note their passwords, so they don't stand a chance. Unless you just keep everything in your head and become interrogation proof, someone will always be able to get whatever info they need. And you're full of crap if you think anyone wants to hack into your pics of lolcats and your last company picnic.

What part of "the public is encouraged to contribute" did you not get?

Someone's touchy about being born on the wrong side of the genetic lottery.

What do you take me for? We invaded them 35 minutes ago!

Which you would be doing, except you've found it more worthwhile to read Slashdot or play Angry Birds or whatever is it you're doing. So please go lecture another site. Should, could, would, but you don't "do".

Boo hoo hoo. We can't hear you from the other side of the slave pits. Please, grovel a little louder and fer Pete's sake, more tears. That access point ain't cheap!

You're not really of the grid if the local police have you on record as "Stinky Guy on the Steps.."

They'll block Wikileaks the way Westetn nations block South American cocaine and Afghan opiates. Better to just keep on prosecuting?!

XKCD on password security.
http://xkcd.com/936/

Last pass has a password audit feature that shows you where you're using the same password.

My family is from South America you insensitive clod! Now excuse me while I go introduce Sally Struthers to the tribe and give them some shiny beads to keep them from eating her and to swap for their land.

Unfortunately, Wave tried to bolt a poorly executed social aspect onto a messaging system, meaning everything but messaging sucked. This bolts messaging onto a social network that already has messaging built into it.

No one wants an oil well in their back yard until we are all screaming for oil to lubricate the gears off the economy. That sentiment will change.

One thing you may have noticed is that humans are good at ignoring a problem until it forces them to adapt. New technologies are good and all, but alternatives are just another thing people will have to buy to get around the shortage. That's money many won't have once prices rise due to a crunch in a critically important resource. Cripes we're already complaining about the rise in coffee prices. Everything made of plastics or wrapped in them will also rise in price, making a very personal crunch in resources for everyone.