Windows 8 isn't bad... it's new. Just like Windows 95 was... and we all know how Windows 95 through windows 7 failed so miserably. (Can anyone remember the term "Ludite"?)

Another good reason PRO is likely to fail... I've said it before & I'll say it again. Surface is a cloud car.

If I need Intel horsepower on a tablet, I'll remote desktop into a real computer (or cloud-hosted VM). Why pay for Intel in a tablet when the RT version will provide excellent mobile functionality at significantly lower costs (in terms of both price AND power) with the ability to hook up to heavy iron to do the heavy lifting?

The more comments you have in code, the higher risk you have of time sucks and bugs (past, present, and future). Instead, use naming and syntax to make your code as human readable and comprehensible as possible. Bytes are cheap, there's rarely need for clever abbreviations; instead of getting clever with them, get clever with expressing your code closer to plain language. Think about the names of your nouns and verbs (and even adjectives and adverbs), and make sure they make sense to anyone who understands your problem domain.

In my humble opinion, broken code comments are almost as dangerous as broken logic, and should be treated as a bug if it's wrong. It's wrong if it's inappropriate, outdated, misleading, takes more than a line or so, or superficially obvious. If it needs more than a line or so, it should be documented, and the line in your code should brefly identify the problem and documentation location. I'd recommend that it refer to sections within a technical design document.

In NH, we had a recent bit of a scandal on the fact that no ID is required at all. A voter can claim to be anyone, and be handed a ballot... and the checklists are full of good spoofing candidates, like recently deceased... In light of issues like that, I think anything that addresses anonymity & accountability better than what we have is way better.

I vaguely recall writing reports about other subjects in grade school, but I remember very well researching the history of computers and turning an assignment for a two page report into many pages on the subject. That was the first time I remember bending school to my own interest. I remember realizing that schools were not prepared for me. I knew I had to find ways to turn every subject into something to do with computers, programming, & technology... not long after that history report, I got my hands on a cheap computer. I wrote programs not just for entertainment, but to drill myself on less interesting school subjects. I wrote programs to illustrate lessons. I even dabbled with my own word processor so I could write for English class. A few people understood my interest & found material for me, which I learned in addition, and I taught myself things like CPU design, binary logic & arithmetic. I made it interesting for myself. Today, I can easily say that I twisted my own education into something way better than my educators probably realized.

Just because we haven't explained or observed it doesn't mean it can't be.

Do you believe in a Higgs boson? If so, congratulations... you're a believer. You believe in something that people have spent billions trying to prove the existence of (and still haven't, just yet). If you're not a believer, what is it that you think your mass comes from? Or do you not believe you have mass? Now, if the Higgs is found... that's cool... but what does it get it's properties from? How do you know any of this exists... did you design the LHC and fire it up and make the observations yourself, or did you have faith in someone else's word?

The Bible is full of stories that couldn't be well articulated in the realm of understanding of the audience that originally received it. We had to grow up a bit and start digging into science to discover the deeper meanings of the metaphors.

If government officials have authority to recover stolen goods (cars, property, etc) then they need to start taking care of this sort of thing, too. Why create a "new" organization for it... governments can agree to work together enough to form Interpol, simply extend Interpol to cover cyber crime. It seems like an obvious extension to me. As mentioned previously, the damage was done when the "vehicle" was "stolen"... if the "car" "crashes" in the authority's pursuit to limit its contribution to the victimization of more innocents, that's the fault of the perpetrator(s), not the authorities.