"When you buy a name-brand item from someone you don't know..."

Well, you could take the time to get to know them. But they'd probably still sell you the cheap knock-off.

great use case for increasing the power of these: http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/16/1339217

It's sure to get a little use.

run linux?

Perhaps the bread came from La Dichosa Bakery. This could be the opening shot of an expansionist campaign by the Conch Republic.

I wonder how many Roomba users actually carry a backpack. Anywhere. You do realize you are describing people who can't be bothered to sweep their own floor or stoop over to plug in a power cord. I believe you are referring to a target market of users who would be better served by a fuel cell capable of consuming snickers and gummi bears. ps. until that wirelessly powered smoke detector comes with the ability to test via universal remote control AND request the dispatch of some maintenance personnel when it's internal backup battery is dead, the idea is fail.

For me, it's been several events over several years.

The first was 1998. That was the first time I could confidently send a client to a big box store to purchase a computer that was appropriate for their needs, reasonably reliable, and a couple hundred cheaper than what I could build it for.

The second was 2000. I was writing up a browser related document about cookie management.... when I decided to look something up on the web by searching "cookie", I discovered Nieman Marcus had displaced all relevant technology discussions. For me it meant Joe six pack and the related marketing types had escaped the boundaries of AOL and taken over much of the Internet.

The third was 2004. While working on a new platform for one of the big 3 American wireless telecoms, the sponsors for the project made the decision that usability and reliability was less important than "entertainment potential". And yes, this stuff is located in the call path.

You must be a youngster. Back in the Old Corps, when someone left a terminal unsecured, we loaded a simulated login screen. When the user returned and entered their id/password, their account's storage and processing resources were re-allocated to ours. If the account happened to belong to someone from the systems shop, we also increased our default initiator class. For repeat offenders, we didn't need to volunteer 'em... we just printed an AA (alternate assignment) order to the admin shop. Semper Fi

Probably just a coincidence... This morning HR announced all new hires will be receiving a watch during orientation session instead of the traditional t-shirt.