another chief Beagle engineer has said 'We still think we got it right.'

They got it right, yet the mission failed. What sort of weird mental block do these people have?

All we need is for the government to get its head out of its ass and give money to people who truly need it (i.e. those who are close to defaulting on their homes).

These people might need it, but they certainly shouldn't have it. They and the banks got us into this mess, the folks who think they have the right to own a 5000 sq.ft. house on a garage mechanics salary, and the ones who approved their mortgages.

Both deserve what comes their way, the former for extreme stupidity, and the latter for extreme greed. I fail to see why those who manage their finances and don't live above their means should bail these folks out.

Because you thought "pushing for more network reliance" is a user-oriented wish? How quaint.

Console makers wouldn't mind it if only 1/3rd of the population had access to their online games, if said 1/3rd has to pay and pay to play. They don't care about providing service to the other 2/3rd, they only care about their bottom line.

I hardly ever buy physical games or software for my PC

Most people don't either, but because they work standalone, they can get away with it. The whole "online services" thing software companies are trying to ram down people's throats these days (online OSes, word processing, spreadsheets, games...) is just so they can wrestle control of the software from people's hands and charge whatever the hell they want for anything.

So in short, you'd better not hope software on CDs and DVDs disappears, because you'll be very sad if it happens.

Oh yeah? How about "The USAF accidentally dropped a nuclear bomb in Redmond, WA that fortunately didn't explode, but damaged the building of famous Windows OS maker Microsoft, instantly crushing CEO Steve Ballmer and the entire marketing team into a pulp."

Feel better now?

Xanax saved my life and my sanity - I was incapable of going out around people for a year for fear that i'd completely freak out or have spontaneous violent evacuation of my bowels

You don't need Xanax, you need Imodium.

I'd be more worried about destroying my teeth if I were you...

Losing your voice would suck. But having a synthesised voice on the other hand, is way cool. You could go around quoting robotic things like "would-you-like-to-play-a-game-[?]"

or you could start a career as a stephen Hawking impersonator.