It's like a communist grocery store compared to a US mall.
You say that as if a complete absence of hipster brats and other mall rats is a bad thing.
As for smartphones, I think the telcos should focus on making typical users happy, and not go to extreme lengths just to satisfy a few Slashdot purists
Making Facebook, Twitr apps and the like deletable can hardly be said to be going to extreme lengths, it's not like it involves any extra work to accomplish that goal, if anything it would mean less work, and there can be Facebook and other bloat pre-installed for those that want it and those of us that do not can remove it without having to void the warranty by rooting/jailbreaking. This benefits a larger amount of owners than the current prevalent model and might possibly have a minor negative effect on the telcos.
I hardly ever use the laptop's built-in keyboard, but even so the control key caps are falling off.
Hmm... is control the default "stroke" key in Japanese adult games?
Are they also going to release a story detailing what the Chinese are doing to spy on US from leaked Chinese intelligence?
Seriously?! Are you trying to insinuate that they wouldn't if such leaks were available to them? If so, then maybe you should actually read the actual article alternatively work on your reading comprehension before commenting again as there is a paragraph clearly indicating that they would.
Isn't it 'Langley'?
As far as I know it's neither. Langley, Virginia is where the CIA HQ are located while NSA have their HQ in Fort Meade, Maryland.
If you have to subsidize it, then it ain't culture.
Isn't a lot of the US cultural institutions subsidized via donations and fund raisers so that rich folks to mingle and be seen with other of their ilk also pretending to be socially/culturally concerned by donating a tiny fraction of their wealth and then write off the donations on their taxes? The difference is that in socialist Europe we cut out the middle man by taxing directly and then distribute to directly to theaters, museums, art projects, movies and so forth.
Culture being subsidized is hardly anything new, be it via donations, taxes or a patron.
By your criteria Beethoven's compositions would fail to qualify as art as he were dependent on Archduke Rudolph's patronage to such a degree that he dedicated more than 10 of his compositions to Rudolph.
Use an iPhone. Stop being the product.
Use CyanogenMod. Stop being the product or a tool.
Then what would you call it?
Covert Operation Collecting Knowledge, or COCK for short? Which clearly would not be the same as spying.
"Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love." -- Albert Einstein