Windows doesn't have any "elasticity". It's the very definition of an inelastic product. 995 out of 1000 non-Apple desktops and laptops run Windows. And even a chunk of those Apple machines are dual-boot. In the non-developing world, piracy isn't making a significant dent in Windows sales any more. Pretty much every non-custom PC and laptop sold at retail comes with a Windows license built into the price, so the vast majority of current gen machines are all legit right from the get go.

And pirating Windows isn't nearly as simple as it used to be so for many people spending the $100 once for an OEM license is less of a pain in the ass than jumping through all the hoops to get it to activate and stay activated. So for many people the choices are a) buy a new computer with Win7 or 8, buy a Mac, or keep your old computer/don't have one.

no, he wasn't. because until one of these systems gets to 100% (and by 100%, I mean 100%) then any strategist would tell you the natural reaction would simply be to lob more nukes. it actually results in INCREASED proliferation of nuclear weapons, and makes the world a less safe place.

and if one of them does get to 100%, they'll do what the russians threatened to do over the most recent european missile defence shield — just build missiles that the systems can't get a fix on: http://rense.com/general69/tiddosdzdd27makes.htm

Because they're required to by building code? That's what happened at the hospital that lost power. Tanks underground, water covers them, fuel gets contaminated, and poof, no more power.

I'm going to have to disagree a little here. The controller and the uprated graphics are the only really new features of the WiiU, correct. But the controller does bring a whole lot to the equation. It's like the difference between the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS. When you boil it down the only "real" functional differences between those two systems for most people is the DS has two more buttons, a more powerful processor and the addition of the touchscreen. From an experience standpoint the two systems are on different planets. The touchscreen and second display added a lot to the DS's games that take advantage of them. Some games were crappy shovelware, true, but others embraced the new abilities of the DS and literally revolutionized portable gaming.

It's my hope that the WiiU does the same for the living room.

So you're saying that there are seismologists who CAN predict a likely earthquake a week ahead of time? Interesting. Could you perhaps, provide any evidence these people exist? And tell us why they're not being used to predict earthquakes all over the world in hotspots to save lives?

I've been involved with a situation that's about as close to a perfect storm as you can imagine for that and it was still not a problem. In 2001 we had a rack of a dozen IBM servers, each running 3 drives in RAID 5 with a shelf at the bottom with another 10 drives in RAID 6 for the database. Unfortunately these were the infamous IBM drives made in Hungary so they ALL started failing. Under our service agreement we called IBM and had them down at the data center almost daily for the entire month replacing drives within hours of each failing, and then starting to pre-emptively replace the remainder. Didn't lose a single byte. The closest we came was a couple machines had second drives fail about 36-48 hours after the first drives were replaced so ~48-60 hours apart.

said the US opposes proposals from some of the 'nondemocratic nations' that include tracking and monitoring content and user information, which 'makes it very easy for nations to monitor traffic.'"

yeah, because the US would never do that.

after Obama yesterday's utopian freedom of speech speech at the UN.

Oh please. Someone is vehemently opposed to subsidies, yet takes full advantage of them only because they're currently legal. That's like someone being vehemently opposed to abortion, but having one every six months because they're legal. Last time I looked, part of opposing something meant you didn't partake in it yourself because you are *opposed* to it.

How about actually siting/quoting one of these stories?

the quintessential disrupted producer, complaining about how the world is not conforming to the way they want it to be, or worse yet, the way the world "should" be.

I'm sure the exact same essay was written somewhere upon the development of the phonograph. "but how will we get paid if they can play back our music a thousand times once it has been recorded?" probably the same argument, too, by playhouse actors when recording movies came along.

the artists/actors might not like it, but the development of technology drives down the price, massively opens the market up, and, if they're smart, allows them to make more money than their predecessors could ever have dreamed of.

writing letters complaining about how people are not paying enough to you is just so 1842.

Or... you could take 6 months of weekly movie ticket money and just buy a projector and decent screen for your home instead. Then you can have whatever the heck you want for snacks as well as other perks like no annoying audience members texting or talking, no sticky floors, nobody's head in the way, and you can pause the movie while you take a bathroom or snack refill break. And after the initial investment it won't cost $30-$40 for 2 people to "go" to the movies any more.

Anyone who's been paying attention to how whistleblowers are treated in the US shouldn't be surprised by this. It has known for decades that deciding to be a whistleblower is a selfless sacrifice and pretty much any whistleblower has to prepare themselves for the fact that they almost certainly won't ever work in the industry they blow the whistle on ever again. Plus it seems the Obama Administration has been going after government whistleblowers with a vengeance.