I find it interesting that many people just substitute Heaven with Outer Space and God with science. I'm not saying I frown on this, just that it is interesting. I also find it odd that people want to live longer than 70 or 80 or even 100 years. Why? I am now in mid 30's and I find myself getting angry and bitter over the changes happening in society. Soon, I'll become the stereotypical angry old conservative. Given the nature of politics, power and money, the longer you are on top, the harder it is for the new generation to remove you. Do you really want a gerontocracy? I want to make my mark in my career, raise balanced functional kids, accumulate enough wealth to bequeath to them and then DIE in contentment. Mankind thrives on the random re-assortment of genes and on the new generation overturning the old. Give us immortality and we will stagnate.

We Malays have a saying: Kutu diseberang laut nampak, gajah dibawah hidung tak nampak, meaning you can see a flea across the ocean but you can't see the elephant under your nose. Look after your own freedoms first before preaching about it to others. The rest of the world wishes your freedom fighters a good fight. You are at the front line of Internet freedom. Any laws passed by your government will sooner or later, willingly or unwillingly, be enacted in my country too. Your fight is for all mankind. Good luck America and God bless.

WTF?!! There are no Sikhs in Iran and Sunnis are a minority there. You are sir, are not a bard but an idiot.

Yeah, right. When China does anything, it's "intervening with nature" and the sinister sounding "weather control". When Amurikka does it, it's "triumph of technology over nature" or "advancement of mankind". Fucking Slashdot.

WTF is this shit? Never have I met people more hostile to the field of humanities then on the internet. I am a biochemist and I have nothing but respect for the humanities. Who do you think designed all the art in Skyrim? Who do you think wrote, produced and sung the songs on your iPods? Who made the movies that you obsess over? Who researched and wrote the books and encylopedias about ancient history, WWII etc. that fascinated you? Who taught you grammar, math, P.E., even science at school? Stop being such an arrogant douche. The world does not revolve around programmers. Ironically, some people in the hard sciences don't consider programming to be a science at all.

Yes, in the immediate post-apocalyptic world, the Internet will be the last to fail (Sarcasm).

My wife and I went to a restaurant. While waiting for our food, we did a little National Geographic-esque look at the other patrons. At the table next to us sat a young couple, about 18 of age. They were sitting opposite each other, but both holding iPhones in front of their faces. Both were talking and texting, but it appears not to each other. Sometimes, one of them will suddenly laugh with no response from the other. They kept at this even while eating their food. After the guy paid the bill, they both left, still engrossed with their iPhones.

I challenge your assertion that the Chinese et al. damn foreign workers taking your jobs are paid slave labour wages. That's because, while it is slave labour wages to you in Bald Eagle Land dollars, it is not for them in Yellow People's Republic Dollars. Currency exchange, do you know it sucka? Cost of living, do you grok? In fact, they are paid around the normal or even above average than what they would get doing traditional jobs such as farming in their own country. You live in the most wasteful, entitled, litigious society on Earth. That is why your cost living is so high, hence your uncompetitive wages. I find it ironic (Sheryl Crow and all that) that the land of the free, the fountain of free market capitalist economy ideology is crying for a communist country to stop adopting what you have preached for decades.

People! We are talking about a cheap gee-gaw here, be it Apple, Android or HP. They are toys and made in China. I find it puzzling that grown men will go ballistics justifying their decision to buy a piece of cheap plastic to play Angry Birds all day. So, Apple is the poster boy of Pads, Pods and what not. So what? Do you own Apple stocks? If you do, congratulations! You made a wise decision. If not, then you have no reason to be a self-appointed salesperson for Apple. What is popular and unassailable today will not be tomorrow. Sony Walkman, anyone?

So, essentially, what you are saying is for a bunch of rich white guys to land in Somalia, plant their flag on the ground and claim it in the name of Libertarianism? Where have I heard that concept before hmm...? Somalia is not a Libertarian paradise. It is now a Feudal paradise, with warlords and strongmen controlling portions of the country.

I am a stoopid microbiologist who uses Firefox daily but is concerned about where it is heading. My stupid question is, since Firefox is open source, can the good coders of Slashdot fork the code and make a "new" browser along the lines of the old Firefox? If so, please do it. For humanity. I mean, I see all the pent-up anger in this thread. Surely some of you can band together and start a new project.

No, we are right to be concerned. These days, whenever a large company, open source or not put up something publically or semi-publically on their website, it means that they are going to implement it. It is a cheap way of product testing or to prepare users for the coming apocalypse, I mean, change. I am now starting to look around for other browsers to use. Mozilla has become what it was fighting when it started. I also blame female users for this (no, I'm serious). Look at the UI design of consumer products now days and you realise the over-simplified, over-cutesy, over-dumbed down design is catering for women and girly men who favours looks over function.

Wow. Just, wow. I got chills down my spine reading this thread. This must be what people in the middle ages must have felt during the height of the Catholic Inquisition. A mere accusation is enough to ruin your life. Suffer not the software pirate to live. For a small business, it is practically a death sentence. When God is Commerce, CEOs are Prophets and lawyers are the Priesthood, Copyright laws are worse than anything the Church can come up with.

I grew up in a traditional village in Malaysia during the early 80's. I know this is going to sound like one of those get off my lawn stories but my experiences while growing up there was very beneficial. At that time, my playground was the snake-infested semi-jungle around the village, the monitor lizard infested nearby river and the limestone quarry lake where they were blasting rocks with explosives. We kids will form roaming bands of 10 or more and play soldiers and communists (it was only 1 year after the communist insurgents surrendered), make our own "hand grenades" (got scars to prove it) out of firecracker fillings and spark plugs as detonators, even our own bamboo cannon filled with carbide. We will climb trees, slingshot monkeys, take a swim in the river and fish for tilapia and catfish in the quarry lake all the while explosives were going off nearby. On Eid days and the Chinese New Year, we will go to war with the kids from the neighbouring village, launching firecracker raids and ambushing the counterattack which will sometimes end up as fist fights. Looking back, I couldn't believe I lived that life now that I am living in a modern suburb where everything is gated and sanitised. Firecrackers are now banned in Malaysia. I look at my own two kids and see them playing video games, and the only time they can play outside is when I am supervising them out of fear of speeding cars or kidnappers (this is a real problem).

Now, everything revolves around the nuclear family. I could do all those risky things in the village because all the adults in the village will keep an eye on you, regardless if you are their kid or not. All adults may scold or cane any child in the village if they cross the line. Complaining about this to your parents will result in another round of caning. You could drop in on your friends house and their parents will serve you food and treat you like you are their own. Now get off my lawn.

It is easy to go after the French, especially since they initially lost WWII. What most USA,USA,USA Americans tend to forget was that the first World War was largely a French vs Germany affair, with France fielding the largest army and suffering the largest casualties, not to mention that the war was fought largely on French soil. It was no poetic license when they said that the "flower of Europe's youth" were killed during WWI. The UK and US on other hand had the luxury of fighting without serious consequences to their homeland,separated by the Channel or the Atlantic ocean. This was slightly less true for the Brits in WWII but still much the same for the US. If like some historians who argues that WWII was only a continuation of WWI, then you will see the reason for the rapid collapse of the French army at the start of WWII. And in case you Anglo-Americans/Brits tend to forget, the Normans were French with Viking blood in them. The English language that you speak today had been drastically modified by the Normans. So, in many ways, you are French too.