Depends how much radiation is being emitted. Virtually everything is radioactive to some degree. A small amount of radiation is OK.

So I just bring up copies of the Skeptics Annotated Quran on my browser and then -- wait for it -- close the browser window. Just like that, I make my current copy of the Quran disappear, even worse than just burning it.

Always restart the PC to make sure it's not still in memory.

recommending low flow shower heads

No no no!!! God damnit I hate this initiative. I want powerful showers, not a pathetic trickle. I consider it a good use of water.

Even If I'm french speaking, all my OS's and devices are configured for English

Subtle indication that English isn't your first language there. The French say "Meme si..." but in English we tend to say "Even though...".

Yes and no.

English happens to be a pretty easy language to learn, as well as having been used by major world powers.

If you don't believe me, check out the French conjugation for a verb like "leave" and then compare it to the English.

Yeah, I find it difficult to get better at French because exposure to it is difficult: it seems like the French generally get annoyed quickly with people who don't speak Fluent French, and the one site that was quite good for being able to speak with those who were willing (Livemocha) got bought out by Rosetta Stone and totally fucked over.

Are there any decent online resources now for being immersed in a new language?

The smallest example being that in formal English the passive-voice is discouraged

Discouraged by whom? The MS Word grammar checker?

I've always thought discouraging the passive voice to make sentences more "lively" was just idiotic. Use whatever voice is appropriate.

Although I happen to (try and) speak some French, frankly I've managed to speak decent English grammar just by... studying English grammar.

Yup. I dunno how "fans" is not miles ahead. Every case I've ever bought, without fail, has started having annoying fan noise after maybe half a year (usually less). It usually ends with me disconnecting the fan, or stabbing it through with a pair of scissors.

A better UI??? IE has the worst UI of any browser out there, completely non-customizable, URLbar stupidly crammed in next to the tabs, and its dev tools are appalling.

your totally right. todays youth are much more literate then theyre ancestors. and make less mistakes with grammer punctuation spelling ect...

So could I!

In fact I thought the great firewall of China already did deep packet inspection and MITM attacks, so selectively blocking anything based on content should be pretty straightforward.

An abacus is more graphically flexible than Dwarf Fortress.

Maybe the good Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe should be "encouraged" to volunteer his home as the test bed. And use lots of cameras - those Brits just love their security cameras, you know.

I'm British. I swear to god we're not all like this. Some of us absolutely do not want to live in a surveillence state and assholes like ACPO and "the head of Scotland Yard" are terribly unrepresentative of public opinion, in general. There are, however, a core of authoritarians who see no problem with removal of privacy. Just not most of us.