Most tablets are used to play games from what I've observed.

They also swallowed up MetroPCS in the process (mostly for their spectrum).

EMV Chip cards are being issued in the US now. The major processors are pushing to move liability of charges to the retailer starting in 2015 for mag stripe transactions. The only problem is that US based processors aren't going for the full "chip and PIN", but "chip and signature". The EMV terminals will have a PIN pad, so hopefully card issuers will give the option of PIN security to those that want it.

While they are at it, release a SP2 for Windows 7, because its going to be around for a while.

My work computer has been cursed with this problem. Eventually it started locking up every patch Tuesday, so I just killed automatic updates..... problem solved. Something with the Dell OEM XP install is clearly fubared with regards to the actual patch service as manually installing an update causes the machine to lock up too. Rebooting causes an evil "We had to shut your machine down to protect its hardware" blue screen until I go into safe mode once and reboot again. IT will get around to it eventually. I think they are just waiting for a new machine to become available to swap it out.

Recommended reading, has a whole section on how choropleth maps can be manipulated to suit an agenda: http://www.amazon.com/How-Lie-Maps-2nd-Edition/dp/0226534219

The local governments will spend the new found wealth like drunken sailors. When the oil dries up, they will be left with a giant deficient on the balance sheet and cry for help.

Good luck with that, although some NJ districts aren't as influenced by the NJEA as others. I always thought the teacher's union was a conflict of interest. By their very nature, they put "teachers first" and not "students first" as it should be in education.

Surface isn't Windows Phone though, its a tablet running Windows RT or 8.

One theory behind the lack of C128 software was that the machine could run C64 software and that developers didn't bother writing software that most people couldn't run. Why write C128 software when you can write C64 software that can run on both new and old machines. The Atari STe line had the same problem with games, very few took advantage of the improved graphics and digital sound available on the newer machine.

The Apple IIc had 128k in 1984. Was the 1571 any faster than the 1541? Most Apple IIe systems were equipped with 2x5.25" drives, so it wasn't that big a deal. Apple did offer the Unidisk 3.5"+interface card for the Apple IIe for 800k worth of storage. The first revision of the Apple IIc had built in support for the drive as well.

The Emotion Engine chip is apparently difficult to emulate in software.

Gigabit works fine with CAT-5. The IEEE 802.3ab standard specifically says its suitable cabling. Of course if its a new run, install the latest cable spec.

Which model Dell? I have been looking at getting a "new" 16:10 screen laptop eventually. The past few years saw the death of the genuine "mid range" laptop. Used to be $800 got you a machine with an optical drive, removable battery, ExpressCard, and Firewire, along with a high res 16:10 screen. Now all of that is pretty much gone. Its hard to find a $1000 laptop with those features now! People are scooping up off lease machines like the Dell Latitude D620 and D820 because they have stuff you can't find in brand new machines.

That is Comcast with the signal amplifiers, not Verizon (Fios is completely passive). Line power is needed for their hybrid fiber-coaxial network, particularly for the last mile where it switches to coax.