It is said that we only make real use of about a tenth of our brain. And it has long been well known that alcohol kills brain cells.

Darwinian natural selection takes care of the rest. The weak brain cells die off, and in due time are flushed from the body. As more and more beer is consumed, more and more weak brain cells die, until the subject is left with a relatively small number of powerful, high-functioning brain cells operating in a cruft-free environment.

And thus, genius is born.

Ebola is only a real problem in Third World communities where ignorance and superstition rule, and health care is reserved only for the wealthy.

Oh...um...sorry about that. RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY SCREAMING!!!

...monitoring will cease after Microsoft has gathered enough information to make Win 9 as user-friendly as possible.

ROFL...kicking my feet in the air and gasping for breath

You're aware, I hope, that in science, a "theory" isn't the same thing as an English prof's "theory" about whether Shakespeare was the greatest sonnet writer ever.

If you don't know the difference, please visit a site like this and find out:

http://www.livescience.com/21491-what-is-a-scientific-theory-definition-of-theory.html

Is it true your god condemns the unfaithful to die moaning in ecstasy, one bite before the end of a plate of pasta in a wine/blue cheese/garlic sauce?

Looks like those curses from god just ain't what they used to be. :-)

I don't think you're looking at the problem the right way. There was never any doubt terrorists exist, and that there's nothing they'd like better than to kill us. There isn't any doubt lightning exists, either. It can strike anywhere, any time. This doesn't mean I'm going to give up the right to go outside whenever I damn please to be "safe" from the small chance that I'll wind up falling victim to a lightning strike.

Actions like those described in TFA and what they say about us as a society are, as far as I'm concerned, a cure that's worse than the disease. And "knowing where to stop", in my view, is something citizens should be discussing and deciding for themselves. Paramilitary organizations with an interest in increasing their power and control shouldn't be unilaterally making such decisions for all of us.

As a law-abiding Canadian citizen, my odds of being killed by a cop with an attitude problem are a lot higher than my odds of being killed by a terrorist. So to my mind, the "kooks" are those who willingly trade freedom for the illusion of security, and cede their right to decide how much freedom to trade in without even a debate.

I think it's pretty hard to deny that there's at least a modicum of truth in your statement. Frankly, I think there's more than that.

I wonder when people are going to wake up...or if.

If I was a member of a spy/security agency who wanted more than anything to wipe away the last, feeble laws protecting the privacy and freedom of my country's sheeple, this is precisely the kind of operation I'd set up. All it would take is a few words whispered in the right ear.

The most idiotic of the Muslim fanatics would jump on the idea with glad little cries, and the usual gang of fascists would gleefully portray the descent into a police state as the ultimate expression of First World freedom and security. And the sheeple would be lining up to flush away their rights.

Mission accomplished.

Your problem is one of social engineering, not hardware or software. It's almost impossible to "idiot-proof" any kind of technology if the people using it absolutely refuse to learn. Sadly, this seems to be your problem.

Until your relatives can be persuaded that the device in their house can take their identities, their life savings and perhaps even their children, they'll just keep going merrily along, trusting other people to clean up after them.

If they teach these things to screw geeks, Slashdot is doomed! DOOMED, I tell you!

I'd mod you up if I could.

Fair enough, that's a valid point. But I believe you're the first person I've encountered who seems to love, Love, LOVE Win 8. I know people who tolerate it. I know people who have stripped it off their system and replaced it with 7. I know nobody who feels about it the way you evidently do, though. That's why I thought your comment sounded a lot like a PR blurb from MSoft.

Great PR job, son! You've easily kissed enough ring to hang onto that job of yours for at least another couple of months.

Keep up the good work!

Yrs,

Satya Nadella

ROFL. Good one!