The word 'separate' probably meant to imply "separate from BT", rather than "separate from all other parties". They may well be owned by Telefonica, but they have absolutely no current connection to BT.

They have PHP, which is not a CGI language. It may not be as popular with the kids as Ruby or Python, but it is still a language with which you can do basically any website you might need.

Beats is worse than either though, by a long way.

That principle hardly holds true for "all things in life". If I claim that the world is flat, and only 4000 years old, while you claim that it is round and actually millions of years old, the truth does not like in the middle. I would be wrong.

What gives you any reason to doubt that they will?

Things don't enter the public domain anymore, sorry.

I'm old enough to remember that too. I feel as though I may remember it differently than you do, though. In no way would I describe the content back then as superior. I would describe the primary content which we have now on the good websites as in every way a desirable evolution. Little things like advertising and malware don't detract from that, and I don't necessarily find the commercial content on the web a problem, as long as non-commercial content is also there. I'd be really glad to see a return to the days without advertising though. I can afford to pay for the content I want, if it is priced reasonably. Then there's the fact that some content is there because the provider wants you to see it. They won't seek payment for that.

I'd actually be pretty happy to pay a small subscription to websites that I use all the time, and that seem to be worth it. Of course, there are a lot of websites that would die very quickly without advertising, and I don't object to that at all. They can go, and that is fine.

I think a reasonable subscription to a website I really like would be something like a $1 to $1.50 a month. If enough people are paying, that can easily cover the costs.

Of course I'd rather have those websites supported by voluntary donations. Lets not pretend that it doesn't work, just because Wikipedia are hopelessly greedy and over-ambitious. For many websites it can work fine. I know at least one for which it has worked for more than a decade.

I don't want ads. Therefore I'm not accepting them. I don't typically go around allowing people to tack additional nonsense onto the things I want. That's why my computer isn't loaded down with toolbars and dodgy search providers.

It would be interesting to see if your views change on by the 11th month of your 99th year. Assuming you survive that long.

By saying this you're assuming that the review isn't true? Or should an accurate bad review count as libel?

That's a question, to you? The only question I have is just how long until the friction preventing you from opting out of the filters begins to increase.

You're right of course, we should all use American law. Just as God intended. Many apologies to our noble American overlords.

I don't really care for that idea, since (as I mentioned in my previous post) BeOS is very much a recent development in the field of computer operating systems. It came along in the late 90s, once Windows was already relatively mature and Linux on the desktop was already practical. Comparing it to religions both ancient and widespread seems entirely wrong to me. BeOS was not all that significant. Clever and nicely done, maybe... but it didn't carve out a very large place in history.

Please note that I didn't say it was currently a meaningless buzzword. I said that I believed it to be such when I first heard the term. I'm aware that something meaningful has come out of it since then, although exactly how much is still a matter of which I'm largely ignorant.

I appreciate you making me aware of the fact that there have been some working quantum computers now. They may be small, but even the first one was a huge step. I'm somewhat surprised to learn that the first real steps were quite a long time ago.

I wonder if I'll live long enough to see a quantum computer on the home desktop. It would probably run The Elder Scrolls 37 really well. :D

For me if I have to use cash I'm already against the purchase. It's horribly inconvenient for me, and isn't accepted for online purchases which is where I do all my important shopping other than clothes and groceries. Since I can pay for both of those things on my card as well as at pretty much any restaurant, I've got no need for cash that I can see.

Even convenience stores are happy to accept a card (with no surcharge) for very small purchases. I admit that has changed in recent years, and until that change I did grudgingly have to withdraw cash to shop for those items.

I don't really care to carry currency which can be lost or stolen, and then never recovered. If I lose my card, all I have to do is contact the bank and let them know. They will cancel it for me and I can soon get a new one. Under those specific circumstances I would use cash, of course. Since I am deprived of all the better options.

I see things are different for you, but I prefer to handle as little cash as humanly possible.