I think if I read the original news articles correctly, you are spot on. NSA did not compromise Angry Birds. They however did spy on the marketing info the program 3rd party advertising returned. This 3rd party info was intercepted. Block all advertising and this may have been a non issue.

Free app.. Supported by 3rd party adverts .. Advert demographics information scrapped on the way back through governemtnt internet checkpoints.

The exception is the M Audio Quattro. Nice unit on Win 98, 2K Pro, or older Mac.

Due to the issues with soft synth's, don't overlook the option if going hardware for this. M-Audio makes several MIDI adaptors that are Linux compatible with AISO and or Jack. Don't skimp on a cheap MIDI keyboard. Get one with sampled sounds. If you find Rosegarden does not work on your fav Linux distro, pick up a recycled older PC to dedicate to your Digital Audio Workstation DAO. Using a distro optomised for audio work is recommended such as Ubuntu Studio.

If you are recording a band, and don't need MIDI, Audacity does a great job when combined with a good audio console and a good USB A/D device. Lower end and works well is the Behinger U Control devices. On the upper end are some great multi channel firewire interfaces. Due to the issues of lack of good analog sliders on a PC screen, it is highly recommended to add a MIDI Control Surface such as the Berhinger BCF2000, Livid Alias, or others. They interface well with most DAO software in Linux or Windows.

If Microsoft knew what they were doing, Intel would also be doing much better. At least Intel is looking to break into mobile with or without Microsoft. The new lines of low power chips look promising.

I was going to say missing option, Camera with telephoto lens.. but your post covered it. Long exposure and a good camera results in light sensitivity better than my eyes.

I think this is simply working on removing dissolved Oxygen in the water, not electrolisis. To get usable amounts by un burning water, the supplied battery would be way too small.

On the flip side, it broke the ability for a relative to borrow your computer to check their email. Typing in a username while not logged in became impossible. It wants you to enter your password. Googling for a solution shows you have to log in, then manage accounts to create the other user's profile showing a corrolation even if it is a casual connection.

As a work arround, I make multiple user accounts for guests, and then delete them after they checked their email. I don't need my account directly associated to some of my visitors.

For the record system builders were stilled allowed to install XP on new netbooks up until October 22, 2010, and new machines were still being cleared from inventory Christmas 2011. So it is still pretty new to a few people. Up until three years ago it was still new software.

For many people this did not equate to "Old" but stable and with most bugs removed. They did not need new, with new bugs. They needed reliable.

What I like is the number of suggestions to "just install Linux", as if Linux needs less configuration than the above. I think people who make that suggestion are ignorant, biased, or would always recommend Linux simply because it's their preference.

For most people, this works out of the box with much less trouble. Case in point, I was given a Windows 8 Netbook as a gift. It took me 5 hours and a Google search to figure out how to connect it to my 2 networked legacy printers. I have an HP 950C and an HP Laserjet III on single port Trendnet printservers. It is not intuitive to find printer drivers from Windows Update Manager. After hours of spinning wheels, I found out on Google. Another hour or two was required to properly port ot the net printservers.

A fresh Linux Mint install on the other hand had the job completed in under 20 minutes. Printers existed in the CUPS database. It was also intuitive in the interface to add the two Network Printer ports.

Many of the suggestions to Just Install Linux are based on personal experiance, mine included.

After reading yesterday's articles, I still use the hardware, but use aftermarket firmware such as DD-SRT or Tomato. No reason to trust firmware without source code anymore.

Windows is counted as machines are sold. Linux is often uncounted. I know more people personally using Ubuntu or Mint than are using Windows 8. If you count me personally, I have several dual boot machines, but rarely boot into Windows XP or 7.

Change title from earns to extorts. It is ransomware.

With a 3K connection, I would go back to dial up in a heartbeat. I went from Dial up to cable at 2 meg, to DSL at 6 meg. So far DSL has not been tampered with. If they don't tamper with the level of service, I'm happy. Due to Comcast throtteling of Torrents, and other issues, as soon as a viable option opened, I was gone and unlikely to consider them in the future, even though they "promise 12 Meg" connecitons. As the article suggests, a 12 - 30 meg connection is useless if Netflix and Youtube is delivered (Throttled) at well below 1 Meg speed. I'll take a working 6 meg connection over that crap.

This is one of the reasons I dropped Comcast. As soon as an alternative was an option, I switched. Dropped my price about $10 per month (beyone the promotoion rate) and increased by BW by 3X. Now Comcast wants me back offering "faster than DSL" Xfinity brand service.

I tell them every time that they blew their chance at retention. The answer is good competition. Market forces will kill companies that provide poor service. This does not work where there is a monopoly market.

Now a 3rd option is in my area. Haven't noticed any throtteling on Netflix or Youtube. Even a test torrent worked just fine. Until Quest screws up, I'll stick around. I even have 3 VOIP lines with other providers that show no sign of throtteling. 2 lines are on an ATA (Linksys PAP2T-NA) and the third is a softphone Google Talk/Voice.

Always avoid the companies with a media divison to protect. Remember the Sony Diskman. Too DRM Serial copy protected to be of any real studio use. Hard disk recorders and Digital Audio Workstations simply took the market. Cable companies will find a void they created will be filled by the competition.

Verizon does have something to fear. There may be lawsuits when upstream congestion causes 3rd party content to be delivered slower than their own content not due to throtteling on their part. This law can only cause them headaches even if they don't throttle.

It helps to provide real examples of why a single sign on is not wanted.

For me, I don't want the NSA using my compromised info to log into any of my other accounts. A break one breaks all policy is an Identity Theif's goldmine. Google +, Facebook, Bank of America, Bank of Nova Scotia, E-Trade, Ebay, Amazon..... There is a reason not all my eggs are in one basket.