while I find your biblical lampooning funny and appropriate -- why are you talking about the bible with reference to the FSM? The FSM mythology is about as GPL'd as you can get -- I seriously doubt Venganza would have any problems with people making modifications to the original concept.

I don't have severe depression, but that old black beast does occasionally roll around on me. At my worst time I would appear completely normal, and occasionally even have brief periods where I could smile and laugh. It just doesn't last though, when you're depressed. Shame on the insurance company, though. I think the most appropriate recourse would be to find the executives names on the annual report, look them up, and start rooting through their trash, and post anything embarassing found in a public place. Maybe even follow them around with a camera and record every little thing they do. If they want to invade privacy that much, then fair's fair.

Most people I know that still don't pay for music don't acquire it via BT or other online means -- it's literal in-person P2P. Unless the big bad government is going to single remove every LAN card and jam all wireless signals, and ban recordable discs, people will still be able to share music.
The irony is that without the Internet, the RIAA may actually see its sales barely improve, if at all; people have tasted freedom and won't be likely to put on those shackles again. Long Tail artists will suffer greatly, though. The only TV I watch right now is on the Internet (legally, thanks to the currently-free Hulu), but if the Internet disappeared, I'd just not watch TV anymore.
Oh, and I disagree with those that say this topic isn't relevant for /. simply because it appeared in Cracked. This is a very interesting (IMHO) what-if scenario.

LinuxCertified is a vendor that sells laptops (and computers, I think). I just bought one from them -- they sell Windows (you pay a little extra for it) or any major distro of Linux. (FC, Ubuntu, etc.)

They guarantee that their installations of Linux will work with the hardware they use.

The real attractive part, for me, was the price point. Since they have the laptops custom built, they aren't bound to the contracts that larger companies (Dell, Gateway, etc.) are. I spent $1485 (after shipping) for a T9300 (2.5 GHz with 6MB cache), 4GB RAM, 320GB 7200RPM hdd, 512MB NVidia card, and 15.4" WSXGA (1680x1050) display. Dell and even Lenovo/Thinkpad could not even get CLOSE to those specs at comparable prices. (If you're interested, the laptop I got was the LC2430S)

Customer Service at LC was way better than Dell, too. (the benefit of dealing with a small company) :)

I don't mean this to be an ad for LC or anything, I'm just really pleased with my experience with them so far.

Caffeine works to keep us awake by competitively inhibiting the binding of Adenosine to sites in the brain. The body attempts to return to homeostasis by producing more Adenosine receptors (this is when your tolerance is built up) which means when you stop drinking caffeine, all the Adenosine in your synapses gets binded much faster. (leading to the withdrawl symptoms).

Depending on how MUCH you drink, YMMV when giving it up, but most people can get over it in a week or two of total caffeine abstinence and a handful of aspirin / headache medications to help you bear through it. You CAN get over it though. Giving it up isn't NEARLY as challenging as quitting tobacco or other addictive substances.

Best way to prevent getting hooked is to not make your caffeine intake routine; in other words, like all things, exercise moderation.

So is he implying that people are theoretically paying $100-200 for the Microsoft logo, since they can choose Ubuntu for free?

"splashing sex in [your daughter]'s face" is probably not a very good metaphor for what you're intending.

I'm pretty sure NCSA's Mosaic "evolved" into "Internet Explorer". Netscape's rendering engine was developed separately, wasn't it?

I can't help but shake the same feeling that I had when the Wall Street was being pushed through Congress... the first time around, EVERYONE hated it (except some of the Dems) but the second time around they "marketed" it better, the media said "oh it's SOOOOO different this time, you'll LOVE it" and then people said "well, I guess it's ok. let's try it" Isn't that basically the same thing that's going on here? MS says "Oh, pox on Vista, you want Windows 7, that's where it's at!" Whoever it was that earlier said they turn off all the UI snazziness on XP -- I totally echo that sentiment -- I use "classic view" and pretty much the only reason I switched to XP was for some of the performance and native-driver issues (and for software compatibility). Having a flashy OS doesn't make me want to buy it, because if it did, I would buy Mac. (Or install Ubuntu again)

My brother-in-law works at Lowe's, and happened to take a weekday off one week, only to find out through a friend that some US Marshall's were there looking for him (w/ shotguns in tow). -- He sought legal counsel immediately (smart!). -- Turns out, there had been a clerical error when he paid a court fee on a rather mundane charge, they mispelled his name in the court system, and confused him with someone who was on the loose for murder charges! (his lawyer filed the necessary paperwork to get them to realize their mistake though). -- If he had been someone who didn't have the money to get a lawyer though, this could have ended much more badly!