So, can this also bust DRM schemes like the system in bd+?

Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll was kind of a fun read ... compares to Cryptonomicon the way The Hobbit compares to LOTR.

You seem to be suggesting that there is some sort of double standard. So tell me, when was the last time that you heard of Google sending their armed law enforcement agents to a private residence to arrest someone? We hold corporations and governments to different standards because they have different powers and different duties. Part of the duties of a government are to protect the rights of citizens and individuals (often from corporations). This sort of legislation betrays the trust that we are supposed to be able to have for our government.

In some cases (like my dad or old boss) it would have to morph into one giant key positioned under the index finger of the right hand and magically map to the correct letter for each key press.

Will it stay on after the zombie apocalypse? Stupid context, but seriously, if the smart grid is going to be able to talk to my fridge and potentially let some hacker melt my icecream, that means it will have a lot of complexity to it. With that level of complexity (and invested time/money) it damn well better stay on for a bit if it has to be left unattended.

yes, but Basil is faulty

Yeah ... Star Control 2 was an awesome game.

A bit like the hype that comes out for months (or years in the case of "longhorn") BEFORE the release of any new version of windows. I guess consumer computing likes to have a bit of balance.

Just in case anyone was wondering. It would be nice if editors would get into the habit of making sure that the front page summaries had a definition of these TLA's in at least 10% of the posted articles. TLS == three letter acronym, by the way.

Why was this comment labeled offtopic? "ping" is one of the most basic commands on Unix-like systems. It even works on a Mac. It's the first thing that came to mind when I read the title. It also has uses in online gaming. At the very least I could see some concern for potential trademark confusion (even if you'd have to be some sort of SCO to try an sue Apple over it.) Currently, if you plug "ping" into wikipedia search, it's the Unix command that comes up by default (though that will probably change soon).

Anyway "ping" already has some well established (and very specific) meaning in the computer world. I'm surprised Apple would choose that specific word for their newest gimmick. Especially since it is already loaded with such uncool, geeky history.

The difference between hydrogen being inert, flammable, or explosive is a matter of how much oxygen is mixed in with it. Here's a test you can try yourself: get two balloons, fill one with hydrogen only, and fill the other one with a stoicheometric mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. You will need less hydrogen for the second one since 1/3 of the volume is take up by oxygen. Now hold some ignition source up to each balloon. You'll get a relatively mild woosh from the pure hydrogen balloon as it has to mix with oxygen from the air before it can burn. If you're standing within about five meters of the premixed balloon you should have a doctor on hand to stop your ears from bleeding.

You can also put some pure hydrogen in a more solid container with not chance of a leak introducing oxygen, rig up a spark plug or something, and nomatter how hard you try, it won't go off unless there is a leak for air to get in.

Same thing goes for gasoline. Put some in a bowl and light it on fire and you get a nice slow flame. Get some gasoline vapors and mix them with stoicheometric amounts of oxygen and you will get an explosion.

There's more to combustion than just thermodynamics, kinetics matters too.

I agree with you about the hydrogen powered car having lots of issues though.

Could it be caused by whales with digestive ailments?

And how is that different from being forced to pay for closed source development? At least if you are force to pay for open source development, you won't have to pay again in order to reap the benefits of the development. If the stimulus money only goes to closed source, you'll have to pay again to buy the software before you see any immediate benefit. All the costs of socialism with none of the benefits. If you really are opposed to this on such idealistic grounds, then you should be opposed to the entire concept of a stimulus package.

Maybe it's just me, but the Roxanne version reminds me of the music that came out of the radio in Portal.