Wow. I mean, I travel a ton and get annoyed by the TSA as much as the next guy, but you really think it's OK to take a gun onto an airplane? Agree to disagree. People who need to transport their legally owned firearms can do so through the simple act of checking them. There isn't an airline or country the world over that would allow firearms, not to mention loaded _with rounds chambered_ (FTFA) onto a plane.

We can argue all we want to about the cannon (I'm with the anon who thinks if you manage to hijack a plane with it... congrats!), but guns, grenades, large knives... just check it! This isn't a terrorism thing. It's basic safety 101, especially in an already stressful, crowded environment.

I have to wonder how the judge draws the line between something like this conviction and, say, the Simpsons Movie, where Bart is rocking some full frontal on the big screen.

There's a difference, for sure -- one is funny and clearly a cartoon, whereas one sounds like it's purposefully sexualizing children. So the conviction could be grounded in intent. But it's a hell of a slippery slope.

Amen brother. I've also seen zero decay on my gaming rig, which has been through the Windows 7 --> 8 --> 8.1 etc without ever a refresh...

I think this is anything but that, and I think spouting conspiracy theories doesn't really help anyone understand the pros/cons of such a statement.

I'm not naive. I'm also not delusional or paranoid. "Technology that could prevent collisions" doesn't in any way imply remote access or coordination. Today's examples include ABS brakes, collision radar, backup cameras, and yes, side view mirrors. All of those are collision-avoidance technologies. None of those can be easily used to subvert operation of the vehicle.

Yes, of course it's possible that, say, a system to allow a central "Traffic Control" authority to externally intervene to prevent collisions is someday built. And yes, presumably law enforcement could use that system to remotely disable a car. But that's a stretch. Especially when you already have remote-disable solutions built into all kinds of modern cars. Not for traffic safety - but for convenience and theft deterrence. Millions of cars have this built in today, and although I'm not familiar with the laws or case history, I don't see any reason why law enforcement with a warrant or probable cause couldn't use what's there today in Teslas, any car with OnStar, etc etc... and as usual, those capabilities were introduced for convenience (either owner or insurer :)).

All technologies can be misused and abused. Don't see a need to conflate that reality with an effort for additional vehicle safety.

There are similar laws in almost all (but not all - Oregon is a notable exception) US states - on a multi-lane, limited-access highway, it's technically illegal to be in the left lane unless you are actively passing. It's just rarely, rarely enforced the way it is in Europe, which is too bad. Nothing incites road rage more than someone tooling along a few MPH under the speed limit in the left lane. I've seen that enforced just a few times on rural stretches of I-5 in Washington, and once somewhere in the midwest (MN?).

The other variant of that law, also common in US states, is that it's illegal to hold up more than a certain number of cars. Its the "campers have to turn off and let people pass" law. This one, luckily, I see enforced a lot more often on popular tourist roads.

The interesting thing is that in a world without human drivers, both of these laws become redundant, IMO. The vehicles should efficiently get everyone everywhere, and where you have forced bottlenecks -- such as an automated semi truck that can't go as fast on a winding road as a sports car -- presumably the AIs would be written in such a way that the vehicles could coordinate safe passing.

I envision much more efficient, much more boring drives ;)

There are a bunch of great options out there, but nothing has ever replaced the Thinkpad line for me. I have spent time with the new Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga, and if you're in the market for a 12.5" device, it's awesome. First thing I did was replace its built in SSD and wifi chip -- took less than 5 minutes -- and it has all the functionality of an amazing Win8.1 convertible as well.

Then as others have said, there's the tried-and-true T series. The T440s is beautiful in its own way, rugged, and super serviceable.

This is the first thing I tell anyone about Windows (7 or 8). So simple...

This reiterates a few previous posts, but here are some comments in a nutshell:

- The T400 won't come close to running WoW, even if it has the premium discrete graphics that were offered at the time it came out. Integrated graphics? WoW won't even load. Build or buy a cheap desktop from a couple of years ago with a decent $50 graphics card and you'll be much better off.
- Windows 7 + microsoft security essentials will keep you secure. Then you need to teach your son the same basic internet security you need on any net-connected device -- don't fall for phishing or fake download schemes. There's no reason to buy third party AV.
- If you're buying a new OS license, you probably should just get Windows 8. It's less resource intensive than Windows 7 in every way, so if your son is trying to game on legacy hardware, that will help. Additionally it has full antimalware built in, along with a raft of improved security features. And finally, with the special offers these days, it's probably cheaper (if it's not, you're probably not getting a legal Win7 license).
- I'm of the opinion you give your son full admin to the computer, and if he breaks it, well, he learns how to fix it. Restricting him to a limited user account just means it's harder for him to learn. You should take other steps to protect your network in case he busts his PC, but that's awfully hard to do with Win7/8 and basic AV software.

Interestingly, this is exactly what T-Mobile is doing now. They have subsidized phone plans, with a contract and a higher monthly price, and they have unsubsidized, no contract plans with a lower price. But expensive phones. It's fantastic.

I just downloaded the demo to try it out and spent an hour. It's like the old bridge building games. Fun with gravity! Not sure how realistic the physics are... but who cares? It's midnight Slashdotting :)