It looks like a nice piece of hardware. I'd be tempted to get one. But, like you say, it's Microsoft. Once trust is gone, no argument can bring it back.

What planet are you from? Is it nice there?

America has no leverage. They don't make anything anymore, so they can't trade anything anymore. Just their funny money, and China is in the middle of an effort, coordinated with Russia, to topple the US dollar. But it's not like Chinese people are going to be cold and starving if the US cuts off the supply. Chinese people could dump their manufactured goods in the ocean and it wouldn't really impact them that much as long as their population had somewhere to go and something to do on Monday morning so they don't get bored and cause trouble.

You guys are like a big, fat, fat, lead albatross around the neck of the planet. Did I mention fat. Yeah, your technology is obvious, your music is poisonous, your cuisine is disgusting and yet, somehow, you're all fat. And liars and spies and war criminals.

Seriously, why are we reading an article about the Chinese when the entire US government is full of war criminals? Is this a joke? Is it April Fools day? Am I being punked?

I mean, yeah, I'm not American, so yeah, in the "We're all being punked by the Americans" sense, I know I'm being punked... but there aren't any hidden cameras here, are there?

I mean, yeah, I know there's a hidden camera in my laptop and two in my phone, and your criminal operatives have probably hacked it because I spout inflammatory rhetoric in public forums all the time and they probably have quotas like a traffic cop... but, this isn't a reality TV show intended to entertain the masses with a big silly joke, is it?

Please don't put me on one of those shows. I'm not a politician...

PS: Those nukes don't hide the fact that YOU'RE ALL FAT!!! Have another cheeseburger, fatty!

I will be so happy when this crap leads to the end of anonymous posting.

I suspect that is the reason we see so much more bad behavior veiled by anonymity these days... to destroy platforms that allow anonymous discourse, just as the big media companies pay people to pollute torrent sites with garbage. This feels coordinated, and it makes me happy.

Some day, we'll be able to go looking for trolls and physically assault them.

That will be a good day.

Yeah, just because YOU agreed not to be a dick, doesn't mean WE surrender OUR right to be dicks! Think Different! Bend Over!

But it's nice to know you're paying attention ;)

I do visit friends, you know.

I make a concerted effort to:
- consume no music that wasn't published freely by it's creators
- amuse myself instead by jamming with my friends, or hanging out with my friends who are jamming and aspire to nothing more
- read books that are published free of any copyright, or are no longer governed by copyright, or are available at the library
- publish my writings free of any restriction
- build software only for hire, and only on platforms that are not restricted to those who pay for a license, never for those who would profit through copyright
- avoid playing video games
- avoid television and movies that were created for profit
- purchase used clothing from boutique stores, or have clothes made for me by someone I know
- avoid purchasing anything that I've seen an advertisement for
- eat only at owner-run restaurants where I can introduce myself to the owner and the cook and get to know them
- volunteer my time to creating abundance by involving myself in urban gardens, distributing parts for RepRap's, etc
- avoid working for companies whose profits come from advertising or copyright enforcement
- never loan money at it interest, but give it away to freely to those who need and deserve it if I can afford it
- give away my material possessions when I have no further need of them, rather than selling them

Have I held to these principles like a rock? No. I'm a human trying to get by in a culture whose values are diametrically opposed to my own, and it's proving very difficult to leave, though I am trying my best to get the hell out of North America. When every scrap of material and every square foot of land is someone's private property, you have to make compromises in order to survive. But these are my principles, and I do try to live by them.

At the end of the day, I am opposed to profit, and to private property. I consider both to be crimes against mankind. Which basically puts me in opposition to every signatory to the United Nations, because private property is one of their core shared values.

I've brought a lot of good to a lot of people with my deeds and my creations, and I am not a greedy person, so even though I've made some compromises that I'm ashamed of, I feel pretty good about it all at the end of the day. I'm not God's gift to mankind, but I know I am one of the men who carries other men on his shoulders.

The point of this isn't to toot my own horn. You wouldn't recognize me on the street, what would be the point. It's to assure you that, while you may or may not agree with my views, they are GENUINE. I have been described as inspiring by people who didn't think I was within earshot, and that's all the reward I need to carry on.

Yes, I would be just fine with that. And, as I've said before, I oppose the very idea of "professional entertainment", be it musicians, athletes, actors or games programmers. So, if you can break their industries and force them to do something productive for a living... PLEASE DO!

No, but if you stay off my lawn, you should be safe

You can't steal an intangible, you fucking idiot. I know that's not very diplomatic, but for fucks sakes, this is "News for Nerds", not the bloody short bus.

I like killer robots. Know why? Cause I know how to make them, muthafuckers! Mwhahahahahahha!!!

History shows that if you "win" with compound interest, you will later be executed by your fellow man. And, rightly so.

I wouldn't want my children exposed to a game that normalized homosexual marriage, personally. I'm disappointed in Nintendo for not having the moral compass to stand up to these deviant's. They make games for children, for Christ's sake.

This is just so very wrong.

Are you aware that if you take an old television apart and go poking your fingers around in there, you'll very likely be killed, even if the television has been unplugged for over a year. They contain capacitors that will hold a deadly charge for a very long time after you unplug them.

You really think something they designed in these types of capabilities for espionage, but are going to be stymied by you unplugging the thing?

The US government controls what hardware is contained in those televisions. They forced the issue when they were moving away from free-to-air television. If you've been coming to slashdot for a long time, you read all about it.

Never attribute to stupidity what is easily explained by malice. The enemy is active, intelligent, malicious and not easily pinned down.

For example, there's a whole host of conversation going on these days about "Why does the NSA fail to implement basic security measures that could have prevented Snowden from doing what he did."

The answer is to act just as they do, and look at the metadata. Don't try to put your finger on who exactly did this or that, but try to understand their nature, goals and motivations... to define them in the abstract, and act against them in the abstract.

Who is served by an easily compromised NSA? Organized crime? Multinational corporations? Israeli intelligence? Doesn't matter exactly who, if you understand their nature, you can fuck with their agenda without ever knowing who they are.