Jesus. Just, jesus, you are fucking disgusting. With this mindset good people, good fucking people I know personally who've done nothing more than commit the crime of getting SICK while being poor, would be homeless and soon, probably, dead.

Just say what you really mean: Fuck you, I got mine. I'm a home owner, I pay property taxes, I'm not in debt. Just because I haven't had anything catastrophic happen in my life doesn't make me better than those you very clearly view as mud people.

If I have a choice between starving to death, or stealing from you (who for the sake of this argument have an excess of food), I will cheerfully steal your food, by force if necessary, rather than die. Scale this up, and you have society. And there is nothing wrong with this. You don't have any more "right" to sit on excess than I have a "right" to steal it. Greatest good for the greatest number, this is why we don't still live in fucking caves.

Because we all pay taxes, we are all citizens of one country, and your argument just falls apart as you follow it to it's logical conclusion (why should I pay for a school in the poor part of town, I don't even live there!) We tried the Articles of Confederation, it was a miserable failure.

The problem with thi, is that these large states (let's call them "blue" for the sake of the conversation) generally support the programs that support these smaller ("red") states who keep screaming about entitlement programs that are the only things making these "red" states livable.

...you realize, of course, that the "bread-and-circuses" existed to keep the quite literally starving poor from tearing the rich limb from limb and possibly actually consuming them, right? And that "entitlements" exist because all of the personal responsibility in the world doesn't keep bad things from happening to good, responsible people? I realize that fiscal conservatism is the hip new thing these days, but seriously, this conversation benefits in no way from these cheap little shots at what you obviously view as "liberal" politics.

Science and logic are hostile to religion and faith. As a direct consequence of this many people involved in the education process will be hostile to religion.

You know what the "dickering around" is? You bring it to an AASP (they're all over the fricking place, you can find them right on the apple support website by plugging in your zipcode). They run diagnostics. They check the serial number. If the system is in-warranty they perform the repair, no questions asked, no charge. Done. I know, it's tough, right?

I have absolutely no idea how you got moderated +5 Interesting. Almost all of what you say is wrong, except perhaps that you bought a Mac Mini and own a TV. The RAM is user upgradeable on this model. You can use any USB wired or wireless input devices; I use a logitech internet desktop 250 set; the pair cost me $7.50. That leaves me at price plus $7.50. I have a 19" Viewsonic LCD I use with the system, which can be had for around ~$100 these days. The warranty is 1 year in the US; I can't imagine where you live that you wouldn't get at least that. And of course they told you that you were SOL; a hard drive failure is (1) Expected (you did expect that, just like you would for any machine, right?) (2) Out of Apple's control (they don't manufacture them, and neither does any of the other computer manufacturers) (3) Not major. Any SATA laptop HDD will do, ~$50 will get your machine running again.

I am an ACMT, and I manage the service department of an AASP (Apple Authorized Service Provider). I in fact DO know what I'm talking about.

It really isn't that difficult. My company became an AASP last year. You need good credit, great references, and certified techs. That's about it.

I also have quite a bit of experience with the MLTI program, and know most of the key players. It wasn't 'cutting people out of the loop.' It was, quite simply, that they wanted AASPs (Apple Authorized Service Providers) to do all the repair work because they were guaranteed to have actual Apple certified techs on hand, had the ability to properly document all repairs and order correct replacement components for faulty hardware, etc.

As for the AASPs that were dumped from the authorized list, this was purely due to the fact that they couldn't perform at the level required; either the work was poor, the turnaround times were too long, etc.

See, I consider this 'multi-tasking'. I know nobody who owns an iPod, iPod touch, iPhone, etc. So when everyone, including Engadget says 'no multi-tasking' it seems reasonable to assume this means running iTunes and a web browser. Nobody has said 'no multi-tasking except for music.'

So going back to my real question, can you use iTunes while browsing the web or reading a book? I was marked flamebait, which pisses me off to no end, because as far as I know this is impossible with the lack of multi-tasking and I was simply asking a question based on the information we know so far. I would love to hear that I'm wrong here, but from everything I've read this is currently impossible.

I don't understand why I was marked Flamebait. Seriously, can I use iTunes while using the iBook functionality? If I can't, isn't my question completely valid? Really, this is an issue for me, and I was asking a question.

From all the information I've seen, I cannot run iTunes while reading a book or casually browsing the web. This would be my biggest usage for this device. Can you do this on an iPad? I know I can on an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, generic x86 netbook, generic PC, etc. Why is it flamebait to suggest this is a problem for me? I have seen absolutely no information to indicate that I can do this with this device. If you have information indicating that's this is possible, please point me to this information, because I would like to know. In all honesty it would seriously impact my (current) decision not to purchase this device

I don't know why you were marked 'informative,' since, unless you are secretly Steve Jobs, I doubt you have one of these.

I like to listen to music while I read or surf the web. Can it do that? No? But that's a pretty reasonable request, isn't it? I mean, almost every device capable of doing these things individually is capable of doing them at the same time, isn't it?

I hate to break it to you, but the Republican party is in no way a shining example to be emulated. This is the party of 'small government' that wants to have a hand even in who can get married. The Republican party has a painfully obvious desire to push our government towards theism, with Christianity being the plank. No thanks. Personally I'd rather have at least a couple of (actually viable) third parties to choose from, but that is impossible thanks to both of our current ruling parties.

On the healthcare front, I'm not convinced that a public option is the only solution, but it's better than what we currently have. I have a close friend, with no insurance, who would have died were it not for Medicare. Her doctor chose her treatment, the procedure, everything. The state had no say in her treatment. On the flip side of the coin, my Uncle has a debilitating condition that is curable, but his insurance will only cover treatment, not the procedure to cure it. Under Limbaugh's 'proposal' both of these people would be dead for not being rich. Fuck that.

Informative is a highly subjective term when it comes to entertainers. I don't consider Jon Stewart to be a valid news source either. After listening to Limbaugh's rants for the past six months or so I've noticed that almost every single bit of 'information' the man spews is hate-filled, spun, and manipulated. Almost all of it.

By the way, ratings do not in any way have a bearing on the value of information; that's a false argument.

Yes, he defended himself from the term. That's cute. The song was painfully insulting and shouldn't have been given air time. I've noticed he has a goodish history of having to defend himself from the fallout of his own comments.