Aside from the EFF and half the Slashdot population, nobody will do a damn thing.

Microsoft knows that most gamers really won't give a shit. FFS, people generally don't give a shit about ANYTHING these days aside from who died in the latest Game of Thrones and how many times Justin Bieber puked on stage. We've been slowly conditioned over the past few decades to care less and less about this stuff. There will be no uproar.

Yes it is. Living at home is stigmatized far more in the west than it is in Japan. Three or four generations living in the same household is pretty much the standard in many places in Japan, whereas in the west, "living in your mom's basement" is basically the royal crown of loserdom.

You are right that it's not *just* the Internet, just like it's not *just* the culture and it's not *just* the economy. It's all of these things coming together. The social structure creates the base for the problem, the economy pushes people in that direction, and the Internet draws them in.

Based on what I saw during my 10+ years living there, I'd say it's the realities of modern life clashing with the traditional culture. Japan is a collectivist society; before the Internet came along, if you were deviant/antisocial/etc. (for lack of better terms) you had to suppress that side of you and fit in. However, the Internet opened up a virtual environment where individualism could flourish more; people found an outlet, and even support, for their antisocial tendencies, and little by little it became a lot more comfortable to "live online" than actually having to put up with the social pressures of real life. (Westerners have a tough time understanding the amount of social pressure; even I am still sometimes surprised by the hoops my Japanese wife's family members jump through in order to "keep up appearances".)

Add to this the traditional tendency for extended families to live together into adulthood and you have the perfect recipe for hikikomori: a virtual social life where you are free from judgment and pressure to fit in, and no need to work to fulfill your basic needs of food and shelter. Not the life that I want, but I understand it, anyway.

iWatchYou

Hey guys, what are you not talking about?

I'm preparing to migrate away from as many Google services as possible.

Or has become one, at least. The debate is effectively being focused on whether or not Snowden is a hero or a villain, when what people should really be concerned about is whether or not the government is engaging in unconstitutional behavior, who is responsible for the programs, and why our elected officials are not only doing nothing to prevent it but are actively encouraging it.

Unfortunately the only other country I have any ties to is Japan, and they're probably spying on people more there than they are here.

I would love to live in Canada, but I've seen sources that say Canada's government is doing basically the same thing.

Where can you go these days?

Look into? Yes. Arrest for a felony and hold on $1 million bail? You have got to be kidding me.

Yet another case of the "terrorism blank check" being used to screw people over. These days all you have to do is speak the word "terrorism" and the public will cower in fear as various government bodies shit all over the Constitution.

And it can be pretty damn accurate, too. Older iPhones didn't have GPS and relied on trilateration to navigate in map applications, and I remember it being surprisingly accurate.

Macrobrews, maybe. But the USA has an unbelievable variety of extremely high quality microbrews and craft beers. Might be hard to find them abroad, but if you look at beer contest winners the world over, you will see USA brews in the top spots constantly.

I'm self-employed, and the work I do requires that I be online pretty much all the time. I definitely understand what the OP is talking about – the combination of the multitudes of distractions available online and a job that requires you to always be a single click away from those distractions can be tough. I've tried a ton of different strategies, but the ones I found that seem to work the best are:

1. Switch to a standing desk. I find that when I'm standing up, the fact that I will end up physically fatigued by farting around on the Internet tends to keep me focused. Combine this with
2. Workrave. It's a basic timer program (free), designed with ergonomics in mind, that lets you set time limits for work, micro-breaks, and longer rest breaks. What I do is set it up for 10 minutes of work followed by a 1 minute micro-break, and then a 10 minute rest break after 50 minutes of work. I stand up and work for 10 minutes, then the computer tells me to go walk around and stretch out for a minute, and I repeat that until 50 minutes have gone by; then I take my 10 minute rest break, check my email and whatnot, make a cup of coffee, etc. etc. and then get back to work.

If you don't have a lot of natural self-discipline (like me), it's really about consciously establishing a positive routine, rather than trying to punish yourself by locking your computer down or whatever. Worktime needs to be worktime, and Internet time/break time needs to have its own timeslot too. Just my $.02 – good luck! After being self-employed for 6 or 7 years, and struggling to maintain consistent self-discipline during that time, I understand how difficult it can be.

I have this with breakfast now and then. When all is said and done, it's probably a lot healthier for you than most of the commercially-available breakfast options out there.

Just drink some tea or something, for God's sake. Or just have a healthier diet overall, and then you won't need a "kick" in the morning. Sometimes I can't fathom the kind of crap people gleefully dump down their gullets.