"Free to play" is a misnomer. It should accurately be "Pay to win" or "Pay to play well regardless of your skill level".

I hate it. It's a crappy way to do a game, and represents one of the more reprehensible expectations of sociopaths on this planet.

I've taken to assuming that any picture I see in print and many on the Internet have been Photoshopped...

I don't work for them -- I'm just a happy customer. Don't hang on to your Model M - get a new one in black with USB:

Unicomp Customizer

Unicomp SpaceSaver

I still use a wireless mouse, but ran an active USB cable to my comfey chair so I could put one of these beauties on my lap. Buckling springs FTW!

That's pretty good. I also thought of timed quotations from the Sword of Adam in Torchlight.

Wow. That is actually quite awesome. Considering that overcoming cognitive bias could be beneficial to pretty much anyone in any environment. And that lessening cognitive bias on a large scale could only be beneficial to our species and planet.

Sadly, a great many people will oppose the concept or resource allocation toward it due to cognitive bias.

Seriously... Cancer is big, big business. I expect it will never be cured as long as this kind of money is being rolled around. I think I flipped from disturbed to disgusted by this when lots of billboard advertisements started appearing for cancer treatment facilities.

At this point, I may be happier calling this life good and heading out than feeding their damn money machine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvmwY8LHo1Q

Really? Size and resolution were at the top of my list, and friends (techie and non-techie alike) seemed to think it important for their decisions, also.

Ended up watching his entire presentation. Very thought-provoking. Thank you very much for the reference!

Well done on the consent form. Love the way it just drops reference to the real agreement:
https://sites.google.com/site/wiscgapps/wisconsin-google-apps-announcements/consentformandagreementavailable

Some of the confidentiality agreement is below. Love the way they name Google as "School Official" to mitigate FERPA. I also linked Wikipedia below for CIPA, COPPA, and FERPA. These are federal, not sure what the state laws and guidelines are in Wisconsin.

Maybe I'm paranoid, and it's okay for targeted ads for tutoring services to follow little Johnny around for a few years. I do feel bad for Wisconsin K-12 IT. I'm sure they've worked hard over the years to provide systems and AAA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAAA_protocol) to help students, teachers and school officials protect information and student record data as required. Kiss that goodbye when managed AAA is replaced with self-managed peer-to-peer document security on a per-document basis. What's this "make public" checkbox? Looks cool! How many Wisconsin teachers and administrators are being trained to manage their own data governance in this environment?

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5. Confidential Information.

5.1 Obligations.
Each party will: (a) protect the other party’s Confidential Information with the same standard of care, but no less than a reasonable standard of care, it uses to protect its own Confidential Information; and (b) subject to applicable law, not disclose the Confidential Information, except to Affiliates, employees and agents who have a reasonable need to know it and who have agreed in writing to keep it confidential. Each party (and any Affiliates, employees and agents to whom it has disclosed Confidential Information) may use Confidential Information only to exercise rights and fulfill its obligations under this Agreement, while using reasonable care to protect it. Each party is responsible for any actions of its Affiliates, employees and agents in violation of this Section.

5.2 Exceptions.
Confidential Information does not include information that: (a) the recipient of the Confidential Information already knew; (b) becomes public through no fault of the recipient (in the case of Google, without Google’s reference to Customer Data); (c) was independently developed by the recipient; or (d) was rightfully given to the recipient by another party.

5.3 Required Disclosure.
Each party may disclose the other party’s Confidential Information when required by law but only after it, if legally permissible: (a) uses commercially reasonable efforts to notify the other party; and (b) gives the other party the chance to challenge the disclosure.

5.4 FERPA.
The parties acknowledge that (a) Customer Data may include personally identifiable information from education records that are subject to FERPA (“FERPA Records”); and (b) to the extent that Customer Data includes FERPA Records, Google will be considered a “School Official” (as that term is used in FERPA and its implementing regulations) and will comply with FERPA.

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FERPA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FERPA

CIPA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Internet_Protection_Act

COPPA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act

Dear Sir,

To quote Wikipedia, which does a fair job of paraphrasing every other mainstream definition I can locate:

The term off-the-grid (OTG) or off-grid refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities.

Off-the-grid homes are autonomous; they do not rely on municipal water supply, sewer, natural gas, electrical power grid, or similar utility services. A true off-grid house is able to operate completely independently of all traditional public utility services.

I personally believe that there is some level of debate available, even within your chosen definition of OTG (which appears to involve complete independence from the fruits of industrialized societies on the planet). However, in addressing your original comment and using the generally accepted definition, I find nothing laughable and everything appropriate in consideration of this technology's potential legitimacy in an OTG environment.

Best regards.

No I didn't expect them to send a car right over with a replacement.
And I never said I was angry. Disappointed would be more accurate.
Actually, your trolling is causing me a stronger emotional reaction. I'm sure I'll get over it -- you're not worth it.

What I expected is that Intel would have a process and statement for their own motherboards. Less CYA, which was all the chat rep was giving until I pushed the issue. More of "we'll take care of this for you, here's how..." -- that's what I expect from a vendor.

Suck it up? No. They should be accountable for customer service.

Here's my experience yesterday with Intel on their support chat. Not happy.

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info: Please wait for a site operator to respond.
info: You are now chatting with 'Diego'
Diego: Hello. Thank you for using the Intel Customer Support chat service. We are glad to be of service. How can I help you today?
_____@yahoo.com: Hi. I've read about your recent chipset issue. I just purchased and received a DP67BA motherboard. Is there a process to have it replaced with a corrected chipset?
Diego: In this situation, each place of purchase will be in charge of either replacing the motherboard.
Diego: Since the issue is very recent, there are no replacement units with the fix. Bear in mind this issue impacts all Intel® 6 Series Express Chipsets and Intel® Xeon® C200 Series chipsets on systems using SATA ports 2-5, if using ports 0-1, customers are not affected. Using ports 2-5 may impact functional issue rates over time, this is not impacted immediately.
_____@yahoo.com: So, I need to contact the sales vendor regarding this issue, even though it's an Intel motherboard?
Diego: The issue is being under investigation by Intel and we are working as fast as possible concerning this
Diego: Please be aware that in some cases, the Serial-ATA (SATA) ports within the chipsets may degrade over time, potentially impacting the performance or functionality of SATA-linked devices such as hard disk drives and DVD-drives. Systems with only SATA ports 0 and 1 enabled are not susceptible to these functional issues.
Diego: It is not a problem that will be present in a short time
_____@yahoo.com: Yes. I understand. This is a part I bought for a personal computer. I don't have a lot of money. I need the part to last properly for a long time.
_____@yahoo.com: Are you telling me that I have to contact the sales vendor regarding this? I bought an Intel brand motherboard because I thought I would receive good support.
Diego: You may check with the place of purchase in case you would like to replace the motherboard in the future when a hardware fix is available on a new revision. We are working together with our chain or Authorized Distributors and resellers to cover this problem
_____@yahoo.com: Okay then. I will forward this conversation to my sales vendor and see what they say about it. Thanks.
Diego: You are welcome
Diego: Is there something else I would be able to assist you with?
_____@yahoo.com: No. Goodbye.