That makes sense, I guess I just never have that need myself. Although in that case I would think something similar but browser-based, like LastPass would work well.

Why not use a password manager and skip all that hassle? I use a portable version of KeePass, with both the app and my password database synced through Dropbox so I have them everywhere, including my phone. Random 20+ character passwords for every site and you can set expirations for every one so you don't have to remember when to change them, and all you have to remember is the master password. I don't understand why everyone in the world doesn't do this, it's just so convenient.

That....is actually an excellent point. Oh goddammit.

For sure. It can be great to build an input device tailored to your own uses, but if the intent is to market this thing you'll never build something with physical knobs, etc that works well for everyone. Which is why I'd love a Tactus if A) they actually existed or B) they wouldn't cost $10k.

X-Keys or Monome or any one of a million Control Surfaces, for starters. Or Arduino obviously. Personally I think that for a lot of applications the best solution is to drop the knobs and switches, take apart an old USB keyboard, and build a custom button-based interface using the matrix board. Interface it with hotkeys built into your app, and this way it shows up as a regular HID without needing specialty drivers.

My thousand dollar club was worth every penny. With it I shattered the skulls of my foes and defended the realm against the white walkers. Or were you talking about some other type of club?

Don't try to fool me. Everybody knows that chiropractic medicine is quack science, just like global warming or vaccinations for children. The truth is that subluxations are easily cured with a homeopathic bleach solution. And don't get me started on radiation. Just sleep under a crystal pyramid each night like a normal person and you don't have to worry about radiation. Or Thetans.

This is what I read Hackaday for. I read Slashdot for...something to do while I'm on the toilet, I guess?

Yeah, but you might use that memory card to take a picture of a copyrighted CD. Then the record executives' children would starve to death, or have to rely on our overburdened welfare system, and we would all end up living in a socialist ghetto just like Canada. Do you hate children and America or something?

Well, if the photos were to show something controversial, like evidence that he was shot in the back or executed point-blank, I think that exposing that (not that that would ever happen) would be a positive effect in and of itself.

Although isn't it much of it demonstrable only to the experimenter? I'll never see or fully understand the LHC for instance, so I take it on faith that those experiments are valid and repeatable (or that they even happened) because I trust the source who tells me that. When I talk to some of the more religious people I know, it's interesting to listen to their terminology: they say they "know" there's a God, not simply that they believe or hope, precisely because they've experienced a change within themselves and claim that that experience is as real to them as any physical experience. I can't say that I deeply, fully understand either science or religion, so looking at each from the outside it's difficult to explain why I innately trust science more (which I do). I could argue that it's because science at least offers the promise of testibility: if I were to devote myself to it I would see that this method works in a repeatable way. But really, the religious folks often say the same, that if you accept it you will experience something undeniable and on the other end you'll know that God exists.

More than anything, I think this all just highlights the importance of critical thinking. Continually question and test the whole chain that leads from a system of belief to you. Because it's not just science that we sometimes have to take on faith, it's everything around us, from news and politics to the idea that what I can't see continues to exist when I'm not here, or that I'm not just a brain floating in a vat somewhere.

Strangely enough, I was just having this conversation this afternoon about how my mindset has recently changed to looking at laptops as a disposable commodity. Now I just find the cheapest one that meets my specs and expect it to last 1-2 years. For a basic browsing laptop, that means about a $300 laptop. It's like leasing for $12.50/month, which isn't a bad deal. Give it to charity or sell it for $50 in two years.

Because I wasn't invited.

Hey, thanks for this. This is exactly the kind of background info I was hoping to get. Now to engage in some unethical behavior of my own, as I read these instead of doing any actual work tonight...

I don't expect this to matter much, but saying it's astroturfing or trolling to ask a real question kind of pisses me off. I can't convince anyone that I don't have a dog in this fight, but when I 1st posted my original comment there weren't any others in the thread that amounted to more than "Microsoft sucks" without any examples. As someone who's on the sidelines and legitimately wants some more info, that's useless circle-jerking; I'm really glad for the more informative responses I've gotten back. It certainly seems like there are a lot of documented examples of unethical behavior that I wasn't aware of, which is exactly what I was hoping to get out of this. Not to single your reply out, but it sucks to sometimes feel like you can't look for a two-sided discussion without people assuming you're a pro-MS shill. On the gripping hand, this is the most active response a comment of mine ever got. I feel so pretty, like the belle of the ball.