So to lower your risk of getting addicted to gambling, don't ever bet on the same numbers.

Or, you know, don't play if the odds aren't in your favor. Which they aren't.

For network gaming, physics engines get rewritten with deterministic results. This can include very base-level things like re-writing platform code, as the platforms handle floating point calculations differently.

It takes a lot to get your physics simulation to be deterministic, but every game out there with multiplayer has to do it. Really, it's the player inputs that cause problems.

If you don't have an intermediary server, you'll only be able to backup when the receptacle is running. This isn't unique to crashplan, but rather is the nature of direct computer to computer communications. Honestly, Crashplan is the easiest I've worked with.

Alternatively, you can setup an FTP server on their network reasonably easily, and backup to it regularly. This could be a special piece of hardware, like a $200 Synology Diskstation, or a Raspberry Pi with an attached USB drive. Or it could just be a regular computer, though crashplan might be a better option in that case.

You could also do something cheeky if your friend is within wifi range, like giving them a USB drive attached to a router that connects to YOUR Wifi network. Then back up to it as if it were local to your house. But, of course, you're not as protected in that circumstance.

You're assuming current apples, without taking into account historical apple production and projected future trends. I'm afraid we can only give you %45 credit for that question. Better luck in Second grade.

Requiring a particular piece of hardware for your software, while free alternatives remain, is not good ecosystem. Will people give Microsoft $50 to replace their hardware in order to stay in the Skype ecosystem? A system that came into dominance from being free?

My guess is that switching from Skype to any other a/v chat medium is almost trivial at this point, and certainly not worth replacing your hardware to avoid.

I used to run support for a small business whose power-line hardware regulators were designed to speak with DOS... over a modem. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite get the bugs out of an upgrade to communicating with a FreeDOS installed on a 2k dollar laptop of today.

It wasn't so much that the "enterprise" software hadn't been updated to support it. The small company had an investment in older but still completely viable technology, and couldn't afford to remain profitable if updating to newer (and more unreliable) hardware.

Kubuntu is Ubuntu without that bad Unity interface.
Lubuntu is a marvelous system for really old and crappy hardware. This old Intel Centrino absolutely shines with Lubuntu.

Both come highly recommended.

Fortunately, Adobe is making themselves obsolete, just like Windows 8.

ME had major stability issues. *major*. This is definitely complaint #1 against it.
ME restricted DOS mode, as a first step towards Windows 2000. This broke a lot of stuff, including software and hardware compatibility. This is major complaint #2.
ME was supposed to be based upon NT, but they couldn't finish that version in time. So it got rushed, and all of the system builders who signed up for the NT-based ME got the DOS 98+. The original ME became XP. Hence, derision.

The UI was fine, overall. Unlike Windows 8, Windows ME's main problems were stability and compatibility, with no real reason to exist over Win 98. Windows 8, on the other hand, is just terrible, terrible UI. We have an office full of touchscreen game developers using the thing, and we couldn't figure out how to close an application. It's terrible.

I just need a hard drive, an intern, and a car.

The big problem problem that new consoles are fighting for is: a reason to exist. Most games demo-ed so far look possible on the current generation of hardware. Crowd sources AI is an interesting twist, but possible on current consoles. Killer Instinct is an odd thing to revive, but it would play just as well on a PS3.

Suddenly Microsoft comes out with a console that:
1. Phones home every day.
2. Bans game lending.
3. Possibly cripples the used game market, or maybe not, nobody is really sure.
4. Requires Kinect to be always on, because that wasn't a disaapointment.

Their sales pitch of "You can play games that are basically last-gen games, but with fewer rights" has had shocking trouble resonating with consumers.

They all have crappy battery life. It may start at 8 hours, but after a year it'll be down to 1 hour.

Most of my friends have viable home laptops with no remaining battery of which to speak. And these were solid industrial models. Does that mean the whole thing should be thrown out and replaced?

Games that require an always-on connection will still require one whether or not they're on Steam. Steam itself has an Offline mode which is a bit of a buggy hassle, but can make subway rides / airplane flights pleasantly less introspective.

SSD's in this laptop cut boot speed in half. This is absolutely apparent, and I'd definitely swear by it as the most effective $200 speed-up I've put into 2 computers.

3.5" and 2.5" drives are very similar once you get to the scale of a TV. And if you need performance, full-sized 3.5" drives go up 10 - 15k RPM. The difference between 7.2k and 5.4k isn't that great. And, of course, 7200 RPM laptop drives are absolutely not quiet, compared to other drives.