OP asked a legitimate question. Don't think he was looking for advice on how half of /. feels like they're better parents by limiting their children's use of technology (any many of the opinions here seem a little hard nosed.)

My two year old uses my tablet and smartphone regularly.
Do I limit how often he uses it? Absolutely. But there is some great interactive content that does benefit him as well. He's by far developmentally advanced (both physically and cognitively). I do expose him to the real world most of the time. However, I also expose him to technology that his world will undoubtedly be enveloped with as he gets older. He can navigate and use an iPad better than his grandparents, and he has a health outdoor routine, social activities...

Obviously anything is bad in excess. I don't see interactive apps being anything but beneficial in moderation.

But I suppose - this is the Internet. Someone asking a legitimate question is clearly asking for people's opinion and stories about how they're better.

...you guys ALWAYS make me play as IE! I'm not playing ever again! Pft!

Open source groups bickering over something insignificant? Really? Better fork it!

Pretty positive TFA is about building an all-in-one similar to an iMac, not installing OS X. :P

Security through obscurity has always been a myth. :P If it was truly the case, why did (does?) malware on pre-OS X (System 7.5 - Mac OS 9) greatly outnumber that on OS X systems? :P

This Dextr keyboard looks like basically the abc layout with the Z over on the left.
I'm no human interface professional - but I can't imagine it being any more usable than an actual number pad, and maybe even less usable.
Certainly not revolutionary.

As a firefighter/aemt, we already get multiple, redundant calls with no information because the caller is "driving by the scene and thought you should know." So now we'll get a text message with no way for the operator to try and pull more information from the caller.

"omg im dying plz help"

So we dispatch two ALS ambulance crews, an engine company and local first responders to find some idiot who broke his toe.

0_o

Wait a second...

Fixed.
Knew I'd seen it on /. before. :)

Really, why do slashdotters always look for the most expensive, technical solution? I've lived in Maine my entire life and leaving a house for a winter really isn't a huge deal.
Drain the pipes, turn off the damn furance, put your temperature sensitive stuff in storage. A property of mine spent two winters like this and needed minimal check-ins.
And, why not just ask your neighbors to check in for you if you plan on being away for an extended period of time?

But I suppose, dealing with all the setup and installation and debugging of X10, etc would be much easier. Don't forget to add a float to your oil tank to let you know when you're low.
Just doesn't seem financially feasable to me :)